Ficlet: Bay Release - Follows ‘Sunday Spectacular’
Title: Bay Release - Follows ‘ Sunday Spectacular’
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Gwen, Jack, Rhys, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Gloria the giant squid is to be released in Cardiff Bay.
Word Count: 500
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Prompt 170: Release at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
“You’re sure this is a good idea?” Gwen still had her doubts about Jack’s plan to release a giant alien squid into Cardiff Bay. “I mean, won’t it upset the natural balance or something?”
“There is a slim possibility.” Jack was riding in the cab of the lorry with Rhys, and Gwen was crammed in between them. “But it’s not as if Gloria’s going to breed so there’s no chance of her offspring taking some other species’ ecological niche. She’ll just live down there studying the native sea creatures. Might even be able to teach us a thing or too, and tidy up the bay while she’s at it. People throw all kinds of stuff in there. She can collect the trash, attach it to a buoy, and we can go out once a week, reel it in and dispose of it properly. When you think about it the benefits of having her there outweigh any possible downsides.”
“But what if someone sees her? The bay’s not all that deep, and people sometimes dive there.”
“She’ll know if she has company and she’ll hide, or make for deeper water. You’re worrying needlessly, Gwen; she won’t be the only alien in the seas around Britain. Nessie makes regular excursions into the open ocean, and there’s a colony of Iglets living up near the Outer Hebrides.”
Rhys chuckled. “Alien sea creatures! It’s bloody fantastic!” He’d already been introduced to Gloria when she was being loaded into the back of the lorry, grinning all over his face as he shook her tentacle, awed and thrilled by the massive blue squid. According to Jack she’d found him quite charming.
“Have to take the two of you to meet Nessie someday.” Jack was feeling particularly benevolent towards Rhys at that moment thanks to his easy acceptance of Gloria.
“Seriously? I’d bloody love that!”
“Next time we need to ship a load up to Archie at Torchwood Two we’ll rent a Harwood’s lorry with you as driver. Gwen can ride with you while Ianto and I take one of the SUVs. Then once everything’s unloaded we can drive up to the loch. I’ll have Archie let Nessie know visitors are coming so she’ll be there. We can stay at Torchwood House for a night or two.”
“That would be awesome! Thanks mate!”
“You’ve done a lot for us the last few months. Call it my way of saying thanks. We’ll wait until the weather’s a bit better up there though, maybe April. Nessie likes a bit of rain.”
They arrived at the release point and Rhys backed the truck up as close as he could to the docks. Ianto was waiting, having gone ahead with Owen and Tosh to make sure there’d be nobody around to see. Enough people had been retconned tonight already.
Rhys lowered the ramp and Gloria undulated down it, burbling her thanks before sliding into the water and vanishing.
Jack smiled. “Nothing better than settling someone into their new home, is there?”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Gwen, Jack, Rhys, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Gloria the giant squid is to be released in Cardiff Bay.
Word Count: 500
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Prompt 170: Release at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
“You’re sure this is a good idea?” Gwen still had her doubts about Jack’s plan to release a giant alien squid into Cardiff Bay. “I mean, won’t it upset the natural balance or something?”
“There is a slim possibility.” Jack was riding in the cab of the lorry with Rhys, and Gwen was crammed in between them. “But it’s not as if Gloria’s going to breed so there’s no chance of her offspring taking some other species’ ecological niche. She’ll just live down there studying the native sea creatures. Might even be able to teach us a thing or too, and tidy up the bay while she’s at it. People throw all kinds of stuff in there. She can collect the trash, attach it to a buoy, and we can go out once a week, reel it in and dispose of it properly. When you think about it the benefits of having her there outweigh any possible downsides.”
“But what if someone sees her? The bay’s not all that deep, and people sometimes dive there.”
“She’ll know if she has company and she’ll hide, or make for deeper water. You’re worrying needlessly, Gwen; she won’t be the only alien in the seas around Britain. Nessie makes regular excursions into the open ocean, and there’s a colony of Iglets living up near the Outer Hebrides.”
Rhys chuckled. “Alien sea creatures! It’s bloody fantastic!” He’d already been introduced to Gloria when she was being loaded into the back of the lorry, grinning all over his face as he shook her tentacle, awed and thrilled by the massive blue squid. According to Jack she’d found him quite charming.
“Have to take the two of you to meet Nessie someday.” Jack was feeling particularly benevolent towards Rhys at that moment thanks to his easy acceptance of Gloria.
“Seriously? I’d bloody love that!”
“Next time we need to ship a load up to Archie at Torchwood Two we’ll rent a Harwood’s lorry with you as driver. Gwen can ride with you while Ianto and I take one of the SUVs. Then once everything’s unloaded we can drive up to the loch. I’ll have Archie let Nessie know visitors are coming so she’ll be there. We can stay at Torchwood House for a night or two.”
“That would be awesome! Thanks mate!”
“You’ve done a lot for us the last few months. Call it my way of saying thanks. We’ll wait until the weather’s a bit better up there though, maybe April. Nessie likes a bit of rain.”
They arrived at the release point and Rhys backed the truck up as close as he could to the docks. Ianto was waiting, having gone ahead with Owen and Tosh to make sure there’d be nobody around to see. Enough people had been retconned tonight already.
Rhys lowered the ramp and Gloria undulated down it, burbling her thanks before sliding into the water and vanishing.
Jack smiled. “Nothing better than settling someone into their new home, is there?”
The End