Fic: Getting Out
Title: Getting Out
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, TARDIS, mystery character.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The boy doesn’t know how long he’s been a prisoner, but now this stranger is offering to help him escape…
Word Count: 1359
Written For: Prompt 173 - Escape at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my ‘Through Time and Space’ ‘Verse. This is a bit of a strange one, but I hope it makes sense when you get to the end.
The figure was hardly more than a darker shadow against the dim lighting, unknown and therefore someone to be wary of, but when whoever it was spoke, the words were unexpected. It made the boy wonder, was this a dream or some new torment thought up by his captors?
“Come with me if you want to live.”
He stared up at the offered hand but didn’t accept it.
If?
Of course he wanted to live! He wanted to escape, to leave this place behind forever and go home to his family, but how could he trust this person? He’d never seen him before; the man could be working for the creatures who’d snatched him from his homeworld, along with so many others. The creatures who kept him locked away in this stinking hole where it was always cold and damp and filthy, and there was barely enough light to see by. The creatures who periodically dragged him into that other room and hurt him over and over, for no reason he’d ever been able to fathom.
He didn’t know how long he’d been here. There was no way to count the passing of days; the dim light was always exactly the same, and the slop that passed for food was delivered at random intervals. It was always cold and disgusting, but after the first few times he ate it anyway. Because it was mostly liquid, it went some way towards quenching his thirst, and anyway he knew he’d need his strength if he ever wanted to escape.
At first all his thoughts had been of someone coming to rescue him, but how would his family know where the creatures had taken him? He didn’t even know if they were still alive or if everyone who hadn’t been taken had been killed. For all he knew, his family might be here too, each of them in a separate hole, as cold, miserable, and afraid as he was, so then he’d started to think about trying to escape, only he had no idea how.
Now here was this man, who appeared to be a human like himself, offering to help him escape, but what if it was a trap? Maybe the man wanted to do something worse to him than what the creatures were already doing. Only, he couldn’t imagine anything worse than this. The cold, and the hunger, and the hopelessness were bad enough, but when the creatures took him to the pain room, hurt him, or made him watch while they hurt other people… Surely anything had to be better than that.
But what if the man was a slave trader? He’d heard about those, back on Boeshane when he’d crept out of bed at night to listen to the adults talking…
No, even being a slave had to be better than being a prisoner, and once he was out of here, perhaps he’d find a way to escape. He hesitated, for a few seconds more, curious that the man was making no attempt to grab him or to hurry him in any way. He just waited patiently, holding his hand out, his face, faintly visible in the dim light, appeared both calm and kind.
What did he have to lose? His life, maybe, but as much as he wanted to live, he didn’t want to spend however long he might have left trapped in this horrible place, eating slop and waiting for the next time the creatures decided to hurt him. He knew that time would always come, and maybe the next time, or the time after that, he wouldn’t be alive anymore when the creatures were done with him. This way, at least he might have a chance.
Reaching up, he took the offered hand, let the man pull him out of the hole the creatures kept him in, but as he scrambled to his feet on shaky legs, he still had to ask.
“Who are you?”
“A friend.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because I was asked to.”
It wasn’t much of an answer.
“What about the others, the prisoners like me?”
The man shook his head; he looked sad. “I can’t save them all, some of them are already beyond help, but I’ll do what I can, for as many as I can, as soon as you’re somewhere safe. Through here.”
He let the man lead him by the hand along the dim, dirty passageway towards a rusty metal doorway that looked a lot like the door to the pain room, except that it was in the wrong place. From what he remembered, because he was always careful to memorise the route whenever the creatures took him anywhere, there should be a tunnel there, not a door…
The door opened as they approached, but although the light on the other side was still dim, it was just bright enough to show that the room the doorway led into was like nowhere he’d ever seen before. The floors were polished wood, there were chairs and tables everywhere, strange machinery on a circular platform, and the air smelled clean, not tainted as everywhere else was with filth, mildew, and rot.
“Wait here; you’ll be safe, nobody will find you.”
“Where are you going?” He didn’t even know the man’s name, but already he felt safer with him than he had since he’d been snatched away from the only home he’d ever known.
“To help as many of the other prisoners as I can, like you wanted me to. I’ll be back soon, I promise, and then we’ll all get out of here.” The man smiled at him, ruffled his hair the way his dad used to, what felt like forever ago, and then the boy was alone, watching the door close again. He sat down on the nearest chair to wait. He was tired, but he didn’t dare to let himself fall asleep, so he sat on the very edge, not wanting to get too comfortable.
He wasn’t good at telling time. There was some kind of timepiece on the wall, but it wasn’t of a sort he was familiar with, and he didn’t know how to read it. He watched as the longer of its two pointers moved from one point on its screen, or whatever it was, all the way around until it was pointing in the opposite direction. It went another quarter of the way around before the door opened again, and he tensed, hearing alarms blaring somewhere nearby. But it wasn’t the creatures who entered, there was no sign of them, just a crowd of people who came stumbling into the room, looking bewildered, uncertain, half hopeful and half afraid. Like him, they were dirty and dressed in rags, and they were all ages, from children younger than him to people who looked older than his parents.
The last to enter was the man who’d brought him to this room, and he closed the door behind him before turning to face everyone, smiling reassuringly.
“Right then, let’s get out of here, shall we?”
“How?” one of the grownups asked, looking from one to another of the corridors leading from the room they were in. “Which way should we go?”
“How? Like this.” The man grinned as he stepped up on the platform where all the machinery was and began to press buttons and pull levers. There was a strange sound and then the room lurched. It was moving! “Don’t worry, it’s just my spaceship taking off.”
“Spaceship?” The boy stood up. “Are you taking us home?” he asked.
“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that; it would alter the timeline, which would be a very bad thing indeed.” The man glanced around at the thirty or so people gathered in the strange room. “But I have a safe place for everyone, on another world where you can live in peace. As for you…” He turned back to the boy. “I’m taking you to your brother. He’s the one who asked me to rescue you. He’ll be very happy to see you. He’s been trying to find you for a very long time, Grey.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, TARDIS, mystery character.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The boy doesn’t know how long he’s been a prisoner, but now this stranger is offering to help him escape…
Word Count: 1359
Written For: Prompt 173 - Escape at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my ‘Through Time and Space’ ‘Verse. This is a bit of a strange one, but I hope it makes sense when you get to the end.
The figure was hardly more than a darker shadow against the dim lighting, unknown and therefore someone to be wary of, but when whoever it was spoke, the words were unexpected. It made the boy wonder, was this a dream or some new torment thought up by his captors?
“Come with me if you want to live.”
He stared up at the offered hand but didn’t accept it.
If?
Of course he wanted to live! He wanted to escape, to leave this place behind forever and go home to his family, but how could he trust this person? He’d never seen him before; the man could be working for the creatures who’d snatched him from his homeworld, along with so many others. The creatures who kept him locked away in this stinking hole where it was always cold and damp and filthy, and there was barely enough light to see by. The creatures who periodically dragged him into that other room and hurt him over and over, for no reason he’d ever been able to fathom.
He didn’t know how long he’d been here. There was no way to count the passing of days; the dim light was always exactly the same, and the slop that passed for food was delivered at random intervals. It was always cold and disgusting, but after the first few times he ate it anyway. Because it was mostly liquid, it went some way towards quenching his thirst, and anyway he knew he’d need his strength if he ever wanted to escape.
At first all his thoughts had been of someone coming to rescue him, but how would his family know where the creatures had taken him? He didn’t even know if they were still alive or if everyone who hadn’t been taken had been killed. For all he knew, his family might be here too, each of them in a separate hole, as cold, miserable, and afraid as he was, so then he’d started to think about trying to escape, only he had no idea how.
Now here was this man, who appeared to be a human like himself, offering to help him escape, but what if it was a trap? Maybe the man wanted to do something worse to him than what the creatures were already doing. Only, he couldn’t imagine anything worse than this. The cold, and the hunger, and the hopelessness were bad enough, but when the creatures took him to the pain room, hurt him, or made him watch while they hurt other people… Surely anything had to be better than that.
But what if the man was a slave trader? He’d heard about those, back on Boeshane when he’d crept out of bed at night to listen to the adults talking…
No, even being a slave had to be better than being a prisoner, and once he was out of here, perhaps he’d find a way to escape. He hesitated, for a few seconds more, curious that the man was making no attempt to grab him or to hurry him in any way. He just waited patiently, holding his hand out, his face, faintly visible in the dim light, appeared both calm and kind.
What did he have to lose? His life, maybe, but as much as he wanted to live, he didn’t want to spend however long he might have left trapped in this horrible place, eating slop and waiting for the next time the creatures decided to hurt him. He knew that time would always come, and maybe the next time, or the time after that, he wouldn’t be alive anymore when the creatures were done with him. This way, at least he might have a chance.
Reaching up, he took the offered hand, let the man pull him out of the hole the creatures kept him in, but as he scrambled to his feet on shaky legs, he still had to ask.
“Who are you?”
“A friend.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because I was asked to.”
It wasn’t much of an answer.
“What about the others, the prisoners like me?”
The man shook his head; he looked sad. “I can’t save them all, some of them are already beyond help, but I’ll do what I can, for as many as I can, as soon as you’re somewhere safe. Through here.”
He let the man lead him by the hand along the dim, dirty passageway towards a rusty metal doorway that looked a lot like the door to the pain room, except that it was in the wrong place. From what he remembered, because he was always careful to memorise the route whenever the creatures took him anywhere, there should be a tunnel there, not a door…
The door opened as they approached, but although the light on the other side was still dim, it was just bright enough to show that the room the doorway led into was like nowhere he’d ever seen before. The floors were polished wood, there were chairs and tables everywhere, strange machinery on a circular platform, and the air smelled clean, not tainted as everywhere else was with filth, mildew, and rot.
“Wait here; you’ll be safe, nobody will find you.”
“Where are you going?” He didn’t even know the man’s name, but already he felt safer with him than he had since he’d been snatched away from the only home he’d ever known.
“To help as many of the other prisoners as I can, like you wanted me to. I’ll be back soon, I promise, and then we’ll all get out of here.” The man smiled at him, ruffled his hair the way his dad used to, what felt like forever ago, and then the boy was alone, watching the door close again. He sat down on the nearest chair to wait. He was tired, but he didn’t dare to let himself fall asleep, so he sat on the very edge, not wanting to get too comfortable.
He wasn’t good at telling time. There was some kind of timepiece on the wall, but it wasn’t of a sort he was familiar with, and he didn’t know how to read it. He watched as the longer of its two pointers moved from one point on its screen, or whatever it was, all the way around until it was pointing in the opposite direction. It went another quarter of the way around before the door opened again, and he tensed, hearing alarms blaring somewhere nearby. But it wasn’t the creatures who entered, there was no sign of them, just a crowd of people who came stumbling into the room, looking bewildered, uncertain, half hopeful and half afraid. Like him, they were dirty and dressed in rags, and they were all ages, from children younger than him to people who looked older than his parents.
The last to enter was the man who’d brought him to this room, and he closed the door behind him before turning to face everyone, smiling reassuringly.
“Right then, let’s get out of here, shall we?”
“How?” one of the grownups asked, looking from one to another of the corridors leading from the room they were in. “Which way should we go?”
“How? Like this.” The man grinned as he stepped up on the platform where all the machinery was and began to press buttons and pull levers. There was a strange sound and then the room lurched. It was moving! “Don’t worry, it’s just my spaceship taking off.”
“Spaceship?” The boy stood up. “Are you taking us home?” he asked.
“No, I’m afraid I can’t do that; it would alter the timeline, which would be a very bad thing indeed.” The man glanced around at the thirty or so people gathered in the strange room. “But I have a safe place for everyone, on another world where you can live in peace. As for you…” He turned back to the boy. “I’m taking you to your brother. He’s the one who asked me to rescue you. He’ll be very happy to see you. He’s been trying to find you for a very long time, Grey.”
The End