Ficlet: Finding Her Feet
Title: Finding Her Feet
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Tosh, Jack, Suzie.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Tiny for Fragments, set pre-series.
Summary: Tosh has a lot of adjusting to do after being recruited by Torchwood Three.
Word Count: 660
Written For: oneill’s prompt ‘Any, Any, “How strange to work with others again”,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
After months of being locked away in that tiny cell in the UNIT prison, Tosh was finding her new life to be a big adjustment. Not in a bad way though, it was just… odd. Her first morning at the Hub had been disconcerting.
The place was vast and cavernous, and for some reason she’d thought she would be working there alone aside from Jack, but there was someone else already there, another woman who Jack introduced as Suzie Costello weapons expert and second in command.
Suzie seemed nice, if a bit distant and abrupt, but how strange it was to find herself working with others again. In some ways it was like back at the DoD, although it was more relaxed, and a lot less crowded with only the three of them in the huge underground base. Tosh had been a bit worried at first about working underground, until she’d seen the Hub. Well, she was still worried because instead of it feeling claustrophobic it made her feel small and insignificant, but that was nothing new. She’d been feeling that way since she’d been arrested and thrown in prison for trying to save her mother.
Still, it felt a bit unnatural being around two people every day when she’d grown used to her own company, and to being treated like a thing rather than a person by her guards. Even after a week she was still only just starting to find her feet. It always surprised her when one of her new colleagues spoke to her.
“Tosh, see what there is in the database on that creature we brought in this morning.” Jack’s voice at her shoulder made Tosh nearly jump out of her skin. “I want to know if Torchwood’s ever come across anything like it before.”
“Yes, Sir, I’ll get on that right away.” Tosh opened a new window on her computer and started typing.
“It’s Jack, Tosh, not ‘Sir’. And relax; I don’t have to know right this instant, just when you have a moment.”
“Yes, of course. Sorry, Jack, it’s just…”
“A bit of an adjustment? I’m sure it is, but this isn’t the DoD, and it’s sure as hell not that UNIT prison. You’re safe here, among friends, and I don’t expect you to work yourself into the ground. Admittedly we’re a little short-handed, right now, but I’m a bit choosy over who works for me.”
“He likes us young and pretty,” Suzie threw over her shoulder as she drifted past, making notes on a clipboard.
Jack chuckled. “Well, that doesn’t hurt, it’s always a pleasure to have something pretty to look at, but more than that I’m looking for people with intelligence and useful skills, and they’re not as easy to find as you might think.”
“Already been snapped up by government think tanks or big corporations,” Suzie agreed, coming to lean on Tosh’s desk. “Here, what do you make of this?” She handed Tosh a set of detailed schematics, and when Tosh diffidently pointed out several errors, Suzie nodded. “That’s what I though. She’s good, Jack.”
“So happy you approve.” Jack swatted Suzie lightly on the butt, making her laugh, and Tosh blushed, wondering if the pair were sleeping together. Not that it was any of her business if they were.
“Hands to yourself, Harkness,” Suzie smirked as she returned to her work bench.
“I’ll leave you to get on with what you were doing.” Jack straightened up from where he’d been resting his hip against Tosh’s workstation. “Just let me have whatever information you find on that furry thing when you get around to it.”
“I will, Jack.”
“Keep up the good work!” Coattails flying out behind him, Jack bounded up the steps and disappeared into his office. Over at her bench, Suzie was singing softly to herself as she worked.
Tosh ducked her head and smiled. Strange though it was, she rather thought she was going to like working here.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Tosh, Jack, Suzie.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Tiny for Fragments, set pre-series.
Summary: Tosh has a lot of adjusting to do after being recruited by Torchwood Three.
Word Count: 660
Written For: oneill’s prompt ‘Any, Any, “How strange to work with others again”,’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
After months of being locked away in that tiny cell in the UNIT prison, Tosh was finding her new life to be a big adjustment. Not in a bad way though, it was just… odd. Her first morning at the Hub had been disconcerting.
The place was vast and cavernous, and for some reason she’d thought she would be working there alone aside from Jack, but there was someone else already there, another woman who Jack introduced as Suzie Costello weapons expert and second in command.
Suzie seemed nice, if a bit distant and abrupt, but how strange it was to find herself working with others again. In some ways it was like back at the DoD, although it was more relaxed, and a lot less crowded with only the three of them in the huge underground base. Tosh had been a bit worried at first about working underground, until she’d seen the Hub. Well, she was still worried because instead of it feeling claustrophobic it made her feel small and insignificant, but that was nothing new. She’d been feeling that way since she’d been arrested and thrown in prison for trying to save her mother.
Still, it felt a bit unnatural being around two people every day when she’d grown used to her own company, and to being treated like a thing rather than a person by her guards. Even after a week she was still only just starting to find her feet. It always surprised her when one of her new colleagues spoke to her.
“Tosh, see what there is in the database on that creature we brought in this morning.” Jack’s voice at her shoulder made Tosh nearly jump out of her skin. “I want to know if Torchwood’s ever come across anything like it before.”
“Yes, Sir, I’ll get on that right away.” Tosh opened a new window on her computer and started typing.
“It’s Jack, Tosh, not ‘Sir’. And relax; I don’t have to know right this instant, just when you have a moment.”
“Yes, of course. Sorry, Jack, it’s just…”
“A bit of an adjustment? I’m sure it is, but this isn’t the DoD, and it’s sure as hell not that UNIT prison. You’re safe here, among friends, and I don’t expect you to work yourself into the ground. Admittedly we’re a little short-handed, right now, but I’m a bit choosy over who works for me.”
“He likes us young and pretty,” Suzie threw over her shoulder as she drifted past, making notes on a clipboard.
Jack chuckled. “Well, that doesn’t hurt, it’s always a pleasure to have something pretty to look at, but more than that I’m looking for people with intelligence and useful skills, and they’re not as easy to find as you might think.”
“Already been snapped up by government think tanks or big corporations,” Suzie agreed, coming to lean on Tosh’s desk. “Here, what do you make of this?” She handed Tosh a set of detailed schematics, and when Tosh diffidently pointed out several errors, Suzie nodded. “That’s what I though. She’s good, Jack.”
“So happy you approve.” Jack swatted Suzie lightly on the butt, making her laugh, and Tosh blushed, wondering if the pair were sleeping together. Not that it was any of her business if they were.
“Hands to yourself, Harkness,” Suzie smirked as she returned to her work bench.
“I’ll leave you to get on with what you were doing.” Jack straightened up from where he’d been resting his hip against Tosh’s workstation. “Just let me have whatever information you find on that furry thing when you get around to it.”
“I will, Jack.”
“Keep up the good work!” Coattails flying out behind him, Jack bounded up the steps and disappeared into his office. Over at her bench, Suzie was singing softly to herself as she worked.
Tosh ducked her head and smiled. Strange though it was, she rather thought she was going to like working here.
The End