Showtime
Title: Showtime
Series: Something that starts with "S", part eighteen
Characters: Jack & Ianto, Gwen, Martha
Rating: hard R
Summary: Another apocalypse? It's not even Tuesday.
A/N: for horizonssing day 28.
Its been a crazy couple of weeks for Torchwood Cardiff. The rift had chosen the last two weeks before Jack's due to unleash the demon spawn on the world to go into overdrive. Since the strange explosion on Ynys Lladdwyn, there'd been a rise in strange rift events where items would come through, but then explode leaving a wake of destruction. So far they'd been lucky, most of the items were appearing in the bay or in empty fields; but they all knew that their luck wouldn't hold out for long. "Ianto, any luck identifying what these explosions are?" Jack rested his hand on Ianto's shoulder, it was meant to be reassuring, but Jack was really leaning to keep his balance.
"Mainframe thinks that the debris is temporally unstable, it comes through and once its here it starts tearing at the subatomic level; all that energy is released like an atomic bomb. From what we've seen so far, iTosh thinks the largest piece to fall through up to now has been maybe a hundred kilograms- and that was Anglesey." Ianto shuddered at the memory. He was still hazy about what exactly had happened on the island. He remembered taking readings, pushing Jack to safety and covering him, then it all gets confused. "Based on the Anglesey readings, iTosh thinks what we're getting is wreckage from some sort of vessel- we should probably be prepared for things to get much worse before they get better." Ianto grasped the hand Jack was resting on his shoulder and said quietly, "you should get some rest, you look tired."
Jack smiled, "couple more days and I'll be back to my normal dashing self." Jack patted Ianto once on the shoulder before turning towards his office, it wouldn't be much longer; the pigment stain was almost complete- and hadn't Ianto gotten a kick out of that? With no natural way to give birth, the genetic engineers had built in a very unsubtle indicator to mark the completion of gestation.
---
"Uhm, Jack?" Ianto had stopped the slow licks and bites he'd been leaving from Jack's neck to groin. "Is there something you should tell me?" Ianto was sitting up with an eyebrow quirked so high it nearly reached his hairline as he gestured to Jack's crotch. Jack pulled himself back out of the lust filled haze Ianto had built in him long enough to look down at his waist.
"Ah. Yes, well its almost time I see." Jack's feigned nonchalance was quickly broken by Ianto's guffawing laughter.
"Jack, your bits are turning purple like some sort of bloody demented skewbald!" And any remaining arousal quickly deflated under the continued chuckles. "Is there something you need to tell me?" Ianto climbed back up and settled himself next to Jack ready to hear this story. "I'm waiting."
Jack took a deep breath, figuring if he got this out quickly, it would be like pulling a plaster off fast. "Okay, remember I mentioned a marker indicating it was time for the spawn to be born? Well, you're looking at it." Jack gave Ianto a withering look at the stifled giggle. "When the pigment blends into a solid mass, the baking is done."
Ianto smirked, "so it's the genetic equivalent of a plastic doneness plug in a turkey?" He couldn't contain it anymore and began laughing so hard that he was crying.
"Well, I'm glad you find it so amusing," Jack sniffed.
Ianto regained his breath and leaned over to give Jack a kiss, "sorry, but you've got to admit, it is a bit funny. I mean, they couldn't come up with something, I don't know, maybe a bit more subtle than turning your private parts into mutant aubergines?" Ianto chuckled and kept kissing Jack.
Jack smiled into the kiss, "well, they wanted it to be noticeable. Earlier generations had the port wine stains spreading all over. It fades as everything goes back to normal. Everything still functions properly, and considering the extra hormone levels, its all very, very interested in exercise." Jack grabbed Ianto's hand and thrust it into his groin. "Work to do."
---
"Jack! Rift predictor is off the charts, what ever is coming through is big!" Gwen was yelling as she ran from her station to the armory. She was pulling all of the heavy artillery out and packing it into travel cases.
"Its going to end up on the Plass! Jack, if iTosh has the calculations right, the thing weighs over a metric ton- it might be the bulk of the vessel we've been getting bits of." Ianto paused and looked at Jack with concern, "if its temporally unstable it will obliterate Cardiff and probably blow the rift wide open." Jack nodded with a grim expression.
"Ianto, Gwen, secure the archives- move anything that we don't want getting out in there and lock it down. Martha contact UNIT and get them on high alert, send them the rift telemetry if they start asking questions. Make sure you have full emergency medical kits in everyone's cars and the SUV. We don't know what's going to happen, but no one does anything stupid, understand?" Jack was speaking to the entire team, but looking directly at Ianto. "Right, move people and get the status up on audio." Jack turned to his office to prepare but Martha grabbed his arm.
"Jack Harkness, as medical office for Torchwood Cardiff, I hereby relieve you of field duty. You'll command operations from the tactical center in archives. No questions Jack, you'll do as I say or I'll lock you in a cell." Martha leveled her steeliest gaze at him but he saw Ianto's reflection in the glass mouthing 'thank you' to her.
"Fine. If the situation calls for it, I'll go down there; but not until then agreed?" Jack wasn't going to abandon his team just yet.
"Its my call though, understand?" Martha was not going to back down. Jack nodded and went to the safe in his office. The others had seen the main storage containers, but only Ianto knew about the really dangerous items in the box under the trap door.
"Incoming message. Beginning translation." Everyone turned looking for the source of the voice, which was an eerie echo of Toshiko Sato. "Translation in progress."
"Did you configure it to talk?" Gwen looked at Ianto in confusion.
Ianto shook his head, "No. I guess it decided it needed a voice, and it chose Tosh." Ianto was quietly relieved that the mainframe had decided to start speaking with Tosh's voice, that meant the occasional chat with the future iTosh wouldn't be quite as difficult to hide. "Jack! There's an incoming message, its beaming out of the rift crack above us." Ianto was scanning the data processing on his screen and noting the modules that iTosh was using. "Its repeating like a mayday message, but its scrambled, almost like the entire signal is inverted, or like its traveling backwards." Ianto really didn't like the thought of that.
"Any idea who they are?" Martha had a archive search screen open ready for Ianto's reply.
"The best the translator can come up with Tvogs. It keeps repeating after the recurring pattern which we're identifying as the S.O.S." Ianto had a bad feeling at the name, but was certain he'd never seen it in the archives. "Jack, Martha, have either of you heard of a race called that?" Martha apparently hadn't since she'd started the query of the archives. Jack frowned and shook his head.
"Ianto, what about the time lock. Toshiko's time lock created a bubble that shielded us, can we maybe project a bubble around whatever comes through the rift? If its unstable, could that stabilize it, at least temporarily?" Gwen knew she was grasping at straws, but she'd learnt that sometimes throwing ideas out that didn't sound possible could lead to something that was.
The mainframe sounded an alarm, "warning, rift activity at zed plus two hundred metres. Initial particulates confirm temporally unstable material."
"Gwen, get the police to clear the Plass, put Kathy and Andy on alert and get one of them over here. Ianto,it might not work, but try the time lock- even if it just gives us enough time to shove them out to sea, it will get them off of the rift. Martha? Where's UNIT?" Jack was taking long strides towards Ianto and rested his hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "no heroics Ianto, this time we both stay safe." Jack kissed Ianto's forehead before turning back to his office. As he entered the glass-enclosed space, the ground started to rumble. Jack grabbed for a wall and shouted, "everyone hold on!"
"Its coming through. Bloody hell, its huge!" Ianto's eyes were glued to the screens as the data flew past. He jerked his head to the side and suddenly threw himself at Gwen, tumbling her several feet into the entry way of Jack's office.
"Christ Ianto, what the hell?" Gwen stopped mid-sentence as several large chunks of masonry crushed what used to be the workstation she was seated at. She looked at Ianto speechless.
Ianto gave her a small smile as he lifted her up, "you'd think after as many times this place has nearly been destroyed; we'd have found the last of the worn structure." Ianto turned to look at Jack, mentally cataloging that he was alright, "and that some people might learn to put their toys away." Jack was confused then saw the mess of what used to be his record collection broken is pieces on the floor.
Jack ran to the broken pile of lacquered plates as the ground stopped trembling. "Damn, not Rosemary!" Jack picked up a shard and looked at Ianto forlornly, "Ianto?"
Both Gwen and Ianto looked at Jack trying desperately not to break into laughter at the wobbly lower lip and sad puppy eye treatment they were getting. With a theatrical sigh and roll of eyes, Ianto walked over to Jack and kissed his cheek, "priorities my Captain, first we stop the destruction of Cardiff, then we'll look at getting your Clooney phonographs replaced.
"But... Its Bad for Me?" Jack whined.
Ianto looked back at him, "it could be worse for us!"
The story continues in Sacrifice
Series: Something that starts with "S", part eighteen
Characters: Jack & Ianto, Gwen, Martha
Rating: hard R
Summary: Another apocalypse? It's not even Tuesday.
A/N: for horizonssing day 28.
Its been a crazy couple of weeks for Torchwood Cardiff. The rift had chosen the last two weeks before Jack's due to unleash the demon spawn on the world to go into overdrive. Since the strange explosion on Ynys Lladdwyn, there'd been a rise in strange rift events where items would come through, but then explode leaving a wake of destruction. So far they'd been lucky, most of the items were appearing in the bay or in empty fields; but they all knew that their luck wouldn't hold out for long. "Ianto, any luck identifying what these explosions are?" Jack rested his hand on Ianto's shoulder, it was meant to be reassuring, but Jack was really leaning to keep his balance.
"Mainframe thinks that the debris is temporally unstable, it comes through and once its here it starts tearing at the subatomic level; all that energy is released like an atomic bomb. From what we've seen so far, iTosh thinks the largest piece to fall through up to now has been maybe a hundred kilograms- and that was Anglesey." Ianto shuddered at the memory. He was still hazy about what exactly had happened on the island. He remembered taking readings, pushing Jack to safety and covering him, then it all gets confused. "Based on the Anglesey readings, iTosh thinks what we're getting is wreckage from some sort of vessel- we should probably be prepared for things to get much worse before they get better." Ianto grasped the hand Jack was resting on his shoulder and said quietly, "you should get some rest, you look tired."
Jack smiled, "couple more days and I'll be back to my normal dashing self." Jack patted Ianto once on the shoulder before turning towards his office, it wouldn't be much longer; the pigment stain was almost complete- and hadn't Ianto gotten a kick out of that? With no natural way to give birth, the genetic engineers had built in a very unsubtle indicator to mark the completion of gestation.
---
"Uhm, Jack?" Ianto had stopped the slow licks and bites he'd been leaving from Jack's neck to groin. "Is there something you should tell me?" Ianto was sitting up with an eyebrow quirked so high it nearly reached his hairline as he gestured to Jack's crotch. Jack pulled himself back out of the lust filled haze Ianto had built in him long enough to look down at his waist.
"Ah. Yes, well its almost time I see." Jack's feigned nonchalance was quickly broken by Ianto's guffawing laughter.
"Jack, your bits are turning purple like some sort of bloody demented skewbald!" And any remaining arousal quickly deflated under the continued chuckles. "Is there something you need to tell me?" Ianto climbed back up and settled himself next to Jack ready to hear this story. "I'm waiting."
Jack took a deep breath, figuring if he got this out quickly, it would be like pulling a plaster off fast. "Okay, remember I mentioned a marker indicating it was time for the spawn to be born? Well, you're looking at it." Jack gave Ianto a withering look at the stifled giggle. "When the pigment blends into a solid mass, the baking is done."
Ianto smirked, "so it's the genetic equivalent of a plastic doneness plug in a turkey?" He couldn't contain it anymore and began laughing so hard that he was crying.
"Well, I'm glad you find it so amusing," Jack sniffed.
Ianto regained his breath and leaned over to give Jack a kiss, "sorry, but you've got to admit, it is a bit funny. I mean, they couldn't come up with something, I don't know, maybe a bit more subtle than turning your private parts into mutant aubergines?" Ianto chuckled and kept kissing Jack.
Jack smiled into the kiss, "well, they wanted it to be noticeable. Earlier generations had the port wine stains spreading all over. It fades as everything goes back to normal. Everything still functions properly, and considering the extra hormone levels, its all very, very interested in exercise." Jack grabbed Ianto's hand and thrust it into his groin. "Work to do."
---
"Jack! Rift predictor is off the charts, what ever is coming through is big!" Gwen was yelling as she ran from her station to the armory. She was pulling all of the heavy artillery out and packing it into travel cases.
"Its going to end up on the Plass! Jack, if iTosh has the calculations right, the thing weighs over a metric ton- it might be the bulk of the vessel we've been getting bits of." Ianto paused and looked at Jack with concern, "if its temporally unstable it will obliterate Cardiff and probably blow the rift wide open." Jack nodded with a grim expression.
"Ianto, Gwen, secure the archives- move anything that we don't want getting out in there and lock it down. Martha contact UNIT and get them on high alert, send them the rift telemetry if they start asking questions. Make sure you have full emergency medical kits in everyone's cars and the SUV. We don't know what's going to happen, but no one does anything stupid, understand?" Jack was speaking to the entire team, but looking directly at Ianto. "Right, move people and get the status up on audio." Jack turned to his office to prepare but Martha grabbed his arm.
"Jack Harkness, as medical office for Torchwood Cardiff, I hereby relieve you of field duty. You'll command operations from the tactical center in archives. No questions Jack, you'll do as I say or I'll lock you in a cell." Martha leveled her steeliest gaze at him but he saw Ianto's reflection in the glass mouthing 'thank you' to her.
"Fine. If the situation calls for it, I'll go down there; but not until then agreed?" Jack wasn't going to abandon his team just yet.
"Its my call though, understand?" Martha was not going to back down. Jack nodded and went to the safe in his office. The others had seen the main storage containers, but only Ianto knew about the really dangerous items in the box under the trap door.
"Incoming message. Beginning translation." Everyone turned looking for the source of the voice, which was an eerie echo of Toshiko Sato. "Translation in progress."
"Did you configure it to talk?" Gwen looked at Ianto in confusion.
Ianto shook his head, "No. I guess it decided it needed a voice, and it chose Tosh." Ianto was quietly relieved that the mainframe had decided to start speaking with Tosh's voice, that meant the occasional chat with the future iTosh wouldn't be quite as difficult to hide. "Jack! There's an incoming message, its beaming out of the rift crack above us." Ianto was scanning the data processing on his screen and noting the modules that iTosh was using. "Its repeating like a mayday message, but its scrambled, almost like the entire signal is inverted, or like its traveling backwards." Ianto really didn't like the thought of that.
"Any idea who they are?" Martha had a archive search screen open ready for Ianto's reply.
"The best the translator can come up with Tvogs. It keeps repeating after the recurring pattern which we're identifying as the S.O.S." Ianto had a bad feeling at the name, but was certain he'd never seen it in the archives. "Jack, Martha, have either of you heard of a race called that?" Martha apparently hadn't since she'd started the query of the archives. Jack frowned and shook his head.
"Ianto, what about the time lock. Toshiko's time lock created a bubble that shielded us, can we maybe project a bubble around whatever comes through the rift? If its unstable, could that stabilize it, at least temporarily?" Gwen knew she was grasping at straws, but she'd learnt that sometimes throwing ideas out that didn't sound possible could lead to something that was.
The mainframe sounded an alarm, "warning, rift activity at zed plus two hundred metres. Initial particulates confirm temporally unstable material."
"Gwen, get the police to clear the Plass, put Kathy and Andy on alert and get one of them over here. Ianto,it might not work, but try the time lock- even if it just gives us enough time to shove them out to sea, it will get them off of the rift. Martha? Where's UNIT?" Jack was taking long strides towards Ianto and rested his hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "no heroics Ianto, this time we both stay safe." Jack kissed Ianto's forehead before turning back to his office. As he entered the glass-enclosed space, the ground started to rumble. Jack grabbed for a wall and shouted, "everyone hold on!"
"Its coming through. Bloody hell, its huge!" Ianto's eyes were glued to the screens as the data flew past. He jerked his head to the side and suddenly threw himself at Gwen, tumbling her several feet into the entry way of Jack's office.
"Christ Ianto, what the hell?" Gwen stopped mid-sentence as several large chunks of masonry crushed what used to be the workstation she was seated at. She looked at Ianto speechless.
Ianto gave her a small smile as he lifted her up, "you'd think after as many times this place has nearly been destroyed; we'd have found the last of the worn structure." Ianto turned to look at Jack, mentally cataloging that he was alright, "and that some people might learn to put their toys away." Jack was confused then saw the mess of what used to be his record collection broken is pieces on the floor.
Jack ran to the broken pile of lacquered plates as the ground stopped trembling. "Damn, not Rosemary!" Jack picked up a shard and looked at Ianto forlornly, "Ianto?"
Both Gwen and Ianto looked at Jack trying desperately not to break into laughter at the wobbly lower lip and sad puppy eye treatment they were getting. With a theatrical sigh and roll of eyes, Ianto walked over to Jack and kissed his cheek, "priorities my Captain, first we stop the destruction of Cardiff, then we'll look at getting your Clooney phonographs replaced.
"But... Its Bad for Me?" Jack whined.
Ianto looked back at him, "it could be worse for us!"
The story continues in Sacrifice