Fic: Gone Astray (4/?)
Title: The Beast In the Hub
Chapter: 4
Series: Torchwood
Characters: Hannah Summers-Fogg, Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper
Rating: PG-13
Thrace Warning Level: 4/3
Beta: luvinthe88and20
Spoilers: Adrift (TW 2.11)
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or the characters therein, they belong to the BBC and RTD. The characters of Hannah Summers-Fogg and Rose Harkness-Jones and that AU universe belong to faithharkness. Any original characters and places are my property.
Summary: In which Hannah rewrites H.P. Lovecraft and her and Jack have a heart-to-heart.
Author's Notes: This story started innocently enough, using a character from the AU of faithharkness. Those wonderful stories can be found here. I am using Hannah with the approval of faithharkness.
Chapter 3 - Did Anyone Get The Name Of The Weevil Who Ran Me Over?
Chapter 4 - The Beast In the Hub
The horrible conclusion which had been gradually obtruding itself upon my confused and reluctant mind was now an awful certainty I was lost, completely, hopelessly lost in the vast and labyrinthine recesses of the Hub. Turn as I might, in no direction could my straining vision seize on any object capable of serving as a guidepost to set me on an outward path. That nevermore should I behold the blessed light of day, or scan the shoppes and markets of my own Cardiff, my reason could no longer entertain the slightest unbelief. Hope had departed. Yes, indoctrinated as I was by a life of alien study, I derived no small measure of satisfaction from my unimpassioned demeanour; for although I had frequently read of the wild frenzies into which were thrown the victims of similar situations, I experienced none of these, but stood quiet as soon as I clearly realised the loss of my bearings.
Hannah figured H. P. Lovecraft would forgive her for rewriting some of his work. Heck, the dead man was probably the only one who was not against her at the moment. She slumped on the sofa in the main area of the Hub, her fingers rubbing over her bandaged wrist. Pressing down where the burn was on the inside of her arm, Hannah didn’t flinch, instead she relished the pain. The pain meant that she could feel something.
Warily raising her eyes, she kept an eye on Tosh and Gwen. Her Tosh was one of the scariest people she knew, and her Gwen wasn’t that far behind when it came to protecting those she loved. Tosh glanced in Hannah’s direction, putting her glasses on and concentrated on the computer screen in front of her, a scowl on her face. Hannah let out a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair, wincing as she hit the swollen bruise on her head.
She perked up a bit when she saw Ianto emerge from autopsy of his volition. Sure he was limping a bit and had a couple of bruises where shrapnel had hit him from the explosion, but he was up and about. Hannah shuddered as she remembered Ianto pulling her into the back room as pieces of the tourist office came flying at them. He even shielded her with his body as much as he could. Hannah was grateful to Ianto, but hadn’t had the chance to let him know.
Hannah’s whole body tensed as Jack hurried up the steps, never taking his stormy eyes off her. She swallowed as Jack put a hand on the small of Ianto’s back and leaned in, whispering in Ianto’s ear. Ianto just nodded and headed into Jack’s office. While Ianto did who knew what in Jack’s office, the bossman just glared at her. A shiver passed through her body as Jack nodded his head towards the stairs that led down to the morgue. Hannah gave a slight nod.
As Jack strode purposefully away, Hannah pushed herself up from the sofa, feeling much older and out of whack than when she had woken up that morning. Part of her told her not to follow Jack, she was injured and unarmed, this could end badly; the other part yelled at her - almost like Rose throwing a tantrum - that if she couldn’t trust Jack and Torchwood to help her figure out what had happened and how to get back to her poppet, then who could?
“Where are you going?” Gwen asked rather quickly, on the edge of her seat.
“I need to go to the toilet,” Hannah lied. “Isn’t there still one down there?” she asked, pointing to the stairs Jack had just taken.
“Yes, but the one by hydroponics is closer,” Tosh replied, nodding towards the circular stairwell behind her.
“That’s quite alright,” Hannah breezed out. “After what I found Jack and Ianto doing in there - how Jack is that flexible I have no clue - I’ve kind of been put off using that toilet, no matter what time or place I’m in,” Hannah stated as she hurried past Gwen and down the stairs. “Sorry! Really gotta go!”
Once out of earshot, Hannah crept down the stairs, not exactly sure what to expect. She exited the stairwell into the morgue and held her injured arm close to her. Walking towards the drawers, Hannah heard soft, almost imperceptible footsteps behind her. Willing her body to relax, so it would move with whatever attack came her way, Hannah spun on her heel.
“It looks like Ianto will be back to his regular activities in no time. Although you might want to hold back on the kitten po-”
Hannah felt the air in her lungs shoot out of her body as Jack grabbed her by the collar and planted her up against the chill wall. Pressing his fists into her chest, he pressed his body against hers, pinning her in place. Hannah let her hands hang by her side rather than getting them caught between Jack’s arms.
Very quietly, in an even tone, Jack whispered in her face, “Who are you?”
“I told you, my name is Hannah Summers-Fogg.”
“I don’t care what name you go by. Who? Are? You?”
Jack’s face was like granite. Even his body felt immoveable. Well, Hannah could find a way to move him, but if this Jack was anything like her’s, he would have some tricks up his sleeve as well.
“Why do you think I’m some big bad voodoo?”
Jack’s eyes rolled to the side and then he glared at her again. “Let’s see, you break into my base, have rather intriguing alien specimens on your person along with being pretty impressively armed for a morning walk, you attack my doctor, attack me, and while you are alone with Ianto, the tourist office nearly gets blown sky high. You tell me?”
“Well, technically, the tourist office didn’t ‘blow sky high’ per se. The door got blown in, there was some shrapnel, I nearly passed out again - I’m getting kind of tired of that - you guys came storming in-”
With amazingly fast reflexes, Jack shifted his body, still pinning her against the wall. He held Hannah by the neck with his right hand and wrenched her injured wrist against the wall with his left hand, pinching the throbbing wrist. Hannah fought her emotions, holding back the tears of pain. No way was she giving in to Jack-fucking-Harkness. I need to stop hanging around Owen so much, if I ever get back.
“Why did you bring me down to the morgue? So the others wouldn’t hear you kill me?” Hannah never took her eyes off of Jack’s baby blues. They would let her know when he was about to strike. “I thought I could trust Torchwood to help, I’m lost enough as it is.”
The two warriors stood there in a stalemate. Jack finally pulled back, letting go of Hannah, but he didn’t go far. She gently shook out her hand and wrist.
“My team’s safety is my-”
“- Number One priority. I know. It’s one of my top priorities, too.”
“One of the top ones? Then what’s number one?”
“Keeping Rose safe, no matter what.” Hannah stood her ground, still ready for an attack. She didn’t want to fight Jack, but like hell was she going quietly.
“You care about her a lot, huh?” Jack looked at Hannah. “Who is Rose’s mother?”
“I can’t tell you that, and you know it.” Hannah flexed her fingers. “She’s not mine, but there are times…” She let out a sigh. “There are times she feels like my daughter. I would do anything for her. Anything.”
Jack stepped back, hands on his hips. “Another daughter, another chance,” he muttered under his breath. He looked back at Hannah, his eyes a bit softer. “What do you think happened?”
Hannah slumped against the wall, feeling like an impasse had been averted and that this Jack might finally be on her side. “What happened exactly? I don’t know. I was thinking at first I jumped back in time, but now I think I went dimension hopping. How or why? Who knows. What I need to find out is if it affected my Torchwood as well.”
“You mean if something happened to Rose?”
“Rose, and the others. I care about my teammates as well.” Hannah stood up, pointing at Jack. “But if you tell them that, especially Owen, I will find a way to hop back and hurt you.”
Jack held up his hands in mock surrender. “Perhaps we should go back upstairs. Tosh might be worried enough by now to send Gwen down here to see what’s going on.”
“Can’t Tosh just watch on the CCTV like she normally does?”
“Not when I disabled it,” Jack stated, tapping his wrist strap. “Ladies first.”
“You just don’t want me behind you,” Hannah replied. “Although that is the better view.”
“Not from where I’m standing.”
“What?” Hannah turned on the steps to face Jack, her good hand on her hip.
“Go,” he commanded, turning her back around and shoving her up the stairs.
“Get that all sorted?” Owen asked as they emerged from the stairwell. He sat sprawled in his chair, still in his labcoat.
“Were you worried?”
“About you? No. About her? Yes.” Owen fell forward, planting his feet on the ground. “By the way, Tosh has been getting some weird readings from upstairs.”
“What do you have Tosh?” Jack asked as he pushed past Hannah to stand behind Tosh and place a supportive hand on her shoulder.
“I was running scans on the area since the explosion. By the blast area, it had to have come from outside the tourist office, maybe localised since it didn’t hurt the Plass per se. Every so often I see this spike, right here,” Tosh said as she highlighted one portion of the scan and enlarged it.
An alarm began to ring on Tosh’s supercomputer, and Hannah found herself drawn forward. She stood behind Jack and Tosh, Gwen by her side. Peering at the computer, she watched as Tosh scanned CCTV for something out of the ordinary.
“What is it?” Gwen asked.
Hannah stepped back as the picture became clear. “You have got to be kidding me.” She saw Owen pull up the footage on the computer at his desk as well.
“An alien ship just materialised on the Plass,” Tosh stated, her voice rising.
“And the hatch is opening,” Owen said, jumping out of his seat and running for the armoury.
Chapter: 4
Series: Torchwood
Characters: Hannah Summers-Fogg, Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper
Rating: PG-13
Thrace Warning Level: 4/3
Beta: luvinthe88and20
Spoilers: Adrift (TW 2.11)
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or the characters therein, they belong to the BBC and RTD. The characters of Hannah Summers-Fogg and Rose Harkness-Jones and that AU universe belong to faithharkness. Any original characters and places are my property.
Summary: In which Hannah rewrites H.P. Lovecraft and her and Jack have a heart-to-heart.
Author's Notes: This story started innocently enough, using a character from the AU of faithharkness. Those wonderful stories can be found here. I am using Hannah with the approval of faithharkness.
Chapter 3 - Did Anyone Get The Name Of The Weevil Who Ran Me Over?
Chapter 4 - The Beast In the Hub
The horrible conclusion which had been gradually obtruding itself upon my confused and reluctant mind was now an awful certainty I was lost, completely, hopelessly lost in the vast and labyrinthine recesses of the Hub. Turn as I might, in no direction could my straining vision seize on any object capable of serving as a guidepost to set me on an outward path. That nevermore should I behold the blessed light of day, or scan the shoppes and markets of my own Cardiff, my reason could no longer entertain the slightest unbelief. Hope had departed. Yes, indoctrinated as I was by a life of alien study, I derived no small measure of satisfaction from my unimpassioned demeanour; for although I had frequently read of the wild frenzies into which were thrown the victims of similar situations, I experienced none of these, but stood quiet as soon as I clearly realised the loss of my bearings.
Hannah figured H. P. Lovecraft would forgive her for rewriting some of his work. Heck, the dead man was probably the only one who was not against her at the moment. She slumped on the sofa in the main area of the Hub, her fingers rubbing over her bandaged wrist. Pressing down where the burn was on the inside of her arm, Hannah didn’t flinch, instead she relished the pain. The pain meant that she could feel something.
Warily raising her eyes, she kept an eye on Tosh and Gwen. Her Tosh was one of the scariest people she knew, and her Gwen wasn’t that far behind when it came to protecting those she loved. Tosh glanced in Hannah’s direction, putting her glasses on and concentrated on the computer screen in front of her, a scowl on her face. Hannah let out a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair, wincing as she hit the swollen bruise on her head.
She perked up a bit when she saw Ianto emerge from autopsy of his volition. Sure he was limping a bit and had a couple of bruises where shrapnel had hit him from the explosion, but he was up and about. Hannah shuddered as she remembered Ianto pulling her into the back room as pieces of the tourist office came flying at them. He even shielded her with his body as much as he could. Hannah was grateful to Ianto, but hadn’t had the chance to let him know.
Hannah’s whole body tensed as Jack hurried up the steps, never taking his stormy eyes off her. She swallowed as Jack put a hand on the small of Ianto’s back and leaned in, whispering in Ianto’s ear. Ianto just nodded and headed into Jack’s office. While Ianto did who knew what in Jack’s office, the bossman just glared at her. A shiver passed through her body as Jack nodded his head towards the stairs that led down to the morgue. Hannah gave a slight nod.
As Jack strode purposefully away, Hannah pushed herself up from the sofa, feeling much older and out of whack than when she had woken up that morning. Part of her told her not to follow Jack, she was injured and unarmed, this could end badly; the other part yelled at her - almost like Rose throwing a tantrum - that if she couldn’t trust Jack and Torchwood to help her figure out what had happened and how to get back to her poppet, then who could?
“Where are you going?” Gwen asked rather quickly, on the edge of her seat.
“I need to go to the toilet,” Hannah lied. “Isn’t there still one down there?” she asked, pointing to the stairs Jack had just taken.
“Yes, but the one by hydroponics is closer,” Tosh replied, nodding towards the circular stairwell behind her.
“That’s quite alright,” Hannah breezed out. “After what I found Jack and Ianto doing in there - how Jack is that flexible I have no clue - I’ve kind of been put off using that toilet, no matter what time or place I’m in,” Hannah stated as she hurried past Gwen and down the stairs. “Sorry! Really gotta go!”
Once out of earshot, Hannah crept down the stairs, not exactly sure what to expect. She exited the stairwell into the morgue and held her injured arm close to her. Walking towards the drawers, Hannah heard soft, almost imperceptible footsteps behind her. Willing her body to relax, so it would move with whatever attack came her way, Hannah spun on her heel.
“It looks like Ianto will be back to his regular activities in no time. Although you might want to hold back on the kitten po-”
Hannah felt the air in her lungs shoot out of her body as Jack grabbed her by the collar and planted her up against the chill wall. Pressing his fists into her chest, he pressed his body against hers, pinning her in place. Hannah let her hands hang by her side rather than getting them caught between Jack’s arms.
Very quietly, in an even tone, Jack whispered in her face, “Who are you?”
“I told you, my name is Hannah Summers-Fogg.”
“I don’t care what name you go by. Who? Are? You?”
Jack’s face was like granite. Even his body felt immoveable. Well, Hannah could find a way to move him, but if this Jack was anything like her’s, he would have some tricks up his sleeve as well.
“Why do you think I’m some big bad voodoo?”
Jack’s eyes rolled to the side and then he glared at her again. “Let’s see, you break into my base, have rather intriguing alien specimens on your person along with being pretty impressively armed for a morning walk, you attack my doctor, attack me, and while you are alone with Ianto, the tourist office nearly gets blown sky high. You tell me?”
“Well, technically, the tourist office didn’t ‘blow sky high’ per se. The door got blown in, there was some shrapnel, I nearly passed out again - I’m getting kind of tired of that - you guys came storming in-”
With amazingly fast reflexes, Jack shifted his body, still pinning her against the wall. He held Hannah by the neck with his right hand and wrenched her injured wrist against the wall with his left hand, pinching the throbbing wrist. Hannah fought her emotions, holding back the tears of pain. No way was she giving in to Jack-fucking-Harkness. I need to stop hanging around Owen so much, if I ever get back.
“Why did you bring me down to the morgue? So the others wouldn’t hear you kill me?” Hannah never took her eyes off of Jack’s baby blues. They would let her know when he was about to strike. “I thought I could trust Torchwood to help, I’m lost enough as it is.”
The two warriors stood there in a stalemate. Jack finally pulled back, letting go of Hannah, but he didn’t go far. She gently shook out her hand and wrist.
“My team’s safety is my-”
“- Number One priority. I know. It’s one of my top priorities, too.”
“One of the top ones? Then what’s number one?”
“Keeping Rose safe, no matter what.” Hannah stood her ground, still ready for an attack. She didn’t want to fight Jack, but like hell was she going quietly.
“You care about her a lot, huh?” Jack looked at Hannah. “Who is Rose’s mother?”
“I can’t tell you that, and you know it.” Hannah flexed her fingers. “She’s not mine, but there are times…” She let out a sigh. “There are times she feels like my daughter. I would do anything for her. Anything.”
Jack stepped back, hands on his hips. “Another daughter, another chance,” he muttered under his breath. He looked back at Hannah, his eyes a bit softer. “What do you think happened?”
Hannah slumped against the wall, feeling like an impasse had been averted and that this Jack might finally be on her side. “What happened exactly? I don’t know. I was thinking at first I jumped back in time, but now I think I went dimension hopping. How or why? Who knows. What I need to find out is if it affected my Torchwood as well.”
“You mean if something happened to Rose?”
“Rose, and the others. I care about my teammates as well.” Hannah stood up, pointing at Jack. “But if you tell them that, especially Owen, I will find a way to hop back and hurt you.”
Jack held up his hands in mock surrender. “Perhaps we should go back upstairs. Tosh might be worried enough by now to send Gwen down here to see what’s going on.”
“Can’t Tosh just watch on the CCTV like she normally does?”
“Not when I disabled it,” Jack stated, tapping his wrist strap. “Ladies first.”
“You just don’t want me behind you,” Hannah replied. “Although that is the better view.”
“Not from where I’m standing.”
“What?” Hannah turned on the steps to face Jack, her good hand on her hip.
“Go,” he commanded, turning her back around and shoving her up the stairs.
“Get that all sorted?” Owen asked as they emerged from the stairwell. He sat sprawled in his chair, still in his labcoat.
“Were you worried?”
“About you? No. About her? Yes.” Owen fell forward, planting his feet on the ground. “By the way, Tosh has been getting some weird readings from upstairs.”
“What do you have Tosh?” Jack asked as he pushed past Hannah to stand behind Tosh and place a supportive hand on her shoulder.
“I was running scans on the area since the explosion. By the blast area, it had to have come from outside the tourist office, maybe localised since it didn’t hurt the Plass per se. Every so often I see this spike, right here,” Tosh said as she highlighted one portion of the scan and enlarged it.
An alarm began to ring on Tosh’s supercomputer, and Hannah found herself drawn forward. She stood behind Jack and Tosh, Gwen by her side. Peering at the computer, she watched as Tosh scanned CCTV for something out of the ordinary.
“What is it?” Gwen asked.
Hannah stepped back as the picture became clear. “You have got to be kidding me.” She saw Owen pull up the footage on the computer at his desk as well.
“An alien ship just materialised on the Plass,” Tosh stated, her voice rising.
“And the hatch is opening,” Owen said, jumping out of his seat and running for the armoury.