Fic: Gone Astray (5/?)
Title: Gone Astray
Chapter: 5 - And The World Kept On Turning
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: It turns out, Hannah is not the only one to visit the Hub that day.
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.
And The World Kept on Turning
To say an alien ship had landed on the Plass was a lie. Technically it was on the dock that led to the tourist office, so at least visibility was at a minimum. Add to that, it was after midnight; the majority of people in Cardiff would never know aliens had landed, this day, and would go about their business lying to themselves. If Torchwood could get rid of the ship before the morning.
Hannah paced behind Tosh, watching the monitor. She couldn’t believe that Jack didn’t let her go with to check out the alien ship. The only person he had let come outside with him was Gwen, while Owen waited inside the tourist office, weapon ready just in case.
“Have they made contact yet?” Ianto asked, coming in from Jack’s office.
“No,” Hannah and Tosh said at the same time.
“Jack, I’m picking up two life signs,” Gwen said over the comms so everyone could hear.
“I say guns blazing,” Owen stated over the comms.
“We don’t know if they are harmful,” Jack hissed back at all of them.
“And we don’t bloody know they ‘come in peace’ either,” Owen retorted.
Hannah dropped her head into the palm of her hand as Ianto rolled his eyes next to her. Add another check to the column of ‘things that are still the same.’ Tosh split the CCTV footage so they could watch Jack and Gwen, and enhanced the footage on the open hatch of the alien ship.
Over Gwen and Jack’s open comms, they suddenly heard yammering from inside the ship. Jack and Gwen stopped just outside the open hatch, listening, guns at the ready.
“God, it almost sounds like Rhys and I,” Gwen whispered.
“You might be right,” Jack said.
“Are you kidding me?” Owen replied.
Gwen and Jack stood on either side of the hatch, as Jack pounded on the outside of the ship. “Dangdon mik curash!”
“What the fuck was that?” Owen mumbled.
“Come out of the ship,” Jack said loudly.
A big blue, blinking eye looked out around the edge of the hatch, another eye joined it. One eye looked at Jack, the other eye looked at Gwen. The eyes twirled around on skinny appendages and then ducked back into the ship.
“Was that two eyes on antennas?” Hannah asked, incredulous. “I’ve seen aliens, but I don’t think I have actually ever seen any with actual googley-eyes.”
Tosh let out a little giggle and continued to type away.
“I said come out of the ship,” Jack said, moving in front of the hatch and holstering his weapon.
“Jack…” Gwen intoned.
Hannah let out a sigh, wondering just what the hell Jack was doing. A grey hand made up of three thick fingers, with skin like an elephant, was seen creeping around the side of the hatch. They had no fingernails on the ends. It was followed by a grey furry arm, with so much hair it looked like shag carpeting. Then, only something that could be described as a four foot tall Cousin It, with two blue eyes on six-inch long antenna stepped into the hatchway.
“That’s a new one,” Ianto stated.
“So it’s not just me who hasn’t seen these before?” Hannah asked.
“I’m not even finding them in the database,” Tosh responded. Suddenly Tosh looked up and clicked a couple of keys, enlarging CCTV footage from the Plass. “Jack, you have a group of teens headed your way.”
“Just great,” Owen replied.
“Sumdong grikash dorcet,” Jack quickly said to the alien.
The alien’s eyes moved up and down looking at Jack, and turned around and scuttled into the ship. Before anyone could say anything, the alien returned with another one that looked just like it, except this one had yellow eyes.
“We’re coming down,” Jack said.
“And they’ll probably want tea,” Ianto muttered, turning away towards the kitchenette.
Hannah watched as Tosh followed the team and the two aliens into the tourist office, through the hidden passageway and up to the cog door. Owen led the way with Gwen next to the aliens, and Jack bringing up the rear. The entire time they were walking, the aliens were chattering to themselves in their own language.
“I wonder if they’re teenagers?” Hannah muttered.
“Definitely talkative,” Tosh replied, biting her lower lip and running a scan. She enlarged a segment of the scan, showing Hannah the alien’s feet. “Look at that. Amazing. At first glance they look flat but have thick pads, and the toe around looks jointed for gripping. I really wonder what kind of planet they live on. Perhaps it’s a cold mountain region…” Tosh went back to collecting information for the alien species database.
At least that’s what Hannah assumed she was doing. Sitting down in the chair Tosh didn’t seem to be using, Hannah didn’t want to acknowledge the thoughts that were in her head, but she knew she had to. What if they couldn’t get her back? If she had crossed parallel universes, that might not be possible. Knowing this version of her was dead, Hannah figured she would ask this Jack if she could stay on with Torchwood. It’s not like there was anywhere else she could go.
Balling her hand into a fist, Hannah punched her leg, staring at the bandage. She would get back to her Rose if it took a hundred years - at least to make sure Rose was okay. Sure, she could see this Torchwood was as close as hers, but not in the same way. Hannah wanted to see her family again. She found herself just staring at the computer screens without seeing anything.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Ianto suddenly said from behind her, making Hannah jump in her skin.
“Quit doing that!”
“Quit what?”
“I mean, don’t sneak up on me,” Hannah admonished, turning to Ianto who stood there holding a mug of coffee out to her. “Ooooo… is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a cup of coffee for you, then yes,” Ianto said as he gave her the cup, placing another cup on Tosh’s desk, receiving a smile from Tosh.
“Are you sure Owen won’t complain, saying the caffeine will raise my blood pressure?” Hannah took a sip and nearly sank into bliss. Another big ‘ol check for the ‘things the same’ column.
Ianto nearly snorted and gave her a look like he didn’t care what Owen had to say. Hannah grinned. No matter what, she liked her Iantos.
Her eyes snapped up, body at attention as the cog door rolled open, allowing the aliens into the Hub. “Is this a good idea?” Hannah asked.
“Jack apparently thinks so,” Ianto mumbled.
Hannah reluctantly put the coffee down on the desk and stood up. Jack nearly swooped over to Tosh’s workstation, his coat trailing behind him. He moved in next to her and opened his wrist strap, and then typed away, inputting commands into the computer. Tosh watched him intently. The two aliens continued to chatter away.
Jack looked up at the aliens and then hit the ‘enter’ key on Tosh’s keyboard and a hum seemed to echo in the air of the Hub. Without warning a computerized voice was heard from the speakers. It took a moment for Hannah to realize that the voice was translating the aliens for them.
“If you had only paid attention, we would not have ended up in this galaxy,” the voice said. The aliens stopped talking and looked up at the ceiling. “That is us,” it translated.
“I did it to help my crew know what you were saying,” Jack stated.
“Jucas de criminto secash guren,” the voice said.
“Good, good idea!” Blue eyes moved forward, holding out its hands. “I thank you for whatever help you can give us repairing our ship. Unfortunately my navigator was of no help.”
“I’ve only been your navigator for 30 sectars. If you wanted-”
“Wait!” Blue eyes held up a hand and sniffed the air. Well, it looked like he sniffed the air if Hannah could see where a nose would be. The long hair shook in excitement. “You have a sub-catalytic resonator!”
“We have a what?” Gwen asked.
Jack folded his arms across his chest. “Just what do you need a sub-catalytic resonator for? Those aren’t going to be used for about another 1,000 years?”
“If you’re planet is not using them for so long, why do you have one?” Yellow eyes asked.
Hannah wasn’t quite sure what to make of this alien couple. Sure, different species acted differently than human norms but their actions nearly screamed: COUPLE!
“How about I see if I can locate the part you’re looking for,” Jack said, slipping his coat off.
Ianto suddenly appeared behind Jack, bruises and all, and took the coat from Jack’s hands. Jack rolled up his shirt sleeves. Hannah tentatively sat down in Owen’s chair, still not feeling 100 percent better. Plus, if she needed a weapon… she pulled open the second drawer on the left and saw the glint of a scalpel. Hannah grinned.
“Owen, you’re with me,” Jack said, heading for the secure archives.
“Why?”
“Are you familiar with a car transmission?”
Owen shot Jack a dirty look. “Yes.”
“Three guesses what a sub-catalytic resonator is like.” Jack said, disappearing down the stairwell. “I may be good, but I can’t carry that thing on my own!”
Owen let out a groan and followed Jack downstairs. Hannah looked over, noticing Tosh scanning and recording as much about the two aliens as she could. Gwen approached them, a smile on her face.
“Right. While we’re waiting on them, why don’t you have a seat?” She shot her hands out, talking with them as she became flustered. “I mean, if you can sit. Otherwise you can just stand, or whatever you need to do.”
“Forgive my friend,” Ianto interjected, shoving a cup of coffee into Gwen’s hands. He stepped in front of the two aliens, an inviting smile on his face. “Is there anything I can get for you? Something to drink? Or eat?”
“No,” Yellow eyes replied.
“If we are 1,000… years, you said, before your people are using a sub-catalytic resonator, what planet are we on and in what time age?” Blue moved their eyes around the antenna looking at everyone in the room.
“Ummm…” Gwen quickly started drinking her coffee.
Hannah leaned back in the chair, crossing her ankles, hands clasped across her stomach. She was curious what the response would be. Jack seemed to think these aliens were harmless, otherwise why would he have brought them into the Hub without guns blazing. She felt a little miffed that Torchwood hadn’t levelled weapons at them and everything. What made her so special? Of course, the aliens hadn’t broken into the Hub, or-
Her eyes snapped to the computer screen above Tosh showing the aliens ship outside the tourist office. Hannah stood up, walking towards the computer screen, not even paying attention to what Ianto was telling the two aliens. She looked at the damage to the outside of the ship. Her eyes glanced down to the other CCTV footage and then back at the ship.
“Hannah?” Tosh asked.
Hannah turned to Tosh as her mind figured it out. Her attention snapped to the aliens as she started walking towards them. It had been them.
“Hannah?” Ianto questioned, stepping between her and the troublemakers. “What’s wrong?”
“They did it.” She pointed at Blue and Yellow to emphasize her point. “They’re the ones who bombed the tourist office.”
“Tourist office? What’s a tourist office?” Yellow asked.
“You can’t be serious,” Gwen replied.
“But I am. Look at the trajectory of the damage to their ship! Whatever happened to their ship is what nearly made Ianto and I crispy critters.”
Ianto hurried past her to Tosh’s work area, the two of them pulling up footage and maps.
“What is it you think we did?” Blue stepped in front of Yellow.
“Your ship caused the damage in the upstairs office,” Hannah stated pointing towards the ceiling. She then waved her bandaged hand at them. “And you hurt us!”
“We didn’t mean to,” Yellow replied.
“It just gets worse. I told you getting that calendar was a bad idea.” Blue turned his eyes to Yellow.
“She’s right,” Tosh said.
“Wait, what about a calendar?”
“Hot Bods of The Time Agency. She won’t put it down, even when navigating!”
Before anyone could respond, Jack and Owen came grunting upstairs carrying a large piece of mechanics with several silver gears in clear casing. They bent over, putting it down on the floor, Jack’s back to the aliens.
“Oh goodness! It’s you! It’s you!” Yellow was nearly squealing.
Jack quickly turned around at attention, facing the visitors. “What?”
“Goodness! Goodness!” Yellow was shaking so much, her hair was flouncing all over the place. “Rear of the Year 5094! GOODNESS!”
“What?” Tosh, Ianto, Gwen and Hannah all said at once.
“Of course it is,” Owen muttered.
“Wait,” Blue stated, gesturing at Jack with one of his hands. “It’s because of you we crashed!”
Chapter: 5 - And The World Kept On Turning
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: It turns out, Hannah is not the only one to visit the Hub that day.
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.
And The World Kept on Turning
To say an alien ship had landed on the Plass was a lie. Technically it was on the dock that led to the tourist office, so at least visibility was at a minimum. Add to that, it was after midnight; the majority of people in Cardiff would never know aliens had landed, this day, and would go about their business lying to themselves. If Torchwood could get rid of the ship before the morning.
Hannah paced behind Tosh, watching the monitor. She couldn’t believe that Jack didn’t let her go with to check out the alien ship. The only person he had let come outside with him was Gwen, while Owen waited inside the tourist office, weapon ready just in case.
“Have they made contact yet?” Ianto asked, coming in from Jack’s office.
“No,” Hannah and Tosh said at the same time.
“Jack, I’m picking up two life signs,” Gwen said over the comms so everyone could hear.
“I say guns blazing,” Owen stated over the comms.
“We don’t know if they are harmful,” Jack hissed back at all of them.
“And we don’t bloody know they ‘come in peace’ either,” Owen retorted.
Hannah dropped her head into the palm of her hand as Ianto rolled his eyes next to her. Add another check to the column of ‘things that are still the same.’ Tosh split the CCTV footage so they could watch Jack and Gwen, and enhanced the footage on the open hatch of the alien ship.
Over Gwen and Jack’s open comms, they suddenly heard yammering from inside the ship. Jack and Gwen stopped just outside the open hatch, listening, guns at the ready.
“God, it almost sounds like Rhys and I,” Gwen whispered.
“You might be right,” Jack said.
“Are you kidding me?” Owen replied.
Gwen and Jack stood on either side of the hatch, as Jack pounded on the outside of the ship. “Dangdon mik curash!”
“What the fuck was that?” Owen mumbled.
“Come out of the ship,” Jack said loudly.
A big blue, blinking eye looked out around the edge of the hatch, another eye joined it. One eye looked at Jack, the other eye looked at Gwen. The eyes twirled around on skinny appendages and then ducked back into the ship.
“Was that two eyes on antennas?” Hannah asked, incredulous. “I’ve seen aliens, but I don’t think I have actually ever seen any with actual googley-eyes.”
Tosh let out a little giggle and continued to type away.
“I said come out of the ship,” Jack said, moving in front of the hatch and holstering his weapon.
“Jack…” Gwen intoned.
Hannah let out a sigh, wondering just what the hell Jack was doing. A grey hand made up of three thick fingers, with skin like an elephant, was seen creeping around the side of the hatch. They had no fingernails on the ends. It was followed by a grey furry arm, with so much hair it looked like shag carpeting. Then, only something that could be described as a four foot tall Cousin It, with two blue eyes on six-inch long antenna stepped into the hatchway.
“That’s a new one,” Ianto stated.
“So it’s not just me who hasn’t seen these before?” Hannah asked.
“I’m not even finding them in the database,” Tosh responded. Suddenly Tosh looked up and clicked a couple of keys, enlarging CCTV footage from the Plass. “Jack, you have a group of teens headed your way.”
“Just great,” Owen replied.
“Sumdong grikash dorcet,” Jack quickly said to the alien.
The alien’s eyes moved up and down looking at Jack, and turned around and scuttled into the ship. Before anyone could say anything, the alien returned with another one that looked just like it, except this one had yellow eyes.
“We’re coming down,” Jack said.
“And they’ll probably want tea,” Ianto muttered, turning away towards the kitchenette.
Hannah watched as Tosh followed the team and the two aliens into the tourist office, through the hidden passageway and up to the cog door. Owen led the way with Gwen next to the aliens, and Jack bringing up the rear. The entire time they were walking, the aliens were chattering to themselves in their own language.
“I wonder if they’re teenagers?” Hannah muttered.
“Definitely talkative,” Tosh replied, biting her lower lip and running a scan. She enlarged a segment of the scan, showing Hannah the alien’s feet. “Look at that. Amazing. At first glance they look flat but have thick pads, and the toe around looks jointed for gripping. I really wonder what kind of planet they live on. Perhaps it’s a cold mountain region…” Tosh went back to collecting information for the alien species database.
At least that’s what Hannah assumed she was doing. Sitting down in the chair Tosh didn’t seem to be using, Hannah didn’t want to acknowledge the thoughts that were in her head, but she knew she had to. What if they couldn’t get her back? If she had crossed parallel universes, that might not be possible. Knowing this version of her was dead, Hannah figured she would ask this Jack if she could stay on with Torchwood. It’s not like there was anywhere else she could go.
Balling her hand into a fist, Hannah punched her leg, staring at the bandage. She would get back to her Rose if it took a hundred years - at least to make sure Rose was okay. Sure, she could see this Torchwood was as close as hers, but not in the same way. Hannah wanted to see her family again. She found herself just staring at the computer screens without seeing anything.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Ianto suddenly said from behind her, making Hannah jump in her skin.
“Quit doing that!”
“Quit what?”
“I mean, don’t sneak up on me,” Hannah admonished, turning to Ianto who stood there holding a mug of coffee out to her. “Ooooo… is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a cup of coffee for you, then yes,” Ianto said as he gave her the cup, placing another cup on Tosh’s desk, receiving a smile from Tosh.
“Are you sure Owen won’t complain, saying the caffeine will raise my blood pressure?” Hannah took a sip and nearly sank into bliss. Another big ‘ol check for the ‘things the same’ column.
Ianto nearly snorted and gave her a look like he didn’t care what Owen had to say. Hannah grinned. No matter what, she liked her Iantos.
Her eyes snapped up, body at attention as the cog door rolled open, allowing the aliens into the Hub. “Is this a good idea?” Hannah asked.
“Jack apparently thinks so,” Ianto mumbled.
Hannah reluctantly put the coffee down on the desk and stood up. Jack nearly swooped over to Tosh’s workstation, his coat trailing behind him. He moved in next to her and opened his wrist strap, and then typed away, inputting commands into the computer. Tosh watched him intently. The two aliens continued to chatter away.
Jack looked up at the aliens and then hit the ‘enter’ key on Tosh’s keyboard and a hum seemed to echo in the air of the Hub. Without warning a computerized voice was heard from the speakers. It took a moment for Hannah to realize that the voice was translating the aliens for them.
“If you had only paid attention, we would not have ended up in this galaxy,” the voice said. The aliens stopped talking and looked up at the ceiling. “That is us,” it translated.
“I did it to help my crew know what you were saying,” Jack stated.
“Jucas de criminto secash guren,” the voice said.
“Good, good idea!” Blue eyes moved forward, holding out its hands. “I thank you for whatever help you can give us repairing our ship. Unfortunately my navigator was of no help.”
“I’ve only been your navigator for 30 sectars. If you wanted-”
“Wait!” Blue eyes held up a hand and sniffed the air. Well, it looked like he sniffed the air if Hannah could see where a nose would be. The long hair shook in excitement. “You have a sub-catalytic resonator!”
“We have a what?” Gwen asked.
Jack folded his arms across his chest. “Just what do you need a sub-catalytic resonator for? Those aren’t going to be used for about another 1,000 years?”
“If you’re planet is not using them for so long, why do you have one?” Yellow eyes asked.
Hannah wasn’t quite sure what to make of this alien couple. Sure, different species acted differently than human norms but their actions nearly screamed: COUPLE!
“How about I see if I can locate the part you’re looking for,” Jack said, slipping his coat off.
Ianto suddenly appeared behind Jack, bruises and all, and took the coat from Jack’s hands. Jack rolled up his shirt sleeves. Hannah tentatively sat down in Owen’s chair, still not feeling 100 percent better. Plus, if she needed a weapon… she pulled open the second drawer on the left and saw the glint of a scalpel. Hannah grinned.
“Owen, you’re with me,” Jack said, heading for the secure archives.
“Why?”
“Are you familiar with a car transmission?”
Owen shot Jack a dirty look. “Yes.”
“Three guesses what a sub-catalytic resonator is like.” Jack said, disappearing down the stairwell. “I may be good, but I can’t carry that thing on my own!”
Owen let out a groan and followed Jack downstairs. Hannah looked over, noticing Tosh scanning and recording as much about the two aliens as she could. Gwen approached them, a smile on her face.
“Right. While we’re waiting on them, why don’t you have a seat?” She shot her hands out, talking with them as she became flustered. “I mean, if you can sit. Otherwise you can just stand, or whatever you need to do.”
“Forgive my friend,” Ianto interjected, shoving a cup of coffee into Gwen’s hands. He stepped in front of the two aliens, an inviting smile on his face. “Is there anything I can get for you? Something to drink? Or eat?”
“No,” Yellow eyes replied.
“If we are 1,000… years, you said, before your people are using a sub-catalytic resonator, what planet are we on and in what time age?” Blue moved their eyes around the antenna looking at everyone in the room.
“Ummm…” Gwen quickly started drinking her coffee.
Hannah leaned back in the chair, crossing her ankles, hands clasped across her stomach. She was curious what the response would be. Jack seemed to think these aliens were harmless, otherwise why would he have brought them into the Hub without guns blazing. She felt a little miffed that Torchwood hadn’t levelled weapons at them and everything. What made her so special? Of course, the aliens hadn’t broken into the Hub, or-
Her eyes snapped to the computer screen above Tosh showing the aliens ship outside the tourist office. Hannah stood up, walking towards the computer screen, not even paying attention to what Ianto was telling the two aliens. She looked at the damage to the outside of the ship. Her eyes glanced down to the other CCTV footage and then back at the ship.
“Hannah?” Tosh asked.
Hannah turned to Tosh as her mind figured it out. Her attention snapped to the aliens as she started walking towards them. It had been them.
“Hannah?” Ianto questioned, stepping between her and the troublemakers. “What’s wrong?”
“They did it.” She pointed at Blue and Yellow to emphasize her point. “They’re the ones who bombed the tourist office.”
“Tourist office? What’s a tourist office?” Yellow asked.
“You can’t be serious,” Gwen replied.
“But I am. Look at the trajectory of the damage to their ship! Whatever happened to their ship is what nearly made Ianto and I crispy critters.”
Ianto hurried past her to Tosh’s work area, the two of them pulling up footage and maps.
“What is it you think we did?” Blue stepped in front of Yellow.
“Your ship caused the damage in the upstairs office,” Hannah stated pointing towards the ceiling. She then waved her bandaged hand at them. “And you hurt us!”
“We didn’t mean to,” Yellow replied.
“It just gets worse. I told you getting that calendar was a bad idea.” Blue turned his eyes to Yellow.
“She’s right,” Tosh said.
“Wait, what about a calendar?”
“Hot Bods of The Time Agency. She won’t put it down, even when navigating!”
Before anyone could respond, Jack and Owen came grunting upstairs carrying a large piece of mechanics with several silver gears in clear casing. They bent over, putting it down on the floor, Jack’s back to the aliens.
“Oh goodness! It’s you! It’s you!” Yellow was nearly squealing.
Jack quickly turned around at attention, facing the visitors. “What?”
“Goodness! Goodness!” Yellow was shaking so much, her hair was flouncing all over the place. “Rear of the Year 5094! GOODNESS!”
“What?” Tosh, Ianto, Gwen and Hannah all said at once.
“Of course it is,” Owen muttered.
“Wait,” Blue stated, gesturing at Jack with one of his hands. “It’s because of you we crashed!”