Beautiful Iris - part 3
Title: Beautiful Iris
Part 3- Strange Faces.
Author: Jo19844
Rating: all ratings… starting at about PG and going up to NC-17
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Tosh/OC, Tosh/Owen (sort of)
Summary: When a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning not everything as it seems. Alien technology transmits a strange frequency signal and leads them into a trap of curiosity and an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood... believe me... if i did Jack and Ianto would walk around in nothing but tight pants (and a tie for Ianto) The BBC own it. so as much as i love it i don't own it :( also the title don't belong to me lol Although i have some pretty characters i made up myself.
Spoilers : Up to episode 7, also slight spoiler (very tiny) from the book Border Princess
Part 1: Cut & dried here -> http://jo19844.livejournal.com/4527.html
Part 2: Alien Lego here --> http://jo19844.livejournal.com/15486.html
Toshiko opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She didn't know where she was but it was far away from the rat infested warehouse that she remembered. The ground was hard, stone would be her best guess, with a smell that she couldn't quite place. Everything seemed to look sideways and it wasn't until she focussed on the ground that she realised that she was lying down. She groaned and cursed the throbbing in her head as she pushed herself up off the ground and sat up, looking around.
She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, trying to fight off the dull thud of her headache, she could taste what seemed to be her own blood in her mouth and her lip stung like it had been cut. Tosh touched her hand to her mouth and felt a dried cut; she had no idea how long she had been there but it had obviously been a while.
It was dark, almost pitch black, and it was hard to make anything out other than her close surroundings. She heard footsteps, heavy boots on stone, and pulled her gun from her belt, trying to focus on the figure that approached her.
“Who's there?” she said, trying to pull herself to her feet, but failing. Her ankle felt weak, almost like it was broken, and she winced.
“Are you all right miss?” The voice was booming, but not unkind, with a thick Welsh accent.
“Stay back, I'm armed!” she warned. She felt around in her pocket for her pen torch and shined it in his direction. She couldn't see much, but she could tell he was a tall figure wearing big leather boots and a tweed cap. “Who are you?”
“I should be asking you that Miss, this is my courtyard.” The man stepped closer to her, walking into the light of her torch and she glared at him, aiming her gun. He was taller than he had looked before, touching on six foot three, with workman's boots and old trousers and a waistcoat made of tweed. His face was kind, with dull blue eyes that seemed to look into her, and rough stubble on his chin.
“Tell me who you are or I'll shoot,” she warned.
“Joseph Hughes, I own this land so you best explain who you are.”
“Where am I?” Toshiko ignored his request.
“On my land, now tell me your name Miss, or i have a good mind to call the police and report you for trespassing.”
“Toshiko,” she said, “Toshiko Sato.”
“That's a strange name, you're not from around here.”
“It's Japanese,” she explained.
“You speak English.”
“Of course I speak English!”
“You look hurt.” He walked closer to her warily.
“I'm fine, now back up a little and keep your hands where I can see them.”
He stepped back a little bit and put his hands up. “Let me help you up.”
Tosh loaded the chamber of her gun and focussed her eyes on him. “I mean it, keep your distance.”
Jack awoke to the sound of heavy breathing against his ear and a strange sound that he couldn't quite describe. He could feel his greatcoat being pulled away from him and a smell of old hay wafted over him. He opened his eyes and stared directly into the face of a large white horse, chewing on his coat.
“Funny, usually I love waking up with a stallion,” he groaned, wrestling it for his coat before standing up.
The horse bucked, raising onto it's hind legs, letting out a cry as he moved towards him; Jack backed away, but grabbed the reigns, pulling it back down and stroking the length of it's nose to calm it. He looked into the animal's deep brown eyes through the long black eyelashes and took a deep breath.
“Have you seen anyone else around here?” he asked, “Cute tall guy with cheekbones that you could cut diamonds on?” The horse looked at him and started to chew on the lapels of his coat again. “What about a woman, huh? Computer genius with cute leather boots and a nice tasty leather jacket?” He pulled his coat out of the horses mouth again.
The horse looked at him, letting out a noisy breath from its nostrils.
“You're not a very observant witness,” Jack said, “although I suspect that you would do anything for a carrot.” Jack took a deep breath and let go of the reigns, patting the horse on the nose. “Well if you see them tell then Jack was looking for them.” He started to walk away and then turned back. “But here's a word of warning, don't chew Ianto's Jacket -- that man's tailoring is not to be messed with.”
The horse took a step back towards the other side of the stable and Jack wandered over to the door, opening it. He looked out into the darkness and spotted what looked like a farmhouse in the distance.
“Okay,” he sighed, “I wonder if anyone's home.”
Jack walked out and closed the door firmly behind him, locking it. He made his way towards the courtyard that surrounded the building, looking around as he went. He stopped still and listened to a sound in the distance.
“I don't know what it is that you think I'm going to do to you Miss, but I can assure you I'm not going to harm you.”
Jack smiled a little and ran over towards the voices, almost slipping on something on the ground and tripping over Toshiko as he tried to stop.
“Captain Jack Harkness,” he said, introducing himself to the perplexed stranger, illuminated by the ray of Toshiko's torch. “Nice establishment you have.” He helped Tosh to her feet and put his arm around her waist to support her.
“Are you two together?” Joseph asked, relaxing a little.
“She's with me, she's a little bit jumpy. We had a bit of a confrontation with a scary fellow a few days ago and ever since she's been a little bit defensive.”
“You need to keep your woman under control,” he said.
“Under--” Toshiko started to speak, but Jack nudged her in the side,
“I will.”
“Be on your way,” Joseph said.
“She's hurt and she hasn't had water for hours, would you be kind enough to let us come inside?” Jack asked, “just for a moment until I see whether she needs a Doctor.”
“That thing.” The man pointed to the gun that Toshiko was holding. “What is it?”
“It's nothing,” Jack said, “she bought it in the city, a foolish token from a man on the market.”
“Follow me.”
Joseph led the way to the house and Jack started to follow, helping Toshiko along. He grabbed the gun and put it in his pocket. “You had better not wave this thing around, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves.”
“Where are we?” she asked.
“No idea. I think the more important question is--”
“When are we?”
“Exactly.”
“Any guesses?” Toshiko groaned as she hopped alongside Jack.
“Judging by his reaction and the way he's dressed, somewhere between the nineteenth century and the mid twentieth.”
“Well that's specific!”
“Have you seen Ianto?”
“I thought he must be with you.”
Jack stopped and darted his eyes around the courtyard, scanning every acre of the land with his eyes. “He has to be here somewhere.”
“Come on!” Joseph called. “The rain's holding off, but I can smell it in the air; we need to get her inside before she gets a chill.”
“Has there been anyone else pass through here tonight?” Jack asked, hurrying Toshiko towards Joseph. “A young man, about--”
“No. Nobody passes through here, you're the first people we've seen in weeks.”
“You must have seen someone, it's important that I find him.”
“Do you want to come inside or not?”
“You don't understand, I need to find him,” Jack said, “He's my friend, he's like a brother to me.”
Joseph stopped and turned towards Jack, walking over to him. “We should get her inside away from the cold, I'll wake my daughter and ask her to sit with her. We'll come back out and find him; I know what it's like to lose a brother.”
“We can't just leave them!” Gwen shouted at Owen as they walked towards the SUV.
“They're not here.”
“They have to be!”
“They're not.” Owen opened the door to the vehicle and sat the drivers seat, turning to look at her, she glared at him sternly, crossing her arms. “There are no human heat signals in there, the alien do-hickey's are nowhere to be seen and we're searched the place over and over several times. They're not there.”
“Then where are they?”
“Well they've either gone to the pub for a pint, which is highly unlikely, or something has happened to them.”
“Why do you always expect the worst?” she asked, “maybe the signal led them somewhere else.”
“No.” Owen shook his head defiantly. “Jack would not leave, not without telling us.”
“Maybe they're just in a no coverage area.”
“Okay, do need to spell this out for you? This is Torchwood. People don't just walk off, or drop out of signal or sneak off to the pub when they're on duty. People in Torchwood disappear; they get eaten, or get involved in something that you couldn't even dream of happening outside of Scooby Doo or Buffy the Vampire slayer. Expect the unexpected because nine times out of ten you can't predict what's going to happen.”
“So what do we do?”
“We get in the SUV and get back to the hub,” Owen said, turning around to face the steering wheel again, shutting the door. Gwen gave up and ran around to the other side, getting in just in time for Owen to drive off.
“What now?”
“We check the rift monitor,” he said, “worst case scenario is that they've slipped through and if that has happened then the monitor program should tell us when.”
“Then what?”
“Then I figure it out from there.” Owen exhaled deeply and stopped at the traffic lights, turning his head to look at Gwen. “One step at a time.”
“That's the best plan you've got?”
“It's the only plan I've got.”
“And what's your plan B?”
“No plan B. Plan B is created when plan A goes tits up.”
I feel it's time for a TBC moment lol
remember.... comment is love