I saw a shimmering light- part five
Title: I saw a shimmering light (Part 5 of ? )
Rating: PG-13 Gen fic
Fandom/Characters: Torchwood/ Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper
Outline: The four arrive at what (on the outside) seems to be a deserted building and make first contact with the Hotel California.
Notes: Inspired by the Hotel California rpg plentyofroom (it triggered the plot bunnies off and this is the result, so it's all their fault). Set during series 2 but before Reset.
Disclaimer: I have no ownership of these or any other characters connected with Torchwood or any other copyrighted work mentioned or alluded to.
Jack Harkness had sat silently watching as they got closer to the building. The fact that neither he nor any member of his team were aware of any kind of structure being here (never mind the desert-like conditions), did nothing to ease his rapidly growing feelings of unease.
Once they were close to the main steps, Ianto turned the SUV in a wide circle, only stopping when they were facing back the way they had come. "Just in case," he murmured, turning off the engine and opening the door.
Jack's only response was a brief nod, before he got out, closely followed by Owen and Toshiko. The sound of four doors slamming echoed around them, Toshiko shivered, they had only just arrived but this place was already giving her the creeps!
They all stood in silence, staring up at the building in front of them. The silence was suddenly broken by the strident metallic sound of Owen checking his gun, a sound that seemed to ripple around him as Jack and Ianto did exactly the same thing.
"Just in case anyone's forgotten... I'm not armed," Toshiko said, suddenly feeling vulnerable.
Jack nodded. "No worries, you just stick with me," he said, at the same time glancing towards the others. "You ready?"
Ianto and Owen nodded and all four turned towards the flight of steps that led up to what appeared to be the main entrance.
"Hotel... something, starts with a C," Ianto peered at the dilapidated sign that hung drunkenly from the wall.
"Collapso?" Suggested Owen, taking up a position to the right of the door, back to the wall, gun raised.
"Whatever it's called, I don't think it gets many visitors," Jack mumbled, checking where Toshiko was, then moving cautiously forward and pushing open the door. "Although I could be wrong," he added, as he stared in surprise at the vision before him.
Unsure what he meant, the other two men turned to follow him through the doorway, both stopping suddenly and staring around them.
"Bloody hell!" Owen stared, then whistled, quietly impressed. "I'd pinch myself, but I don't think I'd believe it, even if it did hurt."
"Me either," Ianto, glancing automatically towards Jack.
"Now what?" Toshiko asked, suddenly feeling extremely under dressed without a weapon.
"How about we have a word with whoever that is?" Jack nodded towards the reception desk, suddenly noticing there was someone there, which was strange, because he could have sworn that there was no one there seconds before- perhaps he had been leaning over behind the desk out of sight, he thought, not entirely convinced.
When Jack and Toshiko headed for reception, Ianto and Owen moved towards opposite walls and slowly worked their way down the Lobby in the direction of a bank of lifts and a staircase.
A wooden name plate with manager emblazoned in gold stood at an angle on the desk, on the other side a brass bell to call for attention if the desk was unmanned, Jack found himself doubting that would ever happen.
The manager smiled at him with that multi-purpose smile used by reception staff since time immemorial.
"Sir, madam," he glanced briefly at Toshiko, then turned his attention back to Jack.
Jack beamed back at him. "We seem to be lost, I wonder if you could give us directions back to Cardiff?"
"Oh no sir, you're not lost, you're exactly where you are supposed to be," he replied, the tone of his voice changing to a more authoritarian tone.
"And where would that be, exactly?" Jack's smile vanished, his voice shifting to match that of the other man's.
"This," he announced, his head nodding slightly to indicate where they were standing. "Is the Hotel California."
"Is it? Very nice." Jack replied flatly, gazing idly back at the manager.
The manager's hand moved forward across the desk, when he withdrew it, two keys were sitting in front of Jack, he glanced briefly at them, then looked back at the manager. "We're not staying," he announced bluntly.
Toshiko glanced nervously at the two men, then cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said politely, "is that the correct time?" Nodding towards a rather ornate wall clock.
The man smiled benignly back at her, then slowly turned to look at it. "Yes, Miss Sato, it is correct, all the clocks in the hotel always display the correct time."
She nodded her thanks- the clock's hands showed twelve o'clock, the equivalent of the row of zero's that everything she had with a digital display had shown for the time since they had arrived. Then she stared at him, suddenly realising that he had called her by name. "How do you know...."
"I know everyone's name who stays here, madam." Nodding at Jack, he said, "Captain Harkness."
Ianto and Owen were now closing in on the lifts.
Owen glanced across at Ianto, then towards the reception desk and the back view of the manager, what he saw un-nerved him completely. The man had no body below the level of the desktop!
Unable to believe his eyes, he glanced quickly across at Ianto then back again, but when he looked again he didn't see what he had initially seen (or what he thought he had!).
The manager turned his head slightly as if he was aware that he was being watched, without really knowing why Owen was left with the impression that the other... man , was amused at his reaction, even though there was no way he could tell from the view he had of the back of the other man's head.
On the opposite side of the room, Ianto stopped, Owen's strange reaction made him glance warily around him, before he waited for some kind of signal letting him know what was wrong.
Owen shrugged, then nodded towards the staircase, the quicker they secured the area the better he'd like it.
Meanwhile back at the reception desk Jack was pointedly ignoring the fact that he had been referred to by name. What was worrying him more was what might happen if they attempted to leave now rather than later. They needed somewhere for Toshiko to work and a hotel room would probably be a better base than the SUV. He knew they couldn't get past the forcefield (and had no realistic chance of doing it unless Toshiko had a shot at working on what little equipment they had with them.)
"Fine," he said calmly, taking the keys. "Which floor are we on?"
"First floor, sir."
Glancing quickly at Toshiko, he nodded, Tosh smiled vaguely back at him, there clearly wasn't a lot of choice but she was more inclined to go back to the SUV than stay any longer inside the hotel than they had to.
Looking up, he was about to ask about rooms for Owen and Ianto, but there was no one there, the manager had vanished, along with all the items that had previously populated the desk.
"Looks like we're only going to be allowed two rooms," Toshiko murmured, as she followed Jack as he marched towards the staircase.
"First floor, " he announced, not bothering to check if Toshiko was keeping up. "Whatever the hell this place is... we are getting out of it as soon as possible. When we've found the rooms, you two come back and empty out the SUV, then we pick one room and all stay together." He glanced at Ianto and Owen as he passed them and started up the stairs.
The other three followed in silence, each glancing warily behind them ever so often as they made their way towards rooms that had been prepared for them, none wanting to dwell on exactly what kind of preparation that might have entailed!
to be continued here