To Save A Life - Ch.6
Title: To Save A Life
Topic: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Sometimes, surviving isn't enough. Sometimes, you need more. Sometimes, you need to loose in order to gain.
Rating: T
Genre: AU, angst, comfort, friendship
Hannah felt her cheeks start to ache from the fake smile she had plastered onto her face since arriving at work that morning. She had already been on two flights, one of which she had a drink spilled all down her uniform. She ended up having to change into her spare one in the first class bathroom - no matter what they said, first class bathroom wasn't any roomier than coach.
She picked up the microphone in from of her and spoke into it, falsifying the cheerfulness in her voice as her eyes scanned over the crowd. "Attention passengers, we will now start boarding of flight 3342 with service to Los Angeles, California, United States. Passengers who are in need of assistance or have small children under the age of five, please have your ticket ready and approach the gate."
Then she clicked the button off and moved to her post by the gate, ready to turn away passengers trying to get on early. Her back momentarily facing the crowd, she gave a tired look toward her co-worker, who returned it with sympathy.
When Hannah turned back around, she found herself facing a man in a wheelchair - a lone duffel bag sitting on his lap, a forlorn expression written all over his face. A face that, once glanced over, proved to be very attractive. Hannah's eyes zoomed in on his fingers, and her smile turned into a genuine one when she realized that he wasn't wearing a wedding ring. "Ticket please, sir?"
The man barely made eye contact, giving a weak smile as he handed over his boarding pass. Hannah took it and scanned it, glancing at the name printed on the paper. Jack Harkness. She liked that name. Handing the rest of the ticket back to the Mr. Harkness, Hannah walked around and gripped the handles of his wheelchair. "Right this way, Mr. Harkness."
As she wheeled him down the cold makeshift corridor to the plane's entrance, she wondered about the man's situation. The few seconds that his gaze had met her eyes, she had seen so many emotions underneath. Grief, guilt, pain - but there was also happy emotions in there as well. Maybe he was coming home after loosing his legs in the war - she guessed he had been in the military from the old RAF coat he was wearing. He was way too young looking to have been in WWII, but she knew several old military men who would wear antique coats. They thought it looked good. A majority of the time it made them look geeky, but even with this man sitting down, it fit him well.
"Hold on please, sir." Hannah said as she rolled him across the barrier of hallway and plane. His wheelchair fit down the isle perfectly, and she slowly made her way down to his seat. She took his duffle bag from him with a smile, her heart skipping a beat when he returned it. "Ok, I'm going to help you into your chair now, sir, if you don't mind."
He hesitated, and opened his mouth as if to argue, but then closed it and placed his hands on the armrests, pushing up with a small grunt and shifting into the isle seat. Hannah helped him scoot into the window seat, then got his legs situated. She almost gasped as she gently moved them - they were so small, almost like sticks. She knew that people in wheelchairs atrophied, but looking at the man's upper body (not that she was staring) it didn't seem natural.
She told him a few safety rules that would apply to him and not other passengers because of his situation. She gave him her name, saying that if he needed to go to the bathroom or get up for any reason during the flight, that she would be his attendant. She saw something spark in his eyes, and a slightly mischievous grin spread across his face at her comment, but it was quickly gone. Hannah asked one last time if he needed anything, then left the plane to go and help the next passenger.
The next time she saw the Mr. Harkness, they were about to take off. She had finished going over all of the safety information that the passengers needed to hear and was going on one last quick round, checking to make sure that all the passengers were seated, their seatbelts securely fastened, and all electronic devices were turned to the off setting. Hannah stopped at the row that Jack Harkness was on and frowned. The man was sitting there, talking on his cell phone.
"Sir, I need you to turn that off, please." Why was it always the cute ones who caused the most trouble? Hannah shook her head, getting a little annoyed as he continued to talk. "Mr. Harkness, please turn off the phone, we are getting ready to take off."
Then the voice on the other end of the line said something, and his face turned ash white. He quickly hung up the phone and looked at Hannah, his eyes fixated on hers. "Stop the plane."
A shocked look crossed Hannah's face, her eyebrows rising and her jaw slacking a bit before she recovered. "Excuse me?"
"I need you to stop the plane!" He said, louder this time, his hands scrambling at the seat belt, puling the metal flap back, unbuckling himself. Hannah stood there, unsure of what to do. He was all the way by the window, and she didn't want to crawl over two other passengers to get to him. She gave an exasperated sigh.
"Sir, I'm sorry, we can't. Please get back into your seat!"
But Jack Harkness didn't listen. He pushed himself up out of his seat and tried to get out to the small walkway, desperate to stop the plane. The two people in his row were unsure how to react, and moved their legs out of the way for him. He managed to make it between the rows before collapsing onto the dirty floor, his eyes screwed shut as he lay there, feeling the plane vibrate beneath him as it rolled toward the takeoff lane.
Hannah leaned down, wrapping her arms under his armpits, trying to help him up. He went limp, and Hannah - being an average sized woman - was unable to pick him up. She let him go and grabbed the in-flight phone, dialing the cockpit. "I need some help out here, please."
By then, several of the passengers were wondering what was going on. Several were standing up, trying to see. Others just gave the man in the middle of the isle a strange look.
Hannah hung up the phone several seconds later, and the other two flight attendants came to assist her.
"Please! I need you to stop the plane!" He yelled as the only male steward attempted to pick him up, all the while saying in a neutral - albeit strained - tone that he needed to calm down and get back into his seat. Jack ignored him. "Please! You don't understand….I screwed up! I…I hurt him…and-and I never told him goodbye, and now his fiancé is dead and he's all alone and I'm going to be halfway around the world and will never be able to tell him I love him unless you stop this plane!"
He struggled with the three stewards, every second his flails getting weaker, realizing that they were still heading for takeoff. Once the plane's wheels left the ground, it would all be over.
Hannah asked for the two women sharing Harkness' row to please vacate while they situate him, and offered to move them to other empty seats if they weren't comfortable sitting next to him. The woman on the very end took her up on her offer and moved. The other woman, however, just jutted out her chin and stood up, blocking the flight attendants from putting Jack back into the seat.
Hannah gaped in shock as the woman stood in her way, arms crossed, a no-nonsense look on her face. "Stop the plane." She said. "My vacation isn't worth his pain."
Jack stopped struggling all together and joined the flight attendants in staring at the woman, tears of gratefulness in his eyes. Then, several rows down, a man stood up. "Neither is my business meeting! I didn't want to go, anyway…"
Another person stood up, and another, and another, until half of the plane was standing or crouching in front of their seats, all chanting the same thing. "Stop the plane! Stop the plane!"
Hannah just stood there, amazed at the reaction of the passengers on the plane. The other two flight attendants were trying to get everyone to sit down, using those fake calm voices that she had used every day since joining the airlines. Emotions overtaking her, Hannah reached for the in flight phone once more, punching in the line to the cockpit. "Stop the plane." She said before hanging up.
"What the bloody hell are you doing!?" Seethed the steward.
Hannah just smiled. "You here the passengers, they want to get off the plane."
The man looked as if he was going to slap her. "You'll get fired!"
Hannah shrugged. "Never liked this job, anyway."
The plane started to slow down, and the passengers broke out into a cheer. Jack let out a loud whoop and laughed in amazement of it all, throwing his hands up into the air from his position on the floor. Then he slung his arms around Hannah's legs. "God, I could kiss you right now…"
Hannah just gave a small smile and bent down, trying to pick Jack up. The woman who had been sitting next to him helped her, and together they carried him to the front of the plane and out onto the tarmac, where a wheelchair was waiting. Jack yelled a thanks to everyone before he was carried off of the plane, and kissed both Hannah and the other woman soundly on the cheek. Then, Hannah escorted him back to the terminal, where she hailed a taxi cab for him before going home to work on her resignation.
Jack gave her a tearful thank-you before getting into the cab, heading back towards the hospital. He had a Welshman to save.
Topic: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Sometimes, surviving isn't enough. Sometimes, you need more. Sometimes, you need to loose in order to gain.
Rating: T
Genre: AU, angst, comfort, friendship
Hannah felt her cheeks start to ache from the fake smile she had plastered onto her face since arriving at work that morning. She had already been on two flights, one of which she had a drink spilled all down her uniform. She ended up having to change into her spare one in the first class bathroom - no matter what they said, first class bathroom wasn't any roomier than coach.
She picked up the microphone in from of her and spoke into it, falsifying the cheerfulness in her voice as her eyes scanned over the crowd. "Attention passengers, we will now start boarding of flight 3342 with service to Los Angeles, California, United States. Passengers who are in need of assistance or have small children under the age of five, please have your ticket ready and approach the gate."
Then she clicked the button off and moved to her post by the gate, ready to turn away passengers trying to get on early. Her back momentarily facing the crowd, she gave a tired look toward her co-worker, who returned it with sympathy.
When Hannah turned back around, she found herself facing a man in a wheelchair - a lone duffel bag sitting on his lap, a forlorn expression written all over his face. A face that, once glanced over, proved to be very attractive. Hannah's eyes zoomed in on his fingers, and her smile turned into a genuine one when she realized that he wasn't wearing a wedding ring. "Ticket please, sir?"
The man barely made eye contact, giving a weak smile as he handed over his boarding pass. Hannah took it and scanned it, glancing at the name printed on the paper. Jack Harkness. She liked that name. Handing the rest of the ticket back to the Mr. Harkness, Hannah walked around and gripped the handles of his wheelchair. "Right this way, Mr. Harkness."
As she wheeled him down the cold makeshift corridor to the plane's entrance, she wondered about the man's situation. The few seconds that his gaze had met her eyes, she had seen so many emotions underneath. Grief, guilt, pain - but there was also happy emotions in there as well. Maybe he was coming home after loosing his legs in the war - she guessed he had been in the military from the old RAF coat he was wearing. He was way too young looking to have been in WWII, but she knew several old military men who would wear antique coats. They thought it looked good. A majority of the time it made them look geeky, but even with this man sitting down, it fit him well.
"Hold on please, sir." Hannah said as she rolled him across the barrier of hallway and plane. His wheelchair fit down the isle perfectly, and she slowly made her way down to his seat. She took his duffle bag from him with a smile, her heart skipping a beat when he returned it. "Ok, I'm going to help you into your chair now, sir, if you don't mind."
He hesitated, and opened his mouth as if to argue, but then closed it and placed his hands on the armrests, pushing up with a small grunt and shifting into the isle seat. Hannah helped him scoot into the window seat, then got his legs situated. She almost gasped as she gently moved them - they were so small, almost like sticks. She knew that people in wheelchairs atrophied, but looking at the man's upper body (not that she was staring) it didn't seem natural.
She told him a few safety rules that would apply to him and not other passengers because of his situation. She gave him her name, saying that if he needed to go to the bathroom or get up for any reason during the flight, that she would be his attendant. She saw something spark in his eyes, and a slightly mischievous grin spread across his face at her comment, but it was quickly gone. Hannah asked one last time if he needed anything, then left the plane to go and help the next passenger.
The next time she saw the Mr. Harkness, they were about to take off. She had finished going over all of the safety information that the passengers needed to hear and was going on one last quick round, checking to make sure that all the passengers were seated, their seatbelts securely fastened, and all electronic devices were turned to the off setting. Hannah stopped at the row that Jack Harkness was on and frowned. The man was sitting there, talking on his cell phone.
"Sir, I need you to turn that off, please." Why was it always the cute ones who caused the most trouble? Hannah shook her head, getting a little annoyed as he continued to talk. "Mr. Harkness, please turn off the phone, we are getting ready to take off."
Then the voice on the other end of the line said something, and his face turned ash white. He quickly hung up the phone and looked at Hannah, his eyes fixated on hers. "Stop the plane."
A shocked look crossed Hannah's face, her eyebrows rising and her jaw slacking a bit before she recovered. "Excuse me?"
"I need you to stop the plane!" He said, louder this time, his hands scrambling at the seat belt, puling the metal flap back, unbuckling himself. Hannah stood there, unsure of what to do. He was all the way by the window, and she didn't want to crawl over two other passengers to get to him. She gave an exasperated sigh.
"Sir, I'm sorry, we can't. Please get back into your seat!"
But Jack Harkness didn't listen. He pushed himself up out of his seat and tried to get out to the small walkway, desperate to stop the plane. The two people in his row were unsure how to react, and moved their legs out of the way for him. He managed to make it between the rows before collapsing onto the dirty floor, his eyes screwed shut as he lay there, feeling the plane vibrate beneath him as it rolled toward the takeoff lane.
Hannah leaned down, wrapping her arms under his armpits, trying to help him up. He went limp, and Hannah - being an average sized woman - was unable to pick him up. She let him go and grabbed the in-flight phone, dialing the cockpit. "I need some help out here, please."
By then, several of the passengers were wondering what was going on. Several were standing up, trying to see. Others just gave the man in the middle of the isle a strange look.
Hannah hung up the phone several seconds later, and the other two flight attendants came to assist her.
"Please! I need you to stop the plane!" He yelled as the only male steward attempted to pick him up, all the while saying in a neutral - albeit strained - tone that he needed to calm down and get back into his seat. Jack ignored him. "Please! You don't understand….I screwed up! I…I hurt him…and-and I never told him goodbye, and now his fiancé is dead and he's all alone and I'm going to be halfway around the world and will never be able to tell him I love him unless you stop this plane!"
He struggled with the three stewards, every second his flails getting weaker, realizing that they were still heading for takeoff. Once the plane's wheels left the ground, it would all be over.
Hannah asked for the two women sharing Harkness' row to please vacate while they situate him, and offered to move them to other empty seats if they weren't comfortable sitting next to him. The woman on the very end took her up on her offer and moved. The other woman, however, just jutted out her chin and stood up, blocking the flight attendants from putting Jack back into the seat.
Hannah gaped in shock as the woman stood in her way, arms crossed, a no-nonsense look on her face. "Stop the plane." She said. "My vacation isn't worth his pain."
Jack stopped struggling all together and joined the flight attendants in staring at the woman, tears of gratefulness in his eyes. Then, several rows down, a man stood up. "Neither is my business meeting! I didn't want to go, anyway…"
Another person stood up, and another, and another, until half of the plane was standing or crouching in front of their seats, all chanting the same thing. "Stop the plane! Stop the plane!"
Hannah just stood there, amazed at the reaction of the passengers on the plane. The other two flight attendants were trying to get everyone to sit down, using those fake calm voices that she had used every day since joining the airlines. Emotions overtaking her, Hannah reached for the in flight phone once more, punching in the line to the cockpit. "Stop the plane." She said before hanging up.
"What the bloody hell are you doing!?" Seethed the steward.
Hannah just smiled. "You here the passengers, they want to get off the plane."
The man looked as if he was going to slap her. "You'll get fired!"
Hannah shrugged. "Never liked this job, anyway."
The plane started to slow down, and the passengers broke out into a cheer. Jack let out a loud whoop and laughed in amazement of it all, throwing his hands up into the air from his position on the floor. Then he slung his arms around Hannah's legs. "God, I could kiss you right now…"
Hannah just gave a small smile and bent down, trying to pick Jack up. The woman who had been sitting next to him helped her, and together they carried him to the front of the plane and out onto the tarmac, where a wheelchair was waiting. Jack yelled a thanks to everyone before he was carried off of the plane, and kissed both Hannah and the other woman soundly on the cheek. Then, Hannah escorted him back to the terminal, where she hailed a taxi cab for him before going home to work on her resignation.
Jack gave her a tearful thank-you before getting into the cab, heading back towards the hospital. He had a Welshman to save.