Torchwood/Doctor Who - fic - The Torchwood Girls, Part 4, Jack, Joan, OCs, PG (final version)
Title - The Torchwood Girls, Part 4 (final version)
Author - laurab1
Characters/Pairings - Jack, Joan Redfern, OCs
Rating - PG
Length - approx 1240 words
Spoilers - TW: general series, DW: to 3.11-13, SJA: 1.3
Summary - And so it goes on. Joan falls into place within the team. They all go out to dinner for Christmas, buy each other presents. 1914 arrives.
Disclaimer - alas, not all of these people are mine
Feedback is loved and appreciated :) Enjoy!
This part is for smtfhw, with apologies for initially mising her college, St Anne's.
Final versions:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
The Torchwood Girls
by Laura
Part 4
A few weeks later, Jack takes Joan out on her first case, accompanied by Simon. Tapping into the police’s phone calls, Michael’s discovered that a group of Alogonians have drifted off course and arrived on Earth. They arm themselves and Ioan hands out the brick-sized things that are 1990s mobile phones.
“It’s a telephone, Joan,” Jack hears him say. “A box of them fell through the Rift about a month ago. I’ve managed to rig them so we can all talk to each other at the same time. A little like walkie-talkies, according to Jack.”
“C’mon, people. Let’s go,” Jack orders, shrugging into his great coat. “We need to send these guys home.” They head off.
***
“What do these Alogonians look like, Jack?” Joan asks him, as they drive to their destination, three miles outside Cardiff.
“Pegasus,” he simply says. “They’re probably who the ancient Greeks based him on.”
“Pegasus was real?” She thinks he’s talking complete nonsense, he can hear it.
“Pegasus was an Alogonian. Well, kinda. You’ll see.” He chuckles. “Y’know, most ancient Greek legendary creatures were actually aliens.” They’ve arrived, so Jack stops the van. The way Joan’s looking at him, he can tell for sure that she doesn’t know whether to believe him. “It’s true, I promise.”
“Perhaps,” she says.
They climb out of the van and Jack calls Ioan: “We’re here.” Looking up in the sky, he can see six small, winged horses. Joan and Simon follow his gaze. “I’m gonna try sound, first.” Returning his attention to the people with him, Jack takes a green, pen-shaped device from his coat pocket. “Simon, Joan, can you get out your scanners? At my signal, press the button on the end. The sonic wave should encourage the Alogonians to leave Earth.”
“Should?” Joan asks, eyes still on the sky, full of awe.
“In this job, should is often the best we can hope for,” Simon replies, resignedly.
“Yeah. C’mon, people, scanners.” Once he can see the tech, Jack yells, “Now!”
His plan doesn’t work.
At the sound, the Alogonians end up descending awkwardly to the ground, as they try to shield their ears with their wings. Joan and Simon manage to get out of the way, but Jack gets caught under the hooves, as the small horses stampede, running off into the countryside. As he drifts into the black, ribs crushed and unable to breathe, he adds yet another death to his list.
He doesn’t know how much time has passed, but Jack soon feels his body repair itself, feels his heart start beating again. Then there’s the light, like always, and he wakes up, gasping. Simon and Joan are knelt beside him, and despite the fact that he has seen Jack die many a time, Simon only looks slightly less scared than Joan. Coughing, he lets them pull him to a sitting position. “Tell me,“ he says, trying to grin, “is being trampled to death by a load of Shetland pony sized Pegasi as funny as I think it is?”
Joan and Simon just glare at him. “Guess not.” He manages to sound sheepish. “That wasn’t meant to happen, I promise. Simon, can you give us a minute, please?”
“Yes, Jack.” He walks away from them.
Turning serious, Jack admits his secret: “I can’t die, Joan. Something happened to me a while back. I was killed, and then I was brought back to life, and ever since then... I can't die.”
“Was that when you were... travelling?” she whispers.
”Yeah, and I don't know what happened.”
“Does he?”
“Oh, yes. I’m sure of that. When I meet him again, there are three things I plan on doing: kiss him hello, ask why the hell he abandoned me, and make him explain why I can’t die. But until then...” He can’t see his anger going away anytime soon.
“You’re just waiting.”
“Yes. Been waiting for quite a while.” He pulls himself up, wobbling a little on his feet.
“Come on, let’s go back,” Joan says, steadying him, as Simon re-joins them and takes Jack’s other side. “You’ll have to work out another way of sending those... horses home.”
“Any ideas?” Jack asks, as they walk back to the van.
“Six copies of Perseus?” Simon suggests. “We have that machine from Rexel Eight that we discovered could replicate people by reading photos and drawings. They’d last just long enough to ride the Alogonians to the correct altitude to leave Earth.”
“Then what happens to them?” Joan asks, sounding concerned.
“They turn to dust, no longer needed.” Jack leans against the van, getting his breath back. “I have a Greek myths book; we’ll bring that and the machine back out here, and send our visitors home. Simon, can you drive us back to the Hub, please?”
“Of course.”
They climb in, and head home.
***
Simon’s idea is successful, and the flying horses leave Earth, hopefully heading back to Alogonia. Jack asks Joan and Simon to write up the case.
“Good job on this, you two,” he says, as the three of them sit in his office. “But as you’ve seen, Joan, it isn’t always like this; the aliens aren’t always friendly, and the tech we salvage from them, or that comes through the Rift can be dangerous. But keep on as you have been doing and you should be just fine.” He gives her a smile.
“Which is the best we can hope for.”
“Exactly.”
***
And so it goes on. Joan falls into place within the team. They all go out to dinner for Christmas, buy each other presents. 1914 arrives. Torchwood buys Joan a house.
They encounter some malevolent aliens, from Gamma Centauria. In the short battle with them, Jack dies again. The aliens do leave Earth, but less one blaster.
To balance that out, some young Icthosians fall through the Rift. They have to wait for the Rift to be connected to Icthosia again, and then they send the blue-skinned children home.
What Jack identifies as a differential analyser also falls through the Rift, much to Ioan’s delight. “These won’t be around for about another ten years. And even then, they’ll be about the size of a desk. Think this one’s come from the 1980s,” he tells his machinery expert, handing him the book-sized device. “Go play with it.”
***
Before they know it, it’s spring, and time for him and Joan to start the recruiting missions, accompanied by psychic paper. Jack’s plans included at least a couple of university graduates. But when Michael gives him the information he needs, he’s a little unprepared for Joan’s... annoyance at how few institutions actually accept women, and how society treats them in general.
“Girton and Newnham at Cambridge, and Somerville, Lady Margaret Hall, St Hilda's, St Hugh's and the Society for Home Students at Oxford, along with one college at Durham. And then the London School of Economics, Kings College London and Imperial College London. I could go all the way to Scotland, if I wanted; St Andrews or Edinburgh. Is this it, though, Jack? This is all the choice our girls have? All the choice I have?” she asks, sat across from him, in his office.
“It gets better, Joan. It takes years, but it does, I promise,” Jack reassures her.
“Does it start getting better after this dreadful war? Will the women be rewarded?”
“Yes. Some of you finally get the vote. C’mon, let’s go crash a student party.”
Notes:
alogo is the modern Greek word for horse
an icthyosaurus is a prehistoric fish, vaguely resembling a dolphin
Continue to final version of Part 5
Author - laurab1
Characters/Pairings - Jack, Joan Redfern, OCs
Rating - PG
Length - approx 1240 words
Spoilers - TW: general series, DW: to 3.11-13, SJA: 1.3
Summary - And so it goes on. Joan falls into place within the team. They all go out to dinner for Christmas, buy each other presents. 1914 arrives.
Disclaimer - alas, not all of these people are mine
Feedback is loved and appreciated :) Enjoy!
This part is for smtfhw, with apologies for initially mising her college, St Anne's.
Final versions:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
The Torchwood Girls
by Laura
Part 4
A few weeks later, Jack takes Joan out on her first case, accompanied by Simon. Tapping into the police’s phone calls, Michael’s discovered that a group of Alogonians have drifted off course and arrived on Earth. They arm themselves and Ioan hands out the brick-sized things that are 1990s mobile phones.
“It’s a telephone, Joan,” Jack hears him say. “A box of them fell through the Rift about a month ago. I’ve managed to rig them so we can all talk to each other at the same time. A little like walkie-talkies, according to Jack.”
“C’mon, people. Let’s go,” Jack orders, shrugging into his great coat. “We need to send these guys home.” They head off.
***
“What do these Alogonians look like, Jack?” Joan asks him, as they drive to their destination, three miles outside Cardiff.
“Pegasus,” he simply says. “They’re probably who the ancient Greeks based him on.”
“Pegasus was real?” She thinks he’s talking complete nonsense, he can hear it.
“Pegasus was an Alogonian. Well, kinda. You’ll see.” He chuckles. “Y’know, most ancient Greek legendary creatures were actually aliens.” They’ve arrived, so Jack stops the van. The way Joan’s looking at him, he can tell for sure that she doesn’t know whether to believe him. “It’s true, I promise.”
“Perhaps,” she says.
They climb out of the van and Jack calls Ioan: “We’re here.” Looking up in the sky, he can see six small, winged horses. Joan and Simon follow his gaze. “I’m gonna try sound, first.” Returning his attention to the people with him, Jack takes a green, pen-shaped device from his coat pocket. “Simon, Joan, can you get out your scanners? At my signal, press the button on the end. The sonic wave should encourage the Alogonians to leave Earth.”
“Should?” Joan asks, eyes still on the sky, full of awe.
“In this job, should is often the best we can hope for,” Simon replies, resignedly.
“Yeah. C’mon, people, scanners.” Once he can see the tech, Jack yells, “Now!”
His plan doesn’t work.
At the sound, the Alogonians end up descending awkwardly to the ground, as they try to shield their ears with their wings. Joan and Simon manage to get out of the way, but Jack gets caught under the hooves, as the small horses stampede, running off into the countryside. As he drifts into the black, ribs crushed and unable to breathe, he adds yet another death to his list.
He doesn’t know how much time has passed, but Jack soon feels his body repair itself, feels his heart start beating again. Then there’s the light, like always, and he wakes up, gasping. Simon and Joan are knelt beside him, and despite the fact that he has seen Jack die many a time, Simon only looks slightly less scared than Joan. Coughing, he lets them pull him to a sitting position. “Tell me,“ he says, trying to grin, “is being trampled to death by a load of Shetland pony sized Pegasi as funny as I think it is?”
Joan and Simon just glare at him. “Guess not.” He manages to sound sheepish. “That wasn’t meant to happen, I promise. Simon, can you give us a minute, please?”
“Yes, Jack.” He walks away from them.
Turning serious, Jack admits his secret: “I can’t die, Joan. Something happened to me a while back. I was killed, and then I was brought back to life, and ever since then... I can't die.”
“Was that when you were... travelling?” she whispers.
”Yeah, and I don't know what happened.”
“Does he?”
“Oh, yes. I’m sure of that. When I meet him again, there are three things I plan on doing: kiss him hello, ask why the hell he abandoned me, and make him explain why I can’t die. But until then...” He can’t see his anger going away anytime soon.
“You’re just waiting.”
“Yes. Been waiting for quite a while.” He pulls himself up, wobbling a little on his feet.
“Come on, let’s go back,” Joan says, steadying him, as Simon re-joins them and takes Jack’s other side. “You’ll have to work out another way of sending those... horses home.”
“Any ideas?” Jack asks, as they walk back to the van.
“Six copies of Perseus?” Simon suggests. “We have that machine from Rexel Eight that we discovered could replicate people by reading photos and drawings. They’d last just long enough to ride the Alogonians to the correct altitude to leave Earth.”
“Then what happens to them?” Joan asks, sounding concerned.
“They turn to dust, no longer needed.” Jack leans against the van, getting his breath back. “I have a Greek myths book; we’ll bring that and the machine back out here, and send our visitors home. Simon, can you drive us back to the Hub, please?”
“Of course.”
They climb in, and head home.
***
Simon’s idea is successful, and the flying horses leave Earth, hopefully heading back to Alogonia. Jack asks Joan and Simon to write up the case.
“Good job on this, you two,” he says, as the three of them sit in his office. “But as you’ve seen, Joan, it isn’t always like this; the aliens aren’t always friendly, and the tech we salvage from them, or that comes through the Rift can be dangerous. But keep on as you have been doing and you should be just fine.” He gives her a smile.
“Which is the best we can hope for.”
“Exactly.”
***
And so it goes on. Joan falls into place within the team. They all go out to dinner for Christmas, buy each other presents. 1914 arrives. Torchwood buys Joan a house.
They encounter some malevolent aliens, from Gamma Centauria. In the short battle with them, Jack dies again. The aliens do leave Earth, but less one blaster.
To balance that out, some young Icthosians fall through the Rift. They have to wait for the Rift to be connected to Icthosia again, and then they send the blue-skinned children home.
What Jack identifies as a differential analyser also falls through the Rift, much to Ioan’s delight. “These won’t be around for about another ten years. And even then, they’ll be about the size of a desk. Think this one’s come from the 1980s,” he tells his machinery expert, handing him the book-sized device. “Go play with it.”
***
Before they know it, it’s spring, and time for him and Joan to start the recruiting missions, accompanied by psychic paper. Jack’s plans included at least a couple of university graduates. But when Michael gives him the information he needs, he’s a little unprepared for Joan’s... annoyance at how few institutions actually accept women, and how society treats them in general.
“Girton and Newnham at Cambridge, and Somerville, Lady Margaret Hall, St Hilda's, St Hugh's and the Society for Home Students at Oxford, along with one college at Durham. And then the London School of Economics, Kings College London and Imperial College London. I could go all the way to Scotland, if I wanted; St Andrews or Edinburgh. Is this it, though, Jack? This is all the choice our girls have? All the choice I have?” she asks, sat across from him, in his office.
“It gets better, Joan. It takes years, but it does, I promise,” Jack reassures her.
“Does it start getting better after this dreadful war? Will the women be rewarded?”
“Yes. Some of you finally get the vote. C’mon, let’s go crash a student party.”
Notes:
alogo is the modern Greek word for horse
an icthyosaurus is a prehistoric fish, vaguely resembling a dolphin
Continue to final version of Part 5