Ficathon: Every Darkest Sky Epilogue (Teen)
TITLE: Every Darkest Sky
CHARACTERS: Maria, Rani, Mrs Wormwood, Jack + Torchwood Three, (name redacted for spoilers)
RATING: Teen (disturbing situations, offscreen death, aliens taking over)
WORD COUNT: 25443 all in. 1625 this chapter.
SPOILERS: Goes AU just before the end of Invasion of the Bane.
SUMMARY: For the End of SJA Ficathon - This is a loose interpretation of two prompts:
"Sarah Jane didn't find Luke - maybe UNIT did, or some other alien, or even the Doctor. What happens and what does Luke become without her guidance and his friends?” and “Luke as a bad guy. How does Team Sarah Jane take him down?” Notice I said loose interpretation. :D
Parts one. two, three, four, five and six. Enjoy.
"Nathan!" Martha leaned around the doorframe, nodding to Ross, lurking in the corner.
"Morning, Dr Jones," Nathan said brightly.
"How's it going today?"
"It's going well, thank you."
Martha grinned. He'd finally gotten over his habit of explaining, in great detail, exactly what he was working on. Ninety-eight percent of it went straight over her head anyway, though it was nice to have him assume she understood everything he did. "Where's Maria?"
"On duty. She won't be by until later."
The girls had managed to talk their way into jobs shortly after arriving. Maria was helping in the infirmary, learning on the job and studying everything they'd give her. Rani was working in the information office, gathering field reports and generating something the officers could use to see where they needed to send what resources. It wasn't exactly a match to her professed desire to be a journalist, but the closest they could get her at the moment. Nathan studied everything they were given as well as his own lessons; it frightened Martha, sometimes, how quickly he absorbed information.
Nathan was turning out technology and information at an astounding rate. Martha's superiors were considering seconding him to the spaceship program; so far the only problem was that he refused to work on anything with the potential for weaponising, and UNIT refused to build an unarmed spaceship. The stalemate was holding, but Martha thought without the Doctor's implicit protection Nathan would have found himself in trouble by now.
Then again, if UNIT tried to force him into anything, they'd probably be the ones in trouble. He'd had plenty enough time to learn their computer system and, despite repeated protestations that he hadn't hacked anything, she was fairly sure he had backdoors and protocols in place by now.
They were relatively sure Mrs Wormwood's control was gone. Nathan would never be completely free of monitoring, and some of UNIT's personnel still wanted to study him. But the Doctor's protection and the presence of guards had so far deterred everyone. The two guards, Jenkins and Little, had become quite friendly with him.
Martha was fond of him herself. It was hard not to be; Nathan was well aware that his morals were skewed, so he was very careful to be polite and kind and not to harm anyone. He had trouble with humour, and he couldn't grasp metaphors at all; but he was interested in everyone and nothing ever bored him, and he was genuinely nice. Martha thought he probably knew more people on the base than she did, despite only being there four months.
It had surprised her when, after a week or so in her charge, Nathan had hesitantly asked to contact Jack. Worried, she'd called him straight away, and was even more surprised when Nathan asked after someone called Clyde.
"Clyde's fine." She'd heard the same surprise in Jack's voice. "We tracked down his mother. He didn't remember anything that happened, any more than any of the Human Bane. We're keeping an eye on him, but everything looks good. He's helping one of the UNIT recovery groups at the moment."
Nathan had politely thanked him and gone back to work, and he was barely out the door when Martha asked "Who's Clyde?"
"He was a Human Bane we caught to test Nathan's ability to give them orders. Nathan used him when he was taking over the base; he was stuck in our cells when we killed the Bane Mother. We kept him on the base to help out until we could figure out what to do with him, but we found his Mom in the end."
"I'm glad. I'm surprised Nathan worried about him."
There was a pause before Jack said carefully, "I think he worries about things because he thinks it makes him not a Bane. Not the Archetype. Mrs Wormwood's Archetype wouldn't have cared about some random Human Bane. Nathan was partly responsible for Clyde being with us in the first place, so he worries about it."
"Poor kid."
"Mmm."
She'd watched him since and decided that Jack was probably right. Nathan deliberately tried to act the way he thought a person would. It made it easier to follow his leaps of logic when she knew his starting point.
"Captain Harkness is coming for a visit this afternoon. Anything going on you can't leave?"
"No. I'll be finished what I'm doing here by lunchtime."
"Good. I'll come back for you then. You can explain your project to him, he'll probably understand it."
"That'd be nice," Nathan agreed. Martha smiled; it would be nice. There were only three or four scientists on the base who could keep up with Nathan when he really got going.
"Good man." She hesitated in the doorway, glancing back at him. "Ross, did you see that really interesting distraction out in the hallway?"
Jenkins glanced at her, smiling. "I should go check that out. I bet it would be easier to see with the door closed."
"It probably would," she agreed, watching him go.
Nathan was watching her when she turned back. "A distraction?"
She shrugged, crossing the room to lean against the counter. "There's a new project come up my boss wants to recommend me for."
"Oh. Well done."
"It's Project Indigo."
Nathan hesitated, putting down the tools he'd been holding. "Project Indigo is based in New York."
"Yes."
"You couldn't work on it from here."
"No."
He bit his lip. "Would I go?"
"Yes. You're in my charge, you'd come with me."
"And the Jacksons?"
"No. Alan's working on his own project and Indigo doesn't need him."
"Oh."
She dipped her head to catch his eye. "Nothing's decided. They're just talking about it at the moment."
"You should take it. Indigo's an important project. Big step up."
"We can talk about it later. I just wanted to let you know. Even if I agree, it won't happen for a few months yet. You'd have time to finish up your projects here."
"Thank you for letting me know. I have to keep working if I'm going to finish this by lunch."
"Sure." She pushed off the bench. "Hey. We'll talk about it, ok? I'm not going to drag you somewhere you'd be miserable."
"Thank you."
"Finish up."
Jenkins was studying the wall outside; he saluted briefly as Martha passed him, heading back into the lab. Martha headed for her office, digging back into her work until lunchtime.
Nathan was finishing up his report when she came back by; he left it cheerfully enough, following her to the main entry of the base. "Where are we going?" he asked curiously.
"We're eating out today."
"Oh!" He grinned, and Martha smiled. Nathan hadn't been further than the car park since entering the base with Jack - he went out for fresh air and sunshine most days, but he'd never left the grounds - and though he hadn't complained she knew it wore on him.
"Ross, take the afternoon off. Jack and I'll keep an eye on him."
"Yes ma'am. See you later, Nathan."
"Goodbye, Private."
Jenkins rolled his eyes at Martha - four months on and they couldn't break him of calling them by their titles - and headed off.
"Is it just Captain Harkness?"
"I don't know. He didn't say the others were coming, but he'd probably think it was funny to spring them on us. Nathan, don't mention Project Indigo to him, alright? Not by name."
"I won't."
"Thank you."
"He probably knows, though."
"Still. Let's all pretend like he doesn't hack in every chance he gets. I think Alan is leaving him back doors."
"Mr Jackson is definitely not leaving him back doors."
Martha considered him for a moment. "Are you leaving him back doors?"
"Look, he's here." Nathan grinned, waving as Jack strode in.
"Nathan! And the nightingale. How are you?" He swept Martha off her feet into a hug and shook hands very solemnly with Nathan.
"I'm doing very well, sir. How is Torchwood?"
"How's Owen?" Martha added.
"Adjusting. We're all adjusting. Thanks for loaning us Martha, Nathan."
"I didn't..." He caught himself, correcting, "You're welcome."
"Ready to go? Hope you're hungry."
"Yes, sir."
"Jack."
"Captain?" Nathan offered.
"I can live with Captain. Come on. Tell me what you're working on."
The meal was a lot of fun. Jack was able to keep up with what Nathan was talking about, and he even had some insights into the project that had Nathan scribbling furiously on a napkin for several minutes. Martha relaxed, watching them chat, and made a mental note to get them together more often.
The restaurant was near a park and when they'd finished eating they wandered out for a stroll. Nathan drew away from them a little, staying well within their field of vision but far enough away that he couldn't hear them.
"He looks well," Jack murmured.
"He is well. He's happy, I think. Much as he can be, anyway."
"He's getting harder to keep up with."
Martha nodded. "Give him a textbook, he can learn anything. Other things he has more trouble with."
"Things..."
She shrugged. "Human things. Instincts. Emotions. Morals, a little. He works hard at those."
"You're happy to keep him?"
"Where's he going to go? He's not a real boy, Jack. He can't go anywhere else. He'd never blend in to the real world. He's doing good work with us." She smiled faintly. "We had to set up a schedule for him to work with the other scientists, they were fighting over him. Some of the higher ups still want to study him, but he runs through intelligence tests every so often and they make do with that and his medical tests."
"Medical..."
"Blood work, reflexes, stamina. Nothing invasive." Martha smiled faintly. "He's in my care."
"Hey." Jack touched her arm. "He's in your care because I knew you could do it."
Martha smiled, watching Nathan watch a flock of ducks fly overhead. He was laughing, eyes dancing in delight. "We'll see, I guess."
They walked on through the sunshine together.
Every endless night
Has a dawning day
Every Darkest Sky
Has a shining ray
CHARACTERS: Maria, Rani, Mrs Wormwood, Jack + Torchwood Three, (name redacted for spoilers)
RATING: Teen (disturbing situations, offscreen death, aliens taking over)
WORD COUNT: 25443 all in. 1625 this chapter.
SPOILERS: Goes AU just before the end of Invasion of the Bane.
SUMMARY: For the End of SJA Ficathon - This is a loose interpretation of two prompts:
"Sarah Jane didn't find Luke - maybe UNIT did, or some other alien, or even the Doctor. What happens and what does Luke become without her guidance and his friends?” and “Luke as a bad guy. How does Team Sarah Jane take him down?” Notice I said loose interpretation. :D
Parts one. two, three, four, five and six. Enjoy.
"Nathan!" Martha leaned around the doorframe, nodding to Ross, lurking in the corner.
"Morning, Dr Jones," Nathan said brightly.
"How's it going today?"
"It's going well, thank you."
Martha grinned. He'd finally gotten over his habit of explaining, in great detail, exactly what he was working on. Ninety-eight percent of it went straight over her head anyway, though it was nice to have him assume she understood everything he did. "Where's Maria?"
"On duty. She won't be by until later."
The girls had managed to talk their way into jobs shortly after arriving. Maria was helping in the infirmary, learning on the job and studying everything they'd give her. Rani was working in the information office, gathering field reports and generating something the officers could use to see where they needed to send what resources. It wasn't exactly a match to her professed desire to be a journalist, but the closest they could get her at the moment. Nathan studied everything they were given as well as his own lessons; it frightened Martha, sometimes, how quickly he absorbed information.
Nathan was turning out technology and information at an astounding rate. Martha's superiors were considering seconding him to the spaceship program; so far the only problem was that he refused to work on anything with the potential for weaponising, and UNIT refused to build an unarmed spaceship. The stalemate was holding, but Martha thought without the Doctor's implicit protection Nathan would have found himself in trouble by now.
Then again, if UNIT tried to force him into anything, they'd probably be the ones in trouble. He'd had plenty enough time to learn their computer system and, despite repeated protestations that he hadn't hacked anything, she was fairly sure he had backdoors and protocols in place by now.
They were relatively sure Mrs Wormwood's control was gone. Nathan would never be completely free of monitoring, and some of UNIT's personnel still wanted to study him. But the Doctor's protection and the presence of guards had so far deterred everyone. The two guards, Jenkins and Little, had become quite friendly with him.
Martha was fond of him herself. It was hard not to be; Nathan was well aware that his morals were skewed, so he was very careful to be polite and kind and not to harm anyone. He had trouble with humour, and he couldn't grasp metaphors at all; but he was interested in everyone and nothing ever bored him, and he was genuinely nice. Martha thought he probably knew more people on the base than she did, despite only being there four months.
It had surprised her when, after a week or so in her charge, Nathan had hesitantly asked to contact Jack. Worried, she'd called him straight away, and was even more surprised when Nathan asked after someone called Clyde.
"Clyde's fine." She'd heard the same surprise in Jack's voice. "We tracked down his mother. He didn't remember anything that happened, any more than any of the Human Bane. We're keeping an eye on him, but everything looks good. He's helping one of the UNIT recovery groups at the moment."
Nathan had politely thanked him and gone back to work, and he was barely out the door when Martha asked "Who's Clyde?"
"He was a Human Bane we caught to test Nathan's ability to give them orders. Nathan used him when he was taking over the base; he was stuck in our cells when we killed the Bane Mother. We kept him on the base to help out until we could figure out what to do with him, but we found his Mom in the end."
"I'm glad. I'm surprised Nathan worried about him."
There was a pause before Jack said carefully, "I think he worries about things because he thinks it makes him not a Bane. Not the Archetype. Mrs Wormwood's Archetype wouldn't have cared about some random Human Bane. Nathan was partly responsible for Clyde being with us in the first place, so he worries about it."
"Poor kid."
"Mmm."
She'd watched him since and decided that Jack was probably right. Nathan deliberately tried to act the way he thought a person would. It made it easier to follow his leaps of logic when she knew his starting point.
"Captain Harkness is coming for a visit this afternoon. Anything going on you can't leave?"
"No. I'll be finished what I'm doing here by lunchtime."
"Good. I'll come back for you then. You can explain your project to him, he'll probably understand it."
"That'd be nice," Nathan agreed. Martha smiled; it would be nice. There were only three or four scientists on the base who could keep up with Nathan when he really got going.
"Good man." She hesitated in the doorway, glancing back at him. "Ross, did you see that really interesting distraction out in the hallway?"
Jenkins glanced at her, smiling. "I should go check that out. I bet it would be easier to see with the door closed."
"It probably would," she agreed, watching him go.
Nathan was watching her when she turned back. "A distraction?"
She shrugged, crossing the room to lean against the counter. "There's a new project come up my boss wants to recommend me for."
"Oh. Well done."
"It's Project Indigo."
Nathan hesitated, putting down the tools he'd been holding. "Project Indigo is based in New York."
"Yes."
"You couldn't work on it from here."
"No."
He bit his lip. "Would I go?"
"Yes. You're in my charge, you'd come with me."
"And the Jacksons?"
"No. Alan's working on his own project and Indigo doesn't need him."
"Oh."
She dipped her head to catch his eye. "Nothing's decided. They're just talking about it at the moment."
"You should take it. Indigo's an important project. Big step up."
"We can talk about it later. I just wanted to let you know. Even if I agree, it won't happen for a few months yet. You'd have time to finish up your projects here."
"Thank you for letting me know. I have to keep working if I'm going to finish this by lunch."
"Sure." She pushed off the bench. "Hey. We'll talk about it, ok? I'm not going to drag you somewhere you'd be miserable."
"Thank you."
"Finish up."
Jenkins was studying the wall outside; he saluted briefly as Martha passed him, heading back into the lab. Martha headed for her office, digging back into her work until lunchtime.
Nathan was finishing up his report when she came back by; he left it cheerfully enough, following her to the main entry of the base. "Where are we going?" he asked curiously.
"We're eating out today."
"Oh!" He grinned, and Martha smiled. Nathan hadn't been further than the car park since entering the base with Jack - he went out for fresh air and sunshine most days, but he'd never left the grounds - and though he hadn't complained she knew it wore on him.
"Ross, take the afternoon off. Jack and I'll keep an eye on him."
"Yes ma'am. See you later, Nathan."
"Goodbye, Private."
Jenkins rolled his eyes at Martha - four months on and they couldn't break him of calling them by their titles - and headed off.
"Is it just Captain Harkness?"
"I don't know. He didn't say the others were coming, but he'd probably think it was funny to spring them on us. Nathan, don't mention Project Indigo to him, alright? Not by name."
"I won't."
"Thank you."
"He probably knows, though."
"Still. Let's all pretend like he doesn't hack in every chance he gets. I think Alan is leaving him back doors."
"Mr Jackson is definitely not leaving him back doors."
Martha considered him for a moment. "Are you leaving him back doors?"
"Look, he's here." Nathan grinned, waving as Jack strode in.
"Nathan! And the nightingale. How are you?" He swept Martha off her feet into a hug and shook hands very solemnly with Nathan.
"I'm doing very well, sir. How is Torchwood?"
"How's Owen?" Martha added.
"Adjusting. We're all adjusting. Thanks for loaning us Martha, Nathan."
"I didn't..." He caught himself, correcting, "You're welcome."
"Ready to go? Hope you're hungry."
"Yes, sir."
"Jack."
"Captain?" Nathan offered.
"I can live with Captain. Come on. Tell me what you're working on."
The meal was a lot of fun. Jack was able to keep up with what Nathan was talking about, and he even had some insights into the project that had Nathan scribbling furiously on a napkin for several minutes. Martha relaxed, watching them chat, and made a mental note to get them together more often.
The restaurant was near a park and when they'd finished eating they wandered out for a stroll. Nathan drew away from them a little, staying well within their field of vision but far enough away that he couldn't hear them.
"He looks well," Jack murmured.
"He is well. He's happy, I think. Much as he can be, anyway."
"He's getting harder to keep up with."
Martha nodded. "Give him a textbook, he can learn anything. Other things he has more trouble with."
"Things..."
She shrugged. "Human things. Instincts. Emotions. Morals, a little. He works hard at those."
"You're happy to keep him?"
"Where's he going to go? He's not a real boy, Jack. He can't go anywhere else. He'd never blend in to the real world. He's doing good work with us." She smiled faintly. "We had to set up a schedule for him to work with the other scientists, they were fighting over him. Some of the higher ups still want to study him, but he runs through intelligence tests every so often and they make do with that and his medical tests."
"Medical..."
"Blood work, reflexes, stamina. Nothing invasive." Martha smiled faintly. "He's in my care."
"Hey." Jack touched her arm. "He's in your care because I knew you could do it."
Martha smiled, watching Nathan watch a flock of ducks fly overhead. He was laughing, eyes dancing in delight. "We'll see, I guess."
They walked on through the sunshine together.
Every endless night
Has a dawning day
Every Darkest Sky
Has a shining ray