Fic: Future-Perfect-In-Past, chapter 3/6
Mar. 9th, 2009 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
veldeiaTitle: Future-Perfect-In-Past
Author: Veldeia
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Spoilers: All the way through S4 of Doctor Who and S2 of Torchwood. Takes place post Journey's End for the Doctor, but after A Day in the Death for the Torchwood team.
Characters/Pairings: 10th Doctor, Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh, Gwen. Slight Jack/Ianto.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I'm sure that somewhere out there, there's a wonderful parallel universe where I own all the stuff I write about - but it definitely isn't this one.
Beta: Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cytherea999 for the beta, and to my anonymous alpha for everything.
Summary: Dead Weevils and an unconscious Doctor amount to a mystery more challenging and less straightforward than usual for the Torchwood team.
3.
For some reason, when Ianto called and said, "Jack, I think you should get over here, quick," Jack's first thought was that it had something to do with the Doctor. Worry for Ianto only came second. Luckily, his first hunch was the correct one. He ran to the entrance, and found the Doctor pacing to and fro, both hands in his hair, with Ianto staring at him, arms crossed, bemused.
"Didn't expect to see you again so soon," Jack told the Doctor. "Of course, soon is relative. How long's it been for you? A day, a month, a year?"
"I never left," the Doctor said, sounding miserable, letting his hands fall to his sides. "Someone took my keys. Couldn't get inside the TARDIS. It's like someone's forcing me to stay here, for some reason, and I shouldn't, I really shouldn't." He pointed at Ianto. "When I first saw him, in your future, my past, he hadn't met me yet, but now he has. It's strange, though. If this has caused some sort of a temporal disturbance, I should feel it. There's nothing. Then again, maybe it builds up slowly. You never know. They can be really sneaky, those temporal phenomena."
"Or maybe this hasn't caused anything. Maybe this was always meant to happen," Jack said, giving the Doctor a reassuring smile. It was, after all, entirely possible that the team would meet the Doctor and then forget about it. Not that Jack was going to say it aloud in this situation. "Right now, I'm more worried about the first part of what you said. Someone stole your TARDIS key?"
"The key, and the spare key, too. Must've taken them when I was out cold. Obviously, they weren't after the TARDIS, because she's still there. They even left a note saying that I'd get my keys back later." He stopped and cast a suspicious glance at Jack. "Just wait a moment. I blacked out, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. You don't have anything to do with this, do you?"
Jack froze and stared at the Doctor in disbelief. "You think I'd do that? Steal from you and lie to you, after all we've been through together?" he said, struggling to keep his voice level. He could almost feel Ianto's curious gaze on the back of his head.
The Doctor grimaced, shook his head and ran his hand through his hair once more. "No, of course not. I know you can be rather obsessive, but no, I don't think you would. I'm sorry. I just can't make heads or tails out of this mess. I wasn't even planning to be here in the first place, and now I seem to be stuck."
"Obsessive, eh?" Ianto said, softly but sarcastically.
Jack chose to ignore that for now. "Maybe you really are stuck here for a reason. We've got three dead weevils and an alien that doesn't resemble anything in our databases. All these things could be linked, and even if they aren't, we could still use some help."
"Well, I really only came here to refuel and I really shouldn't even be here, so..."
"Come on, Doctor! It's a mystery, don't tell me you're not curious!"
"Oh, you know me, Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor said, grinning. "Let's go see your unknown alien. But as long as I'm here, if you, or any one of your team, or any of your instruments pick up anything unusual, anything at all, let me know instantly."
The moment the Doctor set eyes on the dead alien, the smile disappeared from his face. He ignored Jack's questions, Owen's complaints, and Gwen, Tosh and Ianto staring at him, just crouched close to the body, and placed his hand on the alien's head, next to the bullet hole.
"That's a gunshot wound, from one of your pistols," he said, turning to look at the team accusingly. "Torchwood, with all your guns. He was already wounded - that's a claw mark on his calf. Why did you kill him? Which one of you did this?" the Doctor asked, his voice taking up a serious tone which revealed that darker side of him he usually kept hidden.
Jack should've had the presence of mind to make it clear to the Doctor in advance that the unknown alien was dead because of them. Still, the Doctor was taking this even worse than he'd expected. By the looks of it, he must've met this alien before, or at least one the same species.
"Jack, I -" Ianto said, an almost desperate, apologetic look on his face.
"You did what you had to do, Ianto," Jack said firmly. "Doctor, my team killed him, so I'm responsible. No need to blame anyone else. We don't go around executing aliens, this was self-defence. The alien was aggressive, and it had already killed three Weevils. We had no choice -"
"There's always a choice," the Doctor said sombrely, nailing Ianto with his eyes regardless of Jack's words. "Maybe this really is why I'm here. I'm not here to help you, I'm here to protect the ones you're up against."
"We only want to help them, as well. Please, if you know him, tell us what's going on," Gwen said, leaning over the railing, her expression full of empathy. "Who is this alien, and why has he been attacking others?"
"He's an Ood, and he's very, very far from home. Must have fallen through that rift of yours, confused, afraid and lost, not to mention practically lobotomised, even before some stupid, murderous ape put a bullet through his remaining brain."
"All right, that's enough, Doctor. We need to talk this through in private. My office, now," Jack said, gesturing at the stairs. "Ianto, you better come with us. The rest of you, just - keep doing whatever you were doing. And if there's anything unusual, let me know right away."
He lead the Doctor to his office, and Ianto closed the door behind them.
"Right, I shouldn't have done that, I know," the Doctor said. "Got carried away. I should be keeping a low profile to minimise the risk of a temporal disturbance, instead of picking up arguments - but what else would you expect? You killed an innocent being. I can't just stand and watch when you -"
"We do not do this every day," Jack said slowly, emphasising every single word. "Besides, you can't know for sure that he was innocent."
"I only shot him because he was hurting Jack," Ianto added, looking desolate.
"And if you hadn't shot him, what would've happened? It's not like Jack was in any real danger," the Doctor said.
"Hey, even though I can't die, I'm not immune to pain," Jack remarked. He placed his hand on Ianto's back, and ran it over to his shoulder, to let him know that he wasn't about to start accusing him of anything.
"If you have to pick between someone suffering and someone dying, the right choice is obvious," the Doctor said relentlessly. "You would've survived. That Ood didn't."
"Look, Doctor. I know you don't approve of our methods and style, but if you're going to stay here, you've got to work with us, not against us. We're not bad people. The team's young, but they're good, and they're getting better every day. Give us a chance, all right? We'll solve this case together, and you'll see."
"Oh, I've already seen how good they are. Well. All right, I'll give you your chance, but on one condition. The next time we leave this base of yours to go to the field, you only bring non-lethal weapons."
**********
"Okay, seems I've missed a lot of stuff. Anyone care to tell me who that man is, exactly?" Gwen said, sitting down on the stairs once Jack, Ianto and Doctor Smith had gone.
Tosh still stood behind the railing, staring after the three men. She couldn't claim she knew a whole lot herself, either. She had only heard and seen half of what had happened when Jack had first carried his alien friend into the Hub, and that had left her with more questions than answers. Still, there was something oddly familiar about this Smith. Tosh couldn't point a finger at it, but she almost felt as if she had met him before.
"He appeared during that rift anomaly we picked up earlier today," Tosh told Gwen. "Apparently, his ship runs on rift energy. Owen?" she asked, figuring he probably knew more than she did.
"I'm as much in the dark as you are," Owen said, leaning on the autopsy table, holding a scalpel, but not actually doing anything. "He's an alien, and Jack acts like he's his best mate. Introduced himself as Doctor John Smith, though what his real name is, I've no idea."
"Doctor Smith? Jack didn't call him that, not once. And if they're such good friends, isn't it a bit weird that he never used a first name, either?" Gwen said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, Jack just kept calling him Doctor all the time," Owen said, nodding. "Which I found a little odd."
"You're right. Doctor. Just the Doctor," Tosh repeated slowly, realisation dawning in her mind. "The Doctor - but he can't be. I've met him, and he looked different." Still, now that Tosh thought about it, that was exactly why this Doctor felt familiar to her. She had worked with the Doctor briefly, a few years back, during the Slitheen invasion, and there was a similarity. A slight one, but enough to be noticeable.
"Just the Doctor? Who's that?" Gwen asked.
"The Doctor? You can't be serious," Owen said, put down the scalpel, and walked to the nearest computer terminal to bring up a file. "The Doctor, one of the most mysterious and most powerful alien entities known to regularly visit Earth," he said. "Latest certain sighting at the Battle of Canary Wharf, when he was captured by Torchwood One, but escaped."
Tosh walked down the stairs to join him and Gwen, peering at the screen. "Known aliases include John Smith," Tosh read aloud. "Is known to be able to change his appearance. There's no picture."
"Most importantly, there's that," Owen said, pointing at a few lines highlighted in red. They announced that the Doctor was considered dangerous, and was to be apprehended on sight.
"He didn't seem that dangerous, though," Gwen said, frowning at the screen. "And Jack clearly trusts him."
"What if he doesn't, not really?" Owen said. He turned away from the computer to look at the two women, his arms crossed. "It could be some sort of mind control. Makes me wonder what the three of them are doing in Jack's office right now."
"Why isn't he controlling us, then?" Tosh asked.
"Who knows." Owen shrugged. "Maybe he's still working on it. Or maybe he doesn't find us important enough. That's kind of the picture I got, stupid apes and all that."
"Still, it could be the other way around. Maybe Jack's already got a plan, and is playing friends with this alien for a reason," Tosh said.
"Anyway, what do you suggest we do?" Gwen asked Owen. "By the looks of it, Jack isn't about to let us detain him. Besides, aren't we being just as bad as he told us we are? Plotting against him just because we don't know him?"
"Getting to you, too, is he?" Owen said, glancing at Gwen dubiously. "I suggest we do the one thing we can: stay on guard, ready to act if anything fishy happens. Keep a close eye on both Jack and this Doctor. Ianto, too, since he seems to be in on it, as well. And we obviously can't let them know we've figured this out." He hit a few keys to close the file.
"I wonder if the Doctor was telling the truth about this alien," Gwen said, and walked over to the corpse. "Ood, that's what he called him."
"I'm not sure we can trust a word he says," Owen replied, following her.
"I can't see what he'd gain by lying," Tosh remarked. "The Doctor's been helpful before."
"He could be behind this all! Maybe he sent the Ood to kill those Weevils."
"Owen, that's ridiculous," Gwen said. "You saw how he reacted to this dead alien. You really think he's a killer?"
"If he really is the Doctor, he's a killer, all right. Now, I'd better finish this autopsy. I'll check for any signs of mind control while I'm at it."
Tosh headed back to her workstation, and started going over the recent rift activity. There, that was the big anomaly that had marked the Doctor's arrival. Earlier in the morning, there were a few more spikes, so small that they were well within normal range, possibly when the Ood had appeared.
Before Tosh got any further than that, Gwen called out "Oh, no!" from her desk. "They've found another body, but this time, it's not a Weevil. It's a man."
Gwen ran to Jack's office, and half a minute later, returned with him, Ianto and the Doctor.
"All right, people. Let's get going. And leave your guns - that's an order. We're doing this one his way," he said, nodding towards the Doctor, who smiled, looking about as dangerous as a puppy.
From the corner of her eye, Tosh saw Owen shake his head ever so slightly, and hide his sidearm inside his jacket.
Chapter 4
Author's Note: Sigh. I can't believe I actually wrote Jack going "My office, now" to the Doctor, and then, "Ianto, you better come with us" - and then, nothing happens, except that they talk. FAIL. *hangs head*
Author: Veldeia
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Spoilers: All the way through S4 of Doctor Who and S2 of Torchwood. Takes place post Journey's End for the Doctor, but after A Day in the Death for the Torchwood team.
Characters/Pairings: 10th Doctor, Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh, Gwen. Slight Jack/Ianto.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I'm sure that somewhere out there, there's a wonderful parallel universe where I own all the stuff I write about - but it definitely isn't this one.
Beta: Thanks to
cytherea999 for the beta, and to my anonymous alpha for everything.Summary: Dead Weevils and an unconscious Doctor amount to a mystery more challenging and less straightforward than usual for the Torchwood team.
3.
For some reason, when Ianto called and said, "Jack, I think you should get over here, quick," Jack's first thought was that it had something to do with the Doctor. Worry for Ianto only came second. Luckily, his first hunch was the correct one. He ran to the entrance, and found the Doctor pacing to and fro, both hands in his hair, with Ianto staring at him, arms crossed, bemused.
"Didn't expect to see you again so soon," Jack told the Doctor. "Of course, soon is relative. How long's it been for you? A day, a month, a year?"
"I never left," the Doctor said, sounding miserable, letting his hands fall to his sides. "Someone took my keys. Couldn't get inside the TARDIS. It's like someone's forcing me to stay here, for some reason, and I shouldn't, I really shouldn't." He pointed at Ianto. "When I first saw him, in your future, my past, he hadn't met me yet, but now he has. It's strange, though. If this has caused some sort of a temporal disturbance, I should feel it. There's nothing. Then again, maybe it builds up slowly. You never know. They can be really sneaky, those temporal phenomena."
"Or maybe this hasn't caused anything. Maybe this was always meant to happen," Jack said, giving the Doctor a reassuring smile. It was, after all, entirely possible that the team would meet the Doctor and then forget about it. Not that Jack was going to say it aloud in this situation. "Right now, I'm more worried about the first part of what you said. Someone stole your TARDIS key?"
"The key, and the spare key, too. Must've taken them when I was out cold. Obviously, they weren't after the TARDIS, because she's still there. They even left a note saying that I'd get my keys back later." He stopped and cast a suspicious glance at Jack. "Just wait a moment. I blacked out, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. You don't have anything to do with this, do you?"
Jack froze and stared at the Doctor in disbelief. "You think I'd do that? Steal from you and lie to you, after all we've been through together?" he said, struggling to keep his voice level. He could almost feel Ianto's curious gaze on the back of his head.
The Doctor grimaced, shook his head and ran his hand through his hair once more. "No, of course not. I know you can be rather obsessive, but no, I don't think you would. I'm sorry. I just can't make heads or tails out of this mess. I wasn't even planning to be here in the first place, and now I seem to be stuck."
"Obsessive, eh?" Ianto said, softly but sarcastically.
Jack chose to ignore that for now. "Maybe you really are stuck here for a reason. We've got three dead weevils and an alien that doesn't resemble anything in our databases. All these things could be linked, and even if they aren't, we could still use some help."
"Well, I really only came here to refuel and I really shouldn't even be here, so..."
"Come on, Doctor! It's a mystery, don't tell me you're not curious!"
"Oh, you know me, Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor said, grinning. "Let's go see your unknown alien. But as long as I'm here, if you, or any one of your team, or any of your instruments pick up anything unusual, anything at all, let me know instantly."
The moment the Doctor set eyes on the dead alien, the smile disappeared from his face. He ignored Jack's questions, Owen's complaints, and Gwen, Tosh and Ianto staring at him, just crouched close to the body, and placed his hand on the alien's head, next to the bullet hole.
"That's a gunshot wound, from one of your pistols," he said, turning to look at the team accusingly. "Torchwood, with all your guns. He was already wounded - that's a claw mark on his calf. Why did you kill him? Which one of you did this?" the Doctor asked, his voice taking up a serious tone which revealed that darker side of him he usually kept hidden.
Jack should've had the presence of mind to make it clear to the Doctor in advance that the unknown alien was dead because of them. Still, the Doctor was taking this even worse than he'd expected. By the looks of it, he must've met this alien before, or at least one the same species.
"Jack, I -" Ianto said, an almost desperate, apologetic look on his face.
"You did what you had to do, Ianto," Jack said firmly. "Doctor, my team killed him, so I'm responsible. No need to blame anyone else. We don't go around executing aliens, this was self-defence. The alien was aggressive, and it had already killed three Weevils. We had no choice -"
"There's always a choice," the Doctor said sombrely, nailing Ianto with his eyes regardless of Jack's words. "Maybe this really is why I'm here. I'm not here to help you, I'm here to protect the ones you're up against."
"We only want to help them, as well. Please, if you know him, tell us what's going on," Gwen said, leaning over the railing, her expression full of empathy. "Who is this alien, and why has he been attacking others?"
"He's an Ood, and he's very, very far from home. Must have fallen through that rift of yours, confused, afraid and lost, not to mention practically lobotomised, even before some stupid, murderous ape put a bullet through his remaining brain."
"All right, that's enough, Doctor. We need to talk this through in private. My office, now," Jack said, gesturing at the stairs. "Ianto, you better come with us. The rest of you, just - keep doing whatever you were doing. And if there's anything unusual, let me know right away."
He lead the Doctor to his office, and Ianto closed the door behind them.
"Right, I shouldn't have done that, I know," the Doctor said. "Got carried away. I should be keeping a low profile to minimise the risk of a temporal disturbance, instead of picking up arguments - but what else would you expect? You killed an innocent being. I can't just stand and watch when you -"
"We do not do this every day," Jack said slowly, emphasising every single word. "Besides, you can't know for sure that he was innocent."
"I only shot him because he was hurting Jack," Ianto added, looking desolate.
"And if you hadn't shot him, what would've happened? It's not like Jack was in any real danger," the Doctor said.
"Hey, even though I can't die, I'm not immune to pain," Jack remarked. He placed his hand on Ianto's back, and ran it over to his shoulder, to let him know that he wasn't about to start accusing him of anything.
"If you have to pick between someone suffering and someone dying, the right choice is obvious," the Doctor said relentlessly. "You would've survived. That Ood didn't."
"Look, Doctor. I know you don't approve of our methods and style, but if you're going to stay here, you've got to work with us, not against us. We're not bad people. The team's young, but they're good, and they're getting better every day. Give us a chance, all right? We'll solve this case together, and you'll see."
"Oh, I've already seen how good they are. Well. All right, I'll give you your chance, but on one condition. The next time we leave this base of yours to go to the field, you only bring non-lethal weapons."
"Okay, seems I've missed a lot of stuff. Anyone care to tell me who that man is, exactly?" Gwen said, sitting down on the stairs once Jack, Ianto and Doctor Smith had gone.
Tosh still stood behind the railing, staring after the three men. She couldn't claim she knew a whole lot herself, either. She had only heard and seen half of what had happened when Jack had first carried his alien friend into the Hub, and that had left her with more questions than answers. Still, there was something oddly familiar about this Smith. Tosh couldn't point a finger at it, but she almost felt as if she had met him before.
"He appeared during that rift anomaly we picked up earlier today," Tosh told Gwen. "Apparently, his ship runs on rift energy. Owen?" she asked, figuring he probably knew more than she did.
"I'm as much in the dark as you are," Owen said, leaning on the autopsy table, holding a scalpel, but not actually doing anything. "He's an alien, and Jack acts like he's his best mate. Introduced himself as Doctor John Smith, though what his real name is, I've no idea."
"Doctor Smith? Jack didn't call him that, not once. And if they're such good friends, isn't it a bit weird that he never used a first name, either?" Gwen said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, Jack just kept calling him Doctor all the time," Owen said, nodding. "Which I found a little odd."
"You're right. Doctor. Just the Doctor," Tosh repeated slowly, realisation dawning in her mind. "The Doctor - but he can't be. I've met him, and he looked different." Still, now that Tosh thought about it, that was exactly why this Doctor felt familiar to her. She had worked with the Doctor briefly, a few years back, during the Slitheen invasion, and there was a similarity. A slight one, but enough to be noticeable.
"Just the Doctor? Who's that?" Gwen asked.
"The Doctor? You can't be serious," Owen said, put down the scalpel, and walked to the nearest computer terminal to bring up a file. "The Doctor, one of the most mysterious and most powerful alien entities known to regularly visit Earth," he said. "Latest certain sighting at the Battle of Canary Wharf, when he was captured by Torchwood One, but escaped."
Tosh walked down the stairs to join him and Gwen, peering at the screen. "Known aliases include John Smith," Tosh read aloud. "Is known to be able to change his appearance. There's no picture."
"Most importantly, there's that," Owen said, pointing at a few lines highlighted in red. They announced that the Doctor was considered dangerous, and was to be apprehended on sight.
"He didn't seem that dangerous, though," Gwen said, frowning at the screen. "And Jack clearly trusts him."
"What if he doesn't, not really?" Owen said. He turned away from the computer to look at the two women, his arms crossed. "It could be some sort of mind control. Makes me wonder what the three of them are doing in Jack's office right now."
"Why isn't he controlling us, then?" Tosh asked.
"Who knows." Owen shrugged. "Maybe he's still working on it. Or maybe he doesn't find us important enough. That's kind of the picture I got, stupid apes and all that."
"Still, it could be the other way around. Maybe Jack's already got a plan, and is playing friends with this alien for a reason," Tosh said.
"Anyway, what do you suggest we do?" Gwen asked Owen. "By the looks of it, Jack isn't about to let us detain him. Besides, aren't we being just as bad as he told us we are? Plotting against him just because we don't know him?"
"Getting to you, too, is he?" Owen said, glancing at Gwen dubiously. "I suggest we do the one thing we can: stay on guard, ready to act if anything fishy happens. Keep a close eye on both Jack and this Doctor. Ianto, too, since he seems to be in on it, as well. And we obviously can't let them know we've figured this out." He hit a few keys to close the file.
"I wonder if the Doctor was telling the truth about this alien," Gwen said, and walked over to the corpse. "Ood, that's what he called him."
"I'm not sure we can trust a word he says," Owen replied, following her.
"I can't see what he'd gain by lying," Tosh remarked. "The Doctor's been helpful before."
"He could be behind this all! Maybe he sent the Ood to kill those Weevils."
"Owen, that's ridiculous," Gwen said. "You saw how he reacted to this dead alien. You really think he's a killer?"
"If he really is the Doctor, he's a killer, all right. Now, I'd better finish this autopsy. I'll check for any signs of mind control while I'm at it."
Tosh headed back to her workstation, and started going over the recent rift activity. There, that was the big anomaly that had marked the Doctor's arrival. Earlier in the morning, there were a few more spikes, so small that they were well within normal range, possibly when the Ood had appeared.
Before Tosh got any further than that, Gwen called out "Oh, no!" from her desk. "They've found another body, but this time, it's not a Weevil. It's a man."
Gwen ran to Jack's office, and half a minute later, returned with him, Ianto and the Doctor.
"All right, people. Let's get going. And leave your guns - that's an order. We're doing this one his way," he said, nodding towards the Doctor, who smiled, looking about as dangerous as a puppy.
From the corner of her eye, Tosh saw Owen shake his head ever so slightly, and hide his sidearm inside his jacket.
Chapter 4
Author's Note: Sigh. I can't believe I actually wrote Jack going "My office, now" to the Doctor, and then, "Ianto, you better come with us" - and then, nothing happens, except that they talk. FAIL. *hangs head*
