Fic: The Sea After a Storm (87/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 87
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just more Zombie!Owen ;-)
Spoilers: Season Two thru A Day in the Death (2x08)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood, Doctor Who and all their wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Andy Goddard for situations and dialogue borrowed from A Day in the Death. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which Owen's fate is revealed...um...again...
Notes: Hi everyone! I hope y'all had a better weekend then I did. On a related note - know of any good jobs in Denver? Ugh. Enjoy! You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support and beta work; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Eighty-Seven
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Jack allowed Owen to rejoin the team and Owen's first task is to retrieve the alien artefact that Tosh had been tracking all day. He succeeded, but at what cost...
"Tosh?"
"Owen?!"
"Tosh, I'm still here. It's... it's not exploding it's..."
"What, Owen? What is it doing?" Jack's voice came over the comms.
"It's singing." Owen's voice was full of awe. "It's beautiful."
"But..." Tosh's fingers were flying over the keyboard, the monitor still showing a complete white-out of energy. "That doesn't make any sense."
Owen laughed delightedly. "It doesn't make any sense at all. Can you hear it? Is it coming over the comms?"
"No, we can't hear anything, Owen. Are you sure -"
"It's not a weapon," Owen said, the wonder in his voice clear as a bell. "It's... Parker was right, not about it keeping him alive, obviously, but what he said... singing is the only word to describe it. And there are these... tendrils of light shooting out of it."
"Tentacles?" Jack asked worriedly.
"Nah, tendrills, it's like slow moving fireworks. It's so beautiful."
"Owen, I'm still reading energy spikes, even bigger now than before, the computer can't even register them. It can't be safe!"
"If you could see it, Tosh, you'd understand," Owen said with confidence. "I'm bringing it out now. I -"
A faint voice over the comms interrupted Owen It sounded like one of the bodyguards had discovered Parker's body. "Oh my God, you killed him!"
"Shit," Owen muttered.
"You broke in here and killed him! What is that thing? What did you do?"
"Um, Jack? A little help here?" Owen asked quietly and then continued in a louder voice. "It wasn't me, mate, it was just his time. I'm sorry. I tried to save him."
Jack's sigh sounded over the comms. "Coming in with the Retcon," he said to Owen. "Tosh, keep monitoring that thing. We'll be back as soon as we can."
There was a soft chime as Jack turned off the comms.
"I don't understand it," Tosh said, her eyes darting from one monitor to the next. "All the reading say Parker's house should be a crater right now."
"Well, we know Owen's still alive... well, not really, I mean, well, you know what I mean," Gwen said awkwardly. "So maybe it's since it's some kind of alien energy it's making our instruments behave funny?"
Ianto nodded slowly. "From everything Owen was saying, the artefact doesn't seem destructive. Anything else is really academic at the moment. He'll bring it back and you can study it, Tosh. I'm sure you'll find all the answers."
"Well, I'm not taking my eyes off this monitor until Owen and everyone else is back safely," Tosh said.
Ianto and Gwen exchanged a concerned look but left Tosh to her vigil. A few minutes later, Ianto's comm pinged.
"Yes?" he answered promptly, wondering what additional crisis had arisen at the Parker estate.
"Ianto? It's Martha. I have a favour."
"Of course, what can I do for you?"
"It's silly, but is there any way I could get you to take care of checking me out of the hotel? I have all my things with me, habit from... another time. Doesn't matter, anyway, I didn't leave anything behind."
"You in that much of a hurry to leave us?" Ianto teased.
Martha laughed. "I just realised I could have the whole weekend with Tom if get home tonight. I don't think you'll be needing me anymore," she added in softer tones.
"So you think Owen's really okay?" Ianto asked, lowering his voice as well and giving Tosh a furtive glance. "And that Jack's okay with him?"
"Well, they're currently shouting at each other about whether or not they need to Retcon all the guards, I think that's the word. Retcon?"
"It is. Think of it as a chemical version of that flashy thing in Men in Black."
"Ohhh, that makes sense now. Jack has quite a few things he hasn't shared with UNIT, now doesn't he?"
"I'm sure UNIT has a few secrets, too," Ianto pointed out dryly.
"Touché. Anyway, my point was that all the tests on Owen show he's stable, no danger to himself or anyone else. I told Jack that earlier and now they do seem back to their old selves with each other - if yelling is normal, I mean. It seems normal."
Ianto chuckled. "It is."
"I figured anything was better than the silent treatment the last few days. If anything, Jack is the one who seems... off now. If Jack wasn't, you know, Jack, I'd say he was coming down with the flu or something."
"Hmm," Ianto hummed in a noncommittal way. Jack and his moods were the last thing he wanted to discuss at the moment. He turned the subject back to the original topic. "I can certainly take care of the hotel for you. When do you think we can expect you?"
"Well... it looks like the arm waving has stopped and they seem to be actually doing something now, so not much longer, I would guess."
"Will you need a car or anything to get back to London?"
"Oh, thanks so much, Ianto, but no, my ride will pick me up on the Plass, so I'm set."
"Of course, I'll see you when you get back."
"Great! Thanks again!"
Ianto reached up to mute his comm again and rang the hotel to close out the bill. True to Martha's estimate, it was only about twenty minutes later when Tosh called out that the SUV was almost back to the Plass. Ianto was about to follow Gwen out the cog door, when he realised Tosh wasn't with them.
"Tosh? You coming?"
She just shook her head. "I'm running a diagnostic on the energy signal right now."
"Another? That can wait, Tosh. Martha is leaving, come on up."
Tosh muttered something that sounded quite like 'good riddance' which Ianto chose to ignore, but he couldn't ignore the way she shook her head again and hunched defensively over her keyboard.
"All right," he said. "I'll just... leave you to it."
When she didn't respond, he just sighed and left her to it.
"Did you say Martha is leaving?" Gwen asked as she held the lift door open for him.
He nodded as she engaged the lift. "She said Owen's tests show he's fine to keep working so there's no need for her to stay."
"Well, that's good news. It seems like Jack may have come around as well. To Owen being part of the team, I mean," she said, shooting him a glance out of the side of her eyes. "Not sure what's going on with you two, though."
Gwen's words startled Ianto. She rarely, if ever, acknowledged that a relationship between him and Jack existed, let alone said anything directly to him about it.
"Uhhh..."
She laid a gentle hand on his arm. "I just want to you to know that if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."
I'd say 'when pigs fly', Ianto thought, desperately praying for the lift to move faster, but there was that spaceship that hit Big Ben a few years ago.
"Thanks," he finally managed to say. He patted her hand and then stepped away from her as the lift slowed to a stop. When the doors opened, he gestured for her to go first.
They walked across the Plass in blessed silence, meeting the SUV halfway. Owen moved to help Martha out of the back of the SUV as Jack came around the front of the vehicle and stopped. Gwen and Ianto halted near him, all of them giving Owen and Martha a moment.
"Well, I'm sorry, Dr. Jones. No vacancies in Cardiff just yet," Owen said cheerfully.
"That's okay," Martha said sincerely. "I reckon you're... I was going to say fine, but you're a hell of a lot more than that."
Owen's face went serious and Ianto had to look away. He made the mistake of glancing to his left, however, and caught Jack's eyes on him, his expression unreadable. Ianto stiffened and dropped his gaze to the stones at his feet instead. When he looked up again, Owen was hugging Martha like a long-lost sister and Ianto had to smile.
"Oi!" Jack called, interrupting the embrace.
They gave Jack a pair of annoyed smiles and finished their goodbye. Martha came over to give Gwen a hug and Ianto a quick kiss on the cheek before she turned to Jack.
"Well, it's been... interesting," she said.
"Oh, it's been fun," Jack scoffed, although his serious expression didn't quite match the teasing words. His voice softened. "You know it has."
Martha pushed up on her tiptoes, kissing Jack full on the lips, surprising him as much as the rest of them. His eyes shot to Ianto, his brows raised in surprise, making Ianto look away, hiding his grin at Jack's discomfort.
When Martha pulled back, Jack looked down at her questioningly.
"Well, everyone else has had a go," she said with a chuckle.
Jack laughed and then reached out to touch Martha's cheek, serious once again. "You can so come back any time," he said.
"Well, maybe I will... one day." They exchanged another long look and the Martha tapped her forehead in a quick salute before turning away.
Jack returned the gesture with a full salute and a sombre smile as they all turned to watch Martha leave. She walked a good distance away from them and then changed direction and stepped to one of the light poles along the edge of the Plass. When she just stood there for a moment, Gwen spoke up.
"What's she doing?"
"She said her ride would pick her up here," Ianto said. He tilted his head to the side as he watched her and then nodded as his mind finally classified the sound he'd been hearing in the distance. "Ahhh, and here it comes."
Gwen glanced around, clearly looking for a car. Ianto grinned and pointed up.
"Oh!"
The sleek black helicopter with the distinctive winged globe on the side landed easily in the wide expanse of the empty Plass. Martha waited until she received some sort of sign from the pilot, and then ducked down and hurried to open one of the doors. She gave the Torchwood team one last wave as she got settled and strapped in, and then she was gone. The whump-whump of the helicopter had faded by the time anyone spoke again.
"How come we don't have a helicopter?" Owen asked.
"The Hub is underground," Jack and Ianto said at the same time. Their eyes met for a second before Jack looked away.
"So?" Owen groused.
Ianto raised an eyebrow and reached out his hand towards Jack. "If you'll give me the keys, sir, I'll put the SUV away for the night. You can explain the intricacies of storing helicopters to Owen."
Jack reached in his pocket without a word. His fingers brushed over Ianto's palm as he handed over the keys and Ianto had to concentrate very hard not to shiver. It was the first time they'd touched since Ianto had carried Jack's dead body from the medbay to the SUV days ago.
Ianto wondered if it would be the last.
TBC...
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/118776.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just more Zombie!Owen ;-)
Spoilers: Season Two thru A Day in the Death (2x08)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood, Doctor Who and all their wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Andy Goddard for situations and dialogue borrowed from A Day in the Death. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which Owen's fate is revealed...um...again...
Notes: Hi everyone! I hope y'all had a better weekend then I did. On a related note - know of any good jobs in Denver? Ugh. Enjoy! You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support and beta work; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Eighty-Seven
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Jack allowed Owen to rejoin the team and Owen's first task is to retrieve the alien artefact that Tosh had been tracking all day. He succeeded, but at what cost...
"Tosh?"
"Owen?!"
"Tosh, I'm still here. It's... it's not exploding it's..."
"What, Owen? What is it doing?" Jack's voice came over the comms.
"It's singing." Owen's voice was full of awe. "It's beautiful."
"But..." Tosh's fingers were flying over the keyboard, the monitor still showing a complete white-out of energy. "That doesn't make any sense."
Owen laughed delightedly. "It doesn't make any sense at all. Can you hear it? Is it coming over the comms?"
"No, we can't hear anything, Owen. Are you sure -"
"It's not a weapon," Owen said, the wonder in his voice clear as a bell. "It's... Parker was right, not about it keeping him alive, obviously, but what he said... singing is the only word to describe it. And there are these... tendrils of light shooting out of it."
"Tentacles?" Jack asked worriedly.
"Nah, tendrills, it's like slow moving fireworks. It's so beautiful."
"Owen, I'm still reading energy spikes, even bigger now than before, the computer can't even register them. It can't be safe!"
"If you could see it, Tosh, you'd understand," Owen said with confidence. "I'm bringing it out now. I -"
A faint voice over the comms interrupted Owen It sounded like one of the bodyguards had discovered Parker's body. "Oh my God, you killed him!"
"Shit," Owen muttered.
"You broke in here and killed him! What is that thing? What did you do?"
"Um, Jack? A little help here?" Owen asked quietly and then continued in a louder voice. "It wasn't me, mate, it was just his time. I'm sorry. I tried to save him."
Jack's sigh sounded over the comms. "Coming in with the Retcon," he said to Owen. "Tosh, keep monitoring that thing. We'll be back as soon as we can."
There was a soft chime as Jack turned off the comms.
"I don't understand it," Tosh said, her eyes darting from one monitor to the next. "All the reading say Parker's house should be a crater right now."
"Well, we know Owen's still alive... well, not really, I mean, well, you know what I mean," Gwen said awkwardly. "So maybe it's since it's some kind of alien energy it's making our instruments behave funny?"
Ianto nodded slowly. "From everything Owen was saying, the artefact doesn't seem destructive. Anything else is really academic at the moment. He'll bring it back and you can study it, Tosh. I'm sure you'll find all the answers."
"Well, I'm not taking my eyes off this monitor until Owen and everyone else is back safely," Tosh said.
Ianto and Gwen exchanged a concerned look but left Tosh to her vigil. A few minutes later, Ianto's comm pinged.
"Yes?" he answered promptly, wondering what additional crisis had arisen at the Parker estate.
"Ianto? It's Martha. I have a favour."
"Of course, what can I do for you?"
"It's silly, but is there any way I could get you to take care of checking me out of the hotel? I have all my things with me, habit from... another time. Doesn't matter, anyway, I didn't leave anything behind."
"You in that much of a hurry to leave us?" Ianto teased.
Martha laughed. "I just realised I could have the whole weekend with Tom if get home tonight. I don't think you'll be needing me anymore," she added in softer tones.
"So you think Owen's really okay?" Ianto asked, lowering his voice as well and giving Tosh a furtive glance. "And that Jack's okay with him?"
"Well, they're currently shouting at each other about whether or not they need to Retcon all the guards, I think that's the word. Retcon?"
"It is. Think of it as a chemical version of that flashy thing in Men in Black."
"Ohhh, that makes sense now. Jack has quite a few things he hasn't shared with UNIT, now doesn't he?"
"I'm sure UNIT has a few secrets, too," Ianto pointed out dryly.
"Touché. Anyway, my point was that all the tests on Owen show he's stable, no danger to himself or anyone else. I told Jack that earlier and now they do seem back to their old selves with each other - if yelling is normal, I mean. It seems normal."
Ianto chuckled. "It is."
"I figured anything was better than the silent treatment the last few days. If anything, Jack is the one who seems... off now. If Jack wasn't, you know, Jack, I'd say he was coming down with the flu or something."
"Hmm," Ianto hummed in a noncommittal way. Jack and his moods were the last thing he wanted to discuss at the moment. He turned the subject back to the original topic. "I can certainly take care of the hotel for you. When do you think we can expect you?"
"Well... it looks like the arm waving has stopped and they seem to be actually doing something now, so not much longer, I would guess."
"Will you need a car or anything to get back to London?"
"Oh, thanks so much, Ianto, but no, my ride will pick me up on the Plass, so I'm set."
"Of course, I'll see you when you get back."
"Great! Thanks again!"
Ianto reached up to mute his comm again and rang the hotel to close out the bill. True to Martha's estimate, it was only about twenty minutes later when Tosh called out that the SUV was almost back to the Plass. Ianto was about to follow Gwen out the cog door, when he realised Tosh wasn't with them.
"Tosh? You coming?"
She just shook her head. "I'm running a diagnostic on the energy signal right now."
"Another? That can wait, Tosh. Martha is leaving, come on up."
Tosh muttered something that sounded quite like 'good riddance' which Ianto chose to ignore, but he couldn't ignore the way she shook her head again and hunched defensively over her keyboard.
"All right," he said. "I'll just... leave you to it."
When she didn't respond, he just sighed and left her to it.
"Did you say Martha is leaving?" Gwen asked as she held the lift door open for him.
He nodded as she engaged the lift. "She said Owen's tests show he's fine to keep working so there's no need for her to stay."
"Well, that's good news. It seems like Jack may have come around as well. To Owen being part of the team, I mean," she said, shooting him a glance out of the side of her eyes. "Not sure what's going on with you two, though."
Gwen's words startled Ianto. She rarely, if ever, acknowledged that a relationship between him and Jack existed, let alone said anything directly to him about it.
"Uhhh..."
She laid a gentle hand on his arm. "I just want to you to know that if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."
I'd say 'when pigs fly', Ianto thought, desperately praying for the lift to move faster, but there was that spaceship that hit Big Ben a few years ago.
"Thanks," he finally managed to say. He patted her hand and then stepped away from her as the lift slowed to a stop. When the doors opened, he gestured for her to go first.
They walked across the Plass in blessed silence, meeting the SUV halfway. Owen moved to help Martha out of the back of the SUV as Jack came around the front of the vehicle and stopped. Gwen and Ianto halted near him, all of them giving Owen and Martha a moment.
"Well, I'm sorry, Dr. Jones. No vacancies in Cardiff just yet," Owen said cheerfully.
"That's okay," Martha said sincerely. "I reckon you're... I was going to say fine, but you're a hell of a lot more than that."
Owen's face went serious and Ianto had to look away. He made the mistake of glancing to his left, however, and caught Jack's eyes on him, his expression unreadable. Ianto stiffened and dropped his gaze to the stones at his feet instead. When he looked up again, Owen was hugging Martha like a long-lost sister and Ianto had to smile.
"Oi!" Jack called, interrupting the embrace.
They gave Jack a pair of annoyed smiles and finished their goodbye. Martha came over to give Gwen a hug and Ianto a quick kiss on the cheek before she turned to Jack.
"Well, it's been... interesting," she said.
"Oh, it's been fun," Jack scoffed, although his serious expression didn't quite match the teasing words. His voice softened. "You know it has."
Martha pushed up on her tiptoes, kissing Jack full on the lips, surprising him as much as the rest of them. His eyes shot to Ianto, his brows raised in surprise, making Ianto look away, hiding his grin at Jack's discomfort.
When Martha pulled back, Jack looked down at her questioningly.
"Well, everyone else has had a go," she said with a chuckle.
Jack laughed and then reached out to touch Martha's cheek, serious once again. "You can so come back any time," he said.
"Well, maybe I will... one day." They exchanged another long look and the Martha tapped her forehead in a quick salute before turning away.
Jack returned the gesture with a full salute and a sombre smile as they all turned to watch Martha leave. She walked a good distance away from them and then changed direction and stepped to one of the light poles along the edge of the Plass. When she just stood there for a moment, Gwen spoke up.
"What's she doing?"
"She said her ride would pick her up here," Ianto said. He tilted his head to the side as he watched her and then nodded as his mind finally classified the sound he'd been hearing in the distance. "Ahhh, and here it comes."
Gwen glanced around, clearly looking for a car. Ianto grinned and pointed up.
"Oh!"
The sleek black helicopter with the distinctive winged globe on the side landed easily in the wide expanse of the empty Plass. Martha waited until she received some sort of sign from the pilot, and then ducked down and hurried to open one of the doors. She gave the Torchwood team one last wave as she got settled and strapped in, and then she was gone. The whump-whump of the helicopter had faded by the time anyone spoke again.
"How come we don't have a helicopter?" Owen asked.
"The Hub is underground," Jack and Ianto said at the same time. Their eyes met for a second before Jack looked away.
"So?" Owen groused.
Ianto raised an eyebrow and reached out his hand towards Jack. "If you'll give me the keys, sir, I'll put the SUV away for the night. You can explain the intricacies of storing helicopters to Owen."
Jack reached in his pocket without a word. His fingers brushed over Ianto's palm as he handed over the keys and Ianto had to concentrate very hard not to shiver. It was the first time they'd touched since Ianto had carried Jack's dead body from the medbay to the SUV days ago.
Ianto wondered if it would be the last.
TBC...
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/118776.html. Please comment there using OpenID.