Does Africa Know A Song Of Me? - Part 4/10
Title: Does Africa Know A Song Of Me?
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, mentions of Gwen/Rhys, Martha/Tom
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Torchwood. Things would be rather different if I did.
Spoilers: Set sometime late in an alternate version of S2 (where no one is dead)
Summary: Jack gets a call from UNIT. They need his help... in Namibia. And when they arrive, Jack and Ianto (because Jack wouldn't leave him behind) discover the only communication they have with the team is letters...
Author's Note: The title is taken from a quote from the film 'Out Of Africa'. This was written for tw_bigbang
Thanks to: The wonderful morbid_sparks for beta'ing, cheerleading and letting me complain about not knowing where the plot was going.
Also huge thanks to my lovely bigbang artist, wrenriddle - find her fanmix and beautiful cover art for this story here.
Previous Parts: One Two Three
Does Africa Know A Song of Me?
83 Bryan Avenue
Willesden
Brent
London
26th April 2008
Dear Jack and Ianto,
No, I hadn’t heard. It seems for once my sources have failed me. I don’t understand why they’d request you, Jack, rather than just sending in a team from one of the bigger and more experienced UNIT bases (I think there’s one in South Africa, actually). I’m sure whoever it was had their reasons.
By the way, you two are actually my first official RSVP for the wedding, despite being in a desert in Africa. And I’ll forgive you just this once for the lack of a pretty response card. Because it’s you two. And you’re in Africa. I’ll even forgive you for deriding the wedding traditions, Jack, since you were so prompt and all.
You’re lucky we put the address for the RSVPs down as here, though, and not mum and dad’s place. Mum would have had your hide for that, even if she had to go all the way to Namibia to do it. (And don’t even think I’m kidding. You’ve met her, Jack, you know she would.)
So, do you think you’ll be out there long? Hopefully not, from the sounds of where you’re living. Although Jack’s room wasn’t somewhere that was included in my supposedly comprehensive Hub tour, so I don’t know exactly how small you’re talking. I’m guessing ‘small’ though, from your description. I don’t think anyone would blame you if you strangled him, Ianto, after a few weeks of living in quite such close proximity. I certainly would. (And don’t you start whining, Jack Harkness; you know that doesn’t mean I don’t adore you. But I would.)
And no, by the way, even if you asked very nicely, I wouldn’t go out to Africa for you. The only person who might get me out there one day is my lovely fiancé Tom. He’s suggested that maybe one day, not right now, but in a few years, I could take a short sabbatical from UNIT and we could go do some work in some desperately under funded hospitals in Africa together. I’m actually seriously considering it - saving the world from alien invasion is important, but sick kids in the 3rd world are no less so. And Tom tells me the people he meets are just wonderful.
If you’d been a few hundred (thousand? I’m not actually 100% sure how far apart Namibia and Ethiopia are) miles to the North West and a few weeks earlier, you could have met Tom out there, actually. He got back nearly a month ago, and he’s leaving again for another two and a half months in a couple of weeks. Hence why we’ve been sorting things out like all the invitations!
And yes, I promise that the next time Tom is home - after you two get back to Cardiff, of course - I will bring him out to meet you. As long as you promise to be nice and not scare him away. (I’m not talking to you here, Ianto, don’t worry. It’s that flirt-o-matic in the greatcoat you’ve taken up with. He’s a menace. And while I think of it, you’re not letting him keep wearing that coat in the heat out there, are you? He’ll kill himself of heatstroke.)
Anyway, look after yourselves (and each other) and I hope I will see you both soon. Don’t go wandering off alone into any lion’s hunting ground, will you?
Love,
Martha
P.S. I can quite believe it, Ianto. I don’t think Jack would recognise ‘a tiny little bit of seduction’ if it hit him in the face. Plus I’ve seen how he looks at you… I doubt he’s capable of anything less than full-on seducing when it comes to you.
Cardiff
26th April 2008
Dear Jack and Ianto,
The rain has finally stopped! Hurrah! Stopped mid-morning this morning and has been dry since. We’re all hoping that we might actually get a few fairly dry (and possibly warm) weeks now that we’re almost into May. The forecasts on the telly do seem to be predicting that we’ll get at least a few sunny days now, so fingers crossed.
And, just for your information, the torrential rain was spread over most of Wales and the West of England. Some places have had quite bad flooding - mostly the places where they built housing estates on flood plains, of course, but you can’t tell building firms anything. (Rhys says this is true, by the way… he’s driven lorries for a couple on occasion and apparently they just didn’t listen to anything anyone from the haulage firm said.)
So we don’t think it is actually anything to do with the Rift (probably more of that global warming stuff, Owen says) but we’re not saying anything for sure.
It doesn’t mean we’ve stopped being jealous of your hot sunny weather over there, though. I don’t think any of us will be feeling hot enough to be wearing shorts. Not wearing a coat might be as far as we get.
We put all the parts of that laser gun that Tosh isn’t using in her project back in the box and put it in that little room for you, Ianto - Tosh put a note in the top about which bits she used, in case you need/want to record that somewhere. We weren’t sure so we erred on the side of caution.
We’re making our way through the paperwork for April too - well, Tosh and I are, mostly, and Owen is staying out of the way (we actually get through it faster that way). Some of it is supposed to be signed by you though, Jack, and we realised that we don’t know if anyone had told the Crown that you’re out there working on UNIT’s behalf at the moment (and if we should if they hadn’t) - can I just sign them in your stead or do we have to attempt to forge your signature? If we have to forge it, we might have a slight problem, ‘cause we all had a go at it the last time and only Ianto managed to produce anything any good.
Things are still mostly quiet on a Rift/alien activity front. We did have a bit of an incident with a Hoix or two yesterday after they were spotted having themselves an all you can eat feast at the rubbish dump - sorry, ‘waste and recycling centre’ - out past Grangetown. We managed to get them sedated and into the cells after a while, and we’re keeping them there for the time being, until we can figure out something better to do with them. They’re doing wonders for how much rubbish we have to throw away though. (Yes, Ianto, we have actually been cleaning up after ourselves. Even Owen, most of the time.)
Tosh is sending you a parcel of stuff separately that she says should be helpful with your beacon problems, she hopes. We were going to just send it all together, but we decided we didn’t want to risk delaying the letter in case parcels take longer to be delivered than letters do.
Gwen deigned to let me actually write in the main body of the letter this time. Finally. Ianto, I’m glad you’re acting like a rational human being and adapting as much as you can to the climate out there. I don’t want to imagine you in shorts, particularly, but I approve of you ‘resorting’ to them, as you put it. Jack, please, for the love of all that is good in the universe, just stop whining and put on some appropriate bloody clothing for the weather out there. I’m sure you can figure out a way to do that and still stick to your ridiculous 1940s military dress code. Ianto, I’m authorising you to do whatever it takes to persuade him - just please, please don’t tell me about any of it. I don’t want to know.
Anyway, we hope that you get something useful soon so you can figure it out and come back home. Your presence is sorely missed - both of you.
Love,
Gwen (oi! - and Owen. But less of the ‘love’ thing, alright?)
Cardiff
26th April 2008
Ianto,
Those beacons are supposed to be pretty much air and water tight, so nothing should be able to get into them. But we’ve only ever tested them in the situations we’re likely to put them in here in Cardiff. They’ve never experienced a sandstorm before. (Well, they wouldn’t, in Cardiff, would they?)
So yes, it is entirely possible that the combination of conditions experienced in a sandstorm could mean that some sand got inside - especially if it was really fine sand.
To be honest, there isn’t a whole lot else that can go wrong with those particular beacons. They’re just very sensitive to any sort of dirt or pollutants.
I’m sending you a kit that has a little bit of my favourite kind of tech to open up its casing - it should seal it up again afterwards too, as long as it isn’t actually smashed (which is unlikely, considering the material its made of - that stuff is practically indestructible!)
The rest is cleaning solution and appropriate instruments for cleaning the insides thoroughly. If they still don’t work after you’ve taken them apart, cleaned them and put them back together again… I don’t know. Send them back over and I’ll take a look.
I’m glad to hear you’re doing okay over there, even if you don’t like the heat much and are stuck in a tiny hut with Jack a lot of the time. There have to be some compensations for that, though, yes?
Actually, from what we can make out from what you’ve scored out of Jack’s writing in your letters (okay, what I can make out - I’m sorry, because I know you obviously didn’t want those parts to be read, but crossed out writing always makes me curious) he definitely thinks there are plenty of advantages to being confined to a small space with you.
And if he does get to be a bit much, remember that I’m always here for you to talk to. I know it’s not quite the same when we can only communicate through letters, but if you need to vent, feel free to write me. (I’ll warn you now that I will be doing the same if Gwen and Owen get too much for me. I love them both, I do - you know how I feel - but it’s really different without you or Jack around to sort of… buffer.)
Right, I hope that this parcel gets to you okay, and that it helps.
- Tosh
Part Five
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, mentions of Gwen/Rhys, Martha/Tom
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Torchwood. Things would be rather different if I did.
Spoilers: Set sometime late in an alternate version of S2 (where no one is dead)
Summary: Jack gets a call from UNIT. They need his help... in Namibia. And when they arrive, Jack and Ianto (because Jack wouldn't leave him behind) discover the only communication they have with the team is letters...
Author's Note: The title is taken from a quote from the film 'Out Of Africa'. This was written for tw_bigbang
Thanks to: The wonderful morbid_sparks for beta'ing, cheerleading and letting me complain about not knowing where the plot was going.
Also huge thanks to my lovely bigbang artist, wrenriddle - find her fanmix and beautiful cover art for this story here.
Previous Parts: One Two Three
Does Africa Know A Song of Me?
83 Bryan Avenue
Willesden
Brent
London
26th April 2008
Dear Jack and Ianto,
No, I hadn’t heard. It seems for once my sources have failed me. I don’t understand why they’d request you, Jack, rather than just sending in a team from one of the bigger and more experienced UNIT bases (I think there’s one in South Africa, actually). I’m sure whoever it was had their reasons.
By the way, you two are actually my first official RSVP for the wedding, despite being in a desert in Africa. And I’ll forgive you just this once for the lack of a pretty response card. Because it’s you two. And you’re in Africa. I’ll even forgive you for deriding the wedding traditions, Jack, since you were so prompt and all.
You’re lucky we put the address for the RSVPs down as here, though, and not mum and dad’s place. Mum would have had your hide for that, even if she had to go all the way to Namibia to do it. (And don’t even think I’m kidding. You’ve met her, Jack, you know she would.)
So, do you think you’ll be out there long? Hopefully not, from the sounds of where you’re living. Although Jack’s room wasn’t somewhere that was included in my supposedly comprehensive Hub tour, so I don’t know exactly how small you’re talking. I’m guessing ‘small’ though, from your description. I don’t think anyone would blame you if you strangled him, Ianto, after a few weeks of living in quite such close proximity. I certainly would. (And don’t you start whining, Jack Harkness; you know that doesn’t mean I don’t adore you. But I would.)
And no, by the way, even if you asked very nicely, I wouldn’t go out to Africa for you. The only person who might get me out there one day is my lovely fiancé Tom. He’s suggested that maybe one day, not right now, but in a few years, I could take a short sabbatical from UNIT and we could go do some work in some desperately under funded hospitals in Africa together. I’m actually seriously considering it - saving the world from alien invasion is important, but sick kids in the 3rd world are no less so. And Tom tells me the people he meets are just wonderful.
If you’d been a few hundred (thousand? I’m not actually 100% sure how far apart Namibia and Ethiopia are) miles to the North West and a few weeks earlier, you could have met Tom out there, actually. He got back nearly a month ago, and he’s leaving again for another two and a half months in a couple of weeks. Hence why we’ve been sorting things out like all the invitations!
And yes, I promise that the next time Tom is home - after you two get back to Cardiff, of course - I will bring him out to meet you. As long as you promise to be nice and not scare him away. (I’m not talking to you here, Ianto, don’t worry. It’s that flirt-o-matic in the greatcoat you’ve taken up with. He’s a menace. And while I think of it, you’re not letting him keep wearing that coat in the heat out there, are you? He’ll kill himself of heatstroke.)
Anyway, look after yourselves (and each other) and I hope I will see you both soon. Don’t go wandering off alone into any lion’s hunting ground, will you?
Love,
Martha
P.S. I can quite believe it, Ianto. I don’t think Jack would recognise ‘a tiny little bit of seduction’ if it hit him in the face. Plus I’ve seen how he looks at you… I doubt he’s capable of anything less than full-on seducing when it comes to you.
Cardiff
26th April 2008
Dear Jack and Ianto,
The rain has finally stopped! Hurrah! Stopped mid-morning this morning and has been dry since. We’re all hoping that we might actually get a few fairly dry (and possibly warm) weeks now that we’re almost into May. The forecasts on the telly do seem to be predicting that we’ll get at least a few sunny days now, so fingers crossed.
And, just for your information, the torrential rain was spread over most of Wales and the West of England. Some places have had quite bad flooding - mostly the places where they built housing estates on flood plains, of course, but you can’t tell building firms anything. (Rhys says this is true, by the way… he’s driven lorries for a couple on occasion and apparently they just didn’t listen to anything anyone from the haulage firm said.)
So we don’t think it is actually anything to do with the Rift (probably more of that global warming stuff, Owen says) but we’re not saying anything for sure.
It doesn’t mean we’ve stopped being jealous of your hot sunny weather over there, though. I don’t think any of us will be feeling hot enough to be wearing shorts. Not wearing a coat might be as far as we get.
We put all the parts of that laser gun that Tosh isn’t using in her project back in the box and put it in that little room for you, Ianto - Tosh put a note in the top about which bits she used, in case you need/want to record that somewhere. We weren’t sure so we erred on the side of caution.
We’re making our way through the paperwork for April too - well, Tosh and I are, mostly, and Owen is staying out of the way (we actually get through it faster that way). Some of it is supposed to be signed by you though, Jack, and we realised that we don’t know if anyone had told the Crown that you’re out there working on UNIT’s behalf at the moment (and if we should if they hadn’t) - can I just sign them in your stead or do we have to attempt to forge your signature? If we have to forge it, we might have a slight problem, ‘cause we all had a go at it the last time and only Ianto managed to produce anything any good.
Things are still mostly quiet on a Rift/alien activity front. We did have a bit of an incident with a Hoix or two yesterday after they were spotted having themselves an all you can eat feast at the rubbish dump - sorry, ‘waste and recycling centre’ - out past Grangetown. We managed to get them sedated and into the cells after a while, and we’re keeping them there for the time being, until we can figure out something better to do with them. They’re doing wonders for how much rubbish we have to throw away though. (Yes, Ianto, we have actually been cleaning up after ourselves. Even Owen, most of the time.)
Tosh is sending you a parcel of stuff separately that she says should be helpful with your beacon problems, she hopes. We were going to just send it all together, but we decided we didn’t want to risk delaying the letter in case parcels take longer to be delivered than letters do.
Gwen deigned to let me actually write in the main body of the letter this time. Finally. Ianto, I’m glad you’re acting like a rational human being and adapting as much as you can to the climate out there. I don’t want to imagine you in shorts, particularly, but I approve of you ‘resorting’ to them, as you put it. Jack, please, for the love of all that is good in the universe, just stop whining and put on some appropriate bloody clothing for the weather out there. I’m sure you can figure out a way to do that and still stick to your ridiculous 1940s military dress code. Ianto, I’m authorising you to do whatever it takes to persuade him - just please, please don’t tell me about any of it. I don’t want to know.
Anyway, we hope that you get something useful soon so you can figure it out and come back home. Your presence is sorely missed - both of you.
Love,
Gwen (oi! - and Owen. But less of the ‘love’ thing, alright?)
Cardiff
26th April 2008
Ianto,
Those beacons are supposed to be pretty much air and water tight, so nothing should be able to get into them. But we’ve only ever tested them in the situations we’re likely to put them in here in Cardiff. They’ve never experienced a sandstorm before. (Well, they wouldn’t, in Cardiff, would they?)
So yes, it is entirely possible that the combination of conditions experienced in a sandstorm could mean that some sand got inside - especially if it was really fine sand.
To be honest, there isn’t a whole lot else that can go wrong with those particular beacons. They’re just very sensitive to any sort of dirt or pollutants.
I’m sending you a kit that has a little bit of my favourite kind of tech to open up its casing - it should seal it up again afterwards too, as long as it isn’t actually smashed (which is unlikely, considering the material its made of - that stuff is practically indestructible!)
The rest is cleaning solution and appropriate instruments for cleaning the insides thoroughly. If they still don’t work after you’ve taken them apart, cleaned them and put them back together again… I don’t know. Send them back over and I’ll take a look.
I’m glad to hear you’re doing okay over there, even if you don’t like the heat much and are stuck in a tiny hut with Jack a lot of the time. There have to be some compensations for that, though, yes?
Actually, from what we can make out from what you’ve scored out of Jack’s writing in your letters (okay, what I can make out - I’m sorry, because I know you obviously didn’t want those parts to be read, but crossed out writing always makes me curious) he definitely thinks there are plenty of advantages to being confined to a small space with you.
And if he does get to be a bit much, remember that I’m always here for you to talk to. I know it’s not quite the same when we can only communicate through letters, but if you need to vent, feel free to write me. (I’ll warn you now that I will be doing the same if Gwen and Owen get too much for me. I love them both, I do - you know how I feel - but it’s really different without you or Jack around to sort of… buffer.)
Right, I hope that this parcel gets to you okay, and that it helps.
- Tosh
Part Five