DW/TW Fic: Only the Beginning
Title: Only the Beginning
Author: nancybrown
Characters: Toshiko, River
Rating: PG
Words: 950
Spoilers: "Exit Wounds," DW series 5
Summary: The adventure begins.
AN: Written for spoiler_song's Guns N' Curls Ficathon for alt_universe_me's prompt: River/Toshiko, or River+Toshiko, epic and sexy adventures in time and space, (crossover with Torchwood)
***
"I'm dead," is the first thing that comes out of her mouth when her lips can move and her mind has fluttered into coherency. Tosh remembers the bullet, slowly ripping through her, remembers the warm flow of blood, and then the sinking coldness as she bled out. Her hands flail for purchase, settling on her midriff, feeling around herself for the wounds she knows must be there.
"You were dead," says a voice, and she turns her head. Her mind still reels, but even as it does, Tosh catalogues the room, details, anything she can use later. She is in a bed, narrow, with a thin but comfortable mattress over a metal frame. Around her, she sees monitors recording information that matches up to her heart rate, respiration, other circadian patterns, although she cannot read the data itself. This is an alien language, one either she has not seen before or has encountered only briefly. She takes a moment to squint at the lettering, hoping to describe it later to Jack. The equipment is designed in an ovular style, all brushed-steel hyperbolae and elegant spheres instead of sharp, efficient corners. She's seen remnants of this particular design before, dented and broken after travel through the Rift, but recognisable.
Finally, she takes a look at her captor. "I was dead."
"Yes." The woman's face is framed in wild blonde curls. She's dressed in a simple khaki tank top and trousers that appear to be all pockets. There's a smile on her lips, but only just. "Bit of a trick to that. I almost didn't get you out of there in time."
Toshiko swings her legs over the edge of the small bed and sits up. Her head is clear. She is in no pain. She has noticed that her eyesight is improved. She holds her own wrist, timing her pulse with the alien display. This isn't some mockery of life, not like Owen, not like Suzie. Owen … "Where have you taken me?" She almost tips her hand on who she is, on Torchwood. No, best to have something to bargain with later. "I have friends who will be looking for me."
"No. You don't." The woman's face is sad, and kind. "Dr. Toshiko Sato, one of the brightest minds of the twenty-first century. Your accomplishments had to remain secret for years after your death."
She let herself take in the words. "How long?"
"For you? About eleven hours. I had to wait until they finished cleaning your body and put you into their little morgue for safe-keeping." Another smile, this one secretive and pleased. "Oh, they did think the locks were good, didn't they?"
Anger moves through her. "You broke into the Hub and stole my body?" There's a glimmer of hope. If she's only been dead less than a day, they can't be far from home, surely.
"And had to replace it with something so your friends didn't wonder where you'd gone. Honestly, I hardly had time to get you back here."
"Back where? Where are we?"
"Come here."
Tosh throws herself off the bunk, letting the anger lead her. Fear is crowding into her throat, and if she lets that win, she'll end up huddled on the floor. She's been kidnapped and listed as dead before. She'll gladly fill this time with rage, burying her terror while she uses every damn technique she knows to get herself home. If she's very good, she can take whatever magic trick this woman has for restoring life, and she can bring Owen back, too.
And then the rage and fear and everything else vanishes as she looks over the woman's shoulder. There's a city, huge as imagination, floating in space. Buildings with familiar names cover it, looking as tall as clouds. Beneath the city, she sees an enormous whale, possibly of the same species as the one they couldn't save a few months ago. Past the city and the whale, she sees shapes she knows outlined on a strange background.
It's the Earth, and it's burned.
Tosh gasps, bringing her hand against her mouth. Eleven hours? All this? "When are we?"
"Much better question. We are far in your future. This is, as you gathered, the Earth. That floating city you see is what exists of the United Kingdom."
Tosh examines the city again, drinking in every detail. Yes. She has seen enough strangeness and wonder of the universe. She can believe this. "Why did you bring me here? As a warning? A message from the future?"
"Hardly. No-one ever listens to the Ghost of Christmas Future." The woman frowns prettily. "Well, except that once. Anyway, no. You're not here to take a message back in time to save the Earth."
"Then why?"
The woman indicates the planet. "You're here to help me save it now."
It's been on her job description before. It's not as much of a shock as it could be; after all, she was dead an hour ago. "Why me?"
The woman indicates a yellowing folder with her name on it, a folder which Tosh understands is anachronistic here in what she's becoming certain is a spaceship. It's open, and she sees a printed report, the standard post-mortem "This is an ex-Torchwood agent" summary of her life. Jack's signature is at the bottom. She's dead. She's really dead, and her body was wiped clean and put into a drawer, and this woman stole her away. Tosh trembles.
"Because I believe that, throughout all of human history, you're the only one who can."
***
Author: nancybrown
Characters: Toshiko, River
Rating: PG
Words: 950
Spoilers: "Exit Wounds," DW series 5
Summary: The adventure begins.
AN: Written for spoiler_song's Guns N' Curls Ficathon for alt_universe_me's prompt: River/Toshiko, or River+Toshiko, epic and sexy adventures in time and space, (crossover with Torchwood)
***
"I'm dead," is the first thing that comes out of her mouth when her lips can move and her mind has fluttered into coherency. Tosh remembers the bullet, slowly ripping through her, remembers the warm flow of blood, and then the sinking coldness as she bled out. Her hands flail for purchase, settling on her midriff, feeling around herself for the wounds she knows must be there.
"You were dead," says a voice, and she turns her head. Her mind still reels, but even as it does, Tosh catalogues the room, details, anything she can use later. She is in a bed, narrow, with a thin but comfortable mattress over a metal frame. Around her, she sees monitors recording information that matches up to her heart rate, respiration, other circadian patterns, although she cannot read the data itself. This is an alien language, one either she has not seen before or has encountered only briefly. She takes a moment to squint at the lettering, hoping to describe it later to Jack. The equipment is designed in an ovular style, all brushed-steel hyperbolae and elegant spheres instead of sharp, efficient corners. She's seen remnants of this particular design before, dented and broken after travel through the Rift, but recognisable.
Finally, she takes a look at her captor. "I was dead."
"Yes." The woman's face is framed in wild blonde curls. She's dressed in a simple khaki tank top and trousers that appear to be all pockets. There's a smile on her lips, but only just. "Bit of a trick to that. I almost didn't get you out of there in time."
Toshiko swings her legs over the edge of the small bed and sits up. Her head is clear. She is in no pain. She has noticed that her eyesight is improved. She holds her own wrist, timing her pulse with the alien display. This isn't some mockery of life, not like Owen, not like Suzie. Owen … "Where have you taken me?" She almost tips her hand on who she is, on Torchwood. No, best to have something to bargain with later. "I have friends who will be looking for me."
"No. You don't." The woman's face is sad, and kind. "Dr. Toshiko Sato, one of the brightest minds of the twenty-first century. Your accomplishments had to remain secret for years after your death."
She let herself take in the words. "How long?"
"For you? About eleven hours. I had to wait until they finished cleaning your body and put you into their little morgue for safe-keeping." Another smile, this one secretive and pleased. "Oh, they did think the locks were good, didn't they?"
Anger moves through her. "You broke into the Hub and stole my body?" There's a glimmer of hope. If she's only been dead less than a day, they can't be far from home, surely.
"And had to replace it with something so your friends didn't wonder where you'd gone. Honestly, I hardly had time to get you back here."
"Back where? Where are we?"
"Come here."
Tosh throws herself off the bunk, letting the anger lead her. Fear is crowding into her throat, and if she lets that win, she'll end up huddled on the floor. She's been kidnapped and listed as dead before. She'll gladly fill this time with rage, burying her terror while she uses every damn technique she knows to get herself home. If she's very good, she can take whatever magic trick this woman has for restoring life, and she can bring Owen back, too.
And then the rage and fear and everything else vanishes as she looks over the woman's shoulder. There's a city, huge as imagination, floating in space. Buildings with familiar names cover it, looking as tall as clouds. Beneath the city, she sees an enormous whale, possibly of the same species as the one they couldn't save a few months ago. Past the city and the whale, she sees shapes she knows outlined on a strange background.
It's the Earth, and it's burned.
Tosh gasps, bringing her hand against her mouth. Eleven hours? All this? "When are we?"
"Much better question. We are far in your future. This is, as you gathered, the Earth. That floating city you see is what exists of the United Kingdom."
Tosh examines the city again, drinking in every detail. Yes. She has seen enough strangeness and wonder of the universe. She can believe this. "Why did you bring me here? As a warning? A message from the future?"
"Hardly. No-one ever listens to the Ghost of Christmas Future." The woman frowns prettily. "Well, except that once. Anyway, no. You're not here to take a message back in time to save the Earth."
"Then why?"
The woman indicates the planet. "You're here to help me save it now."
It's been on her job description before. It's not as much of a shock as it could be; after all, she was dead an hour ago. "Why me?"
The woman indicates a yellowing folder with her name on it, a folder which Tosh understands is anachronistic here in what she's becoming certain is a spaceship. It's open, and she sees a printed report, the standard post-mortem "This is an ex-Torchwood agent" summary of her life. Jack's signature is at the bottom. She's dead. She's really dead, and her body was wiped clean and put into a drawer, and this woman stole her away. Tosh trembles.
"Because I believe that, throughout all of human history, you're the only one who can."
***