Torchwood 2 (Glasgow)
Archie removed his reading glasses and placed them in his inside jacket pocket. Pushing himself away from the desk and standing up; he moved towards the door of the little book shop that had been the home to Torchwood Two for the last 80 years. He knew this day was coming and he had been preparing for it for the last several months. Rumblings that someone in the government was planning to close Torchwood down and to take what was there for their own purposes.
Looking out the door he took one last glance at the River Clyde Waterfront, smiling at the memory of Glaswegians coming down to the Broomielaw to board the paddle wheeler steamers to go 'doon the watter' for a day trip or seaside holiday.
Chuckling a bit as he remembered chasing the Goblin over the humps on the Squiggly Bridge and inadvertently starting a trend called "doing the Squiggly". Sighing at the memories, he turned the sign on the door to 'Closed' and turned away from the water front he loved. Tapping the button on his wrist-worn mat-transfer device he closed his eyes just as the building blew up around him. . .
The explosion shook the waterfront and destroyed the bookstore. Two soldiers crossed the Squiggly Bridge and got into a waiting Land Rover Defender. "Are you sure he was in the store, Sergeant?"
"Aye, Leftenant, I waited till he turned the sign to 'Closed' and turned his back on the river before detonating the explosive."
The Lieutenant sighed, "Then that's that. . .Torchwood Two has officially been disbanded and we can put this messy business behind us." With that the soldiers drove off.
"Archie, you smell of sulfur." Archie smiled as he looked about and saw that he was in his mother's family's cottage above Luss Village on Loch Lomand. His eyes landed on the faerie-like creature who had been his companion since rescuing her from her crashed spaceship almost a century ago.
"Yes, Ckaitchlin, I barely made it before they blew the shoppe up." Ckaitchlin wasn't her real name but it was as close as Archie could come to the actual pronunciation.
She always tittered a bit at they way he said it, "Do you think they will be fooled enough not to come looking for you here?"
The old man paused a moment, "I hope so, little lady, I did all I could to leave just enough evidence of what we do. . .did there and the poor soul we found dead in the alley was modified with my DNA and a few items people saw me with; properly deactivated, of course; that they shouldn't search any further." He chuckled, "Besides, old Torchwood Two was said to have been manned by a very strange man and most of the government thought us nothing more than a research station." Archie removed his jacket and sat down in the old leather chair.
"I did leave a little bauble, a shiny object that I am sure someone will take interest in," he chuckled. "That could help to keep us informed of what is going on."
The Faerie landed on his desk and sat on the edge, swinging her legs as she talked. "Does anyone else know of this place?"
Archie smiled, "Only Captain Jack and he would never disclose this location to anyone."
There was a soft breeze blowing off the Lake on that spring day in 1890 and Archie smiled thinking of how much his mother had loved this old cottage and she had loved his father, Jamie to whom Archie owed so much. For it was his father's tales of travel through time and space that had piqued his own interest in the stars. During the last few years of his life, Jamie rambled on about traveling with someone called the Doctor and of visiting other planets and other times.
Everyone said he was daft and not to pay him any mind, but his father was all he had after his mother died during his 15th year of life. They were buried side-by-side, in a small family plot on his land above Lake Lomend.
He was sitting on the side of the cottage facing the Lake, enjoying his afternoon pipe and ale when he noticed a strangely dressed man approaching. The man was tall and quite dapper in a long coat of a style that he had never seen before. There was a swagger and cocksuredness about him and a smile that must have broken the hearts of many.
"Good sir, could you tell me where I might find the home of Archibald McCrimmon?"
Archie chuckled as he stood, "You need search no further, for I am Archibald McCrimmon, Archie, to my friends." He offered his hand and the stranger took it and shook it. He had a look of amazement on his face.
"I'm Captain Jack Harkness and they told me you were 100 years old, you don't look a day over 40!"
The old man chuckled, "I thank you for saying so, I don't quite understand it, but my father told me that his travels so long ago, might have affected his aging and mine, for he was well over 100 when he passed."
The Captain looked into Archie's eyes, "May I ask what your father's name was?"
Archie smiled and with a twinkle in his eyes he said, "Jamie McCrimmon, a Piper in the Clan Fraser and to hear him tell, a traveler through time and space."
Jack's jaw dropped and a look of recognition flashed across his face, "Your father was The Jamie McCrimmon! He truly was a traveler, a Companion to a friend of mine. . .The Doctor!"
"The Doctor. . ." they had said the words together and a smile crossed the old man's face, "I knew the tales he told had been true, though others had doubted it, You knew my father?" This time the look of disbelief was on Archie's face.
Captain Jack chuckled, "No, I never met him, you might say he was a bit before my time. . .but I know the Doctor, I traveled with him a few times, myself."
"Where are my manners, come on in, I will put some tea on, or I might be able to find something a wee bit stronger." "A wee bit stronger would be nice." he said as they both entered the cottage.
As both men sat before the hearth, each with a mug of whiskey in their hands, the old man turned to this young man in wonder, "You said you were looking for me, may I ask why?"
Jack sat his mug down and turned to Archie, "Archie, I work for section of Her Majesty's government called the Torchwood Institute. Our purpose is to protect the British Empire from otherworldly threats and to secure alien technology for the Empire." He intentionally left out the part about 'capturing' The Doctor as he turned in his chair a bit uncomfortably.
"Archie, we investigate odd things, strange stories and yours is a bit of all of that."
Archie closed his eyes and sighed.
Jack continued, " Stories like, there is an old man in Luss Village who doesn't seem to age and that he collects odds and ends that seemingly have no apparent purposes; as well as manuscripts that mention such oddities."
The old man set down his own mug, "Am I to be arrested for my curiosity, for my longevity or am I to be studied like some long lost relic? What is it you want of me?"
The Captain shook his head, "No, no, you misunderstand me, we don't want to arrest you, we want you to join us, to help us find those odds and ends, otherworldly relics. To ascertain their purpose. To search sightings that make little or no sense. . .we want you to join the Torchwood Institute!"
The old man chuckled, "That's a relief, for a moment there I thought I might have to kill you and then disappear."
Jack chuckled, "Many have tried that, but I don't die easy."
Archie smiled, "I don't work well with others and I prefer not to work here as this is my refuge, my private place."
Jack smiled, "That could be arranged, how does Edinburgh sound?"
The old man shook his head, "I'd rather go to Glasgow. . .Edinburgh has too many people."
"Glasgow it is then", Jack picked up his mug and downed it in one gulp. Archie did the same and the two men talked and laughed through the night.
Archie had fallen asleep in the chair. Ckaitchlin smiled and pulled a throw around him. "My old friend, tomorrow we can discuss what the future holds for Torchwood Two point One." She smiled and flitted over to the mantle and the bed she had placed there.
"Looks like there wasn't much there; mostly some small alien artifacts and devices, the scientists will be able to tell us if anything is still useable or can be retro-engineered." The Colonel picked up small golden ring that had survived the conflagration and slipped it into his pocket as he looked about the warehouse where the items they recovered from "Torchwood Two" were scattered about. "Looks like he was really only engaged in research and not much of value survived."
He looked up as an orderly rushed towards him, "Sir, genetic testing confirmed that the body found was that of Archibald McCrimmon."
The officer nodded and dismissed the orderly, turning to his aide, "One more loose end tied up."