Hello, and welcome to my new Torchwood Series!
This will be a JackxOC series, so know that up front. I love Ianto and Jack, but for this story's purpose, that won't be a pairing through the series. Each episode will be split into 3 parts, with a few original parts in each episode. Over the series, we will learn more about Ruby, but it'll be slow. I picture Ruby as Rose Bryne, but with different eyes, as you'll see. ;)
This series will be updated slowly and erratically, as I'm working and going to school. So follow to be alerted to future parts!
-long horizontal line- symbolizes a new section/scene change
this symbolizes a different language (I'll state which language)
"...this..." symbolizes someone's else's thoughts.
Remember to comment, favorite and follow!
-Kay Erin
Jack furrowed his eyebrows, slowly walking around the Torchwood hub. "Anyone seen Ruby?" he asked.
Owen leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "No, not since the pizza got here."
"She didn't even take any," Ianto said, stepping out of the kitchen. "Wasn't hungry."
"Hmmm…" Jack nodded slowly, remembering that piece of info for later. "But no one's seen her since?"
"No, but...she was working on something," Suzy added.
"Jack!"
The whole team bolted from their spots, running up the stairs to Jack and Ruby's office. Jack didn't even try to use the handle, instead shouldering the door open, almost breaking the hinges in the process.
The team stopped in its tracks, Jack in front, Ianto and Owen behind him, Tosh and Suzie in the hall, seeing Ruby sitting on the floor with an old, strange contraption in her hand. "I think it's a radio," she said, not even looking up.
The whole team sighed, Suzie and Owen walking back to the main area while Ianto held Tosh back for a moment, the two watching Jack step forward. "Where have you been?" he asked anger and worry lining his voice.
She didn't look up from the contraption in her hand. "In here."
"Really? Cause I was in here two minutes ago," Jack replied.
"I was in the closet, looking for the wrenches."
Jack sighed, making her look up.
Ruby looked up, her dark, deep red eyes meeting Jack's blue ones. A piece of her dark brown hair fell from her messy bun, falling in front of her face.
"I didn't mean to scare you," she said softly. "I'm sorry, really." She smiled up at him gently.
Jack smiled back, turning to nod at Ianto and Tosh. Ianto and Tosh knew Jack well enough when it came to Ruby. Jack was protective, yes of the whole team, but Ruby even more so. It almost seemed, to Tosh and Ianto at least (Owen and Suzie didn't notice or care), that he was overly protective of Ruby, not in a sibling way but...in a way that if something happened to her, Jack would be crushed, hurt, and...broken. It wasn't something Ianto and Tosh were sure about, but something they both had inklings over and talked about a few times.
They both moved forward, Tosh asking, "Why do you think it's a radio?"
"Because I heard a murder reported before you all came," Ruby replied.
"In English?" Ianto asked.
"Badly translated Gord actually," Ruby answered. "But originally English."
Jack moved to the door, yelling loudly for Suzie. "Yes?" she asked.
"Do you still need practice on the glove?' Jack asked.
She nodded. "I'd like more- why?"
He grinned, looking at Ruby. "We just found one," he said.
Suzie beamed, rushing back to her desk, calling for Owen. Tosh moved out of the room as well, Jack leaning against the doorframe as Ruby sighed. "That means I should probably put shoes on, doesn't it."
"Grab a jacket as well," Ianto said, walking out of the room. "It's been raining for close to an hour."
Ruby sighed, standing from her chair, stopping as Jack pointed to her. "No gadgets!"
"But-"
"You know the rules," he replied. "Come on, we'll be back."
She sighed and set down the radio, pulling three or four tools out of her jean pockets as well before leaving the room. "I hate that rule."
"I know," Jack replied, chuckling.
Ruby looked around the alley as the team moved towards the body. The rain was pouring down on all of them, but the team didn't comment on it around the cops. She stayed near Jack, looking down at the body of the poor man as Owen and Suzie crouched near the body, Tosh moving around, setting up the extra equipment.
"There you go. I can taste it," Jack said, looking up at the rain.
"Estrogen?" Ruby asked, glancing at him.
"Definitely estrogen," he agreed. "You take the pill, flush it away, it enters the water cycle, feminizes the fish-"
"And then it goes all the way up into the sky, and falls back down onto us," Ruby interrupted, watching Suzie slip on the glove. "I know."
"But really- contraceptives in the rain!" he cried. "I love this planet. Still, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again."
Ruby rolled her eyes with a smile, crouching down at the feet of the body. "How's it going?"
"Nothing yet," Suzie replied, glancing at her. "It's got to connect, I've just got to feel it."
"Then hurry up and feel it, I'm freezing my arse off," Owen said, leaning in closer.
"I can't just flick a switch," she replied. "It's more like access, it grants me access."
"Whatever that means," Owen muttered.
Ruby sighed, glancing at Jack as she stood, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her red trench coat. Jack had found it months ago for her and had bought about fifteen, saying now she would never run out. The one she was wearing was technically her second one- the first one had disintegrated thanks to some alien acid the month before. The part that she, and Jack, loved about the coats was that the color of the coat was the same color as her eyes. It was a color Ruby loved, and that had become her staple: everything Ruby wore went with the coat, and therefore her eyes.
"It's like- oh, oh, oh!" Suzie cried, the glove glowing slightly.
Ruby stepped back as the lights on the body all dimmed, a humming sound growing. "Positions," Jack barked, everyone watching the body. Jack seemed to take a step forward, in front of Ruby as the glove started up, but only Ruby noticed, none of the rest of them. Jack knew Ruby didn't like the glove, understanding and not asking questions. Suzie didn't understand, but Jack told her to not ask. And well, that was that.
"If I get punched again, I'm punching it right back," Owen said.
"Just concentrate," Jack replied. "Suzie?"
Suzie nodded, sliding the glove under the man's head, the humming growing. Ruby crossed her arms over herself, trying to fight the instinct to step further behind Jack as the rain slowed around them, the lights growing brighter until the man gasped awake.
The man looked around frantically, stuttering, "There was...What was? I was...oh my god, I was going home."
"Listen to me," Tosh said, catching his attention. "We've only got two minutes, so it's important that you listen, okay?"
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Trust me," she said, ignoring his question. "You're dead."
"How can I be dead?" he asked, growing confused.
"You were stabbed," Owen said, catching the man's attention.
"I'm not dead, I can see you," the man replied.
"We've brought you back but we haven't got long," Tosh rushed. "I'm sorry but you've got to concentrate, who did this to you? What did you see?"
"Why am I dead?" the man asked in return.
"Who attacked you?" Tosh pushed.
"I don't want to be dead," he sobbed, making Ruby sigh and look up. Her eyebrows shot up as she saw a cop a few levels up in the parking garage, staring down at them all.
"Sixty seconds," Suzie announced.
"You've got to think," Tosh pushed, kneeling closer. "Just focus on me. What was the last thing you saw?"
Ruby stepped up to Jack's side as he took a deep breath, the two glancing at each other. "I didn't see any...I don't know," the man informed them.
"Who killed you? Did you see them?" Tosh asked.
"I, I don't know," the man sobbed. "There was...someone behind me."
"Police said stab wound in the back," Owen informed them.
"So you didn't see anything?" Tosh asked him.
He shook his head slightly. "No."
Tosh, Owen, and Suzie looked up at Jack and Ruby, the dead man looking between them all. "What happens now?" he asked.
"Thirty seconds," Suzie announced.
"But he didn't see anyone," Tosh cried.
"Don't waste it," Suzie snapped.
"What else do I say?" Tosh asked, panicking slightly.
Ruby kneeled down from her same position, not fully comfortable getting closer, smiling slightly at the man. "What's your name?" she asked.
"John. John Tucker," he replied, staring into her sparkling dark red eyes, the darkness of the rain and the dark brown of her hair making her skin fairer and her eyes brighter.
"Okay, John," Jack said, crouching beside Ruby. "Not long now."
"Who are you?" John asked.
"He's Captain Jack Harkness," Ruby answered. "I'm Ruby."
"Tell me…what was it like when you died?" Jack asked. "What did you see?" John didn't speak, a confused almost scared look falling over his face. "John, tell me what you saw."
Jack didn't move his gaze as Ruby glanced between John and Jack, for just a moment.
"Ten seconds," Suzie said.
"Nothing," John told him, sobbing. "I saw nothing. Oh my god. There's nothing."
Ruby stood and stepped back again as the lights suddenly faded, the rain continuing fully once again as John 's head fell slack.
"Shit," Owen cursed. "I said it was stupid, telling him he was dead."
"Well you try it," Tosh replied, standing.
"Told the last corpse he was injured, spent the whole two minutes calling for an ambulance," Jack reminded them all, looking at Tosh.
"Maybe there's no right way of doing it," Ruby said, her voice tense, a tense the team was familiar with. It was how she got after every time they tested the glove like she didn't want to be around it or have anything to do with it.
Jack looked up, meeting the cops gaze on them. "What do you think?" She gasped, darting away from the edge, making Ruby shake her head as Jack stepped back to join her.
"You could have been nicer," she told him.
He shrugged, smirking. "But where's the fun in that?"
Ruby sighed, leaning back in the chair as she fiddled with the radio in her hands again. "Owen commented about the office again," Jack said, leaning against the doorframe.
She knew what he meant, what Owen's comment was. Jack and Ruby shared an office, had since they had started this Torchwood, with this team. Ruby shrugged, looking up at him. "We never officially told them which one of us is in charge," she replied. "And this is the boss's office, so…."
Jack smiled, tilting his head. "Don't you know?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at Jack. "The team answers to me, but I answer to you."
Ruby smiled, laughing. "Ah, that makes sense."
"You hungry?" he asked.
She took a deep breath, nodding. "Ya, I could eat."
Jack leaned slightly out of the office, catching Ianto's attention. "Order us some pizza? Red decided she's hungry."
"Of course," Ianto replied instantly, moving towards the phones.
"And Ianto?" He turned back as Ruby peaked out of the doorway as well. "After you call them, go home. We'll take care of it."
"If you're sure," he said slowly.
"We are," Jack and Ruby said in sync.
Ianto smiled, nodding as he walked to the visitor center, Jack turning to Ruby. "So, anyway we can make that radio speak English?"
"Well, I figured we could try a few things," she replied, turning back into the office.
Ruby looked up as a specific alarm went off at Tosh's station. Grabbing a rag, she walked away from the radio and out of the office to Tosh's side. "Who's looking for us now?" she asked.
Tosh's fingers flew across the keyboard for a moment, before she looked up at the brunette. "Cardiff police," she said. "Searching for Jack and...you actually."
Ruby laughed, smiling as Jack approached them hearing their past conversation. "You didn't say a last name though, right?" he asked.
Ruby shook her head. "Nope. Just Ruby."
Tosh and Suzie had asked about that before, Ruby's lack of last name. Ruby had opened her mouth only for Jack to interrupt, telling them to not ask. Jack had stated it was a long, drawn-out explanation that didn't make any sense. Ruby's reply to that had only been, "To you." That was all that had been said, and Tosh had a feeling not much would change from that reply if she asked now.
Jack laughed, shaking his head. "This is gonna be fun."
Rubby giggled and nodded when Jack looked at the brunette. "Ruby?" she looked over at him, watching him motion to his cheek. "You got a little grease here."
She used the rag to wipe it off, only for Jack to shake his head, sighing. Rather than wipe the grease off, she had spread it and added more. "You need a new rag," he said.
She pouted, looking at the now black rag. "I washed it two days ago."
Tosh smiled as Jack sighed again, pointing towards the office. "Do I want to know how cluttered our office is?"
Ruby slowly shook her head. "Not really."
Tosh laughed quietly as Jack moved down the walkway. "Okay then."
"We got weevil activity!" Suzie called, standing from her station.
The rest of the team stood instantly, grabbing jackets and supplies. "Where?" Jack asked, slipping on his trenchcoat.
"Hospital," Tosh replied.
"Ruby!" Jack yelled.
There was a loud clatter from the office before Ruby peaked out. "Yes?"
"We can clean later," Jack replied. "We got a weevil attack in the hospital." Ruby's eyebrows shot up, but before she could ask to stay back at the hub, he spoke again. "And I wouldn't mind if you drove."
She nodded, smiling slightly as she ran up to him, grabbing her coat before running to the garage. Ianto tossed the keys into the air, Ruby grabbing them as she jumped over the railings, as the team finished gathering everything. It was unspoken, but Ruby did not go into hospitals. There was something about them, but the team never talked about it. No one knew why, not even Jack (as far as the team knew). But if he did know, he didn't say why; she just couldn't go into them unless she was already unconscious, or there was no other option. If there wasn't any other option, she was still screaming against it.
Yes, Ruby didn't want to go even near the hospital, but they needed her. It would be easier to get away if she was driving, especially with the alien in the trunk. Plus, she could seem to drive while doing something else as well.
There had been an incident when the team had first formed, and the four new members (Jack already knew, like always) found out that she could drive at top speeds while typing on a laptop and not crash the SUV. When they asked how should do it, she just grinned and replied, "I've done more."
Owen had cursed, asking what the hell that meant, only causing Jack and Ruby to laugh, Jack looking back and telling him he didn't want to know.
Ruby bounced her knee up and down, sighing in relief as she saw the team rush out of the back door, Owen and Suzie dragging the weevil to the trunk, a bag over its head. She flipped a switch, opening all the doors for the team including the trunk, beaming as it worked. Owen and Suzie threw in the weevil, slamming the trunk shut before hopping in on either side of Tosh. Jack looked over at Ruby as she flipped the switch again, all the open doors shutting. "Finally got it to work?" he asked.
She beamed, glancing at him as she gunned it. "Took me long enough." Without glancing, she changed lanes, asking, "Did you run into that cop again?"
Jack nodded. "Ya, why?"
"We got one tailing us," Ruby said, making the whole team look back, indeed seeing a cop car, lights blazing, following them. "Probably calling in our license plate."
"Doesn't matter," Jack commented. "They won't find anything, right?"
"Not a trace," Tosh assured.
"Should I lose her?" Ruby asked.
"Do you want to?" Jack asked in return.
Ruby looked in the rearview mirror, thinking before shaking her head. "Na, let's have some fun."
Jack laughed as just as Ruby gasped, her smile growing. "Oh! We can test the parking system!"
"Did you get that working?" Suzie asked, looking worried.
"I think so," Ruby replied. "I was fidgeting with it yesterday."
"Why?" Jack replied, not following along.
"We could use the lift," Ruby commented. "If we're gonna have fun, we have to do it right." Jack's grin was instantaneous.
"Are we going to scare her?" Owen asked.
"Why not?" Jack asked in return, making Ruby laugh. It took a few minutes but making sure the female officer was still following them, Ruby pulled onto the exit for the hub. She pulled up to the tower, leaving the SUV in drive before flipping three switches in order, as the whole team got out.
They didn't say anything too loud, Owen asking softly, "She still following?"
Ruby nodded, smirking at Jack. "Parked in the no parking zone too."
Jack laughed. "Security's not gonna like that."
Ruby shook her head, the five walking around the tower and stepping onto the lift. "How was the weevil?" Ruby asked Jack, letting him help her up.
He sighed as the lift started descending. "One casualty."
She sighed as well, Tosh looking at them. "I'll take care of it."
"You sure?" Jack asked.
She nodded as Suzie spoke up. "Owen and I will take care of the weevil."
Owen groaned, "Fine."
The lift stopped, the team stepping off and going their separate ways as Jack helped Ruby off. "Shall we check on our little officer?" Jack asked.
Ruby grinned and nodded, glancing at Ianto as he passed around coffee. "Did I crash the SUV again?' she asked.
"No, actually," Ianto told her. "It was a few centimeters from the wall, but no damage this time."
Ruby beamed. "Yes!" Taking a sip of the coffee, Jack turned on the CTV cameras outside the tower.
"Ah, there she is," Jack said, standing straight. Ruby sat down in front of the cameras, smiling as she then looked up at Jack. "How long do you think she'll be here?"
Jack shrugged. "No clue."
Looking back at the screen, Ruby tilted her head. It was a familiar motion to Jack, something Ruby usually did when she was thinking. Now, if Ruby was working on a device they had found or a gadget she was making, she usually stuck out her tongue. If she tilted her head though, it was something else completely, like now.
"What?" Jack asked, leaning down to get more on her level.
"...I hope she does what I think she will," Ruby replied softly.
"And what's that?" Jack responded quietly.
"Now where would be the fun if I told you?" she asked, smirking slightly. Jack rolled his eyes, making Ruby giggle. "But no...she's smart...I hope."
Jack nodded, standing again. "Well, we'll just watch and see."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first part! For now, here is where I'll be putting info to remember, and answering/commenting on comments. :) Feel free to send me a private message, though i will not be answering anything that would spoil future parts. ;)
This first part up is to mainly gauge a response, see if people are interested or not. If it gets enough attention, comments, favortes, ect, I'll post another part soon!
Thanks for reading, and have a good day!
-Kay Erin
