Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood - more's the pity. Jamie, on the other hand, is basically me with a different name. For now. I'm sure her experiences with Torchwood 3 will make her grow in directions I would never fathom.
Chapter 1 - Cardiff, Unexpected
"Ok Goose, spell your name for me"
"I can spell it!"
"Yes Bit, I know - but I'm asking your brother. Ben?"
Even in the pre-dawn twilight, I could see his grin as he threw himself at me.
"B-E-N, it has a B"
"You got it!" I pulled him close and rocked back and forth while he giggled madly.
Leanna grabbed my sleeve and tugged.
"Mom! The bus is here! Can we go?"
I stood up and picked up Ben's backpack. I held it up while he slipped his arms through the straps.
"You got your backback, Bit?"
"Yep!"
I took Ben's hand as we watched the bus pull into the circle drive of the green building, behind the waiting line of cars - sometimes we drove too, but both kids loved the walk, even if it did mean leaving the house at quarter to six.
"Watch out for the fire ant nest" I cautioned Leanna, and she took two steps to the left before finishing her rush down the hill.
"I'm not going to step on the fire ant nest, because fire ants hurt," boasted Ben proudly.
I let go his hand for just a second to ruffle his hair.
"I know, Goose, but I was talking to your sister, not you."
Leanna waited beside the driveway while Ben and I followed, and the brakes of the school bus screeched its final stop.
I dropped to a knee and caught both of them in a quick hug.
"All right, you two, have a good day"
"I will!" Leanna called back, already rushing to join Azzy and Alicia before they got on the bus.
Ben wrapped his arms around my neck and squeezed tight.
"Elch!" I teased, "don't choke Mama!"
"Sorry" he let go and gave me a sloppy kiss on my cheek.
"Ben! Come on!" yelled Caden, Azzy's cousin and Ben's "best classmate."
I grinned and pushed him toward the bus.
"Go on, you, Caden's waiting."
The two boys grabbed hands and ran to the open door of the bus.
I could just make out the three heads of my girls (well, technically Azzy and Alicia weren't mine, but they were over at the house often enough, when we weren't over at theirs) as they parked themselves just behind the driver - who was offering his hand to help Caden make it up without being thrown off balance by the backpack that was nearly as big as he was.
The lights on the other cars in line brightened, and they pulled off one by one. Then the cabin lights in the bus turned off, the whoosh of the air-brake disengaging sounded in my ear, and the bus lurched off.
While it left, I pulled out my phone real quick to check if anyone had been reading since the last chapter I posted. And there was a new review!
"I've said it once, I'll say it again - I love how you're writing this! Still can't believe you wanted to write for Lucy, keep it up!" - happyrea
I felt so lucky that Rea let me use the 'verse she'd created as a starting point for my own fics. Lucy was the only original character I'd ever read that actually melded within the Torchwood team as if RTD had actually written her alongside the rest. And then every few chapters she (Rea, not Lucy) would throw out some comment that said I was doing a good job, and it made every bit of it worth it! I grinned and did a little happy-dance.
About then, the tail-lights of the school bus disappeared into the distance - it was time to head back to start the day. The dew in the grass had already soaked through my Converse and into my socks. I'd have to take them off once I got home. But not yet. I turned and headed up the hill - making sure not to step on the fire ant hill. It would be pretty embarrassing to have warned the kids about it, only to plow right over it because I wasn't paying attention.
Once I got to the top of the hill, though, there weren't any more hazards, so I was free to start plotting. Obviously when I got home it'd be time to throw a load in the wash and get started on the dishes - but meanwhile I could think out what I'm going to do with the next chapter.
It was finally time for the fight scene between Ianto and Owen, while the others were stuck back in 1941. This one was going to be tricky. Lucy wasn't there, since Rea had already written her going back in time with Jack and Tosh - but because Ianto was in love with her now (even though they weren't admitting it yet), the whole argument where Owen dismisses Ianto's loyalty to Jack as nothing but "pathetic wet-dreams where you're his part-time shag" just wouldn't work anymore.
Which meant I needed something else for Owen to use - and a much stronger reason for Ianto to still fight to keep the Rift closed, since it now meant that he'd never see his Lu again if he succeeded.
Instead of making my usual bee-line home, I headed back the long way. Aimless wandering helps when I'm trying to puzzle out a story, especially one like this.
So why WOULD Ianto want to keep the Rift closed if it meant Jack and Tosh and Lucy would be stuck in the past? I absently ran my hand along the top of the fence of Lucy-the-dog's enclosure. She whined, and I reached down over the fence. Her cold, wet nose bumped my hand, then her warm, wet tongue did the same.
"Hey, no kisses, darlin'." Dodging her tongue with my hand, I ruffled her shaggy head. "How you doing there, Lucy-girl?"
I had reached the corner of the dogyard.
"You be good, now, ok? I'll see you this afternoon when I come get the kids."
She probably didn't understand anything I said, but she whined what I pretended was a loving goodbye, as I headed back to the woods trail.
"Ok," I said out loud. "Owen wants to open the Rift, to get them back. That's easy. So why…?"
I was puzzling so hard I actually bumped into the brick wall before I noticed it was there.
Wait a second - brick wall? There weren't any brick walls in the woods…
I looked around. This wasn't the woods at all! And… it wasn't dark either. I was in a very narrow space, between two tall brick walls about two feet apart - and quite a bit above my head. I turned and looked behind me - apparently I was between two buildings butted up to each other end to end.
With no idea what was going on, I just kept walking - but I wasn't particularly worried about Ianto's motivations anymore. Not that I'd forgotten, but this mystery was a lot more interesting.
A few seconds later I came out from between the buildings - into a parking lot.
Wait a second - this was really weird! I knew this place - I knew it pretty well, actually. This was my imaginary flat in Cardiff. The one I used as my reference point, my "home base" whenever I played around in google-maps, trying to get a feel for the city to make my writing more realistic.
What the HELL had just happened? It was dark, early morning. My shoes were still damp from the dew in the grass. I spun around - as if I could look through the narrow alleyway and see the stand of muscadine grapes I knew I'd been walking past. They'd been ripe and smelling amazing. But of course they weren't there. I took a deep breath - nope, not even the heady fruit scent lingered. And the sun was quite high in the sky.
And I looked around. I grinned at the Sumac tree that someone had in their front garden. The one bit of flora I'd recognized when I studied the parking lot of this place, trying to fix it in my mind as if I actually lived there. I'd even done a few "round trips" to various locations in the city, starting and ending right here in front of this block of buildings. Until it got more addicting to just 'fly' over in satellite mode before 'landing' in street view to look around.
Yes, it had been silly, and even Zack had teased me mercilessly when he'd first found out - but I'd still loved it. Loved being able to watch Torchwood and actually recognize all the locations. Loved pausing at certain frames, studying the background for familiar or distinctive buildings, then cross-referencing the maps until I found a place that exactly matched.
I still remembered the thrill I'd felt when I'd succeeded for the first time - figuring out exactly where Tosh's house was. Oh, some of the other detective work I'd done had probably been more impressive - tracking down exactly where in the city Abaddon was stomping around before Jack drowned him with the 'all you can eat buffet,' finding the building that John Hart pushed Jack off even though it no longer housed the British Gas Company, as the director had referenced in the 'making of' video. But Tosh's house was the first, so somehow it was more special.
Oh hell - I still had no idea what was going on - but I was in Cardiff! I could find the water tower, sit on the paving stone they used as the location for the invisible lift. I could actually see what the Plass looks like - the street view cameras never did make it through the bay, so I'd never had the chance to really explore, just the handful of spots where tourists had uploaded their 360 degree pics.
I don't care that this is impossible, I'll figure out how the hell this happened later - right now? I'm going exploring!
