A/N: This little plot bunny has been bugging me for ages, so I decided to buckle down and write! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Torchwood. This is unbeta'd, so any and all mistakes are mine. Set post S2E3 'To The Last Man.'
"Hurry, hurry! They're coming!"
"He can't, don't you see that!"
"What the hell is it?!"
"We don't have time to think! We can't let them get the Globe! Sit down and fasten your seat-belts, I'm going straight through that storm!"
The orange-haired man piloting the escaped ship grinned back at his five companions. The rag-tag group of survivors looked frightened, but at the same time, there was a wild gleam of excitement in their eyes. He knew they were prepared to die for their Globe. A red-haired man yelped in unison with his twin as their ship shuddered and jolted suddenly. The ship groaned before a siren began to wail.
Danger! Right Engine Failure! Danger! External Shields at 15% Power! Danger!
The orange-haired man cursed and turned back to the front. A dark-haired woman with dark eyes gripped the arms of her chair.
"What the hell do we do now?" She shouted above the racket, her sharp nails tearing into the fabric. The orange-haired man grinned even wider.
"We're only one engine down! We can still get through that storm, we have to; it's the only way!" The woman stared at him, her ears lying flat against her head as fear began to set in. Despite her obvious nerves, she nodded firmly, gritting her teeth. The ginger gave a small reassuring smile, before turning back to the front.
"If you believe in a god, start praying now! Here we go!" the man gave a wild whoop as the ship dove straight into the storm. The survivors shrieked as lightening flashed by their windows and the ship jerked uncontrollably. For several moments, the group was deafened by a cacophony of wailing sirens and the groaning of the ship. There was a sudden flash of bright white.
Then, abruptly, the ground of another planet was rushing up to meet them. The pilot knew both engines were down by now and the rest of the power was fading quickly. He suddenly jumped to his feet, his ginger tail that was hidden behind his back suddenly fluffing out.
"Quick, get to the Globe!"
The survivors didn't hesitate; they scrambled to the back of the ship quickly, knowing they were coming closer and closer to the ground of the unknown planet.
"Put your hands on it, it'll protect you. Globe, where are we?" The orange-haired man demanded, placing his hand on the glowing orb. The others followed suit.
A grin spread on his face as the Globe answered with a soft murmur to their minds:
21st Century, Earth
The ginger man laughed almost hysterically, his eyes flicking to the faces of each of the survivors. "You know what to do then; blend. Don't worry, we may be separated, but I promise, we'll find each other!"
They heard the ship hit the ground, before a white light glowing from the Globe drowned out their other senses.
"Why does the rift have to be so bloody noisy at night," Ianto heard Owen grumble from the front of the SUV. "Can't a hard-working man get at least a few hours of sleep every now and then?" he moaned on, glaring out the window at the dark country whizzing by.
"Nope! Part of the job Owen," Jack replied cheerfully, irritating the ill-tempered medic that much more.
Ianto rolled his eyes as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. It was too early to have to endure Owen's groaning and Jack's chipper attitude. He could tell Toshiko was just as tired by the way she slumped in her seat. She was attempting to distract herself by burying her nose in her scanner, but Ianto knew it wasn't working when she tensed further as Owen complained about the 'bloody rift' once more. He wondered if she regretted suggesting they pick Owen up on the way.
It had been around midnight when the rift alarm had flared to life. Ianto was, as always, hovering around the Hub, waiting for Tosh to pack up and leave so that he could talk to Jack. The technical genius, however, was determined to finish reprograming her computer so that it would run faster. Faster! Ianto didn't think that was possible; despite that, however, he didn't bother her about leaving after she declined a second time. Jack didn't seem bothered by her presence so late in the Hub, so he let it lie.
Ianto sighed, rubbing his face. He wondered if allowing Tosh to stay was another way of avoiding him ; most of the time he made the team leave by ten at the latest as long as there weren't any rift spikes predicted to go off in the near future. Even then Jack would send them on their ways and deal with himself, sometimes with the aid of Ianto. Lately, however, that had changed.
It seemed like Jack was withdrawing from Ianto. The man had often ordered Ianto to go home with the others, or asked him to leave directly after their messy, clumsy, but still quite wonderful shags. Ianto would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little hurt.
The Welshman had thought Jack was trying to change their relationship around after he had returned from his trip with his Doctor. They had gone out on their date, and Jack had started to open up to him a little more, but he abruptly shut him out after the incident with Tommy. Ianto couldn't find out what exactly he had done wrong. He wanted to know so that he could fix it, he wanted to make things right with Jack, but he had no idea how to approach the Immortal. Ianto was afraid Jack would laugh in his face; he didn't know what he'd do if he actually heard Jack reject him.
He was roused from his troubled thoughts as the SUV screeched to an abrupt stop. Jack jumped out immediately, his coat tail flapping around his ankles as he ran towards a smoldering hunk of metal. Owen grabbed his kit, suddenly extremely serious, and hurried after Jack with Tosh on his heels, her eyes still glued on her scanner.
Ianto watched the three circle around the carnage of the ship as he circled around the back of the SUV, waiting for further instructions about the clean-up. He kept one ear to the road, wondering when Gwen was going to arrive. The Welshwoman had a habit of being extremely late if they didn't pick her up with them. It never got addressed, for each and every time, Jack let it slide.
Ianto shook off his bitterness as Tosh's voice crackled to life in his ear.
"I've detected no signs of life. There aren't any harmful gasses; you should be alright to head in Jack."
Ianto watched his Captain force his way into his ship as Tosh scanned the surrounding area for any debris that may have flown off the ship from the impact. He turned away from the team as Gwen's car finally pulled up beside the SUV. She hopped out and looked towards the ship with wide eyes. She didn't even acknowledge Ianto as she pushed by him, hurrying over to try and help with the investigation.
Ianto couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly as Gwen fluttered around the three team mates hard at work. He knew he shouldn't be so spiteful; she only wanted to help after all, but something about her always irritated Ianto. A small voice in the back of his mind told him it was because Jack treated her so differently, but Ianto's pride forced that admission to the back of his mind.
Ianto straightened up as Jack exited the ship, holding something in his hands. It shone bright white and seemed to quiver in his hands, bathing the deserted field in a soft, white glow. Ianto pulled a containment box out of the boot of the SUV and made his way over, his feet squelching in the damp grass.
Everyone had stopped to admire the orb, seemingly entranced by the glowing white; even Ianto had slowed to watch the light glow and pulsate in Jack's hands. He was also the first to recover. He shoved the containment box towards Jack's hands, tilting his head. Jack shook his head, trying to clear the fuzz, before he lowered it into the box. As Ianto fit the lid over the box, the trance was broken. Gwen blinked, and Tosh shook her head, her eyes shining.
"Wow… what was that?" she asked, her voice hushed and a little excited. Jack looked at the containment box, his brows furrowed.
"Don't know. But that's not important now. We've got this whole ship to move to the Hub. I'd like to get this finished before daybreak," he said, turning to look at the cooling ship.
"We'll need to break it up and take it in pieces. We could stop by the Hub, drop off the containment box, and grab some equipment to bring it in," Gwen suggested, holding the box firmly to his chest. Jack glanced at her briefly with a small smile before nodding, turning back to address the group.
"Good idea. This'll have to be a team effort, alright? Let's head back," Jack said, sweeping his coat dramatically as he made his way back to the SUV. Owen rolled his eyes as they followed suit.
"Fantastic. Another bloody all-nighter," Owen grumbled, picking his way through the grass with a frown on his face. Ianto couldn't help but agree.
Day was breaking by the time the team finished up with the cleanup. A good timing too; Ianto was sure a few cars would travel on this road today, no matter how deserted this part of Cardiff was.
He put his hands on his hips, his tie, waistcoat, and suit jacket by now long abandoned. He watched Jack put the last box into the boot of the SUV and slam the trunk shut. The girls and Owen had crawled back to the SUV an hour ago, all three dizzy with exhaustion. Jack and Ianto, however, were used to all-nighters and weevil hunts at three a.m., and finished up cutting the ship into pieces and loading them into the boot.
'It's just us now… perhaps I could speak to him,' Ianto thought briefly as he watched Jack steadily avoid his gaze by checking the area for more obvious pieces. He chewed on his lower lip slightly before perking up when Jack breathed in heavily.
"Well! Another job well-done, I think. Thanks for sticking through for me, Ianto," Jack said, still refusing to look him in the eyes. He instead focused on the space behind his head. Ianto knew this was getting serious; Jack had yet to say some salacious about his sweaty, disheveled attire.
Ianto nodded, but didn't reply. The two men stood awkwardly beside each other, both stiff, both uncomfortable. Ianto opened his mouth to approach the topic, but Jack abruptly turned on his heel and walked to the driver's side of the SUV. He hopped into the car and roused the team, asking them to buckle up. Ianto watched them, his heart heavy. He and Jack really did need to talk properly, even if it was to split up. His heart ached for a moment, before he brushed it aside and headed to the back door of the SUV.
Just as he was placing his hand on the door handle, he heard a noise behind him. He turned his head back slightly to look behind him. His eyes widened slightly.
There, strolling towards him was a smallish orange tabby. He held his ginger tail straight up in the air, the orange hair turning golden in the morning sun. It mewled at him, its green eyes looking directly into Ianto's. He felt a small shiver work its way down his spine at the human like qualities of the small cat. He squatted down and held out a hand to the animal. It approached Ianto cautiously, before nudging his hand with its tiny black nose. Ianto knew he was a goner.
He stood and opened up the SUV door, ignoring Owen's cranky barbs as he snatched his suit jacket from the seat beside Gwen. He turned and crouched again, scooping up the small animal, before climbing into the car.
"'Bout bloody time! Jesus, did you take all that time for that scrawny thing? I thought the bleeding heart trait was Gwen's thing," the medic grumbled, crossing his arms in the front seat. Ianto looked up and noticed that everyone but Tosh was thoroughly annoyed with his actions. They were all ready to go home, but he had to stop and save a stupid cat. He decided to ignore the disapproval and exasperation and focused on the small animal.
He ran two fingers under its chin and the tabby purred in response, nudging his fingers once more with his wet nose. Ianto chuckled fondly, and cradled the small animal to his chest. Yes, he really didn't mind Owen's whining; he had a feeling this cat would help him with his loneliness at home, especially seeing as Jack never came home anymore.
Jack watched the small affection smile spread across Ianto's face and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. His heart ached slightly; he wished he was the one making Ianto grin like that, but he knew he had given up that right when he began to distance himself from Ianto. He turned his attention away from the Welshman to the road, pushing the aching to the back of his mind.
"Is he crazy?"
"Well… you did see how he piloted that ship…"
"Point. But really? Going with some aliens? The same aliens that chopped up our getaway ship and stole the Globe?!"
"I'm sure he knows what he's doing… he got us to the ground in one piece."
"Ug... I hope he doesn't expect us to rescue him."
The dark-haired woman grumbled in partial fear and exasperation, laying low in the long grass alongside the four other survivors. They all watched the car speed away down the road. The one with goggles pulled out a small device and clicked a few buttons on the screen.
"21st century, Earth," the survivor's eyes widened. "Oh! He's right, we can blend! We kinda look like them… well, minus these ears and tails." The survivor scratched is long clawed fingernail against his cheek. "I suppose we could use the form the Globe gave us when we landed. The pilot used it and they seemed to think he was normal… we'd be small, but at least we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves."
The other survivors looked at him, before flicking their slit eyes towards the dark-haired woman. The one red-headed twin smiled brightly and nodded. "I think that's alright! I'm sure he'll need our help later, even though he trying to play big damn hero. Plus, we can't leave him and the Globe behind. We'll just have to trust them both."
His twin nodded and clasped her hands together, bringing them to her lips. "Come on! Let's go, it can't hurt! Plus, this place looks amazing! We should explore; that is what we're best at after all. I don't think I've been to Earth yet!" she seemed to vibrate with excitement, and her twin shook his head fondly.
The final member of the group nodded slowly, his bluish hair floating around his head. "We have nothing else to do. Let's change and go."
The dark-haired woman, who had unconsciously taken the leadership position, gazed around the group, before nodding. "Okay, if we're all in agreement, I guess we're going."
The captain of the Slanerian battle ship snarled in annoyance and slammed his fists on the control pannel of his ship. The ship beeped angrily and the captain growled and pushed away from the board, turning to face his crew.
"They escaped through that storm. The ship recorded the readings; I need all of you to search for these indicators. We aren't letting those pathetic Tupani slip through our fingers," his fingers curled into fist as he stared at the metal grating on the floor.
"Now!" he barked his pale blue skin rippling with anger as they stared at him in fear. The others jumped to attention, being to dart around their work spaces. The captain leaned back in his chair.
"Don't think you've won, Tupani. I'll get the Globe. Just watch me."
A/N: I'd love to know if you liked it! Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading!