I should be slapped for not posting. I don't really like this for some reason, but I waned to incorporate this awesome song I found today. It's called If I Die Young by the Band Perry. I felt that it had a big Ianto voice in it, but yeah... Enjoy.
Can be read as a prequel to my other oneshot in here called Gone With the Tide.
Hope Williams waves her parents goodbye as she leaves to study in London. She waves adieu to her ordinary parents. Her father worked as a manager for a transport firm and her mother worked from home, always on her computer and taking frequent short business trips to London. What company her mother really worked for… Well, Hope never really knew. They had a flat and they had delicious food on the table; that was enough.
So as she enters the gate and stares back once, losing her mother and father in the large crowd of travelers, she doesn't see them speaking to one another.
"You put it in her bag right?"
The mother nodded.
If I die young bury me in satin.
Lay me down on a bed of roses.
Sink me in the river at dawn.
But send me away with the words of a love song.
Her roommate is eccentric, but Hope doesn't mind. Besides, Katie knows how to fix her computer and block all viruses from her laptop. Saves Hope the trouble of having to sit at her computer for two hours as he computer finishes her virus scan.
Katie's out tonight, with her boyfriend. They've gone to a restaurant in the center of the city and Hope's left all alone in her dorm room. She reaches into her laptop bag for a USB drive but finds a CD instead. Curious and suspicious, because no one uses CDs to store information anymore. Shrugging, Hope sets it down on her desk and she rummages her bag for the USB. She finds it and plugs in the drive, glancing one last time at the CD.
There, written in her mother's unmistakable handwriting, are the scrawled words, "For Hope."
Hope can't tell if her mother meant for "Hope" or for "hope." The letters are all capitalized.
But she inserts the CD all the same.
The sharp knife of a short life,
Well, I've had just enough time.
A video plays itself on Hope's laptop. It's her mother's face, from when she was younger. She's shrouded in shadows, everything dark except for her eyes. And then she starts speaking.
There's one thing I always wanted to ask Jack. Back in the old days. I wanted to know about that Doctor of his. The man who appears out of nowhere and saves the world –except sometimes he doesn't. All those times in history where there was no sign of him... I wanted to know why not. But I don't need to ask anymore. I know the answer now: Sometimes the Doctor must look at this planet and turn away in shame. I'm recording this in case anyone ever finds it, so you can see. You can see how the world ended.
Hope furrows her brow. What is this about? Some kind of "goodbye" practical joke? She delves further into the files saved on the CD. And another video appears.
A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar.
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner.
Hope gazes at her screen. There's a man, probably a little older than her. He's dressed professionally: suit, waistcoat and a striped tie. "Jack, Gwen –if you're still alive. You know how Torchwood is. And if you're watching this, then well. Like Tosh said. And I was never much of a talker. Never was, never will be. But I've just got to say… I have no regrets. I know the beginning was rough, but I've found the ground I was meant to stand on. Gwen, you're a lucky woman. You have what the rest of us can never have. A normal life, a normal past. A existence outside of Torchwood.
"And Jack? I love you. Really, no jokes or anything. Thank you –for everything."
"And if this video is never seen, then I died old and gray. And if I die young, well I've had just enough time."
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singing.
Funny when you're dead how people start listening.
The first thing Hope did was ring up her parents. No answer. She dialed again. Still no answer. She started to Google her parents, but there was nothing except for what Hope already knew. She dug around in her bag again, searching ever flap, pocket and compartment. Then she pulled it out. A small book. A diary.
And in it was a letter from her parents.
Hope Williams spent the whole night reading, even after Katie had gone to bed. Underneath her covers, like a young little girl, she finished the diary and she suddenly felt very alone. Not betrayed, not angry. Just alone and sad.
Her brain works on autopilot. She turns of the flashlight and emerges from the covers. Her mobile lays on the nightstand next to her, flashing a small green light every so often to say that it's still on. Hope reaches over and redials the number.
This time, it doesn't even ring and her mother answers on the other side.
"Hello?
Gather up your tears; keep them in your pocket.
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them.
The sharp knife of a short life.
"I want to come home."
Well, I've had just enough time.
