Title: Tish's Years.
Chapter 07: Unwelcomed old fellows.
Character, pairing: Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.
Plot: Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.
Summary: Running from slave traders, Tish missed the Tardis but found a big fat bag. She wanted to keep it.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Beta: Orion Lyonesse on ffnet.
"Let's not stay here. These two arse holes are exactly the kind likely to tell authorities I'm carrying a prohibited weapon," Jack told her. "Don't tell me you're willing to keep this bag?"
"Sure I do. It saved the day! Well, after I tripped over it, of course."
"And what about the owner?" Jack asked with an inquiring eyebrow.
"Did you spot anyone?"
"Nope," Jack replied, running a quick scan on the bag. "And it looks like it's empty," he added.
"Case's closed! I like it, no one cares about it, so now it's mine," Tish stated proudly.
From time to time, Tish was showing a very opportunistic side, to Jack's sheer delight. She was refreshing and knew how to put balm on his wounds. Even if she looked like a fragile little girl, she cared for him as if he was a brother...an incestuous one. Of course they were nothing like brother and sister.
They didn't dally, just making a quick detour to the market. Anyhow, it was on their way back to the spaceport. Tish bought some fresh fruits, putting them in her new bag. Jack went off to pay for their stay at the harbour office, while she went directly on board the Chula ship. First thing, she took her purchases out of the bag to store them in the ship's tiny conservator. When she finished, it was full enough to explode. That bag must have more space inside than it looked.
She went to check it more carefully. It was just a big fat leather bag, very East India Colonial Company, as Jack had said back in the alley. It was pretty funny and quite as unexpected as the Dior perfume Jack had found the year before.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked as he nearly tripped over her while entering the ship.
"It's strange, but I can't see the bottom."
"Take a torch," Jack replied straddling over her and the bag to reach the piloting chair.
"I already got one," she answered, waving the little device above her head, still bowed half inside the bag. Jack frowned and came to have a look, bending over her back.
"Dark as hell in there," he commented. It was if the bag was swallowing the light. Jack moved Tish away and took her place, which failed to improve the view. He tried to search the bag, putting his arm deep inside and up to the shoulder, but he couldn't feel the bottom, or any edges either.
*Manners, please.*
Very quickly Jack removed his arm, and threw the bag a dark look as if it was about to bite him.
"What's the matter?" Tish asked.
"I don't know. It feels funny," Jack reply with a disturbed grin. "There might be something inside," he said, before running another scan, but it was empty.
He tried the torch but the light wasn't getting inside. This was getting creepy.
"We should probably abandon it here," Jack concluded.
"No way. It didn't bite you, did it? And your scan doesn't find anything either, right?"
"No, I mean yes, but..."
"That's not a rational answer. You put your hand deep inside it, and it got out intact, as did my fruits. I'm keeping my bag."
"Right, but it better stay closed."
*Isn't that rude!*
"What did you say?"
"Me? Nothing. I'll be in the shower," Tish replied, heading toward the cubicle. Jack gave the bag a last dark glance before pushing it under the bed.
Thereafter, they make a point of not going back to Balchan if they could avoid it. Anyway, their search for new available planets was dragging them away from that region of space, even if Jack would have preferred the new colonies not to be too far away from each other for obvious defence logistics. Ultimately they found themselves back at Balchan when they came to have one last look at M4C9p before sending out a go-signal for the first convoy, knowing it would take ten years for it to reach its destination.
As soon as they set foot on Balchan, Jack and Tish went back to their old routine. She was alone when she spotted the man, a Human, the first one she'd seen in years. He was not very tall but good looking, a blond dressed like rock star from the eighties. She was having a Kaol with yuts at a terrace cafe on the marketplace, enjoying the show the man was presenting. Pretty drunk, the man was making a fool of himself, flirting with a Gatack who looked quite annoyed.
What was bound to happen happened: a paw flung toward the man, but was efficiently stopped mid-course. The man was steadier than he looked. Definitely an arse hole, but probably less drunk than he pretended. Another paw, all claws, reached out to the rescue, stopped this time by another Human intervention. He couldn't be… the new Human was a lot taller, a real killer in looks, but definitely as drunk as his partner. That guy looked pretty much like a Jack she would have preferred not to ever have met.
"Hey!" she protested as the young man fell back over her table, taking it down.
"Sorry, ma'am," he said, getting back to his feet and to the fight.
God, he reeked of alcohol!
*Jack, we have a problem.*
*hummm?*
*Jack!"
*What?*
* There are two morons trying to fuck a merry mess over here! And one of them looks a bit too much like you for my taste.*
*You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding.*
*Not at all.*
*What the other one looks like?*
*Like one of Freddy Mercury's musician, if you recall what I mean.*
*Shit.*
*Jac,k the militia is arriving*
* They won't get caught. Don't get in their way. I'll see you at Liet's inn.*
* Jack ...! *
* I need to go and get the terra-forming kits before they steal the ship.*
Jack used the teleport to return on board the Chula ship, where he grabbed the precious sowing kits, stuffing them haphazardly into the bag.
* Hey, careful! Unworthy father! *
Jack would never have believed that bag could accommodate them all. It was bigger than it looked. Bigger in the inside? A Time-lord bag? Could it be?
* Jack, they're fleeing towards the spaceport. Hurry up. *
He couldn't use the teleport to leave; he had to leave it on board to be able to use it in 1941. He had to rush out and without anymore delay if he didn't want to come face to face with himself.
* Shit, shit, shit! *
*Where are you?*
*On my way, but we're in a hell of a mess,* he said, watching from the corner of the street as his younger self was breaking into his own ship. Jack reached the inn just in time to watch with Tish as their little ship vanished in the sunset.
"What are we going to do?"
"We need another ship."
"How are we going to pay for it? You're not thinking about stealing one, right?"
"No, we really can't afford to take that risk," Jack replied, a bit discouraged. They needed to be able to have a break from time to time, and stealing a ship meant being constantly on the go. He couldn't do that, not with Tish.
"You managed to put all the kits in it?"
"Yep, I struggle a bit to close it. But in the end, it contains more than it looks."
Jack placed the bag on the bed of the room Tish had rented; she sat next to it and began to dig into its external pockets.
"Looking for something?"
"Just checking if the previous owner might have left any money, you never know!"
"You're incredible, really," he replied, amused by her optimism.
Tish looked one by one through all the pockets, but the only thing she found was a small card that looked like someone's business card. Two words were printed on it: For Jack.
"Jack ..." Tish said, handing him the paper with a trembling hand.
"Hmm?" he mumbled, intrigued by her reaction.
He took the paper; Take good care of him was written on it. Jack glanced toward Tish, not understanding why these simple words had such an impact on her. She was watching him with a very disbelieving look. Jack looked back at the paper. Two names were now written strangely entwined upon it, with a third one rising from them. Asham & Tashee: Tashan.
"What is it?" Tish asked faintly.
"Psychic paper."
"Like the one the Doctor had?"
"Yep. And like the one I used to have when I met him." A big grin formed on his face. "Better than a credit card," he commented.
"So that was our Tardis, then."
"Might have been."
"But why?"
"Not a clue. And we've got more urgent issues to go over: we need a ship."
"One a bit more roomy, if possible," Tish added hopefully.
*Good idea, I was starting to feel crowded inside that thing,* grumbled the creature lurking at the bottom the bag.
To be continued.