Hello, again! I have slightly given up trying to make the whole thing scary, cos it would've ended up way too overdramatic.
Warning: Owen only swears once, but still.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, or the TARDIS coral. But, I'd like to. Just think: a Grow-Your-Own-TARDIS. That would be totally awesome.
Chapter 2- Three Days to Save the World
As whatever it was that was coming through the darkness got closer, Tosh whimpered again.
"Come here." said Owen quietly, still sitting by the door. She slid off the desk, quietly, and they could hear her sit down on the floor, presumably next to Owen.
Jack's chair squeaked as he eased himself out of the chair and against the wall.
"Ouch, watch out for my foot." Ianto said. As Jack sat down, the stairs creaked.
It was coming closer.
The footsteps got louder and louder. Whatever it was shuffled up to the door, and Ianto took a deep breath. Jack shushed him, so quietly they almost couldn't hear him.
The door lock creaked, but didn't give way. There was a soft crack, and the door swung open.
They could all sense something come in through the doorway. It stood in front of Jack's desk. They could hear it breathing raspily in the almost unnatural silence. There was the soft sound of shuffling paper. Then silence. As though satisfied that whatever it appeared to be searching for wasn't there, it turned and shuffled back out the doorway. It closed the door with a gentle thud and they could hear the lock click shut behind it. The noise of footsteps retreated back down the stairs.
Even though it was gone, everyone held their breath for what seemed like an eternity. Then, there was a creaking noise that was familiar to all of them-the main door. It slammed shut, and the banging noise meant that whatever it was, was climbing the stairs towards the outside world. It was gone.
For now.
Ianto let out his breath.
Owen swore.
Jack groaned frustratedly.
Tosh was silent.
Then, Ianto struck a match and lit the candle again, fumbling around to find the jar. The room was once again filled with a warm, flickery glow. Jack stood up, and stretched his arms. Ianto looked at him with a worried expression on his face. Owen, still sitting next to the door, had his arm around Tosh, whose head rested on his shoulder, her eyes shut tightly.
"You can open your eyes now. It's gone, and Ianto's lit the candle." Owen said, more gently than he normally would. Tosh opened her eyes, slowly. Jack, who was watching the two of them with a faint smile, swapped a look with Ianto. Owen shot death looks at the pair of them. Tosh stood up, followed by Owen.
"Okay, now that we're all...present...and accounted for, what was it doing?" Jack said.
They were silent.
Ianto was shuffling the papers on Jack's desk around, looking for something.
"What are you doing, Ianto?" Jack said.
"Looking, sir. I thought I heard the...whatever it was...put something down. Or take something." He stopped searching and looked at Jack, who motioned for him to continue. He kept shuffling. "Ah. Here we go," he said, easing an envelope from under the dish containing Jack's precious coral. "This wasn't there before."
"Careful with the coral, guys!" Jack said, putting the dish in the middle of his desk.
"It's just coral, Jack. Get a grip. What are you, a marine biologist?" Owen said.
Tosh stepped forward and studied the coral.
"What species is that? I've never seen anything like it. It looks...almost wooden. And it's a strange texture...not like underwater coral at all." She looked questioningly at Jack.
"It's an...uh...tardisius coralius. Yeah." said Jack. "And, more importantly, how do you know about corals?"
Tosh gave him a strange look.
"There's no such 'tardisius coralius' coral. You made that up, right?" Jack shrugged. "Oh, I wasn't sure what I wanted to be when I was in high school-I loved science, computers and maths. And then, one day, our science teacher was telling us about corals, and I was interested...and then one of my close friends ended up studying marine biology, so...yeah. I know about corals. Is this an alien species?"
Jack patted the coral gently. "Kind of."
Ianto sighed, and waved the envelope in front of Jack's face.
"Returning to our current dilemma..." he said.
"Ah, yes." Jack said, taking the envelope and examining it. "No, I've never seen this before. It must have been put there."
"Well, then, open it!" Owen said.
"O-kay." Jack gently eased the envelope open. It was a fairly old piece of paper, judging by the musty smell and yellowing colour. He handed the envelope to Ianto, who put it in his coat pocket.
"It's addressed to me." Jack said. "I'll read it aloud."
"Dear Mr Harkness..." he began. "They always forget the 'Captain'. Anyway, 'Dear Mr Harkness, I think that you and your team will figure out your predicament sooner rather than later. You're clever people, aren't you? A tip: never underestimate your opponent. Your measly planet is our plaything. We are a mighty species, Mr Harkness, and it would be dangerous to misjudge our capabilities. You have 3 days to save your world, or the human race will be extinct, and Earth will be no more. Good luck saving the planet." He finished. "There's no name."
"3 days? No power? No lights? No guns?" Owen said. "This is going to be a piece of cake. Not."
Jack looked at Ianto in horror. Of course. Standard protocol meant all their weapons that could have been useful were locked into a literally impenetrable room.
"3 days to save the planet." said Tosh. She looked worried.
"We'd better mail out the apology cards." Owen said sarcastically. "We're fucking screwed."
Author's Ramblings:
Aah, a shorter chapter. I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen, but I have a pretty good idea. I'm not telling~! *spoilers*
I'm just starting to get into the 'rhythm' of writing this. If you liked this chapter (or even if you didn't), please review!
Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou for reading!
Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou if you reviewed!