54
Lance was sitting at his computer trying to read his own writing on the back of an envelope. All he had been able to find at the time while taking the phone call was an old electric bill, and now he was not sure if this was even the write piece of paper.
Was it a water bill?
Then he looked up and saw a little 'email' envelope blinking in the corner of the screen.
He clicked.
And he sat back as a message that self deleted after being written blew his mind!
.
.
Lance stood nervously pulling at his bright red tie. He knew he was standing out and he still do not know why that was, why they wanted him to stand out but he was doing as he was told. How the fuck did they know he even had this bloody tie? He only wore it once and he hated the entire awards evening. Hint… didn't win.
Harkness had contacted him.
Harkness, the Police Chief from Torchwood Village and he knew UNIT were seeking this man as well. No idea why but if UNIT wanted to find this man, so did he.
Lance tried to remember the photo he had looked at intently in the file on this man, memorizing the cleft chin, the dimpled smile, the warm blue eyes that seemed to electrify the paper. He would recognize him. He was ready.
Um.
Why was a skinny blonde man who looked a bit like a drug addict walking up to him?
"Follow me, not too close" Andy said under his breath as he brushed past and Lance turned on his heel while looking at his phone like he was reading a text, to follow. This man was English, like him. Not an American Accent in sight. Harkness was American, right?
He followed Andy into a side alley behind the store and along to another room. Then inside the back of it he found the man climbing into the back of an…. Ambulance? What?
Andy turned and looked back "Well? Tally Ho mate!"
Lance shrugged, stepping into the unknown.
Once they were moving Andy reached for a bag, throwing it at the man "strip and change. I will not look, honest. Bust we have to clean you of anything that might have a tracker in it. Everything, even ya grundies."
"Grundies" Lance repeated, then shrugged. If this was some sort of practical joke, it was a good one. "I will get these back, right?"
"You will get everything back when we drop you off back here, promise" another voice said, this one Welsh as the day is long.
"So, you know Harkness?"
The man turned to look between the seats at him and Lance felt momentary alarm as those calculating eyes seemed to measure him. This man was not normal. Not at all. He reminded him of those Red Caps that were giving him hell, but on another level. Lance was a good judge of character, he used most of his skills to glean from people what he needed for a story and this man's body language told him to be careful. He was armed. He knew what he was doing and he was not exactly glad to see Lance here.
"So… how long have you known him?" Lance tried to be direct, sensing that this man preferred that.
"Well, longer than we have been married, that's for sure" came the clipped reply and Lance felt his hand rising before he slammed it back down quickly to fight the face palm he was about to do.
Jones. This was Jones.
"Sorry, I thought you would be… ah…"
"Small? Unassuming? Whimpish?" came another Londoner's voice from the driver's seat.
"Owen, you know Jack would never wed you, we've been over this. He is a greedy man" Ianto turned to face the front and Owen grinned widely, making a weird noise.
"grreeeeeeeedy."
Sniggering now as Owen seemed to know what the inside joke was, even if no one else did. Lance was quickly reassessing things, seeing that the reports were wrong. Everything was wrong. And the fact they were entering the back of a large transportation truck was also alarming.
As they drove, swung around corners and seemed to double back at times, the swaying of the truck weird. Lance knew he was not going to forget this.
Down the rabbit hole we go.
.
.
Lane got out of the back of the ambulance, looking out of the now opened doors of the truck's trailer. Below stood a man in a Great Coat and wide grin.
Finally.
Lance knew where he was now, "Captain?"
"Hi there, Captain Jack Harkness" Jack held out his hand.
"Stop it" Ianto said as he jumped down and turned to turn down the steps for Lance. Lance was about to say that he could jump down ta, when he saw that they were for Owen who scuttled down them and slammed into Ianto ,like they were about to fight.
The headlock was unexpected, Owens's yelp was too but everyone acted like this was normal as Ianto controlled the excitable fool. Seems to be normal.
"Welcome to …"
"Paradiso!" Owen crowed over top of Jack who stopped, dropped his wide stretched arms and glared at him "What. That's what I named it."
"I wanted to call it Shangri La" Jack huffed.
"Boring" Owen crowed "and I bagged it first!"
"Are you five fuckkkkkkeroooonyyyyyyyy" Jack started to blink furiously and Lance turned to look in the direction he was staring to find a small child about five? Six? Watching them
"Hi there, I'm Lance."
"I am Zane, I speak for us"
Lance knew he had the right place.
But he was not so sure he wanted to be here anymore.