July 18th 1977
6:30 am Carson, CA
Changes.
Little things at first. Smiles not quite reaching eyes when they looked toward one another. Less casual touches in everyday life. Feeling disconnected when they did actually come together.
More noticeable things as time went on. Him staying away well into the evening, working on something or another until long after she retired for the night. Her relief that he did stay away so she wouldn't have to feign disappointment in their noticeable lack of love making.
His heart she suspected belonged to someone else. Her heart aching for something more. Something...someone different.
It's not that she didn't love him. She did, but just not in the way a wife should love her husband. She suspected that he lost his love for her in the same way.
Years together. A relationship forged in childhood. With all the excitement and naivety that came with it. They were different people now. Both suffering and she knew it had to stop. She had to make it stop for their family's sake. For their own.
"Roy?"
Roy looked up from packing his uniforms for his upcoming shift. He was preoccupied with making sure he had an extra set. There was always something that would cause him to need it. Whether a fire, bodily fluids from a patient or some insane move his partner made that would inevitably cause chaos in Roy's world. Usually of the messy kind. He couldn't help a little smile at the thought. Johnny was pure chaos. Pure insanity. That thought would bother most people. Roy just found it amusing. Mostly.
"Roy?" Joanne tried again. She could see his thoughts were not with her in this room. The idea made her sad and only reinforced her purpose.
"Oh sorry Jo. What's up?"
"I think we should separate"
September 12th 2008
Rift alarm 10:36 pm- Cardiff, UK
"What have we got?"
"Something big just dropped into the middle of Bute Park."
"Well let's get a move on. I want to see what goodies the rift gave us today!"
"Yes Sir"
"Ooh you know what that kinda talk does to me Ianto."
"Of course I do Jack."
"Cheeky bastard"
Chapter 1
July 18th 1977
9:42 am Topanga Canyon LA County
"Roy, John. We've got a report of a hiker stuck up on Willow Ridge. Take the squad up there and check it out, will ya Palls?
"Sure thing Cap"
The fella that called it in said to take a right at the service road and it's about half mile down on the left."
Morning roll call in an empty bay brought with it news that a brush fire had sparked during the night in Topanga Canyon. Cap informed his men that they'd be relieving 51s C shift once gear was gathered. They'd be carpooling to the scene in a couple of their personal vehicles.
"What's eatin at ya this mornin Pally?"
Roy was behind the wheel deep in thought. Johnny assumed it was due to the somewhat hazardous drive from the base station up to Willow Ridge where the stranded hiker was located.
"Roy?"
"Huh?"
Johnny just shook his head fondly at his obviously preoccupied partner.
"I said, what's eatin at ya?"
Roy turned briefly toward the younger man and Johnny was quick to change his initial assessment of his friend from preoccupied by the drive to...well he didn't know what. Scared perhaps? Sad? No, lost. Roy just looked a little bit lost. That thought scared Johnny. It wasn't like Roy to be caught up in his own worries during a rescue. It had to be bad.
"I don't wanna talk about it right now Junior. Let's just concentrate on the rescue, okay?"
John debated how much to push his partner. In Johnny's world, Roy was the stoic one. The half of their partnership that was level headed, clear minded, not easily distracted. But Roy was right. They needed to concentrate on the rescue right now. That always came first.
"Yeah yeah sure Roy. No problem" Johnny would get it out of his friend later. He always did.
Roy threw his partner a small grateful smile. Johnny knew he had the tendency to push at people until it frustrated the living hell out of them but he also knew enough when to back off when the situation called for it. And this was one of those times.
"Service road is your next right. Cap says it's about a half mile down."
The squad pulled up to a young man waving his arms frantically in attempt to gain their attention.
"My buddy's down there! He was trying to shimmy his way down to the ledge to take some photos of the fire and he fell. Says he's alright but he's stuck and can't get himself back up. Ya guys gotta hurry. That fire over there is moving fast!"
Roy took control of the situation seamlessly. The melancholy from just a few moments ago forgotten.
"Okay calm down. We'll take care of your buddy before the fire gets any closer. What's your name and your friend's as well?"
"Frankie. His name is Frankie. I'm Sam."
"Hi Sam, I'm Roy and that man over there is my partner John. We're Firefighter/Paramedics with LA County. How'd Frankie plan on getting back up once he got his pictures?"
Sam just looked down toward the ground knowing full well that what Frankie had said he was going to do wouldn't have worked.
"He said it didn't look that steep. That'd he'd be able to climb back up. I told him he was crazy but he was so sure."
Roy shook his head at the recklessness and stupidity of some people and placed a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder and advised again that everything was going to be alright.
"How's it look Johnny?"
"He doesn't look too badly hurt. Moving around all right. I think it's just a simple rescue. We can check him out for injuries when we get to him."
Roy looked down at the man who was pacing back and forth on the ledge below. Johnny was right, he didn't really look injured. Pissed off maybe but not injured.
"Okay let's get the ropes and one of us will repel down to him and the other will guide the rope that we'll tie off to the squad."
"Sounds good Pally, let's get this done so we can get back to the fun of fighting that fire."
Roy just shook his head at his partner's antics. Sometimes he was such a child. It was infectious at times and the way Roy was feeling today, fighting a good fire is just what he needed to keep his mind off his current troubles.
"You are something Junior."
Johnny just shot him a crooked grin and ran back to the squad to gather the equipment needed for the rescue. Roy yelled to the victim that they'd be down in just a few minutes and jogged after his partner.
As Roy caught up with Johnny, both men stopped in their tracks when they saw a shimmering light appear in between them and the squad. They both looked at Sam and saw his shocked expression and then turned toward one another in fear as the light engulfed them.
Sam closed his eyes when he saw the light surround the two rescue men not at all believing what he was seeing. When he opened them again, the men were gone. He spun around in a circle searching for the missing paramedics. He realized he was alone and screamed in pure terror at what he just witnessed.
September 12th 2008
10:55 pm Bute Park Cardiff
"Take a right up here Jack. The signal is coming from behind the play area"
Jack followed Ianto's directions and then stopped the SUV. Both men jumped out and ran toward the signal that was strongest in the bushes behind the play set. It appeared that whatever came though were a couple of larger life forms.
Ianto was dreading in his mind what type of containment and clean up he'd be saddled with at this late hour while Jack was hoping they were an attractive species that he could flirt with in spite of Ianto's annoyance.
Both men stopped and took in the sight of their latest refugees.
"Well well well, look at this Ianto, we've got ourselves a couple of firemen." Jack said, taking into account the turnout gear the two men were wearing. "Cute too."
Ianto just rolled his eyes at Jack's antics. Too used to them to warrant any reaction.
"Yes sir I see that." Ianto said dryly.
"Hello gentlemen. I'm Ianto Jones and this is Captain Jack Harkness. We're Torchwood."
Roy and John looked up toward the two strange men standing above them. One with an obvious cocky American accent and the other with a strong Welsh sound. They turned back to each other with wide eyes both reading the other's thoughts. 'Yep, we're in trouble'
TBC
