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fandomweekly2019-05-19 06:36 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2019-05-19 06:36 pm
Entry tags:
[#014] DESPERATE TIMES (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #014 - Time of need
Title: Desperate times
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Rhiannon's brother turns to her when there is no one else.
Rhiannon clutched the greeting card tightly in her hand as she thumped her slippered feet back down the stairs. She could hear Johnny's footsteps behind her, following. At the bottom of the stairs was her son David, his eyes aglow with excitement. He was the only one who seemed to be enjoying the fallout from last night.
'You. Shower and dress now,' she commanded, giving him a firm glare.
'But I thought you said we didn't have to go to school today,' David whined.
He caught her out on that one. With everything that had happened yesterday, kids all over Cardiff coming to a standstill and chanting the words "we are coming" in unison, there was no way she was letting them out of her sight today.
'Shower and dress,' she repeated. 'I didn't say anything about school.'
David fist pumped the air and scampered up the stairs. As he cleared past Johnny, Rhiannon gave him a glare as well. 'Fat lot of help you were.'
Johnny bristled at the accusation and then called out loudly. 'Aye, can't even sent your kids to school because there's thugs waiting out in the street to steal them!'
'Oh, for God's sake, Johnny,' Rhiannon heaved, 'they haven't bugged the bloody house! Stop wasting your breath.'
'How d’you know?'
'They weren't here long enough!' she yelled back, feeling her frustration reaching breaking point. 'They searched the house and he's not here!' Bloody hell but she was going to kill her brother when she got a hold of him, bringing all of this trouble to their door.
She stepped into the kitchen and walked over to the sink, staring out through the small grimy window at the tatty yard beyond. At least from this angle she couldn't see the unmarked car that was parked across the road, watching them. She still felt shaken from last night, those men in black with their guns bursting into their house, demanding to know if her brother was here. She hadn't slept a wink once they'd finished their search and left without so much as an apology or an explanation.
She looked down at the card in her hand, resting on the edge of the sink. A little bit of water had soaked into the back of it from where she'd been leaning. Bloody cryptic messages in a card snuck into their morning newspaper. "The place where dad broke my leg, at noon. Bring laptop. I." That was so Ianto, she thought. Even now he couldn't help but bring up the bitterness of the past that had always hung heavy between them. Dad didn't break your leg, she wanted to say. You fell off a swing because you weren't holding on tight enough. It surprised her that he clung to that memory so hard. He'd always resented their dad.
'They must reckon he's going to, but,' Johnny replied, interrupting her thoughts. 'Like a fugitive on the run or something.'
She sighed. 'Well, they're too late. He's been and gone.'
Yesterday's visit still nagged at her. Why had he come? Was it to say goodbye? Did he know he was about to go on the run, or did things go wrong and force his hand? Their whole exchange seemed at odds with any signal he was leaving; he'd been too calm, too easily drawn into her demands to know if the man he'd been seen having dinner with was more than just a friend. If he was as in love with this boss of his as he claimed, then why leave?
He had wanted to take the kids out and treat them, though. That wasn't like him at all. He'd always been awkward with the kids. Maybe it really was meant to be a goodbye before he disappeared forever.
'He must've knicked some classified government documents,' Johnny suggested. 'Or embezzled money, don't you reckon? Smart toff like him, that's what they do, don't they? White collar crime.'
Rhiannon rounded on her husband. 'Ianto's not a criminal!' She suddenly felt as sure about it as she'd ever felt about anything. He'd come around because he was worried about her and the kids. Whatever this was, he hadn't intended for it to happen. The police were expecting him to reach out to anyone that might help him, and given how short a list that seemed to be, was it any wonder they thought he'd lean on her? But the soldiers and their guns were a step too far. A policeman knocking on their door would be understandable, but having their house raided in the dead of night was extreme to say the least. Ianto was just a public servant for God's sake. What could he possibly have done to warrant such a response?
Johnny came over and wrapped his thick set arms around her waist. 'I'm sorry, Rhi, I didn't mean it like that. You know I love that stupid sod.'
'Mam,' came the tiny voice of their daughter, gripping her stuffed teddy close, having finally crawled out of the space she'd occupied in their bed all night, too scared to go back to sleep in her own room. 'Is Uncle Ianto in big trouble with the police?'
Rhiannon slipped out of Johnny's arms and knelt down in front of her daughter. 'No, sweetheart, they're just worried because they can't find him, that's all.'
'He's gone into super spy mode,' David replied, appearing in the kitchen with wet hair sticking up all over the place, grabbing the box of cereal and pouring a double helping into a bowl. 'They'll never find him.' He sounded rather pleased.
'Breakfast for you as well, Miss,' Rhiannon said, directing Mica to the table, adding cereal to her own bowl, before turning to Johnny.
He caught the look in her eyes. 'What are you going to do?'
She glanced down at the card again. They might not know where to find him, but she did. 'He needs our help so that's what I'm going to do.'
Title: Desperate times
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Rhiannon's brother turns to her when there is no one else.
Rhiannon clutched the greeting card tightly in her hand as she thumped her slippered feet back down the stairs. She could hear Johnny's footsteps behind her, following. At the bottom of the stairs was her son David, his eyes aglow with excitement. He was the only one who seemed to be enjoying the fallout from last night.
'You. Shower and dress now,' she commanded, giving him a firm glare.
'But I thought you said we didn't have to go to school today,' David whined.
He caught her out on that one. With everything that had happened yesterday, kids all over Cardiff coming to a standstill and chanting the words "we are coming" in unison, there was no way she was letting them out of her sight today.
'Shower and dress,' she repeated. 'I didn't say anything about school.'
David fist pumped the air and scampered up the stairs. As he cleared past Johnny, Rhiannon gave him a glare as well. 'Fat lot of help you were.'
Johnny bristled at the accusation and then called out loudly. 'Aye, can't even sent your kids to school because there's thugs waiting out in the street to steal them!'
'Oh, for God's sake, Johnny,' Rhiannon heaved, 'they haven't bugged the bloody house! Stop wasting your breath.'
'How d’you know?'
'They weren't here long enough!' she yelled back, feeling her frustration reaching breaking point. 'They searched the house and he's not here!' Bloody hell but she was going to kill her brother when she got a hold of him, bringing all of this trouble to their door.
She stepped into the kitchen and walked over to the sink, staring out through the small grimy window at the tatty yard beyond. At least from this angle she couldn't see the unmarked car that was parked across the road, watching them. She still felt shaken from last night, those men in black with their guns bursting into their house, demanding to know if her brother was here. She hadn't slept a wink once they'd finished their search and left without so much as an apology or an explanation.
She looked down at the card in her hand, resting on the edge of the sink. A little bit of water had soaked into the back of it from where she'd been leaning. Bloody cryptic messages in a card snuck into their morning newspaper. "The place where dad broke my leg, at noon. Bring laptop. I." That was so Ianto, she thought. Even now he couldn't help but bring up the bitterness of the past that had always hung heavy between them. Dad didn't break your leg, she wanted to say. You fell off a swing because you weren't holding on tight enough. It surprised her that he clung to that memory so hard. He'd always resented their dad.
'They must reckon he's going to, but,' Johnny replied, interrupting her thoughts. 'Like a fugitive on the run or something.'
She sighed. 'Well, they're too late. He's been and gone.'
Yesterday's visit still nagged at her. Why had he come? Was it to say goodbye? Did he know he was about to go on the run, or did things go wrong and force his hand? Their whole exchange seemed at odds with any signal he was leaving; he'd been too calm, too easily drawn into her demands to know if the man he'd been seen having dinner with was more than just a friend. If he was as in love with this boss of his as he claimed, then why leave?
He had wanted to take the kids out and treat them, though. That wasn't like him at all. He'd always been awkward with the kids. Maybe it really was meant to be a goodbye before he disappeared forever.
'He must've knicked some classified government documents,' Johnny suggested. 'Or embezzled money, don't you reckon? Smart toff like him, that's what they do, don't they? White collar crime.'
Rhiannon rounded on her husband. 'Ianto's not a criminal!' She suddenly felt as sure about it as she'd ever felt about anything. He'd come around because he was worried about her and the kids. Whatever this was, he hadn't intended for it to happen. The police were expecting him to reach out to anyone that might help him, and given how short a list that seemed to be, was it any wonder they thought he'd lean on her? But the soldiers and their guns were a step too far. A policeman knocking on their door would be understandable, but having their house raided in the dead of night was extreme to say the least. Ianto was just a public servant for God's sake. What could he possibly have done to warrant such a response?
Johnny came over and wrapped his thick set arms around her waist. 'I'm sorry, Rhi, I didn't mean it like that. You know I love that stupid sod.'
'Mam,' came the tiny voice of their daughter, gripping her stuffed teddy close, having finally crawled out of the space she'd occupied in their bed all night, too scared to go back to sleep in her own room. 'Is Uncle Ianto in big trouble with the police?'
Rhiannon slipped out of Johnny's arms and knelt down in front of her daughter. 'No, sweetheart, they're just worried because they can't find him, that's all.'
'He's gone into super spy mode,' David replied, appearing in the kitchen with wet hair sticking up all over the place, grabbing the box of cereal and pouring a double helping into a bowl. 'They'll never find him.' He sounded rather pleased.
'Breakfast for you as well, Miss,' Rhiannon said, directing Mica to the table, adding cereal to her own bowl, before turning to Johnny.
He caught the look in her eyes. 'What are you going to do?'
She glanced down at the card again. They might not know where to find him, but she did. 'He needs our help so that's what I'm going to do.'
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