fandomweekly | [#095] Weird Weather (Torchwood)

Theme Prompt: #095 – Unexpected Weather
Title: Weird Weather
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: A few minutes earlier, the weather had been glorious and Ianto had been enjoying a pleasant stroll back to the Hub, but now…

Approaching the Plas, Ianto stopped dead and sighed. Seemed the Rift was messing about with Cardiff’s weather again. The day had dawned gloriously, with blue skies and sunshine, and the local weather forecast had predicted a perfect summer’s day despite it not quite being June yet. He’d had a delightful drive into work, as had the rest of the team, and had cheerfully set out on foot to pick up the team’s lunch twenty minutes ago. All he could think right now was that it was fortunate no one had wanted anything hot, because by the time he got back to the Hub, anything that had been hot to start with would be stone bonking cold.

Thankfully, he had an excellent sense of direction and knew more or less where he was, which meant that as long as he was careful, he should be able to locate the tourist office entrance and get inside without falling into the bay. A few minutes ago, the weather had been clear and bright, but then, between one stride and the next, Ianto had found himself enveloped in a cold, clammy embrace.

Fog. Not just wisps of mist, such as might be seen early on a summer morning when the sun was newly risen and its warm rays were just beginning to burn off the moisture from the night before, but a thick, heavy, wet blanket that muffled sounds and reduced visibility to a few inches. It was a physical thing, tangible and cloying, with a texture a bit like the ghost of wet cottonwool, if such a thing could exist.

Ianto took a deep breath in through his nose as he bravely began to advance across ground he couldn’t actually see, feeling his way with each step to he wouldn’t trip on anything or bump into anyone. There could be people within two feet of him and he wouldn’t see them, the fog was so dense. Probably wouldn’t hear them either, since he most likely had fog in his ears. Anyone else in the vicinity would be in the same situation, so Ianto determined to round up anyone he came across and herd them into the tourist office for safekeeping until the unnatural weather could be dealt with.

Despite its thickness, the fog wasn’t hampering his breathing, and it neither tasted nor smelled of anything in particular. It didn’t appear to be poisonous since he wasn’t suffering any noticeable discomfort, but he couldn’t say it was pleasant to be swathed in either. It would be a relief to get out of its damply clinging embrace.

By the time he reached the ramp leading down to the tourist office entrance, Ianto had collected seventeen assorted tourists and locals, all of them holding on to each other’s hands, or arms, or shoulders.

“Nothing to worry about,” he assured his hangers-on. “Just some fog rolling in off the sea. Watch your step here, the ramp slopes downwards but it’s not steep. We’ll soon be inside and then you can relax with a cup of coffee while I contact the local weather services and see what I can find out.” If necessary, he could Retcon them, but considering how many other people were probably out there lost in the fog, he’d rather he didn’t have to.

As soon as he unlocked the door, everyone hustled quickly inside the small office, bringing a few wisps of fog in with them, although it quickly dissipated. Ianto closed the door firmly behind them, smiling reassuringly.

“There now, who would like coffee? I’m afraid it will have to be in disposable cups. I have teabags as well, for anyone who prefers.”

Ten minutes later, the mis-matched group were sipping their drinks, exclaiming over the quality of the coffee, and getting to know each other. Ianto slipped behind the counter and into the back room, where he put a call through to Jack, downstairs in the Hub.

“Ianto! I was wondering where you’d got to with lunch. Was there a queue?”

“Not exactly. Have you seen the weather?”

“Yes, it’s glorious! Shall we have our lunch outside?”

“It’s thick fog, Jack. I was almost back to the Plas when it came out of nowhere.”

“Fog?”

“Visibility is down to less than a foot. Whatever you do, don’t try to use the invisible lift, you don’t want the Hub filling up with it. Can you ask Tosh to do some investigating, see what her sensors are picking up? If she can figure out the cause, there might be some way of getting rid of it. I don’t know how far it extends but if it’s covering the main roads it’s going to cause accidents.”

“Wonderful,” Jack muttered sarcastically. “That’s just what we need. First really good weather we’ve had this year and we lose it to mystery fog. Stupid Rift!”

“My sentiments exactly. Got to go; I’ve got a bunch of people sheltering in the tourist office.”

“Is that wise?”

“I couldn’t just leave them out in the fog. Maybe I should go back out and see if I can find any more.”

“Just be careful. If visibility’s so poor, anything could be out there.”

Hanging up, Jack got Tosh investigating the fog’s origins while Owen nipped out the garage entrance and collected samples for analysis.

Luckily, Owen came to the same conclusion Ianto had; the fog was harmless, just particularly dense water vapour, and should have been dispersing already, except that something out there seemed to be creating more.

It took Tosh half an hour and a lot of ingenuity to locate the source, a piece of alien tech designed to super-saturate air molecules, at which point she and Jack ventured out into the billowing vapour, eventually finding the innocuous little device in one of the flower beds. All that was left to do then was to switch it off.

Gradually the fog began to melt away, and thanking him, Ianto’s temporary guests headed out into the sunshine.

Another bizarre problem solved.

The End

[#095] Weird Weather (Torchwood)

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