m_findlow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
m_findlow) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly2021-08-29 11:54 am
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2021-08-29 11:54 am
Entry tags:
[#106] ONE FOR THE ROAD (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #106 - Competition
Title: One for the road
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG. Spoilers for CoE.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Even when things are dire, there's still room for petty arguments about who has the best geography skills.
Gwen could hear her stomach rumbling as she forced the cramped car along the motorway. She felt a little bit better after an hour or two of sleep - the first she'd had in two days - but now her stomach wanted its fair share of the spoils as well. They were still a good forty-five minutes from London, not that she wanted to be driving around and stopping at a local curry house. No doubt every CCTV camera in the metro area would be cross-referencing their faces as they remained fugitives on the run. Better that they got something in suburbia before bracing to run that particular gauntlet. She tried to remember how much cash she had in her pocket and whether it would stretch to four lukewarm pasties before putting the idea of food into anyone's head. She and Rhys had managed egg, ham and chips this time yesterday, but she doubted Ianto or Jack had eaten a thing.
'We should pull off for a few minutes and grab some food. There must be a supermarket we can swing into without straying too far.'
'Oh, thank God,' Rhys groaned. 'I'm bloody starving. There's a Lidl just up ahead about three miles on the left. Take the exit and it's right on top. Can't miss it. We can be back on the road in no time.'
'Actually,' Ianto piped up from the back seat, having said virtually nothing for hours, 'Lidl is on the right hand side at Junction 68. The next one coming up on the left is Asda.'
Gwen caught the slight frown and tensing of her husband's muscles. 'No, it's not.'
'It is.' Ianto said it with the same conviction he used for everything, that understated matter of fact tone.
Rhys squirmed around in the squeaky vinyl seat to address his back seat companions. 'Listen, mate. I've been driving trucks for fifteen years. I think I know a bit more about it than you do.'
'Except that you're wrong.'
'Oh, and how many times have you driven the M4? Get a lot of aliens nipping down to the capital once they get here? A wonder they've got change for the toll bridge.'
'I did used to work in London, you know. That would be why I know where we should be going now?'
Gwen sensed the confrontational, sarcastic tone that was usually so entertaining to witness. Now it just felt like the pent up energy and frustration of their situation coming home to roost. None of them were happy about it. They'd lost their base of operations, all their equipment, everything.
'Clearly you had your eyes shut while driving then,' Rhys replied. 'Pretty much like half the drivers round here. They could light up that bloody Lidl store with fireworks and nobody would notice.'
'I don’t think fireworks are strictly necessary. And it wouldn't change the fact that Junction 67 is the turnoff for Asda.'
Gwen glared back at Jack, silently willing him to silence his boyfriend before Rhys got an even bigger head of steam. Jack looked rather more deer in the headlights as to what to do or how to stop the argument that was quickly snowballing. So much for their fearless leader. He was happy to duke it out with Ianto when it was the pair of them at loggerheads - as it so often was - but he wasn't brave enough to interece two Welshmen getting into it.
'Lidl.'
'Asda.'
'Lidl.'
'Asda!' The word sounded every bit like it was forced through gritted teeth.
Gwen's grip on the wheel became vice-like. 'Oh, for god's sake! Who cares what supermarket it is! I just need something to eat and a pit stop at the loos before we have bigger problems.' It was a godsend they didn't already have bigger problems, being pursued by government agents who'd wanted them dead since yesterday, and who would now be really pissed off that they'd busted Jack out of his prison cell, banding the team back together. It was hard to believe they could be arguing over something so inane when they were on the run.
'Not until Ianto admits he's wrong.'
'Well, we'll find out in about two minutes when we get there, won't we?'
'Shut it,' Gwen commanded her husband. She risked taking her eyes off the road and spun to throw a fiery look at Ianto. 'And you, stop being such a bloody smart arse.' There was a time for Ianto to be clever but this wasn't it.
'Hey!' Jack barked, suddenly rising to his lover's defense. Gwen's glare flashed in Jack's direction and Jack backtracked his indignation fairly quickly. It was hard for him to look authoritative when he'd been rescued, naked and handcuffed. Though they'd managed to pick the locks on the handcuffs to free him properly, they could do less about the clothing situation. A t-shirt and some loose track pants had been the best Ianto could scrounge. Still it was better than nothing. Ianto might be able to cope with Jack's nakedness, but Gwen had her limits, and Rhys definitely wouldn't have lasted more than five seconds.
Ianto slumped into the seat, arms folded and looking like a petulant five year old. 'I'm still right.'
'Shush!' Gwen demanded, trying hard not to swerve out of her lane on the motorway, watching from her peripheral vision as a massive lorry sped past. It would have cleaned up the small sedan in a heartbeat. Focus, Gwen. No good killing them and denying everyone else the chance. She kept to the left lane, ready to take the first exit and damn the consequences.
'Eh, would you look at that,' Rhys said, leaning forward to look through the front windscreen. 'It is Asda,' he added, as if commenting on the weather and not the nearly devastating argument that had blown up out of nothing. She loved Rhys to bits but God he could be so maddening sometimes.
Jack patted Ianto's leg before he could speak. 'Don't. Just don't.'
Title: One for the road
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG. Spoilers for CoE.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Even when things are dire, there's still room for petty arguments about who has the best geography skills.
Gwen could hear her stomach rumbling as she forced the cramped car along the motorway. She felt a little bit better after an hour or two of sleep - the first she'd had in two days - but now her stomach wanted its fair share of the spoils as well. They were still a good forty-five minutes from London, not that she wanted to be driving around and stopping at a local curry house. No doubt every CCTV camera in the metro area would be cross-referencing their faces as they remained fugitives on the run. Better that they got something in suburbia before bracing to run that particular gauntlet. She tried to remember how much cash she had in her pocket and whether it would stretch to four lukewarm pasties before putting the idea of food into anyone's head. She and Rhys had managed egg, ham and chips this time yesterday, but she doubted Ianto or Jack had eaten a thing.
'We should pull off for a few minutes and grab some food. There must be a supermarket we can swing into without straying too far.'
'Oh, thank God,' Rhys groaned. 'I'm bloody starving. There's a Lidl just up ahead about three miles on the left. Take the exit and it's right on top. Can't miss it. We can be back on the road in no time.'
'Actually,' Ianto piped up from the back seat, having said virtually nothing for hours, 'Lidl is on the right hand side at Junction 68. The next one coming up on the left is Asda.'
Gwen caught the slight frown and tensing of her husband's muscles. 'No, it's not.'
'It is.' Ianto said it with the same conviction he used for everything, that understated matter of fact tone.
Rhys squirmed around in the squeaky vinyl seat to address his back seat companions. 'Listen, mate. I've been driving trucks for fifteen years. I think I know a bit more about it than you do.'
'Except that you're wrong.'
'Oh, and how many times have you driven the M4? Get a lot of aliens nipping down to the capital once they get here? A wonder they've got change for the toll bridge.'
'I did used to work in London, you know. That would be why I know where we should be going now?'
Gwen sensed the confrontational, sarcastic tone that was usually so entertaining to witness. Now it just felt like the pent up energy and frustration of their situation coming home to roost. None of them were happy about it. They'd lost their base of operations, all their equipment, everything.
'Clearly you had your eyes shut while driving then,' Rhys replied. 'Pretty much like half the drivers round here. They could light up that bloody Lidl store with fireworks and nobody would notice.'
'I don’t think fireworks are strictly necessary. And it wouldn't change the fact that Junction 67 is the turnoff for Asda.'
Gwen glared back at Jack, silently willing him to silence his boyfriend before Rhys got an even bigger head of steam. Jack looked rather more deer in the headlights as to what to do or how to stop the argument that was quickly snowballing. So much for their fearless leader. He was happy to duke it out with Ianto when it was the pair of them at loggerheads - as it so often was - but he wasn't brave enough to interece two Welshmen getting into it.
'Lidl.'
'Asda.'
'Lidl.'
'Asda!' The word sounded every bit like it was forced through gritted teeth.
Gwen's grip on the wheel became vice-like. 'Oh, for god's sake! Who cares what supermarket it is! I just need something to eat and a pit stop at the loos before we have bigger problems.' It was a godsend they didn't already have bigger problems, being pursued by government agents who'd wanted them dead since yesterday, and who would now be really pissed off that they'd busted Jack out of his prison cell, banding the team back together. It was hard to believe they could be arguing over something so inane when they were on the run.
'Not until Ianto admits he's wrong.'
'Well, we'll find out in about two minutes when we get there, won't we?'
'Shut it,' Gwen commanded her husband. She risked taking her eyes off the road and spun to throw a fiery look at Ianto. 'And you, stop being such a bloody smart arse.' There was a time for Ianto to be clever but this wasn't it.
'Hey!' Jack barked, suddenly rising to his lover's defense. Gwen's glare flashed in Jack's direction and Jack backtracked his indignation fairly quickly. It was hard for him to look authoritative when he'd been rescued, naked and handcuffed. Though they'd managed to pick the locks on the handcuffs to free him properly, they could do less about the clothing situation. A t-shirt and some loose track pants had been the best Ianto could scrounge. Still it was better than nothing. Ianto might be able to cope with Jack's nakedness, but Gwen had her limits, and Rhys definitely wouldn't have lasted more than five seconds.
Ianto slumped into the seat, arms folded and looking like a petulant five year old. 'I'm still right.'
'Shush!' Gwen demanded, trying hard not to swerve out of her lane on the motorway, watching from her peripheral vision as a massive lorry sped past. It would have cleaned up the small sedan in a heartbeat. Focus, Gwen. No good killing them and denying everyone else the chance. She kept to the left lane, ready to take the first exit and damn the consequences.
'Eh, would you look at that,' Rhys said, leaning forward to look through the front windscreen. 'It is Asda,' he added, as if commenting on the weather and not the nearly devastating argument that had blown up out of nothing. She loved Rhys to bits but God he could be so maddening sometimes.
Jack patted Ianto's leg before he could speak. 'Don't. Just don't.'
no subject