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)
fandomweekly2022-08-28 09:44 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2022-08-28 09:44 pm
Entry tags:
[#149] IMPRISONED (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #149 Glitch
Title: Imprisoned
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: M (language)
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack thought he was doing the right thing, but it backfired slightly.
‘I think it's safe to say tonight isn't going very well,’ Ianto said as they ran for their lives.
‘There's three of us and one of it! How is that fair?’ Gwen added, relieved as the SUV came into view. It wasn't much but it felt like salvation.
‘Who said anything about fair!’ Jack yelled back. He could outrun both of them but was keeping a yard or two behind them. If anyone was going to get cut down by the massive hoix, he was going to make sure it was him. He grabbed the key fob and its indicator lights flashed.
Gwen reached the car first, flinging open the door and contemplating whether their plasma cannon would be considered an excessive use of force. Ianto wasn't far behind her, throwing himself through onto the back seat. She assumed Jack would bungle in directly after him but the door slammed shut and all the locks of the car clunked around them. Jack slammed bodily into the side of the car, followed by the hoix, which made the whole thing lurch sickeningly sideways from the impact.
‘Jack!’ Ianto's panicked yell told Gwen all she needed to know about what had just happened without needing to see it for herself.
‘Right, that's it,’ she said, popping the glove box open and fishing out both spare guns, one for each hand. She was going to take it down. She set the one gun in her lap and moved to pull the far passenger door open to come around from the side but it wouldn't budge. ‘What the hell?’ she said, trying it again without success. ‘He's locked us in!’
‘Why doesn't that surprise me?’ Ianto said, as if they were discussing the weather and not Jack sacrificing himself to save them. He squeezed his body through the gap between the seats. ‘Don't worry, though. There's a special code to override the locking mechanism.’ He reached up and indicated the rear vision mirror. ‘Just tap each side in the correct sequence and voilá. I even made up a little rhyme to remember it. East, north, south, west. Owen Harper is a pest.’
Gwen waited for the inevitable clicking sound that would announce the locks releasing, but there was only silence.
‘Ah,’ Ianto said, doing little to mask his disappointment, or perhaps surprise. He tapped out the sequence a second time, this time ignoring the clever little rhyme and focusing only on making sure his finger danced across the mirror in the correct way. ‘Shit,’ he swore. ‘Sorry. Sugar.’
Gwen raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Sugar?’
There was a small vexed noise coming from the back of his throat. ‘My sister is trying to train me out of my bad language habits so that I won't accidentally use them around my niece and nephew. It's not working.’
‘I can see that. Are you sure you put in the right code?’
‘Am I sure?’
Gwen threw her hands up at his confrontational tone. ‘Sorry! Just saying.’
‘Jack told me about it.’
‘Well, there's your problem!’ Gwen cried. ‘Do you really believe everything Jack tells you?’
He had the cheek to narrow his eyes at her. ‘It's on the official spec. I checked. Standard Torchwood safety feature. Must be a glitch in the system. But, it's fine. Once Jack is back he'll just use the key fob to unlock us again.’ He paused. ‘Shit,’ he swore.
‘Don't you mean sugar?’
‘Shut up. And no, I really did mean it.’ He pointed out the window and Gwen watched as the hoix was rifling through Jack's effects, looking for extra little snacks and finding the car keys, including the fob that activated the internal locks and giving it what looked like one good crunch before swallowing it.
‘Shit,’ Gwen swore, mirroring his sentiments.
‘Exactly.’ Gwen contorted herself so that she could raise her leg and kick out hard at the window. ‘Don't bother,’ Ianto said. ‘The SUV was built to withstand artillery from a tank.’
Gwen kicked again anyway. Several times. All to nil effect. ‘Now what?’
‘Hope someone builds a better tank?’
‘Anything helpful! I'm guessing we can't hotwire the car?’ She'd love nothing more than to run the beast over, assuming she didn't also run over Jack in the process.
There was a booming gunshot from outside the car that distracted them. They both clambered over one another to press against the windows. A moment later, the locks clunked again and they practically tumbled out of the doors as they released on their own. Just below the line of the car windows was Jack, slumped against the back wheel, a huge and very heavy hoix just about crushing him. ‘Little help here?’ he wheezed, straining to get out from under it.
Gwen and Ianto clambered out and began hauling the creature off him, now missing a good chunk of the back of its head.
‘Make sure you get my gun back before you bag it,’ Jack said. ‘You don't wanna know how much of your hand has to be inside its mouth to get that to work,’ he added, cradling the mauled hand to his chest.
Gwen clipped him over the ears regardless, her sympathy for him evaporating in a heartbeat. ‘You locked us in the SUV!’
‘Permanently,’ Ianto added, though continuing to fuss over Jack's wounded hand using his handkerchief as a makeshift bandage.
‘Better me than you two,’ Jack replied. ‘Never seen a hoix that big before. Or that hungry. And it wasn't permanent. Besides, you could always override the locks if you needed to.’
‘The internal override mechanism didn't work,’ Ianto told him. ‘Wait, how did you get us out? We saw the hoix eat the key fob.’
Jack waved behind him. ‘Spare key, in the hidden compartment under the chassis behind the right back wheel.’
Ianto paused from tying off the ends of Jack's bandage. ‘Oh.’
Gwen gave Ianto a teasing look. ‘Not on the official spec?’
He scowled at her. ‘Shut up.’
Title: Imprisoned
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: M (language)
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack thought he was doing the right thing, but it backfired slightly.
‘I think it's safe to say tonight isn't going very well,’ Ianto said as they ran for their lives.
‘There's three of us and one of it! How is that fair?’ Gwen added, relieved as the SUV came into view. It wasn't much but it felt like salvation.
‘Who said anything about fair!’ Jack yelled back. He could outrun both of them but was keeping a yard or two behind them. If anyone was going to get cut down by the massive hoix, he was going to make sure it was him. He grabbed the key fob and its indicator lights flashed.
Gwen reached the car first, flinging open the door and contemplating whether their plasma cannon would be considered an excessive use of force. Ianto wasn't far behind her, throwing himself through onto the back seat. She assumed Jack would bungle in directly after him but the door slammed shut and all the locks of the car clunked around them. Jack slammed bodily into the side of the car, followed by the hoix, which made the whole thing lurch sickeningly sideways from the impact.
‘Jack!’ Ianto's panicked yell told Gwen all she needed to know about what had just happened without needing to see it for herself.
‘Right, that's it,’ she said, popping the glove box open and fishing out both spare guns, one for each hand. She was going to take it down. She set the one gun in her lap and moved to pull the far passenger door open to come around from the side but it wouldn't budge. ‘What the hell?’ she said, trying it again without success. ‘He's locked us in!’
‘Why doesn't that surprise me?’ Ianto said, as if they were discussing the weather and not Jack sacrificing himself to save them. He squeezed his body through the gap between the seats. ‘Don't worry, though. There's a special code to override the locking mechanism.’ He reached up and indicated the rear vision mirror. ‘Just tap each side in the correct sequence and voilá. I even made up a little rhyme to remember it. East, north, south, west. Owen Harper is a pest.’
Gwen waited for the inevitable clicking sound that would announce the locks releasing, but there was only silence.
‘Ah,’ Ianto said, doing little to mask his disappointment, or perhaps surprise. He tapped out the sequence a second time, this time ignoring the clever little rhyme and focusing only on making sure his finger danced across the mirror in the correct way. ‘Shit,’ he swore. ‘Sorry. Sugar.’
Gwen raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Sugar?’
There was a small vexed noise coming from the back of his throat. ‘My sister is trying to train me out of my bad language habits so that I won't accidentally use them around my niece and nephew. It's not working.’
‘I can see that. Are you sure you put in the right code?’
‘Am I sure?’
Gwen threw her hands up at his confrontational tone. ‘Sorry! Just saying.’
‘Jack told me about it.’
‘Well, there's your problem!’ Gwen cried. ‘Do you really believe everything Jack tells you?’
He had the cheek to narrow his eyes at her. ‘It's on the official spec. I checked. Standard Torchwood safety feature. Must be a glitch in the system. But, it's fine. Once Jack is back he'll just use the key fob to unlock us again.’ He paused. ‘Shit,’ he swore.
‘Don't you mean sugar?’
‘Shut up. And no, I really did mean it.’ He pointed out the window and Gwen watched as the hoix was rifling through Jack's effects, looking for extra little snacks and finding the car keys, including the fob that activated the internal locks and giving it what looked like one good crunch before swallowing it.
‘Shit,’ Gwen swore, mirroring his sentiments.
‘Exactly.’ Gwen contorted herself so that she could raise her leg and kick out hard at the window. ‘Don't bother,’ Ianto said. ‘The SUV was built to withstand artillery from a tank.’
Gwen kicked again anyway. Several times. All to nil effect. ‘Now what?’
‘Hope someone builds a better tank?’
‘Anything helpful! I'm guessing we can't hotwire the car?’ She'd love nothing more than to run the beast over, assuming she didn't also run over Jack in the process.
There was a booming gunshot from outside the car that distracted them. They both clambered over one another to press against the windows. A moment later, the locks clunked again and they practically tumbled out of the doors as they released on their own. Just below the line of the car windows was Jack, slumped against the back wheel, a huge and very heavy hoix just about crushing him. ‘Little help here?’ he wheezed, straining to get out from under it.
Gwen and Ianto clambered out and began hauling the creature off him, now missing a good chunk of the back of its head.
‘Make sure you get my gun back before you bag it,’ Jack said. ‘You don't wanna know how much of your hand has to be inside its mouth to get that to work,’ he added, cradling the mauled hand to his chest.
Gwen clipped him over the ears regardless, her sympathy for him evaporating in a heartbeat. ‘You locked us in the SUV!’
‘Permanently,’ Ianto added, though continuing to fuss over Jack's wounded hand using his handkerchief as a makeshift bandage.
‘Better me than you two,’ Jack replied. ‘Never seen a hoix that big before. Or that hungry. And it wasn't permanent. Besides, you could always override the locks if you needed to.’
‘The internal override mechanism didn't work,’ Ianto told him. ‘Wait, how did you get us out? We saw the hoix eat the key fob.’
Jack waved behind him. ‘Spare key, in the hidden compartment under the chassis behind the right back wheel.’
Ianto paused from tying off the ends of Jack's bandage. ‘Oh.’
Gwen gave Ianto a teasing look. ‘Not on the official spec?’
He scowled at her. ‘Shut up.’