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fandomweekly2023-10-16 10:20 am
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2023-10-16 10:20 am
Entry tags:
[#196] CHOOSING SIDES (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #196 - Trust
Title: Choosing sides
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: M (language)
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Owen has his reservations about having to work with Ianto.
‘They're at it again,’ Ianto reported, wandering across the main section of the hub.
‘Who's at what again?’ Owen asked, trying to maintain his train of thought, working through a particularly difficult but interesting autopsy. All of the observations and chemical analyses he'd done on the body were throwing back surprising results and he was only just now starting to connect some of the dots between certain things. Being interrupted now was annoying.
‘Weevils,’ Ianto replied. ‘They've wandered back out of their designated zone again.’
Owen groaned. ‘Thought Tosh had fixed those things,’ he said, referring to the small boxes installed all around the city that emitted low level auditory waves. They were designed to be an unappealing sound for weevils that would keep them nesting only in the parts of Cardiff’s sewer system that Torchwood could monitor and control.
‘Apparently it’s not a one hundred percent fix. She says it's like expecting everyone to be out off by death metal and finding one person who in fact despises Europop instead.’
Owen snorted. ‘Doesn't everyone?’
‘Anyway, Jack wants us to go and see if we can't round up our rogue death metal fan.’
That got Owen's attention. ‘Us? You mean as in Torchwood, right.’
‘No, I mean as in us, you and me.’
Owen frowned. ‘Why are you coming? Is Jack busy or something?’
‘No.’
‘Then I repeat the question. Why are you coming?’
‘Because I asked him to,’ Jack said, appearing in his doorway, face turning thunderous. ‘Do we have a problem with that?’
Owen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Jack's mood only ever got worse when Owen did that. ‘Nope.’
‘Good. I'll see you both back here later. Don't come back empty-handed. I want that weevil studied to figure out what else we can do to tweak those auditory barriers.’
Owen grumbled under his breath and snatched up his jacket before trailing after Ianto who was already heading out the tunnel towards the carpark.
‘Keys?’ Owen asked, jogging to catch up with him.
‘I've got them,’ Ianto said, holding up his hand, then clutched in his fingers.
‘Hand them over, then.’ When Ianto didn't, Owen huffed. ‘Hand over the keys, Ianto or we’re not going anywhere.’ That earned him a roll of the eyes, but he relented nonetheless.
‘Pull over here. That’s close enough,’ Ianto said, having stayed silent as Owen drove them across the city in the general direction of the failed barrier. As Owen got out and slammed the door, Ianto was already retrieving a metal pole from the boot, using it as a key to lift the manhole cover and drag it to one side.
Trawling the sewers at night. Great, Owen thought, double-checking his pockets for weevil spray and hand-clamps. His gun was safety on, tucked into his jeans. ‘You first,’ he said, casting a doubtful gaze down into the dark hole.
Ianto was tucking his stun gun into its shoulder holster underneath his suit jacket. ‘Why?’
‘If there's a weevil on the loose and it's going to rip someone's face off better you than me.’
Rather than find a dry-witted reply, Ianto simply lowered himself to the road and swung his legs down into the hole, feet finding the ladder and descending. Owen waited a beat, then followed him down.
Owens' feet hit the bottom, splashing into the water. He cringed then swore.
‘Should’ve kept to the wall,’ Ianto said, standing slightly higher as the sewer curved upwards, twisting on a small flashlight to illuminate Owen’s poor judgement whilst he remained dry. He started moving down the sewer, keeping the flashlight low and his footfalls light. Behind him Owen was less deft, cursing with every slippery step.
‘Are you trying to attract the weevil?’ Ianto asked, turning the flashlight on him with a look of annoyance. Owen scowled at him and Ianto’s expression hardened. ‘What's your problem, anyway?
‘Starts with I ends in O and is generally stupid to pronounce.’
‘Hilarious.’
Owen was fed up, resenting Jack’s ridiculous idea of pairing them up for this job. He wasn’t even sure why Ianto still had a job after the cyberwoman incident. Jack had retconned people for far less. ‘You want to know what my problem is? My problem is people who lie to your face, hide one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe in your basement and then think they can fix it from being a complete psychopath killing machine so that they can both skip off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Oh, and let's not forget that it did actually try to kill us all.’
‘I made a mistake.’
Owen snorted. ‘You think?’
Before he knew what was what, he felt himself slammed up against the sewer wall, Ianto’s fists gripping his lapels hard, face full of fury. ‘Yes, I made a fucking mistake and I have to live with that every single fucking day. Get over it.’
‘Why should I?’ Owen snarled back.
Ianto opened his mouth to respond and then there was a sound from behind him that made them both freeze. Fuck, Owen thought.
He felt Ianto’s hand release from his jacket, tucking inside his own. ‘Don’t,’ Owen whispered. One wrong move and the weevil was going to attack. With a speed that surprised Owen, Ianto spun, shielding Owen’s body as he tugged the stun gun from his holster, hitting the weevil square in the chest. At full power, the stun gun brought down the weevil in a matter of seconds.
Owen slipped out from behind him, gun trained on the unconscious weevil. ‘It could’ve ripped your throat out,’ he said, chasing the reckless motion.
‘It was that or let it kill us.’
‘Spose I'll just have to be sure I can trust you to have my back from now on.’
Ianto looked at him. ‘How do you ever know for sure?’
‘I guess I don't. But Jack’s got mine so if you ever screw with me, you'll have Jack to deal with.’
Title: Choosing sides
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: M (language)
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Owen has his reservations about having to work with Ianto.
‘They're at it again,’ Ianto reported, wandering across the main section of the hub.
‘Who's at what again?’ Owen asked, trying to maintain his train of thought, working through a particularly difficult but interesting autopsy. All of the observations and chemical analyses he'd done on the body were throwing back surprising results and he was only just now starting to connect some of the dots between certain things. Being interrupted now was annoying.
‘Weevils,’ Ianto replied. ‘They've wandered back out of their designated zone again.’
Owen groaned. ‘Thought Tosh had fixed those things,’ he said, referring to the small boxes installed all around the city that emitted low level auditory waves. They were designed to be an unappealing sound for weevils that would keep them nesting only in the parts of Cardiff’s sewer system that Torchwood could monitor and control.
‘Apparently it’s not a one hundred percent fix. She says it's like expecting everyone to be out off by death metal and finding one person who in fact despises Europop instead.’
Owen snorted. ‘Doesn't everyone?’
‘Anyway, Jack wants us to go and see if we can't round up our rogue death metal fan.’
That got Owen's attention. ‘Us? You mean as in Torchwood, right.’
‘No, I mean as in us, you and me.’
Owen frowned. ‘Why are you coming? Is Jack busy or something?’
‘No.’
‘Then I repeat the question. Why are you coming?’
‘Because I asked him to,’ Jack said, appearing in his doorway, face turning thunderous. ‘Do we have a problem with that?’
Owen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Jack's mood only ever got worse when Owen did that. ‘Nope.’
‘Good. I'll see you both back here later. Don't come back empty-handed. I want that weevil studied to figure out what else we can do to tweak those auditory barriers.’
Owen grumbled under his breath and snatched up his jacket before trailing after Ianto who was already heading out the tunnel towards the carpark.
‘Keys?’ Owen asked, jogging to catch up with him.
‘I've got them,’ Ianto said, holding up his hand, then clutched in his fingers.
‘Hand them over, then.’ When Ianto didn't, Owen huffed. ‘Hand over the keys, Ianto or we’re not going anywhere.’ That earned him a roll of the eyes, but he relented nonetheless.
‘Pull over here. That’s close enough,’ Ianto said, having stayed silent as Owen drove them across the city in the general direction of the failed barrier. As Owen got out and slammed the door, Ianto was already retrieving a metal pole from the boot, using it as a key to lift the manhole cover and drag it to one side.
Trawling the sewers at night. Great, Owen thought, double-checking his pockets for weevil spray and hand-clamps. His gun was safety on, tucked into his jeans. ‘You first,’ he said, casting a doubtful gaze down into the dark hole.
Ianto was tucking his stun gun into its shoulder holster underneath his suit jacket. ‘Why?’
‘If there's a weevil on the loose and it's going to rip someone's face off better you than me.’
Rather than find a dry-witted reply, Ianto simply lowered himself to the road and swung his legs down into the hole, feet finding the ladder and descending. Owen waited a beat, then followed him down.
Owens' feet hit the bottom, splashing into the water. He cringed then swore.
‘Should’ve kept to the wall,’ Ianto said, standing slightly higher as the sewer curved upwards, twisting on a small flashlight to illuminate Owen’s poor judgement whilst he remained dry. He started moving down the sewer, keeping the flashlight low and his footfalls light. Behind him Owen was less deft, cursing with every slippery step.
‘Are you trying to attract the weevil?’ Ianto asked, turning the flashlight on him with a look of annoyance. Owen scowled at him and Ianto’s expression hardened. ‘What's your problem, anyway?
‘Starts with I ends in O and is generally stupid to pronounce.’
‘Hilarious.’
Owen was fed up, resenting Jack’s ridiculous idea of pairing them up for this job. He wasn’t even sure why Ianto still had a job after the cyberwoman incident. Jack had retconned people for far less. ‘You want to know what my problem is? My problem is people who lie to your face, hide one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe in your basement and then think they can fix it from being a complete psychopath killing machine so that they can both skip off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Oh, and let's not forget that it did actually try to kill us all.’
‘I made a mistake.’
Owen snorted. ‘You think?’
Before he knew what was what, he felt himself slammed up against the sewer wall, Ianto’s fists gripping his lapels hard, face full of fury. ‘Yes, I made a fucking mistake and I have to live with that every single fucking day. Get over it.’
‘Why should I?’ Owen snarled back.
Ianto opened his mouth to respond and then there was a sound from behind him that made them both freeze. Fuck, Owen thought.
He felt Ianto’s hand release from his jacket, tucking inside his own. ‘Don’t,’ Owen whispered. One wrong move and the weevil was going to attack. With a speed that surprised Owen, Ianto spun, shielding Owen’s body as he tugged the stun gun from his holster, hitting the weevil square in the chest. At full power, the stun gun brought down the weevil in a matter of seconds.
Owen slipped out from behind him, gun trained on the unconscious weevil. ‘It could’ve ripped your throat out,’ he said, chasing the reckless motion.
‘It was that or let it kill us.’
‘Spose I'll just have to be sure I can trust you to have my back from now on.’
Ianto looked at him. ‘How do you ever know for sure?’
‘I guess I don't. But Jack’s got mine so if you ever screw with me, you'll have Jack to deal with.’
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