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fandomweekly2024-06-02 11:01 am
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2024-06-02 11:01 am
Entry tags:
[#221] CONTINGENT (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #221 - Persistence
Title: Contingent
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto and Lisa still have a long journey ahead of them, but they’re making progress even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Ianto was desperately ready to collapse in a heap. When had he last slept? Did he even know? He'd caught snatches of rest here and there over the past week, but never more than an hour or two at most. It had been wearing him down slowly but surely, yet he hadn't even taken notice of it. He'd been too busy and had too many other things that needed his immediate attention. His life revolved around one goal, and one goal only – to save Lisa.
He stumbled through the passageways of the self storage facility, limbs heavy and feet beginning to shuffle noisily on the concrete floors. Early morning was just beginning to break over Cardiff and there was no one else here at this hour to notice him. Even so, he'd rented a space in the long term storage section of the 24 hour facility, not because he planned on needing it long term, but simply for the fact that the area would be far less frequented by anyone else, allowing him to come and go as often as he pleased without being seen by anything other than the security cameras, which he had on a loop in any case, erasing any trace of his presence here.
He took two goes to enter his pin code on the small panel by the door, annoyed at getting it wrong on the first attempt and not even forgiving himself the lapse on account of his weariness, or the fact that the code was twenty eight digits long, enough to spell out a passphrase in Welsh that no one would ever guess. He checked over his shoulder out of habit before rolling up the door halfway and ducking under it, before pulling it all the way back shut, sealing himself inside.
‘Better late than never,’ he muttered before turning back around to take in the state of things. He'd been about to speak again but the words evaporated from his lips as soon as he saw Lisa, silently wincing in pain. ‘Oh, God.’
He rushed over to her, watching her agony and dreading how long she'd been lying there struggling. ‘I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,’ he kept repeating over and over again as he rummaged frantically through a box of glass vials, looking for the morphine and wishing he'd spent the time to sort out everything so that he could find it easily. He snatched up a bottle and stuck the syringe in it, blinking back the fuzziness in his head as he tried to focus on the label, making sure he got the dosage right. All the bottles were different – whatever he could steal at the time – and the wrong dose could be deadly.
He pushed the dosage directly into her IV line; no time to slowly administer it via the bolus. Her face immediately slackened from anguished pain and Ianto felt the crushing sensation around his heart finally ease up just a little. He leaned over her, cupping her face and resting his forehead against hers. ‘I'm so sorry. I Never meant to be gone so long.’
She extended her arm, pointing at a metal box on the floor, which was connected to her by a thick steel cord. Ianto's eyes followed the motion and he despaired. ‘I thought we'd finally fixed it,’ he said, looking to her for guidance, knowing it was now the reason she'd been in so much pain. He didn't understand fully how the technology worked, only that it was keeping her alive until he could get more help and better equipment and, ultimately, a way to make Lisa whole and human again, not some horrific half metal monster.
He moved over to it, reluctant to not be touching her in some way and give her the reassurance she needed that he still loved her and didn't see her the way other people surely would. There were still boxes of bits salvaged from Torchwood One littered all over the small storage room. He didn't know what use most of it was. He'd simply grabbed everything he could and would worry about it later. The rest of the cramped space was full of bin bags housing their life together. There hadn't been time to leave London with neatly packed boxes of their apartment belongings. Everything had been shoved in haste into the only bags he had. There'd be time to deal with everything properly later, once they could get her stabilised and on the way to being fixed.
He didn't really know what he was doing, but he went through a rote learned series of diagnostics on the machine. ‘I did it,’ he said, talking to distract himself, though the words no longer held the thrill and relief that they had done half an hour ago. ‘I got us in,’ he said, explaining his long night of capturing pterodactyls and finally impressing the enigmatic leader of Torchwood Three that he was worth hiring.
He couldn't say what it was that had eventually won Jack over. He'd tried several times before and been rebuffed for his derring do and, more heinously, his coffee, but the captain had seen something in him last night that finally intrigued him, and Ianto suspected it was less about his skills and more about the way he'd become pressed beneath Jack Harkness’ body.
Whatever the reason, he was simply glad he hadn't given up. He couldn't afford to. They both knew that without the facilities Torchwood could offer, Lisa's survival was a matter of weeks, if not less. Now they had a chance. It wouldn't be easy going, getting set up inside without anyone finding out, but they'd come this far and there was no way he was giving up now. He looked back up at her, receiving a small nod that said “I trust you and I love you”, giving him the encouragement he needed to fix the machine whilst she rested. Sleep would just have to wait a little while longer.
Title: Contingent
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto and Lisa still have a long journey ahead of them, but they’re making progress even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Ianto was desperately ready to collapse in a heap. When had he last slept? Did he even know? He'd caught snatches of rest here and there over the past week, but never more than an hour or two at most. It had been wearing him down slowly but surely, yet he hadn't even taken notice of it. He'd been too busy and had too many other things that needed his immediate attention. His life revolved around one goal, and one goal only – to save Lisa.
He stumbled through the passageways of the self storage facility, limbs heavy and feet beginning to shuffle noisily on the concrete floors. Early morning was just beginning to break over Cardiff and there was no one else here at this hour to notice him. Even so, he'd rented a space in the long term storage section of the 24 hour facility, not because he planned on needing it long term, but simply for the fact that the area would be far less frequented by anyone else, allowing him to come and go as often as he pleased without being seen by anything other than the security cameras, which he had on a loop in any case, erasing any trace of his presence here.
He took two goes to enter his pin code on the small panel by the door, annoyed at getting it wrong on the first attempt and not even forgiving himself the lapse on account of his weariness, or the fact that the code was twenty eight digits long, enough to spell out a passphrase in Welsh that no one would ever guess. He checked over his shoulder out of habit before rolling up the door halfway and ducking under it, before pulling it all the way back shut, sealing himself inside.
‘Better late than never,’ he muttered before turning back around to take in the state of things. He'd been about to speak again but the words evaporated from his lips as soon as he saw Lisa, silently wincing in pain. ‘Oh, God.’
He rushed over to her, watching her agony and dreading how long she'd been lying there struggling. ‘I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,’ he kept repeating over and over again as he rummaged frantically through a box of glass vials, looking for the morphine and wishing he'd spent the time to sort out everything so that he could find it easily. He snatched up a bottle and stuck the syringe in it, blinking back the fuzziness in his head as he tried to focus on the label, making sure he got the dosage right. All the bottles were different – whatever he could steal at the time – and the wrong dose could be deadly.
He pushed the dosage directly into her IV line; no time to slowly administer it via the bolus. Her face immediately slackened from anguished pain and Ianto felt the crushing sensation around his heart finally ease up just a little. He leaned over her, cupping her face and resting his forehead against hers. ‘I'm so sorry. I Never meant to be gone so long.’
She extended her arm, pointing at a metal box on the floor, which was connected to her by a thick steel cord. Ianto's eyes followed the motion and he despaired. ‘I thought we'd finally fixed it,’ he said, looking to her for guidance, knowing it was now the reason she'd been in so much pain. He didn't understand fully how the technology worked, only that it was keeping her alive until he could get more help and better equipment and, ultimately, a way to make Lisa whole and human again, not some horrific half metal monster.
He moved over to it, reluctant to not be touching her in some way and give her the reassurance she needed that he still loved her and didn't see her the way other people surely would. There were still boxes of bits salvaged from Torchwood One littered all over the small storage room. He didn't know what use most of it was. He'd simply grabbed everything he could and would worry about it later. The rest of the cramped space was full of bin bags housing their life together. There hadn't been time to leave London with neatly packed boxes of their apartment belongings. Everything had been shoved in haste into the only bags he had. There'd be time to deal with everything properly later, once they could get her stabilised and on the way to being fixed.
He didn't really know what he was doing, but he went through a rote learned series of diagnostics on the machine. ‘I did it,’ he said, talking to distract himself, though the words no longer held the thrill and relief that they had done half an hour ago. ‘I got us in,’ he said, explaining his long night of capturing pterodactyls and finally impressing the enigmatic leader of Torchwood Three that he was worth hiring.
He couldn't say what it was that had eventually won Jack over. He'd tried several times before and been rebuffed for his derring do and, more heinously, his coffee, but the captain had seen something in him last night that finally intrigued him, and Ianto suspected it was less about his skills and more about the way he'd become pressed beneath Jack Harkness’ body.
Whatever the reason, he was simply glad he hadn't given up. He couldn't afford to. They both knew that without the facilities Torchwood could offer, Lisa's survival was a matter of weeks, if not less. Now they had a chance. It wouldn't be easy going, getting set up inside without anyone finding out, but they'd come this far and there was no way he was giving up now. He looked back up at her, receiving a small nod that said “I trust you and I love you”, giving him the encouragement he needed to fix the machine whilst she rested. Sleep would just have to wait a little while longer.