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)
fandomweekly2025-04-20 09:28 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2025-04-20 09:28 pm
Entry tags:
[#257] TROUBLE BREWING (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #257 - Chemistry
Title: Trouble brewing
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto is keen to show off Torchwood’s newest and shiniest facilities to Jack.
‘No flirting with the employees,’ Ianto warned as he swiped his access card on the frosted glass door.
Jack groaned. He wasn’t that bad, was he? ‘Fine. But just so I know, I’m still okay to flirt with my direct superiors?’
Ianto gave the beginnings of an eye roll. ‘Like you don’t anyway. Perhaps you might restrain yourself just long enough for us to tour the facilities?’
Jack acquiesced silently, following Ianto along the sleek corridors of the new Torchwood Scientific Research Facility, a pet project that had been two years in the making. They wandered past numerous labs and classroom style rooms, lecture theatres and storage rooms. ‘First impressions?’ Ianto asked.
‘It all looks very…’ Jack’s face pinched in disdain. ‘Torchwood One.’
‘That’s because it’s modelled on the old Torchwood London laboratories.’ Ianto turned and frowned at him. ‘And don’t pull those faces.’
‘Nothing good ever came out of Torchwood One, Ianto.’
‘I came out of Torchwood One, or have you forgotten that?’ Jack mumbled something unintelligible. There was never going to be any burying of hatchets. ‘Everything is state of the art, augmented with alien technology, of course.’
‘Now that does sound like Torchwood One.’
‘Nothing we didn't have in Cardiff, jack. Just more organised. Every lab on every floor has its own designated speciality, from biological studies to medical applications, weaponry, communications technology, sensory systems, quantum physics and particle mechanics… the best and brightest minds in the world all working here under the one roof.’ Ianto gave an awkward cough. ‘We may have had a bit of a row with CERN about that,’ he confessed. It was difficult to poach the smartest people in the room without ruffling a few feathers from other major scientific research institutes. They’d been hand picked from all corners of the globe.
‘And just how much is the payroll for all these super geeks gonna cost?’
Ianto rolled his eyes. ‘Since when did you start caring about our finances?’
‘Since you started writing out blank cheques.’
‘Tut. Now, here we have the chemical compound analysis labs. They say they can complete a full DNA profile on any organic matter in this facility in under three hours.’
‘Twenty-seventh century technology,’ Jack reminded him.
‘Yes, but six hundred years ahead of traditional technological advancement, giving us significant advantages.’
‘Let me know when we’ve progressed enough to be able to fix this,’ Jack said, pointing at his vortex manipulator wrist strap. It had always been a bugbear that The Doctor had disabled Jack’s wrist strap, preventing him from time travelling, or even just teleporting from one place to another within the same time.
‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, Jack. And this is research. It’s still largely dependent on what comes through the rift and working through our archive technology and specimen samples. They’re not inventing new technologies.’
Ianto entered the lab where two white-coated “geeks” were debating notes. ‘Good morning, gentlemen.’
‘Good morning, Director Jones.’
‘Can I introduce you to Captain Jack Harkness? This is Professor Nichols from the Max Planck Society in Germany, and Dr Langford, formerly of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.’ The two scientists eagerly shook hands with Jack who looked less enthusiastic.
‘Have you read our recent paper on the advanced chromatography of extra-terrestrial pathogens? It’s fascinating stuff.’
Ianto saw Jack internally cringing. ‘Can't say that I have.’
They both jostled to reach the closest tablet computer. ‘We could show you the presentation we did last week. It’ll only take an hour.’
Whilst Ianto was thinking up polite ways to decline their generous offer of a mindlessly boring presentation, he caught the way Jack cocked his head, frowning as he looked beyond the pair of scientists, still babbling excitedly. ‘Should it be turning that colour?’ Jack asked, indicating one of the beakers lined up on the bench behind them. It was beginning to bubble and froth from the base.
They turned and there was an “oh my god, followed by an “exothermic reaction.”
‘Get down!’ Jack yelled in a much more commanding tone, grabbing fistfuls of Ianto’s suit and hauling him to the linoleum behind a counter as a loud boom rocked the lab, filling it with hazy green smoke.
For a moment Ianto couldn't breathe but then the loud thrum of extractor fans kicked in and the haze quickly cleared the room, the four of them slowly getting to their feet to survey the damage. Apart from a whole lot of shattered glass vials and beakers, there was only one patch of benchtop that was now a dark shade of green, permanently stained in the explosion.
Professor Nichols turned to Dr Langford. ‘You switched the experiment from two micrograms to four micrograms, even though I said it would be too reactive, didn't you?’
‘I was trying to prove you were wrong in your calculations!’
‘You idiot!’
‘Says the man who couldn't antidifferentiate a basic polynomial equation last week!’
Jack cleared his throat loudly, beating Ianto to the motion by mere seconds. ‘Ahem!’
They both turned and looked sheepish. ‘Sorry, Director. It won’t happen again.’
‘I should think not. Perhaps we could try not to blow up the shiny new lab and stick to computer modelling our experiments until we’re sure?’ They both nodded and quickly left the room before they could be fired.
‘Well, it's good to see some elements of Torchwood haven’t changed. We still screw up and make a mess of things every now and then.’ Trust Jack to make a joke of it.
‘Yes, well, hopefully only every now and then,’ Ianto said, tugging annoyingly at the cuffs of his jacket. ‘I suppose even the best can have their… off days.’
‘Not us though,’ Jack said. ‘We’re perfect.’
Ianto barked out a laugh. ‘Ha! Us? We screw up more than anyone. Though we probably shouldn't advertise that. I’ll make sure Tosh keeps a closer eye on them all.’
‘Yeah, good idea,’ Jack agreed. ‘She only blows up toasters. We can afford to replace those.’
Title: Trouble brewing
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto is keen to show off Torchwood’s newest and shiniest facilities to Jack.
‘No flirting with the employees,’ Ianto warned as he swiped his access card on the frosted glass door.
Jack groaned. He wasn’t that bad, was he? ‘Fine. But just so I know, I’m still okay to flirt with my direct superiors?’
Ianto gave the beginnings of an eye roll. ‘Like you don’t anyway. Perhaps you might restrain yourself just long enough for us to tour the facilities?’
Jack acquiesced silently, following Ianto along the sleek corridors of the new Torchwood Scientific Research Facility, a pet project that had been two years in the making. They wandered past numerous labs and classroom style rooms, lecture theatres and storage rooms. ‘First impressions?’ Ianto asked.
‘It all looks very…’ Jack’s face pinched in disdain. ‘Torchwood One.’
‘That’s because it’s modelled on the old Torchwood London laboratories.’ Ianto turned and frowned at him. ‘And don’t pull those faces.’
‘Nothing good ever came out of Torchwood One, Ianto.’
‘I came out of Torchwood One, or have you forgotten that?’ Jack mumbled something unintelligible. There was never going to be any burying of hatchets. ‘Everything is state of the art, augmented with alien technology, of course.’
‘Now that does sound like Torchwood One.’
‘Nothing we didn't have in Cardiff, jack. Just more organised. Every lab on every floor has its own designated speciality, from biological studies to medical applications, weaponry, communications technology, sensory systems, quantum physics and particle mechanics… the best and brightest minds in the world all working here under the one roof.’ Ianto gave an awkward cough. ‘We may have had a bit of a row with CERN about that,’ he confessed. It was difficult to poach the smartest people in the room without ruffling a few feathers from other major scientific research institutes. They’d been hand picked from all corners of the globe.
‘And just how much is the payroll for all these super geeks gonna cost?’
Ianto rolled his eyes. ‘Since when did you start caring about our finances?’
‘Since you started writing out blank cheques.’
‘Tut. Now, here we have the chemical compound analysis labs. They say they can complete a full DNA profile on any organic matter in this facility in under three hours.’
‘Twenty-seventh century technology,’ Jack reminded him.
‘Yes, but six hundred years ahead of traditional technological advancement, giving us significant advantages.’
‘Let me know when we’ve progressed enough to be able to fix this,’ Jack said, pointing at his vortex manipulator wrist strap. It had always been a bugbear that The Doctor had disabled Jack’s wrist strap, preventing him from time travelling, or even just teleporting from one place to another within the same time.
‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, Jack. And this is research. It’s still largely dependent on what comes through the rift and working through our archive technology and specimen samples. They’re not inventing new technologies.’
Ianto entered the lab where two white-coated “geeks” were debating notes. ‘Good morning, gentlemen.’
‘Good morning, Director Jones.’
‘Can I introduce you to Captain Jack Harkness? This is Professor Nichols from the Max Planck Society in Germany, and Dr Langford, formerly of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.’ The two scientists eagerly shook hands with Jack who looked less enthusiastic.
‘Have you read our recent paper on the advanced chromatography of extra-terrestrial pathogens? It’s fascinating stuff.’
Ianto saw Jack internally cringing. ‘Can't say that I have.’
They both jostled to reach the closest tablet computer. ‘We could show you the presentation we did last week. It’ll only take an hour.’
Whilst Ianto was thinking up polite ways to decline their generous offer of a mindlessly boring presentation, he caught the way Jack cocked his head, frowning as he looked beyond the pair of scientists, still babbling excitedly. ‘Should it be turning that colour?’ Jack asked, indicating one of the beakers lined up on the bench behind them. It was beginning to bubble and froth from the base.
They turned and there was an “oh my god, followed by an “exothermic reaction.”
‘Get down!’ Jack yelled in a much more commanding tone, grabbing fistfuls of Ianto’s suit and hauling him to the linoleum behind a counter as a loud boom rocked the lab, filling it with hazy green smoke.
For a moment Ianto couldn't breathe but then the loud thrum of extractor fans kicked in and the haze quickly cleared the room, the four of them slowly getting to their feet to survey the damage. Apart from a whole lot of shattered glass vials and beakers, there was only one patch of benchtop that was now a dark shade of green, permanently stained in the explosion.
Professor Nichols turned to Dr Langford. ‘You switched the experiment from two micrograms to four micrograms, even though I said it would be too reactive, didn't you?’
‘I was trying to prove you were wrong in your calculations!’
‘You idiot!’
‘Says the man who couldn't antidifferentiate a basic polynomial equation last week!’
Jack cleared his throat loudly, beating Ianto to the motion by mere seconds. ‘Ahem!’
They both turned and looked sheepish. ‘Sorry, Director. It won’t happen again.’
‘I should think not. Perhaps we could try not to blow up the shiny new lab and stick to computer modelling our experiments until we’re sure?’ They both nodded and quickly left the room before they could be fired.
‘Well, it's good to see some elements of Torchwood haven’t changed. We still screw up and make a mess of things every now and then.’ Trust Jack to make a joke of it.
‘Yes, well, hopefully only every now and then,’ Ianto said, tugging annoyingly at the cuffs of his jacket. ‘I suppose even the best can have their… off days.’
‘Not us though,’ Jack said. ‘We’re perfect.’
Ianto barked out a laugh. ‘Ha! Us? We screw up more than anyone. Though we probably shouldn't advertise that. I’ll make sure Tosh keeps a closer eye on them all.’
‘Yeah, good idea,’ Jack agreed. ‘She only blows up toasters. We can afford to replace those.’
no subject
no subject