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fandomweekly2025-05-04 11:58 am
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2025-05-04 11:58 am
Entry tags:
[#259] DOWN AND OUT (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #259 - Caves
Title: Down and out
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto is keen to make the most of their circumstances but Jack has other ideas.
‘Ianto! Jack!’ Gwen's voice echoed down from somewhere high above. ‘Are you okay?’ The sound forced him to open his eyes, unsure how they'd become closed in the first place.
I'm–’ Ianto hissed as he turned over onto his side to sit up, feeling his shoulder stabbing him with ten kinds of pain. ‘I'm fine!’ he yelled back, before lowering his voice to an inaudible mutter. ‘Sort of.’
‘I'm going to go get help! Just stay there. I'll be back as soon as I can!’
Soon as she could. Great. They were only bloody miles from anywhere. Help could be hours away. He groaned and winced. Maybe Owen had been right. Only in the bloody countryside… 'Should've stayed home,' he grumbled. Nice underground secret base, lots of coffee and as much archived alien technology as you could want. Heaven.
He looked up. Daylight was far above, squeezing through a craggy hole. A hole that hadn't been there before. Then he remembered Jack's yelp as they'd fallen, scanning the dark space for him. At least Jack would be okay.
He spotted an arm, then a leg. Jack trapped under a pile of rubble, possibly crushing him to death. Jesus. He hadn't thought of that. Jack could come back and be in agony for hours if Ianto couldn't shift the rock.
He used his good arm to begin shifting the debris. Fortunately most was light and the rest crumbled away as he pushed at it, revealing Jack's body, bent in an awkward shape that suggested a good old fashioned broken spine. Ianto carefully brushed the dust from Jack's face, cupping his head in his hand. He pulled it away, feeling sticky blood coating his palm. Cracked skull. Ianto was momentarily reminded of his own satsuma sized lump forming just behind his ear. He reached back down, stroking Jack's pale cheek as his body slowly healed itself.
Jack gasped, head hurtling upwards, arms flailing in all directions as the disorientation of reviving kicked in. ‘It's okay,’ Ianto said, using that well practised calming tone, clutching Jack's head in a firm, reassuring grip. ‘You're okay.’
‘I died?’
‘Better you than me.’
Jack took the requisite thirty seconds to slow his gasping breaths, focusing on Ianto who continued to brush a thumb over his cheekbone. ‘What happened?’
‘Swallowed by the earth. Not literally swallowed,’ Ianto clarified. ‘Not in the alien sense, anyway.’ Ianto sighed. ‘Given the amount of rain we've had lately, it's probably not surprising that the ground would be unstable.’
Jack tried to sit up and Ianto helped as best he could. ‘Gwen?’
‘Managed to not get sucked down with the rest of us. She's gone to get help.’
Jack nodded and Ianto wasn't sure if he'd absorbed the words. ‘Okay. Good.’ Then he turned his gaze directly at Ianto, blue eyes sharp and mind clear. ‘Are you okay?’
Ianto gave a bit of a shrug. ‘My shoulder is killing me.’ Jack's brow furrowed, reaching out with gentle hands to prod methodically the area until Ianto hissed.
‘Scapula,’ Jack reported, diagnosing the broken bone.
Ianto hummed. ‘Thought so.’ Another one for the scrapbook of work related injuries.
‘What is this place?’ Jack asked, pulling them both to their feet to take a look around.
‘Part of the Brecon caves system. They stretch for miles under the beacons. We must've broken through a fragile part closer to the surface.’ The tiniest sliver of grey sky was still at least thirty feet above their heads. No way they were climbing out through that gap.
Ianto pointed across the rocky space at a tunnel shaped hole. It was narrow and covered in large wads of grey brown spider web dangling from the roof. Nothing like the fine gossamer threads that hung with dew in intricate concentric patterns in his back garden on a crisp autumn morning. ‘We should take a look down there.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, we came out here in search of an alien signal. We assumed it was on the surface. What if it's down here instead? Since we're down here anyway.' And, if they were lucky, maybe a tunnel that led them back up and out.
Jack came over and saw the clumps of webbing. ‘No way. We should wait for Gwen to bring back help. You're not going to be able to move easily with that shoulder.’
‘C'mon Jack,’ Ianto pleaded, clutching his arm tight to his side to stop it from aching. He knew Jack's aversion to arachnids, even small ones that scurried by minding their own business with no ability to bite.
‘Nuh uh. I've seen Lord of the Rings. I know how this ends.’
Ianto rolled his eyes. He remembered it vividly. Jack had nearly broken his arm as he gripped it, eyes squeezed tightly shut until Ianto told him it was safe to open them again. Surround sound spiders had never seemed more terrifying.
‘I very much doubt it's going to be a giant alien spider.’ He started moving towards the tunnel. He knew Jack's stubbornness well enough; that if Ianto just kept moving, he'd eventually follow – like a puppy desperate for affection.
‘Don't,’ Jack warned him.
‘It's fine. It's…’ Ianto's hand found the cave wall as his world began to spin, twisting and rotating until he thought he was going to be sick. He felt Jack's arms suddenly clutch around his waist as the world momentarily stopped spinning, someone else taking his weight as his knees buckled under him. He blinked a few times as Jack slowly lowered him to the ground, finding the large lump on the back of his head as he checked Ianto over with his hands. ‘That concussion says otherwise,’ Jack told him.
‘Yeah, okay,’ Ianto said, admitting defeat. Perhaps he had hit his head harder than he thought. ‘But what if…’
‘If it's all the same to you, this is one time I'd rather not speculate. Let's wait over there,’ Jack said, ‘as far from spiders as possible.’
‘You're the boss,’ Ianto said.
Title: Down and out
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto is keen to make the most of their circumstances but Jack has other ideas.
‘Ianto! Jack!’ Gwen's voice echoed down from somewhere high above. ‘Are you okay?’ The sound forced him to open his eyes, unsure how they'd become closed in the first place.
I'm–’ Ianto hissed as he turned over onto his side to sit up, feeling his shoulder stabbing him with ten kinds of pain. ‘I'm fine!’ he yelled back, before lowering his voice to an inaudible mutter. ‘Sort of.’
‘I'm going to go get help! Just stay there. I'll be back as soon as I can!’
Soon as she could. Great. They were only bloody miles from anywhere. Help could be hours away. He groaned and winced. Maybe Owen had been right. Only in the bloody countryside… 'Should've stayed home,' he grumbled. Nice underground secret base, lots of coffee and as much archived alien technology as you could want. Heaven.
He looked up. Daylight was far above, squeezing through a craggy hole. A hole that hadn't been there before. Then he remembered Jack's yelp as they'd fallen, scanning the dark space for him. At least Jack would be okay.
He spotted an arm, then a leg. Jack trapped under a pile of rubble, possibly crushing him to death. Jesus. He hadn't thought of that. Jack could come back and be in agony for hours if Ianto couldn't shift the rock.
He used his good arm to begin shifting the debris. Fortunately most was light and the rest crumbled away as he pushed at it, revealing Jack's body, bent in an awkward shape that suggested a good old fashioned broken spine. Ianto carefully brushed the dust from Jack's face, cupping his head in his hand. He pulled it away, feeling sticky blood coating his palm. Cracked skull. Ianto was momentarily reminded of his own satsuma sized lump forming just behind his ear. He reached back down, stroking Jack's pale cheek as his body slowly healed itself.
Jack gasped, head hurtling upwards, arms flailing in all directions as the disorientation of reviving kicked in. ‘It's okay,’ Ianto said, using that well practised calming tone, clutching Jack's head in a firm, reassuring grip. ‘You're okay.’
‘I died?’
‘Better you than me.’
Jack took the requisite thirty seconds to slow his gasping breaths, focusing on Ianto who continued to brush a thumb over his cheekbone. ‘What happened?’
‘Swallowed by the earth. Not literally swallowed,’ Ianto clarified. ‘Not in the alien sense, anyway.’ Ianto sighed. ‘Given the amount of rain we've had lately, it's probably not surprising that the ground would be unstable.’
Jack tried to sit up and Ianto helped as best he could. ‘Gwen?’
‘Managed to not get sucked down with the rest of us. She's gone to get help.’
Jack nodded and Ianto wasn't sure if he'd absorbed the words. ‘Okay. Good.’ Then he turned his gaze directly at Ianto, blue eyes sharp and mind clear. ‘Are you okay?’
Ianto gave a bit of a shrug. ‘My shoulder is killing me.’ Jack's brow furrowed, reaching out with gentle hands to prod methodically the area until Ianto hissed.
‘Scapula,’ Jack reported, diagnosing the broken bone.
Ianto hummed. ‘Thought so.’ Another one for the scrapbook of work related injuries.
‘What is this place?’ Jack asked, pulling them both to their feet to take a look around.
‘Part of the Brecon caves system. They stretch for miles under the beacons. We must've broken through a fragile part closer to the surface.’ The tiniest sliver of grey sky was still at least thirty feet above their heads. No way they were climbing out through that gap.
Ianto pointed across the rocky space at a tunnel shaped hole. It was narrow and covered in large wads of grey brown spider web dangling from the roof. Nothing like the fine gossamer threads that hung with dew in intricate concentric patterns in his back garden on a crisp autumn morning. ‘We should take a look down there.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, we came out here in search of an alien signal. We assumed it was on the surface. What if it's down here instead? Since we're down here anyway.' And, if they were lucky, maybe a tunnel that led them back up and out.
Jack came over and saw the clumps of webbing. ‘No way. We should wait for Gwen to bring back help. You're not going to be able to move easily with that shoulder.’
‘C'mon Jack,’ Ianto pleaded, clutching his arm tight to his side to stop it from aching. He knew Jack's aversion to arachnids, even small ones that scurried by minding their own business with no ability to bite.
‘Nuh uh. I've seen Lord of the Rings. I know how this ends.’
Ianto rolled his eyes. He remembered it vividly. Jack had nearly broken his arm as he gripped it, eyes squeezed tightly shut until Ianto told him it was safe to open them again. Surround sound spiders had never seemed more terrifying.
‘I very much doubt it's going to be a giant alien spider.’ He started moving towards the tunnel. He knew Jack's stubbornness well enough; that if Ianto just kept moving, he'd eventually follow – like a puppy desperate for affection.
‘Don't,’ Jack warned him.
‘It's fine. It's…’ Ianto's hand found the cave wall as his world began to spin, twisting and rotating until he thought he was going to be sick. He felt Jack's arms suddenly clutch around his waist as the world momentarily stopped spinning, someone else taking his weight as his knees buckled under him. He blinked a few times as Jack slowly lowered him to the ground, finding the large lump on the back of his head as he checked Ianto over with his hands. ‘That concussion says otherwise,’ Jack told him.
‘Yeah, okay,’ Ianto said, admitting defeat. Perhaps he had hit his head harder than he thought. ‘But what if…’
‘If it's all the same to you, this is one time I'd rather not speculate. Let's wait over there,’ Jack said, ‘as far from spiders as possible.’
‘You're the boss,’ Ianto said.
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