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fandomweekly2025-07-13 12:30 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2025-07-13 12:30 pm
Entry tags:
[#266] WALKING INTO DANGER (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #266 - A walk in the park
Title: Walking into danger
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG. Spoilers for Big Finish Audiobook “Before the Fall”.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Even a perfect sunny day can’t dispel the feelings that Ianto is walking a tightrope of loyalties.
‘Where are we going?’ Ianto asked as Rachael drove the car through the busy London streets.
‘Nowhere in particular,’ she replied, swerving around a double decker bus. ‘Just thought it’d be nice to get out of the office for a bit. Why waste such a lovely day?’
Lovely day? Those words didn't seem to fit into Rachael's vocabulary.
She pulled alongside a row of trees and got out. ‘Well, here we are.’
Ianto looked around. ‘A park?’
‘Yes, a park.’ She looped an arm through his. ‘I thought we could go for a nice walk. Get some fresh air and enjoy the sunshine.’
Okay, who was this person and what had she done with the real Rachael Allen, Ianto wondered. Did he even know who the real Rachael Allen was? She’d seemed all bumbling and harmless in her cardigans and knitted scarves when he’d first met her. Then she’d proven to be much cleverer than her outward semblance, going toe to toe with Tommy, keeping his research team on track, even progressing their work far beyond expectations. And now she was head of the Torchwood Institute, having unseated Yvonne Hartman who was, for all intents, now a wanted fugitive. It only occurred to him in that moment that they were alone here. He was alone with the head of Torchwood, and he’d been spying for Yvonne ever since she'd approached him, looking for an insider to help her regain her position. Rachael had allegedly set her up so that she could take over.
Rachael strolled along the wide paths, taking in the greenery on a strangely mild and sunny London day. The longer they strolled, the more Ianto felt as if he were in a trap, eyes watching his every move. He hadn’t meant to double cross Rachael, but things were different now. They weren’t a couple anymore – hadn’t been for a while. Rachael was his boss, and he her right hand dogsbody. He was supposed to be on her side, even if they weren't sleeping together, yet something about the past few months had bothered him, enough to entertain Yvonne's requests for insider information. He wasn’t an out and out traitor, he told himself. He was just feeding little bits of information. It wasn’t much more than the same gossip that was getting shared around the Torchwood water cooler, so why did he feel so guilty? Yvonne would do whatever Yvonne had to do, but he wasn’t enabling her. Okay, so the odd glitch in a cash point she just happened to be visiting, but that was it. All the same, he knew how Rachael would view it, and he also knew, far too well, how Torchwood dealt with traitors.
‘Ianto?’ Rachael’s voice cut through the swirling thoughts.
‘Hmm?’
She gave him a tender smile and he wondered, not for the first time, just how much was genuine and how much was an act. ‘You were off with the fairies there, weren’t you? I asked you what your favourite bird is.’
Oh. As non-sequiturs went, that was a doozy. Looking around for inspiration, his eyes landed on a large black crow prowling through the grass. ‘Crows.’
‘Really?’ That old fascinated and inquisitive tone shone through the thick northern accent. ‘Why crows?’
He thought quick on his feet. ‘Well, they’re highly intelligent, curious, and a little bit cunning. If you could be any bird, why not be a crow?’ He hoped that the undertones of flattery were working in his favour. Rachael seemed to enjoy flattery, just so long as it wasn’t too overt and brown-nosy.
‘Hmm…’ she hummed, hands clasped behind her back as they continued to stroll. ‘Yvonne’s a bit like a crow, don't you think?’
The bottom fell out of Ianto's stomach at the mention of Yvonne's name. His eyes darted once more, looking for the invisible sniper, or perhaps the granny walking by with her cane, bumping into his “accidentally” and injecting him with some poison from the tip of the walking stick. ‘Um… I… suppose?’
‘Yes, definitely a crow,’ Rachael replied. What did that make him then? Probably a pigeon. Stupid looking, wandering around without purpose and feeding off scraps just to survive. That was how it felt. A flying rat – that was how the locals described them, and he was a rat, halfway spying for Yvonne as she planned and schemed…whatever it was she was planning and scheming, which he supposed was ultimately to wrest back control of Torchwood and to dethrone Rachael from where she’d taken up residence in Yvonne's old office.
Rachael tipped her head skyward, raising a hand to shield against the glare of the sun as she peered up at the ramparts of the beautiful cathedral at the edge of the park.
Something caught the corner of Ianto’s eye, and before he knew what was happening a large bird had swooped down from the cathedral roof, snatching the crow in its talons, crushing and killing it in an instance and flying off with it clutched in its claws. ‘Jesus,’ he breathed, never having seen anything like it.
‘Peregrine falcon,’ Rachael said. ‘Now that’s my favourite. Even from way up high they can see everything around them, honing in on their targets and taking them in one powerful move.’
Ianto swallowed the lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him. He licked his lips, feeling his panic rise once more. ‘Good choice,’ he said, somehow managing to force the words out without stuttering or stumbling over them.
Rachael turned her head back and began walking again, as if nothing had happened. ‘It really is a lovely day, isn’t it? We should go out for walks like this more often. You know, once we’re not so busy preparing for the upcoming war.’
‘War?’ That was news to him.
‘With Planet XXX, silly! We’ve got to take them down before they take us down, obviously. The twenty-first century is going to be when everything changes, Ianto. And Torchwood will be ready.’
Title: Walking into danger
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG. Spoilers for Big Finish Audiobook “Before the Fall”.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Even a perfect sunny day can’t dispel the feelings that Ianto is walking a tightrope of loyalties.
‘Where are we going?’ Ianto asked as Rachael drove the car through the busy London streets.
‘Nowhere in particular,’ she replied, swerving around a double decker bus. ‘Just thought it’d be nice to get out of the office for a bit. Why waste such a lovely day?’
Lovely day? Those words didn't seem to fit into Rachael's vocabulary.
She pulled alongside a row of trees and got out. ‘Well, here we are.’
Ianto looked around. ‘A park?’
‘Yes, a park.’ She looped an arm through his. ‘I thought we could go for a nice walk. Get some fresh air and enjoy the sunshine.’
Okay, who was this person and what had she done with the real Rachael Allen, Ianto wondered. Did he even know who the real Rachael Allen was? She’d seemed all bumbling and harmless in her cardigans and knitted scarves when he’d first met her. Then she’d proven to be much cleverer than her outward semblance, going toe to toe with Tommy, keeping his research team on track, even progressing their work far beyond expectations. And now she was head of the Torchwood Institute, having unseated Yvonne Hartman who was, for all intents, now a wanted fugitive. It only occurred to him in that moment that they were alone here. He was alone with the head of Torchwood, and he’d been spying for Yvonne ever since she'd approached him, looking for an insider to help her regain her position. Rachael had allegedly set her up so that she could take over.
Rachael strolled along the wide paths, taking in the greenery on a strangely mild and sunny London day. The longer they strolled, the more Ianto felt as if he were in a trap, eyes watching his every move. He hadn’t meant to double cross Rachael, but things were different now. They weren’t a couple anymore – hadn’t been for a while. Rachael was his boss, and he her right hand dogsbody. He was supposed to be on her side, even if they weren't sleeping together, yet something about the past few months had bothered him, enough to entertain Yvonne's requests for insider information. He wasn’t an out and out traitor, he told himself. He was just feeding little bits of information. It wasn’t much more than the same gossip that was getting shared around the Torchwood water cooler, so why did he feel so guilty? Yvonne would do whatever Yvonne had to do, but he wasn’t enabling her. Okay, so the odd glitch in a cash point she just happened to be visiting, but that was it. All the same, he knew how Rachael would view it, and he also knew, far too well, how Torchwood dealt with traitors.
‘Ianto?’ Rachael’s voice cut through the swirling thoughts.
‘Hmm?’
She gave him a tender smile and he wondered, not for the first time, just how much was genuine and how much was an act. ‘You were off with the fairies there, weren’t you? I asked you what your favourite bird is.’
Oh. As non-sequiturs went, that was a doozy. Looking around for inspiration, his eyes landed on a large black crow prowling through the grass. ‘Crows.’
‘Really?’ That old fascinated and inquisitive tone shone through the thick northern accent. ‘Why crows?’
He thought quick on his feet. ‘Well, they’re highly intelligent, curious, and a little bit cunning. If you could be any bird, why not be a crow?’ He hoped that the undertones of flattery were working in his favour. Rachael seemed to enjoy flattery, just so long as it wasn’t too overt and brown-nosy.
‘Hmm…’ she hummed, hands clasped behind her back as they continued to stroll. ‘Yvonne’s a bit like a crow, don't you think?’
The bottom fell out of Ianto's stomach at the mention of Yvonne's name. His eyes darted once more, looking for the invisible sniper, or perhaps the granny walking by with her cane, bumping into his “accidentally” and injecting him with some poison from the tip of the walking stick. ‘Um… I… suppose?’
‘Yes, definitely a crow,’ Rachael replied. What did that make him then? Probably a pigeon. Stupid looking, wandering around without purpose and feeding off scraps just to survive. That was how it felt. A flying rat – that was how the locals described them, and he was a rat, halfway spying for Yvonne as she planned and schemed…whatever it was she was planning and scheming, which he supposed was ultimately to wrest back control of Torchwood and to dethrone Rachael from where she’d taken up residence in Yvonne's old office.
Rachael tipped her head skyward, raising a hand to shield against the glare of the sun as she peered up at the ramparts of the beautiful cathedral at the edge of the park.
Something caught the corner of Ianto’s eye, and before he knew what was happening a large bird had swooped down from the cathedral roof, snatching the crow in its talons, crushing and killing it in an instance and flying off with it clutched in its claws. ‘Jesus,’ he breathed, never having seen anything like it.
‘Peregrine falcon,’ Rachael said. ‘Now that’s my favourite. Even from way up high they can see everything around them, honing in on their targets and taking them in one powerful move.’
Ianto swallowed the lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him. He licked his lips, feeling his panic rise once more. ‘Good choice,’ he said, somehow managing to force the words out without stuttering or stumbling over them.
Rachael turned her head back and began walking again, as if nothing had happened. ‘It really is a lovely day, isn’t it? We should go out for walks like this more often. You know, once we’re not so busy preparing for the upcoming war.’
‘War?’ That was news to him.
‘With Planet XXX, silly! We’ve got to take them down before they take us down, obviously. The twenty-first century is going to be when everything changes, Ianto. And Torchwood will be ready.’