merucha: Waterlily in a vintage fade mode (Default)
Merucha ([personal profile] merucha) wrote2008-08-28 11:13 am

Torchwood Fic: A Very Private War (2/7)

Title: A Very Private War (2/7)

Author: Emma

Characters: John Hart, Torchwood Three team

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?

Spoilers: None. This takes place in my Homecoming AU

Summary: John Hart is pulled back in time to fight a war he does not remember



Part one is here

 

            John sheathed the sword as he ran. They kept as close as they could to the walls of the Millennium Centre, which offered damn little protection but kept them out of the spheres' direct light of sight.  He followed her up Pierhead Street – and how the woman could manage to move so fast in high heels and toting a gun twice as big as her torso was a great mystery to him – and then left on Bute Place towards the parking structure that hid Torchwood’s garage.  Getting to the building meant sprinting across open space, but with a little luck they could make it. The spheres seemed to be concentrating on the areas around the waterfront.

 

            Their luck ran out a few steps from the entrance. John heard the angry-wasp buzz before he saw the sphere. He shoved Toshiko into a shallow nook created by a floor-to-ceiling window and turned to scan the street.

 

            “Hey!”

 

            “Hush,” he said. “They’re tracking us. If we run into the building now we could lead them right to the Hub. We’re going to have to make them think we were just trying to hide in the tunnel. When I say go, run past the front door. I’ll try to distract them. You can double back and use the side entrance.”

 

            “Just who the hell are you?”

 

            “Survival first, explanations later. Go!”

 

            They moved simultaneously. John ran back towards the Centre, dodging behind abandoned cars, but the expected bolts of energy did not materialize. Instead the buzzing got louder and more frantic as the sphere searched. He stuck his head out warily and got a good look at it. It looked a little dinged; one of its blades was missing and another hung uselessly from its socket. Just my luck. A pus bag out for revenge.

 

            The sphere stopped suddenly and whirled about, focusing on something behind it. John had a sinking feeling he knew what it would be. The staccato rap of a high-velocity rifle confirmed his suspicions. The crazy woman was standing almost out in the open, firing at the sphere. Bullets bounced off the metal, but the speed at which they were coming seemed to be keeping it off balance.

 

            John knew the standoff would not last long. The thing seemed invulnerable and sooner or later either Toshiko would run out of bullets or it would figure out she couldn’t really hurt him. They couldn’t beat it; all he could do was figure out a way to escape. And with machinery, low tech was always a better bet.

 

            He looked around for something to use. The small lorry he was hiding behind had been nearly ripped in two by a beam; several cans of paint had tumbled down onto the pavement. He grabbed one that seemed basically undamaged and popped it open. Hefting it by the wire handle he ran out into the middle of the street.

 

            “Hey! Pus bag! Over here!”

 

            John actually heard it giggle as it turned back towards him. At the speed the thing was moving, he would get only one chance. He waited until the sphere was nearly within touching distance, and then flung the paint directly at what seemed to be its main sensor and ran towards Toshiko. Without slowing down he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

 

            The side door of the car park was unlocked. They raced downstairs to the lowest level and up to the blank wall with its small, insignificant door hidden behind the pillar. Without saying a word, Toshiko pressed her thumb to what seemed to be a regulation lock.

 

            As they stepped through, John heard the sound of guns being cocked. He had been expecting it, so he held his hands out in plain sight, fingers spread. Ianto Jones walked up behind him and searched him quickly but thoroughly.

 

            “Sword, two knives. No other weapons,” he announced to the room at large. “Vortex manipulator seems permanently attached.”

 

            “Molecular bonding,” said John mildly. “And not my doing.”

 

            “He knows a hell of a lot about us,” Toshiko said. “He came through the Rift with the Toclafane…”

 

            “Toclafane!”

 

            Gwen Cooper looked at him unsmilingly over the barrel of her gun. “You know what they are?”

 

            “No. Toclafane is the name of a monster that grandmothers use to scare disobedient children. You would say… boogeyman?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t make any sense.”

 

            “Who are you?” Toshiko asked.

 

            “I’m a friend of Jack’s,” he said, mentally editing as he went. “A former colleague, you might say.”

 

            “From the future,” Gwen said with certainty. “If you’re from the future you have to know what’s going on. And don’t give me any of the you shouldn’t know too much about the future crap. These fuckers are decimating the world and I don’t give much of a damn about anything else at the moment.”

 

            “I don’t. I don’t have any memory of anything like this ever happening. Where is Jack? I can’t run into him now. Believe me.”

 

            “Left with the Doctor a few weeks ago. Then Prime Minister Harold bloody Saxon announces first contact with an alien race. Then we get sent to the bloody Himalayas.” Gwen motioned for him to move. “Inside. You seem to know a lot. Show us the way.”

 

            John walked down the short corridor to the cog door. “I can’t open the door. The last time I visited the Hub you had upgraded to a different system.”

 

            Ianto blocked John’s view as he opened the door and deactivated the alarms. John stepped through to find two more guns pointed at him.

 

            ‘Dr. Harper, Mr. Williams.” He raised his hands again. “You’re a very cynical woman, Ms. Cooper.”

 

            “Hard times, Mr…”

 

            “Hart. John Hart.”

 

             “You’re sure you don’t know what this is about?”

 

            “Certain. I was sitting on a beach watching the day go by and three of those ridiculous things appeared and starting chopping down people. I managed to hurt a couple, though not much. They pulled me in when they opened the Rift.” At their disbelieving looks, he snorted. “Look, I think I would remember Cardiff being turned to rubble by boogeymen, don’t you?”

 

            Toshiko came up to him holding a triangular device. ‘This is an Ixelian chronodetector. May I?”

 

            He nodded. She ran the device over him and waited until there was a soft pinging sound and a small screen lit up. She turned it over so he could read it.

 

            “That is not possible.”

 

            “What is it, Tosh?” Owen asked.

 

            “I thought that if Mr. Hart was from the future and didn’t remember the Toclafane, there could be only one of two reasons. One, he’s from a different time stream and he’s just been dumped on ours by the Rift, or two, his very presence here has created a different future.” She collapsed on her chair, suddenly exhausted. “I was wrong. It might be even worse.”

 

            “What do you mean?” asked Gwen.

 

            “According to the chronodetector, Mr. Hart’s molecules experienced a massive temporal disruption a little over thirty-one million seconds ago. So did everything he’s wearing, including his vortex manipulator. Ianto, let me see those.” She ran the chronodetector over the weapons he was holding. “These too.”

 

            “What does that mean?”

 

            “I don’t know what it means, but it suggests that at some point in the future, the whole Universe will lose about a year.”

 

           

[identity profile] teachwriteslash.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I love Year that Never Was stories. How do you manage to touch on every single one of my passions!!!!

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
'Cause I SHARE them!!!!

[identity profile] 42footprints.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yes! Points to John for knowing about the Toclafane being a childrens monster. Tosh has the best tech, ever. *grins happily to herself* Like teach, I love to hear what Torchwood got up to during the year that never was. With John involved, I think I'll love it even more!

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
It's taking an interesting turn I didn't expect...

[identity profile] luvinthe88and20.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, interesting can not wait to see what happens.

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Stay tuned!

[identity profile] hab318princess.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
This is great, looking forward to more! Love the tech, love them all, it's great.

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] srah-scottydog.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
For this fic, and the rest of your series:

I
Love
You

XD

xxx

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!
rhianona: (bloody torchwood)

[personal profile] rhianona 2008-08-28 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
What a fantastic idea! I can't wait to see how John helps everyone out during this year. Good on Tosh for figuring out stuff with the tech.

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
It's gone off like a rocket. Even I'm trying to see what happens!

[identity profile] sal101010.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
My brain hurts!!

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Mine too, and I thought of it!

[identity profile] morgia.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Heuu, so if I'm not a fan to Doctor who, could I understand the rest of your story ? Great chapter anyway :)

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course. This happens in the Year that Never Was but it's very Torchwood-centric.

[identity profile] morgia.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Ok cool. So maybe you can help me: "“Left with the Doctor a few weeks ago. Then Prime Minister Harold bloody Saxon announces first contact with an alien race. Then we get sent to the bloody Himalayas.” Gwen motioned for him to move. “Inside. You seem to know a lot. Show us the way.”"
Heeeuuuu, I'm confuse, I read few times thing about Himalaya in some fic and I don't understand what its about. Hummm, can you explain me ? Thanks and don't worry if you don't have times. ;)

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
OK. The thing is, to understand Torchwood you need to know several Doctor Who episodes: from the first season, The Empty Child and the Doctor Dances, and the last episode, The Parting of the Ways. Those are JACK episodes, in major ways. Then for series three, you need the last three, Utopia, Sound of Drums, and The Last of the TimeLords. Same here. Without those, a lot of Torchwood makes no bloody sense.

This fic takes place during The Last of the Time Lords. The Doctor's enemy, the Master, has taken over the world under the name of Harold Saxon, the Prime Minister of Britain. He's keeping Jack chained up, the Doctor in a cage, and Martha is on the run. He sends Jack's team to the Himalayas on a wild goose chase, basically to die. The Toclafane are... a race he builds and brings back using the TARDIS as a paradox machine.

[identity profile] morgia.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, thank you very much for all this informations. So I have to watch this episodes. Well, I understand now why I'm confuse sometime... ;)

[identity profile] gypsylady.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I was briefly worried that they'd create a John-shaped paradox but then I remembered this is the year that wasn't and relaxed. This is really good.

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, paradoxes will happen -- not bad ones, and I think you'll like it...

[identity profile] etmuse.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I really can't wait to see how this all goes down...

(I absolutely love TYTNW fics, and only dream of having muses co-operative enough to write one)

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I wasn't planning to write one but John insisted!

[identity profile] etmuse.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Those sneaky characters do have a way of subverting fics and sending them off in their own direction

Ianto is dragging me all over the place on my current WIP and I've only written 3 chapters (out of some number that is beginning to look very big)

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Ianto can be very stubborn!

[identity profile] teachwriteslash.livejournal.com 2008-08-28 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes well Empath Ianto from my main AU wants me to write my YTNW fic BEFORE I write my Cyberwoman/Countrycide fic. I an so NOT a happy camper because I post in order darn it.

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_miss_daisy_/ 2008-08-29 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
There seems to be a lot of year that never was fics buzzing around lately. Which is a good thing because I really like them. Your take on them is unique (I've never read a year that never was fic with John in it). I can't wait to read more!

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-29 01:24 pm (UTC)(link)
John says that's his story and he's sticking to it!!!

[identity profile] faithharkness.livejournal.com 2008-08-30 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I love this. I was actually shoe shopping last weekend and bought some "Tosh" shoes. Go petite women who can sprint in heels!

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-08-31 01:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I was always surprised at the heels they dressed Naoko in -- they would have been lovely to wear, but running in them? NOT!

[identity profile] faithharkness.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee! Yes, the four-inch heel sprint is a difficult skill to master.

[identity profile] thrace-adams.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh this is brilliant! I love Tosh. Looking forward to more!

[identity profile] merucha.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] wynkat1313.livejournal.com 2009-08-28 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
Oooh... neat!