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| Howardian Nature Reserve; Cardiff, Wales | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 20 2009, 05:57 PM (698 Views) | |
| Captain Jack Harkness | Jul 20 2009, 05:57 PM Post #1 |
Director, Torchwood-Three
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The Howardian Nature Reserve was wild space in the middle of the city and it had taken a bit of tweaking to make sure the various councils covered the right area back when they'd started planning the park. Now though, it was green space in perpetuity and one of the few things Torchwood had done that had an actual benefit to the citizens of Cardiff - aside from saving them from aliens on a weekly basis. The sound of traffic was still audible but there were also wilder sounds; night birds and the stir of grass and the smell of living water. Jack went around to the boot and hauled out the bottles in their canvas bag. "Is the wave holding steady?" |
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| Toshiko Sato | Jul 20 2009, 06:47 PM Post #2 |
Time Lord
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Tosh looked up from her screen as Jack pulled into the parking lot. It was dark outside, and the shadowy shapes of the trees were surprising in the middle of the city. "Is the wave holding steady?" Jack asked as he got out, and Tosh looked back to the screen. "Almost perfectly," she confirmed, tapping at a few keys. "I haven't seen many readings this regular." She zipped up her jacket, unclipping her belt and opening her door. Despite how wound up she was at the idea of spending time in Owen's company, she couldn't ignore the little fluttering in her tummy: no matter how often she'd been given proof that it was a bad idea, Tosh couldn't stop being excited by alien activity. |
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| Martha Jones | Jul 20 2009, 08:01 PM Post #3 |
Torchwood's Finest
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Once Jack brought the SUV to a stop, Martha opened the door and stepped out into the cool night, holding the door open for Gwen. She looked around, noting where everyone was standing and then gazing up at the dark sky studded with stars. The sounds of traffic were muted, and the rustle of the wind through the trees and grasses was soothing. Martha breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh air. She wondered why Jack had brought them out here, and what the waveform Toshiko was monitoring had to do with it, but trusted that all would be revealed soon enough. As the others gathered around by the boot of the SUV, Martha joined them and waited for Andy and Owen to arrive. |
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| Andy Davidson | Jul 20 2009, 08:10 PM Post #4 |
Office Tart
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Andy pulled his silver Vauxhall up along the SUV and parked it. Nerves aside he really was curious, and it'd been ages since he'd been out here. He opened his car door, took a deep breath, and got out. Maybe if he was lucky Jack wasn't about to spoil a perfectly good nature area for him.
Edited by Andy Davidson, Jul 20 2009, 08:11 PM.
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| Owen Harper | Jul 20 2009, 08:41 PM Post #5 |
Time Lord
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Owen followed Andy idly. Even with Jack's 'diversions,' he still didn't have enough to do sitting around in Andy's flat, and he was glad to be out, whatever the reason. He kept a cautious distance between himself and Tosh. He didn't feel like getting into it again with her, not when he was already here. As long as she didn't start anything he'd do his best to keep his mouth shut. Well. Mostly. |
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| Gwen Cooper | Jul 21 2009, 03:32 PM Post #6 |
Field Agent
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Gwen slid out of the car behind Martha and took a deep breath of the night air, folding her arms into her chest. It was peaceful out here, a rarity in their world. She remembered coming out her as a kid with her dad, a nature enthusiast who'd never quite managed to pass his passion onto his daughter. Still, the place was full of happy memories for her, and she smiled as she leaned against the car, watching Andy and Owen arrive. |
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| Captain Jack Harkness | Jul 22 2009, 10:54 AM Post #7 |
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Director, Torchwood-Three
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Jack could see pleasure on at least some faces, he could feel it in his own anticipation, and that eased something knotted tight and painful low in his throat. He sold Torchwood (and knew he sold it) as a chance at adventure, to see glorious things – all the while knowing most of what they did involved very little glory. Sometimes, though, he could keep his promises. “Come on,” he said, invitation clear in his voice, and hopped over the low barrier, careful of the bottles he carried. The nature park was dark beyond the sparse parking lights and the patchy clouds above let little light through. Still, a bit of bleed over from the city and the half-moon flirting with the clouds above, was just enough to go by. Jack ignored the paths, navigating by landmarks, decades old memories and the patient signal on his wristband. He took off through a bit of soggy grassland, the whisper of his coat through the weeds a familiar note in the darkness, the musical clink of the bottles he carried an occasional counterpoint. The splash of feet behind him, and the occasional grumble made him laugh softly. “I should bring you all out here for squad tactics,” Jack said casually, voice carrying in the nighttime quiet. “Wind in your face, sun in the sky, mud in your teeth – great fun.” It wouldn’t be a bad idea, he glanced back thoughtfully; his team was trailing unevenly behind him. They could certainly use it. They were coming up to a slope and Jack reached out, smiling as he brushed over an innocuous seeming upright stone, chipped and weathered and no different from hundreds scattered all over the island. He and Victoria had grunted and struggled and fought it into place as a marker more permanent than any map and as invisible as any other piece of junk in the landscape. “Almost there.” Edited by Captain Jack Harkness, Jul 22 2009, 11:32 AM.
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| Gwen Cooper | Jul 22 2009, 12:50 PM Post #8 |
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Field Agent
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“Come on,” Jack said, and Gwen watched in amazement as he jumped the railings and made off into the park with clinking bottles in his hand, a startling impersonation of a truant school kid. She glanced over at Martha with a grin before setting off after him, clearing the barrier with a deft leap. A leap that landed her straight in a puddle of mud. Dirty water splashed up her jeans and over her shoes and she yelped, mostly for the fun of it. "Oi!" she yelled after Jack. "I don't remember signing up for this!" She trudged on through the sodden field, laughing at the strange ordinariness of it all. She could hear the others all around her, their own faltering progress, and Jack raced on in front of them, coattails flapping and cutting the profile of a heroic adventurer. Gwen smiled to herself. However absurd or however dangerous, she really would follow that figure to the ends of the earth. |
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| Captain Jack Harkness | Jul 22 2009, 02:21 PM Post #9 |
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Director, Torchwood-Three
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"Oi!" Gwen called, laughter brightening her voice. "I don't remember signing up for this!" “Oh, well, I’m sure we can find a weevil or two in the sewers to play with instead!” Jack called back, brass buttons on his sleeve catching the edge of moonlight as he waved them up. His jaw ached, Jack realized, knowing now only because he’d stopped clenching it so hard. He breathed in the cool air, tasting traces of chemicals, rot and … the electric ozone of Rift activity, and let go of yesterday and the week before and the horrible Year before that – just for tonight. He was desperate to let it go. |
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| Owen Harper | Jul 22 2009, 02:27 PM Post #10 |
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Time Lord
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"Shit," Owen muttered, and brushed another branch out of the way. "Jack, I don't like nature!" he called. "Or your track record with it," he added. The ground was uneven and he was concentrating mainly on his balance. It was nearly impossible to see anything, and he was just waiting for someone to take a header. He hurried forward, trying to close some of the distance. Jack seemed almost cheerful though, and Owen kept an eye on his figure as it moved. At least someone here was in a good mood. |
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| Andy Davidson | Jul 22 2009, 02:55 PM Post #11 |
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Office Tart
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Andy stuck close to Owen to keep an eye on him. It was sort of amusing how out of place he seemed. The difference between them was, for once, really striking. And, Andy thought with a grin, strangely satisfying. "Mind your step, Doctor Harper. You'll like nature even less if you meet it face first," he joked. They were coming to a hill, and Andy could make out a blanket of stars in spite of all of Cardiff's light pollution. |
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| Owen Harper | Jul 22 2009, 03:03 PM Post #12 |
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Time Lord
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"Hard to like nature less than this," he muttered crossly. He shoved at Andy lightly, as if to push him over. |
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| Martha Jones | Jul 22 2009, 03:33 PM Post #13 |
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Torchwood's Finest
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Martha grinned back at Gwen before the other woman leaped over the low barrier and landed in the middle of a puddle with a surprised yelp. "Thanks for the warning there," she said with a laugh. Martha stepped back and jumped on top of the barrier instead of over it, then jumped across the puddle and into the low grass beyond. She grinned at the banter between Gwen and Jack, and followed them down the grassy path, stepping carefully to avoid any hidden rocks and roots. It was a relief to see Jack in a good mood again. He'd been distracted and moody lately when he wasn't holed up in his office, and she had been worried about him. But he seemed lighter now, with a spring in his step that hadn't been there since he and his team first arrived on the Valiant, and she was glad to see it again. "Jack, I don't like nature!" Owen complained, and Martha snickered at him. She wasn't exactly in her element here, but she felt more relaxed away from cities now. It was another effect of the Year -- in general, she had been in less danger outside of cities than in them, since the Toclafane and the Master's troops rarely patrolled the areas between population centres except along the roads. Martha set aside that particular memory and returned to the present, taking a deep breath and letting the past go. She turned around and looked back towards the others, making sure they were all accounted for and keeping up before she turned back again and ran to catch up with Gwen. "Hey, slow down a little," she said, touching Gwen's shoulder to get her attention. "The others are falling behind a bit." |
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| Toshiko Sato | Jul 23 2009, 02:21 AM Post #14 |
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Time Lord
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Jack bounded off with hardly a backward glance, and Tosh caught Ianto's eye as he came around the side of the SUV. "It never ends, does it?" she said, but her tone was warm, her smile genuine. Beyond Owen, everything was good: they were all here, there was something afoot, and from the size of Jack's grin it was something good. She set out off after Jack as quickly as she could, picking her way through the patches of mud as best she could. The night air felt fresh and cool in her lungs and she took a deep breath, feeling a little of the weight on her shoulders lift away. Whatever might not be perfect, this was what she loved about the job: the mystery, the camaraderie, the magic of stuff from beyond this world. Tosh snuck a look sidelong at Andy, avoiding looking to Owen as much as she could, before hurrying up a little to catch Jack. It was about time Andy saw the good side of this job, and she wouldn't mind a little wonder herself. |
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| Gwen Cooper | Jul 23 2009, 03:27 AM Post #15 |
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Field Agent
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Gwen snickered as she heard Owen's complaints behind her. You could take the doctor out of London... Speaking of English doctors, Martha caught up with her and tapped her shoulder. "The others are falling behind a bit." Gwen paused and turned around. She could see Tosh carefully picking her way through the undergrowth, Ianto following after her. Owen and Andy were side-by-side, Andy's grin only emphasised by Owen's scowl. "Jack, your flock's lagging behind!" she called up ahead, then folded her arms and waited with Martha for the others to catch up. |
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| Captain Jack Harkness | Jul 23 2009, 10:02 AM Post #16 |
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Director, Torchwood-Three
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“Y’know,” Jack turned around, seeing the silhouettes of his team catching up to him. “I ended up with a hatching of S’swilian hunters imprinting on me awhile back. Incredibly endangered, incredibly dangerous – I had to take leave from my job until they matured enough to be transferred to a nature reserve. Spent six months with a passel of man eating monsters tumbling at my heels and whining for lunch.” He pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I didn’t get laid the entire time, kind of hard to pick someone up when they look past you and think you’re planning on turning them into pet food.” “They handled a bit of swamp better than you lot,” he finished when everyone had grouped together again. “Then again, they had six limbs so I can’t really complain.” He turned and bounded the last few feet to a slight flattening of the slope, a bit of natural clearing in the undergrowth and shrubbery where the grass and weeds glinted unusually bright in the darkness as if dewfall had come early in just this spot. “It’s already started,” Jack breathed, eyes fixed on the empty patch of air. “Be patient, it’s hard to see at first.” Faint and indistinct at first, a scattering of luminous specs – barely big enough to see – spun out of nothingness to drift down to the grass. A thin coating of bluish light was gathering there, clinging to the edges of leaves and strands of grass, while more light drifted in streams and faint sheets out of the air and towards the ground. At ground level, the filmy lights swept back and forth, stirred by currents of Rift energy and moving in not quite random patterns. |
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| Owen Harper | Jul 23 2009, 10:22 AM Post #17 |
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Time Lord
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"What is it?" Owen asked narrowly. If it weren't for Jack's enthusiasm, he wouldn't be waiting to see what it did. "It's alive, right?" |
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| Martha Jones | Jul 23 2009, 01:41 PM Post #18 |
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Torchwood's Finest
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Martha came to a stop next to Gwen and looked over at Jack, who had gone very still. “It’s already started,” he said softly as he stared into space. “Be patient, it’s hard to see at first.” She heard the others move into the clearing and arrange themselves around the open area, shuffling their feet in the grass. She stared at the space Jack was observing with a rapt expression on his face, but she couldn't see anything there. After a moment, she closed her eyes, letting them rest and get used to the darkness. Then she opened them slowly, and gasped in surprise as she suddenly saw a swarm of specks of light floating in a faint blue haze in front of Jack. The lights glowed slightly brighter near ground level and were easier to see there, but as her eyes adjusted and she figured out what to look for, she saw that the tiny lights moved in rippling waves and spirals above the grass, slowly changing colour as they moved. "Oh, it's beautiful," she murmured, watching the shimmering patterns dance in the air. |
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| Andy Davidson | Jul 23 2009, 05:42 PM Post #19 |
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Office Tart
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Andy watched cautiously. He'd seen enough old B-movies to be suspicious of strange glowing things appearing out of nowhere. "Is it, um...what is it exactly?" |
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| Toshiko Sato | Jul 23 2009, 05:57 PM Post #20 |
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Time Lord
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"I'm not sure I believe you could survive going six months without sex," Tosh teased, catching up with the others where they stood on the brink of the little clearing. "But what--" She caught herself, though, when she caught sight of it: a swirling, shifting tumble of blueish light, waxing and waning as she watched, sparks of luminesence drifting through the air like oil over water. "Oh," was all she managed to say, patting her pockets quickly for a camera that she knew wasn't there. It was beautiful, and it gave her that rush she didn't feel often enough any more. It was nice to feel wonder rather than fear. She could hardly look away from it, vaguely aware that her mouth was slightly open and her eyes wide, but she did notice how the others were reacting: Jack's grin, Martha's quiet "oh, it's beautiful." Tosh caught herself liking Martha a bit more. Edited by Toshiko Sato, Jul 23 2009, 06:00 PM.
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