Different Wavelengths [OPEN]

[wrenfelidae]

Jack lifted the item up to the light to better study the alien designs on the page. He’d looked over this same piece of material maybe, ten- no, twenty-thousand times in his long life, but he still found new things in it with every peek at the blue-tinted print. It was, of course, a blueprint of a Dalek.

Jack hated Daleks. HATED them. All the more reason to study their bodies, their shapes, their misdemeanors; it was a way for him to get inside the head of his enemy, since Jack was never really sure when another one would pop up. They tended to do that when he least expected it. And he’d rather not be exterminated. Again.

With a lonely sigh he placed the blueprint back on his desk; the plastic flittering on the edge of his cramped workspace. I really should let Ianto in here to clean up, he decided, making a face at the unorganized paperwork. It’s not that he didn’t know where anything was, it was just always referred to as somewhere in the general vicinity. He leaned back in his office chair, not even being able to rest his feet on his desk, due to the piles of papers, old coffee mugs, and take-out boxes left over from the week previous.

Yes, definitely needed some organization. He looked around his office at the simple decorations before becoming distracted by activity out in the main hub. The rift monitor was flashing, picking up on something. Jack rolled his shoulders, tempted to check it out, but figured it wasn’t much more than a bit of Weevil activity or a rift flare. Still, with nothing better to do, he went to check it out. What he didn’t realize was that the little bump in rift activity was none other than his old friend the Doctor, stuck in time in good old Cardiff.

“Guys?!” He called, not expecting a quick reply. Gwen was off, at home with Rhys on some “personal day” (or something weird like that; only married people knew what it truly meant), and Ianto was God-knows-where in the hub, off cleaning or something. Jack peered at the screen. The readings were off the chart, and… from the looks of it, it was coming from right above them… “Ianto?” He called louder, looking closer at the screen. They were familiar, the pattern flowing on the plasma was eerily similar to the glow that a certain hand had made...
No way…

[pande]

“Klondike; an invention from the Cremedetarte chain of planets. Originally created as an offering of peace.” Ianto Jones’s solemn blue eyes scanned over the sheet of paper as he translated it onto the computer. He smiled slightly, it was always fascinating when he discovered something he didn’t know about the world. With a satisfied smirk on his face he saved the file and closed it out. That was one less file to go. Ianto’s head turned slightly as he regarded the piles, boxes and stacks of paper from the olden times of Torchwood.

With a smile Ianto finished off the file and closed the computer. With a tired stretch of his creaky back the Welsh male turned and headed up from the archives towards the main part of the Hub. He was about half way there when Jack suddenly let out a call for the team. Ianto didn’t hurry along even though he was pretty sure that there was no one left in the Hub except for him and Jack.

It wasn’t until Jack called his own name out in question that Ianto broke into a sort of jog that carried him a little faster over towards the male. He sprang out into the Hub and jumped from platform to platform with the grace and ease of a highly experienced worker. He came to a rest next to Jack and smiled.

”Yes?” he asked, looking expectantly at their dashing leader. He had a small half-smile on his face.

[wrenfelidae]

Jack smiled back at Ianto, forgetting why he had called him out for a split second. He was so well-dressed, they were the only ones in the hub...

No, Jack, you need to control yourself. He thought, feeling a seductive smile spread across his lips. His eyebrow rose before he could stop it, his slightly pointed canine poking from between his lips as his smile widened. No, he couldn't do this now. More important things to do...

Although, he was very tempted to forget about the squiggly lines on the screen, which could just be a fluke. And Ianto was out here, after all...

He turned back to the screen quickly, pointing at the waves. He needed to change his course of thought, before he got carried away. That would just lead to his bunker, with no Rift investigation. "Ianto. Does this look familiar to you? I thought it was just regular rift activity at first, but it looks different, don't you think?" He said, trying to hide the lustful growl that wanted to escape from his throat. Ianto always did this to him, it seemed. The most innocent of "Yes, sirs" or "Hellos" always put his on edge. Jack guessed it had something to do with his presence.

Presence, yeah. That was it. Now. Back to the screen. And Jack glued his eyes to the glowing markers, waiting for Ianto to speak.

[pande]

Ianto Jones’s spirit lifted as he saw Jack’s welcoming smile. He nodded his head slightly, inclining his head and eying the normal garb that Jack always wore with a brief sniff of disdain. He sighed, adjusted his tie and loosened his collar slightly. He walked over to the coffee machine and powered it up.

It seemed as though Jack had forgotten what he was going to ask the Welshman. With a gentle smile Ianto brewed yet another excellent cup of coffee and grabbed Jack’s customary blue-stripped coffee mug along with his own. He poured the coffee into the mugs and took them both in his hands.

Striding confidently over to Jack (who seemed to have regained his composure), and held out the steaming mug of coffee, knowing that Jack would most likely want it. He was busy admiring the angle of Jack’s neck and the soft skin within finger’s touch when he was suddenly called to attention back Jack. He looked intently at the screen and sipped at his coffee. His eyebrows were suddenly angled down and his brow furrowed in thought.

“I suppose it does, Jack,” Ianto said, forgetting about the deliciousness of Jack’s neck for the second. He leaned towards the screen and studied the readings. “Looks almost like the Rift has been active, almost unactive, and then active again, sir,” Ianto said, taking another sip from his warm and perfectly made coffee.

“See here where it dips down almost off the scales and then shoots up? It seems to be doing that to varying degrees.” Ianto stepped back and looked at Jack, “But further than that, I haven’t a clue what it means.” With a cheerful smile at Jack he sipped more of his coffee quietly.

[wrenfelidae]

Jack gratefully accepted the coffee mug Ianto handed him, the liquid burning within. He blew on the surface of it softly, looking Ianto from his peripheral vision. Ianto's summed-up version of the Rift's movements were correct-- the readings were all over the place, but, at the same time, patterned. He turned in his chair to face the screen again. His peripheral vision caught Ianto's ass.

He jerked himself back to looking at the screen. Not right now, he thought, sighing. Work time. Jack got up from his chair, setting down his mug, which was already mostly drained of coffee. No coaster. Ianto would be mad later when he had to clean. "I'm pretty sure I know what it means. But if I'm right, then trouble isn't too far off." He squeezed Ianto's shoulder, smiling brightly. "Nothing Torchwood can't handle though. Just a little visit from an old fiend." He kissed Ianto's cheek and turned around, half-running back to his office. He grabbed his coat, made sure his gun was in place, then moved to the main hub again.

He gave Ianto a small wave as he skipped onto the lift, tapping his hands on his legs impatiently. Above him, Myfanwy shrieked, probably hungry. Jack made a mental note to put barbecue sauce and meat on the shopping list before bringing his attention back to the ride up. The lift growled, gave a heaving roar, then stopped, stuck. The area above, the ledge that would be replaced his his, wouldn't budge. Like there was something on it.

Jack growled and shut the lift off before stepping onto the floor. "Ianto!" He called, knowing the other man wasn't too far off. He was probably confused about his actions anyway, what with Jack running around like a mad idiot. "Figure out what's wrong with the lift, will you? And radio me when you've figured out what it is. I've got a Doctor's appointment." He smiled again and dashed to the other entrance, out the door that led past the tourist center and into Cardiff.

He was looking for a rather obvious blue box... Trouble was, it was rather hard to see at the moment, due to a certain "perception filter"...

[pande]

Ianto could barely hold back a smile as he saw Jack look at his bottom and then back at the screen in an effort to control himself. The Welsh male smiled sadly, while he DID wish for Jack’s company, he wasn’t going to force himself upon Jack. The man seemed overly stressed out as it was. Ianto stood back as Jack stood up, he was still looking at the waves of Rift, trying to piece out what on earth was coming through – or already here.

He took a sip of his coffee and looked over at Jack as the male started to speak. Ianto raised his eyebrows carefully, questioningly. He let the mug come away from his mouth as he Saw Jack get up and leave his mug down on the naked table. Ianto frowned in agitation and procured a coaster from his pocket – you never knew with Jack. He smiled and laughed softly. When Jack kissed him lightly on the cheek Ianto knew that something bad was probably going to happen. With a sigh he watched as Jack ran back into his office to grab the items he needed when going out.

Ianto was still in front of the computer when Jack waves at him and raced over to the lift. Ianto waved back pleasantly, aware that he would be very much alone in the Hub without his beloved leader there to keep him company. He looked up when Myfanwy screamed suddenly, Ianto instantly grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote down two items on it – already knowing exactly what Jack would want him to get. He looked up as the lift made a sound it had never made before and looked up. Ianto’s brows furrowed as he looked from Jack to the device that wasn’t usually finicky.

Hearing his name being shouted, Ianto looked over the computer, “Yes sir,” Ianto said with a nod of his head. He turned and watched Jack dash towards the other ends of the Hub and escape out into Cardiff city. The Welsh male took another sip of his coffee, already the silence was starting to close in around him. Wanting to keep it at bay he allowed his fingers to madly fly over the keys, clacking away as he tried to discover what was on top of the Hub’s lift exit.

Cameras were little good; they only gave him a general idea of what the image looked like. From here it looked like a large box shape. Puzzle, Ianto lifted up his mug and sipped at it again. He started up the coms system, “Jack? Can you hear me Jack?” he waited a few seconds, “It looks like there is some sort of box on top of the lift system, the camera’s aren’t picking it up particularly well, but it’s large. Do you know what it is Jack?” Ianto asked aloud, aware that it appeared like he was talking to himself … again.

[The Doctor]

[[Don’t mind me hopping in, this is about MY TARDIS, thank-you-very-much...sorry its sort but I am sick and not in a mood to write something epic at the moment]]

WHAM! The TARDIS came to a halt and landed right over the perception filter. The Doctor was shoved up against the console panel as he tried tweaking around. “She’ll be good to go in no time; just a wee charge and we’ll be cursing till the ends of the universe. Not that you want to go there, it’s rather dull. Might as well go with oh I dunno Elton John? Naw,” he shook the thought away as it was a little over the top, might as well go see the Beatles or his personal favorite Queen in live concert. The Doctor smiled to himself as he mused about where and when he could take Donna next. Speaking of which where was Donna? The Doctor looked around the console and she was nowhere in sight. Oh well, he thought.

Looking over the console he realized that they landed during the twenty-first century. He already knew it was Cardiff as he thought after a simple charge the TARDIS would be as good as knew, however he was wrong as usual. For he would come to learn she was not going anywhere or when she would not budge. He also noticed that on his screen was a familiar tall man walking in the direction of the blue box. Letting out a groan of annoyance the Doctor wondered what Jack wanted this time. He already knew that the immortal captain wasn’t asking for a trip. Jack told him as much. The Doctor marveled if he was going to say something about where the TARDIS was parked. It wasn’t exactly his fault that Jack built an elevator over his parking spot the TARDIS created several centuries before. The Time Lord had explained this to him, on several occasions, nothing new.

Sighing, the Doctor walked over to the doors and stood waiting to see if Jack was just buying time or going to walk on over to flirt with him, that or give him a hug. The Doctor liked hugs. He sort of gave bear like hugs to people. Something about this amused the Doctor, wither it was Jack not spotting the TARDIS or him just standing there waiting for Jack to see him leaning outside of the TARDIS--- it was better than watching a match of cricket. Smiling the Doctor recalled his own days of playing cricket. That was back in his fifth regeneration back when he was blond and was Teegan. Oh sweet Teegan where are you now? Somewhere that was for sure. For a while he thought of Susan. He left her in the sixties, he wondered if she was alive and well somewhere but he would have known if she was because he didn’t sense a Time Lord or Lady since the Master passed away.

“Well, Jacky boy we might have to check those eyes of yours. You might need glasses if you can’t spot a big blue box sitting outside your doorstep. I recommend you eat carrots. Carrots are good for you,”a boyish grin leapt to his face “Then again so are bananas, but you never fancied my banana trick.” For a moment he pouted as the banana trick was in his opinion, quite good. Jack on the other hand didn’t think as highly of it as the Time Lord did.

[wrenfelidae]

[[haha... short. yeah, right. i'm sorry MY reply is short. XDD]]]

Jack tried to ignore Ianto’s voice from the earpiece, but the man’s voice seemed to blare in his eardrum through his attempted concentration. He switched his mic on, a little irritated. He wasn’t really listening to the words Ianto was saying, although he should have been. “What? A box? No, I don’t…” He let his own words slip out, not really paying attention to his sentences. He was focused on his surroundings, trying to find the Doctor and his TARDIS.

He moved closer to the Roald Dahl building, looking carefully over the glass-like walls. The shimmer of the afternoon sun was distracting, but Jack was training his eyes for a certain glimmer; that of the perception filter. Of course, if had been a normal day, he would have seen straight through it, but Jack Harkness was so distracted that he was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on the simple things in his life. Like Ianto’s coffee, or just the other man in general. Well, that was a bit of an overstatement. Ianto was getting a little more complex lately, much to Jack’s disappointment.


He ran his hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp. Odd, that he couldn’t see the filter. Wait. The filter. Ianto had just said something was on the lift… He turned his bright eyes to the area where the perception filter would be, right over the lift. He had said a box shape… He concentrated on the glimmering space, and, sure enough, a head was peeking out of what looked suspiciously like the TARDIS. He Doctor’s head. Jack beamed and broke into a jog towards his old friend (quite literally and figuratively), stopping when he was a few feet from the TARDIS’ doors.

Jack rolled his eyes at the Doctor’s ramble on food. Just like a real one, going on about healthy eating. Jack preferred take-out. Although.., bananas made for good party conversation… Jack shook his head, a grin still plastered to his handsome face. “Doctor, good to see you!” He tried to stay excited, but at the sight of the Doctor his thoughts immediately tripped to Rose. He shook his head, trying to clear it. “But can you tell me why you are hindering my lift?” He raised an eyebrow, waiting for a hug or something of the sort from his friend. The Doctor was always one to give hugs, and Jack was always one to appreciate a good hug from a handsome… other.

[/size][/blockquote]

[pande]

Back in the Hub Ianto watched on the screen as Jack approached the box with an easy, almost cheerful stride. The male frowned, as there was a shimmer and suddenly a head poked out of the aforementioned box. Who was that? The man looked familiar… and yet, not. They appeared to be talking about something, Ianto turned the computer com on. He finished off his coffee and placed it down on his coaster and sighed softly. Idly he grabbed a rag and rubbed it in a few circles while he waited for Jack to come back online.

He glanced around the Hub, there was little he could do at the moment. Then Ianto’s eye fell upon the book resting elegantly on his computer top and a grin lit up his face. From Russia, With Love. It was his favorite book and he’d already read it more than a hundred times… yet each time he was reading the book he got something new from it. With the soft sound of shifting cloth his arm reached out and he grabbed the book. With a small grin Ianto brought it towards him and then placed it down. He turned to the computer and clicked a few keys.

Suddenly the Hub was alive with music. Not screamingly loud, it was enough to have the Hub not ringing with quiet. Ianto grinned suddenly and he burst into the lyrics with his own vocals. He wasn’t quite on pitch, but that’s that was okay since he was a male and the person singing was a female. He’d never live it down if Jack knew he liked instrumentals and sappy love songs.

When the song ended Ianto grabbed his book and leaned back in his chair as a rather hardcore song came on the radio. He laughed recklessly as the harsh, angry music startled their dinosaur roommate. He didn’t mind because he knew that the gigantic creature liked this sort of music (goodness knew that Ianto played it often enough to know.). He marveled at the vocal range of the teen male singing. He chuckled softly and opened up the book.

Starting from Chapter One; again.

Jack would get in touch with him if he needed Ianto.

[The Doctor]

“Good to see you too.” The Time Lord polity stated as he was not too happy on the reunion of Captain Jack Harkness. He wondered what Donna would make of him. See the Captains problem was that he flirted too much for his own good. The Doctor might have been a little more hearts warming to him but not after what he did to Rose and himself. The guy bloody coned them and then almost changed the course of World War Two over some harmless (that became harmful) nanogenes. The thought of Rose made him close his eyes for a moment and open them again blinking away the painful thought. He never got to tell her that he loved her. That was the really sad part. “So where’s my hug?” He asked him trying to change the subject. Great idea that was priceless throughout time and space. Thought Jack might pick up on it because the Doctor tended to do this a lot.

Lift? What lift? The Doctor didn’t note an elevator. Then he looked down where the TARDIS was and quickly caught on. “Oh right well erm….. this is the perception filter my TARDIS created back with our little encounter with the Slitheen. Remember Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen? Yeah anyways… this is my parking spot, I claim it—well the TARDIS does but I need it to charge her. She’s acting up. Probably indigestion or something. You know the drill. Hook her up like a Christmas tree and let the rift do the rest of the work. Within a few days she’ll be as good as new, and you can get your ‘lift’ back. So where does it lead anyways?” He raised an eyebrow at the immortal mate of his. “Wait don’t tell me. Let me guess. I always love a good guessing game or two.”

Looking around he thought about the idea of a lift under his TARDIS and then the surrounding area. Cardiff, Wales right where he dropped Jack off from their last encounter. This was after the Master’s death, after the year that never was. Didn’t Jack have his version of Torchwood or something? Then it all clicked and the Doctor was grinning like a school boy. It all clicked, just like that. “Does it lead to that Torchwood of yours? You know I never got the tour. I want a tour. And you better have a cool phone booth like in James Bond or Get Smart. You need a phone booth if you’re gonna be all secret agent man.” The Doctor poked him playfully at this. “Well am I right? Or am I right?” The Doctor was usually right, but not always as everyone made mistakes. Even him.