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m_findlowTitle Home for Christmas - Part 29
Author/Artist m_findlow
Length/Size of work 583 words
Summary Ianto wanted Jack home for Christmas, but got Jack’s home instead.
Rating PG
Warnings None
Other content notes Using Prompt #10 - Humming
Fandom Torchwood
Pairing Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer Torchwood sadly doesn’t belong to me, but I treat it better.
Ianto raised an eyebrow at him as the device began to emit a low droning sound, like a swarm of bees. ‘Humming doesn’t indicate whether it’s active or not?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Past experience told him they made no noise whatsoever, but then again, previous experience hadn’t been cobbled together by twenty-first century earth appliances.
‘So… is it active? Oh god,’ Ianto said, voicing a thought that was only just occurring to Jack. ‘What if it’s been active the entire time we’ve been here, slowing down time inside the house?’
‘You think maybe the SUV didn’t just suddenly spring a leak, but maybe it happened because it’s been parked down there the equivalent of a few years?’
‘Does it affect non-organic matter the same way?’
Jack shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’ He moved back from the device and leaned back against the hallway wall, wiping away the perspiration on his face as he thought about it. ‘It’s possible our equipment could be suffering from the same effects. It could very well be registering activity but time is moving at a different pace for us than for your phone and my vortex manipulator. It’s going so fast we don't even see it.’
‘Jesus. Wouldn’t we have noticed if it had been moving from night to day? You can’t exactly hide the sun going up and down.’
‘Not if the temporal bubble was set fast enough. To us it’d appear like it was always night, the days flicking by in a nanosecond, unable to be visibly perceived.’ Torchwood might be gone by the time they got out of there if that were the case. All their friends dead, wondering what the hell had even happened to them and why they’d just suddenly disappeared one Christmas Eve, never to return.
‘But, it’s a bubble, right?’ Ianto asked, stripping off his coat as the heat finally got to him. ‘As in, something with a limited range. What happens if you try to step outside its range?’
Jack shook his head. ‘Shouldn’t be possible. The break between the time inside and the time outside would tear you apart if you tried to breach it. Mostly your own timestream would stop you before you reached the edge, like hitting an invisible wall.’
‘Unless your timestream was so screwed up that perhaps you could hit it and, oh, I don't know, say, knock yourself out cold?’
‘You think I didn't just trip and hit my head?’ Normally he appreciated Ianto not calling him a klutz. Somehow this was worse.
‘Someone set this up for you,’ Ianto suddenly said, giving Jack a grim look.
‘What?’
‘To take you out of the picture. Think about it. If it really is slowing down time in here, eventually you were going to come back here, right?’
‘Right,’ he said, though remaining sceptical about where Ianto was going with this.
‘And without even knowing it, you could be stuck here for years or decades. Enough time for someone out there to do whatever it was they planned on once you were out of the way.’
‘Disturbingly plausible,’ Jack had to admit.’ But thirty years is a long time to wait to take me out of the game.’
‘Perhaps they didn’t expect you to abandon the place for so long.’
‘Doesn’t help the fact that we’re still trapped ‘
The device kicked up its humming notch, the swarm growing angry as they discussed it.
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Ianto said.
‘No, it does not.’
Author/Artist m_findlow
Length/Size of work 583 words
Summary Ianto wanted Jack home for Christmas, but got Jack’s home instead.
Rating PG
Warnings None
Other content notes Using Prompt #10 - Humming
Fandom Torchwood
Pairing Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer Torchwood sadly doesn’t belong to me, but I treat it better.
Ianto raised an eyebrow at him as the device began to emit a low droning sound, like a swarm of bees. ‘Humming doesn’t indicate whether it’s active or not?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Past experience told him they made no noise whatsoever, but then again, previous experience hadn’t been cobbled together by twenty-first century earth appliances.
‘So… is it active? Oh god,’ Ianto said, voicing a thought that was only just occurring to Jack. ‘What if it’s been active the entire time we’ve been here, slowing down time inside the house?’
‘You think maybe the SUV didn’t just suddenly spring a leak, but maybe it happened because it’s been parked down there the equivalent of a few years?’
‘Does it affect non-organic matter the same way?’
Jack shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’ He moved back from the device and leaned back against the hallway wall, wiping away the perspiration on his face as he thought about it. ‘It’s possible our equipment could be suffering from the same effects. It could very well be registering activity but time is moving at a different pace for us than for your phone and my vortex manipulator. It’s going so fast we don't even see it.’
‘Jesus. Wouldn’t we have noticed if it had been moving from night to day? You can’t exactly hide the sun going up and down.’
‘Not if the temporal bubble was set fast enough. To us it’d appear like it was always night, the days flicking by in a nanosecond, unable to be visibly perceived.’ Torchwood might be gone by the time they got out of there if that were the case. All their friends dead, wondering what the hell had even happened to them and why they’d just suddenly disappeared one Christmas Eve, never to return.
‘But, it’s a bubble, right?’ Ianto asked, stripping off his coat as the heat finally got to him. ‘As in, something with a limited range. What happens if you try to step outside its range?’
Jack shook his head. ‘Shouldn’t be possible. The break between the time inside and the time outside would tear you apart if you tried to breach it. Mostly your own timestream would stop you before you reached the edge, like hitting an invisible wall.’
‘Unless your timestream was so screwed up that perhaps you could hit it and, oh, I don't know, say, knock yourself out cold?’
‘You think I didn't just trip and hit my head?’ Normally he appreciated Ianto not calling him a klutz. Somehow this was worse.
‘Someone set this up for you,’ Ianto suddenly said, giving Jack a grim look.
‘What?’
‘To take you out of the picture. Think about it. If it really is slowing down time in here, eventually you were going to come back here, right?’
‘Right,’ he said, though remaining sceptical about where Ianto was going with this.
‘And without even knowing it, you could be stuck here for years or decades. Enough time for someone out there to do whatever it was they planned on once you were out of the way.’
‘Disturbingly plausible,’ Jack had to admit.’ But thirty years is a long time to wait to take me out of the game.’
‘Perhaps they didn’t expect you to abandon the place for so long.’
‘Doesn’t help the fact that we’re still trapped ‘
The device kicked up its humming notch, the swarm growing angry as they discussed it.
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Ianto said.
‘No, it does not.’
no subject
Date: 2022-12-29 11:20 am (UTC)