Torchwood: Fanfic: Midnight surprise

[m_findlow]

Title: Midnight surprise
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,253 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, that horrible moment when you take a step and something goes 'squelch' under your foot at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack has uncovered something in the darkness

Jack cringed as the sensation caught under his shoe. It was actually less about the feeling, and more about the sound. It was that awful squelching sound, like stepping on a slug, only judging by the sound, it would have to be a very, very big slug. Not entirely improbable given their line of work, but still not something he really wanted to contemplate.

It was dark. Outside the hub, way overhead, he could hear the thunder rumbling loudly and violently. The storm had knocked out power across the whole city including, somehow, their backup generator. The rest of the team had given up trying to work and gone home, braving the rain until they were safely tucked up inside. Now it was just him and Ianto, and night had settled in, making it even darker. Perhaps they should have gone home too, but someone had to stay behind to make sure that the emergency auxiliary power cell continued to work. Its only function was to ensure that the cells stayed locked, and dangerous archive areas were kept at proper temperature and atmospheric levels. No wonder the rest of them had gone home. With virtually no power, the hub was actually far more dangerous. It was a ticking time bomb of deadly items just waiting to happen.

Despite the potential danger, it had been a relatively quiet evening, apart from the thunder. If they could hear it this far down, a good ten levels beneath the city surface, it must have been pretty bad out there. Added to that was the fact that the water tower had become a massive lightning rod, forcing them to hunker down well below the main level of the hub, mainly so that they weren't accidentally zapped by a million volts of electricity. They could always buy new computers. People were much harder to replace.

The camp bed wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but neither was Jack having much luck sleeping. Ianto had finally drifted off about an hour ago, but try as he might, Jack just couldn't settle. He had too much on his mind, worrying about what damage the storm might do to the hub. Weather in Cardiff was often bad, but this was one of those once in a generation storms. Anything could happen. They were well away from any weevils, but it didn't stop him imagining he could hear them getting closer, as they decried their own displeasure at the sound of the thunder.

There was another sharp crack and then a boom, and Jack could hear the overflowing water rushing through the old copper pipes that ran all over the hub, praying none of them sprung a leak. The sound of the water gurgling through the old pipes was more than he could take, needing to use the bathroom the longer he listened. He crawled off the mattress, incredulous that Ianto could sleep through the sound.

There was a small torch nearby but he ignored it, assured that he knew his way around the hub back to front, even in the most pitch black of nights. Normally the sound of his boots would echo along the empty tunnels and corridors, but tonight he couldn't hear them at all over everything else. He mentally mapped out his directions, bumping only twice into the edges of doorways where he'd miscalculated the exact width, and only once turning where he was assured there was an opening, only to slam into a solid concrete wall, the actual doorway several feet further along.

That was when it happened, that awful moment of squelching. He froze. There was no way of knowing what it was or where it had come from. The concern was that something might have escaped. It was no weevil, but there were plenty of other live specimens tucked up in tanks and cages that lived in the hub. Every now and then one got clever and went AWOL. On a night like tonight, he imagined there were probably more than a few frightened critters, trying desperately to escape their confines in seek of refuge from the sound of the storm.

Standing there unmoving, he tried to do a mental inventory of creatures that might go squelch. He had half a mind to lift his boot in case he was causing it more harm, but also didn't want to let anything harmful scarper away, injured as it might be. Not everything they kept down here was cute and cuddly, and some things they still didn't know what they were and whether they were safe.

He didn't know how long he stood there in the pitch black, dreaming up ideas about what it was. He was so busy with his overactive imagination that he'd forgotten all about needing the bathroom.

'Jack?' came the familiar voice. In between rumbles, that was definitely Ianto calling out for him.

'Over here,' Jack said, watching as the small bolt of torchlight bounced along walls of the corridor until it was finally shining on him.

'What are you doing? You didn't come back to bed and I got worried.'

'I was headed for the bathroom and I stepped on something that made a really bad sound.'

Ianto lowered the torch beam toward Jack's foot, and Jack was filled with a dread at finally discovering what he'd trodden on. Even with the light, he still wasn't sure. It was green and brown, and ill-formed. Beyond that, it could have been anything.

'What is that? Did I kill it?' There was a surge of guilt that he'd squished something so badly that its innards were now totally unidentifiable.

'Well, good news is you didn't kill anything,' Ianto replied, spying the mess underfoot. 'Bad news is that I'm going to be spending the rest of the night keeping a certain dinosaur company. Looks like she's no fan of the storm.'

'Huh?' Jack was still not following.

'You stood in dino doo.'

'Dino doo? Ew! I though Myf was house trained?'

'I'd say she probably got a fright from the thunder,' Ianto shrugged. 'She won't like being cramped up down here either, and that thunder is pretty vicious. Bound to give anyone a fright. Happens to the best of us.'

'Hey, you don't see me crapping my pants,' Jack huffed.

'Well, we can't all be as heroically brave as you,' Ianto teased. 'Just goes to show you should have taken the torch with you. Wait here until I can get a pan to clear this up. I don't want you walking it all over the hub.'

Ianto returned several minutes later, leaving Jack to stand in the dark thinking how unpleasant it was. He hoped Myf hadn't left them any more presents down here.

Once the mess was cleared away and Jack divested of his shoes until they could be cleaned properly, Ianto sighed. 'Go get some sleep,' he told Jack. 'I'll go stay with Myf. Pretty sure there's a supply closet down here that'll have spare blankets.'

'Can't I come too?' Jack said, feeling despondent at having been dismissed in favour of their pet. He didn't bother to hide the desperation in his voice.

Jack didn't have to have a torch to see that Ianto was raising his eyebrows at him.

'Don't tell me you're scared of a little thunder, too?'

'Hey, if it's good enough for the dinosaur to get some attention on a dark stormy night, why can't I? And you've got the torch. I don't feel like stepping in any more surprises tonight.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

Poor Myf, I don't blame her for being scared. Still, I wouldn't want to be Jack in that situarion. I'm glad he didn't kill anything though.

Thanks for the fill!