Torchwood: Fanfic: Plans interrupted

[m_findlow]

Title: Plans interrupted
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Owen, Suzie, Torchwood team
Author: m_findlow
Rating: M
Length: 1,756 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, voices in the dark" at fic_promptly
Summary: Owen and Suzie's private moment is interrupted by the team.

Owen nearly tripped over himself as he tried to tug his sock back on in the dark.

'Watch where you're going!' Suzie complained, as he bungled into her.

'I'm trying,' he grumbled. 'Why we had to come down here in the dark like a pair of criminals is beyond me. Turn on some bloody lights. I told you we should've just used my car.' Owen hated the archives at the best of times but in the dark, they were even creepier than usual. Who really knew what the hell was down here.

'Shut up and stop complaining,' Suzie said.

Owen snorted. Gone was the Suzie who half a hour ago couldn't wait to tear his clothes off and stick her tongue down the back of his throat. She was back to being her acerbic, bossy self. No wonder none of the others had twigged to the fact that they'd been shagging on and off for the last two months. The way she talked to him sometimes, you'd think Owen was the last person on Earth she'd ever want to sleep with.

'Whatever you say, darlin.' She shoved him hard and he shoved her back before they collided once more into one another, stealing another desperate kiss.

'I can go another round if you can,' she panted in his ear.

'You'll have to earn it this time,' he replied. Not that he didn't think she could get him going again. Lucky for him she didn't care about protection. God bless the pill, he thought, praising whichever doctor had invented it.

Owen groaned as she pressed him back against the wall, delving into his mouth once more, and working her hand back down his zipper. Oh yeah, he'd be ready to go in no time, he thought, as she made quick work with her hand. He was getting into it when her hand came to a sudden halt. 'Oi, what'd you stop for?'

'Shh! Did you hear that?'

'Hear what?

'Someone's down here!' she hissed.

They both froze and listened out for more sounds.

'Talk to me, Tosh.'

'Shit, it's Jack,' Owen said. He had himself zipped almost quicker than Suzie could extract her hand.

'Why does this shit always happen to us?' a second voice groaned.

'Who's that?' Owen asked.

'It sounded like you,' Suzie whispered.

'Well, it clearly bloody wasn't.'

'Shh!' Suzie hands went rigid as she gripped his hips, straining to hear the voices and confirm who it was Jack was talking to.

'I don't understand it,' Tosh said.

'You must've touched something.'

Suzie started at the fourth voice. It sounded exactly like hers.

'What the?' she heard Owen muttered against her ear.

'Nobody panic,' Jack announced. There were a couple of discernable beeps and then a pause. 'Yep, we've definitely been transported.'

'Call, me crazy,' voice number five said, 'but this looks exactly like the archives back at the hub.'

'Well, you would know,' Owen quipped.

'Yeah, it kind of does,' Tosh agreed. 'Do you suppose if we went down there we'd find your office, Ianto? I mean, that would probably confirm it.'

'Who's Ianto?' Suzie whispered to Owen.

'Dunno.'

'Nobody is going anywhere,' Jack declared. 'If it's true that this is the hub, then we haven't just traveled through space, but time as well.'

'Are you saying what I think you're saying?' Tosh asked.

'Back or forward in time,' Jack confirmed.

'Definitely back,' the voice known as Ianto confirmed. 'This is what the place looked like before I started tidying it up. In fact, it's even more appalling than I remember.'

'Which leads me to why we can't go anywhere,' Jack repeated. 'We cannot afford to cross our own timelines. We could adversely affect our own future selves.'

'Not much chance of running into anyone down here,' Owen grumbled.

'Still, it's a risk I'd rather not take. Okay, what was the last thing everyone was doing before we ended up here?' Jack asked.

'Listening to some drivel from Teaboy here,' Owen replied.

'It wasn't drivel,' he retorted.

'Do you think they're us from the future?' Suzie whispered, wishing she could poke her head around the corner and get visual confirmation.

'Starting to sound like it,' Owen replied. 'Think we should go and help them?'

'You heard what Jack said. We could be messing with our pasts, or our futures by getting involved.'

'Not much good if they find us down here anyway.'

'So, shut up and they won't!'

'I think I've got it,' Tosh said. 'Owen had that thing on his desk.'

'What thing?'

'You know, the pen-shaped thing.'

'It'd have to be your fault,' Suzie quipped, listening to their conversation.

'Bite me, Suze,' Owen hissed.

'You mean you reckon that transported us here?' the second Suzie asked.

'Well, you were fiddling with it,' Ianto said, 'when you were supposed to be listening.'

Owen groaned. 'You were boring.'

'Stop bickering, you two,' Jack ordered. 'Ianto? It was originally brought up from the archives, wasn't it?'

'Part of that box of artifacts Owen was supposed to be helping me with.'

'So, there's a chance it could be here, back in the past. We could use it to get back to our own timeline with a bit of luck. Do you remember where it was?'

There was a little sigh. 'Of course I know where it was. Am I your archivist or not?'

'No need to get antsy,' Jack replied.

'Mind you, in this mess, it could take a while. And that's assuming no one has moved it.'

'If they come down this way looking for whatever it is, we're screwed,' Owen hissed.

Suzie fumbled around in the dark. She was sure there'd been a crate with a canvas cover draped over it, not too far from where they were. 'Come on,' she said, grabbing his hand.

'I haven't got any shoes!'

'No one cares about your bloody shoes, Owen!' Suzie berated him. 'Move it!'

She tugged him around the next corner, wishing she wasn't wearing shoes herself, because they were making a hell of a racket in her opinion, before spotting the crate they'd passed earlier. She slipped the canvas off and crouched down on the floor. 'Get under,' she ordered, trying to drape it over the top of them. 'Hurry!' she hissed, hearing footsteps coming their way. Owen awkwardly curled around her, his face practically shoved into her cleavage.

'I'm hoping they haven't moved it,' Ianto said stepping closer and coming to a halt. 'It could take days or even weeks to search the entire archives.' Suzie could make out the polished black dress shoes and the end of a pinstripe set of trousers.

'It should be in this crate if it's here,' he announced, taking one step closer to the tall shelf. Suzie nearly yelped as the shoe came within inches of treading on her fingertips as he tried to reach over the top of them, clearly in the way of what he wanted.

There was a resulting sound as the man rifled through the box, looking for something specific. He nudged the pile of Owen and Suzie with his leg again, and the resulting dust caused Owen to sneeze. He held it in as much as possible, but there was still a little snorting noise as he attempted to suppress it.

'Did you hear that?' Jack asked.

'Hear what?' Tosh replied.

Suzie and Owen froze in the silence that followed as Jack strained to locate the sound. 'Nevermind,' he said. 'Maybe I imagined it.'

'Worried we might get caught out got you a little on edge there?' Owen teased.

'Trust me, if you'd seen what can happen when a person crosses their own timeline, you wouldn't be joking about it.'

'Ah ha!' came a victorious cry. 'Got it!'

'Careful, 'Jack warned. 'Owen already sent us back in time once. I'd hate for it to happen again. Who knows how far back we might land, or where.'

There was another series of beeps and Suzie felt Owen's sticky breath against her chest, trying to dislodge him even an inch as the team hovered over the top of them. In the darkness, every tiny sound was crystal clear to her ears, as was the sound of their own heavy breathing.

'Yep, that's the culprit alright,' Jack said. 'Absolutely soaked in newtons. Just give me a second to see if I can't get it calibrated.'

There was a shuffling of feet as they waited. Suzie prayed for the team's sake that they got whatever it was working. If this was their future selves, she most definitely didn't want them to be stuck in the past. It only occurred to her at this very moment, that if they were indeed from her own future, how had they not been uncovered? Surely she and Owen would remember this and remember that right there, under that pile of filthy canvas, they were huddled together. Or perhaps they did, which is why they were keeping tight-lipped about it. Owen she could imagine not remembering, but she most definitely would have. Keep your mouth shut, Suze, she thought, trying to send a telepathic message to herself.

'Tosh, what do you reckon?' Jack asked, requesting her opinion on something.

'It looks okay to me, but then again, you're the expert.'

'Only one way to find out, I suppose,' Jack replied. 'We'd better all hold hands, just in case. I don't want anyone getting left behind.'

Shit! Owen thought. What if they got caught up in the same field that was planning on transporting the team back? Suzie must have had the same thought, because he felt her go tense next to him.

'Time to go back to the future,' Jack announced. 'Next time let's take the Delorean.'

Owen wanted to groan. Jack's jokes were even worse in the future than they were now.

There was a blaze of light and then nothing. The waited nearly a full minute before daring to move or speak.

'Are they gone?' Owen asked.

'Like Jack, said, only one way to find out.' Suzie slowly pulled up the edge of the canvas, looking for the telltale sign of shoes. She lifted it higher, until she could tell they were finally alone. 'I think they're gone.'

Owen let out a huge breath. 'Bloody hell, that was close.'

'Tell me about it.' Suzie stood up and dusted herself off, walking away. 'Next time you want to fuck, let's just do it in your car.'

Owen sighed, watching Suzie stride away. Wasn't that what he'd said in the first place?

Comments

[bk_forever]

*snicker* Nearly caught by themselves and the rest of the team; the archives really are a bad spot for an assignation!