Torchwood: Fanfic: A Christmas Tale - Part five

[m_findlow]

Torchwood: Fanfic: A Christmas Tale - Part one
Title: A Christmas Tale
Author: m_findlow
Characters: Torchwood Team
Rating: PG
Length: 22,304 words
Prompt: Torchwood_fest Prompt #6, submitted by badly_knitted(Members of the team have to assist Santa's elves by temporarily becoming elves themselves)
Summary: Santa is in trouble, can Torchwood save the day?

'Mistletoe calling Rudolph. Come in Rudolph.'

Ianto tapped the comms unit on.

'Rudolph reading you loud and clear.'

He'd reluctantly agreed to the name after having kiboshed candy cane, it being just a little too close to the term of endearment John Hart used to call him. He'd also rejected bonbon, nutcracker and sugar plums, all of which Jack found terribly amusing. Rudolph had ended up being the least offensive and embarrassing compromise he could make.

'Approaching over Surry now. Preparing for landing.'

'Roger that. Be careful.'

'Mistletoe out.'

 

 

Tosh had run several simulations with the new coding and each had turned out a perfectly completed toy.

'I think we did it!'

'I think you're right. What's say we try the real thing?'

Tosh disengaged her simulator mainframe program and reintegrated the design software to the mainframe systems.

Fletcher wandered back over to the main panel he'd been working on earlier and refitted the brand new cabling, replacing the pieces that had burnt out. He left the panel open in case any adjustments were needed.

'Ready?'

'Ready.'

Tosh flipped the switch and the factory engines began to turn over. On her screen the main interface for the design systems came online and began issuing instructions to the mainframe. Just as she was about to whoop with joy the systems ground to a halt.

'Hang on,' said Fletcher, 'let me take another look.'

He slid underneath a nearby console and unscrewed the panel, inspecting it and reaching in to grab some of the cable connectors.

Fletcher yelped as the machine suddenly sparked near his hand, causing him to jump and hit his head on the underside of the console.

'Ow!'

Lights on the panel above flickered aglow, and the whole floor of the factory began to whir into life.

'You did it!' cried Tosh.

'All it took was a serious concussion. If I'd known that I'd have hit it with a mallet ages ago.'

'Trust me, you'd be amazed how often that works! There was this one time at the hub. Jack was mucking around with something that caused a massive power surge that caused all the cell door locks to disengage. Only problem was Suzie and I were down there at the time. Two of the weevils got loose and we had to make a run for it. We managed to get to the main door but couldn't get it to shut. There were two of them and two of us, but they were so much stronger. Suzie was pushing hard against the door, trying to keep them in while I was fixing the lock mechanism. Just when I thought we were about to be overrun and torn to shreds, you know what Suzie does? She takes off her shoe and hits the panel as hard as she can and somehow the lock comes back online!'

'It sounds like you were very brave. I don't think I could ever do that.'

'I don't think brave came into it. Amazing what you can do when your life depends on it.'

'And I guess Jack learned his lesson not to mess around with things?'

'No, he still does that all the time, we're just better prepared for it now. I always keep a pair of shoes handy.'

They both laughed.

'Can I ask something else?'

'Sure.'

'What's a weevil?'

 

 

Jack's sleigh glided easily through the brisk night air and over the tiny rooftops that clustered below. Without being instructed on what to do, the reindeer expertly turned and landed easily onto the snow clad slate tiles.

'Okay,' said Jack, jumping out of the sleigh, 'Operation KK is a go.' He grabbed the sack from the back of the sleigh and stopped, looking around him.

'Ianto? You there?'

'I thought we were using code names?' came the reply.

'You're my expert on all things Christmas right?'

'Yeah,' Ianto replied slowly.

'Okay, so answer me this. Now that I'm here, how do I get in?'

'Chimney?' Ianto suggested.

'No chimney. And even if there were, I don't think I'd fit.'

'And I'd hate to think about the state your coat would be in afterwards.'

'Any other ideas?'

'Door? Window?'

'Maybe if I wasn't on the roof. Plus breaking and entering might be okay for Torchwood, but it just seems wrong for Christmas.'

'Erm,' Ianto looked around. 'Brady?'

Brady looked back at him blankly. It was a new expression for the otherwise organised and knowledgeable elf.

'I'll be honest, that bit isn't in the play book. I actually have no idea how he does it.'

Brady turned in his seat and hit the comms button on his headset.

'Base Camp calling Santa. Come in Santa.'

'Santa receiving, Base camp. What's happening?'

'It's Jack. He doesn't know how to get in, and more importantly, neither do we.'

'Ah, so I have managed to keep something secret after all these years.'

'We bow to your eternal mystery, sir. But perhaps given the circumstances?'

'Yes, yes, quite. Can you put Jack on?'

'Patching you through now, sir.'

'Jack?'

'Santa?'

'Tap your nose.'

'Huh?'

'Tap your nose to get in.'

'Okay,' Jack said, raising his hand, 'but I don't see how-,'

Before he could finish his sentence, he found himself stood in the darkened living room next to a small tree adorned with tiny white lights.

'Cool. Some kind of teleport.'

'How did you know?'

'Done a lot of travelling in time and space, you get used to the feeling.'

'Well, if that's all, we both need to keep moving along.'

'Roger that, and thanks.'

 

 

As expected, Owen's imited cache of medical supplies in the lab didn't garner much headway on his samples of virus. He'd tried various combinations but whatever this virus was, it was altogether new and it was flourishing in its current environment. Owen tried starving it of basic things like light and oxygen and heat, but it seemed determined to survive.

'Anything?'

'These tissue samples really aren't quite the same as live blood. I've tried getting it to react with my blood but it just won't take. I thought maybe there was something in that, but I've tried isolating the red cells from the plasma and introducing it to elf tissues and whatever immunity I have doesn't transfer across. The virus doesn't seem to be affecting any of the team, which means it's restricted to elves for the moment. Perhaps you've got some sort of natural immunity. Something we can use. We should really get a look at your blood work.'

'And I keep telling you there's nothing special about my blood.'

Her hand was thrust deep into her pocket and she found herself reflexively gripping tightly to the small wooden carving still there. 'You'll just have to try something else. I've got patients that need looking after, if you'll excuse me.'

Owen was taken aback. He hadn't expected her to get so defensive. Perhaps it was the stress of the situation, but perhaps there was something else she wasn't telling him.

 

 

'Ow!' Jack exclaimed.

'What is it? And keep your voice down.'

'I think I just hit my head on the light fitting.'

'You should watch where you're going.'

'It's dark,' Jack replied sardonically. 'Besides, who hangs a light fitting that low?'

'I get the feeling you'll be navigating all sorts by the end of tonight. Should've bought you a torch for Christmas.'

'Har har. It's not so bad once your eyes have adjusted. Hey, what's this? "Dear Santa, just in case you get hungry." They left cookies!'

'You have to eat and drink some of what's left out.'

'Why?'

'If you don't then the kids will be upset that Santa didn't want their offering.'

'You know we never had Christmas on Boeshane. I get the tree and the gifts and the sleigh and the reindeer, but even after all these years, I'm still not across all of the finer points.'

'Then it's lucky you've got me, isn't it?'

'Ain't that the truth. You used to leave out cookies for Santa when you were a kid?'

'Mum always made Welsh cakes. And a bucket of water for the reindeer. Always just a few crumbs left in the morning and a half drunk glass of milk. All these years I thought dad must have done it.'

'When did you stop believing in Santa?'

'Eleven maybe? The year dad tripped over our cat in the middle of the night, trying to put the presents out in the dark and knocking over the tree. It woke both of us up, but I think Rhi was already too old to believe anymore. Dad was more annoyed that mum was livid about him nearly squashing the cat. And Cherie was rolling around on the floor playing with a bauble that fell off the tree, oblivious to all of it. It was pretty funny so I didn't mind so much that the secret was out.'

'I love that I still don't know a million things about you. Each new thing is like a gift.'

'You love trivial stuff?' he asked bemused.

'It's only trivial to you.'

'Did you have anything like Christmas where you grew up?'

'Not exactly. But we did have feast days.'

'Tell me about them some time?'

'There's not much to tell. It's all pretty trivial,' Jack said, leading Ianto's curiosity by the nose.

'It's only trivial to you,' he pointed out.

 

 

Gwen rapped her earpiece. 'Ianto. You there?'

'Yep.'

'How's it going?'

'Bit of a rocky start, but I think we're getting the hang of things.'

'And just how much is Jack loving being Santa's little helper?'

'You know, for someone who never bothered with Christmas before we came along, he's really rather more excited about this than is strictly healthy.'

Gwen laughed. 'Anything to be out saving the day, eh?'

'That's our Jack.'

'Anything at your end?'

'Lists are done. I'm heading down to help Owen investigate how this happened. Rhys is on his way to you to help with deliveries.'

'Thanks and good luck.'

 

 

 

At first Rhys felt completely overwhelmed by the task in front of him. This was just slightly larger than checking off the delivery dockets to the van manifests.

As he looked at the gigantic room full of conveyor belts and sorting rooms, he imagined this must be what it looked like if you worked for Asda, finally able to see all the products on offer, rather than just flicking through the catalogue. You didn't quite get the same buzz from seeing them all on a paper like you did in real life.

'It's all pretty straight forward,' explained Fletcher, 'the dispatch programme determines which gifts are required for each delivery location. All you need to do is specify the location.'

'How do I know what locations to specify?'

'It's all in the dispatch logs. Here, I'll show you.'

'That looks more like it,' Rhys said feeling more at home now. 'No different to managing deliveries for Harwoods. Okay, so,' he said consulting the screen, 'says here the next route is for Congleton, followed by Stoke on Trent. Right, let's type that in. Congleton.'

As soon as he hit the enter key the conveyors around him began to whir into action. Colourful rows of toys began to appear in long lines on beltways running up and down, left and right. They disappeared into large machines and came out the other side boxed and wrapped. Red ones, blue ones, stripey and spotted, large and small, square and round, wrapped in ribbons or adorned with bows. Footballs, doll houses, bicycles, teddy bears, all now mysteriously hidden beneath layers of shiny paper and neat little tags. Around and around the factory they rolled, until finally they dropped off the end of the final belt and into a large red velvet sack. Rhys watched as gift after gift dropped into the sack, dozens and dozens of them, and at an incredible pace. So much so that Rhys had completely lost count of just how many.

'Hang on,' Rhys said to Fletcher, 'there's no way all those gifts are going to fit in there. I mean, a whole town's worth. It'll take a month of Sundays to fill that many sacks.'

Fletcher smiled knowingly. 'Trans-dimensional circuitry wired into the sleigh and the sacks. They're bigger on the inside. Allows for maximum gift capacity,' he explained to Rhys.

'Doesn't that make it incredibly heavy?'

'Try lifting it,' Fletcher offered. 'That one looks like it's filled now.'

Rhys wasn't sure if Fletcher was taking the mick out of him, but decided he'd only look stupid if he didn't try, even if it meant he'd still look stupid trying to lift a sack with three tonnes worth of presents in it.

He grabbed the top and expected to pull against the enormous weight to no effect. Instead the sack lifted easily onto his shoulder.

'This trans directional thing changes the weight as well?'

'Trans dimensional,' Fletcher corrected. 'The gifts aren't really in the sack exactly. It acts as a gateway to another dimension where they're being stored. That's why the sack weighs so little.'

'Er, right.' Rhys knew when to shut up. Science was not his strong point and there was no use pretending otherwise.

'We should keep moving. There'll be twenty more sacks like this one that need to be ready before Santa gets back.'

'Leave it to me. Rhys Williams, haulage and logistics extraordinaire!'

 

 

'We're just about ready to head back for the next batch of gifts,' Jack reported.

'Right-o,' replied Ianto. 'Rhys has them ready to load when you get back.'

'No chance of us having a five minute break? Maybe open one of my presents a little early?'  

'You'll have to wait until Christmas morning just like everyone else. Assuming you've been good, that is. And it's going to take you more than five minutes to unwrap.'

'Not normally it doesn't!'

'It'll be worth it.' he assured.

'I don't doubt it, I just wish you weren't such a tease. Now I'll have to resort to unwrapping it with my eyes.'

'Nothing unusual there,' Ianto quipped. 'Back to work, Mistletoe.'

He heard Jack groan on the other end of the line.

'Do you often talk to your boss like that?' Brady asked Ianto.

'Uh, it's complicated,' Ianto replied awkwardly.

Brady seemed to sense his thoughts. It was like the empathic link he shared with all of the other elves, but different somehow, like he could tell it was Ianto's emotions he was sensing.

'Oh,' Brady said, realising what the emotion was, his cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.

'Oh, what?' Ianto asked concerned.

'Nothing.'

'You're sure?'

Brady turned in his seat and looked directly at Ianto.

'Sorry, I just realised that you and he, I didn't mean to. It was just. The link. I'm not used to being able to sense outsiders.'

Now it was Ianto's turn to feel embarrassed.

'It's not your fault,' Brady quickly interjected. 'Like I said before, you must just have some natural ability. The projection was stronger than what I'm used to. Elves are used to controlling their emotional projections, or shielding the strongest of them at least. They only share them with the elves they are closest to.'

'Sorry. I didn't mean to. It's this job. Sometimes it's impossible to forget that they people you care about most are the ones you lead into danger.'

'Why do you do it then?'

'It's not all danger. Some of it's brilliant. And it keeps people safe.'

'And Jack is important to you.'

'He is.' Ianto's curiosity got the better off him. 'Can you sense him?'

'No.'

Ianto tried not to look disappointed.

'But,' Brady added, 'sometimes you don't have to sense it to know it's there.'

Continues at part six...  http://m-findlow.livejournal.com/80772.html

Comments

[bk_forever]

One problem fixed, but the major one still has no solution. Still, Rhys is in his element now doing dispatch, and Jack is getting the hang of being a Santa stand-in. As long as they all keep doing what they're best at, Christmas will be a success.