Torchwood Is Yours 7/12

[humantales]

Title: Torchwood Is Yours
Author: humantales
Beta: quean_of_swords
Artist: rotaryphones
Character: Captain Jack Harkness, OC's
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,985
Warnings: AU
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: When Jack lands over a hundred years past where he was aiming, he has some time to fill. Why not spend it baby-sitting the Rift?

Masterlist

1874

Looking around the Warehouse, Jack knew how proud he was of his little team of alien hunters. Since Sarah spent most of her time on tech, with only the bare minimum of cleaning, the Warehouse might not look clean and tidy, but it was magnificent. Sarah on tech, Tom on muscle, Ellie on medical and Jack himself leading them and filling in the gaps. He grinned as he went to drag Mattie out of the Rift detector they were trying to create. The next generation was already in the works even as he was trying to find someone with a good scientific background who was willing to work with no recognition or publishing.

They were kept more than busy. Nearly three-quarters of the sentient beings to come through the Rift were hostile, even those Jack knew to be generally reasonable. In addition, articles that came through the Rift had little in common. Some were so far in advance of Earth's science that it was laughable while others were very primitive. Unfortunately, much of what landed in Cardiff was dangerous and had to be identified quickly, and Jack was the only one who could safely do so. At least the police had finally been trained to not touch anything strange lying around and contact the Warehouse before they blew anything up.

One evening in July, they were able to meet a being as it came through the Rift. Obviously disoriented, it saw Jack, Sarah, Tom, and Ellie, who were waiting for whatever the Rift threw out this time. It raised what Jack recognised as a weapon. "Whoa there," he said, throwing up his hands to show they were empty. "We don't want to hurt you," he continued in Galactic Standard. It was a gamble; he didn't recognize the species.

"Where am I?" it asked, also in Galactic Standard. It was shorter than any of them, and frail-looking, although Jack knew that that could be deceptive. It was generally humanoid, with bluish skin and white hair.

Jack relaxed a little. The question had been reasonable and they could communicate. "This is Earth. Judging from your weapon there, and your speech, it's a little more primitive here than you're used to. You've just been through a rift in time and space; it runs right through the town, which is Cardiff. I'm Captain Jack Harkness; this is Miss Sarah Humphries, Officer Tom Rees and Healer Ellie Adams. And you are?"

It lowered its weapon. "Earth? I don't think I've heard of it. I'm Artam, of the Deshi Cooperative. How do I go back?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry; we have no way to send you back. We can take you back to our headquarters; we can try to find a way for you to make a place for yourself even if we can't do anything else."

Artam cocked its head. "Why don't your companions speak?"

"I'm the only one of us who can speak Galactic Standard," Jack said, "and we don't have any translation devices."

"What is the local language?"

"English," Jack said, hoping this meant Artam had a translator that could be tuned.

In a moment, he was rewarded when Artam began speaking English with a very high-class English accent. "Is this understandable?"

"He's a toff," muttered Tom.

"I'm female," Artam said. "What's a toff?"

Artam was pleased that there were women at the Warehouse, although Ellie confused her. "But why don't you want the proper title used?" she asked.

"Because women aren't allowed to be doctors in Britain," Ellie snapped.

Artam watched her checking over a piece of equipment they thought might be medical. "But you are a doctor," she said.

"Society hasn't quite got its head wrapped around the idea that women have brains that are every bit as good as men's," Jack said, watching the interplay between Artam and Ellie. "Yes, Ellie is capable of providing medical care every bit as good if not better than any man with the title of Doctor, but society won't accept her as a doctor. It's not right and there are women fighting to change it."


Unfortunately, Artam had been sick before she came through the Rift. She had only just realised it herself and hadn't yet gone for medical treatment. Ellie wasn't able to determine what was wrong and wasn't able to treat the alien as her condition deteriorated.

"Jack, I can't just open her up without knowing more about her species, I'll do more harm than good, but I have to know what's happening in there," Ellie said in frustration after three days of examination. Three days in which Artam got sicker and weaker. It was clear to all of them that, if they didn't find out what was wrong, or how to treat her, the alien would die.

"I know, Ellie," Jack said, feeling wretched. "I'm sorry; I only learned field treatments, not real medicines. There were always medics around for that."

Before Ellie could snap, Sarah walked over. "Jack, why don't you try talking with Artam? Most people have some idea of the problem even if they don't know the medical terms or treatments." She took Ellie's hand and led her over to the dining table. "You, sit down and tell me exactly what you need."

An hour later, Jack told Ellie that Artam didn't know much more than "My chest hurts and breathing isn't working right."

"Could be heart trouble," she said, scowling, "if her people are anything like us. Damn it. I could treat it like I would one of us, but it could kill her as well as help." Her eyes began to fill. "Have you talked with her? She's seen such things, so much beauty." She looked up at Jack. "She thinks I'm beautiful."

Jack shook his head. "Talk with her, give her the risks of treating her as human. If she's willing to risk it—"

"I'm not willing to risk her!" Ellie hissed.

Jack started to answer and then took a good look at his doctor. Oh. "Sometimes you have to," he said quietly and kissed her forehead. "Talk with her."

He found Sarah in the laboratory, working on a device, one Jack didn't recognize. "It came through the Rift," she said without looking at Jack. "I remember noticing something . . . Yes, that's got it. Here," she handed the device to Jack, "point it at me and look."

Now that she'd mentioned it, Jack remembered it, and felt like a fool. He actually knew what this was, and it was exactly what Sarah thought it was. A medical scanner. He found a menu and started looking to see if it had other species in its database.

"Oooh," Sarah said, watching over his shoulder. "You'll have to show me how it works."

"We can't use it out of the Warehouse," he told her. So, so tempting, but the timelines. "Only on us. I'll show you how to use it later. For now—"

"Ellie," Sarah shouted across the Warehouse. "We have something for you."

"And it'll work on Deshians," Jack said, smiling as he showed Ellie how to use the scanner.

The next morning, Ellie threw herself into the chair in front of Jack's desk. "I can treat her, but I can't cure her. But she'll live," she said, a smile finally breaking out on her face.

"Where is she going to live?" Jack asked. "Not only is she not human, there's no way of disguising that fact."

"She knows tech," Ellie said, a smug smile on her face. "And she can live with me." Jack watched as Ellie looked down and blushed. "Well, if she'll have me."

Jack knew the boarding house Ellie lived in. They were good people, and they took good care of Ellie, not complaining about the odd hours she kept. Her rooms weren't big enough for two people, and the other residents weren't likely to be happy with an alien living with them.

Then again, there was something he'd been thinking needed to be done. "Do you really think the other residents will go along with it?" he asked.

Ellie looked over at Artam longingly. "No, probably not," she said.

"We're getting more friendlies through the Rift," Jack said. "And, with the temporal energies I've been reading, we're likely to get people out of their time, either from the past or the future. What are they supposed to do once they're stuck here in Cardiff?"

"I suppose everyone can't be as well set up as you," Sarah said, walking over.

"My trip was intentional," Jack said. "I just missed my destination. Most of the people we get through the Rift aren't planning on going anywhere."

"So, now we're meant to make them a home?" Tom asked.

"They can live here!" Mattie said, a big smile on his face as he poked his head into the Rift detector.

"Get out of there!" Jack and Sarah chorused while Artam moved to pull the little boy out of harm's way.

"I don't think I can take any more civilians here," Jack said, shaking his head. "But why can't we help them? Show them around, explain how things work, give them a leg up. What we need, though, is a, a—"

"An enclave," Artam said, leading Mattie to the others. "A place for those who are clearly not human. I am correct, no, that this cannot be made public?"

"I have some ideas," Ellie said, looking happier. "Let me look into it."

The next day, Ellie walked into Jack's office. "I have the beginnings of an enclave. Subject to your approval, of course," she said at Jack's raised eyebrows.

"Go ahead," Jack said, feeling wary.

"My landlady has another house, but it's not in a part of town where she can get boarders. Not ones she'll have anyway. It's not a bad part of town," Ellie said, "just not where people want to live. She won't sell it, because she wants the income, but she's willing to rent it to us. She understands that some of the people will look, and maybe even act, strangely and she doesn't care as long as she gets her money." Then she smiled, clearly especially pleased with the next bit. "Better yet, she has connections all over town. She can get work our guests can do without leaving the house. It's piecework, not great money, but it's better than a workhouse and it'll mean we can keep the alien population quiet." She sat back in her chair, smugness radiating off her.

It wasn't a perfect plan—Jack could already see a couple of holes in it—but it was a great start. "Are you planning on being the housemother?" he asked.

Ellie's happy smile said everything.


It was several months later when he ran into now-Sergeant Lloyd. "You've got an interesting lot down there at your Warehouse," he said carefully.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "I like interesting people," he said.

"Got one I thought you could use." Lloyd blushed and started at his feet. "Well, hoped you could help anyway."

Jack's curiosity piqued, he said, "Tell me more."

Leading Jack toward a group of boarding houses, Lloyd said, "Man crawled into a bottle, racked up a load of debts, and killed himself when he couldn't pay it all back. His family thinks he married beneath him, so they took the children. I'll give them this; they did take care of the debt first. She's in a bad spot; she can't find any honest work, nothing that'll give her any hope of getting her children back."

Jack really hated the Victorian era sometimes. Women as no more than the property of their husbands, and given no rights over their own children. "What are her chances?"

"Not good," Lloyd said, "but she won't have any if she can't provide for them."

'Not good,' Jack knew, was an enormous understatement. Still, he was more than willing, but, "What can she do?"

Lloyd shrugged. "She's a woman. Take care of you lot. Sarah tries, God bless her, but she's more interested in helping you lot than in being a proper woman." He knocked on a door. "Mrs. Grant, might we see Mrs. Williams?"

"You may talk with her in the parlour," the landlady said, standing straight and looking with disapproval at the two men.

Five minutes later, they were seated in the shabby parlour when a woman walked into the room. Medium height, light brown hair, wearing worn clothing, she perched on the edge of one of the armchairs. "Sergeant," she said briskly.

"Mrs. Williams, this is Captain Jack Harkness," Lloyd introduced them. "I thought he might be able to offer you some employment."

"Captain?" she asked. Jack realised she was younger than he'd thought at first, no more than late twenties.

"I'm not sure what I can offer you," Jack said. "Sergeant Lloyd, well, he has a good heart and we like him. What can you do?"

"I won't warm your bed," she said. "I'll cook and clean, but . . ." Then she slumped. "Never mind, I'll do anything to get my children back."

Jack thought a minute. "Are you willing to take care of someone else's?"

She straightened up at that. "Of course. How many and how old? If you need a nanny, I could certainly do that. I'm not trained as a governess . . ."

Jack shook his head. "I don't need a governess, but I think a nanny might do well. Housekeeper and nanny; are you willing?"

Mrs. Williams followed Jack and Lloyd back to the Warehouse, where the entire group was in the main room. Tom was playing catch with Mattie, Artam and Sarah were poring over a book together, and Ellie was cheerfully autopsying a Hoix. Jack smiled happily. "This is the Warehouse," he started.

"Have none of you ever heard of a mop?" Mrs. Williams asked, sounding scandalised.

"Er, sounds like you have everything under control," Lloyd said, backing out quickly. "When things settle down, Captain, maybe you can give me a tour."

"Traitor," Jack called after him. "To answer you, Mrs. Williams, we do our best but day-to-day tidiness isn't something any of us worry about."

"I suppose neither of the two women here are proper women at all," she said, her mouth pinched.

"It's three, and they're all perfectly proper women," Jack said, his voice cold. He wouldn't let anyone insult his friends. "They're just not housekeepers."

Mrs. Williams looked uncertain. "That, that, that person is a woman?" she asked.

"Yes," Jack said, "or at least a female Deshian. She isn't human. Come on," he waved his arm at the others, "let's go introduce you." With the exception of Ellie, the others had stopped what they were doing and waited for Jack and Mrs. Williams. "Mrs. Williams, may I present my right-hand woman, Sarah Humphries, and her nephew, Mattie. They live with me in the flat back there. This is Officer Thomas Rees, our police liaison, and our medic, Ellie Adams. By the way, that thing she's cutting up is a Hoix; with some luck, we'll learn better ways of keeping our people safe from them. And this is our newest member, Artam, from the Deshi Cooperative, who'll be helping us out with tech. Everyone, this is Mrs. Susan Williams; if she agrees, she'll be our new housekeeper and nanny."

"Do you cook?" Tom asked, his eyes hopeful.

"Miss Artam?" Mrs. Williams asked.

"Yes," the alien responded.

"It appears you need to add etiquette lessons to your training," Mrs. Williams said. Jack was amazed at the change. Far from the huddled shoulders and hopeless expression, his new employee was now standing straight and tall, her hands on her hips, with a sharp expression taking everything in. "How to use a mop might not go amiss. Miss Adams," she said sharply.

"Pleasure," Ellie said, "but I'm a little busy and you don't want to shake hands with me right now."

"No," the housekeeper answered, "I quite agree. However, is there a reason nothing has been put down to protect the flooring? Also, I don't believe a small child should be exposed to such an unpleasant procedure. Shouldn't he be removed?"

Mattie enjoyed being in the centre of things too much to keep quiet over this. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Williams," he said. "Watching Ellie don't bother me; sometimes I can help her."

Mrs. Williams shook Mattie's hand gravely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Matthew. It should be, 'Watching Miss Adams doesn't bother me.' I am delighted to hear that you assist your elders when you can; however, your exposure to such unpleasantness should be reduced. Where would you normally be at this time of day?"

The other adults all exchanged uneasy glances. "He stays here," Sarah said after a minute, "where we can keep an eye on him. Pleased to meet you," she added grudgingly after Jack cleared his throat.

By bedtime, Mrs. Williams had set up a nursery in one corner of the Warehouse, having elicited a guarantee of a room to be built for the purpose. She and Artam had arranged for the housekeeper to teach the alien appropriate etiquette for the Victorian age, better quality cleaning supplies had been obtained, and used, and there were protective sheets to surround the autopsy area.

Mattie trailed after her, happy to be allowed to get into everything, and more willing to stay out of things when he had something to do. "Captain, may I suggest that either you or Miss Humphries begin attending to his education? He's old enough to be taught his letters and he'll need education to do well in the world."

"I'll start on teaching him to read tonight." Jack didn't think he liked her, but she would certainly create order out of the chaos of their lives. He supposed that, for now, that would be enough.

1875