im_torchwood | (no subject)

(no subject)

Jack raced after the blowfish and caught him in an aley behind, of all places, a fish and chip place.

"Give it up," Jack said.

"Pay me, fucker," the fish said clearly in English.

Jack reached into his pocket as if for a gun, but pulled out a thick stack of notes.

"Alright," he shrugged.

The blowfish came closer and took the money, then handed Jack a wrinkled paper sack. Then he ran off, keeping out of sight until he got his hood up.

Jack opened the bag, looked inside, and smiled.

"Well , hello beautiful."

Then he heard a scuff just down the way and he looked to see who it was.

"Oh. Hi there," he said.

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"That doesn't sound very healthy, but alright," Q replied, texting Bond again as he spoke, picking the rudest emojis he had and hitting send.

"When you've been around as long as I have, Q, Epic has a different meaning," Jack said lightly.

Q was treated to broken hearts, guns, bombs, poo, and skulls. And then a row of hearts and a kissy face. There was little rhyme or reason to it. Bond, skilled as he was, didn't quite grasp the language of emojis.

"Hmm, and you are very old- Aren't you, captain?" Q replied, texting Bond back only one emoji this time- An eggplant.

"He's very young though."

"He's not as young as you think. Well, here...but in the vortex of time and space things are wibbly-wobbley and it gets...you don't care, I'm sure. You just want the tech, Hmm?"

Jack lead the way in and opened the heavy blast door to the abandoned underground station that was on no map. It was well appointed with tech, cheerfully lit, but sterile. This was no one's home the way Cardiff had been.

"This way to the operating theater..."

Q had been here before, briefly, but he still took it all in, absorbing every detail as they walked.

"I'll need a pot of tea," he noted. "I work better caffeinated."

"I have a Keurig, will that do?" he asked. Jack appreciated a proper pot as much as anyone, but he was all about speed and convenience.

Q wrinkled his nose, his silence speaking volumes.

"It's that or an energy drink," Jack said. "Logan's got some sort of neon orange guarana taurine caffeine explosions down here. You can have one of those," he offered.

"...I'll just have a coffee, Jack," he decided, wondering if he could text Bond and have some of his tea bags delivered- Though that was likely pushing it.

"The machine's in there and there's a dozen types of coffee. You get yourself set and I'll go get the device and pull up the specs for you."

He sauntered off then, whistling a light tune with his hands in his pocket. This was his world, and he had a feeling Q had no idea just how dangerous it was to be in the very heart of Torchwood with a man like Jack.

Q did pick out a coffee, leaving the cup to brew before starting to wander- Pulling out his phone and stealthily snapping photos of every odd thing he saw.

This was a rare opportunity, and he intended to take full advantage.

Jack was well aware of the risks of letting a spy in but there wasn't much out and about that was particularly damning...and nothing that wouldn't be integrated into the new tech for next year.

""All right, here we go," he said. "If we can get it wrking there's a weevil down in the cells. They always have parasites..."

Humming, Q took his coffee and sat down, taking everything from Jack as he set to work.

"No need to linger- I work better alone," he said, already sounding distracted by the task at hand. "I'll call for you if I need you, Jack."

"I'll stay close if it's all the same. I need to run the tech specs from previous experiments for you anyway," he said, then settled into something that was, for him, a comfortable, companionable silence as he worked side by side with Q.

Q frowned, but didn't argue.

Silently he set to work, reading every bit of documentation before starting to take apart the device. ...It took hours, but soon he was rebuilding it, adjusting it as he went.

"The power source is strong, but it's inconsistent," he noted. "Do you have anything more stable? Something that could be adapted to work with the existing power system?"

"The twelfth eye could be plugged into it," he suggested. "A better fate for it than being packaged and catalogued."

He went to get the glossy orb to hand to Q.

"Can you make it fit? Once it's in it'll power it endlessly."

"Hmm, I might be able to alter the case to make it fit- Don't suppose you've any scrap metal I could work with," he asked, glancing over at Jack as he spoke.

Jack huffed a small, amused grunt then motioned for Q to follow. He took him to scrap heaven. There was more tech in these collections of junk boxes than Q would likely ever see.

"Free rein," he said.

The young boffin lit up, nodding hiss approval and beginign to sort through. His phone buzzed a few times, but he ignored it as he set to work.

It was several hours later when he was finally done.

"It's ready for testing," he said.

"Let's go to the cages. Alice had a brain fluke we can remove...if it works," Jack said, rather pleased with the work done. Q could be a hell of an asset...

Q nodded, handing the device over and following along.

"You have cages here? ...Calls?" he asked with a faint frown.

"THey're for things to dangerous to leave running around. Don't think I just lock things up willy nilly," Jack assured him. He lead him down, down, down to cages where weevils in their jumpsuits lounged in their cells.

Q eyed the creatures with caution, hanging back slightly.

"I see."

"See...I knew I could surprise you. Aliens...not really your forte, am I right?" Jack grinned. "That's exactly why I still have a job."

He picked up a can that looked like mace and opened the cell. Alice came at him but he sprayed her and she became docile.

"Come in. Let's see if it works. The fluke will be right between her eyes."

"I think I'd prefer to simply watch from here, if that's quite alright," Q replied, aware that if he got himself hurt, Bond would never permit him to wander into Torchwood territory again.