m-findlow.livejournal.com

Title: Cracking up
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Torchwood team  
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 2,468 words
Content notes: none
Author notes:  Written for Challenge 160 - Crack
Summary: The hub is falling apart piece by piece for reasons unknown

He wouldn't have seen it but for the moment of vanity, checking out his profile in the reflection as he passed by, report under one arm, free hand ready to adjust tie, or hair, or anything else as he glanced.  

He stopped dead on the gangway and peered closer at the reflective surface of the water tower. But it wasn't his own image he was interested in. One of the large mirrored panels had a long crack in it, splintering from one corner to the other. He sighed in annoyance. It wasn't bad enough that the lower panels constantly needed hosing down, the pool at the base of the tower a veritable breeding ground for algae and moss, which crept its way up the shining edifice, but this was much higher up, almost at eye level.

He traced a finger along the crack from one end to the other.

'Ow,' he muttered, as the sharp edge of the glass nicked at the skin, a fresh red line blooming in its wake.

'What's ow?' the voice came from behind him. Jack.

'Nothing,' Ianto answered distractedly, 'just cut my finger,' he said, showing Jack his fingertip.

'Do you want me to kiss it better?'

'No,' he replied, unconsciously sticking it in his mouth, and realising the irony of his actions.

'Was that there last week?' Jack asked, pointing to the crack Ianto had been inspecting.

'Don't think so. I'll call the glaziers this afternoon and order a replacement panel.'

Three days later Ianto was admiring his own handiwork at the shining new replaced glass. The panel had arrived yesterday and he'd spent the morning carefully prising off the old, cracked one, and affixing the new one in place against the metal girders inside that supported the shape of the tower. Then he frowned when he saw the panel diagonally across from it. Now it too had a crack forming on one side. He was thoroughly annoyed. How could there be two in as many days? And these ones weren't even exposed to the elements like the ones up on the plass. Cheap imports, he thought. Not made for British climes.

He hadn't even had a chance to call and order another panel that afternoon before a loud clattering sound interrupted them all from their work.

'What was that?' Gwen asked.

Jack went and inspected the origins of the sound. Two more panels had cracked and had crashed into pieces on the metal gangway below. Ianto was not far behind him, dustpan and brush in hand.

'This place is falling apart. Literally,' Owen added unhelpfully.

'You're not wrong,' Jack replied. 'I can't ever remember having this happen in the entire time the tower has been here.' He reached in to inspect it further.

'Careful,' Ianto warned, remembering his own mishap.

'The metal is a little warm, probably from the rift manipulator. Most likely that the warmth has slowly melted the glue holding them in place. I expect we'll get a few more come tumbling off. No big deal.'

'Easy for you to say,' Ianto grumbled, knowing who'd have to keep fixing it.

'Relax, it'll be fine.'

A fortnight passed before Ianto had to think about putting the local glazier on his speed dial. He apologised in advance and ordered several more spare panels, insisting that the council were too tight with money to get the whole tower redone in one go.

He'd spent the better part of the morning replacing four more cracked panels. These ones were much higher up than the last few, but Jack had insisted that as soon as they cracked, that they should be removed. It made sense. If they broke off altogether, they could fall and hurt someone.

He'd wrangled Owen in to help him hold the ladder as he climbed up to reach the broken pieces and lower them back down to him in a bucket on a rope.

'Hurry up,' Owen complained, 'it's hot work being down here.'

'Quit your moaning. I'm the one doing all the work. You're just holding the ladder.'

'Then shut up and get on with it!'

'I am. It's not my fault that Myf wants to play games and get in the way.'

In truth, Ianto was fairly sure she wasn't playing. If anything she was being a hindrance, flapping around near him, squawking and making a nuisance of herself, trying to get his attention. 'I'll play with you later. Assuming I ever get through everything else I still have to do, after wasting all morning doing this,' he muttered.

'Finally,' Owen grumbled as Ianto descended the ladder, his job complete.

'Stop whinging,' Ianto replied tiredly. 'I'll get you a coffee in a minute,' he offered, knowing that would improve Owen's disposition.

'Bollocks to that. I'm off for a cold drink. It's hot if you stand next to this thing long enough.'

Ianto watched him as he stalked off, placing a palm on the side of the tower, and feeling the soft warmth.

The remainder of the week went by without further incident, though Myfanwy it seemed, was content to continue her trouble making to compensate. She'd taken to flying circles around the tower, occasionally diving down and being a thorn in everyone's side. Jack tried putting her outside at night so that she could fly around out there and work off some pent up energy, but she refused to leave, sulking in her nest when Jack yelled at her and just about pushed her toward the opening. Even Ianto couldn't tempt her out with chocolate.

'Maybe she wants to stay in here because it's warm,' he suggested.

And it was. Noticeably so. It had been subtle at first, but now it was much more obvious

'Have you been messing about with the thermostat?' Ianto asked as he peeled off his jacket.

'I thought you must have,' Jack replied.

They both went and checked it, only to find it was just as it should have been. As they walked back across the hub towards Jack's office, they passed by the water tower.

'Did you just feel that?' Ianto asked, referring to the wave of heat that assaulted them when they were stood right next to it.

'Oh yeah, I think we found out where our heating is coming from.' He put his hand on it and pulled back quickly, surprised at how hot it was. 'Yeah, that's hot.'

The next morning the five of them stood around and looked up at the towering monolith. It had become like a giant radiator, emitting a wave of solid heat all down its length, but hottest near the base. The metal rods that travelled up and down were transferring the heat, and the thin sheen of water than usually slipped down its surface was now steaming off, causing awful humidity.

'It must be the rift manipulator,' Tosh said. 'What else could cause it to heat up like that? We should really have a look and see what's causing the problem.' She went to open up the large panel on the side, where the subetheric resonator sat, and was belted by a wave of heat that was almost searingly hot. Owen pulled her away before her face was burned from the steam.

'That's not good,' Gwen observed.

Jack and Ianto exchanged glances before Jack headed to his office, his young assistant in tow.

Ianto watched as he spun the combination lock on the secure archive, opening the heavy door and keying in the number on the keypad inside, flipping the lever. Ianto knew what he was after, and he wasn't thrilled about it.

Jack pulled out a small metal crate, a thick plastic folder inside and a thick padlock on the outside. He extracted the folder emblazoned with the words "Torchwood. Do not use." and looked up, meeting Ianto's gaze. It was the blueprints for the rift manipulator.

'I'm always scared to give Tosh these plans in case she should ever figure out how to fix it properly.'

'Is that a bad thing?'

'Being able to control the rift? No one should have that power. Still, I wouldn't like to bet against this not causing some other part of it to malfunction. Better it works properly or not at all than to risk it overheating and blowing up, or creating permanent rifts in time and space.'

'There is that,' Ianto conceded.

Jack reluctantly handed over the plans to Tosh and she nodded, understanding that there was a bigger picture here, and that scientific curiosity had to take a step back until they'd figured out what was causing the rift manipulator's current problems.

Owen fitted her with heatproof clothing and gloves as she studied the pieces of machinery that she could see, and compared them to the plans. Jack stood next to her and tried to help where he could, adding additional technical knowledge for the more advanced aspects he'd seen in his time as a time agent. Gwen and Ianto had brought in a couple of pedestal fans to keep the air moving as Tosh and Jack worked away, already with sweat dripping down their faces. Owen was hosing down the opposite side of the tower with cool water until Ianto could hack the council's mainframe and readjust the tower's settings, cranking up the amount of water flowing down its length, and place a canopy over the opening to the rift manipulator so that it wasn't impeding their efforts to fix it.

With all of that going on, Myfanwy's continued agitation only added to their stresses.

'She really knows how to pick her moments,' Gwen complained as she got swooped, ducking just in the nick of time.

'Bad girl!' Ianto yelled, but it was to no avail. She squawked back at him and made to dive at Tosh and Jack.

Jack was about to yell back at him to do more, before there was a loud sharp cracking sound. The entire side of the tower split asunder and the mirrored glass came tumbling off in a shower. They all instinctively ducked and covered their heads, and they were doused in water and shards of glass. When the chaos subsided, Jack made to check that they were all okay, relieved to hear four affirmative replies.

Joining them in the vicinity of the tower was their pet pteranadon, cawing softly. Some of the glass had cut her wings when it fell and she had several bleeding scratches. Owen went in search of supplies to clean the scratches whilst Gwen and Ianto tried to settle her. Whilst they did, Jack and Tosh turned their attention back to the rift manipulator. It was still exuding a strong heat, but was now much more visible inside its metal cage, all of the facia having crumbled off. The tower looked like a stark skeleton without its gleaming surface.  

With their new uninterrupted view, Jack caught sight of something wedged deep within the mechanics.

'What's that?'

Tosh, with her slimmer arm and her protective suit, reached into the narrow space, pulling out a handful of straw. Myf caught sight of what she was doing and flapped wildly, oblivious to her injuries, sending the others tumbling back out of range of her wingspan.

'There's something else in here,' Tosh said, reaching in again. Her glove wrapped around something hard and smooth, almost too big for her hand to grasp. When she pulled back, they finally got a clear view of what it was.

'It's an egg,' Jack said, surprised, taking it from her and examining it. Myf screeched louder than they'd ever heard, quickly pulling their hands over ears to block the sound.

'Well, I think we know why she was upset about us tinkering around here. I'd say this belongs to her. She's made some kind of nest in here for it. That's why it got overheated.'

'Why?' Gwen asked.

Jack shrugged. 'It's an egg. This was a nice, safe and warm place to keep it, I suppose.'

'I think the more important question is how?' Owen said. 'Last I checked there wasn't a speed dating service for prehistoric birds. Are you really saying she laid that?'

'Whether she did or not, I'd say she's none too happy about us having it,' Ianto added, throwing a warning glance at Jack who was still holding the egg whilst Myf continued to flap angrily.

'Get me a towel,' he instructed.

Gwen fetched one from Owen's supply cupboards whilst the man himself and his Welsh counterpart tried to calm Myfanwy. Jack didn't take his eyes off her as he reached out for the towel, wrapping it carefully around the egg, but keeping the top visible. He made a slow beeline for her.

'It's okay, girl. See? Not gonna hurt your egg. I promise.' He slowly placed the egg on the floor at her feet and she seemed to calm down considerably. Once she was sure no one else was going near it, she let Owen and Ianto tend to her wounds properly, occasionally nudging the egg with her beak. Jack and Gwen helped Tosh clear the rest of her makeshift nest out of the tower, allowing the cool air and water to once again flow around the components.

'That ought to put an end to our problem,' Jack said, dusting his hands off. 'Though it would certainly reduce our heating bill, I'd rather not have the whole planet sucked into a giant rift.'

'What about our other problem?' Gwen asked, referring to Myfanwy.

Jack stared up at the high rooftop of the hub, where lay her nest. Somehow Ianto had convinced her that he meant her egg no harm and was able to cradle it in his arms and coax her back up to her nest, leaving the egg with her.

'Next time, try not to nest in critical pieces of machinery,' he chastised, making her comfortable and adding more straw for the corner where her egg was placed. She curled up next to it and felt sorry for herself as her various cuts were still stinging from Owen's disinfectant.

Ianto rejoined them downstairs where Jack was still staring skyward, arms folded, and surveying the mess that was the skeletal remains of the tower. Most of the mess around the rest of the hub had since been cleared away by the team, but they'd continue to be careful and vigilant for a few more weeks to make sure that stray bits of glass didn't cause any further injury.

'You don't think it's really her egg do you?' Ianto asked him.

'I think we can rule that out,' Jack said confidently.

'How can you be so sure?'

'I made a few calls whilst you were making mum comfy. Turns out that there's a regional zoo in Carmarthenshire with a very distraught pair of ostriches.'