Fic: Toxic
May. 22nd, 2025 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Toxic
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Gwen.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1151
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack sends Ianto with Gwen on a Rift retrieval, and it’s a good thing he does, because it turns out his knowledge is needed.
Written For: Weekend Challenge ‘Unprepared’ at
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1_million_words.Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Ianto had no idea why Jack had sent him with Gwen on this retrieval. Maybe it was nothing more than Torchwood’s Captain wanting all members of the team to work together at different times, getting to know each other better, because on his last retrieval he’d been with Tosh, and the one before that, he’d gone with Jack…
Then again, Ianto wasn’t exactly new to fieldwork, he’d been handling field assignments regularly for the last six months, ever since the mess with the cannibals, and had handled several retrievals solo. He’d even single-handedly captured a Weevil a couple of weeks ago. Of course, that had only been because he’d run into it by chance while the team were hunting down the last of the pesky alien rodents that had come through the Rift a couple of hours earlier, but he’d remembered what he’d been taught, and had handled the situation. Jack had been impressed, he’d said as much.
All that was beside the point, however. Here he was, on another Rift retrieval, this time with Gwen, who was, on paper at least, the senior agent. Never mind that Ianto had been with Torchwood for years, and she’d only been recruited nine months ago to fill the space on the team left by Suzie’s death.
Ianto had driven the SUV, because that was his job more often than not, they’d reached the right area, parked, and left the vehicle, and had been wandering around for the last ten minutes, using their scanners to pick up traces of Rift energy… Whatever they were looking for had to be around here somewhere, unless it had unexpectedly sprouted legs and wandered off…
“Gwen what did Tosh tell you about the readings she got when the Rift opened?”
“What do you mean?” Gwen had her back to him, peering over a low wall.
“What exactly is it we’re looking for?”
Gwen glanced across at him with a puzzled expression. “I don’t know. We never know, do we?”
“The Rift monitor usually gives us some idea. Approximate size, composition, whether or not it’s alive, that sort of thing.”
“Does it? I didn’t know that. I mean, I thought that’s why we had the scanners, because we can’t tell whether we’ve found what we’re looking for unless we pick up traces of Rift energy.”
“I assumed you’d have been told, since Jack assigned me to go with you, rather than the other way around.” Ianto sighed. “I’ll call Tosh, it might save us some time if we have some idea of what to look for. She probably thinks we already checked the readings ourselves, otherwise she would’ve said something before we left.” Ianto pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled down his contacts list to find Tosh’s number, but Gwen interrupted him before he could make the call.
“Don’t bother, I think I’ve found it. Poor little thing, it must be so scared!”
Shoving his phone away again, Ianto headed towards Gwen, who was bending down, trying to reach something approximately the size of a cat, huddling beneath a straggly, overgrown bush. The creature was furry, grey, with yellowish stripes the length of its back, and rings of the same colour around its long, prehensile tail.
“Come on, sweetheart,” she was cooing. “It’s alright, we won’t hurt you, you’re safe now.”
Ianto took one look at the creature and didn’t hesitate; he grabbed Gwen by the shoulder and pulled her back. “Don’t touch it!”
“Get off me! I almost had it!”
“Don’t you know what that is? It’s a Grokklokk!”
“I don’t care what it’s called! It’s a scared little animal that needs our help!”
“They’re venomous, Gwen. There are poisonous barbs in the stripes along their back, and their bite is toxic to humas as well!”
“How do you know that? Have you seen one before?”
“Not in person, only pictures in the species database, and in the Torchwood manual, under Safety Protocols. The section on dangerous non-sentient creatures, their identification, and what to do if you encounter one.”
“There’s a manual?” Gwen was frowning.
“Of course, I put a copy on your desk myself. The book with the black cover and the Torchwood symbol on the front in red. The book you were supposed to read, cover to cover.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember seeing that, but it was over an inch thick, so I just had a quick flip through, and read the bit about Weevils. I mean, it’s not like I’ll need to know any of the other stuff in it.”
“Really? You don’t need to know? And if you’d been out here alone for this retrieval and tried to pick that Grokklokk up, you’d have been dead within the hour. There’s no treatment, as you’d know if you’d read the manual.”
Gwen brushed that off. “So what do we do with it? We can’t just leave it here for someone else to find. And what if it runs off?”
“It won’t do that.”
“You can’t be sure of that.” Gwen glared up at Ianto, arms folded over her chest.
“I can. It’s dying. Our atmosphere is as toxic to them as they are to us, which is a good thing in some respects, because they don’t have the strength to move far from their arrival point. Makes it easy to locate and contain them.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“To help it? No. Not everything can be saved, or even should be. But you’re right that we can’t leave it here.” Ianto held out the car keys. “Why don’t you go and fetch the SUV? We’ll need a containment box to put it in, among other things.”
“Why can’t you do that?”
“No reason, I suppose. But can I trust you to wait right here and leave the Grokklokk alone until I get back?”
“Of course! I’m not stupid!”
Ianto decided not to comment on that. “Fine, I’ll get the SUV, but you stay right where you are until I get back. Your only job for the moment is to keep any passers-by from going near that bush.”
“What about cats, birds, stray dogs?”
“They’ll keep their distance. Animals are smarter than humans, they avoid anything that doesn’t belong. Just watch out for people, especially kids.”
“Fine.” Gwen folded her arms again. “I thought I was supposed to be in charge.”
“So did I, but it turns out I know more about what we’re dealing with than you do, so…” He shrugged and turned away, heading back the way they’d come, taking a few steps before pausing and looking back. “And Gwen?”
“What now?”
“When we get back to the Hub, I suggest you read the manual, thoroughly, from cover to cover. At the very least, commit the section on Safety Protocols to memory. You need to be prepared for all eventualities, like the rest of us; it could save your life.”
The End
Then again, Ianto wasn’t exactly new to fieldwork, he’d been handling field assignments regularly for the last six months, ever since the mess with the cannibals, and had handled several retrievals solo. He’d even single-handedly captured a Weevil a couple of weeks ago. Of course, that had only been because he’d run into it by chance while the team were hunting down the last of the pesky alien rodents that had come through the Rift a couple of hours earlier, but he’d remembered what he’d been taught, and had handled the situation. Jack had been impressed, he’d said as much.
All that was beside the point, however. Here he was, on another Rift retrieval, this time with Gwen, who was, on paper at least, the senior agent. Never mind that Ianto had been with Torchwood for years, and she’d only been recruited nine months ago to fill the space on the team left by Suzie’s death.
Ianto had driven the SUV, because that was his job more often than not, they’d reached the right area, parked, and left the vehicle, and had been wandering around for the last ten minutes, using their scanners to pick up traces of Rift energy… Whatever they were looking for had to be around here somewhere, unless it had unexpectedly sprouted legs and wandered off…
“Gwen what did Tosh tell you about the readings she got when the Rift opened?”
“What do you mean?” Gwen had her back to him, peering over a low wall.
“What exactly is it we’re looking for?”
Gwen glanced across at him with a puzzled expression. “I don’t know. We never know, do we?”
“The Rift monitor usually gives us some idea. Approximate size, composition, whether or not it’s alive, that sort of thing.”
“Does it? I didn’t know that. I mean, I thought that’s why we had the scanners, because we can’t tell whether we’ve found what we’re looking for unless we pick up traces of Rift energy.”
“I assumed you’d have been told, since Jack assigned me to go with you, rather than the other way around.” Ianto sighed. “I’ll call Tosh, it might save us some time if we have some idea of what to look for. She probably thinks we already checked the readings ourselves, otherwise she would’ve said something before we left.” Ianto pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled down his contacts list to find Tosh’s number, but Gwen interrupted him before he could make the call.
“Don’t bother, I think I’ve found it. Poor little thing, it must be so scared!”
Shoving his phone away again, Ianto headed towards Gwen, who was bending down, trying to reach something approximately the size of a cat, huddling beneath a straggly, overgrown bush. The creature was furry, grey, with yellowish stripes the length of its back, and rings of the same colour around its long, prehensile tail.
“Come on, sweetheart,” she was cooing. “It’s alright, we won’t hurt you, you’re safe now.”
Ianto took one look at the creature and didn’t hesitate; he grabbed Gwen by the shoulder and pulled her back. “Don’t touch it!”
“Get off me! I almost had it!”
“Don’t you know what that is? It’s a Grokklokk!”
“I don’t care what it’s called! It’s a scared little animal that needs our help!”
“They’re venomous, Gwen. There are poisonous barbs in the stripes along their back, and their bite is toxic to humas as well!”
“How do you know that? Have you seen one before?”
“Not in person, only pictures in the species database, and in the Torchwood manual, under Safety Protocols. The section on dangerous non-sentient creatures, their identification, and what to do if you encounter one.”
“There’s a manual?” Gwen was frowning.
“Of course, I put a copy on your desk myself. The book with the black cover and the Torchwood symbol on the front in red. The book you were supposed to read, cover to cover.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember seeing that, but it was over an inch thick, so I just had a quick flip through, and read the bit about Weevils. I mean, it’s not like I’ll need to know any of the other stuff in it.”
“Really? You don’t need to know? And if you’d been out here alone for this retrieval and tried to pick that Grokklokk up, you’d have been dead within the hour. There’s no treatment, as you’d know if you’d read the manual.”
Gwen brushed that off. “So what do we do with it? We can’t just leave it here for someone else to find. And what if it runs off?”
“It won’t do that.”
“You can’t be sure of that.” Gwen glared up at Ianto, arms folded over her chest.
“I can. It’s dying. Our atmosphere is as toxic to them as they are to us, which is a good thing in some respects, because they don’t have the strength to move far from their arrival point. Makes it easy to locate and contain them.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“To help it? No. Not everything can be saved, or even should be. But you’re right that we can’t leave it here.” Ianto held out the car keys. “Why don’t you go and fetch the SUV? We’ll need a containment box to put it in, among other things.”
“Why can’t you do that?”
“No reason, I suppose. But can I trust you to wait right here and leave the Grokklokk alone until I get back?”
“Of course! I’m not stupid!”
Ianto decided not to comment on that. “Fine, I’ll get the SUV, but you stay right where you are until I get back. Your only job for the moment is to keep any passers-by from going near that bush.”
“What about cats, birds, stray dogs?”
“They’ll keep their distance. Animals are smarter than humans, they avoid anything that doesn’t belong. Just watch out for people, especially kids.”
“Fine.” Gwen folded her arms again. “I thought I was supposed to be in charge.”
“So did I, but it turns out I know more about what we’re dealing with than you do, so…” He shrugged and turned away, heading back the way they’d come, taking a few steps before pausing and looking back. “And Gwen?”
“What now?”
“When we get back to the Hub, I suggest you read the manual, thoroughly, from cover to cover. At the very least, commit the section on Safety Protocols to memory. You need to be prepared for all eventualities, like the rest of us; it could save your life.”
The End
