Drabble: Branching Out - Sequel to ‘The Rift In Autumn’

[badly_knitted]

 

Title: Branching Out - Sequel to ‘The Rift In Autumn’

Author: badly_knitted     

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen

Rating: PG

Written For: Challenge 296 – Autumn In Cardiff at tw100

Spoilers: None at all.

Summary: Never mind fallen leaves, the team have a fallen tree to deal with.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.

A/N: Not a double drabble, a pair of drabbles posted under a joint title because it worked better than posting them separately. Everyone was feeling sorry for Ianto, but no one was showing the poor tree any sympathy, so I’m doing it myself ;)

Back at Ianto’s car, the team surveyed the scene of devastation.

There were leaves and small branches scattered everywhere while a couple of larger branches were cracked and oozing. The main trunk lay half on the bonnet of Ianto’s car, half on the pavement.

Even as they watched, the tree stirred feebly. Owen was shocked.

“It’s alive!”

“It’s a tree, Owen, of course it’s alive. It’s also in pain. See if you can set its branches,” Jack snapped out.

“Never treated a tree before,” Owen muttered, setting to work.

“Think of it as just another displaced alien,” suggested Ianto.

“Right.”

OoOoOoOoO

The tree was a Rift victim just as surely as any alien plucked from its home and dumped on an unsuspecting Cardiff. This autumn, the Rift seemed particularly keen on botanical specimens, Ianto mused, although at twelve feet tall, it was the largest so far.

They hauled it back to the Hub where it was temporarily planted beside the Rift pool so that Owen could treat its damaged branches. Despite complaining he was a doctor, not a botanist, he worked hard splinting its limbs to help them heal. It would recover, though the chances of sending it home were remote.

TBC in ‘Tree-Homing’