first_in_time | Copy Cat

The taxi pulled up outside a rather tall and grand looking hotel. Barbara stepped out to stare upwards. There were tall buildings in London but there was something about being in a different city which made the buildings unique and fascinating. Despite how tired she felt after such a long flight, she could almost go for a walk to see some more but there would be time for that later.

A finely dressed man dashed toward the from where he had been standing next tot he doors. "Shall I take your luggage?" he asked Ian and Barbara once the cabbie, or taxi driver, had hauled it out of the boot.

"Yes, thank you," Barbara replied. She reached out. For Ian's hand and offered him a smile before they walked into the hotel lobby together.

Once they had signed in at what appeared to be a marble desk, taken the lift up to near the very top, and stepped into their room, Barbara turned to thank the man for bringing their luggage. She gave him a small tip, since she didn't have a lot of money on her, and shut the door behind him.

"Would you look at this!" she said to Ian, gesturing to the entire room. "You must be valuable to have the board so generously pay for you to stay here!"

Barbara trotted over to the window to look out, passing a bottle of champagne and a note which wished them both a happy first anniversary.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

splendid_roman

Ian didn't want to leave the dead ones - their families would want to know what happened to them - but they didn't have time and they had to concentrate on the living ones. He grabbed the last one himself and followed Jack back along the now-deserted corridors. He emerged in the cupboard and shut the door behind him just as the ship blew up, with a bang and puff of air from the other side of the door.

He was happy enough to pass the man he'd been helping along to Torchwood to deal with, then he asked Jack, "Where's Barbara?" She'd been in the cupboard when he left.

From:

first_in_time

Normally Jack would make some joke about two men in a cupboard but his mind was focused on other things.

At Ian's question, a voice called from the corridor: "out here!"

One of the field men was checking her over. "She's alive but only just. We'll need to keep an eye on her, and the rest of these people. It's seems that the machine or Copier sucked every nutrient from their body, leaving them with just enough to barely function."

From:

splendid_roman

"Will she be alright?" Ian rushed over to Barbara and put a hand on her shoulder. "Can you do anything for her?"

"We'll get them all back to Torchwood, we'll soon have them revived." Jack clapped a hand on Ian's shoulder.

Ian wasn't sure he liked the idea of Barbara being taken off to Torchwood, but he liked the idea of her being barely alive even less. "Alright. I'll carry her."

From:

first_in_time

"Alright. Out the back way - less chance of being seen that way and will someone please do something about the dead Barbara in the closet? Would hate for management to find that." At seeing Ian carrying a barely alive Barbara, Jack added: "sorry."

From:

splendid_roman

Ian had winced, but said, "She wasn't Barbara, she was just a clone." It didn't make it any easier to see her dead, but at least he could be sure that he had the original, and that was the only Barbara he wanted.

Out the back it turned out they had a fleet of cars. Ian was directed into the last one and he put Barbara down on the seat beside him. Jack sat on the seat opposite and they were driven off.

"What are you doing here?" Ian asked him, and then added, "Not that I'm not grateful for the help." He just wasn't particularly pleased to see him, after their last meeting.

From:

first_in_time

"This is my job," Jack said simply and gestured around him with his hands. "The technology is a bit backward for my liking, but we can pick up the strange goings-on of aliens. That's how I found you last year. This year was a total fluke, I swear. How did the two of you get mixed up in all of this? I would have thought that your days with the Doctor were over." Well, for the moment, anyway.

From:

splendid_roman

"They are." They had been anyway. He hoped this sort of thing wouldn't happen on every anniversary. "We're just here for the conference."

From:

first_in_time

"Ah yes. The Carletonium. Out newest element. I hate to be the one tot ell you but it was a hoax; a distraction while people were kidnapped and fed to their machines. Unfortunately." Jack sighed, he did seem genuinely sad about the fact. Aliens had slipped past Torchwood. Of course it didn't help that the technology they really needed was still decades way (at least it wasn't a century away anymore. That just sounded painful)

He reached out to hesitantly clap Ian's shoulder. "I'd still count this as a win. There've been much worse stuff."

From:

splendid_roman

"Perhaps." Although he'd been wondering about the conference himself, he was still disappointed to learn it was all a hoax and he sighed. "If there's likely to be worse stuff, then we don't want to be involved. We want to live a quiet life."

From:

first_in_time

"Heh, good luck. You've got the Doctor's imprint on you now. There's no escaping it," he chuckled a little and glanced out the window. "Ah, here we are!"

The car drove into a dingy, gross looking area which could only be described as a hole in the ground. For a short time there was nothing to see out side the windows but soft, yellow lights which gently lit the way. They stopped in front of a large roller door and entered a special pin code which made the door roll up, allowing them in. Now the drive was far more pleasant, with while walls and a smooth, concrete floor.

When the car stopped. Other people who hadn't been on the mission, opened the car doors. Some were men and women in suits, others in more casual wear, and one child who sat behind a type writer. Staring straight ahead and typing so quickly that his hands were a blur.

"Torchwood USA!" Jack happily announced, despite the small group of unconscious people being pulled from cars.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian didn't look impressed. "I was expecting some sort of hospital."

Jack was disappointed. He'd thought the grand scale of everything would have impressed Ian more than it had. "We have a ward," he said, "just down there."

Some of the Torchwood people were taking the unconscious and barely-conscious patients in that direction. Although Ian didn't object to Barbara being laid on a trolley, he did stay by her side as it was wheeled along.

From:

first_in_time

"Is she on any medications that you know of?" asked one of the people walking alongside the trollies and checking each of the patients, "asthma medication, vitamins, contraceptives, any antibiotics or other temporary medications?"

Jack wandered off at that point. There was a stack of paperwork to be filled and he had to avoid it for a long as possible.

From:

splendid_roman

"Just contraception." He tried not to feel embarrassed about that because they were married. "She will be alright?" Although he'd asked the question before he felt like this person was more qualified to answer.

From:

first_in_time

"She should be. We're going to put her on a drip to help replace some vital bits and pieces she has lost, then we'll look into what we can do to conserve some of her energy. Things like hooking her up to a breathing machine. That way she'll have more energy for healing."

The doctor held his hand up to Ian, stoping him in his tracks as Barbara, and the others, were wheeled into another room. "Now, I'm sorry but we're going to have to ask you to stay here for a little while. We need to work and work fast. There's no point adding in an extra on-looker to trip over. I'll come and find you when we're done."

From:

splendid_roman

He opened his mouth to complain and then realised he couldn't, not if everything they were doing would make her better. So he turned away to pace around the space, hands in his pockets and looking a little lost.

From:

first_in_time

Ian was brought sandwiches, water and reading material because the wait was a long one. But eventually each of the doctors emerged looking satisfied enough, each smiling tiredly at Ian as they passed. One stopped, the same doctor he had been following into the depths of Torchwood.

"Chesterton, is it? I'm assuming that you're married to our patient, give the rings," he said and held out a hand to be shaken, "I would have greeted you before but I was a little preoccupied. She's stable and recovering quickly. We administered some adrenalin to speed things up for the moment but I expect that she'll be waking up in the next day or so and it will be steady going from there. I suggest that you get some rest yourself. Of course you can go in and see her but please tell us when you're done so you can get some rest. You need it, too."

From:

splendid_roman

Ian stood up quickly and shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you. Are you going to be keeping her here?" He sounded a little worried at the prospect. He wasn't sure he wanted Barbara to be somewhere so unfamiliar and he didn't want to leave her.

From:

first_in_time

"Until she's ready to travel, then we'll fly both of you home. Considering there aren't any major issues, I don't expect you to be here for too long," the doctor said and smiled tiredly. "It will take a few weeks or possibly a few months for her to return to her usual energetic, healthy self. Make sure that she takes it easy."

He offered Ian a little wave and left, wanting a good rest himself.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian couldn't imagine that convincing Barbara to rest would be easy, but perhaps it would be good practice for when they have children.

He went into the room and over to her bedside, kissed her forehead, then took her hand and sat by her bed, waiting for her to wake up.

From:

first_in_time

"I took the liberty of getting your things from the hotel room," said Jack from the doorway a couple of hours later. He only held in his hands the flowers and champagne from their room; gifts for their anniversary. "I had the guys put them with a bed we rolled out for you, just let us know when you're ready to use it. We've got showers and things, too. You know. Just in case you wanted to freshen up."

From:

splendid_roman

Ian jumped - he hadn't heard Jack come in. "Thank you." He was surprised that Jack was doing all this for them.

It was only when he stood up that he realised how stuff he was from sitting in the chair for so long. "I think I will have a shower," he said, stretching. He should change his clothes too, what with all the now-dried goo on them.

"Thank you for all your help," he said sincerely. "I can't say I was expecting it of you."

From:

first_in_time

"Well, I do try to make this part more of my business than breaking into people's homes, but you take the good with the bad." Jack chuckled and placed the flowers and champagne on a table nearby. "Go and clean yourself up. I'll keep watch."

From:

splendid_roman

"I'm glad to hear it." He didn't particularly like the idea of Jack breaking into their home again.

He went off for a shower, but didn't linger, as he was keen to get back to Barbara in case she woke up.

From:

first_in_time

Jack was reading over a file when Ian returned. Barbara was still sound asleep, each reading conveying how well everything was starting to work.

"I took the liberty of having some dinner brought to you. It's only take out but it's better than nothing," Jack told him, glancing up from his work momentarily, then he stood from the chair Ian had been sitting in. "It should be here in ten minutes or so."