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

"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."

From:

splendid_roman

"Thanks." He glanced over at Barbara to see she was still asleep. "Do you go all round the world after aliens?"

From:

first_in_time

"Not really. That's usually UNIT' job but I had a friend attending the conference and he thought something was a little odd, so he asked me to come and check it out. Thankfully there's a newly constructed Torchwood base." Jack patted the walls and smiled at Ian. "You know, I should retcon the two of you after this, so you don't remember anything. But I don't think that I will seeming as the two of you probably won't ever come back to America again, and it'd be nice to pop in and vid see the Chestertons every once in a while. Maybe you'll fall for my charms and graces eventually."

As if in protest, Barbara grunted gently. Her forehead creased and slowly her eyes fluttered open.

"Ian? Where am I?"

From:

splendid_roman

Ian frowned at Jack and was going to complain that they'd rather not be retconned or visited and neither of them were ever going to fall for his charms, but Barbara was more important and he rushed to her side and took her hand.

"You're at Torchwood," he told her gently. "They have doctors who are treating all the people who were cloned."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara was famished, and everything hurt but Ian was with her. She could be in the Tower of London for all she really cared.

"And are you alright?" she asked and squeezed his hand. Jack took that as a signal to slip out.

From:

splendid_roman

"I'm fine." He smiled at her. "But you did give me a fright, when I came back off the ship and saw you just lying there."

From:

first_in_time

"I'm sorry. I merely having a little lie down," she joked like Ian often did. "But I feel much better now, although a little hungry. I'm glad that you're here, though."

From:

splendid_roman

He grinned at her joke. "Dinner will be along soon." He kissed the back of her hand. "I'm glad to see my sense of humour is rubbing off on you."

From:

first_in_time

"Something was bound to after spending all of that time together," she chuckled a little.

After a moment, she fell serious again. "Did you manage to get everyone off the ship? All of the survivors?"

From:

splendid_roman

"Yes, I did." He wasn't going to tell her about the dead ones they'd have to leave there - what would be the point? There wasn't anything she could do about it.

Before she might decide he was lying from his expression he quickly added, "And Torchwood have all our belongings, so we don't even have to go back to the hotel."

Edited Date: 2013-11-30 08:46 pm (UTC)