harmonicsong

Title: 01UVI
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper
Rating: PG/NC-17
Warning: swearing, mentions sex, m/m relationship
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters mentioned hence forth....
Author's Note: I have basically taken our dear Torchwood characters and fused them in the Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow 'verse. Most lines are taken from the movie.
Spoilers: Total AU, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Wordcount:
Summary: The world is in danger and the people call for its Sky Captain...

 

Circling around the snowy fields of Tibet looking where to land, Jack is relieved to see a familiar person waving at him.

Helping Gwen on the ground and unloading their supplies, Jack looks up see his friend walk towards them.

“My old friend Jack,” he said giving the Captain a salute, which Jack returns. “So glad to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Owen,” said Jack warmly. “This is Gwen Cooper, she’ll be coming with us,” he explained when he saw Owen look at her in confusion.

Politely, Owen shakes her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said with a smile, but it quickly disappears when she sees Owen looking her up and down.

“Owen,” said Jack, trying to get Owen to focus on him, before he ends up on the ground with a black eye. “Did you get the maps I need?” As they flew over, Jack quickly sent over a message, using Morse Code, to Owen describing what he needed.

“Yeah, they’re inside,” pointing back towards the tents. “Did you get a little something for me?” asked Owen, looking at Jack expectantly.

“Of course,” Jack answered as he lifted up a cardboard case and handing it towards Owen, who stroked it reverently. “Three cases, just like you asked.”

“Vienna sausages. My God, it’s been so long,” Jack was a little afraid that Owen was going tear up right there.

“Owen, how’s your Tibetan?” asked Jack.

“When cold, nipples hard,” Owen said in Tibetan laughingly, as he gave Gwen a pointed stare. Jack couldn’t help laugh along with him. If glares were weapons, Owen would be lying on the ground. “Come, I’ll show you to the maps,” Owen walked away quickly, to stash his precious gift in his tent.

“How well do you know him?” Gwen asked stiffly.

“Owen? He’s old legion, medic and reconnaissance. Why?” Jack didn’t like her tone.

“I don’t trust him.”

“That’s funny; he said the same thing about you. Here,” he then threw a bag at Gwen. “Get changed, your clothes stay behind. You won’t be needing high heels where we’re going.” Looking through the bag, Gwen can see boots, coat, pants, gloves and a woollen cap.

Behind the plane, two of Owen’s cohorts gave each other pointed looks.

*****

 

Under the light of an oil lamp in the warmth of a tent, Jack, Gwen and Owen pour over a map.

“Yan tracked the signal to here,” said Jack placing the Ianto’s map on top of the larger one to compare. “This valley north of Karakal. This is where the transmission originated. Why is there no writing here? What is this place?” pointing at the area where the X was suppose to indicate. He looked up to see Owen stare at him in surprise and fear.

“Shambhala,” Owen answered.

“You know it?” asked Gwen.

“It’s forbidden. It’s said to be the source of the Kalachakra, Tibetan magic,” Owen may have been a man of science, but living here and seeing what has seen, changed his perspective. “Those who live there are said to have supernatural powers.”

“You can get us there, Owen, can’t you?” asked Jack imploringly, he can see that Owen was really frightened and reluctant.

“No one has ventured this far. It’s very dangerous,” warned Owen. “Shambhala is said to be protected by the priests of the Kalachakra lamasery. If they find us there, they will kill us.”

“Why? Why is this place so special?” asked Jack.

“Shambhala is known by many names. To the Hebrew, it’s Eden. To the Ancient Greek, it was Empurios. You may know it as Shangri-la.”

They look up to see one of Owen’s associates, talk to him in Tibetan and quickly leave.

“A storm is coming. If you still wish to go, we must go now,” he reports.

“I need to send a message,” Gwen informs them.

 

“Editor Davidson, this may be the last message you receive from me. We’ve tracked a radio signal to Nepal in search of Dr. Totenkopf. The story grows stranger at every turn. Clues about a countdown. But to what, I don’t know. I fear time is running out. With any luck, I’ll be back soon with Ianto and the story. I hope. Gwen Cooper”

 

The five of them Jack, Gwen, Owen and his two associates hitchhike through the snowy mountains of Nepal. On top of a mountain, they stare down at the mountainous range, its secrets covered in snow.

“This is where civilization ends,” said Owen. “A blank on the map. We must be careful from here.”

Quickly Gwen takes a picture of the scene. A shout behind them, sees the other two climbers have walked ahead and are now wave their arms to follow. Unimpeded by the snow, they quickly run up to see what got them excited about. The three stop suddenly when an enormous tower and a spherical building come into view. If it were not because of the white snow, they would have been the colour of dark grey.

“What is it?” asked Gwen, when they stop at the edge of a cliff.

“It looks like a mining outpost,” said Jack as he takes out his binoculars to take a closer look. He can see steel structures, buildings and transportation at the bottom; steel cables holding transport carts leading from their side of the mountain to through a cave at the bottom of the enormous tower and a suspension bridge.

“Something bad happened here,” said Owen ominously.

“Seems to be abandoned,” said Jack as he takes a closer look at the mouth of the cave, which seemed to be the only entrance. “Tell your men we’re heading down, I want a closer look,” he ordered Owen.

Inside the cave, Jack’s assumption of a mining seemed to be correct, when they see the cave walls being held by steel beams and train tracks running across the ground. They also see a drill, the mole-like truck abandoned in the middle of the cave. Everything, from machinery to boxes, was covered in cobwebs, illustrating the many years of abandonment.

After taking a shot of the drill, Gwen sees Jack and Owen walk towards one direction, so she decides to take another.

Jack and Owen find themselves in an office/supply/control room. Looking through the cabinets, Jack finds a radiation detector. Seeing that it was working, Jack holds the probe out in the air and looking down at the detector, is a little disconcerted at the readings.

“What is it Jack?” asked Owen coming to stand next to him.

“Uranium,” answered Jack grimly, looking down at the readings in the hope it might be wrong. “The whole mine is contaminated, we can’t stay here.”

“Let’s go,” said Owen, his eyes roaming the area. Jack turns around and starts when he realises they’re missing someone.

“Where’s Gwen?” asked Jack, as though Owen should know. With a curse, Jack walks back to where they came from. “Gwen!” he shouted in the dark, holding up his flashlight as high as he could, but it didn’t provide much light.

“Miss Cooper!” shouted Owen, but all the reply they get is an echo of their shouts.

They walk further, until they come up to a junction.

“We have to split up,” announced Jack wearily, not liking the idea and judging by Owen’s muttering he didn’t like it either. With no other option, Jack takes the left as Owen takes the right.

Further along, Jack was beginning to feel both apprehensive and annoyed. Damn it Gwen! Just this once, Jack hoped that Gwen wouldn’t wander-

Suddenly he hears a scream and he knows that it’s Gwen. Holding up his gun, Jack runs to the direction of the scream. Rounding a corner and through a door, Jack points his flashlight and gun to the image of a frightened Gwen held by one of Owen’s associates with a knife close to her throat.

“Let her go,” Jack ordered calmly, taking care to not making any sudden movements, as he walks closer.

“Give me the vials and the girl will live,” swiftly Jack points his gun behind him and see the smirking image of the other associate.

“What vials? What are you talking about?” Jack asked confused. The associate#2 stares at him distrustfully, before giving associate#1 a nod.

“I will not ask you a second time,” he said as Gwen gasped at the knife touching her skin. “Drop the gun.”

Seeing as the man is not bluffing and unable to risk Gwen, Jack reluctantly throws his gun away from him to the ground.    

“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack said blithely. “You’ll just have to kill us,” trying a little reverse psychology, which obviously failed when the guy gives the signal and Gwen begins to gasp harder at the blade’s pressure.

“Wait, wait, wait!” she exclaimed. Unable to look at Jack’s face, Gwen takes out the vials from her jacket pocket, which the man behind her takes. Suddenly she is pushed forward into Jack’s body. It’s not as she imagined it to be, as he keeps his arms to his side and when she stares at his eyes, it is full of disappointment and betrayal.

“I’m sorry, Jack,” she whispered.

“Goodbye my friends,” hearing the jovial voice, they turn to see the men walk through the door. “Your journey ends here.” Just as Jack runs to take his gun, the door slams shut and is locked from the outside.

Gwen watches anxiously as Jack tries to pry the door open with the handle, but gives up when it proves futile. “I was going to tell you, Jack,” she said quickly, before he could say anything, seeing him lean into the door, his back to her. “You have to believe me.”

“What is in those vials?” Jacks asked wearily, he could not believe...

“I don’t know,” she answered weakly.

“You don’t know!” he snapped. “You expect me to believe that?” Unable to look at her, Jack tries to open the door again.

“I’m telling the truth, Jack,” she said imploringly. “Dr. Jennings gave them to me before he died. He said that the world would end and the countdown would begin if Totenkopf got his hands on them.

“You’ve done nothing but lie to me from the beginning,” giving up with the door he turned to her and a part of Gwen breaks a little when she sees his eyes; nothing but disappointment and betrayal in those blue orbs.

“Okay, I’m a liar,” she admitted. “But I don’t exaggerate. That is what he said,” she assured him with as much conviction she had.

“That was what Totenkopf was looking for,” Jack said, as some of the pieces are coming together. “That is why he took Ianto.” Anger surged through him when the thought of Ianto’s kidnapping was all because of her.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised again when she couldn’t say anything else. “I never meant for any of this to happen.” When Jack silences her, she suddenly hears something in the hush.  Looking around the room, Gwen tries to follows, what sounds like a sizzling noise. With the help of the lantern, Gwen and Jack looks up and shocked at what they saw.

“Dynamite,” Jack observed. Hearing the noise grow louder, Jack turns to its direction and freezes in shock at what he sees. Feeling Jack’s body stiffen, Gwen turns to the direction of his gaze and becomes in a similar state when she sees the flame, burning closer and closer along the cable fuse, towards the dynamite. In unison, they both turn to the door. Gwen arrives at the door first, but is moved aside by Jack’s barking order. Jack tries to pry the door with the help of a shovel. But Jack gives up immediately when it proves useless. They both look up in time to see the flame separate and now burn along several cables. Getting an idea, Jack looks around and spots an open crate of dynamite. Taking one, he brings it back, breaks the tube in half, lights it and wedges it in the door lever.

“What are you doing?” exclaimed Gwen.

“Come on,” grabbing Gwen arm, he pulls her behind the safety of the crate.

“Oh great, we’re safe,” Gwen says sarcastically when she sees what the crate contained. She then freezes when she realizes just how close Jack’s face was, how close his lips was.

“Gwen, this may be our last moment together,” her breath hitches when she hears this. “There’s something I need to ask you,” his blue eyes all focused on her, she barely heard the hissing sound. All she knew was Jack.

“Yes, Jack?” she couldn’t help the anticipation, Jack was finally going to tell her his feelings, he was going to admit that he-

“Did you cut my fuel line?”       

-was an asshole!

“Damn it!” She couldn’t believe...“I didn’t sabotage your lousy airplane! Our last moments on earth and this is all you have to say to me?” she exclaimed, incredulously.

“Could we just for once die without bickering?” he exclaimed, as if he had the right to be incredulous. He looks up over the crate and seeing that the dynamite was close to detonating, kneels back down and hugs Gwen near. For the first time in years, Jack begins to pray silently. Pray for peace, apology...and love.

Suddenly hearing the jarring of metal, they swiftly look up and see Owen in the open doorway.

“There you are!” Owen exclaimed. “Why did you lock the bloody door?”

“Run!” Jack shouts as he and Gwen run towards the door. Confused, Owen looks around in search of the source of their hysteria and seeing the dynamite on the ground quickly obeys Jack’s orders. Gwen stops when she suddenly remembers something.

“My film,” she quickly turns around, but is halted by a hand on her arm.

“Gwen, leave it! There’s no time!” Jack screamed, as he bodily drags her out. Just as they were a few metres from the entrance, the walls and ground begin to rumble and abruptly Jack feels a surge of heat on his back before a sudden pressure causes him to fly forward, face first into the snow.

Breathing heavily, Jack looks up through the falling snow, to see Gwen unconscious.

“Gwen,” he tries to move towards her, but his body his heavy and his arms are weak.

“Gwen,” he said, before he is pulled into the darkness. Ianto...

*****

Above them, high on top of a cliff, the cloaked mysterious woman watches them. Looking down, she takes one more look at the vials in her hand, before walking away to her aircraft.

 

The countdown begins