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sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-17 11:30 am
sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-17 11:30 am
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Edgar van Scyoc Presents: Doctor Who; Chapter 4
Title: Edgar van Scyoc Presents: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13 (mainly for language)
Summary: Torchwood and Doctor Who team up for a three-week crossover series with Dalek invasions, long-lost family, space battles, and plenty of Doctor Who mythology. Meanwhile, Edgar and Ellis attempt to maintain some semblance of a personal life.
Chapter Four
SPECIAL DOCTOR WHO CROSSOVER TRILOGY
Starting tonight at 8/7 Central!
Torchwood and Doctor Who begin a three-week miniseries run featuring two hours of sci-fi action every Saturday night. The Doctor and Torchwood must work in tandem when the Doctor's most ancient enemy, the Dalek race, is summoned to Earth by an alien artifact. Secrets will be revealed, soldiers will be forged in the crucible of an international battle for survival, and one man will give his life to protect the planet from the Hungry Storm. How did the Daleks escape the battle of Arcadia -- and what is the mystery behind the Doctor's name?
***
"It's done," Ellis said, sitting back in his chair and sighing. "Post-production is in the can, the publicity machine is gearing up, and I think frankly I've earned a nice holiday somewhere after penning a six-hour science-fiction trilogy."
Edgar looked up across the desk and smiled. "But you won't take one, huh."
"Not until the season's over. But it's nice to have crossed a milestone."
"You loved every minute of it. You live for the epic."
Ellis nodded, but he rubbed the bridge of his nose exhaustedly, too. "I do. With all the expended energy that entails. I suspect I'm getting too old for the epic, however."
"That's crap. You're not old, and this is the showpiece of the franchise -- they'll be talking about the miniseries for years. We're going to kill during sweeps."
"Yes, perhaps so."
Edgar got up and circled the desk, resting his hands on Ellis's shoulders from behind. "When do you fly out for Vancouver?"
"Three days," Ellis mumbled.
"And just a little bit of this tiredness is -- "
" -- that I'm going to miss you, yes, fine, make me say it."
"Always," Edgar ran his thumbs up the nape of Ellis's neck. "Let's go out and celebrate. Somewhere quiet, you and me, bottle of wine, fortifying steaks."
"You're a terrible romantic."
"Indulge me."
"What else do I ever do?"
Edgar leaned forward, resting his chin on the crown of Ellis's head. "This will be what, our third date?"
"Sort of pathetic when you think about it."
"Well, long-distance relationships are hard. My point, distractible one, is that I have a very relaxed policy regarding putting out after the third date."
Ellis leaned back and looked up at him, but it was amusement and not arousal in his eyes. "Is that so?"
"That's so."
"And you're saying, in your own indirect way, that if I take you out for drinks and dinner I might get lucky afterwards?"
Edgar grinned and nodded, one hand sliding down Ellis's bicep.
"I'm not certain how much luckier I could get, really," Ellis murmured, closing his eyes and resting his head back against Edgar's shoulder. Edgar waited patiently, letting him bask for a moment.
"All right," Ellis said. "We'll go out. But, we have to be back by seven. There's a show on the television I want to watch. I hear they're doing a miniserial!"
Edgar laughed. "Fair enough. Come on."
***
TRILOGY PART ONE: FATHERS AND SONS
Lieutenant Ross Jenkins, USPAT soldier and friend of Torchwood, has discovered something mysterious on a routine recon drill. Mistrustful of his superiors' intentions towards the artifact, he brings it to Torchwood for further study. Unfortunately, someone else wants the artifact: the Doctor, summoned back to 21st century Earth by its powerful pull. That's not the only surprise in store, however -- especially for Lieutenant Jenkins and the Doctor's companion Gordon Lethbridge.
"Jack, since it's quiet, can I go a bit early?"
Jack looked up from the budget report he was working on and grinned. "What, got a hot date?"
"Something like that," Tosh said, matching his grin.
"You have a date?" Tommy asked.
"Who's got a date?" Owen called from below, sitting on the ground and tinkering with one of his chair's wheels. He pushed himself up, walked a few unsteady steps, and dropped back into it.
"Tosh," Tommy answered. "You didn't tell me."
"I don't tell you everything."
"Oh my god," Gwen said. "Is it Ross the Hot USPAT Guy?"
"Ross the Hot USPAT Guy," Tosh confirmed. "He asked me out."
"Well, who am I to stand in the way of interdepartmental relations?" Jack asked, leaning back. "Go on."
"I want a report tomorrow!" Gwen called, as Tosh gathered her bags and almost skipped out the rolldoor.
As he passed, Ian caught Owen's eye and gave him a lopsided smile; Owen glanced down at his hands in his lap, scowled, and wheeled off.
***
"What about you?" Tosh asked, twisting her fork in her salad. She glanced up at Ross, who looked remarkably normal out of USPAT gear. He took a sip of his beer. "I don't know anything about you, and you've pretty much had my whole history."
"It's nice to be able to tell someone, isn't it?" he said. "Someone you don't have to skimp on the details with."
"Yeah. Usually I tell people I work for the city, and they get this look."
Ross laughed. "Try telling them you're a Marine. They either start to lecture me about world peace or get dewey-eyed and ask me when I'm shipping out."
"Come on, though, you have to have a story. I told you mine."
He shrugged. "Not really. Only child, single mother -- grew up in Wales, near her family, but she got a job at U Chicago when I was a teenager and moved me out here. Got my citizenship when she did."
"And your dad? If I can ask..."
"Dad was a USPAT man stationed in London, at least Mum thinks so. They had a fling, he vanished...she didn't want me to go into USPAT, but I...wanted to see, I guess. What the big deal was. And maybe I thought I'd find my dad."
"Sad," Tosh said, frowning.
"It sounds like it, but I have a lot of fun. We get to see some pretty interesting stuff. And meet cool people," he added, catching her eye. "In fact..." he reached into the messenger bag slung on the back of the chair and took out a padded envelope. "I was going to use this as an excuse if the date ended up being awkward, but I think we're doing all right, don't you?"
"I think so," she said. "What is it?"
"It was recovered from a crash site a few miles outside of Chicago. We told the locals it was a downed light aircraft. It doesn't match the rest of the material and...I like working in USPAT but that doesn't mean I trust them. I pocketed it, thought I'd pass it on to you. USPAT takes the view that if you can't use it to blow things up, it's probably worthless."
Tosh peered into the envelope. Inside was a strange, thin metal device, about the diameter and shape of a bread plate.
"Have a look at it later -- it's made up of interlocking disks, you can move them around. Probably just someone's idea of a calculator," he said, which was when Tosh's phone rang.
"Captain Harkness," she said. "I need to -- "
He wasn't paying attention, though; he was holding up a pager and studying it.
"Jack, what's going on?" Tosh asked, flipping the phone open.
"Incoming," Jack said. "Huge energy spike on East Illinois near the NBC tower. Get back here."
"I'll meet you there, it's across the street. Have Ian send me the location," she said, then hesitated as Ross waved to get her attention. "Hang on, Jack."
"USPAT callout, all hands," Ross said. "Across the street."
"Jack, USPAT's on alert as well," she said.
"Ross the Hot USPAT Guy," Jack sighed. "All right, get there, get readings, liaise with USPAT. Sorry about your date."
Tosh grinned at Ross, who was already leaving money on the table for the meal. "Don't be. This is about to get fun."
They hurried out of the restaurant and followed the GPS coordinates Ian transmitted, ending up on Pioneer Plaza just south of the Tribune building, the NBC tower behind them. The plaza was deserted, but there was a strange roaring noise; Ross produced a gun, also from the messenger bag, and offered her a second.
"You always pack heat on dates?" she asked.
"Came from work," he replied.
There was movement to their left, and when they turned something was blinking in and out of existence: a large blue box, struggling to cohere. The squeal of tires behind them heralded the arrive of the Torchwood SUV, careening across the plaza where cars weren't really meant to go.
"It's all right!" she called, as doors began to slam open. "I think it's the Doctor!"
"How is that in any way a definition of 'all right'?" Jack shouted over the roar of the TARDIS engines. "He never shows up here unless there's trouble!"
There was sudden silence, and the police box loomed before them, dark and forbidding. The door burst open and the Doctor emerged, blaster in hand, aimed unerringly at Tosh and Ross, the two closest targets. Ross, automatically, raised his gun as well.
Then the Doctor sighed, holstered his blaster, and rolled his eyes.
"Rose, Colonel, come on out," he called, stepping away from the door. "It's just the welcome wagon."
Rose emerged first, followed by the Colonel, neither looking all that different from the last time Tosh had seen them. Ross, however, saw the stripes on Lethbridge's shoulder and snapped to attention.
"Who's your new boy?" the Doctor asked Jack. "He doesn't look too bright."
"He's not one of ours. You ruined his date," Jack replied. "You can't send an email when you're going to be in town? The ship sets off all our alerts and then we end up out here, pretending like we weren't getting ready for an invasion. It gets a bit tiresome, you know."
"Listen, I don't always -- hang on," the Doctor said, head snapping back around to Ross. He stepped forward, looking almost like a dog scenting the air. "If he's not Torchwood, who is he?"
"USPAT man. The rest'll be here soon," Jack said dismissively. "Come on back to the -- "
"Shut up," the Doctor said, holding up a hand. "There's something wrong."
Ross stared resolutely ahead.
"At ease," the Doctor tried. Ross didn't twitch. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Colonel?"
"At ease, Lieutenant," Lethbridge said, grinning. "We're both off-duty, kid. Relax."
"I hate to be pushy, but USPAT's going to show up at any moment and it's much easier on paperwork if you're not here when they arrive," Jack announced, as Ross stood to parade rest. "If you don't mind, Lieutenant Hot Ross."
"Huh?" Ross asked.
"Lieutenant Jenkins."
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, offering Ross his hand with an expectant air.
"Doctor of what?" Ross asked, shaking it. The Doctor beamed.
"Oh, I'm going to like you," he said.
"Lieutenant? Doctor?" Jack said impatiently. "Is there going to be a problem, Jenkins?"
"No -- I think we can hand this one off. I'll handle them when they get here, tell them it was you guys messing around. Go on," Ross said, and pressed the envelope into Tosh's hands again. "Call me? Rain check?"
"Yeah," Tosh said, beaming, and then had to be tugged into the SUV by Jack, who loaded her in next to Rose and Gwen, leaving Lethbridge, Tommy, and Ian to share the cage while the Doctor took place of pride in the shotgun seat.
"He seems nice," Gwen said to Tosh, over the top of Rose's head. "Did you have a good dinner?"
"Sorry about interrupting -- business first," the Doctor said over his shoulder. "Maybe you guys can help me find what I'm looking for."
"As if we knew what we were looking for," Rose retorted.
"I know in a general sense! Small and evil, gives off lots of energy, somewhere nearby."
"Well, gee, that does narrow it down," Tommy called.
"We'll catch up later," Gwen assured Tosh, who sighed.
***
Excerpt from the shooting script for: Fathers And Sons
Story & Teleplay by: Ellis Graveworthy
Directed by: Edgar van Scyoc
INT - HUB LABORATORY
The DOCTOR has Tosh's mechanism hooked up to a series of wires, some of which look as though they've been tied in decorative knots. He is on eye-level with it, studying it carefully and making a series of marks on the surface. Focus shift to background; JACK is standing in the doorway, arms crossed.
JACK
Need anything?
DOCTOR
More than you could possibly know.
JACK
I want to help if I can. We do. Torchwood. We're on the same side, you and us.
DOCTOR
You don't know how Torchwood was founded, do you?
JACK
[entering the room and closing the door; throughout the scene he circles closer to the DOCTOR]
Tell me, then.
DOCTOR
I was a kid when I came to Earth for the first time. I was just...kicking around the universe. Seeing the sights. I did a stupid thing; interfered with the course of history. Nothing that wouldn't have happened anyway, but -- I didn't hear time as clearly as I do now. One offhand remark -- don't cross the river there, General Washington, cross here -- and suddenly you're wanted man number one. I don't know if they think I was a witch or something they wanted to take apart and study. Torchwood was founded as a branch of a masonic order, dedicated to stalking, trapping, and murdering me.
JACK
Well. I won't deny a bit of stalking. But I thought you could fix me.
DOCTOR
[ignoring him]
But of course Torchwood got distracted by all the shiny things that they scavenged as they fell out of the sky, and they needed someone with a little more pep and vigor. Enter USPAT. It's flattering to have spawned two entire militias with the sole purpose of apprehending me, but you'll forgive me if I treat you as my potential jailer.
JACK
We aren't like that. We've changed. I changed us.
DOCTOR
Good for you.
The DOCTOR looks up; JACK is looming directly over him, very close.
JACK
We're allies, Doctor. We both want to protect Earth. I know why I do, I live here. Why do you?
DOCTOR
I have a soft spot for creatures that can't look after themselves.
JACK
Most people just get kittens.
DOCTOR
You know how important humanity is. Spreading out across known space, innovating, shaping, attacking, defying. Murdering. Rescuing.
JACK
Well, I was hoping that you'd say just a little of it had to do with me.
DOCTOR
You can't die. You don't need my protecting.
JACK
[suggestive]
What if I wanted it?
DOCTOR
Then I'd need protection from Mr. Leone.
JACK
We have a very unique relationship.
DOCTOR
They all say that.
INT - HUB - JACK'S OFFICE
IAN
I told you sex wouldn't work.
JACK
Fun to try though.
IAN
Out of curiosity, what would you have done if he'd taken you up on the offer?
JACK
He's the last of his race, Ian. You only live once.
IAN
That seems to be an excuse I could use more readily than you.
JACK
Yeah, I should work on my lines. Can you honestly say if you had a chance with him you'd say no?
IAN
[eyeing the DOCTOR; perhaps more enthusiastically than necessary]
Good point.
Jack
Hey!
IAN
[smirks]
Turnabout, Jack.
***
"He's watching me," Ross said, head bent over the papers Gwen had just given him. "Do you know why the Doctor keeps watching me?"
"He's pretty much as mysterious to us as he is to you," Gwen answered. "You could ask him. Guy like that, might even get a straight answer."
"He said there was something wrong about me. You think he was just trying to freak me out?"
"I have excellent hearing," the Doctor said loudly, his voice echoing up the high dome of the Hub. "And I never do anything just to frighten someone."
Ross looked over and found the Doctor watching him; Rose and Tosh were watching the Doctor. There was a flicker of movement from the upstairs conference room where the Colonel and Jack were contacting USPAT.
"Come down here, if you want to know," the Doctor invited, looking tired. "The world may end tomorrow."
"If there's a Dalek fleet left," Rose said. "And if we can't stop them."
"We can't, not with what we have," the Doctor said.
"Doctor," Tosh said quietly, tilting her head at Ross as he approached.
"Sure," the Doctor said, seeming to snap out of his pensive mood immediately. "It's all right, I don't bite. Come here."
He stood Ross in a patch of light streaming in from the roof and rested his hands on his shoulders, fingers flexing slightly. Little crackles of blue light licked across his hands and then disappeared.
"There's something not exactly right about you, like a sound on the edge of hearing, a blurred spot in vision," the Doctor said thoughtfully, more to himself than to Ross. "Almost as if you've been loosed from time, just a little."
"I have good reflexes," Ross offered.
"I don't doubt it. Are your parents still living?" the Doctor asked, and Ross blinked. "It's an easy question. Were you adopted?"
"My mother died last year. My father was a soldier, never stayed anywhere very long."
"A soldier? Is that what she told you?"
"She didn't lie," Ross said stiffly.
"No, I'm certain she didn't. You won't know this but in polite society it's considerate to ask -- may I look at your DNA?"
"Like, in a test tube?"
"Like, in your body," the Doctor answered, lips twitching into a scornful smile.
"Will it hurt?"
"No."
Ross nodded once, sharply. The Doctor closed his eyes and his brow furrowed.
"Yes, there it is...a certain temporal radiation affecting your cells...almost as if you were -- "
The Doctor's speech cut off sharply as he jerked back, electricity blowing him into a nearby railing and sending Ross to his knees momentarily. When he stood, his coat was smoking.
"God -- dammit -- LETHBRIDGE!" the Doctor yelled before turning to Ross. "Your mother concieved you in London, didn't she?"
"Yes -- "
"Your father was a USPAT man?"
"We thought -- that is, Mum thought -- maybe, probably."
"What's going on?" Lethbridge called down, leaning on the rail. "Jesus, did you try to blow up the lieutenant?"
"I told you," the Doctor said, striding about to the stairwell. "Lethbridge, what did I tell you about meddling in time?"
"Do as you say, not as you do?" Lethbridge answered.
"That you didn't know what you were doing! You -- you fornicatory ape!"
"Hey, okay, there's no need for name calling."
"There is every need for name-calling!" the Doctor said. "For a start! Gordon Lethbridge, father! Ross Jenkins, son! You fathered a son? It defies belief, your idiocy, and yet there it is."
Ross was staring upwards at Lethbridge, his face a mixture of confusion and anticipation.
"Lieutenant Jenkins," Lethbridge said, gripping the railing tightly. "Your mom was Liz Jenkins?"
Ross didn't answer; just kept staring.
Tommy leaned over to Rose. "Better than a soap opera, huh?"
"You, be quiet," the Doctor ordered. "Lethbridge? Do you have anything to say?"
Lethbridge came down the stairs slowly, pushing past the Doctor, who squawked with indignance.
"You got my hair," he said thoughtfully. "And your mother's eyes."
"And he got your atypical detemporalised genetic code!" the Doctor called.
"This gonna be a problem, Lieutenant?" Lethbridge said, ignoring the Doctor.
"No. Sir," Ross answered.
"We got an invasion on its way, maybe. We'll sort this out when it's over."
"It's not like I need a babysitter if you want to go out on Friday nights, sir," Ross said, as Lethbridge turned to walk away.
"Painfully aware of that, Lieutenant, thank you," Lethbridge retorted.
"Well, that was awkward," Ian murmured, as Ross went back to the computer monitors and Lethbridge stalked up to the conference room again.
"Awkward is running into a girl you slept with and forgetting her name," Owen said from the medical bay. "That was a barely-averted armageddon."
***
TRILOGY PART TWO: THE BATTLE OF CHICAGO
With the arrival of the Daleks at the end of part one, the Torchwood team and the Doctor and his companions were preparing to fight. Chicago has declared a state of emergency, but the military's weapons aren't much use against armored invaders from the future. Once Torchwood is taken by Dalek attack forces, there is no choice but to take to the streets. While Ross and Colonel Lethbridge try to rendesvous with USPAT, Tosh and Tommy are charged with getting Rose to safety, and Ian and Gwen are sent to the police to help prepare them for the Hungry Storm the Daleks promise once the remains of the Dalek Fleet arrive. The Time Lords defeated the Daleks once, but the Doctor isn't ready to face the truth of what happened on the battlefield of Arcadia -- or why he no longer has a name of his own.
From the Torchwood Quotes File, part of the unofficial Torchwood Fansite:
You don't understand. When we defeated the Daleks, they took us down with them -- every man, woman, and child of my race died that day. I died. My first death, on the fringe of the Arcadia battlefield over my homeworld. They died and I died but only I got up again afterwards. That's my punishment. Being the last. Because I knew that to destroy the Daleks I'd have to destroy the Time Lords too. I sunk deep in a half-open rift and blew it wide, flipped the switch, pressed the button that set all of space ablaze. When you get to the stars again you can go there -- your people call it the Pillars of Creation. You should go there, and look on the place where my people ended their days, and listen to see if you can still hear the screaming. Because I can. Everywhere I go, unendingly. It took my people, my home, my name; the Pillars are sealed with the name of a Time Lord, and now the only names I have are those that others give me. The Threefold Man, the Lonely God, the Inashara, the Rage of Kings. But never a name for me. No end for me. Not until I die. No home for me. My home is ash and cinders, hidden beyond the stars...and all for nothing, if the Daleks gain a foothold here on Earth.
-- The Doctor
***
At USPAT all was chaos, but the Colonel had the proper rank insignia on his shirt and the hierarchy of the military kicked in fast. He gave orders as if he'd never left, and Ross watched in awe as the sheer force of his personality made the soldiers obey.
"Lieutenant Jenkins!" he called, and Ross hurried over.
"Sir," he said.
"The Air Force is going to try to take them in the air but they've never fought Daleks and I have. They're going to get wiped out of the sky. They'll buy us a few minutes at the most. What I want is a soldier on every street armed with a pulse-cannon weapon."
"You're going to have to put them on the major arteries only, we don't have that kind of arms stock on hand. We weren't expecting a full-on invasion."
"Well, an invasion's what we're going to get and they're not going to target just Chicago. We're going to have to look after ourselves. You're with me."
"Sir, I can be of more use leading a squad -- "
"With me, Lieutenant Jenkins," the Colonel said, and Ross followed him down the hall.
"Where are we going?"
"What's your security clearance?" Lethbridge asked.
"Officially level three. But I'm liaised with Torchwood, so I've never had any trouble getting anything below level nine."
"This is level twelve," Lethbridge answered, and threw wide the doors of a hangar bay.
Inside was a hulking, sharp-edged machine, vaguely tank-shaped but looking more like some kind of alien monster hunched over in sleep. Ross's eyes widened.
"It's a Tac-Assault vehicle, prototype. Built from plans we intercepted between two mercenary forces who wanted to use Earth as a neutral territory and then blew each other out of space," Lethbridge said. "Get in. I need a copilot."
"Well, I suppose we could cut a swath with it," Ross said, hooking a boot on the heavy treads and hoisting himself up to an open porthole. "But it can't move very fast."
"Oh yeah?" Lethbridge asked, following him inside and settling himself at the controls. "There's one important fact about the TAV-P that you haven't noticed yet."
"Sir?"
"It flies."
Lethbridge lifted the ship off the ground effortlessly, the yoke resting easy in his hands, and pulled it out of the hangar.
"This is TAV-P vehicle callsign Valiant," he said into the radio. "We are cleared. We'll take point in low orbit; you flyboys watch for falling debris, you hear?"
"Valiant, this is flight," came a voice over the radio. "Pilot, identify yourself."
"Colonel Gordon Lethbridge, space adventurer, in the Captain's chair," Lethbridge said.
"Lieutenant Ross Jenkins, copilot," Ross added.
"Jenkins? Torchwood's Jenkins?"
"Affirmative, flight," Ross said, fighting vertigo as the ground dropped away beneath them. "Torchwood should be in contact soon if they haven't already."
"Captain Harkness says to tell you that the package is secured, Lieutenant."
"Rose is safe," he told Lethbridge, who smiled bitterly.
"Nobody's safe against the Daleks," he said. "Come on, kid, get your hands in the grips and let's blow some aliens out of the sky."
***
Excerpt from the shooting script for: The Battle Of Chicago
Story & Teleplay by: Ellis Graveworthy
Directed by: Edgar van Scyoc
INT - POLICE STATION
IAN is operating the CB radio; GWEN is taking reports from weary, filthy-looking police officers.
IAN
No, you need to clear this goddamn channel. I don't care who you are, swap a channel, I need to reach Captain Harkness. Oh? You're going to pull rank? This is Ian Leone of Torchwood, Authorization code nine-alpha-juliet-six-six. Yeah, that's what I thought. Captain? Jack? Jack Harkness? Anyone at Torchwood, come in?
GWEN
Anything yet?
IAN
Not yet.
GWEN
There's rioting in Gold Coast.
IAN
Well, that's where the good looting is. Can you dispatch USPAT from here?
GWEN
Already done.
The CB crackles.
JACK [on CB]
Ian? Gwen? Tosh? Tommy? Owen? Anyone?
IAN
Jack! Yes, it's Ian, we're here, Gwen's with me.
JACK [on CB]
Status report?
IAN
Heavy casualties in the lower atmosphere, but the Valiant's softening them up. We might win this, I think.
JACK [on CB]
Lethbridge and Ross are in the Valiant.
IAN
Well, I'll have to buy them dinner.
JACK [on CB]
Have you seen the sky?
IAN
Sorry, what?
JACK [on CB]
Put the radio down and go look outside.
IAN frowns but obeys, GWEN following.
EXT - FRONT OF POLICE STATION - DAY
IAN and GWEN step out of the police station, shading their eyes, and stare upwards in shock. Pan up to the sky, which is an angry red and grey.
IAN
Ash from the explosions. Fire in the sky. The Doctor was right. Thousands of miles of fire in the sky.
EXT - SPACE
Shot of the VALIANT, hovering over the Earth.
INT - VALIANT
LETHBRIDGE leans forward in his seat and rests his head on the steering yoke. ROSS lets out a breath of relief.
ROSS
Hey, we're still alive.
LETHBRIDGE
What a rush.
ROSS
Did we win?
LETHBRIDGE looks up at him, a grin spreading across his face.
LETHBRIDGE
We won. You did great, kid.
ROSS
You know I didn't really think the first thing I did with my dad would be to blow up an entire army of invading aliens. I was thinking more like, you know, the zoo or something.
LETHBRIDGE
You want the zoo?
ROSS
Obviously not anymore.
[beat]
LETHBRIDGE
What do you want?
ROSS
Just to know who you are. What kind of man my dad is. To have you know me.
LETHBRIDGE
That's pretty low expectations. Don't most kids want cars or something?
ROSS
So you think that'd be an easy thing? Something you could do?
LETHBRIDGE
[considering]
Yeah. I do.
[pause]
If I'd known before we crossed timelines, I would have gone back.
ROSS
Oh no.
LETHBRIDGE
No, I mean --
ROSS
Oh, no, oh no, look at the radar.
LETHBRIDGE looks down. There is a massive object, easily twice the size of the army they just defeated, headed towards them. It is the DALEK COMMAND SHIP, surrounded by a cloud of Daleks. LETHBRIDGE takes a deep breath and grips the yoke again.
LETHBRIDGE
We keep shooting. When the weapons systems go down, we get as close to the center as we can and then we trigger the self-destruct.
He glances at ROSS. ROSS is steeling himself, biting his lip, looking young and very afraid.
LETHBRIDGE
I'm sorry. This is the kind of man I am.
ROSS
You say that like it's a bad thing.
LETHBRIDGE
There's no time to take you back, or I would.
ROSS
I'd rather die here.
LETHBRIDGE
Then let's take as many of them out with us as we can. Just like the Time Lords.
ROSS
Transmitting information to USPAT headquarters and Torchwood Hub now. Flight plan filed.
LETHBRIDGE
Doctor, Captain Harkness, if you're listening -- dulce et decorum est.
ROSS
Morituri te salutant.
EXT - SPACE
The VALIANT wheels, defiantly, and turns its back to Earth, guns facing forward. Pan back from the VALIANT to take in the first ragged edge of the Dalek fleet, then further and further until the VALIANT is dwarfed by the mass of Daleks, small ships, and one enormous spherical ship, studded like individual Daleks are with larger half-circles.
TO BE CONTINUED.
***
TRILOGY PART THREE: PRO PATRIA, PRO FILIUS
The Daleks have taken Chicago, as well as most of the world's major cities. Dozens of national governments lie in ruins. Gordon Lethbridge and Ross Jenkins are presumed dead. Rose, Gwen, and Tosh have gathered a troop of USPAT soldiers on the bridges of the river and are holding the Daleks from downtown, but the south side has fallen and the west suburbs are burning. Ian is missing, and Tommy is trapped with the Doctor, trying desperately to hack into the Dalek operating code. The Daleks have issued an ultimatum to the Doctor: give himself up and the rest of Earth can go free, an ultimatum and a lie which the Doctor has refused out of hand. The only solution seems to be a frontal assault on the Dalek flagship, to reach the nerve center of the fleet and destroy the commanding officer who issues the Daleks their orders. Sneaking aboard a Dalek ship is no easy task, but nobody works for Torchwood because it's easy. Can they reach the ship before it's too late? And how do you blow up a spaceship that exists out of phase with time? The Doctor's about to find out...
The Valiant was holding up surprisingly well, though Gordon didn't think they were going to live to provide a report on its first test-flight in combat. Still, no time to think about that now; he was concentrating on steering with one hand and firing with the other, while Ross handily potted ship after ship with the front-mounted cannons.
"I'm having an idea," Ross shouted, over the whine of the engines and the roar of dying Daleks all around them.
"Now would be the time," Gordon managed through gritted teeth.
"What's powering this thing, a reactor core? Can we eject it?"
"We'll be sitting ducks!"
"Get us as close as possible to the big ship and we'll start the self-destruct on the reactor. We jettison, which should give us enough push to still be moving when the explosion happens. We can ride the shockwave back to Earth. Maybe the cannons can be salvaged for a ground-based defense."
Gordon felt an odd swell of pride. "Well, your mother didn't raise an idiot, did she? Re-entry's going to be a bitch."
"Not as much of a bitch as dying."
"Good point. Can you raise Flight?"
"No answer. Hasn't been for ten minutes."
"Okay. Hold on and keep firing. We're going in."
***
In the Hub, working three different telephones and the CB radio, Jack suddenly looked up. "OWEN, WE HAVE INCOMING!"
"On it!" Owen called, shoving himself over to Tosh and Tommy's workstation. "Oh my god. It's the Valiant. Jesus, they're coming in fast."
"The Valiant? I thought they were going to self-destruct!"
"I thought the explosion three minutes ago was the self-destruct. Uh, Jack," Owen added.
"Yeah?"
"They're on a direct course for the plaza."
"Valiant to Torchwood, Valiant to USPAT, Valiant to flight, Valiant to any military presence in Chicago -- "
"Torchwood here, Valiant," Jack said urgently. "What's your status?"
"Permission to land, Captain Harkness."
"Ross Jenkins, is that you?"
"Me and the Colonel, Captain. We're coming in hot. Flyover of the river confirms that someone's holding the line around the loop."
"Gwen and Tosh," Jack confirmed. "Valiant, you are cleared to land. How are your weapons?"
"Thrashed but functioning. Where's the Doctor?"
"Missing. We saw him with Tommy a while ago but we haven't had any communication from them or Ian," Owen said, as Jack's face tightened. "It's a hell of a mess down here. New York's been destroyed completely. Reports coming in that France is on fire."
"What, Paris?"
"All of France," Jack said. "We lost all communication with Japan twenty minutes ago."
"ETA is thirty seconds; do we need cover fire?"
"I'll come up to meet you," Jack said, and ran for the door. "Owen!"
"Jack," Owen said, looking frustrated and impotent in his chair.
"The Daleks can't take the Hub. You can't let that happen. If they get this far the planet's gone anyway."
"What do I do?" Owen asked. Jack reached out, stroked a hand through his hair, and kissed his forehead.
"If they breach the Hub, open the Rift," he said. "We'll take them in with us. They won't get anyone else."
"Yes, Captain."
Topside, Jack arrived just in time to see the Valiant hovering over the Plaza, easing itself down carefully. There were blackened grooves all over the hull, and a handful of missing pieces, but she looked as though she could still kick a little ass if she wanted.
Once it had settled, the entry hatch popped and Ross staggered out, almost falling to the ground, shaking as he tried to stand. Jack hauled him up and held him while Lethbridge followed, slightly more steadily but no less pale and drawn. Ross pushed away from Jack and leaned heavily on Lethbridge's shoulders as the Colonel gathered him up and held him tightly.
"You're amazing," he heard Lethbridge murmur. "You're perfect. But we still have fighting to do, kiddo."
Ross nodded against his father's shoulder and straightened.
"We have two functional cannons and low-flight capability," he said, turning to Jack. "Tell us where to go."
Jack was opening his mouth when something crackled in his ear.
"Hey, Captain," said Tommy's voice, over the comm. "I've got a Doctor here and a decommissioned Dalek. If you can get me to Dalek High Command or whatever they call themselves, I'm pretty sure I can end this."
"Good to hear you, Tommy, but the Valiant's out of commission," Jack said. "We're earthbound, we're going to have to fight from here."
"Not if you can blast your way across the bridge," a new voice, the Doctor, sounding almost cheerful. "You get me to the TARDIS and we can strip the Dalek race to its atoms."
Jack glanced at Ross, who was already disengaging the cannons from the Valiant and slinging them over his shoulders.
"Tell us where you are," he said, and smiled grimly.
***
They picked up Tosh and Rose crossing the Michigan Avenue bridge, leaving Gwen behind on the Erie bridge, shouting defiance from the El tracks that ran over the top of it. Ian joined them as they ran across the Plaza, tripping an explosion in the Tribune building that sent Daleks spinning away to crash into the other high-rises. Glass shattered as many of them hit Trump tower, and as they took cover against the wall of a building they all turned to see it crashing into the river -- across the river, taking out several buildings on the other side of it. Jack, alone, ran across the open space between buildings and let himself down to North Water, where Tommy and the Doctor were holed up in the parking garage. Ian and Rose hauled them up, Tommy carrying a large chunk of a Dalek in one hand, his laptop strapped to his back.
"They all take commands from someone in the nerve center of the ship," he said.
"They've evolved," the Doctor added. "Centralised command is more efficient. These are just drones -- none of them can take command. Take away their boss and we can clean them up easily."
"Can you get us to the command center?" Jack asked. The Doctor hesitated. "Can you?"
"Tommy needs to come," he said slowly. "And we'll need cover fire."
"So?"
"So this is a suicide mission. For them," the Doctor said.
"Well, we've already done one of those today," Lethbridge replied.
"I'm game," Ross agreed. "Tosh?"
"I'll go," Tosh said.
"Tosh, no -- " Tommy started.
"Tamaki, if you go, I go," Tosh said. "That's just the way it is."
"I just blew up the Tribune building," Ian said. "I'm good. Point the way."
Rose just slipped her hand into the Doctor's and smiled at him.
"We can't let them get past Earth," Jack said. "If Earth falls, they'll just move on, stronger and hungrier. If we're going to die anyway, let's die protecting the universe, right?"
"Screaming in the face of the hungry storm," the Doctor said.
"Let the great gods find out their enemies now," Ross said. Everyone looked at him. "What? It's Shakespeare. King Lear. In the storm."
The Doctor held out his hand, and the door to the TARDIS opened. Light spilled out. The Torchwood agents stood aside to let Lethbridge and Rose go first.
"You wanted to know why the Earth matters to me," the Doctor said, gripping Jack's shoulder to stop him as he passed. His voice was low, and for the first time it shook. "This is why."
He followed Jack inside and ran to the console, pointing Rose to the other side.
"We're going to jump straight to the Dalek ship," he said, as the TARDIS began to groan, the tubes inside the central column moving up and down with increasing speed. "I'll get as close to the center as I can. Rose, ride the time mix, keep us temporal."
"Got it," Rose said, smiling at him.
"Okay. Harkness and I go first," Lethbridge announced, clinging to one of the support columns as the ship began to judder and jerk. "I'll carry one of the cannons. The Doctor and Tommy follow. Ross and -- what's your name...Leone?"
"Ian Leone, Colonel."
"Take the other cannon, you two will flank them. Rose and Toshiko, you're on rear point. Our objective is to protect Tommy and the Doctor long enough to get the job done. We leave the same way we came; if anyone drops we'll pick them up on the way out. Once we're out, radio anyone on Earth who's listening and tell them to go after the remaining Daleks."
"I love a man who takes charge," Jack murmured to Tosh.
"Time and place, Jack," Tosh replied. Jack was about to reply when the TARDIS jerked again, sending everyone sprawling.
"Oh, no, nonononono," the Doctor said, skidding around the console and shouldering Rose out of the way.
"What is it?" Tosh called.
"The ship's out of phase. It's -- god, the energy must be enormous -- it's slightly outside of time. Hold on, this is going to be a rough landing."
"Out of phase," Jack said. "But that means -- "
"Yeah, when we blow the central command it's going to snap back in and we'll have two at once, and that's going to create a timestorm. Can't be helped," the Doctor said.
"What does that mean?" Ian demanded.
"Well, either we're all going to die, or we're going to create a paradox and rip a temporary hole in time," the Doctor retorted. "Which is fun if you want a little roller-coaster ride. Not as fun if you don't know where you're going to end up."
"Oh," Ian said. "Is that all."
Jack's hand, flailing for purchase on the tilting floor of the TARDIS, found Ian's and gripped it tightly.
***
Sam's Three Things About Torchwood AND Doctor Who, Trilogy Part The Third! Spoilers for Pro Patria, Pro Filius: Doctor Who Seriously Needs An Easy Button.
1. How great was this episode. How great was this trilogy? Seriously, it seems a little hinky on the surface but once you dig into the whole Space Opera gestalt that they're rocking it's just plain awesome. Everything slotted into place like magic and while I do hate a deus-ex-machina, I really wasn't looking forward to the rest of the Torchwood season being the team trying to rebuild in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. So I'm glad that the timestorm set the world back thirty-six hours. And the Dalek fleet just winking out of existence while Torchwood watched all gleeful because they're the only ones who know why, that was GREAT.
2. I know it's terrible and sad and tragic that Lethbridge died, but I think also it had to happen. No way were they just going to be allowed to play happy families. The point is that Lethbridge starts out uneasy and then starts to think, okay, I can do this father thing, and even though he barely knows Ross he acknowledges the blood-bond between them. There's always this theme with these shows of taking responsibility -- whether it's for something you did or for something humanity as a whole has done, like with Jack last season. Lethbridge stepped up and did what he had to, to protect his son and protect the Earth. And it's a pretty senseless death, being shot by a Dalek, but his motivations make it poetic. It was a good thing.
3. That having been said, I could have done without the extended funeral scene; the heartbreaking moment when Lethbridge gives him the PDA and then Jack has to pull Ross away from his body was enough. But hey, now Ross has the PDA, what's he going to do with it?
3a. ROSE/ROSS FTW Y/Y?
***
Posted by erika_leone in LJ Community torch_who:
***
Chapter 5
Rating: PG-13 (mainly for language)
Summary: Torchwood and Doctor Who team up for a three-week crossover series with Dalek invasions, long-lost family, space battles, and plenty of Doctor Who mythology. Meanwhile, Edgar and Ellis attempt to maintain some semblance of a personal life.
Chapter Four
SPECIAL DOCTOR WHO CROSSOVER TRILOGYStarting tonight at 8/7 Central!
Torchwood and Doctor Who begin a three-week miniseries run featuring two hours of sci-fi action every Saturday night. The Doctor and Torchwood must work in tandem when the Doctor's most ancient enemy, the Dalek race, is summoned to Earth by an alien artifact. Secrets will be revealed, soldiers will be forged in the crucible of an international battle for survival, and one man will give his life to protect the planet from the Hungry Storm. How did the Daleks escape the battle of Arcadia -- and what is the mystery behind the Doctor's name?
***
"It's done," Ellis said, sitting back in his chair and sighing. "Post-production is in the can, the publicity machine is gearing up, and I think frankly I've earned a nice holiday somewhere after penning a six-hour science-fiction trilogy."
Edgar looked up across the desk and smiled. "But you won't take one, huh."
"Not until the season's over. But it's nice to have crossed a milestone."
"You loved every minute of it. You live for the epic."
Ellis nodded, but he rubbed the bridge of his nose exhaustedly, too. "I do. With all the expended energy that entails. I suspect I'm getting too old for the epic, however."
"That's crap. You're not old, and this is the showpiece of the franchise -- they'll be talking about the miniseries for years. We're going to kill during sweeps."
"Yes, perhaps so."
Edgar got up and circled the desk, resting his hands on Ellis's shoulders from behind. "When do you fly out for Vancouver?"
"Three days," Ellis mumbled.
"And just a little bit of this tiredness is -- "
" -- that I'm going to miss you, yes, fine, make me say it."
"Always," Edgar ran his thumbs up the nape of Ellis's neck. "Let's go out and celebrate. Somewhere quiet, you and me, bottle of wine, fortifying steaks."
"You're a terrible romantic."
"Indulge me."
"What else do I ever do?"
Edgar leaned forward, resting his chin on the crown of Ellis's head. "This will be what, our third date?"
"Sort of pathetic when you think about it."
"Well, long-distance relationships are hard. My point, distractible one, is that I have a very relaxed policy regarding putting out after the third date."
Ellis leaned back and looked up at him, but it was amusement and not arousal in his eyes. "Is that so?"
"That's so."
"And you're saying, in your own indirect way, that if I take you out for drinks and dinner I might get lucky afterwards?"
Edgar grinned and nodded, one hand sliding down Ellis's bicep.
"I'm not certain how much luckier I could get, really," Ellis murmured, closing his eyes and resting his head back against Edgar's shoulder. Edgar waited patiently, letting him bask for a moment.
"All right," Ellis said. "We'll go out. But, we have to be back by seven. There's a show on the television I want to watch. I hear they're doing a miniserial!"
Edgar laughed. "Fair enough. Come on."
***
TRILOGY PART ONE: FATHERS AND SONS
Lieutenant Ross Jenkins, USPAT soldier and friend of Torchwood, has discovered something mysterious on a routine recon drill. Mistrustful of his superiors' intentions towards the artifact, he brings it to Torchwood for further study. Unfortunately, someone else wants the artifact: the Doctor, summoned back to 21st century Earth by its powerful pull. That's not the only surprise in store, however -- especially for Lieutenant Jenkins and the Doctor's companion Gordon Lethbridge.
"Jack, since it's quiet, can I go a bit early?"
Jack looked up from the budget report he was working on and grinned. "What, got a hot date?"
"Something like that," Tosh said, matching his grin.
"You have a date?" Tommy asked.
"Who's got a date?" Owen called from below, sitting on the ground and tinkering with one of his chair's wheels. He pushed himself up, walked a few unsteady steps, and dropped back into it.
"Tosh," Tommy answered. "You didn't tell me."
"I don't tell you everything."
"Oh my god," Gwen said. "Is it Ross the Hot USPAT Guy?"
"Ross the Hot USPAT Guy," Tosh confirmed. "He asked me out."
"Well, who am I to stand in the way of interdepartmental relations?" Jack asked, leaning back. "Go on."
"I want a report tomorrow!" Gwen called, as Tosh gathered her bags and almost skipped out the rolldoor.
As he passed, Ian caught Owen's eye and gave him a lopsided smile; Owen glanced down at his hands in his lap, scowled, and wheeled off.
***
"What about you?" Tosh asked, twisting her fork in her salad. She glanced up at Ross, who looked remarkably normal out of USPAT gear. He took a sip of his beer. "I don't know anything about you, and you've pretty much had my whole history."
"It's nice to be able to tell someone, isn't it?" he said. "Someone you don't have to skimp on the details with."
"Yeah. Usually I tell people I work for the city, and they get this look."
Ross laughed. "Try telling them you're a Marine. They either start to lecture me about world peace or get dewey-eyed and ask me when I'm shipping out."
"Come on, though, you have to have a story. I told you mine."
He shrugged. "Not really. Only child, single mother -- grew up in Wales, near her family, but she got a job at U Chicago when I was a teenager and moved me out here. Got my citizenship when she did."
"And your dad? If I can ask..."
"Dad was a USPAT man stationed in London, at least Mum thinks so. They had a fling, he vanished...she didn't want me to go into USPAT, but I...wanted to see, I guess. What the big deal was. And maybe I thought I'd find my dad."
"Sad," Tosh said, frowning.
"It sounds like it, but I have a lot of fun. We get to see some pretty interesting stuff. And meet cool people," he added, catching her eye. "In fact..." he reached into the messenger bag slung on the back of the chair and took out a padded envelope. "I was going to use this as an excuse if the date ended up being awkward, but I think we're doing all right, don't you?"
"I think so," she said. "What is it?""It was recovered from a crash site a few miles outside of Chicago. We told the locals it was a downed light aircraft. It doesn't match the rest of the material and...I like working in USPAT but that doesn't mean I trust them. I pocketed it, thought I'd pass it on to you. USPAT takes the view that if you can't use it to blow things up, it's probably worthless."
Tosh peered into the envelope. Inside was a strange, thin metal device, about the diameter and shape of a bread plate.
"Have a look at it later -- it's made up of interlocking disks, you can move them around. Probably just someone's idea of a calculator," he said, which was when Tosh's phone rang.
"Captain Harkness," she said. "I need to -- "
He wasn't paying attention, though; he was holding up a pager and studying it.
"Jack, what's going on?" Tosh asked, flipping the phone open.
"Incoming," Jack said. "Huge energy spike on East Illinois near the NBC tower. Get back here."
"I'll meet you there, it's across the street. Have Ian send me the location," she said, then hesitated as Ross waved to get her attention. "Hang on, Jack."
"USPAT callout, all hands," Ross said. "Across the street."
"Jack, USPAT's on alert as well," she said.
"Ross the Hot USPAT Guy," Jack sighed. "All right, get there, get readings, liaise with USPAT. Sorry about your date."
Tosh grinned at Ross, who was already leaving money on the table for the meal. "Don't be. This is about to get fun."
They hurried out of the restaurant and followed the GPS coordinates Ian transmitted, ending up on Pioneer Plaza just south of the Tribune building, the NBC tower behind them. The plaza was deserted, but there was a strange roaring noise; Ross produced a gun, also from the messenger bag, and offered her a second.
"You always pack heat on dates?" she asked.
"Came from work," he replied.
There was movement to their left, and when they turned something was blinking in and out of existence: a large blue box, struggling to cohere. The squeal of tires behind them heralded the arrive of the Torchwood SUV, careening across the plaza where cars weren't really meant to go.
"It's all right!" she called, as doors began to slam open. "I think it's the Doctor!"
"How is that in any way a definition of 'all right'?" Jack shouted over the roar of the TARDIS engines. "He never shows up here unless there's trouble!"
There was sudden silence, and the police box loomed before them, dark and forbidding. The door burst open and the Doctor emerged, blaster in hand, aimed unerringly at Tosh and Ross, the two closest targets. Ross, automatically, raised his gun as well.
Then the Doctor sighed, holstered his blaster, and rolled his eyes.
"Rose, Colonel, come on out," he called, stepping away from the door. "It's just the welcome wagon."
Rose emerged first, followed by the Colonel, neither looking all that different from the last time Tosh had seen them. Ross, however, saw the stripes on Lethbridge's shoulder and snapped to attention.
"Who's your new boy?" the Doctor asked Jack. "He doesn't look too bright."
"He's not one of ours. You ruined his date," Jack replied. "You can't send an email when you're going to be in town? The ship sets off all our alerts and then we end up out here, pretending like we weren't getting ready for an invasion. It gets a bit tiresome, you know."
"Listen, I don't always -- hang on," the Doctor said, head snapping back around to Ross. He stepped forward, looking almost like a dog scenting the air. "If he's not Torchwood, who is he?"
"USPAT man. The rest'll be here soon," Jack said dismissively. "Come on back to the -- "
"Shut up," the Doctor said, holding up a hand. "There's something wrong."
Ross stared resolutely ahead.
"At ease," the Doctor tried. Ross didn't twitch. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Colonel?"
"At ease, Lieutenant," Lethbridge said, grinning. "We're both off-duty, kid. Relax."
"I hate to be pushy, but USPAT's going to show up at any moment and it's much easier on paperwork if you're not here when they arrive," Jack announced, as Ross stood to parade rest. "If you don't mind, Lieutenant Hot Ross."
"Huh?" Ross asked.
"Lieutenant Jenkins."
"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said, offering Ross his hand with an expectant air.
"Doctor of what?" Ross asked, shaking it. The Doctor beamed.
"Oh, I'm going to like you," he said.
"Lieutenant? Doctor?" Jack said impatiently. "Is there going to be a problem, Jenkins?"
"No -- I think we can hand this one off. I'll handle them when they get here, tell them it was you guys messing around. Go on," Ross said, and pressed the envelope into Tosh's hands again. "Call me? Rain check?"
"Yeah," Tosh said, beaming, and then had to be tugged into the SUV by Jack, who loaded her in next to Rose and Gwen, leaving Lethbridge, Tommy, and Ian to share the cage while the Doctor took place of pride in the shotgun seat.
"He seems nice," Gwen said to Tosh, over the top of Rose's head. "Did you have a good dinner?"
"Sorry about interrupting -- business first," the Doctor said over his shoulder. "Maybe you guys can help me find what I'm looking for."
"As if we knew what we were looking for," Rose retorted.
"I know in a general sense! Small and evil, gives off lots of energy, somewhere nearby."
"Well, gee, that does narrow it down," Tommy called.
"We'll catch up later," Gwen assured Tosh, who sighed.
***
Excerpt from the shooting script for: Fathers And Sons
Story & Teleplay by: Ellis Graveworthy
Directed by: Edgar van Scyoc
INT - HUB LABORATORY
The DOCTOR has Tosh's mechanism hooked up to a series of wires, some of which look as though they've been tied in decorative knots. He is on eye-level with it, studying it carefully and making a series of marks on the surface. Focus shift to background; JACK is standing in the doorway, arms crossed.
JACK
Need anything?
DOCTOR
More than you could possibly know.
JACK
I want to help if I can. We do. Torchwood. We're on the same side, you and us.
DOCTOR
You don't know how Torchwood was founded, do you?
JACK
[entering the room and closing the door; throughout the scene he circles closer to the DOCTOR]
Tell me, then.
DOCTOR
I was a kid when I came to Earth for the first time. I was just...kicking around the universe. Seeing the sights. I did a stupid thing; interfered with the course of history. Nothing that wouldn't have happened anyway, but -- I didn't hear time as clearly as I do now. One offhand remark -- don't cross the river there, General Washington, cross here -- and suddenly you're wanted man number one. I don't know if they think I was a witch or something they wanted to take apart and study. Torchwood was founded as a branch of a masonic order, dedicated to stalking, trapping, and murdering me.
JACK
Well. I won't deny a bit of stalking. But I thought you could fix me.
DOCTOR
[ignoring him]
But of course Torchwood got distracted by all the shiny things that they scavenged as they fell out of the sky, and they needed someone with a little more pep and vigor. Enter USPAT. It's flattering to have spawned two entire militias with the sole purpose of apprehending me, but you'll forgive me if I treat you as my potential jailer.
JACK
We aren't like that. We've changed. I changed us.
DOCTOR
Good for you.
The DOCTOR looks up; JACK is looming directly over him, very close.
JACK
We're allies, Doctor. We both want to protect Earth. I know why I do, I live here. Why do you?
DOCTOR
I have a soft spot for creatures that can't look after themselves.
JACK
Most people just get kittens.
DOCTOR
You know how important humanity is. Spreading out across known space, innovating, shaping, attacking, defying. Murdering. Rescuing.
JACK
Well, I was hoping that you'd say just a little of it had to do with me.
DOCTOR
You can't die. You don't need my protecting.
JACK
[suggestive]
What if I wanted it?
DOCTOR
Then I'd need protection from Mr. Leone.
JACK
We have a very unique relationship.
DOCTOR
They all say that.
INT - HUB - JACK'S OFFICE
IAN
I told you sex wouldn't work.
JACK
Fun to try though.
IAN
Out of curiosity, what would you have done if he'd taken you up on the offer?
JACK
He's the last of his race, Ian. You only live once.
IAN
That seems to be an excuse I could use more readily than you.
JACK
Yeah, I should work on my lines. Can you honestly say if you had a chance with him you'd say no?
IAN
[eyeing the DOCTOR; perhaps more enthusiastically than necessary]
Good point.
Jack
Hey!
IAN
[smirks]
Turnabout, Jack.
***
"He's watching me," Ross said, head bent over the papers Gwen had just given him. "Do you know why the Doctor keeps watching me?"
"He's pretty much as mysterious to us as he is to you," Gwen answered. "You could ask him. Guy like that, might even get a straight answer."
"He said there was something wrong about me. You think he was just trying to freak me out?"
"I have excellent hearing," the Doctor said loudly, his voice echoing up the high dome of the Hub. "And I never do anything just to frighten someone."
Ross looked over and found the Doctor watching him; Rose and Tosh were watching the Doctor. There was a flicker of movement from the upstairs conference room where the Colonel and Jack were contacting USPAT.
"Come down here, if you want to know," the Doctor invited, looking tired. "The world may end tomorrow."
"If there's a Dalek fleet left," Rose said. "And if we can't stop them."
"We can't, not with what we have," the Doctor said.
"Doctor," Tosh said quietly, tilting her head at Ross as he approached.
"Sure," the Doctor said, seeming to snap out of his pensive mood immediately. "It's all right, I don't bite. Come here."
He stood Ross in a patch of light streaming in from the roof and rested his hands on his shoulders, fingers flexing slightly. Little crackles of blue light licked across his hands and then disappeared.
"There's something not exactly right about you, like a sound on the edge of hearing, a blurred spot in vision," the Doctor said thoughtfully, more to himself than to Ross. "Almost as if you've been loosed from time, just a little."
"I have good reflexes," Ross offered.
"I don't doubt it. Are your parents still living?" the Doctor asked, and Ross blinked. "It's an easy question. Were you adopted?"
"My mother died last year. My father was a soldier, never stayed anywhere very long."
"A soldier? Is that what she told you?"
"She didn't lie," Ross said stiffly.
"No, I'm certain she didn't. You won't know this but in polite society it's considerate to ask -- may I look at your DNA?"
"Like, in a test tube?"
"Like, in your body," the Doctor answered, lips twitching into a scornful smile.
"Will it hurt?"
"No."
Ross nodded once, sharply. The Doctor closed his eyes and his brow furrowed.
"Yes, there it is...a certain temporal radiation affecting your cells...almost as if you were -- "
The Doctor's speech cut off sharply as he jerked back, electricity blowing him into a nearby railing and sending Ross to his knees momentarily. When he stood, his coat was smoking.
"God -- dammit -- LETHBRIDGE!" the Doctor yelled before turning to Ross. "Your mother concieved you in London, didn't she?"
"Yes -- "
"Your father was a USPAT man?"
"We thought -- that is, Mum thought -- maybe, probably."
"What's going on?" Lethbridge called down, leaning on the rail. "Jesus, did you try to blow up the lieutenant?"
"I told you," the Doctor said, striding about to the stairwell. "Lethbridge, what did I tell you about meddling in time?"
"Do as you say, not as you do?" Lethbridge answered.
"That you didn't know what you were doing! You -- you fornicatory ape!"
"Hey, okay, there's no need for name calling."
"There is every need for name-calling!" the Doctor said. "For a start! Gordon Lethbridge, father! Ross Jenkins, son! You fathered a son? It defies belief, your idiocy, and yet there it is."
Ross was staring upwards at Lethbridge, his face a mixture of confusion and anticipation.
"Lieutenant Jenkins," Lethbridge said, gripping the railing tightly. "Your mom was Liz Jenkins?"
Ross didn't answer; just kept staring.
Tommy leaned over to Rose. "Better than a soap opera, huh?"
"You, be quiet," the Doctor ordered. "Lethbridge? Do you have anything to say?"
Lethbridge came down the stairs slowly, pushing past the Doctor, who squawked with indignance.
"You got my hair," he said thoughtfully. "And your mother's eyes."
"And he got your atypical detemporalised genetic code!" the Doctor called.
"This gonna be a problem, Lieutenant?" Lethbridge said, ignoring the Doctor.
"No. Sir," Ross answered.
"We got an invasion on its way, maybe. We'll sort this out when it's over."
"It's not like I need a babysitter if you want to go out on Friday nights, sir," Ross said, as Lethbridge turned to walk away.
"Painfully aware of that, Lieutenant, thank you," Lethbridge retorted.
"Well, that was awkward," Ian murmured, as Ross went back to the computer monitors and Lethbridge stalked up to the conference room again.
"Awkward is running into a girl you slept with and forgetting her name," Owen said from the medical bay. "That was a barely-averted armageddon."
***
TRILOGY PART TWO: THE BATTLE OF CHICAGO
With the arrival of the Daleks at the end of part one, the Torchwood team and the Doctor and his companions were preparing to fight. Chicago has declared a state of emergency, but the military's weapons aren't much use against armored invaders from the future. Once Torchwood is taken by Dalek attack forces, there is no choice but to take to the streets. While Ross and Colonel Lethbridge try to rendesvous with USPAT, Tosh and Tommy are charged with getting Rose to safety, and Ian and Gwen are sent to the police to help prepare them for the Hungry Storm the Daleks promise once the remains of the Dalek Fleet arrive. The Time Lords defeated the Daleks once, but the Doctor isn't ready to face the truth of what happened on the battlefield of Arcadia -- or why he no longer has a name of his own.
From the Torchwood Quotes File, part of the unofficial Torchwood Fansite:
You don't understand. When we defeated the Daleks, they took us down with them -- every man, woman, and child of my race died that day. I died. My first death, on the fringe of the Arcadia battlefield over my homeworld. They died and I died but only I got up again afterwards. That's my punishment. Being the last. Because I knew that to destroy the Daleks I'd have to destroy the Time Lords too. I sunk deep in a half-open rift and blew it wide, flipped the switch, pressed the button that set all of space ablaze. When you get to the stars again you can go there -- your people call it the Pillars of Creation. You should go there, and look on the place where my people ended their days, and listen to see if you can still hear the screaming. Because I can. Everywhere I go, unendingly. It took my people, my home, my name; the Pillars are sealed with the name of a Time Lord, and now the only names I have are those that others give me. The Threefold Man, the Lonely God, the Inashara, the Rage of Kings. But never a name for me. No end for me. Not until I die. No home for me. My home is ash and cinders, hidden beyond the stars...and all for nothing, if the Daleks gain a foothold here on Earth.
-- The Doctor
***
At USPAT all was chaos, but the Colonel had the proper rank insignia on his shirt and the hierarchy of the military kicked in fast. He gave orders as if he'd never left, and Ross watched in awe as the sheer force of his personality made the soldiers obey.
"Lieutenant Jenkins!" he called, and Ross hurried over.
"Sir," he said.
"The Air Force is going to try to take them in the air but they've never fought Daleks and I have. They're going to get wiped out of the sky. They'll buy us a few minutes at the most. What I want is a soldier on every street armed with a pulse-cannon weapon."
"You're going to have to put them on the major arteries only, we don't have that kind of arms stock on hand. We weren't expecting a full-on invasion."
"Well, an invasion's what we're going to get and they're not going to target just Chicago. We're going to have to look after ourselves. You're with me."
"Sir, I can be of more use leading a squad -- "
"With me, Lieutenant Jenkins," the Colonel said, and Ross followed him down the hall.
"Where are we going?"
"What's your security clearance?" Lethbridge asked.
"Officially level three. But I'm liaised with Torchwood, so I've never had any trouble getting anything below level nine."
"This is level twelve," Lethbridge answered, and threw wide the doors of a hangar bay.
Inside was a hulking, sharp-edged machine, vaguely tank-shaped but looking more like some kind of alien monster hunched over in sleep. Ross's eyes widened.
"It's a Tac-Assault vehicle, prototype. Built from plans we intercepted between two mercenary forces who wanted to use Earth as a neutral territory and then blew each other out of space," Lethbridge said. "Get in. I need a copilot."
"Well, I suppose we could cut a swath with it," Ross said, hooking a boot on the heavy treads and hoisting himself up to an open porthole. "But it can't move very fast."
"Oh yeah?" Lethbridge asked, following him inside and settling himself at the controls. "There's one important fact about the TAV-P that you haven't noticed yet."
"Sir?"
"It flies."
Lethbridge lifted the ship off the ground effortlessly, the yoke resting easy in his hands, and pulled it out of the hangar.
"This is TAV-P vehicle callsign Valiant," he said into the radio. "We are cleared. We'll take point in low orbit; you flyboys watch for falling debris, you hear?"
"Valiant, this is flight," came a voice over the radio. "Pilot, identify yourself."
"Colonel Gordon Lethbridge, space adventurer, in the Captain's chair," Lethbridge said.
"Lieutenant Ross Jenkins, copilot," Ross added.
"Jenkins? Torchwood's Jenkins?"
"Affirmative, flight," Ross said, fighting vertigo as the ground dropped away beneath them. "Torchwood should be in contact soon if they haven't already."
"Captain Harkness says to tell you that the package is secured, Lieutenant."
"Rose is safe," he told Lethbridge, who smiled bitterly.
"Nobody's safe against the Daleks," he said. "Come on, kid, get your hands in the grips and let's blow some aliens out of the sky."
***
Excerpt from the shooting script for: The Battle Of Chicago
Story & Teleplay by: Ellis Graveworthy
Directed by: Edgar van Scyoc
INT - POLICE STATION
IAN is operating the CB radio; GWEN is taking reports from weary, filthy-looking police officers.
IAN
No, you need to clear this goddamn channel. I don't care who you are, swap a channel, I need to reach Captain Harkness. Oh? You're going to pull rank? This is Ian Leone of Torchwood, Authorization code nine-alpha-juliet-six-six. Yeah, that's what I thought. Captain? Jack? Jack Harkness? Anyone at Torchwood, come in?
GWEN
Anything yet?
IAN
Not yet.
GWEN
There's rioting in Gold Coast.
IAN
Well, that's where the good looting is. Can you dispatch USPAT from here?
GWEN
Already done.
The CB crackles.
JACK [on CB]
Ian? Gwen? Tosh? Tommy? Owen? Anyone?
IAN
Jack! Yes, it's Ian, we're here, Gwen's with me.
JACK [on CB]
Status report?
IAN
Heavy casualties in the lower atmosphere, but the Valiant's softening them up. We might win this, I think.
JACK [on CB]
Lethbridge and Ross are in the Valiant.
IAN
Well, I'll have to buy them dinner.
JACK [on CB]
Have you seen the sky?
IAN
Sorry, what?
JACK [on CB]
Put the radio down and go look outside.
IAN frowns but obeys, GWEN following.
EXT - FRONT OF POLICE STATION - DAY
IAN and GWEN step out of the police station, shading their eyes, and stare upwards in shock. Pan up to the sky, which is an angry red and grey.
IAN
Ash from the explosions. Fire in the sky. The Doctor was right. Thousands of miles of fire in the sky.
EXT - SPACE
Shot of the VALIANT, hovering over the Earth.
INT - VALIANT
LETHBRIDGE leans forward in his seat and rests his head on the steering yoke. ROSS lets out a breath of relief.
ROSS
Hey, we're still alive.
LETHBRIDGE
What a rush.
ROSS
Did we win?
LETHBRIDGE looks up at him, a grin spreading across his face.
LETHBRIDGE
We won. You did great, kid.
ROSS
You know I didn't really think the first thing I did with my dad would be to blow up an entire army of invading aliens. I was thinking more like, you know, the zoo or something.
LETHBRIDGE
You want the zoo?
ROSS
Obviously not anymore.
[beat]
LETHBRIDGE
What do you want?
ROSS
Just to know who you are. What kind of man my dad is. To have you know me.
LETHBRIDGE
That's pretty low expectations. Don't most kids want cars or something?
ROSS
So you think that'd be an easy thing? Something you could do?
LETHBRIDGE
[considering]
Yeah. I do.
[pause]
If I'd known before we crossed timelines, I would have gone back.
ROSS
Oh no.
LETHBRIDGE
No, I mean --
ROSS
Oh, no, oh no, look at the radar.
LETHBRIDGE looks down. There is a massive object, easily twice the size of the army they just defeated, headed towards them. It is the DALEK COMMAND SHIP, surrounded by a cloud of Daleks. LETHBRIDGE takes a deep breath and grips the yoke again.
LETHBRIDGE
We keep shooting. When the weapons systems go down, we get as close to the center as we can and then we trigger the self-destruct.
He glances at ROSS. ROSS is steeling himself, biting his lip, looking young and very afraid.
LETHBRIDGE
I'm sorry. This is the kind of man I am.
ROSS
You say that like it's a bad thing.
LETHBRIDGE
There's no time to take you back, or I would.
ROSS
I'd rather die here.
LETHBRIDGE
Then let's take as many of them out with us as we can. Just like the Time Lords.
ROSS
Transmitting information to USPAT headquarters and Torchwood Hub now. Flight plan filed.
LETHBRIDGE
Doctor, Captain Harkness, if you're listening -- dulce et decorum est.
ROSS
Morituri te salutant.
EXT - SPACE
The VALIANT wheels, defiantly, and turns its back to Earth, guns facing forward. Pan back from the VALIANT to take in the first ragged edge of the Dalek fleet, then further and further until the VALIANT is dwarfed by the mass of Daleks, small ships, and one enormous spherical ship, studded like individual Daleks are with larger half-circles.
TO BE CONTINUED.
***
TRILOGY PART THREE: PRO PATRIA, PRO FILIUS
The Daleks have taken Chicago, as well as most of the world's major cities. Dozens of national governments lie in ruins. Gordon Lethbridge and Ross Jenkins are presumed dead. Rose, Gwen, and Tosh have gathered a troop of USPAT soldiers on the bridges of the river and are holding the Daleks from downtown, but the south side has fallen and the west suburbs are burning. Ian is missing, and Tommy is trapped with the Doctor, trying desperately to hack into the Dalek operating code. The Daleks have issued an ultimatum to the Doctor: give himself up and the rest of Earth can go free, an ultimatum and a lie which the Doctor has refused out of hand. The only solution seems to be a frontal assault on the Dalek flagship, to reach the nerve center of the fleet and destroy the commanding officer who issues the Daleks their orders. Sneaking aboard a Dalek ship is no easy task, but nobody works for Torchwood because it's easy. Can they reach the ship before it's too late? And how do you blow up a spaceship that exists out of phase with time? The Doctor's about to find out...
The Valiant was holding up surprisingly well, though Gordon didn't think they were going to live to provide a report on its first test-flight in combat. Still, no time to think about that now; he was concentrating on steering with one hand and firing with the other, while Ross handily potted ship after ship with the front-mounted cannons.
"I'm having an idea," Ross shouted, over the whine of the engines and the roar of dying Daleks all around them.
"Now would be the time," Gordon managed through gritted teeth.
"What's powering this thing, a reactor core? Can we eject it?"
"We'll be sitting ducks!"
"Get us as close as possible to the big ship and we'll start the self-destruct on the reactor. We jettison, which should give us enough push to still be moving when the explosion happens. We can ride the shockwave back to Earth. Maybe the cannons can be salvaged for a ground-based defense."
Gordon felt an odd swell of pride. "Well, your mother didn't raise an idiot, did she? Re-entry's going to be a bitch."
"Not as much of a bitch as dying."
"Good point. Can you raise Flight?"
"No answer. Hasn't been for ten minutes."
"Okay. Hold on and keep firing. We're going in."
***
In the Hub, working three different telephones and the CB radio, Jack suddenly looked up. "OWEN, WE HAVE INCOMING!"
"On it!" Owen called, shoving himself over to Tosh and Tommy's workstation. "Oh my god. It's the Valiant. Jesus, they're coming in fast."
"The Valiant? I thought they were going to self-destruct!"
"I thought the explosion three minutes ago was the self-destruct. Uh, Jack," Owen added.
"Yeah?"
"They're on a direct course for the plaza."
"Valiant to Torchwood, Valiant to USPAT, Valiant to flight, Valiant to any military presence in Chicago -- "
"Torchwood here, Valiant," Jack said urgently. "What's your status?"
"Permission to land, Captain Harkness."
"Ross Jenkins, is that you?"
"Me and the Colonel, Captain. We're coming in hot. Flyover of the river confirms that someone's holding the line around the loop."
"Gwen and Tosh," Jack confirmed. "Valiant, you are cleared to land. How are your weapons?"
"Thrashed but functioning. Where's the Doctor?"
"Missing. We saw him with Tommy a while ago but we haven't had any communication from them or Ian," Owen said, as Jack's face tightened. "It's a hell of a mess down here. New York's been destroyed completely. Reports coming in that France is on fire."
"What, Paris?"
"All of France," Jack said. "We lost all communication with Japan twenty minutes ago."
"ETA is thirty seconds; do we need cover fire?"
"I'll come up to meet you," Jack said, and ran for the door. "Owen!"
"Jack," Owen said, looking frustrated and impotent in his chair.
"The Daleks can't take the Hub. You can't let that happen. If they get this far the planet's gone anyway."
"What do I do?" Owen asked. Jack reached out, stroked a hand through his hair, and kissed his forehead.
"If they breach the Hub, open the Rift," he said. "We'll take them in with us. They won't get anyone else."
"Yes, Captain."
Topside, Jack arrived just in time to see the Valiant hovering over the Plaza, easing itself down carefully. There were blackened grooves all over the hull, and a handful of missing pieces, but she looked as though she could still kick a little ass if she wanted.
Once it had settled, the entry hatch popped and Ross staggered out, almost falling to the ground, shaking as he tried to stand. Jack hauled him up and held him while Lethbridge followed, slightly more steadily but no less pale and drawn. Ross pushed away from Jack and leaned heavily on Lethbridge's shoulders as the Colonel gathered him up and held him tightly.
"You're amazing," he heard Lethbridge murmur. "You're perfect. But we still have fighting to do, kiddo."
Ross nodded against his father's shoulder and straightened.
"We have two functional cannons and low-flight capability," he said, turning to Jack. "Tell us where to go."
Jack was opening his mouth when something crackled in his ear.
"Hey, Captain," said Tommy's voice, over the comm. "I've got a Doctor here and a decommissioned Dalek. If you can get me to Dalek High Command or whatever they call themselves, I'm pretty sure I can end this."
"Good to hear you, Tommy, but the Valiant's out of commission," Jack said. "We're earthbound, we're going to have to fight from here."
"Not if you can blast your way across the bridge," a new voice, the Doctor, sounding almost cheerful. "You get me to the TARDIS and we can strip the Dalek race to its atoms."
Jack glanced at Ross, who was already disengaging the cannons from the Valiant and slinging them over his shoulders.
"Tell us where you are," he said, and smiled grimly.
***
They picked up Tosh and Rose crossing the Michigan Avenue bridge, leaving Gwen behind on the Erie bridge, shouting defiance from the El tracks that ran over the top of it. Ian joined them as they ran across the Plaza, tripping an explosion in the Tribune building that sent Daleks spinning away to crash into the other high-rises. Glass shattered as many of them hit Trump tower, and as they took cover against the wall of a building they all turned to see it crashing into the river -- across the river, taking out several buildings on the other side of it. Jack, alone, ran across the open space between buildings and let himself down to North Water, where Tommy and the Doctor were holed up in the parking garage. Ian and Rose hauled them up, Tommy carrying a large chunk of a Dalek in one hand, his laptop strapped to his back.
"They all take commands from someone in the nerve center of the ship," he said.
"They've evolved," the Doctor added. "Centralised command is more efficient. These are just drones -- none of them can take command. Take away their boss and we can clean them up easily."
"Can you get us to the command center?" Jack asked. The Doctor hesitated. "Can you?"
"Tommy needs to come," he said slowly. "And we'll need cover fire."
"So?"
"So this is a suicide mission. For them," the Doctor said.
"Well, we've already done one of those today," Lethbridge replied.
"I'm game," Ross agreed. "Tosh?"
"I'll go," Tosh said.
"Tosh, no -- " Tommy started.
"Tamaki, if you go, I go," Tosh said. "That's just the way it is."
"I just blew up the Tribune building," Ian said. "I'm good. Point the way."
Rose just slipped her hand into the Doctor's and smiled at him.
"We can't let them get past Earth," Jack said. "If Earth falls, they'll just move on, stronger and hungrier. If we're going to die anyway, let's die protecting the universe, right?"
"Screaming in the face of the hungry storm," the Doctor said.
"Let the great gods find out their enemies now," Ross said. Everyone looked at him. "What? It's Shakespeare. King Lear. In the storm."
The Doctor held out his hand, and the door to the TARDIS opened. Light spilled out. The Torchwood agents stood aside to let Lethbridge and Rose go first.
"You wanted to know why the Earth matters to me," the Doctor said, gripping Jack's shoulder to stop him as he passed. His voice was low, and for the first time it shook. "This is why."
He followed Jack inside and ran to the console, pointing Rose to the other side.
"We're going to jump straight to the Dalek ship," he said, as the TARDIS began to groan, the tubes inside the central column moving up and down with increasing speed. "I'll get as close to the center as I can. Rose, ride the time mix, keep us temporal."
"Got it," Rose said, smiling at him.
"Okay. Harkness and I go first," Lethbridge announced, clinging to one of the support columns as the ship began to judder and jerk. "I'll carry one of the cannons. The Doctor and Tommy follow. Ross and -- what's your name...Leone?"
"Ian Leone, Colonel."
"Take the other cannon, you two will flank them. Rose and Toshiko, you're on rear point. Our objective is to protect Tommy and the Doctor long enough to get the job done. We leave the same way we came; if anyone drops we'll pick them up on the way out. Once we're out, radio anyone on Earth who's listening and tell them to go after the remaining Daleks."
"I love a man who takes charge," Jack murmured to Tosh.
"Time and place, Jack," Tosh replied. Jack was about to reply when the TARDIS jerked again, sending everyone sprawling.
"Oh, no, nonononono," the Doctor said, skidding around the console and shouldering Rose out of the way.
"What is it?" Tosh called.
"The ship's out of phase. It's -- god, the energy must be enormous -- it's slightly outside of time. Hold on, this is going to be a rough landing."
"Out of phase," Jack said. "But that means -- "
"Yeah, when we blow the central command it's going to snap back in and we'll have two at once, and that's going to create a timestorm. Can't be helped," the Doctor said.
"What does that mean?" Ian demanded.
"Well, either we're all going to die, or we're going to create a paradox and rip a temporary hole in time," the Doctor retorted. "Which is fun if you want a little roller-coaster ride. Not as fun if you don't know where you're going to end up."
"Oh," Ian said. "Is that all."
Jack's hand, flailing for purchase on the tilting floor of the TARDIS, found Ian's and gripped it tightly.
***
Sam's Three Things About Torchwood AND Doctor Who, Trilogy Part The Third! Spoilers for Pro Patria, Pro Filius: Doctor Who Seriously Needs An Easy Button.1. How great was this episode. How great was this trilogy? Seriously, it seems a little hinky on the surface but once you dig into the whole Space Opera gestalt that they're rocking it's just plain awesome. Everything slotted into place like magic and while I do hate a deus-ex-machina, I really wasn't looking forward to the rest of the Torchwood season being the team trying to rebuild in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. So I'm glad that the timestorm set the world back thirty-six hours. And the Dalek fleet just winking out of existence while Torchwood watched all gleeful because they're the only ones who know why, that was GREAT.
2. I know it's terrible and sad and tragic that Lethbridge died, but I think also it had to happen. No way were they just going to be allowed to play happy families. The point is that Lethbridge starts out uneasy and then starts to think, okay, I can do this father thing, and even though he barely knows Ross he acknowledges the blood-bond between them. There's always this theme with these shows of taking responsibility -- whether it's for something you did or for something humanity as a whole has done, like with Jack last season. Lethbridge stepped up and did what he had to, to protect his son and protect the Earth. And it's a pretty senseless death, being shot by a Dalek, but his motivations make it poetic. It was a good thing.
3. That having been said, I could have done without the extended funeral scene; the heartbreaking moment when Lethbridge gives him the PDA and then Jack has to pull Ross away from his body was enough. But hey, now Ross has the PDA, what's he going to do with it?
3a. ROSE/ROSS FTW Y/Y?
***
Posted by erika_leone in LJ Community torch_who:
***
Chapter 5
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Annnnd reading on...
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There's so much in this to love: Edgar/Ellis of course, all the conversations between the Doctor and Jack, Tommy, Ross, the Doctor's speech about the Time War... I could go on, but I think I'm going to finish reading the rest of it. :)
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I need full fanfic of the Trilogy, Sam. After you get done with all your other projects, of course, but still: full fanfic. (er, would it be called fanfic? fine, story.)
3a. ROSE/ROSS FTW Y/Y?
No, because you just had to cast John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd as the Doctor and Ross. My head says "DON'T MAKE SENSE," my eyes go "JACK/IANTO <333". Goddamn these crossovers of multiple proportions. Also, I have friends who know Panettiere; I'm all kind of gaping and blabbering. To think: I can read time-travel fic easy as pie, and then you create an alternate universe and my head almost explodes.
Love it still ♥ Shall finish reading the rest.
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That so looks like a penis!cloud over the Colonel's right eye.
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AND THAT'S NOT A BAD THING, Y/Y?no subject
Labelling someone a cock-head when they've had a Glorious Death Scene(TM) is considered bad form in many cultures
even if it's true.no subject
Also, revealing the ending by having fictional!you point out what you like and don't like about it twists my brain in all sorts of wonderful ways.
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God, this really got me. Having his identity taken/used in that way. :-(
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BTW, interesting that, contrary to its UNIT parallel, USPAT doesn't like the Doctor any better than Torchwood does in your 'verse...
"Morituri te salutant" is incorrect, at least in Classical Latin. It should be "Nos morituri te salutamus." "Salutant" is third-person - "THEY who are about to die...." And I'm too tired to puzzle my head around "Dulce et decorum est" - what's the source/translation, please?
YOU BASTARD! YOU BLEW UP MY CITY! LOL
Jesus H Frog and all his tiny tadpoles... I want to have your babies. ;)
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Dulce et decorum est is a quote from a classical poem, and also from a poem about WWI (used ironically). The full line is "Dulce et decorum est pro patria morituri" or "Sweet and honourable (decorous) it is to die for your country/fatherland".
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Seriously, I could get WAY behind the new Fox TW and (hopefully not oh god) DW if they just paid you for your plots and filled them out. Because DAMN I love this.
Is it horrible that I now want to play your Rose somewhere? And write fanfic?
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They should totally hire us.
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(Anonymous) 2010-08-03 03:19 am (UTC)(link)TRILOGY PART ONE: FATHERS AND SONS
there's italics that extend into the story text which is i think not the formatting you're doing for the rest of the story? Or if it is on purpose then i don't know what it's supposed to mean.
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1) And then they got adorable-r. Do we have pictures of these two? If not, WHY NOT and HOW CAN WE FIX THIS
2) Hooray, Ross is back!
Ooh, Iantosh!3) Dammit, Ross, mention YOUR MOTHER'S NAME. And actually, random TARDIS sighting mid-date... Well, I</> wouldn't complain...
4) Boys, I completely agree. Lock yourselves in a room with the Doctor and Ross and NEVER COME OUT. (And give me the CCTV.)
5) "God -- dammit -- LETHBRIDGE!" <- I can hear the Barrowman. I CAN HEAR IT. Also, Owen has good perspective.
6) The Threefold Man? I'm afraid I don't understand why this was included unless you're later planning the whole DoctorDonna thing... As I could make it, Dalek Caan only called the Doctor that because he was later literally split into three - Doctor, human!Doctor, and DoctorDonna. :/
7) The fact that GWen is black still makes me chuckle. Only in America is the multi-racial cast so obviously a requirement. Then: sAM HOW COULD YOU AAAAAAGH and then the Gladiator's farewell, oh, Ross, and also hearing that in GDL's Ianto voice is making me laugh but AAAAAAGH YOU CRUEL LITTLE
8) -pokes the title- I SEE WHUT U DID THAR. (for the country/father, for the son? :D alt!meanings are fun)
9) Definitely not close to tears at the part where Lethbridge hugs Ross. DEFINITELY NOT.
10) Ian casually mentions that he blew up the Tribune building. I know the building; I can picture it, and now I can picture it exploding, and now I can see Ian being responsible... /evil grin/ Oh, CHICAGO, if only. (Trump Tower. Lulz.) Also, J/I HAND-HOLDING
kink!11) I LOVE YOUR THREE THINGS. I LOVE YOUR META THREE THINGS TOO.
11a. Frankly, Ross with anybody would make me happy at this point.
12) T.T (No... Really... Tear slipped out there; I was already wobbly from the Ross-Lethbridge hug, and then the casual way you slipped it into your three things, oh, GOD... >.< )
</3 WASN'T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE PART PARODY? STOP MAKING ME CRY OVER A PARODY CHARACTER. (You twisted thing, you.)
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This was actually written before S4 of Doctor Who, so the Threefold Man was basically just me bullshitting :D It doesn't mean anything.
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(Anonymous) 2011-04-02 03:46 am (UTC)(link)no subject