Fic: Lives Are For Living. (33/40)
Apr. 10th, 2014 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silver_sunTitle Lives Are For Living. (33/40)
Fandoms Torchwood/Being Human crossover fic.
Characters/pairings Andy Davidson/Tom McNair. Other Torchwood and Being Human characters will appear later on.
Word count: This part 4700 (Total posted 96,000 /115,000)
Rating This part teen (adult over all) – see contains below.
Contains Mentions of depression/anxiety. Mentions of past canon major character death. Mention of minor character death – not canon. In later parts canon level violence, graphic sex, Andy's homophobic mother. Spoilers for Being Human (UK version) up to series 5 episode 3, and for Torchwood up to Children of Earth.
A/N: Crossover with Being Human. Technically a CoE fix it as it's set in the same 'verse as Finding Ways To Smile Again (although that isn't apparent until about 2/3 the way through the story). Follows on from Break and Breakaway from Tom McNair's POV – which is where it breaks from Being Human canon.
Summary
After being pushed out of the police force following the events of Children of Earth, Andy Davidson tries to build a new life for himself in the deep in the Welsh countryside.
Tom McNair walked out off his old life after realising it wasn't what he needed.
A chance meeting would take their lives in directions that they had never expected and bring them love that they'd not thought they'd find.
Starts here: http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/214504.html
The first few days that followed what Andy considered to be his utterly humiliating meltdown in front of Torchwood had been at best frustrating and at worst downright horrible. He'd felt wretched, convinced that everybody thought that he was as useless and pathetic as he'd convinced himself he was. He'd been dreading a repeat of how sick Tom had been with the flu just a few months earlier. Whether it had been the antibiotics or, as Tom had claimed, that the wolf helped heal up injuries quicker than it would for normal people, within a few days he was moving around much easier.
Even that had come with its problems, as every time Tom left the house, he'd ended up worrying what had happened to him until he'd come back in again. There were some benefits though, if he could get past the worry. Tom's decision to exercise, usually wearing nothing more than his old cut off shorts had certainly been distracting.
And now, Andy thought, looking at the clock, in a few short hours would be moonrise and it would all begin again or worse it would all end. The closer it had got to today the more his fears had returned. Part of him wanted to to think that those fears were ridiculous, that he was blowing things out of all proportion. Yet how was it irrational to be scared when the person you loved might come to harm while fighting the undead and turning into werewolf while backed up back worlds least secret secret alien fighting team. His life was so bloody weird that working out was irrational just didn't seem to work.
“We could just run away from all this,” Andy said, even though he knew what the answer would be.
"They'd just find us, well maybe not the same vampires, but there's others, there always is," Tom said sounding resigned to the fact. He got up from the table, taking the stake he'd been working on with him. "They never leave yer alone, not ever. That's why me and me dad got rid of as many as we could. It were like a public service I 'spose."
"We could just let Torchwood handle it," Andy suggested, doubting that would be any more successful at keeping Tom out of harms way.
"No, this fights mind more 'an theirs and running ain't the answer. Otherwise you'll never stop. Lives are for living, that's the way I see it, or why else would you have one?” Tom said putting the stake into holdall on the floor by the sofa. “I've only ever heard of one werewolf living until he got old. I got to meet him, he were a top bloke, used to run this barbers shop down by the sea. Most of us only live a few years after we're changed though, an' I've had more 'an twenty years so....” he stopped seeing Andy's devastated expression. “No, no, I don't mean it like that. You know I'm crap at talking about stuff like this. So don't worry, I'm planning on being around for years, so you'll have me for ages.”
"Don't worry?" Andy said incredulously, wondering just how Tom had thought it was even remotely fair to tell him what he had and then expect him not to worry. "You think I want to worry? That I like it? Do you think I want to spend my life imagining just how bad things can get? Do you think I enjoy feeling so sodding overwhelmed by it all I don't want to get out of bed or speak to anyone? Does that sound even remotely fun to you?"
"Course it don't, an' you think I don't get it?” Tom said hurt and angry. "Do you think I'm too thick to feel anything about what's happened? I'm just a dumb animal underneath it all? Who don't get what it's like, or to feel like yer such a failure at being a person that you don't deserve to...why'd ya think I ran away and ended up here? Because I thought I were nothing, I were just a thing pretending I were human."
"Tom..." Andy said, hating the raw look in Tom’s eyes and knowing he was the cause of it. “I’m sorry, I’ve never thought that.”
“Nah, I shouldn’t’ve said it. Just forget it. I’ll be fine, and after tonight it’ll go back to how it was. I promise, I'm gonna make sure it does.” Tom turned away and started looking through the holdall, although it was clear he was doing it as a distraction rather than out of any need to actually find anything in it. “After tonight it all be fine. It will.”
“It’s okay to be scared, you don’t have to pretend for me. I don’t want you to have to.” Andy put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the tension there. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Yes, I do. ‘Cause I need to, ‘cause I ain’t got anything else t’offer yer. Least I can do is make sure yer okay. An’ I know I ain’t right good at it, but I’m trying.” Lifting Andy’s hand off his shoulder, Tom turned round to face him again. “I don’t think I’ve ever bin as happy as I am here with you. You and this place, living like normal people, it’s all I’ve ever wanted, and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make sure nothing's gonna ruin it.”
It was too easy to forget the insecurities that were hidden beneath Tom’s almost perpetually cheerful exterior, Andy thought, uncertain of how to reassure him when the fears were so close to his own.
“I just don’t wanna lose you,” Tom said, when Andy hadn’t replied. “Not like I’ve lost everybody else.”
“You won't,” Andy replied, pulling him close, unable to silence the thought that he was much more likely to lose Tom than it to be the other way around. “Why were we even arguing?”
“I dunno,” Tom said, looking up at him. “We can be right daft about stuff, can't we?”
If things went wrong tonight this could be the last time they were together he thought wildly, pulling Tom tightly against him and kissing him.
Tom responded, gripping him tight, pushing against him. it was rougher than usual, but they need it, Andy needs it more than air at that moment and if the way Tom was trying to get his clothes he was just as desperate for this moment together.
Falling backward on the sofa with Tom on top of him, Andy knew they’d have bruises, but it felt so good to just let go, he really didn’t care.
OXOXOXO
A couple of the cushions were going to need a good wash or maybe just replacing, but Andy didn't care in the slightest. There were aches in all kinds of interesting places too and he was sure he was going to be sporting a pretty spectacular love bite on the back of his neck for a quite a while to come, but none of that mattered.
He didn’t want to move, not yet and if he was honest not any time soon. Because once they did the moment and maybe everything else would be over. Closing his eyes, Andy was half asleep when there was a knock at the door. He opened them again to see Tom looking at him with a panicked expression.
"That's them, ain't it?"
"Yeah, they do pick their times, don't they?" Andy said, knowing that there was no way to disguise what they had been doing. Although part of him was mortified at the idea of anybody letting anybody into the house right now, the other part had a certain smug satisfaction that Jack 'I flirt with everybody, even in front of my boyfriend' Harkness would be left in little doubt he and Tom were most definitely happy together. Grabbing a towel, Andy wrapped it round his waist and went to open the door.
Gwen looked at him and then at Tom, who was holding strategically placed cushion. Tom gave her a rabbit caught in the headlights look, before pointing at the bedroom door and saying, “I'm gonna get some clothes now.”
“Do you want us to go back out for a few minutes?” Gwen said, looking back over her shoulder to Jack and Ianto, who had by now seen enough to know what was going on.
There was no reason why he should be the only one to be embarrassed, Andy decided. Holding the towel firmly in place he stepped aside. "Come in, just don't sit on the sofa."
Jack grinned, but didn't comment, although Andy suspected that was partially due to the look that Ianto gave him and the quiet, "We're working, remember."
Gwen looked complete unfazed by it, and said more amused anything else, "Still not as bad as working with them."
“So this is it then?” Andy looked at Gwen, Jack and Ianto who looked no better prepared to deal with anything than when they'd just come to talk. “Three of you against who knows how many vampires and weevils?”
“Six,” Ianto said, moving to stand by the window, looking out like he was waiting for somebody. “Martha Jones and Mickey Smith will be joining us shortly, and Tom has agreed to help.”
“Seven,” Andy said, knowing it probably wasn't even slightly advisable for him get into a situation where they would probably have fight for their lives, the idea of it terrified him, but letting them go without him, sitting at home wondering if they would all return alive, and if they didn't, whether having an extra person with them would have made a difference, was far worse to contemplate. His stomach churned, fear clawing at him, any good feelings he'd had just minutes earlier evaporating. He took a deep breath, determined that he wasn't going to let Tom face this alone. “I'm not letting you all go off without me. You know I've always wanted to see what you lot did. I'm not going to miss this."
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Jack said, sounding like he didn’t really care if anybody did. “But you’re going to be more of a liability than a help from what I saw last time. We can’t spare anybody to look after you if you go to pieces again. This is my team and I'm not putting them in any more danger than they already are."
“I’d just had a bad day, " Andy said, knowing it was was an understatement and that what he was going to say next would be bordering on an outright lie. "You try not sleeping or eating for a full day, while worrying about somebody you love and see whether you get a bit snappy.”
"If he says he's gonna be okay, then I believe him," Tom said coming out of the bedroom and going to stand with Andy. "I don't want him to be in danger either, but were gonna need everyone we can get. An' even if all he does in sit in the car so we can get out there fast if it goes wrong then he's still useful."
Jack gave them a sceptical look. "Not if he drives us into a tree."
"If he thinks he can manage then we should let him come," Ianto said, from where he was setting out the plans on the kitchen table. "Just think about it. If it were me, going off with something like UNIT, would you want to be told to stay at home and wait?"
Jack shook his head. "It'd never happen. I'm always..."
Ianto gave him a warning look. Then getting close to him said quietly, "Valient. You didn't have to go with me."
Jack sounded shaken as he replied. “It was a security conference.”
“Where somebody had already got eaten and another had exploded,” Ianto said not backing down.
“I’m not winning this one, am I?” Jack said, then looking at Gwen he said. “Any time you want to back me up on this, feel free.”
Gwen looked torn about it. Turning to Andy she said, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay if come with us?”
“I know I’m not going to be if I have to wait here by myself wondering if you’re all dead,” Andy replied, hoping that it would help his case rather than hinder it. "So I'm coming with you, and..."
Outside there was the rumble of a motorbike engine, and Tom hurried past him and. grabbed a stake that Andy hadn't even realised that had been hidden by door. He dropped into a crouch as if waiting for attack. Tense, but ready Tom waved them away from the door. “All of yer, keep back.”
Ianto looked out of the window. “It's Martha and Mickey.”
“Who?” Tom said, still not relaxing, his fingers clenched white knuckled about the stake.
“They work with us, they're here to stop the vampires,” Gwen said, holding out her hand as if she expected Tom to hand the stake to her.
“Yer coulda told me they had a bike,” Tom said accusingly, as walked past her and put the stake down on the table with rather more force than was necessary. "I thought it were Audrey, didn't I?"
“I didn't know,” Gwen said, opening the door to let them in. “Although I suppose they chose it because they'd have never got Mickey's van up here.”
Torchwood, the professional section. Andy decided, as he hung back while greetings were exchanged. It was the busiest he suspected that the farm had been in years, and the small living room looked overcrowded with so many people in it. It wasn't a lot of people really, but it made him uncomfortable, and he wished that asking them to leave and just give him some space for a moment was an option. They'd be gone soon enough, he reminded himself, and there was no point wishing time away, now with what was shortly going to happen.
"Tom knows more about this than any of us," Jack said, turning to Tom. "So over to you."
Tom nodded and went over to the plan of Pen Mawr farm Ianto had spread out on the table. “Right well, The vampires gonna be pretty well organised. They've been running this for months or longe without havin' bin found out. I mean if I hadn't won me fight and legged it you'd still not know.”
“How many are we looking at?” Mickey asked. "And are they likely to be shooting at us."
“Probably not shooting, they do have a taser though, and it hurts. Running it and doing the catching, probably four to eight, including Audrey and Bill and Ben. Coming to watch? Could be anythin' up to fifty or sixty.” Tom looked down at the plan of the building the vampires were using, that Ianto had spread out on the table. “It ain't right big in there, you saw the place, so I'd say probably on the lower end.”
“Bill and Ben?” Mickey said, looking at everybody. “Like the the flowerpot men?”
Tom frowned. “I don't remember seein' any flower pots, I think they worked doing drives and maybe garage roofs and stuff, because Audrey vampired them.”
“You don't know who...” Mickey stopped and looked at Jack. “He's not an alien is he?”
Jack shook his head. “Definitely not that.”
“Alright, vamp killin' basics. Forget all that film stuff, half of it don't work and the other half only works a bit. All that crosses an' religious stuff don't work unless you really, really believe in it, as otherwise it'll just make them feel a little bit weird and they'll just knock it out yer hand and rip yer throat out. Garlic don't work for anything other than to disguise your scent, so maybe yer could try an’ make them think there were less of yer. Daylight won't help, they can walk around in it all they like, although they might put on some sunglasses if it gets really bright.”
“Although I assume stakes work,” Ianto said, nodding towards the one Tom had left on the table.
“Yep." Tom picked it up. “Stake through the heart works every time, it's what I usually do. You can cut their head off or if they've not been a vamp for long breaking their necks seems to work. I'd always stake'm afterwards though just to make sure. Oh and setting fire to them or exploding them is good if there's a lot of them.” He smiled without any of his usual warmth. “I've done that too. Werewolf blood works an' all. Like acid on their skin and if they drink it, they're done for. Pretty horrible to watch though.”
“Just how many vampires have you killed?” Jack asked, looking at Tom and seeming undecided whether to be horrified or impressed.
“I dunno. Must be at least sixty. A lot were when I were huntin' with me dad though and a fair few were in a warehouse that got blew up. One's I actually staked thought, I reckon at least thirty five.” He frowned. “You know, I think it's probably more than that. Do yer really need an exact number?”
“No,” Ianto said, looking like he was reconsidering just how dangerous Tom might be. “I really don't think that will be necessary.”
“How old did you say he was?” Gwen asked quietly.
“Twenty two,” Andy replied, heart aching for Tom's lost childhood. “He told me his dad took him out to kill his first vampire when he was thirteen.”
“Poor kid, what thing to do.” Gwen watched sadly as Tom decided that it was time to explain and then demonstrate the best way to stake a vampire.
Not wanting to watch, Andy said, “That’s not even the half of it, it’s not up to me to tell you though.”
“So how are you doing?” Gwen asked, moving so that she was between him and the rest of the group. "And I don't expect you to say fine. I don't think anybody would be, not with all this."
"I will be. Once this is over, once Tom and me can just go back to living our lives, then I'll be okay." It sounding more convincing that Andy had thought it would, and he could almost believe it himself.
"It isn't always that simple," Gwen said, taking hold of his arm. "So don't be too hard on yourself if it doesn't go back to being the same straight away. Just give it some time. It took me and Rhys a while after find out about the whole aliens being real thing."
It was probably true, but that didn't mean Andy wanted to hear it. "Alright," he replied noncommittal. "Maybe we should listen to what Tom's saying."
Gwen looked for a moment like she was going to try to push the issue, but then said, "So not like that time we missed half the DCIs briefing on crowd control arrangements and ended up on our own with a load of pissed up rugby fans?"
Andy hadn't thought about that in years. "It didn't go that badly in the end. Not if you don't count their singing."
“...lot of the vamps will just be there to bet on the fight or just because they get turned by it," Tom said as they turned back to listen. "The ones to watch'll be the ones who organise it. They tend to know how to fight. This lot probably more than most. They took that weevil thing and kept it somewhere, either that or they go out an' get a fresh one every full moon like they do with the werewolves.” Tom waited for a moment, seeing if anybody else had any questions before adding, “There's a good chance they'll have some normal humans there an' all.”
Gwen gave him a horrified look. “People go to watch this?”
Tom shook his head. “Nah. They'll have been caught by the vampires. That's how me dad became a werewolf. He were just a bloke and he got slung in with a werewolf. He were the first normal they'd reckoned they'd seen be the winner of the fight. Only he got clawed up." Tom gestured to the side of his face. "So he were a werewolf after that. So any ordinary person there'll have been caught to fight or as something for the vamps to snack on afterwards.”
“I think I prefer aliens,” Mickey said, “At least they didn't turn you into one. Well not apart from Cybermen or those slime ones, or the ones that took your skin or the ones that took out your brain and did stuff with it.”
Working for Torchwood sounded less and less appealing the more you knew about it, Andy decided. Not that harboured any hopes or desires in that direction any more.
Tom looked at the clock and then picked up the stake on the table and put it back in the hold all. “We should be going soon. I wanna get the first part of this done before I change and while I can still think fer me self.”
Martha and Mickey looked at each other and then at Jack, before Martha said, “Okay, Jack what got left out on this 'we need you to help stop a few vampires' call you gave us last night, because we're definitely missing something here.”
Tom gave Jack an irritated look. “I thought you lot said you told each other stuff? I'm a werewolf, alright. It ain't a big deal apart from tonight. Have they really not told yer anything?”
“Only that having a doctor there handy might be useful,” Martha said, and then looking at Mickey added, “And that extra fire power was probably a plus. So Jack, tell me what's going on as I really don't want a repeat of the whole cursed death glove death thing.”
“Hey, neither do I. He got all snappy last time about people being told about his thing,” Jack said gesturing towards Tom. “So I just thought...”
Ianto gave them all a faintly despairing look and went to the door. Opening he said, “We can talk about it in the car.” He paused and then said, “Only we can't, can we? because we can't fit seven of us in the SUV.”
“It'd be cosy,” Jack said, with a smile that suggested he really didn't mind that at all.
“It would also mean two of us not having seatbelts and considering your driving getting here, I don't think that's a good idea,” Ianto said, not sounding like he was going to be persuaded otherwise.“As getting us there in one piece would be an advantage.”
“I'm a great driver,” Jack said sounding a little put out by it. “Did I ever tell you about the time I drove...”
"This isn't the one about the tank?" Mickey said, "because that...nobody would believed it. Even me and I saw it."
Did they really spend so much time bickering about things normally if they were working something with a normal member of the public, Andy wondered, or was it because they considered them part of their group that they were getting the behind the scenes version. It had been like that in the police – the face you presented to the public, calm and professional was rarely maintained when you were only amongst colleagues. The idea that there was something so relateable about how Torchwood worked, was actually more reassuring than all the techno babble and gadgets that they had brought with them. Hoping that he wasn't about to regret it, Andy said, “We can take my land rover as well if you want.”
“Okay,” Gwen said clapping her hands together, trying to get everybody's attention and get some form of order again. “So Jack, Ianto, Martha, Mickey and Tom you're all in the SUV. Andy and me will follow up in the land rover. ”
“Why can't you go with them and I'll bring Tom?” Andy said, wondering if he sounded as paranoid as he was suddenly feeling. What if they hadn't come to help, what if they had all come to take Tom away? It was a ridiculous idea, they could have just taken him the first time if that was what they'd wanted to do.
“Because Ianto and Tom will be bringing Martha and Mickey up to speed on the situation while Jack drives. I could drive them, but then you'd be with Jack, and after last time, well...” Gwen gave him a reassuring smile. “It'll be like old times just the two of us, even if it's only for a few minutes.”
Because reminding me of when I was in the police is really going to help, Andy thought irritably. He knew that Gwen hadn't meant it like that, and if he was honest back when he was partnered with Gwen his life hadn't really been that bad, he'd enjoyed his job. “Alright,” he said reluctantly. “But you have to the map reading.”
“No need,” Ianto said, handing Gwen what looked like a very high end sat nav. “It's already pre-programmed, and I've synced it with the SUVs tracker, so you'll be able to tell when we've arrived. It has its own locator beacon built in, so we can tell where you are as well. If you need assistance for any reason, use this.” He pointed to a switch on the side of the unit. “Your signal will change colour on our display.”
Gwen put it in her coat pocket. “You really do think of everything, don't you?”
Ianto smiled. “I try my best.”
This was really it, Andy thought looking at them all. Jack seemed focused now, talking to Tom again about killing vampires, flirting and risqué comments left behind for the moment. Martha and Mickey, although he didn't know them at all seemed organised and more competent that Torchwood had often appeared to be. Ianto was apparently scarily efficient and could handle Jack - in more ways than one from Tom had told him about the lift. Not that he wanted to be thinking about that now, although maybe I'd be safer than the other thoughts that were running through his head.
“Right then,” Jack said, once Ianto had picked up the plans and Mickey had taken the hold all from Tom. “Time to move out.”
It seemed as if one moment they were all there and then they were gone. Tom was gone. Andy took a shaky breath. he’d not even said goodbye. Not that it was goodbye, they’d be following them in a couple of minutes, but he should have said something. What if Tom thought he didn’t care?
"There's somethin' I forgot," Tom called out as he dashed back inside. Stopping in front of Andy, he wrapped his arms round him and kissed him. "If you feel weird or owt like that, then you get somewhere safe and I find yer later," Tom said holding him tight. "An' if anything bad happens, not that it will, but if it did, although it won’t, right so don’t be thinking it will, then don't do anything silly. Cause you know I wouldn't want that, don't yer?"
Andy nodded, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. It was all he could do to let him go and walk out the door.
“You okay?” Gwen asked now they were alone.
“Yeah, I think so,” Andy said, picking up his keys from a hook near the door. “I supposed we'd better follow them.”
“Umm Andy,” Gwen said, glancing down and then quickly back up again. "You might want to get dressed first. I meant it's only a suggestion.”
The towel had, at some point, slipped down to where it concealed nothing at all. “Oh balls,” Andy muttered, pulling it up again and hurrying into the bedroom.
Part 34 http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/235275.html
A/N The healing faster thing is based off Nina healing quicker than expected after Herrick stabbed her.
Sorry for the delay in getting this part up, life and work being hectic, the rest of the month isn't looking much better between visiting relatives and the Easter weekend. But writing will happen as and when I can.
Fandoms Torchwood/Being Human crossover fic.
Characters/pairings Andy Davidson/Tom McNair. Other Torchwood and Being Human characters will appear later on.
Word count: This part 4700 (Total posted 96,000 /115,000)
Rating This part teen (adult over all) – see contains below.
Contains Mentions of depression/anxiety. Mentions of past canon major character death. Mention of minor character death – not canon. In later parts canon level violence, graphic sex, Andy's homophobic mother. Spoilers for Being Human (UK version) up to series 5 episode 3, and for Torchwood up to Children of Earth.
A/N: Crossover with Being Human. Technically a CoE fix it as it's set in the same 'verse as Finding Ways To Smile Again (although that isn't apparent until about 2/3 the way through the story). Follows on from Break and Breakaway from Tom McNair's POV – which is where it breaks from Being Human canon.
Summary
After being pushed out of the police force following the events of Children of Earth, Andy Davidson tries to build a new life for himself in the deep in the Welsh countryside.
Tom McNair walked out off his old life after realising it wasn't what he needed.
A chance meeting would take their lives in directions that they had never expected and bring them love that they'd not thought they'd find.
Starts here: http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/214504.html
The first few days that followed what Andy considered to be his utterly humiliating meltdown in front of Torchwood had been at best frustrating and at worst downright horrible. He'd felt wretched, convinced that everybody thought that he was as useless and pathetic as he'd convinced himself he was. He'd been dreading a repeat of how sick Tom had been with the flu just a few months earlier. Whether it had been the antibiotics or, as Tom had claimed, that the wolf helped heal up injuries quicker than it would for normal people, within a few days he was moving around much easier.
Even that had come with its problems, as every time Tom left the house, he'd ended up worrying what had happened to him until he'd come back in again. There were some benefits though, if he could get past the worry. Tom's decision to exercise, usually wearing nothing more than his old cut off shorts had certainly been distracting.
And now, Andy thought, looking at the clock, in a few short hours would be moonrise and it would all begin again or worse it would all end. The closer it had got to today the more his fears had returned. Part of him wanted to to think that those fears were ridiculous, that he was blowing things out of all proportion. Yet how was it irrational to be scared when the person you loved might come to harm while fighting the undead and turning into werewolf while backed up back worlds least secret secret alien fighting team. His life was so bloody weird that working out was irrational just didn't seem to work.
“We could just run away from all this,” Andy said, even though he knew what the answer would be.
"They'd just find us, well maybe not the same vampires, but there's others, there always is," Tom said sounding resigned to the fact. He got up from the table, taking the stake he'd been working on with him. "They never leave yer alone, not ever. That's why me and me dad got rid of as many as we could. It were like a public service I 'spose."
"We could just let Torchwood handle it," Andy suggested, doubting that would be any more successful at keeping Tom out of harms way.
"No, this fights mind more 'an theirs and running ain't the answer. Otherwise you'll never stop. Lives are for living, that's the way I see it, or why else would you have one?” Tom said putting the stake into holdall on the floor by the sofa. “I've only ever heard of one werewolf living until he got old. I got to meet him, he were a top bloke, used to run this barbers shop down by the sea. Most of us only live a few years after we're changed though, an' I've had more 'an twenty years so....” he stopped seeing Andy's devastated expression. “No, no, I don't mean it like that. You know I'm crap at talking about stuff like this. So don't worry, I'm planning on being around for years, so you'll have me for ages.”
"Don't worry?" Andy said incredulously, wondering just how Tom had thought it was even remotely fair to tell him what he had and then expect him not to worry. "You think I want to worry? That I like it? Do you think I want to spend my life imagining just how bad things can get? Do you think I enjoy feeling so sodding overwhelmed by it all I don't want to get out of bed or speak to anyone? Does that sound even remotely fun to you?"
"Course it don't, an' you think I don't get it?” Tom said hurt and angry. "Do you think I'm too thick to feel anything about what's happened? I'm just a dumb animal underneath it all? Who don't get what it's like, or to feel like yer such a failure at being a person that you don't deserve to...why'd ya think I ran away and ended up here? Because I thought I were nothing, I were just a thing pretending I were human."
"Tom..." Andy said, hating the raw look in Tom’s eyes and knowing he was the cause of it. “I’m sorry, I’ve never thought that.”
“Nah, I shouldn’t’ve said it. Just forget it. I’ll be fine, and after tonight it’ll go back to how it was. I promise, I'm gonna make sure it does.” Tom turned away and started looking through the holdall, although it was clear he was doing it as a distraction rather than out of any need to actually find anything in it. “After tonight it all be fine. It will.”
“It’s okay to be scared, you don’t have to pretend for me. I don’t want you to have to.” Andy put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the tension there. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Yes, I do. ‘Cause I need to, ‘cause I ain’t got anything else t’offer yer. Least I can do is make sure yer okay. An’ I know I ain’t right good at it, but I’m trying.” Lifting Andy’s hand off his shoulder, Tom turned round to face him again. “I don’t think I’ve ever bin as happy as I am here with you. You and this place, living like normal people, it’s all I’ve ever wanted, and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make sure nothing's gonna ruin it.”
It was too easy to forget the insecurities that were hidden beneath Tom’s almost perpetually cheerful exterior, Andy thought, uncertain of how to reassure him when the fears were so close to his own.
“I just don’t wanna lose you,” Tom said, when Andy hadn’t replied. “Not like I’ve lost everybody else.”
“You won't,” Andy replied, pulling him close, unable to silence the thought that he was much more likely to lose Tom than it to be the other way around. “Why were we even arguing?”
“I dunno,” Tom said, looking up at him. “We can be right daft about stuff, can't we?”
If things went wrong tonight this could be the last time they were together he thought wildly, pulling Tom tightly against him and kissing him.
Tom responded, gripping him tight, pushing against him. it was rougher than usual, but they need it, Andy needs it more than air at that moment and if the way Tom was trying to get his clothes he was just as desperate for this moment together.
Falling backward on the sofa with Tom on top of him, Andy knew they’d have bruises, but it felt so good to just let go, he really didn’t care.
OXOXOXO
A couple of the cushions were going to need a good wash or maybe just replacing, but Andy didn't care in the slightest. There were aches in all kinds of interesting places too and he was sure he was going to be sporting a pretty spectacular love bite on the back of his neck for a quite a while to come, but none of that mattered.
He didn’t want to move, not yet and if he was honest not any time soon. Because once they did the moment and maybe everything else would be over. Closing his eyes, Andy was half asleep when there was a knock at the door. He opened them again to see Tom looking at him with a panicked expression.
"That's them, ain't it?"
"Yeah, they do pick their times, don't they?" Andy said, knowing that there was no way to disguise what they had been doing. Although part of him was mortified at the idea of anybody letting anybody into the house right now, the other part had a certain smug satisfaction that Jack 'I flirt with everybody, even in front of my boyfriend' Harkness would be left in little doubt he and Tom were most definitely happy together. Grabbing a towel, Andy wrapped it round his waist and went to open the door.
Gwen looked at him and then at Tom, who was holding strategically placed cushion. Tom gave her a rabbit caught in the headlights look, before pointing at the bedroom door and saying, “I'm gonna get some clothes now.”
“Do you want us to go back out for a few minutes?” Gwen said, looking back over her shoulder to Jack and Ianto, who had by now seen enough to know what was going on.
There was no reason why he should be the only one to be embarrassed, Andy decided. Holding the towel firmly in place he stepped aside. "Come in, just don't sit on the sofa."
Jack grinned, but didn't comment, although Andy suspected that was partially due to the look that Ianto gave him and the quiet, "We're working, remember."
Gwen looked complete unfazed by it, and said more amused anything else, "Still not as bad as working with them."
“So this is it then?” Andy looked at Gwen, Jack and Ianto who looked no better prepared to deal with anything than when they'd just come to talk. “Three of you against who knows how many vampires and weevils?”
“Six,” Ianto said, moving to stand by the window, looking out like he was waiting for somebody. “Martha Jones and Mickey Smith will be joining us shortly, and Tom has agreed to help.”
“Seven,” Andy said, knowing it probably wasn't even slightly advisable for him get into a situation where they would probably have fight for their lives, the idea of it terrified him, but letting them go without him, sitting at home wondering if they would all return alive, and if they didn't, whether having an extra person with them would have made a difference, was far worse to contemplate. His stomach churned, fear clawing at him, any good feelings he'd had just minutes earlier evaporating. He took a deep breath, determined that he wasn't going to let Tom face this alone. “I'm not letting you all go off without me. You know I've always wanted to see what you lot did. I'm not going to miss this."
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Jack said, sounding like he didn’t really care if anybody did. “But you’re going to be more of a liability than a help from what I saw last time. We can’t spare anybody to look after you if you go to pieces again. This is my team and I'm not putting them in any more danger than they already are."
“I’d just had a bad day, " Andy said, knowing it was was an understatement and that what he was going to say next would be bordering on an outright lie. "You try not sleeping or eating for a full day, while worrying about somebody you love and see whether you get a bit snappy.”
"If he says he's gonna be okay, then I believe him," Tom said coming out of the bedroom and going to stand with Andy. "I don't want him to be in danger either, but were gonna need everyone we can get. An' even if all he does in sit in the car so we can get out there fast if it goes wrong then he's still useful."
Jack gave them a sceptical look. "Not if he drives us into a tree."
"If he thinks he can manage then we should let him come," Ianto said, from where he was setting out the plans on the kitchen table. "Just think about it. If it were me, going off with something like UNIT, would you want to be told to stay at home and wait?"
Jack shook his head. "It'd never happen. I'm always..."
Ianto gave him a warning look. Then getting close to him said quietly, "Valient. You didn't have to go with me."
Jack sounded shaken as he replied. “It was a security conference.”
“Where somebody had already got eaten and another had exploded,” Ianto said not backing down.
“I’m not winning this one, am I?” Jack said, then looking at Gwen he said. “Any time you want to back me up on this, feel free.”
Gwen looked torn about it. Turning to Andy she said, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay if come with us?”
“I know I’m not going to be if I have to wait here by myself wondering if you’re all dead,” Andy replied, hoping that it would help his case rather than hinder it. "So I'm coming with you, and..."
Outside there was the rumble of a motorbike engine, and Tom hurried past him and. grabbed a stake that Andy hadn't even realised that had been hidden by door. He dropped into a crouch as if waiting for attack. Tense, but ready Tom waved them away from the door. “All of yer, keep back.”
Ianto looked out of the window. “It's Martha and Mickey.”
“Who?” Tom said, still not relaxing, his fingers clenched white knuckled about the stake.
“They work with us, they're here to stop the vampires,” Gwen said, holding out her hand as if she expected Tom to hand the stake to her.
“Yer coulda told me they had a bike,” Tom said accusingly, as walked past her and put the stake down on the table with rather more force than was necessary. "I thought it were Audrey, didn't I?"
“I didn't know,” Gwen said, opening the door to let them in. “Although I suppose they chose it because they'd have never got Mickey's van up here.”
Torchwood, the professional section. Andy decided, as he hung back while greetings were exchanged. It was the busiest he suspected that the farm had been in years, and the small living room looked overcrowded with so many people in it. It wasn't a lot of people really, but it made him uncomfortable, and he wished that asking them to leave and just give him some space for a moment was an option. They'd be gone soon enough, he reminded himself, and there was no point wishing time away, now with what was shortly going to happen.
"Tom knows more about this than any of us," Jack said, turning to Tom. "So over to you."
Tom nodded and went over to the plan of Pen Mawr farm Ianto had spread out on the table. “Right well, The vampires gonna be pretty well organised. They've been running this for months or longe without havin' bin found out. I mean if I hadn't won me fight and legged it you'd still not know.”
“How many are we looking at?” Mickey asked. "And are they likely to be shooting at us."
“Probably not shooting, they do have a taser though, and it hurts. Running it and doing the catching, probably four to eight, including Audrey and Bill and Ben. Coming to watch? Could be anythin' up to fifty or sixty.” Tom looked down at the plan of the building the vampires were using, that Ianto had spread out on the table. “It ain't right big in there, you saw the place, so I'd say probably on the lower end.”
“Bill and Ben?” Mickey said, looking at everybody. “Like the the flowerpot men?”
Tom frowned. “I don't remember seein' any flower pots, I think they worked doing drives and maybe garage roofs and stuff, because Audrey vampired them.”
“You don't know who...” Mickey stopped and looked at Jack. “He's not an alien is he?”
Jack shook his head. “Definitely not that.”
“Alright, vamp killin' basics. Forget all that film stuff, half of it don't work and the other half only works a bit. All that crosses an' religious stuff don't work unless you really, really believe in it, as otherwise it'll just make them feel a little bit weird and they'll just knock it out yer hand and rip yer throat out. Garlic don't work for anything other than to disguise your scent, so maybe yer could try an’ make them think there were less of yer. Daylight won't help, they can walk around in it all they like, although they might put on some sunglasses if it gets really bright.”
“Although I assume stakes work,” Ianto said, nodding towards the one Tom had left on the table.
“Yep." Tom picked it up. “Stake through the heart works every time, it's what I usually do. You can cut their head off or if they've not been a vamp for long breaking their necks seems to work. I'd always stake'm afterwards though just to make sure. Oh and setting fire to them or exploding them is good if there's a lot of them.” He smiled without any of his usual warmth. “I've done that too. Werewolf blood works an' all. Like acid on their skin and if they drink it, they're done for. Pretty horrible to watch though.”
“Just how many vampires have you killed?” Jack asked, looking at Tom and seeming undecided whether to be horrified or impressed.
“I dunno. Must be at least sixty. A lot were when I were huntin' with me dad though and a fair few were in a warehouse that got blew up. One's I actually staked thought, I reckon at least thirty five.” He frowned. “You know, I think it's probably more than that. Do yer really need an exact number?”
“No,” Ianto said, looking like he was reconsidering just how dangerous Tom might be. “I really don't think that will be necessary.”
“How old did you say he was?” Gwen asked quietly.
“Twenty two,” Andy replied, heart aching for Tom's lost childhood. “He told me his dad took him out to kill his first vampire when he was thirteen.”
“Poor kid, what thing to do.” Gwen watched sadly as Tom decided that it was time to explain and then demonstrate the best way to stake a vampire.
Not wanting to watch, Andy said, “That’s not even the half of it, it’s not up to me to tell you though.”
“So how are you doing?” Gwen asked, moving so that she was between him and the rest of the group. "And I don't expect you to say fine. I don't think anybody would be, not with all this."
"I will be. Once this is over, once Tom and me can just go back to living our lives, then I'll be okay." It sounding more convincing that Andy had thought it would, and he could almost believe it himself.
"It isn't always that simple," Gwen said, taking hold of his arm. "So don't be too hard on yourself if it doesn't go back to being the same straight away. Just give it some time. It took me and Rhys a while after find out about the whole aliens being real thing."
It was probably true, but that didn't mean Andy wanted to hear it. "Alright," he replied noncommittal. "Maybe we should listen to what Tom's saying."
Gwen looked for a moment like she was going to try to push the issue, but then said, "So not like that time we missed half the DCIs briefing on crowd control arrangements and ended up on our own with a load of pissed up rugby fans?"
Andy hadn't thought about that in years. "It didn't go that badly in the end. Not if you don't count their singing."
“...lot of the vamps will just be there to bet on the fight or just because they get turned by it," Tom said as they turned back to listen. "The ones to watch'll be the ones who organise it. They tend to know how to fight. This lot probably more than most. They took that weevil thing and kept it somewhere, either that or they go out an' get a fresh one every full moon like they do with the werewolves.” Tom waited for a moment, seeing if anybody else had any questions before adding, “There's a good chance they'll have some normal humans there an' all.”
Gwen gave him a horrified look. “People go to watch this?”
Tom shook his head. “Nah. They'll have been caught by the vampires. That's how me dad became a werewolf. He were just a bloke and he got slung in with a werewolf. He were the first normal they'd reckoned they'd seen be the winner of the fight. Only he got clawed up." Tom gestured to the side of his face. "So he were a werewolf after that. So any ordinary person there'll have been caught to fight or as something for the vamps to snack on afterwards.”
“I think I prefer aliens,” Mickey said, “At least they didn't turn you into one. Well not apart from Cybermen or those slime ones, or the ones that took your skin or the ones that took out your brain and did stuff with it.”
Working for Torchwood sounded less and less appealing the more you knew about it, Andy decided. Not that harboured any hopes or desires in that direction any more.
Tom looked at the clock and then picked up the stake on the table and put it back in the hold all. “We should be going soon. I wanna get the first part of this done before I change and while I can still think fer me self.”
Martha and Mickey looked at each other and then at Jack, before Martha said, “Okay, Jack what got left out on this 'we need you to help stop a few vampires' call you gave us last night, because we're definitely missing something here.”
Tom gave Jack an irritated look. “I thought you lot said you told each other stuff? I'm a werewolf, alright. It ain't a big deal apart from tonight. Have they really not told yer anything?”
“Only that having a doctor there handy might be useful,” Martha said, and then looking at Mickey added, “And that extra fire power was probably a plus. So Jack, tell me what's going on as I really don't want a repeat of the whole cursed death glove death thing.”
“Hey, neither do I. He got all snappy last time about people being told about his thing,” Jack said gesturing towards Tom. “So I just thought...”
Ianto gave them all a faintly despairing look and went to the door. Opening he said, “We can talk about it in the car.” He paused and then said, “Only we can't, can we? because we can't fit seven of us in the SUV.”
“It'd be cosy,” Jack said, with a smile that suggested he really didn't mind that at all.
“It would also mean two of us not having seatbelts and considering your driving getting here, I don't think that's a good idea,” Ianto said, not sounding like he was going to be persuaded otherwise.“As getting us there in one piece would be an advantage.”
“I'm a great driver,” Jack said sounding a little put out by it. “Did I ever tell you about the time I drove...”
"This isn't the one about the tank?" Mickey said, "because that...nobody would believed it. Even me and I saw it."
Did they really spend so much time bickering about things normally if they were working something with a normal member of the public, Andy wondered, or was it because they considered them part of their group that they were getting the behind the scenes version. It had been like that in the police – the face you presented to the public, calm and professional was rarely maintained when you were only amongst colleagues. The idea that there was something so relateable about how Torchwood worked, was actually more reassuring than all the techno babble and gadgets that they had brought with them. Hoping that he wasn't about to regret it, Andy said, “We can take my land rover as well if you want.”
“Okay,” Gwen said clapping her hands together, trying to get everybody's attention and get some form of order again. “So Jack, Ianto, Martha, Mickey and Tom you're all in the SUV. Andy and me will follow up in the land rover. ”
“Why can't you go with them and I'll bring Tom?” Andy said, wondering if he sounded as paranoid as he was suddenly feeling. What if they hadn't come to help, what if they had all come to take Tom away? It was a ridiculous idea, they could have just taken him the first time if that was what they'd wanted to do.
“Because Ianto and Tom will be bringing Martha and Mickey up to speed on the situation while Jack drives. I could drive them, but then you'd be with Jack, and after last time, well...” Gwen gave him a reassuring smile. “It'll be like old times just the two of us, even if it's only for a few minutes.”
Because reminding me of when I was in the police is really going to help, Andy thought irritably. He knew that Gwen hadn't meant it like that, and if he was honest back when he was partnered with Gwen his life hadn't really been that bad, he'd enjoyed his job. “Alright,” he said reluctantly. “But you have to the map reading.”
“No need,” Ianto said, handing Gwen what looked like a very high end sat nav. “It's already pre-programmed, and I've synced it with the SUVs tracker, so you'll be able to tell when we've arrived. It has its own locator beacon built in, so we can tell where you are as well. If you need assistance for any reason, use this.” He pointed to a switch on the side of the unit. “Your signal will change colour on our display.”
Gwen put it in her coat pocket. “You really do think of everything, don't you?”
Ianto smiled. “I try my best.”
This was really it, Andy thought looking at them all. Jack seemed focused now, talking to Tom again about killing vampires, flirting and risqué comments left behind for the moment. Martha and Mickey, although he didn't know them at all seemed organised and more competent that Torchwood had often appeared to be. Ianto was apparently scarily efficient and could handle Jack - in more ways than one from Tom had told him about the lift. Not that he wanted to be thinking about that now, although maybe I'd be safer than the other thoughts that were running through his head.
“Right then,” Jack said, once Ianto had picked up the plans and Mickey had taken the hold all from Tom. “Time to move out.”
It seemed as if one moment they were all there and then they were gone. Tom was gone. Andy took a shaky breath. he’d not even said goodbye. Not that it was goodbye, they’d be following them in a couple of minutes, but he should have said something. What if Tom thought he didn’t care?
"There's somethin' I forgot," Tom called out as he dashed back inside. Stopping in front of Andy, he wrapped his arms round him and kissed him. "If you feel weird or owt like that, then you get somewhere safe and I find yer later," Tom said holding him tight. "An' if anything bad happens, not that it will, but if it did, although it won’t, right so don’t be thinking it will, then don't do anything silly. Cause you know I wouldn't want that, don't yer?"
Andy nodded, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. It was all he could do to let him go and walk out the door.
“You okay?” Gwen asked now they were alone.
“Yeah, I think so,” Andy said, picking up his keys from a hook near the door. “I supposed we'd better follow them.”
“Umm Andy,” Gwen said, glancing down and then quickly back up again. "You might want to get dressed first. I meant it's only a suggestion.”
The towel had, at some point, slipped down to where it concealed nothing at all. “Oh balls,” Andy muttered, pulling it up again and hurrying into the bedroom.
Part 34 http://the-silver-sun.livejournal.com/235275.html
A/N The healing faster thing is based off Nina healing quicker than expected after Herrick stabbed her.
Sorry for the delay in getting this part up, life and work being hectic, the rest of the month isn't looking much better between visiting relatives and the Easter weekend. But writing will happen as and when I can.
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Date: 2014-04-10 05:03 pm (UTC)This was a very exciting chapter, you can feel the tension in the air as they plan their attack. Poor Andy can't help but be worried, I'm glad he's going along.
Nice to see another chapter, and have a nice Easter :)