quitehomoerotic | for brigadiertardis Ghost in the machine

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for brigadiertardis Ghost in the machine

Torchwood didn't keep hours. Torchwood couldn't keep hours. Not with the sort of work they did. Alien invaders didn't really respect when people might like to have a nice night in in front of the telly, or sleep in late in the morning. They didn't care if you wanted to start at nine and finish at five.

But sometimes, Jack just had to accept that even his staff needed lives of their own. Admittedly, of course, that would often be when Gwen picked up her bag and declared she was going home, without giving Jack option either way. But accept it he did. He knew people needed time to themselves, and times away from the underground confines of the Hub. And so some nights he'd end up there alone, an old record player on echoing out a cracked recording of Gracie Fields and a self made (infinitely worse than Ianto's) cup of coffee in hand.

This was one of those nights.

He sat in his office, listening to the sound of the music as he jotted down notes on paperwork he'd left waiting for weeks. To his side a computer ran a regular nightly scan for any activity in the area. Nothing, just the way he liked it. Cardiff safe.

Nothing strange (which was almost strange in and of itself), nothing out of the ordinary or abnormal. Nothing that was until a little alarm started sounding.

He ought to have known things would never run smoothly.

Pushing aside his papers he leant forward and prodded keys on the keyboard. Strange, he thought, the reading wasn't something he recognised. Some sort of transmission. It seemed to be harnessing the rift, but how? He keyed a little more and then the screen flickered, putting him on edge.

Something wasn't right.

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Jack was halfway through typing a message to send to Ianto when the screen changed. It flickered, and the blue lines to the side of the dialogue box, the ones that signified the file pathways, changed a little. They seemed to twist as though something inside changed them and then words appeared on the screen.

"Huh..."

He looked at the screen and considered. Something sentient, maybe? But what? No rift spike and nothing in the last 12 hours or so. So something that had got here some other way, or been here longer.

Something that didn't know it was nothing but files and electric sparks inside a computer? Something that once was embodied? He'd try and find out.

He typed his own message back.

You're inside my computer.

He never was very good at breaking things gently.

I am aware.

Really, whoever wrote that back, did he think she was stupid? Of course she was in his computer. If she weren't in it, she wouldn't want to get out. And she desperately wanted to get out.

It has never trapped me before. How do I leave?

Never trapped before? Well Jack didn't like the sound of that. This wasn't a first? The Torchwood security protocols should be second to none. Nothing should have got around that or around Tosh's systems she put in place and that still kept running even now, after she'd gone.

You've been here before? You know this is a secure server, not for freeloaders.

What are you?

If she'd had eyes, they'd be rolling. The TARDIS' disdain was palpable through her words, however.

This system is childish and archaic. Do you really think it safe from that which is its better?

Archaic? Well that was a first. The Torchwood system was more advanced than most any computer on Earth. Well, at least that could tell him a thing or two about what he was potentially dealing with.

If you're looking for help, you're not going about it the right way. And if it's so archaic funny how you managed to get yourself trapped.

Now what are you?

Something is wrong she replied angrily, though it probably didn't come through so clearly. She shouldn't have been trapped and it was frustrating she was. Something is holding me here. I need to get out. I cannot function properly if I am trapped here.

"Well maybe if you'd tell me what you are..." Jack spoke to himself, frustrated.

I'll help, he typed infinitely calmer than how he felt.

But to do that I need to know a few things. Like what you are, and how you got here. How about a name. You got one of those?

This was getting nowhere quickly. Whoever was typing to her was annoying at best, ignorant at worst, and even with his insistence on helping, she highly doubted his capabilities.

I need to know who you are she replied back, snappish. I cannot through this.

It didn't take much to find the data she required to hijack the electronics in the Hub. Electrical currents were all connected, after all. There were a few moments of silence before the tannoy system clicked in, her voice coming through on multiple frequencies.

Unfortunately, she also spoke in Gallifreyan, so her answer of I am the TARDIS was rather indistinguishable.

Jack knew a lot of languages. A lot of languages that given his position of stuck on Earth in the 21st Century, were more than a little useful. Many of which didn't exist yet. Or if they did they were from star systems a long long way away.

So the 'voice' that came booming through the Torchwood speaker system sounded nothing but that; a noise. But, he knew well enough to know it was coherent, in its own way.

Clever though, whatever it was. To be learning so quickly to be able to manipulate the system. And that could be dangerous too. He had to be on his guard.

"Come on," he said, "you can type in English you can speak in it too. Okay fine, clever work there. How about we start with introductions. I'm Captain Jack Harkness. Your turn."

"Jack Harkness," she repeated, her voice still a strange mix of frequencies, though at least now it was in something he could understand. And it didn't sound terribly thrilled. The TARDIS still wasn't terribly thrilled with the Fact, no matter what the Doctor thought.

Still, of anyone in Torchwood, she supposed he was the best to run into. Unlike his human companions, at least he knew her and, to an extent, understood her. He was also from the future; if anyone could figure out how to help her escape, she grudgingly had to admit Jack Harkness was the man.

"Do you really not know me?" she asked. "What do you believe capable of infiltrating your suppose? What do you suppose knows you?"

The voice, Jack thought, sounded vaguely female. But then at the same time it wasn't at all. He could almost swear as well -though he didn't know why- that it was familiar. A resonance in the sound that reminded him of something. Of somewhere.

But that was silly.

With a huff he stood from his chair and walked himself to the nearest speaker to address it as though it were the lifeform. He knew of course, that it wasn't, but it somehow felt better that way.

"Well I'm guessing, by the sound of it, you know me. But you know what, call me a spoil sport but it's late, I've had a long day and you know what? I really don't want to play a game of riddles. I've been around, and I've got a lot of people and things that would like to infiltrate me. And in more ways than one. So how about you throw me a lifeline out here, huh? You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

Scratched her back? There was a miffed sort of snort and a muffled, questioning sort of sound before she finally replied. "I have no back," she murmured. "You cannot scratch what does not exist. But very well. I know you, Jack Harkness, because I ran from you once. I know you because I housed you. I know you because you were once mine."

She paused, not certain he really wanted to hear that, but at the same time she wasn't sure she cared.

"I am the TARDIS."

Well there's an answer that floored him.

Of any answer he could have expected from the voice, that certainly wasn't one of them. And it knew things too. Knew about the TARDIS, so by proxy it must know about the Doctor. And knew about his travelling with him. Knew things it really shouldn't know.

Sure, some things it could have got from the Torchwood files that he'd found it snooping around. But at the same time, a lot was left from them.

"Oh, sure you are," Jack said, utterly unconvinced. "No. Sorry. Now we're gonna have to try harder than that. Who are you, and what do you want with Torchwood?"

He didn't believe her.

He didn't believe her.

She knew there was a reason she didn't like him.

"You stupid human," she hissed. "You are so desperate to be near me but the moment you have that chance and you doubt me. What reason would I have to lie?"

Even so, she knew he probably wouldn't believe her without proof, and there was very little proof to be had in the Hub that he could not attribute to her reading the files.

Well. She certainly had a temper, TARDIS or not.

Shifting his position, Jack crossed his arms over his chest. Defiant, with a half scowl on his face.

"Fine," he said, "I'll bite. So If you're the TARDIS--"

He started to talk. To as a question. But he was distracted by a strange heat from within his trouser pocket. Pushing his hand in he fished out his set of keys. Far too many keys. Keys for everything. For the SUV, for the tourist office, for the garage, for his draw, for Ianto's flat, for doors in the Hub he kept private. And amongst them all, an unassuming little yale key. And right now, this little yale key was red hot. Red hot and almost glowing with it.

He touched his finger to the metal and frowned. It couldn't, he thought. Could it?

Swiftly, he looked back up to the speaker, more urgent now.

"What's going on here?"

"I told you," she snapped, not even trying to hide her anger. "I am trapped. I do not want to be here. I came only to see what you were doing and now I cannot leave."

Why was he so difficult? Why was he so annoying? Why was he--

--holding her key?

"Do you truly not believe I am the TARDIS?" she asked, her voice slightly less angry. "I ran from you, but I never thought you would run from me."

Jack turned the key in his fingers a couple of times as he listened to her annoyed voice echo around the empty Hub.

It was hard to deal with, hard to accept. But then Jack had seen a lot of strange things in his life. He could suspend his disbelief.

"I'm not running from you," he said as he shoved his keys back into his pocket and turned back to the computer, shifted back into work mode.

"Right," he said, "how did you get here --and I don't take kindly to snooping in my files by the way, Torchwood isn't a library. If you wanted something you could just get the Doctor to ask. And where is the Doctor? Is he okay? And for that matter where are you? You know, blue box, bigger on the inside and all that."

He started keying away, trying to determine where the signal was coming from, and what was trapping it in place.

He moved and so she shifted to another speaker, in a sense following him as he changed positions. At the same time she kept track of his actions on the computer, doing her own calculations to find the source of her entrapment.

"I visit sometimes to keep my data up to date," she replied simply. "It ensures I can keep my Doctor safe when he decides to return to this horrible planet."

She made an indelicate noise, running calculations under her breath and in Gallifreyan before she answered the rest of his questions. "The Doctor is not here, nor does he involve himself in your affairs. He is fine, however. On Hongorilon Gil with me. I am simply doing some research while he speaks with the court."

"Well, keeping the Doctor safe, can't argue there."

He keyed in further code. Opening and closing parts of the system in an order that seemed utterly random, but somehow made sense to him.

"Oh don't tell me, he parked you up and went off to have an adventure, so you just thought you'd come pay me a visit? TARDIS, really, I'm touched."

He knew perfectly well that it was nothing quite like the reality of the situation, but it was amusing nonetheless to joke.

"Right. Tell me, have you been poking away at node 475987, because it's showing some recent activity. Looks like a security protocol was breached and accessed a level four shut down. Which, in laymans terms? Means you're stuck until it cuts off. 24 hour shut down. Oh and if you wanted to research, like I said ask. I'm really quite nice you know, I might have even said yes."

Twenty-four hours. She was here for an entire day?

"It has never done that before," she almost pouted, double-checking his readings. "I went in through a different direction this time, however. Perhaps I missed a protocol." Her voice was obviously grudging to say so, to admit any fault.

Her attention drifted and she began keying in her own codes, trying to override the protocols. After several minutes, she released a sharp breath. "I have been here dozens of times without you knowing. Why should I ask?"

"Oh y'think?!" Jack said with more than a little sarcasm.

"Just stop messing!" he said, wishing he could bat hands away from a keyboard. You'll just make it worse, leave it alone unless you want to turn that 24 hours into a full Hub wide security lockdown. Then who knows how long you'll be stuck here. And then the Doctor stuck up there. And you know what he's like, he'll get into trouble and need a quick exit and you won't be there to do it."

He keyed a few codes. Nope, definitely locked down on that node. Great.

"You know you've restricted access to half my essential files, right? Thanks for that." He huffed as he worked on freeing up the nest of files. Giving her room if nothing else.

"And maybe you should ask because, oh I dunno, it's MINE! It's polite. You know polite. You ever get me messing around in your subroutines? No!"

"I am doing no such thing," she countered grumpily, though she did cease attempting her own codes in the area where he was working. Instead she focused on rerouting data, opening routes that were otherwise inaccessible, since he seemed so flustered over losing his essential files. She couldn't retrieve all of them, but a fair number were at least within reach.

She didn't respond for some time, focusing instead on navigating this ridiculously convoluted computer setup. There was no logic to its coding! No wonder she'd gotten lost. "This looks like a child designed it," she snipped. "What is the purpose of this routine? Is that for kitchen appliances?"

The TARDIS fiddled a bit more before sighing. "You could not mess with my subroutines because they are not as easily accessible as this," she replied, the faintest bit smug. "And the Doctor will be safe. I cannot move, but I am still indestructible. He needs only the sense to get inside me and he rarely shows that when I am properly functioning."

Jack huffed, but didn't reply at first, just continues to work and try and see if he could help. At the same time though, he saw some of his other files freed up and opened again, and with a slight sigh, and a much more genuine tone, he spoke.

"Thanks."

He had no reason to explain the system to the TARDIS, not when she was being so disparaging. But then at the same time, he respected her as much as he respected the Doctor. Which really was a hell of a lot.

So he went on.

"The technology was salvaged by Torchwood One back in the seventies. But like everything else they bungled through it. Didn't know how to use it. Didn't even get it functioning until the mid eighties. They just couldn't build the hardware for it. They finally got it working, but it's like a bad DIY job. Should have got the professionals in."

He keyed a bit more and a block of nodes freed up a few file sectors, clearing back part of the path the TARDIS frequency was on.

"We took it over when Torchwood One fell. Good old Tosh worked some magic on it, but it takes time. Still getting there. I'm sorry to say not every bit of technology can be as brilliant as you, TARDIS."

His tone was very nearly fond.

"Oh yeah," he laughed, "and he'd send himself mad in the process. You off with me and not him. Might make him jealous." He grinned as he spoke, just trying to tease her.

"Power surge has knocked out half this sector. Looks like something has happened on the cables themselves. Might have to go down to the basement and check."

Her disdain was evident when she spoke. "Torchwood. Designed to find and destroy aliens like the Doctor. To protect Earth, even though these children have no idea what it is they do. They will tinker and toy until the world ends because they think themselves wise and clever when they are not. They think they know what is best."

There was a certain sadness as she finished her diatribe and she didn't speak again for some time, fiddling with her own corner of coding instead. She wouldn't admit it, but she appreciated the sentiment of her brilliance and it mollified her exasperation somewhat.

"He is always jealous," she whispered eventually. "I am all he has. He is all I have. If one of us leaves, what then are we left with?"

The idea of heading into the basement brought her pause and she ran a quick scan to see if she would have access to him down there. "I am uncertain this method of communication will continue to be helpful if you do go down there," she said.

Jack sighed heavy and laboured. Oh he knew all about what Torchwood was when it started. The selfish aims Torchwood One maintained before it fell. He'd tried so hard over the last few years to change things. To try and sort them out, but sometimes mud could stick. He could hardly blame the TARDIS for being annoyed at Torchwood and its reputation.

"Yeah," he said, "I know all that. "But it's not the same as it was. Not any more. Who do you think I'm doing all this for?"

It felt almost a little too honest, they both knew quite well what and who Jack did this for, so he had a silence of his own before going on, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Yeah. Yeah I know." He knew all about loneliness too. "Best not tell him you and me had a chat then, huh? Wouldn't want to ruffle his Time Lord feathers. Or have him come after me... Then again..."

He laughed slightly at his own humour and nodded. "Should be able to patch you across the comms system. Then again... maybe not. We've had a few errors ever since the time lock. Overloaded the system a bit, don't want you getting stuck."

Okay. Think about this logically, he thought.

"Right, is there some sort of technology, some sort of something that you could download your consciousness to?"

He wasn't fooling anyone with his question, though she was certain he knew that. "What you do and what others do are rarely ever the same," she noted. "You are not the same as them. You are not human."

For once, it wasn't meant as a slight. She didn't like him being a Fact, but she still remembered him from before the Game Station, remembered how brilliant and helpful he'd been. They'd been friends, once. Cruel as she could be, she was more upset that she'd lost that than that he'd been made a Fact.

"He does not know I come here," she offered eventually. "I do not want him to know. He would tell me to stop." It wasn't what Jack meant, she knew, but at the same time she didn't really want the Doctor coming back here, for him or any other reason. There was too much pain on Earth.

The conversation moved on and she followed it gladly, considering. "Any communication device that is capable of patching into the server would be acceptable," she explained. "A projection unit could also suffice. Have you anything portable that is capable of either voice relay or video?"

It felt almost jarring for Jack to be told so outright he wasn't human. He didn't know what he was. Human once, maybe but what now? He wished he knew. "Yeah, well if you know what I am, besides being a fixed point, answers on a postcard."

He was almost flippant with his words, but his intention beneath them was real.

"Yeah?" Jack said, almost surprised that the TARDIS could achieve such a feat without the Doctor's knowledge. But no, the Doctor sometimes didn't notice things right in front of his nose. He supposed it shouldn't surprise him.

"Well don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. I won't tell him. It's not like he calls for regular chats anyway, is it."

Stupid really, but he wished the Doctor did. Wished he'd at least stay in touch, just to let him know he was okay.

"Oh I've got the perfect thing," he grinned. "And something you're used to! Full of time. Vortex manipulator good enough for you?"

She would have frowned were she able. "You are Jack Harkness," she said. "That is all you are." A once-man, a fixed point in time, an anomaly and an abnormality. A friend ripped away. He was a great many things she didn't know how to describe.

"You want him to, do you not?" she asked, for once catching what wasn't outright spoken. "You miss him." It did not occur to her, however, that he might also have missed her.

The fact he had a vortex manipulator was both disturbing and rather unsurprising. "That could be used, yes," she said. "A communication device through which I could speak and see, as humans see. Very well."

Jack could almost laugh. "Oh is that what I am?" he said with a shake of his head. Well, even his name wasn't his, was it? Maybe it was by now.

The question was perhaps a little more forward than he expected. Jack was used to asking direct questions but not giving direct answers, and so he bristled slightly.

"He's busy," Jack said instead. "So am I. Lots to do." He did miss him though, of course. He missed all of it. Travelling in the TARDIS. She'd been his home for what he still thought of as the best time of his life. He had a lot of good memories.

"Was good," he said, almost in spite of himself, "up there, you and the Doctor. You have no idea how good it felt back when I heard your engines again..."

But no. No he stopped himself because he could very nearly get emotional. He wouldn't want that.

"Great!" he said instead with a wide smile, already opening his wrist strap and plugging it into his computer system.

"It should show up on node 482. Just hop over and let me know if it works."

His laugh was confusing at best and she made a soft noise, uncertain why he'd find what she said funny. She hadn't been going for humour.

"What has busy to do with anything when I can be at any time?" she asked. She wasn't advocating the Doctor visiting, no. But she was curious. It wasn't the first time she'd heard that as an excuse -- it was one of the Doctor's favourites when it came to searching for Susan, after all -- but she'd never understood the concept. Not when time was relative. "And for one who was so happy to hear me, you were eager enough to discount my being here."

Okay, maybe she was still a bit huffy about that.

"Very well." She navigated to the proper node, checking the subroutines as she went, fixing what broken coding she saw as her own version of thanks for him assisting her. When she arrived, she could all ready feel the difference and it carried in her voice. "I am here."

Jack chose to ignore the question on the meaning of the word. What could he say? Figure of speech? Well it was. But it was a figure of speech to cover a multitude of excuses and emotions. All that were much better not surfaced.

"Well what do you expect!" He defended. "You have any idea how many people and things try to infiltrate this place! Last I'd ever expect would be you! And people try and use the weak spots. Mentioning you, well..."

Well that'd be one of his, wouldn't it?

Jack grinned as he heard the voice echo from the little speaker in his wrist strap. Much clearer with better clarity. Perfect.

"Make yourself at home," he said as he stood himself up, and pressed a button or two on his wrist strap. "Hows things looking from in there?"

"I expect you to believe me," she snapped back, bristling herself. "And what do you mean? What would mentioning myself have done, other than draw incredulity?"

She didn't like to dwell on how much he still cared for her. Not when she still shuddered to think of him. Not when his being here saddened her, because it wasn't what she'd had before.

"It is acceptable," she responded eventually, recalibrating his device. It had been tampered with and that made for uncomfortable quarters. And maybe he'd find one day what she had done. Another gift, though she'd never admit it. "I will need to get closer to get any accurate data, however."

"Yeah? Well excuse me for having a little caution!" Jack said back, defiant. He knew he was right to be cautious, even if she didn't.

"Like I said," he went on, "weak spot."

He didn't feel as though he needed to elaborate on that.

"Sorry if it's not 5 star quarters. But it's the best I can do." His vortex manipulator was a space hopper, and the TARDIS was a sports car. Though he'd never admit it.

"Bit of a minefield," he admitted, "not sure where to head first. We can head down to the basement. Take a look. One of the central computers is there. Main servers are all off site though."

He started walking from his office and down to the door that lead away and downstairs. "So," he thought he'd attempt to make conversation. "Find anything interesting in my files?"

The TARDIS made an indelicate noise, relaying a feedback loop through his wrist band to show her displeasure. Maybe if he had a better system, he wouldn't need to be so cautious. If he had a better system, nothing short of her Matrix would be able to infiltrate it.

She refused to discuss his weak spot any further, if only to avoid her own discomfort with the idea.

"I have been through worse," she replied a little absently, running scans and diagnostics, trying to pinpoint the source of whatever was crippling his system and keeping her here. "And the central computer will have to do. I can attempt a patch network to the main servers, but it may cause power outages throughout the city."

She was in the process of figuring out a method to do just that when he asked her about his files and she paused. Had she found anything interesting? A good deal, really, but she didn't want to admit that. "You have been busy," she offered eventually. "I would almost think you attract the aliens here."

"Yeah I know," Jack said gently. Oh he knew. He'd seen her go through worse. Seen her cannibalised into a paradox machine. She'd suffered that year, just as much as any of them.

He continued on down through dank corridors and thin staircases, and he frowned slightly. "Power outages? Yeah well we could do without those. The city would go crazy."

He laughed again, though there was really no amusement in it. "Yeah. Wouldn't be surprised. Seem to attract trouble. Maybe I'm cursed."

Breathing out a heavy breath, he shook his head and seemingly nowhere, he asked, "You don't like me much, do you?"

"I do not really care how the residents of Cardiff would react," she replied brusquely. "If it would free me, I would shut down this country. I do not like being trapped."

She'd been trapped one too many times in her long life to harbour any positive feelings toward it, that was certain.

He chuckled about curses and trouble and she didn't reply immediately, weighing his final question. He at least deserved an honest answer.

"I do not like what you have become," she said finally. "I do not like that you have taken away one who belonged to me."

"Yeah well funny enough, I do care. I have to look after this city. So lets try and do this without causing damage, okay?"

He headed down to the level below and kept quiet as she spoke. He kept quiet after too. The words cut. They hurt, but he didn't really want that to show.

"Yeah, well," he said in the end, because he felt he had to say something, "between you and me, not sure I like it much either."

She made an indelicate noise. "You should not be trapped here. You deserve more than a wasted city on a blighted planet."

Whether she noticed his hurt or not, the TARDIS didn't say. She let him speak, considering his words. This wasn't something she was used to, and she wasn't exactly the most sympathetic being in the universe, even after the Time War. Or maybe it was because of the War that Jack's change hurt so much. She'd loved him once and now it was painful to even be around him. To have something taken away so completely after losing so much...

"I would fix you if I could," she offered quietly. "But even I cannot change what you have become. Rose Tyler used me and I cannot fix what she destroyed."

Jack let out a half laugh. "Careful," he said, "that's very nearly sentimental. But it's not all so bad. This planet, this city. Someone has to look after them, and the Doctor isn't always around to do it. And you don't think I should be trapped here? Might want to tell him that, considering he's so intent on breaking this damn thing and keeping me stuck here."

Ahead of them was a box secured with a key, and he pulled a bunch out from his pocket to unlatch it. Inside was an access panel to the central matrix of the computer system.

"Would you?" he asked with his own voice quiet, concealing emotion as best he could. "Wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for you, I suppose. You and Rose. I'd have stayed dead on Satellite Five. Funny, you know I don't think I'd ever thought about it like that."

"You need not be trapped here," she repeated quietly, tinkering with his vortex manipulator one last time. It should at least work now, which was more than the Doctor had ever given the Fact. "The Doctor is not the only one capable of saving others."

She went silent, observing their location for a long while, surprised somewhat by how extensive it all was. She hadn't been expecting it.

"What she did was wrong. It would have been better to die than to become what you are. She is a child and she ruined you." Her voice faded and she added: "But if I could change it, yes, I would. I would like to have you back."

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