asarahworld-writes

[asarahworld-writes]

Better with two

(I just want to mention this is Ninetoo x Rose on Pete's World. This AU does not get enough love. He's Tentoo, except Nine.)

[asarahworld-writes]

Emails like these are so nice

[asarahworld-writes]

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S missing scenes

The Pink Suit

Zed looked at the charity bin.  It was a long shot that anybody had actually made a donation, let alone something that he could reasonably wear on a date.  If it came down to it, he could bleach and dye something to acceptable Seabrook colours.  But maybe he wouldn’t have to.

Mind made up, he plunged his hand into the bin and pulled out a bag of garbage.  Okay.  He discarded it and reached in again.  This time, he’d grabbed a pink infant’s onesie.  Actual clothing.  Another onesie, two more, and a tiny pair of sneakers.  Why would an infant require shoes?  At times, it still amazed Zed that humans could spend so much time creating things that would be outgrown before they could even be worn.  He added the baby shoes to the reject pile and pulled the next item from the bin.  A suit jacket.  It unfolded as he pulled it out and he sighed, reaching into the bin to catch whatever had fallen out, pumping his fist as he pulled out dress shoes and matching dress pants.  Of course, there was still a chance (the odds were definitely not in his favour) that nothing would fit his lanky frame.  He slipped his arms into the jacket, his jaw dropping in awe as the sleeves fell over his Z-band and past his wrists.  Not only was it not too small, it was a perfect fit.

He could hear his friends’ thoughts about the suit.  It’s too pink, Eliza would say, scrunching her nose in disapproval.  Besides, this plan is insane, Zed.  It’s not worth the risk, especially for Cheery von Cheerstick.  He rolled his eyes at the imaginary Eliza.  “Her name is Addison,” he said out loud.  “And this is going to be the perfect date.”  Beside her, Bonzo laughed.  What are the odds that you manage to find a human suit in decent condition that actually fits you better than your regular clothes?    “Because today is about taking a risk to get something that I actually want.”

To Zed, the suit looked just right.  A beautiful light linen, soft pink that would blend into the Seabrook humans’ ideal aesthetic.  Never mind that the suit was dusty and wrinkled, with an odd dark stain on the left leg.  It would come out.  Probably.  He looked from the suit to the donation bin.  Technically, he fell into the category of people eligible to be helped by the charity organization.  Technically, if one removed his zombie-ism from the equation.  The son of a hard-working single father, a sophomore taking a rounded curriculum of courses at school, whose family made do so well that he could almost pretend things weren’t as bad as they were.  From a human perspective, of course.  His family was quite well-off, for a zombie family.  His dad had never let them go without; if nothing else, there was always an extra tin of brains around and a space at the table for a friend or two.

Zed continued to rationalize.  Honestly, he needed the suit.  He’d told Addison he would pick her up.  The experiment with his Z-Band meant nothing if he was still dressed the part of a zombie.  He needed to look the part.  He was done with the hard part – swiping left.  He looked at the suit again, feeling another surge of adrenaline.  Decision made, suit in hand, he ducked into the alley to change.

[asarahworld-writes]

letters

Addison,

You know today was Dad’s first day on the new job.  Who knew there would be so much paperwork just to knock down a rundown power plant? I’d kind of thought they would just go BOOM and clean up whatever was left after.  Guess that’s why Dad’s the foreman, not me.  Although, maybe I should get a job too.  Might be nice to be able to spoil my beautiful girlfriend. That said, I do love our dates. Especially when we walk around the light gardens.  Beautiful lights shining on a beautiful girl.  What a zrugra sight.

I digress.  Most of the workers are zombies, although there were a few humans around.  Who knows, they might not stick around for the dirty work.  They might be wearing coveralls, but they were ~Seabrook~ coveralls. You know the ones.  I’m so happy for my Dad that he got this job, but you know that already.  I’d probably still tell you again if you were here anyway.  We’re celebrating a little tonight – nothing too fancy but we’re having a fresh caulibrains and something else that Dad’s experimenting with.  If I survive, we’ll have it again when you come home.  Puppy really seems to like the smell of it.

As for me?  Not much.  Coach has suggested a few team building exercises that have mostly turned into the guys roughing around the beach.  It’s so weird to really be a part of this team.  We’ve even got a few more zombies trying out.  Of course, I’m still our star fullback.  Which tracks, because I’m dating the prettiest girl on the cheer squad.

Gar-garziga, Addy.

ZED

Zrugra ~ beautiful @unusual-ly​

[asarahworld-writes]

Jacey??

“Jacey.”  Kevin looked at the four cheerleaders surrounding him.

“You could spell it ‘J. C.’ if you really wanted too,” the blonde cheerleader suggested perkily.  A little too perky for Kevin’s liking, but hey, she was a cheerleader.  And she was co-captain of the very team he so desperately wanted to join.

“What’s wrong with Kevin?”

“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with Kevin, per se, but there’s being a cheerleader and then there’s being an Acey,” the captain said, as if whatever he was saying was perfectly obvious.  “And trust me when I say that you want to be an Acey.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you do.  Unless you prefer ‘Casey’?”

“Um, no, Jacey’s fine.” Kevin smiled nervously.  “So… that’s it then?  I’m an Acey?”

The shorter male cheerleader smiled back, then frowned.  “No. Being an Acey is one of the highest honours at Seabrook.  Now that I am no longer a student here and therefore not permitted on the cheer squad, you are taking that place.  Being an Acey is about conforming and upholding the best ideals of Seabrook society, despite certain recent changes.”

“O-okay.”  Kevin knew what ‘recent changes’ referred to, of course.

“Think of it, not as losing an identity, but of upholding an even greater one – that of the Seabrook cheer squad.  By becoming an Acey, you stand with unity.  By becoming an Acey, you stand with tradition and legacy and the perfect cheer heritage of our town.”  Bucky’s magnanimous statement sounded impressive, but Kevin wasn’t quite sure that it really meant anything.

“So I change my name to Jacey and I’m part of the elite inner circle of the most prestigious group in the school?”  It sounded almost too good to be true.  His parents would be proud.  He’d be socially protected.  He’d –

“Are you in or not?” The captain and his co-captains – the Aceys – were looking at him expectantly.

“I get to be co-captain?”

“Junior co-captain,” Lacey corrected him, none too gently.

Kevin tilted his head to the side and thought about it for a second.  He shrugged.  “I’m in.”

[asarahworld-writes]

Jack In The Box

Jack died in an unfortunately public place and now we have to break him out of the morgue

“This is a stupid plan,” Doctor Owen Harper muttered under his breath, watching the ambulance.

“It’s not like you had a better one,” Gwen hissed back, pulling him back behind the wall.

He rolled his eyes.  “I’m a bloody doctor.  I could have just walked straight to the morgue and pulled him out, no questions asked.  Just flash the ID at them and walk.”

“Well, this isn’t exactly Cardiff, is it?”  Gwen countered.

“Like they haven’t got Torchwood bases across the country?  Used to have, anyway.  You know One fell during the Cyberman Invasion.  Jack told you about Archie up in Scotland, didn’t he?  We’re Three in Cardiff.  And apparently nobody knows what happened to Four, but I reckon it’s out in Ireland, don’t you?”

Gwen huffed.  “That’s not the point, Owen.”  Gwen drew her hood over her head.  “How do I look?”

“Not like a person going in to ID the body of their spouse,” Owen griped.  “It’s not a fashion show, sweetheart, so drop the scarf and wear it properly.  Get in, get Jack, get out.”  He took Gwen by the hand and led her into reception.

The receptionist looked up. “How may I help you?”

“Hello.  I’m Doctor Harper, and this is Mrs. Gwen Harkness.  We’ve come, to, well, you know,” he lowered his voice, “ID the body of Jack Harkness.”

The receptionist nodded. “I’ll page Doctor Mort Titus for you. Please, have a seat.”

Owen and Gwen exchanged furtive looks as the doctor arrived.  “Mrs. Harkness?  If you and Doctor Harper would follow me, I’ll take you to your husband.”

They followed the doctor down the hall and watched as she pulled the slab out of the morgue.

“If you don’t mind, could we have the room?”  Owen interrupted her as she started to open the slab.  “Unusual request, I know, but as I am – was – the man’s personal physician, I think I’m more than equipped to handle anything here.  Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve done a post-mortem. Gives me a chance to dig out the old scalpel, eh?”

Gwen shot him a dirty look. “I have to admit, he’s got terrible bedside manner.  Most of the time, it can be overlooked,” she said shortly, following Doctor Titus to the door.  As soon as it had latched, Owen was pulling the slab open.

“Took you long enough,” Jack gasped as he felt the cool air of the morgue was over him.  “I was in there for hours.”

“One hour, at most.” Owen rolled his eyes at Jack’s theatrics.  “Maybe two.”

“This is the last time you die in public, Jack Harkness,” Gwen said angrily.  “Do you know how much bloody paperwork we had to go through to get in here?  ‘Immediate family only’, so poor Tosh and Ianto set up a cover faster than I’ve ever seen.”

“How are we getting out of here, anyway?”  Jack stretched, yawning as he jumped from the slab.

“You’re not dead, why don’t you just walk?”  Owen said sarcastically.

“Okay.  Let’s go.”

“Jack, I don’t think he was serious.  You can’t just walk from a morgue when they were about to start a post-mortem on you.”

“Why not?  There’s obviously some sort of cover story going on here.  We’ll slip out the back door and be on our way.  Although if you’d been planning on some Sleeping Beauty magic, Ianto might have been a better choice.”

The door opened.  Doctor Titus entered.  And stopped, staring at Jack.  “You’re alive?”  He said incredulously.

Jack looked from his team to the doctor.  “Yeah. Hi, Jack Harkness.”

Owen interrupted.  “Having been Jack’s doctor for the past few years, I’d thought he might not be quite dead.  You see, he suffered an incident similar to this a while back.  Obviously, he wasn’t dead either time, but his heart rate dropped to almost nothing, breathing nil.  It’s a rare phenomenon, one that will make quite the journal one day.”

“Lovely to meet you, but as you can see, Jack is completely fine.”  Gwen smiled, lacing her fingers through Jack’s as he reached for her hand.  “Now, my darling, why don’t we get you home where Doctor Harper can take a proper look at you.”

The doctor stood and stared as the trio left the morgue and walked down the hospital corridor, until the lift doors closed and they were gone from view.

[asarahworld-writes]

December 2020 & January 2021 Roundup

Hey all, I know this blog has been a bit dead but we are back!  Doing a bit of a roundup post since my last ‘monthly’ one.  (Two months.  And two fics.)

Fandom: Doctor Who

Title: randomiser.  Characters: The Twelfth Doctor & Donna Noble, Clara Oswald AO3 | Tumblr

Title: untitled.  Characters: Rose Tyler & River Song AO3 | Tumblr

Fandom: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

Title: burning, charred, splintered.  Characters: Zed/Addison AO3 | Tumblr

not much written, but it’s something!  here’s to the new year.  also, I’ve discovered images to replace the now-nonexistent line breaks.

[asarahworld-writes]

title: burning, charred, splintered

prompt: Zed overcomes his fear of fire to save Addison

@amber-eyed-neko​​ - welcome to the Zombie crew!  As you’ve probably noticed, we are an angst-loving fandom.  And with this prompt, you’re going to fit right in! (though we do also love fluff. really.  I promise it’s not always angsty.  Well, not entirely.)  I don’t know what it was about this, but I was inspired!  Also, I want to mention that usually I’m not an angsty writer. Usually.

Ash-laden clouds of smoke surround him.  Every breath fills his lungs with hot smoky air, forcing him to stagger as another cough wracks his tall frame.  In the distance, he can hear the wail of a fire engine approaching but it was still too far off, still behind the wall in Seabrook proper.

As he stumbles out of the burning power plant, he is quickly ambushed by Bonzo and Eliza.  Only Bonzo and Eliza.

“Where’s Addison?” They ask simultaneously.  “Gozrea Addiska?”

“I thought she was with you!”  Zed looks from his friends back to the fiery plant.  “She’s still in there?”

Eliza catches his arm as he whips around.  “Zed, no, it’s too dangerous.”

“I have to find Addison. It’s my fault she was here.”

“Ag garzen zet. Bak zrayn.”

“She’s my girlfriend, Bonzo. I can’t wait around for somebody to maybe show up.  Things might be changing, but this is still Zombietown.”  Zed stares at the fiery blaze as he speaks.  Red and orange flames raged through the entire plant, thick black plumes of smoke billowing up towards an otherwise clear sky.

Zed stops in his tracks. “I can’t go in until you guys go.” Eliza protests.  “No, you have to go.  As long as you’re here, I - just, please go.”

“Five minutes, Zed. We’re coming back in five minutes, and if you’re not here,” Eliza choked, pretending to clear her throat.

“Deal.  Now get out of here.”  Zed watches as his friends leave, then looks back to the burning building. He’s not scared.  The fear is consuming, he’s not scared but he’s terrified that he won’t find her.

He takes a deep breath and heads into the blazing fire.  Vaguely, he half-remembers some scrap of something that clean air is denser than smoke and to stay low.  He crouches to the ground and is relieved to find the air to be slightly cleaner.  He takes in a gulp of burning air, his lungs already feeling a different burn from oxygen deprivation.  “Addison!”  He calls, as loud as he can, as he coughs from the smoke.  “Addison!”

The plant was always lit up with coloured lights and pulsing with the beat of loud music and in a way, the fire mimics it.  Flickering orange and yellows, and sharp cracks with a steady crackle underneath, but this is no zombie mash.  Something cracks and falls crashing to the floor.  As his eyes follow, he sees movement.  He calls her name again.  Faintly, he hears her.

“Addison!”  He finds her, collapsed against a wall that’s smouldering.  Every cell in his body is desperate to get out, to get away from the orange embers, but he strains against every instinct.  “Addison, can you get up?”

They’re both coughing, and he coaxes her onto her knees. He can feel the terror inching closer, can feel himself nearing his breaking point, and he needs to get them both out before that happens.  Something else cracks and the wall beside them fully bursts into flames.  Zed freezes for a moment, then forces himself to look at Addison.  She’s barely conscious and he’s starting to feel the effects of smoke inhalation. They need to get out.  He needs adrenaline, he needs to move.  Fast.

Zed makes a split-second decision and took off his Z-band, securing it in Addison’s limp hand. Already, he can feel the effect of the electromagnetics leaving his nervous system.  His brain is shifting into fight or flight mode and his body is coursing with energy.

Zed stops and falls to his knees.  He lands hard, doing everything he can to push through against his instincts and not leave her.  He picks up the unconscious human in front of him, drawing her close to his chest.  He inhales deeply, the familiar smell of her brain anchoring him.  Out. Get out.  Fire.  Zon zegra.  Fire. Addeska zegra.  Addison safe. Grik regur.  Get back quickly.

Fire surrounds them, consuming everything.  The way he came in is now blocked, another support beam having slammed into the ground, sparks flying.  Zed hisses as they land on his coveralls, instinctively pulling his arms in closer. He forces himself to look out across the flames, searching for a way out.  He crawls towards where the door should be, used to be, pulling Addison along. Her arms are draped over his neck, most of her body protected underneath his own.

Grik.  But how?

The wall has almost caved in.  Any support is used to have has long since been compromised and with the lightest force it would collapse.  Not giving himself time to think, even in his zombie state, Zed shrugged out of his jacket, placing over Addison to protect her from the sparks and burning ash, and charged at the wall.  He burst through it easily, charred wood splintering and embedding itself into his skin. Zed barely felt it.  He was vaguely aware of people shouting, but he couldn’t focus on them.  He went back into the fire.

Addison was right where he’d left her.  He made it back just as his jacket burst into flames and he wasted no time in scooping her up off the ground and back into his arms.  He discarded the ruined jacket and held her close as he forced his way back through the makeshift exit.

Someone came running up to meet them as Zed stumbled from the ruins.  Whoever it was tried to take Addison from him and he snapped, growling lowly as he protected his mate.  “Ag.”

Whoever it was started speaking lowly in Zombietongue, slowly convincing Zed that it was safe. To let Addison go.

“Agru grep.” Zed didn’t leave her side as the Zombie Patrol came in.  He heard but didn’t understand what they said as they examined Addison and loaded her onto a stretcher.  It was only when they lifted it up that he understood they were taking her.  “Ag,” he growled.

Eliza held him back. “Where’s your Z-band?  Zer-garzand,” she said urgently.

“Adska,” Zed looked to the departing vehicle.

“Addison has your Z-band? That’s not good, Zed.”

“Adska.”  Zed’s eyes were wide and he pulled free of Eliza, sprinting after the patrol car.  His zombie-fied strength ensured that he caught up long before his friends could stop him and he followed it, bursting after the paramedics into the human hospital.  She was gone. He tried to calm himself and walked as normally as he could to the receptionist.

“Addiskan Well. Zer-garzand - zongro.”

The receptionist looked at him and screamed.  Zed tried to make his expression calmed and focused as much as he could.

“Addiskan Wellzz ag za zer-gand.”  He tried again, holding up his bare wrist.  The next thing Zed knew, he was being forced to floor, patrol officers forcing electromagnetic waves into his brain from a taser.  Crude, but it snapped his brain back into its higher functions.

“Addison Wells was in an ambulance to here from the fires and she has my Z-band,” he blurted out, needing to have the officer understand before he was shocked again.  “Is she okay?”

The officer said nothing, forcing Zed forward with the taser until they reached the ambulance where his z-band was laying on the ground.  Zed moved as smoothly as he could to reach it and quickly snapped it back onto his wrist, breathing deeply as the electromagnetic pulses soothed his instincts.

He looked at the officer. “I just need to know if she’s okay. Please.  She’s my girlfriend.”

“The family is on their way. I’m sorry, but we don’t disclose patient information to non-relatives.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Zed repeated.

“There’s nothing I can do about that.  However, we do have somebody available to take a look at those burns.”

The moment she said that, Zed became acutely aware of the sensation burning over his entire body. He gritted his teeth, unwilling to make any noise of pain that could be misinterpreted as a Zombie going rogue. He nodded his head jerkily, exhaling sharply through his mouth.  The burns were painful, as was the salve and bandage application.  Zed said nothing throughout the procedure, staring blankly ahead until it was over.

He returned to reception. “Have the Mayor and Chief Wells arrived yet?  When can I see Addison?”

The receptionist ignored him.  “Can I have your name and information please?”

Zed rattled it off listlessly, trying to think of any way to find Addison, when the door opened and the two people he’d just been asking about ran through.

“Our daughter, where is she?”  Missy Wells stormed to reception, the perfect image of a distraught mother.  She and Dale were quickly escorted away and Zed ran after them, ignoring the receptionist and interns and orderlies and whoever else was in the hall trying to stop him.  He followed them into the ICU and stopped in his tracks.

Addison was asleep, light gauze covering most of her body.  Missy and Dale were at her bedside, Missy holding her hand.  Zed drew back, not wanting to intrude on a private family moment, but hit his hand lightly on the door.  He hissed in pain involuntarily and the Wells looked up.

Clutching his hand, covered in burns and splinters with his blackened coveralls, Zed realized what a sight he must be as he took in their faces.

“Addison,” he choked out, voice raspy.  He moved forward, wincing as he bent his tall frame over the bed.  One hand gripping the bedrails for support, Zed reached out and brushed back an unruly white curl.  He withdrew, almost collapsing onto the floor.  Dale approached him.  “I’m not leaving her,” he said thickly.

Dale said nothing, merely helping the boy off the floor and into a chair.  “You need medical attention, Zed.”

“I’m not going back to Zombietown.  I’m not leaving Addison.”

As always, Zombietongue is from @unusual-ly​ ‘s masterposts

Zombietongue translations:

1. Gozrea Addiska - where’s Addison

2. Ag garzen zet.  Bak zrayn - She’s my friend too.  But wait.

3. Zon zegra - not safe

3.5 Grik - fast

4. Ag - mine

5. Agru grep - She needs help.

6. Zer-garzand - zongro - Z-band - bad

Note: I am aware that I randomly switch tenses halfway through.  But they just seem right.  I don’t know.

[asarahworld-writes]

randomiser

insp.

“…randomiser?”  The Doctor grinned, watching Clara’s hand hovering over the randomiser.

“Randomiser,” she agreed, hand poised.  At the Doctor’s signal, she pulled the lever and whooped as the TARDIS took flight.

The Doctor gaped; his brows furrowed in confusion.  “What?”

Clara looked up.  “What?”  She followed his gaze, eyes landing on the same point, and her brow furrowed in turn. “Do you get unannounced visitors in flight often?”

The Doctor was still staring.

A woman, nearing middle-age and with fiery red hair, was standing in the middle of the TARDIS.

“What?”  He whispered.

“How the hell did I get here again?”  She half-whispered, half-shouted.

“But,” the Doctor started.

“I was having dinner.  Proper chips for the first time in months since the shop closed. Just got my order.  And now I’m back here,” she continued.

Clara looked from the woman to the Doctor, and back again.

“Is this why you pilot the TARDIS randomly yourself?”

“Where’s the Doctor?  I swear, just send me a bloody text and STOP!  SNATCHING! ME! OFF! THE! STREET!”

The Doctor was trying to say her name.  “Do- Do-, Donna?”

“You get that sulky skinny streak of nothing and tell him to communicate like a normal person.  He can’t be gallivanting around time and space and not know what a bloody mobile is.”  Donna looked at him and frowned.  “Who are you and how do you know my name?”

Clara looked at the woman.  “Hi.  Clara Oswald. Sometimes known as the Impossible Girl. This is the Doctor.  Only known as the Doctor.  How’d you get on the TARDIS?”

The ginger woman strode forward.  “Donna Noble.  Best temp in Chiswick.  I would assume it’s the same way he technically kidnapped me as the last time.”  Her eyes narrowed.  “Wait a minute.  You’re telling me that that’s the Doctor?”

“I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve seen him, then.”

“Well, yeah.  Last time he regenerated it was into a whole other version of himself.  There were two of him!  He grew out of a hand!  It was seriously the strangest thing I’d ever seen.”

“Donna,” the Doctor finally spoke.  “How do you know that?”

“How are you the Doctor?”

“I regenerated. Twice.”

“Well, looks like you’ve run out of things to say.  That was probably the most succinct I’ve ever heard you.”

“Donna, how do you know who I am?  You’re not supposed to remember!”

“We’re going to talk about that later,” Donna frowned.  “I begged you not to do that.  Oh well, I remember everything now.”

“How?”  The Doctor pressed.  “That knowledge should have burned your mind into nothing!”

“Well,” Donna looked at him, noticing the strained concern in his eyes.  “I stopped eating fish for a while and things started clearing up a bit. Thought it was a bit odd – they’re always telling you that fish helps the brain, but it worked.”

“You… stopped eating fish,” the Doctor said faintly.

“Yeah.”  Donna shrugged.  “So anyway, I stopped eating fish and I talked to Grandad – he’s still watching for the TARDIS in the sky, you know – and he said he saw the TARDIS over in Shoreditch.  So I got a temp job as a secretary at the school there and I never saw you, but I guess I probably did and just didn’t recognize you.  But then again, I was stuck in the office all day and if you were around, you were probably undercover with the psychic paper.”

“What year is it?”

“Eh?  What do you mean, what year is it?”

“Clara, tell Donna the date today.”

“October twentieth, twenty-fourteen.”

“I know the date, dumbo. Anyway, started looking for trouble again cos that’s how I found you again last time and here we are!”

Clara interjected.  “So, just to be clear, you know this woman from the last time she randomly appeared in the TARDIS and she’s not supposed to be able to remember you?”

“That pretty much sums it up, yes,” the Doctor said, still focused on Donna.  “You stopped eating fish and then remembered everything?”

“Yeah.”  Donna shrugged.  “I could feel the ship in my head, like some sort of homing beacon. Got any way to turn that off?  Although I suppose if we lose the TARDIS again, that might come in handy.  Never really liked that part of the day when we couldn’t find the TARDIS.”

“The TARDIS is in your head?”

“Yeah, it was weird at first not knowing what it was but when I saw the TARDIS that day, I knew.  She’d been trying to get my attention, I think. No fish, felt the TARDIS, found you. Isn’t this great?”

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed absently, taking his screwdriver from his breast pocket.

“You are NOT bleeping me with that thing, thank you.”

“No, I suppose not,” he agreed, replacing it.  “It’s not as if the Racnoss are still around.  The Huon particles have long since left your body.  This is something else entirely.”

“The human brain is very elastic.  Maybe she just remembered on her own.”  The Doctor and Donna turned to look at Clara.  “I took a few psychology classes in uni before settling on English.”

“Well, you always did go on about something ‘drawing us together’.  Maybe whoever it was isn’t done with us yet.  So, where are we off to?  Or is the TARDIS still the principal driver?”

[asarahworld-writes]

“Oh, please, there’s no need get my husband involved – he doesn’t even know I’ve broken out of my cell.” There was a pause before the woman continued.  “How I return is my own business, as is what I do while away.  Who do you think you are, my mother?”

She watched the men who circled her, hefting great weapons that would do far worse than kill her if fired. She was, of course, in complete control of the situation, if not exactly where she wanted to be.  Ideally, it would be the captain tied in a prisoner’s chair and herself doing the interrogation… but she’d work with it. After all, she knew all there was to know about this ship and its crew.  She’d done her research.  She also knew the ship had gone missing a week after leaving a decimated and plundered mining colony in its wake.

“Which leads us back to my original question – how are you transporting the chrysalis?  Any sudden motion is apt to tear the whole thing apart!”

“What we do with it, is none o’ yer business, sweetheart,” the captain leered.  “As it happens, we’ve a buyer who’s prepared to do ‘is own transport.  So don’t you go on worryin’ yer little head.”  He ended with two lazy clicks of his tongue.

“Oh, I’m not worried,” River lied.  “You see, I was hired to take the chrysalis, through any means possible.  Destroyed if necessary.  This job’s more of a preventative measure.  Whatever it takes to stop the children from misbehaving. The chrysalis isn’t the actual job. You are.”

“You ‘ear that, Siantik? We’re ‘er job.  Who’d pay ‘er to take us out, then?

“Oh, I don’t think that part’s relevant.”  River glanced at pirates, still strategically guarding all exits from the room.  If only she wasn’t restrained, she could activate her vortex manipulator – seize the chrysalis and leave.  Surreptitiously, she resumed shimmying her wrists together, feeling the rope burn away at her skin.  She paused, tested the rope’s strength, and continued her efforts.  It would take time to loosen the ropes. Time she simply did not have.

“Are you going to kill me, then?  Because you’d better get on with it, I don’t have all day to spend sitting around here waiting for you.”  River goaded the pirates, wishing they would come and untie her.  Didn’t they realize that she was on a tight schedule? “Killing me or not won’t help you to survive what comes next.”

“And what’s that?” The captain advanced on her, hand poised over his weapon.

River laughed.  “I don’t suppose it matters whether I tell you or not, especially if I’m going to die anyway.”

“Sir,” a shipman spoke up from the door.

“I’m in an interrogation, boy.  What is it?” the captain whipped around.

“Sir,” the young man looked from River to the captain, “she’s got a partner.”  The captain turned back to River.

“How many others are onboard?”

River kept her face stoic. “None.  This was a solo mission.  I don’t work well with others, was an exceptionally strange child when I was young,” she said lightly.

“Bring the other in here. We’ll interrogate them together.”

The shipman returned a moment later with another woman, bound and gagged.  River looked her over once, then back to the captain, shrugging.

“You’re in league with her then?”

“I’ve never seen her before,” the new arrival said.  She looked at River intently and, for the briefest moment, River thought she could see the woman’s past glowing golden around her.  River frowned.

“Bring her closer.” Despite her being the prisoner, it was not a request and the shipman complied.  River studied the other woman’s face, looking deep into her whiskey eyes.  There was the faintest shimmer of gold, and River unconsciously reached out to touch her hand.

“The Heart of the TARDIS,” she whispered, immediately recognizing the glowing energy.  How she’d been touched by the TARDIS… well, River intended to find that out once they had escaped this less than ideal ship.

“You do know each other, then, eh?  That settles it, add on a charge of conspiracy and y’ell both get the ‘ern.”

River looked at the golden woman who’d been touched by the TARDIS and cocked her head.  “What would you say to getting out of here and going somewhere a bit more…civilized?”

The golden woman smiled. “I’d like that very much.”  She looked at the device on River’s wrist.  “Is that a Vortex manipulator?”

“Thought you hadn’t noticed,” River grinned.  This cell was definitely not the end of this particular adventure.  She held out her hand.  “Took it off the black market.  Well, I would have taken the seller off the market if he hadn’t sold it to me, and let’s just say that it wouldn’t have been the fun way.”  She winked and reached out to the other woman. “Let’s go.”

Idk how temporal theory works ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here’s a little something short and sweet, mostly because I wouldn’t know how to continue it without it turning into a series and I’m not the writer for that.  River’s off on her own adventure and Rose is dimension hopping, they go for a galactic coffee date and swap stories about the biggest idiot in the galaxies.

Also River senses time energy because she has Time Lord DNA and Rose is, of course, the Bad Wolf. The Child and Heart of the TARDIS. There’s a (tenuous) connection there. And that’s what fic writers love, isn’t it?

[asarahworld-writes]

Monthly Self-Rec: September, October, and November 2020

Class

fast track your sports injury Tumblr | AO3

Torchwood

gafr siafft Tumblr | AO3

hen night Tumblr | AO3

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

all i want Tumblr | AO3

Word Count:

Published: 4 523

It’s been a busy couple of months with nothing really written in October/November.  But hey, no spare time meant that I was working a lot so that’s a good thing.

[asarahworld-writes]

insp. [x]

She watched the men who circled her, hefting great weapons that would do far worse than kill her if fired. She was, of course, in complete control of the situation, if not exactly where she wanted to be.  Ideally, it would be the captain tied in a prisoner’s chair and herself doing the interrogation… but she’d work with it. After all, she knew all there was to know about this ship and its crew.  She’d done her research.  She also knew the ship had gone missing a week after leaving a decimated and plundered mining colony in its wake.

“Which leads us back to my original question – how are you transporting the chrysalis?  Any sudden motion is apt to tear the whole thing apart!”

“What we do with it, is none o’ yer business, sweetheart,” the captain leered.  “As it happens, we’ve a buyer who’s prepared to do ‘is own transport. So don’t you go on worryin’ yer little head.”  He ended with two lazy clicks of his tongue.

“Oh, I’m not worried,” River lied.  “You see, I was hired to take the chrysalis, through any means possible.  Destroyed if necessary.  This job’s more of a preventative measure.  Whatever it takes to stop the children from misbehaving.  The chrysalis isn’t the actual job.  You are.”

“You ‘ear that, Siantik? We’re ‘er job.  Who’d pay ‘er to take us out, then?

“Oh, I don’t think that part’s relevant.”  River glanced at pirates, still strategically guarding all exits from the room.  If only she wasn’t restrained, she could activate her vortex manipulator – seize the chrysalis and leave.  Surreptitiously, she resumed shimmying her wrists together, feeling the rope burn away at her skin.  She paused, tested the rope’s strength, and continued her efforts.  It would take time to loosen the ropes. Time she simply did not have.

“Are you going to kill me, then?  Because you’d better get on with it, I don’t have all day to spend sitting around here waiting for you.”  River goaded the pirates, wishing they would come and untie her.  Didn’t they realize that she was on a tight schedule?  “Killing me or not won’t help you to survive what comes next.”

“And what’s that?” The captain advanced on her, hand poised over his weapon.

River laughed.  “I don’t suppose it matters whether I tell you or not, especially if I’m going to die anyway.”

“Sir,” a young midshipman entered the room, “she’s got a partner.”  The captain spun the new information back towards River.

“How many others are onboard?”

River kept her face stoic. “None.  This was a solo mission.  I don’t work well with others, was an exceptionally strange child when I was young,” she said lightly.

“Bring the other in here. We’ll interrogate them together.”

The shipman returned a moment later with another woman, bound and gagged.  River looked her over once, then back to the captain, shrugging.

“You’re in league with her then?”

“I’ve never seen her before,” the new arrival said.  She looked at River intently and, for the briefest moment, River thought she could see the woman’s past glowing golden around her.  River frowned.

“Bring her closer.” Despite her being the prisoner, it was not a request and the shipman complied.  River studied the other woman’s face, looking deep into her whiskey eyes. There was the faintest shimmer of gold, and River unconsciously reached out to touch her hand.

“The Heart of the TARDIS,” she whispered.

“You do know each other, then, eh?  That settles it, add on a charge of conspiracy and y’ell both get the ‘ern.”

River looked at the golden woman who’d been touched by the TARDIS and cocked her head.  “What would you say to getting out of here and going somewhere a bit more…civilized?”

The golden woman smiled. “I’d like that very much.”  She looked at the device on River’s wrist.  “Is that a Vortex manipulator?”

“Thought you hadn’t noticed,” River grinned.  This cell was definitely not the end of this particular adventure.  She held out her hand.  “Took it off the black market.  Well, I would have taken the seller off the market if he hadn’t sold it to me, and let’s just say that it wouldn’t have been the fun way.”  She winked.

[asarahworld-writes]

☺

all i want

Prompt: Be careful what you wish for @badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

If she hadn’t had white hair, if monsters didn’t exist, if the moonstone had never fallen to Earth, if she wasn’t a freak dating a zombie…

“-then maybe you would have the picture perfect lives you want. I wish you could just be happy!” Addison yelled, turning away from her parents and swiping angrily at her watery eyes.  What she needed right now was to get away, to be with Zed, but she knew that leaving at this hour would only make things worse.  She looked at her watch, sighing with exhaustion. She’d see him in about five hours anyway.

Five hours spent restlessly trying to sleep, scrolling mindlessly on her phone, pacing her room, staring out her window at the full moon as the sky lightened – purples turned pink then orange as the sun rose, bathing the world in daylight.  Six am. Addison got up, shivering as the covers fell away.  She looked down in surprise… she didn’t remember changing into pajamas last night. She looked to see where her clothes from the previous day were…nowhere.  The laundry hamper was filled with monochromatic pastels she hadn’t worn in a month.

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.  Shower first, figure this out after.

Addison let the water flow over her entire body, soaking in the warmth.  She massaged the shampoo into her scalp, rinsed.  She applied conditioner to the ends of her hair, easily combing through its mid-length strands.  She frowned, looking at the hair twined through her fingers.  Blonde.  The exact same shade as her wig.  The same length.  Even the same texture.  Odd…

She watched the water run clean into the drain and shut it off. Even if she didn’t wear it in public any more, her parents would still be seriously pissed if they found out that she’d ruined her wig by wearing it in the shower.  Maybe it was salvageable.  She reached up to take it off and frowned when she felt herself grab her own hair.  She reached again and again, somehow, managed to miss the wig.  Addison stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body as to not drip all over the floor, and walked over to the mirror.  It had fogged during her shower and she rubbed at it with the hand towel.  Blonde. The wig still wouldn’t come off. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, so familiar and yet so strange.  She pulled sharply at the blonde hair and winced in pain.

Addison reached out as if to touch her reflection, watching as it mimicked her perfectly.  She looked into her own blue eyes, her brown brows, every feature she knew so well and then back to the foreign yet familiar blonde hair.

There was a soft tap at the door.

“Addison, dear, you don’t want to be late for school.”

Dear?  Her parents might use informal pet names for each other, but never with her.

“Yes, Mom.”  She pulled the blonde hair into a bow at the back of her head, picked up her bag and headed for the kitchen where a bowl of fruit was waiting for her.  She ate without really tasting the food, grabbed her lunch money, and started walking.

Real blonde hair.  Her clothes gone.  Her parents were suddenly much more affectionate.  Addison was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice arriving at school or even opening her locker.  Focus, Addy.  She grabbed her books for first period and looked at her watch.  She’d must have walked faster than usual, class wouldn’t start for fifteen minutes.  However, Zed was usually at the school early, hanging out with the guys or studying/chilling in the safe room.

  She opened the safe room door and called his name.  “Are you here yet?”  Her voice echoed in the empty room and she turned to leave.  The door sealed and she walked down the hall, alone, not noticing that the room wasn’t what she remembered.

  Students filled the hallway and Addison’s heart skipped as her eyes landed on the tall, lanky football star that was her boyfriend. She easily made her way through the crowd, using her short stature to her advantage to get around the other students.

  “Zed,” her voice cracked slightly, betraying her stress, and she froze, looking him over.

  “Um, can I help you?  I really don’t have time for autographs right now, but if you come back during free period I can hook you up.”  With that, he started to push past her.

  Without thinking, Addison grabbed his hand.

  He whipped around, easily breaking her hold.

  “Zed,” Addison looked him over, taking in the pink skin, dark hair, pastels.  “What did you do?”  Her brow furrowed in concern, her hand reaching out to touch his rosy face.

  “Okay, why are you trying to touch me?  Football stars are people too.  Personal space much?”  With that, Zed finally looked down at her, meeting her eyes.  The dark circles perpetually under his eyes were gone, his face was full of colour, his skin even felt warmer.  “Addison.  I thought I told you not to do that in front of people.  You know the deal.  Date the football star, get a bit of the spotlight.”

  “Zed, what are you talking about?  I thought we didn’t care what people thought, remember?  And I thought you were never going to mess with your Z-band again.  What did you do?”  She looked at him, black hair without the slightest tinge of green, skin that didn’t look like he was half-dead, and wearing perfect Seabrook colours.

  “I haven’t done anything I’ve never done before.  But if you’re looking for something different, find yourself a new boyfriend.  I won’t have any trouble replacing you.”

  Addison looked down, not wanting to let this… this person see her cry.  “Where’s your Z-band?”  Addison looked back up to Zed’s face, back to his empty wrist.  She reached for him again, looking for any hint that he was about to lose control.  There was none.  In fact, he still looked far too human.

  “What’s a Z-band?”  He scoffed.

Addison felt her eyes well with tears and turned to leave, planning on finding Bree, when he caught her arm.

“If I let you leave like that, it’ll give people the wrong impression.  Let’s go chill in the supply closet for a few minutes.”  Not-Zed, still holding her arm, led her to the Safe Room.  Or at least, what should have been the Safe Room. Instead of bunk beds and rations, the room was filled with cleaning supplies and a small first aid station.

Addison took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. “This isn’t right,” she whispered.

“Really?  No shit it’s not right.  I should be out there with the guys, not stuck in a closet with a mopey girlfriend. I thought you were supposed to be a cheerleader.”

“Zed,” Addison’s voice cracked, unable to look at the humanized person in front of her.  “This isn’t right.  This isn’t who we are.  This isn’t who you’re supposed to be, something’s happened, something horribly wrong.  But nobody seems to notice…” she couldn’t finish her thought.

“Notice what?”  He was leaning against the doorframe, tall and dark, and…slightly intimidating.  Who would have thought that Zed would have made a scarier human than monster.

“Everything’s changed,” she whispered brokenly. Not-Zed said nothing.  “When I woke up this morning, my hair looked like this,” she held it up limply, “all blonde like my old wig.  My parents…it was like something out of a movie.  I come to school early and you’re this…this isn’t you, Zed, not at all.”  She wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall and continued.  “No matter how much it hurts, my parents are ashamed of me. My hair is an unnatural white color and until now I’ve always worn a wig to keep it hidden.  You’re still the star of the football team, but you’re not human, you’re a zombie.  You… gar-garziga, Zed.  The real Zed.”

The real Zed, the real Seabrook, her real parents, she just wanted everything to return to normal.  This version of Zed, who apparently was tired of Addison being a clingy and vapid bitch, listened as everything poured out.  The accident at Seabrook Power, the creation of zombies, their first meeting, football, the cheer championships.

“And all that just ‘changed’ this morning?”  Not-Zed scoffed.  “Things don’t just change overnight because you say ‘I wish’, Addison.  Not even for a cheerleader.”

“But they did,” Addison whispered, broken.  “This isn’t right, any of it.  This isn’t who we are.”

“So how did it happen?  I told these floozies I wish you’d just leave me alone, several times a day, and yet that never happens.”

Whether not-Zed actually cared to know or not was irrelevant. “It was about one a.m.  I had a huge fight with my parents.  I said a bunch of things I knew they hated about me and said that maybe if none of them existed, that they could be happy.  If I had normal hair.  If monsters didn’t exist in this town.  Stuff I said in the heat of the moment.  And somehow, it all came true the next morning.”

“In your version of the world, monsters exist?”  Not-Zed said incredulously.  “And I’m one of them.”

“Yeah.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“In your world…Zoey was at the cheer championships last year.” Not-Zed finally looked at her, his eyes hard.  Addison nodded, swallowing hard.

“She started how monsters finally became accepted in Seabrook. There was only half a squad left and they were falling apart.  Zoey went on stage and started cheering herself.”  Addison smiled at the memory.  “Most of the zombies in attendance joined us onstage and we might not have won the championship for the first time in fifty years, but we were united.”

Not-Zed didn’t say anything for a long time.  He lifted his head and said hoarsely: “My sister died when she was born, with my mother.  I’ve never told anybody about her before…her name was Zoey.”

“Zoey is the little sister I never had.  She wants to be a cheerleader more than anything and she loves dogs.  She had a stuffed dog called Zander and at the end of last year, I got her a real dog. A small dog with long white fur she named Puppy.”

“I don’t know how you found out about Zoey, but this is the dumbest prank anybody’s ever pulled.  Who set you up?”

“No,” Addison said brokenly.  “Zed, I’m not making any of this up, I swear.  I know Zoey, I love her like she was my own sister.  Monsters are real in Seabrook.  They’re zombies, you’re a zombie.  And we’re… gar-garziga, Zedka.”

Addison’s heart shattered when he spoke again.

“Is that gibberish supposed to mean something to me?  We’re through, Addison.”  The finality of his statement hit her in a wave of emotions as he left the closet.

Addison left school early, telling the nurse she’d gotten her period and felt nauseous.  The nurse agreed to send her home, noting that the walk might do her some good in relieving the symptoms.  Unfortunately, the walk back passed quickly and she was home.

She let herself in and practically collapsed against the door.

[asarahworld-writes]

it’s...been a while.  *opens up WIPs*

I- I don’t actually have any current WIPs.  I have a bunch of prompts saved and oneshot ideas but...no actual WIPs.

I’ll try to bring this back when I get something started 😉

last line tag

rules: post the last line you wrote (from any WIP) and tag the same number of people as there are words.

tagged by @juulies - writing tags are so fun and very convenient cause I’m writing all the time these days XD

“Hey,” Reggie pipes up from where he leans against the arm of the couch. “If our very own Julie Molina thinks it can be improved then it needs to be improved.”

I don’t think I know that many people on here so I’ll just tag @smolfangirl, @swiftly-heart and @rainfallingfromthesky

[asarahworld-writes]

Gafr Siafft

@torchwoodfanfests Bingo Fest - kids

“Jack!”  The younger man’s voice was tense, his expression poised, but Jack could see the exasperation in Ianto’s face.

“It’s not my fault!” He called across the grass.  “The readings indicated alien activity!  You and Toshiko both confirmed them!”

Ianto harrumphed, darting towards the trees.  “Instead we get saddled with a load of kids!  These aren’t aliens, I know how to handle aliens.”

“Just… get them all together.  There has to be somebody around here that’s responsible for them.”

Jack could practically hear Ianto roll his eyes.  “Yes, Jack, I’ll just run up the hill and ask the people around there if they’ve misplaced their kids.  I’m sure that conversation would go over well.”

“Okay, so then what? Those readings came from somewhere, have you tried scanning them?  Maybe they’re shapeshifters!”

“Arcateenian, Carrionite, the Cell, Chameleons, Gizau, Lamprey, Raxacoricofallapatorian, Zygon… there are more species of shapeshifter out there then I know.  Well, at least we know they’re not Raxacoricofallapatorians.”

“You know about Raxacoricofallapatorius?”

Ianto sniffed.  “Jack, I know everything.  Besides, I don’t think a Raxacoricofallapatorian could compress small enough to pass as a kid.”

“Could if it was a small Raxacoricofallapatorian.”

The kids stopped what they were doing, and Jack felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Whatever these alien kids were up to, it was no good.

“I think they’ve spotted us,” Ianto said dryly.

“Guess we’re going in, then.”  Jack turned to the group and smiled.  “Hey kids, how’s it going?  No, don’t eat that – Ianto!”

Ianto stepped into the field, drawing his hands to rest on his hips.  “Now, we know that you’re not from this planet so feel free to stop impersonating baby animals whenever you like.  If you’d care to resume your natural forms or take on a humanoid persona, we can work this out.”

The two men watched as roughly half the baby goats abruptly stood on their hind legs and swelled upwards.

“We are.  Gafr Siafft.”

“Gaft Siafft.  Ianto, correct my Welsh if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that just mean shapeshifter in Welsh?”

“Not quite, sir.  The proper translation would be Goat Shifter.”

Jack turned back to the aliens.  “So… are you from around here?  Seeing as how you clearly speak Welsh.”

Gaft Siafft is made up from Siafft (Welsh – half of shapeshifter) and Gaft (Welsh – goat)

[asarahworld-writes]

hen night

@torchwoodfanfests Bingo Fest - Under the Influence

Gwen stopped by Toshiko’s desk on her way out that afternoon.  “Er, Tosh, I had a question for you.”

Tosh looked up from her monitors.  “Of course. How can I help?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you’re busy on Saturday night?  Me and the girls are doing my hen night and I was hoping that you’d join us.”

“Oh.  Well, that’s actually my night to watch the Rift,” Tosh swivelled back to her monitors, looking as if she was deep in thought.

“The Rift can take of itself for one night.  It survived for years before Torchwood existed, one night won’t do much damage.”

They looked up to see Jack at the front of the room.

“You ladies enjoy yourselves.  Toshiko, you deserve a night off.  Have fun with Gwen and the girls,” Jack winked knowingly before going back towards his office.

“What would you say if I was thinking of asking Ianto along?”

“You want to ask Ianto to your hen night?  I’d say it’s your hen, ask who you like.”

“I think he’d enjoy it,” Gwen looked from Jack back to Tosh.  “Something a little classy, getting a bit pissed leading to the accidental sharing of ‘secrets’.  All in good fun.”  The truth was, Gwen didn’t have many people she’d asked to come out.  Her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law (and, oh, that was a nightmare waiting to happen), Rhys’ sister… that was it.  With Ianto there, at least Tosh would have someone to talk with as Gwen acted as a buffer between her mother and Rhys’.

Four guests and the bride-to-be.  Perhaps if she got them completely pissed there’d be no arguments.

“I’ll make sure he’s free,” Jack laughed.  “Gwen, why don’t you come up in, oh, fifteen minutes and ask him?”  He turned to leave for the archives, then paused.  “On second thought, give me twenty.”

“No thanks, I’d just as soon rather ask him now.”  Gwen made a face at Jack and darted past him, shrieking as he reached out to grab her. “Don’t you dare, Jack.”

She was back within the minute.

“Now that that’s sorted, I’m going home.  Everything’s been pretty quiet all day, but Rhys’ mam has invited herself for dinner tonight and I can only assume that she’s going to want to go over every wedding detail and try to change anything she think my mother had something to do with.” Gwen rolled her eyes, packing up her workstation.  “I’ll see you lot tomorrow, then.”

Saturday.  Assuming nothing went horribly wrong, hen night.

The day passed quickly, though the Rift was surprisingly quiet.  Before Gwen knew it, it was five o’clock and the day was over.

“We’re just grabbing a cab over and back.  We’re getting proper sloshed tonight, so nobody’s driving.  Nothing super uppity, your choice of shots and beer.  But it should be a good night,” Gwen smiled hopefully.

“It’ll be whatever we make of it, I’m sure.”  Tosh said gently.

“Okay.  I’ll see you in a few hours.  Um, it’s nothing fancy, so wear what you like.”  Gwen waved as she left the Hub, beaming.

Knowing Gwen, Tosh figured she’d be wearing something practical.  She seemed to be the kind of woman who never took her boots off, always prepared.  In fact, Tosh was willing to bet that Gwen’s clothing choices for the night would be entirely based around practicality first.  Still, she mused, there was no real reason not to dress up.  Jack and Owen would be around to cover the Rift if anything happened. Perhaps this was her chance to live that life she’d forgotten about.

After a short, but relaxing, shower, Tosh found herself staring at the closet.  It shouldn’t be this difficult to pick an outfit, she was simply going out with her friend.  With unpredictable people and raw data she didn’t know how to compute.  Hidden behind her computer screens, her laptop, it was easy to focus on the matter at hand, whatever the case may be.  Tonight, however, was going to be screenless.

Keep it casual. Jeans, then.  A grungy tee shirt instead of a blouse.  And her leather jacket.  Simple.  Comfortable.

Dressed to the nines, indeed.  At any rate, whatever she had on would have to do.  She was due to meet Ianto in twenty minutes.

Hen night had clearly started early, Tosh thought as she observed Gwen’s party.  Her parents were switching between the best of friends and worst enemies faster than she could track, though they seemed to be enjoying themselves.  A fourth woman, presumably Gwen’s sister-in-law-to-be, was glued to a phone at the end of the table.  And in the middle of it all, was Ianto Jones.

One would have never thought he was going to a hen party, looking at him, unless they thought he was the stripper.  Dressed neatly in a three-piece pinstriped suit, Ianto stuck out like a sore thumb from the party next to him.

“Don’t tell me I missed the strip tease,” Tosh said lightly as she slipped into the empty seat next to him.

“Ha ha.  Funny, but no, there’s not been a stripper out yet.”

“Might be a situation we’ll need to rectify before the end of the night.  Doesn’t really look like the rest of them are up to it and after all, what else is a bachelorette party for?”  Of course, never having been to one, she was guessing at what should happen.

“Well, I know that if you phoned Jack, he would be more than happy to spring naked from a giant cake,” Ianto said dryly.

Tosh laughed.  “Too bad, I bet it’s too late to arrange for that. Doesn’t that sound like it would shock their mothers?”

“It would definitely surprise Brenda.  As for Mary Cooper, well, I think she might enjoy that more than our guest of honour.” Ianto tilted his head towards Gwen’s mother.

“Yes well, you would probably enjoy that most out of all,” Tosh said lightly, hiding a faint smirk.

“That’s entirely coincidental and beside the point,” Ianto said primly.  Tosh hummed in response, getting up and heading to the bar to order a drink.

“Oh come off it, he likes you,” Gwen rolled her eyes.  “If he doesn’t see anything back, he’s a right prat.”

“He likes me just as much as he likes anyone, which isn’t to say very much,” Tosh shook her head, raising her shot glass.  Gwen and Ianto followed suit, the three of them downing their drinks.

“Pfffft.  Ianto knows what I’m talking about.  At least, he should if he didn’t spend most of his time ogling Jack.”

“I don’t ogle Jack.” Ianto said dryly.  “Strictly speaking, there’s nothing there.”

Gwen snorted.  “Yeah, and ‘strictly speaking’, there’s no such thing as aliens.”  Ianto scowled and looked away.  Even as his scowl deepened, his eyes lit up.

“Oh no,” he muttered. Gwen and Tosh looked up and Gwen fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“Not on my bloody hen,” she said quietly.  Ianto moved to get up, but Gwen grabbed his hand.  “We’re having a ladies’ night.  With you. Whatever it is, Jack and Owen can handle it.  If he wants extra backup, he can call UNIT.”

“Yeah, that’s likely.” Ianto watched the older man as he made his way around the pub, clearly looking for something.

“Drinking game!”  Gwen gathered the party together, blocking Ianto’s view of Jack.  She looked at her group – Ianto and Tosh, her mothers, and Rhys’ sister – and tried to think of something that would be suitable.  Already, Brenda’s lips were thinning.  The woman hated drinking and Gwen could already tell that a drinking game would lead to a row between her and Mary.  Still, it might be the only way to keep everyone occupied and away from whatever it was Jack was up to.

Weevils.  Of course there were bloody Weevils surrounding the pub she’d picked for her hen.

“Regular formation,” Jack called as he and Owen came up to the hen party.  Gwen glared at him, taking a place beside Ianto far away from Jack. It wasn’t his fault the Weevils were around, of course, but she couldn’t help blaming somebody for her ruined night.

“Okay, we’ve got a gas leak out front here.  If everyone could please make their way through the back exit, quickly and quietly, we’ll get it sorted.”  Already, Ianto was on top of crowd control, evacuating the pub.  Gwen’s mother was staring at her as she was forced to leave, trying to ask what the hell sort of special ops dealt with gas leaks.  Gwen turned away.

“What exactly is going on here?”  Mary Cooper had slipped back into the building, glaring at her daughter.

“That’s exactly the question I was about to ask,” Brenda Williams said from Gwen’s other side, otherwise ignoring Mary.

“Ladies,” Jack smiled widely, holding his arms out.  “I am not privy to divulge that information.  But I’m afraid that you’re just going to have to trust Gwen – and the rest of us – to do our jobs and keep you safe.”  Mary and Brenda – as graciously as they could under the circumstances – accepted the proffered gestures and allowed him to lead them away from the smoking rubble.  Owen frowned.

“You lot are in no condition to help with this.  Here, take one of these and go straight to bed when you get home.”  He gave each of them a tiny pill, advising them not to take it until they were in bed.  Gwen pocketed the pill and called a taxi.

The drive home was quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.

{Gwen} Balancing Torchwood with regular life was becoming more and more difficult.  True, she had Rhys, but what about everybody else? What happened if they were caught in the middle of something again?  She didn’t want to Retcon her family – not even Brenda Williams – if she didn’t have to, and… that was about as far as she could think, given her intoxicated state of mind.

{Tosh} She wondered if Jack would let her bring somebody into her life, the way he’d let Gwen keep Rhys in hers.  He and Ianto had each other, after all, and Owen…well, like Gwen had said, Owen was a prat if he didn’t see what was literally right in front of him.

{Ianto} ‘Strictly speaking’, their unlabelled ‘relationship’ needed a label.  His entire life was filled with keeping things organized and sorted and to have this major… whatever it was with Jack unlabelled was slowly driving the archivist in him mad.  Everything else in his life was sorted, filed, stored away – be it in the Archives or the Tourist Office at the Hub or in his flat.  As much as he enjoyed their not-relationship, he felt as though there was a chasm waiting to be crossed, a transition waiting to happen. And he didn’t know if he was ready for that or if he was tired of waiting for it to happen.

[asarahworld-writes]

all i want

Prompt: Be careful what you wish for @badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

If she hadn’t had white hair, if monsters didn’t exist, if the moonstone had never fallen to Earth, if she wasn’t a freak dating a zombie…

 “-then maybe you would have the picture perfect lives you want. I wish you could just be happy!” Addison yelled, turning away from her parents and swiping angrily at her watery eyes.  What she needed right now was to get away, to be with Zed, but she knew that leaving at this hour would only make things worse.  She looked at her watch, sighing with exhaustion. She’d see him in about five hours anyway.

 Five hours spent restlessly trying to sleep, scrolling mindlessly on her phone, pacing her room, staring out her window at the full moon as the sky lightened – purples turned pink then orange as the sun rose, bathing the world in daylight.  Six am. Addison got up, shivering as the covers fell away.  She looked down in surprise… she didn’t remember changing into pajamas last night. She looked to see where her clothes from the previous day were...nowhere.  The laundry hamper was filled with monochromatic pastels she hadn’t worn in a month.

 She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.  Shower first, figure this out after.

 Addison let the water flow over her entire body, soaking in the warmth.  She massaged the shampoo into her scalp, rinsed.  She applied conditioner to the ends of her hair, easily combing through its mid-length strands.  She frowned, looking at the hair twined through her fingers.  Blonde.  The exact same shade as her wig.  The same length.  Even the same texture.  Odd…

 She watched the water run clean into the drain and shut it off. Even if she didn’t wear it in public any more, her parents would still be seriously pissed if they found out that she’d ruined her wig by wearing it in the shower.  Maybe it was salvageable.  She reached up to take it off and frowned when she felt herself grab her own hair.  She reached again and again, somehow, managed to miss the wig.  Addison stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body as to not drip all over the floor, and walked over to the mirror.  It had fogged during her shower and she rubbed at it with the hand towel.  Blonde. The wig still wouldn’t come off. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, so familiar and yet so strange.  She pulled sharply at the blonde hair and winced in pain.

 Addison reached out as if to touch her reflection, watching as it mimicked her perfectly.  She looked into her own blue eyes, her brown brows, every feature she knew so well and then back to the foreign yet familiar blonde hair.

 There was a soft tap at the door.

 “Addison, dear, you don’t want to be late for school.”

 Dear?  Her parents might use informal pet names for each other, but never with her.

 “Yes, Mom.”  She pulled the blonde hair into a bow at the back of her head, picked up her bag and headed for the kitchen where a bowl of fruit was waiting for her.  She ate without really tasting the food, grabbed her lunch money, and started walking.

 Real blonde hair.  Her clothes gone.  Her parents were suddenly much more affectionate.  Addison was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice arriving at school or even opening her locker.  Focus, Addy.  She grabbed her books for first period and looked at her watch.  She’d must have walked faster than usual, class wouldn’t start for fifteen minutes.  However, Zed was usually at the school early, hanging out with the guys or studying/chilling in the safe room.

 She opened the safe room door and called his name.  “Are you here yet?”  Her voice echoed in the empty room and she turned to leave.  The door sealed and she walked down the hall, alone, not noticing that the room wasn’t what she remembered.

 Students filled the hallway and Addison’s heart skipped as her eyes landed on the tall, lanky football star that was her boyfriend. She easily made her way through the crowd, using her short stature to her advantage to get around the other students.

 “Zed,” her voice cracked slightly, betraying her stress, and she froze, looking him over.

 “Um, can I help you?  I really don’t have time for autographs right now, but if you come back during free period I can hook you up.”  With that, he started to push past her.

 Without thinking, Addison grabbed his hand.

 He whipped around, easily breaking her hold.

 “Zed,” Addison looked him over, taking in the pink skin, dark hair, pastels.  “What did you do?”  Her brow furrowed in concern, her hand reaching out to touch his rosy face.

 “Okay, why are you trying to touch me?  Football stars are people too.  Personal space much?”  With that, Zed finally looked down at her, meeting her eyes.  The dark circles perpetually under his eyes were gone, his face was full of colour, his skin even felt warmer.  “Addison.  I thought I told you not to do that in front of people.  You know the deal.  Date the football star, get a bit of the spotlight.”

 “Zed, what are you talking about?  I thought we didn’t care what people thought, remember?  And I thought you were never going to mess with your Z-band again.  What did you do?”  She looked at him, black hair without the slightest tinge of green, skin that didn’t look like he was half-dead, and wearing perfect Seabrook colours.

 “I haven’t done anything I’ve never done before.  But if you’re looking for something different, find yourself a new boyfriend.  I won’t have any trouble replacing you.”

 Addison looked down, not wanting to let this… this person see her cry.  “Where’s your Z-band?”  Addison looked back up to Zed’s face, back to his empty wrist.  She reached for him again, looking for any hint that he was about to lose control.  There was none.  In fact, he still looked far too human.

 “What’s a Z-band?”  He scoffed.

 Addison felt her eyes well with tears and turned to leave, planning on finding Bree, when he caught her arm.

 “If I let you leave like that, it’ll give people the wrong impression.  Let’s go chill in the supply closet for a few minutes.”  Not-Zed, still holding her arm, led her to the Safe Room.  Or at least, what should have been the Safe Room. Instead of bunk beds and rations, the room was filled with cleaning supplies and a small first aid station.

 Addison took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. “This isn’t right,” she whispered.

 “Really?  No shit it’s not right.  I should be out there with the guys, not stuck in a closet with a mopey girlfriend. I thought you were supposed to be a cheerleader.”

 “Zed,” Addison’s voice cracked, unable to look at the humanized person in front of her.  “This isn’t right.  This isn’t who we are.  This isn’t who you’re supposed to be, something’s happened, something horribly wrong.  But nobody seems to notice…” she couldn’t finish her thought.

 “Notice what?”  He was leaning against the doorframe, tall and dark, and…slightly intimidating.  Who would have thought that Zed would have made a scarier human than monster.

 “Everything’s changed,” she whispered brokenly. Not-Zed said nothing.  “When I woke up this morning, my hair looked like this,” she held it up limply, “all blonde like my old wig.  My parents…it was like something out of a movie.  I come to school early and you’re this…this isn’t you, Zed, not at all.”  She wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall and continued.  “No matter how much it hurts, my parents are ashamed of me. My hair is an unnatural white color and until now I’ve always worn a wig to keep it hidden.  You’re still the star of the football team, but you’re not human, you’re a zombie.  You… gar-garziga, Zed.  The real Zed.”

 The real Zed, the real Seabrook, her real parents, she just wanted everything to return to normal.  This version of Zed, who apparently was tired of Addison being a clingy and vapid bitch, listened as everything poured out.  The accident at Seabrook Power, the creation of zombies, their first meeting, football, the cheer championships.

 “And all that just ‘changed’ this morning?”  Not-Zed scoffed.  “Things don’t just change overnight because you say ‘I wish’, Addison.  Not even for a cheerleader.”

 “But they did,” Addison whispered, broken.  “This isn’t right, any of it.  This isn’t who we are.”

 “So how did it happen?  I told these floozies I wish you’d just leave me alone, several times a day, and yet that never happens.”

 Whether not-Zed actually cared to know or not was irrelevant. “It was about one a.m.  I had a huge fight with my parents.  I said a bunch of things I knew they hated about me and said that maybe if none of them existed, that they could be happy.  If I had normal hair.  If monsters didn’t exist in this town.  Stuff I said in the heat of the moment.  And somehow, it all came true the next morning.”

 “In your version of the world, monsters exist?”  Not-Zed said incredulously.  “And I’m one of them.”

 “Yeah.”

 They were both quiet for a moment.

 “In your world…Zoey was at the cheer championships last year.” Not-Zed finally looked at her, his eyes hard.  Addison nodded, swallowing hard.

 “She started how monsters finally became accepted in Seabrook. There was only half a squad left and they were falling apart.  Zoey went on stage and started cheering herself.”  Addison smiled at the memory.  “Most of the zombies in attendance joined us onstage and we might not have won the championship for the first time in fifty years, but we were united.”

 Not-Zed didn’t say anything for a long time.  He lifted his head and said hoarsely: “My sister died when she was born, with my mother.  I’ve never told anybody about her before…her name was Zoey.”

 “Zoey is the little sister I never had.  She wants to be a cheerleader more than anything and she loves dogs.  She had a stuffed dog called Zander and at the end of last year, I got her a real dog. A small dog with long white fur she named Puppy.”

 “I don’t know how you found out about Zoey, but this is the dumbest prank anybody’s ever pulled.  Who set you up?”

 “No,” Addison said brokenly.  “Zed, I’m not making any of this up, I swear.  I know Zoey, I love her like she was my own sister.  Monsters are real in Seabrook.  They’re zombies, you’re a zombie.  And we’re… gar-garziga, Zedka.”

 Addison’s heart shattered when he spoke again.

 “Is that gibberish supposed to mean something to me?  We’re through, Addison.”  The finality of his statement hit her in a wave of emotions as he left the closet.

 Addison left school early, telling the nurse she’d gotten her period and felt nauseous.  The nurse agreed to send her home, noting that the walk might do her some good in relieving the symptoms.  Unfortunately, the walk back passed quickly and she was home.

 She let herself in and practically collapsed against the door.