1530 words... You win longest Flavour (at least for the moment...)!
Cup of Coffee and an Ice Cream
“Coffee?” one of the men said cheerfully, bringing in a tray with three cups on it, giving one to his fellow interviewer (interrogator, more like) and putting another on the table in front of Tosh. She was about to shake her head when she remembered how long it had been since she’d drunk anything, and picked up the cup. As soon as they let her out of here she’d do her duty as a good little scientist and report back to UNIT with everything she’d learned about Torchwood from her questioning today.
The man taking notes (the one who hadn’t fetched the coffee) suddenly frowned, and raised his hand to the Bluetooth headset hooked into his ear, saying, “Yes, she’s still here. Not yet, we were just about to – are you sure? No, no sir, sorry sir. Right away sir.”
Tosh paused with the cup halfway to her lips, wondering what the other half of the conversation had been, then went to drink the coffee, only for the man to reach across the table and hastily take the cup from her hands, saying, “Change of plan.”
She sighed and sat back, coffeeless and thirsty now, but obeying all the same. The two men stood up and went to have an urgent, whispered discussion in the corner by the door, and she did her best to eavesdrop but caught only a half-strangled, disbelieving, and insulted, “Harkness?” before they hastily shushed each other and tried to act professional.
The door opened, and the two men left, then the door was closed again and she was alone with a different man. Handsome, certainly, though the period military look was hardly in keeping with fashion.
He turned away from the door, turned on a blinding grin, and took three steps towards her, holding out his hand and saying, “Captain Jack Harkness. Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Sato. Don’t drink the coffee.”
Tosh found herself shaking his hand, starting to get up until he waved her back down and twisted to sit on the edge of the table beside her.
“Working for UNIT at the moment, aren’t you?” he asked, and she automatically opened her mouth to respond, then paused, intrigued by the peculiarity of his appearance and manner, and decided she could risk being a little bit more belligerent than usual, saying, “You know well enough already. Are you Torchwood as well?”
“Not the same lot that tried to hire you last time,” he told her, smiling in an altogether irritatingly knowing way. She gave him no gasp of surprise or look of awe or confusion. It wasn’t remotely startling that he’d read Torchwood’s file on her.
“As I recall,” he continued, looking away from her, up into empty space to affect an air of thoughtful musing, “you turned them down flat. The official reason was that you didn’t want to leave your post with UNIT on such short notice. Care to tell me the real reason?”
Tosh watched him for a moment, waiting until he turned to look at her before saying, “That was the real reason, Captain.”
“So it wasn’t because you found them arrogant, power hungry and imperialist?” he asked casually, then smiled brightly at her when she said nothing.
“And you don’t find UNIT too hung up on military discipline and rules and regulations. You don’t want to be somewhere where they’d listen to you, value your opinion and include you as part of a team, rather than sidelining you because you’re not military personnel, and assigning you to the wrong taskforce because they don’t want to brief another expert, when you should be working on the technological side of things.”
Tosh bit her lip, and he grinned at her, then stood up, saying nonchalantly, “Torchwood Three, Cardiff. I can promise you a say in pretty much every decision that gets made, enough autonomy to pursue your own interests, and all the alien technology you could ever want to investigate.”
She hesitated a moment longer, and he paused, then said, “Or you can drink your coffee, go back to UNIT, and forget you ever met me. Your choice.”
For another few seconds, Tosh said nothing, considering the matter, and then she stood up and shook the Captain’s hand again, saying firmly, “I’m in,” and trying to ignore the feeling telling her she’d either just made the best decision of her life – or the worst mistake.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-23 12:08 am (UTC)Cup of Coffee and an Ice Cream
“Coffee?” one of the men said cheerfully, bringing in a tray with three cups on it, giving one to his fellow interviewer (interrogator, more like) and putting another on the table in front of Tosh. She was about to shake her head when she remembered how long it had been since she’d drunk anything, and picked up the cup. As soon as they let her out of here she’d do her duty as a good little scientist and report back to UNIT with everything she’d learned about Torchwood from her questioning today.
The man taking notes (the one who hadn’t fetched the coffee) suddenly frowned, and raised his hand to the Bluetooth headset hooked into his ear, saying, “Yes, she’s still here. Not yet, we were just about to – are you sure? No, no sir, sorry sir. Right away sir.”
Tosh paused with the cup halfway to her lips, wondering what the other half of the conversation had been, then went to drink the coffee, only for the man to reach across the table and hastily take the cup from her hands, saying, “Change of plan.”
She sighed and sat back, coffeeless and thirsty now, but obeying all the same. The two men stood up and went to have an urgent, whispered discussion in the corner by the door, and she did her best to eavesdrop but caught only a half-strangled, disbelieving, and insulted, “Harkness?” before they hastily shushed each other and tried to act professional.
The door opened, and the two men left, then the door was closed again and she was alone with a different man. Handsome, certainly, though the period military look was hardly in keeping with fashion.
He turned away from the door, turned on a blinding grin, and took three steps towards her, holding out his hand and saying, “Captain Jack Harkness. Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Sato. Don’t drink the coffee.”
Tosh found herself shaking his hand, starting to get up until he waved her back down and twisted to sit on the edge of the table beside her.
“Working for UNIT at the moment, aren’t you?” he asked, and she automatically opened her mouth to respond, then paused, intrigued by the peculiarity of his appearance and manner, and decided she could risk being a little bit more belligerent than usual, saying, “You know well enough already. Are you Torchwood as well?”
“Not the same lot that tried to hire you last time,” he told her, smiling in an altogether irritatingly knowing way. She gave him no gasp of surprise or look of awe or confusion. It wasn’t remotely startling that he’d read Torchwood’s file on her.
“As I recall,” he continued, looking away from her, up into empty space to affect an air of thoughtful musing, “you turned them down flat. The official reason was that you didn’t want to leave your post with UNIT on such short notice. Care to tell me the real reason?”
Tosh watched him for a moment, waiting until he turned to look at her before saying, “That was the real reason, Captain.”
“So it wasn’t because you found them arrogant, power hungry and imperialist?” he asked casually, then smiled brightly at her when she said nothing.
“And you don’t find UNIT too hung up on military discipline and rules and regulations. You don’t want to be somewhere where they’d listen to you, value your opinion and include you as part of a team, rather than sidelining you because you’re not military personnel, and assigning you to the wrong taskforce because they don’t want to brief another expert, when you should be working on the technological side of things.”
Tosh bit her lip, and he grinned at her, then stood up, saying nonchalantly, “Torchwood Three, Cardiff. I can promise you a say in pretty much every decision that gets made, enough autonomy to pursue your own interests, and all the alien technology you could ever want to investigate.”
She hesitated a moment longer, and he paused, then said, “Or you can drink your coffee, go back to UNIT, and forget you ever met me. Your choice.”
For another few seconds, Tosh said nothing, considering the matter, and then she stood up and shook the Captain’s hand again, saying firmly, “I’m in,” and trying to ignore the feeling telling her she’d either just made the best decision of her life – or the worst mistake.