Diversions & Digressions | fanfiction by mara

Pausing in the doorway, Vicki stared at the two men and a woman who were arrayed around Henry’s living room. An Asian woman peered anxiously at her from over by the bookshelf, a young man looked up from one of Henry’s graphic novels, and a, well, square-jawed movie star type had paused in the middle of speaking to look at her curiously.

“Am I interrupting something?” Vicki asked, perhaps a little nastier than she’d intended. But damn it, it had been a hard week and she’d looked forward to relaxing.

Henry smiled at her from his place on the couch next to the movie star. “I think you’re just in time. Jack, this is Vicki. Vicki, this is an old friend, Captain Jack Harkness.”

Harkness stood and held out a hand, smiling the kind of smile that a) looked like it should sell toothpaste and b) made her hackles go up. She crossed the room and carefully shook his hand. “Captain of *what* exactly?”

Henry and Harkness both laughed as if she’d said something funny and she scowled at them. “Cut the comedy and tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m sorry, Vicki,” Henry said, still chuckling. “It’s just that I told Jack you wouldn’t be charmed instantly, but he didn’t believe me.”

The young man smirked. “Jack believes he can charm everyone. Generally he’s right.”

“Thank you for giving away more of my secrets, Ianto.” The grin Harkness threw at the other man was much more genuine than the one he’d tried on her. “Let me introduce my colleagues Ianto Jones and Toshiko Sato.”

“You can introduce them all you want, but I still don’t know what’s going on.” Vicki looked at Henry.

“They work for a top secret British government agency and they’re here to ask our help.”

She raised her eyebrows and looked at the others, expecting laughter. But they were now deadly serious. “Ooookay,” she said.

“Ms. Nelson,” Harkness said, with the most earnest expression she’d seen that wasn’t on a puppy or Mike. “If we don’t find something that’s been brought to Toronto, we’re looking at the end of the world as we know it.”

Vicki shrugged. “Been there, done that, have the tattoos to prove it.”

“She does,” Henry said.

Harkness ignored both of them. “An object…appeared in Wales and we were attempting to find it when someone else found it first. We’ve tracked it as far as Toronto, but it’s lost somewhere in the city.” He waved at the woman, Sato. “Tosh has done a fabulous job, but the city is too big.”

Sato came forward, head ducked slightly, and picked up several odd bits of machinery from the coffee table. “I’ve been tracking the EM signature of the device, but wherever it is, it’s either gone into hibernation mode or it’s being masked, because the signal is too faint to triangulate.”

Despite herself, Vicki found herself getting interested. “You’re sure it hasn’t been moved?”

“Absolutely,” Sato said.

Vicki shook her head. “Wait a minute, why don’t you go to the police with this? The military? Henry said you’re with the government.”

Harkness took a breath. “It’s complicated. But my primary reason is that if I call in any of the international agencies I have contacts in, it’s going to be loud.”

“And if it gets loud, the object might go boom,” Jones said.

Vicki looked at Henry, who looked steadily back. “This isn’t a joke,” he said, knowing what she was thinking. “And when I said Jack was an old friend, I meant an *old* friend. I trust him.”

Harkness looked angelic when Vicki glanced at him, and she fought the urge to flush at the realization of what likely Henry meant by ‘old friend.’ “Okay, assuming I go along with this, what do you need me for?”

“You know Toronto better than most people,” Henry said.

“This thing isn’t exactly inconspicuous,” Harkness said.

“More like conspicuously–”

“Ianto.” Harkness gave him an annoyed look.

The other man just raised his eyebrows, appearing unrepentant. “You don’t think that’s important information?”

“Don’t make me break out the whips and chains.”

Henry chuckled. “Promises, promises, Jack.”

“Did I ever break a promise to you?” Harkness asked, all white teeth and crinkling dimples again.

“Jack.” Jones said, shaking his head. “If you’re going to invite him to join us, do at least wait until we’re alone with him.”

“But what if someone else wants to join in?” Jack asked.

Vicki had given up on not blushing long ago, but he *was* joking…right? She opened her mouth to say so, but Sato nudged Vicki with her elbow. The other woman was unperturbed by the byplay. “Ignore them. If you encourage this kind of thing, they’ll go on all night. Literally.”

“Interesting company you keep,” Vicki said.

Sato smiled at her, looking a lot less shy. “Well, it does keep life from being boring.”

Vicki looked at Henry. “I know what you mean.”

–end–