Double Drabble: First Rule

[bk_forever]

Title: First Rule
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Gwen, Tosh, Ianto, Jack.
Rating: G
Written For: Challenge 643: Wonder at tw100.
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Gwen has a lot to learn.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.




“I wonder what would happen if I just pressed the button.”


At Torchwood, those were words nobody wanted to hear, and most people would never consider saying them.


“If that’s meant to be a joke it’s in very poor taste, and if you’re not joking then you’ve got no business working here,” Tosh snapped, knocking Gwen’s hand away from the alien device she was researching. Gwen had only been with Torchwood a couple of weeks and Tosh had no idea why Jack had hired her. She was always touching things she shouldn’t, even after being told not to.


“But it’s only a purple ball; what harm could it do?”


“Mauve, actually,” Ianto said, bringing Tosh some files she’d asked for. “The universal colour used to indicate something dangerous.”


“No, pet, that’s red.”


“Only on earth. Everywhere else it’s mauve.”


“You’re having me on.” Gwen grinned to show she could take a joke.


“He’s deadly serious,” said Jack, coming up behind her. “You need to stop thinking about everything in earth terms. It might look harmless, but chances are it’s an explosive device of some description, or possibly a cannister of poison. First rule of Torchwood: Don’t fiddle with unidentified objects.”



The End

Comments

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

This shows how underqualified Gwen was.

[bk_forever]

Yes, she always thought she knew more than she did, and was never prepared to listen to those who knew more.

Thank you!

[raynewton.livejournal.com]

Sadly Gwen never really did learn, which made her dangerous, even though she did improve... a bit

[bk_forever]

A tiny bit, not much.

Thank you!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

As much as I enjoyed seeing Jack teach Gwen how to use guns.*inserts sarcasm here* It didn't exactly help her in other areas did it? Even I had to take a standard assessment test before I worked in Fast Food.*sighs*

Despite that, it does not takeaway from your great storytelling.:)

[bk_forever]

I agree, aside from the shooting ;lesson we didn't really see Jack teach Gwen anything and she really should have had some sort of training beyond that.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It was just lucky that Jack took a chance on Gwen. If the retcon didn't work, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

[bk_forever]

The Retcon DIDN'T work. I think he screwed up the dose. He shouldn't have told her either, then she probably wouldn't have broken through it. It's not like Torchwood NEEDED Gwen, she didn't have much in the way of skills.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

That does make much more sense to me! It made Jack look cocky in that scene too. If anything, Gwen should have been ticked off at him for drugging her. Not all of a sudden, going: Yeah, I'll join this Torchwood Institute willy-nilly.*scoffs*


Or maybe that's just how I'd react?*shrugs*

[bk_forever]

She was angry at first, which is why he shouldn't have told her, but she wanted to be part of Torchwood from the start so I guess that won out. I suppose she thought it would make her better than her police colleagues.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Torchwood were at odds with the Police Force even if they were on the same side. I suppose Gwen didn't hold a grudge because of the narrative as well. Like how Rose researched the Doctor.

[bk_forever]

Gwen thought of herself as police liaison after she joined Torchwood but she treated her ex-colleagues worse than Jack did. She was horribly condescending and patronising, obviously thought she was better than them.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

See! How was the audience suppose to relate to that? I certainly didn't. She only showed a few redeeming qualities in the last series. Which I know you didn't see. So imagine other people that tuned out earlier than that. Anyways, you can catch my drift.

[bk_forever]

I read the Miracle Day synopses and as far as I could see she showed no redeeming qualities then either.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

By this point Gwen is all settled with Rhys so she was no longer infatuated with Jack, but he however treated her the same. I'm not saying it was great character growth. Just that the dynamic change slightly.

Now that I think about it, almost in the same line as Clara when she became an "adrenalin junkie". I personally don't think RTD knew what he was doing. Look what happened with Rose's storyline.

[bk_forever]

RTD is just incapable of writing good female characters.

Gwen treated Jack really badly in Miracle Day, going by what I read.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

It's his perception of what he would do, if he were in their shoes. So I don't know what that means.*sighs*

Well, she had a daughter and her "dying" father to deal with. I block out the rest. Too distracted by the graphic violence and sex scenes for the sake of making them.

Plus the controversial aspect of having a pedophile. I was not watching for entertainment purposes. Just seeing it till the end.*shrugs*

[bk_forever]

Gwen just never got that Jack would wilingly sacrifice himself for her family, she didn't need to manipulate him. It also never seemed to occur to her that it was unlucky that handing Jack over would save her family.

The whole thing sounded like a mess from reading the synopses, and not entertaining at all.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Fair point. The betrayal storyline was already done at the end of series one. We didn't need to rehash that. It would have been more clever had it all been a bluff. But maybe I'm asking too much of RTD for a plot twist.

Sadly the production money looked like it was spent on relocating, explosions and actors I guess. Most of the American characters were either weird or killed off. Some were both.

[bk_forever]

Most of RTDs plots barely make sense anyway. Adding plot twists would tax his brain too much.

He deatroyed Torchwood in oirder to break through in the American market and failed miserably.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Isn't that why showrunners hire writers to collaborate with?*shrugs*

What a weird way to go.*baffled*

[bk_forever]

Supposedly, but I think it only works if you pick the right writers and let them write.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

That's the issue with DW right now. There are some American fans who are disappointed about that.*sighs*

[bk_forever]

Can't please everyone anyway.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

True. All I'm saying is that DW was already getting exposure after series 5. So it's probably a shock that the narrative has changed. Too much of a shift I suppose. Which is what happened with Torchwood.

[bk_forever]

Yes, that's true.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Your userpic says it all.