Drabble: Bad Timing

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Title: Bad Timing

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Gwen.

Rating: G

Written For: Challenge 370: Old Age at tw100

Spoilers: Nada.

Summary: Alien technology doesn’t always cause problems at convenient moments.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.

Torchwood’s latest brush with alien technology had resulted in Owen and Gwen being de-aged. It was unfortunate timing as Tosh was in Japan visiting her family.

“Look, we’ve seen things like this before,” Jack told them. “Tosh always makes comprehensive notes on all technology she studies. You’ve got nothing to worry about, I’ll soon have you both back to normal.”

Famous last words.

An hour later, Jack had managed to reverse the de-aging, resulting in two of his agents becoming old age pensioners somewhat prematurely.

“Oh well. At least they’re not kids anymore,” Ianto sighed. “Back to the drawing board.”

The End

Comments

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Too bad we never saw Rose mature.

I can understand Amy being infatuated by the Doctor. I just don't like the concept of a woman thinking she has to use her sexuality to get what she want's. What happened to the concept of talking?. Would she have done the same thing to Twelve?. It's a good thing she didn't crack onto Jack. But I guess the point was that scene wasn't meant to be seen as okay.

The same scenario happened with Ten and Reinette. She grew up waiting for her "Lonely Angel". First thing she does when she see's him again as an adult, is lay one on him. Ten was bad at pushing people away when they kissed him. Actually he was quite smug about it. But that's all she does and she was a mistress. Unless something happened behind the scenes.

The Doctor seriously must stop seeing women in their bedroom's. Although with Twelve it was a different vibe. Clara was angsty over Danny.

In regards to Smallville. I got it on Foxtel. I almost didn't watch because of the Lana stuff. I was waiting for Lois to appear. I'm surprised they made Lois a bit older than Clark.

I can't deny the fact that Moffat has made the Doctor more sexual now it's canon that he did have relation's with River Song.

Eleven: "And Doctor Song, in prison all her days?" "Her days, yes. Her nights… well, that's between her and me, eh?".

I'm not attracted to men who show off their six-pack. There has to be something else about them that make's me allured to them. Intellect and a good personality is a good combination. Cliche as that sound's. I manage to watch Smallville without being attracted to Tom Welling. But I did find him adorable when Clark was in a awkward situation.:)

I was about the same age as Buffy when I first watch it and I can totally relate to the whole overwhelming/self-doubt thing she felt. Except my problem's were about anxiety, family and other thing's that stress you out in life. I liked her sarcasm and sense of humor.

Buffy: I'm Buffy and your history!.

Gwen had no one to deflate her ego.

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Yeah, I think that was one of the problems with Gwen. Too much ego and no one willing to take her down a peg or two. Jack tried occasionally but always caved.

The thing with Clark was that he was more mature than most boys his age, so he would've found a more mature woman more appealing than someone younger. I found Lex more attractive than Clark in Smallville. But I'm a dirty old woman, most of the actors who appeal to me are young enough to be my son, lol! I like to look at the pretty ones, but that doesn't mean I'd date them. For me, it's kindness and a sense of humour that I find most attractive.

Yeah, that scene showed that Amy didn't always make good decisions, but at least she learned and became better, realising that Rory was all she needed and accepting the Doctor as just a really good friend, almost a brother in a way.

Reinette was a grown woman who was used to using her womanly charms to gain status and position. That was how things worked for her in the time she was born into. Some women still use sex to manipulate men, and men let them, they even encourage that. I prefer to see that approach not working on the Doctor, he should be above that, but I guess he just doesn't really know how to deal with it when women throw themselves at him. He never seems to expect it, I think he's a bit out of his depth. Human women are hard for him to understand.

Buffy was very grounded, and she used humour as a coping mechanism a lot of the time. She was a good person, very supportive of her friends and very caring towards others. Not like Gwen who was only out for herself.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Gwen is an alpha female, but sometimes she took it too far with the shouting and the punching. Jack must have been sick and tired of arguing with her. It is exhausting to get angry with someone who is clearly not going to listen.

I didn't mind that Lois was older than Clark. My brother use to date girl's slightly older than him and I became friend's with them so I can see the appeal.

Ditto about Amy.

I get why Reinette acted the way she did. It was the norm back in that period and how she was raised. At least in her case it was reasonable for her to snog the Doctor. Ten alway's got kissed that the intimacy of the act became insignificant.

Someone should do a fic where the Doctor mistake's the movie "Earth Girl's Are Easy" for a documentary then realizes it is not.

I wished I had Buffy's coping mechanism when I was a teenager. Gwen act's like those typical spoiled brat.

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Someone should do a fic where the Doctor mistake's the movie "Earth Girl's Are Easy" for a documentary then realizes it is not.

LOL! I'd read that"

I think that's why Jack kept letting Gwen have her own way. She was never going to listen to him and it just got exhausting trying to get through to her. All he could do was hope if he let her have her way she might learn from her mistakes. Sadly she never did, just blamed everyone else when thing went wrong.

Buffy is still a great role-model; for teens. I was about twice Buffy's age when the show aired over here but she was an inspiration, I wished that I was a brave as she was.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I would have said the Doctor read a book for "Dummies", but then I thought that he'd think his superior brain was above a title like that.

Someone wrote a fic where the the Tenth Doctor read's a "How to" book on his unrequited love for Donna?. I forgot the name though.

I really wanted Jack to really snap at Gwen and go:
"Shut up!. When you have known the pain of being killed and revived as many time's as I have, that's when you can complain!".

Or have the Doctor go over to Torchwood to lecture her. He has that whole intimidation thing going on for him. Gwen was lucky that the Doctor was AWOL during series three, he would have given her a scolding. At least I'd like to think that could have happened.

I'm glad that Joss Whedon got to make Buffy the TV series because the original movie wasn't as good. I think it had to do with the fact that he didn't have much creative control over it.

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Yeah, the Buffy movie was just a joke.

Gwen was so full of herself that I'm not sure she would've listened to anyone, she would have told the Doctor that he's not human so he can't possibly understand what her life is like.

I can easily see Eleven reading a book for dummies, lol! That seems like a very Eleven thing to do. I so want to write something with him, Knitting For Beginners, a ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles. One day I will get around to that one!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I think it made it more plausible that Sarah Michelle Geller did most of her stunt's and has a brown belt in karate. The movie was like a parody of the series. Sorry Kristy Swanson. If Gwen wouldn't listen to the Doctor, he could have found a way to punish her for it. Look how well he treated Harriet Smith when they disagreed on how to deal with hostile alien's. She was a good character. The Eleventh Doctor was seen the most having his nose deep in a book. He even wore the reading glasses that Amy left behind. Although is that really a good idea to read with someone else's prescription glasses?. He was reading a book when he was "stalking" Clara and while waiting in the TARDIS for her to arrive on her motorbike I could Imagine Eleven chucking the "Dummie's" book out when he didn't agree with the content's. He could then try watching the movie, "What women Want". In the fic I mentioned before with Donna, Ten chuck's the book out and Toshiko is the one that pick's it up.

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Yes! Parody, that's the word I couldn't think of before. Such a disappointing movie, but the series was awesome.

I haven't read that fic, but then I don't get much time to read these days. Too much writing to do.

I wish the Doctor had come along and punished Gwen, he could have made it stick even if she refused to listen to him.

I liked Eleven being a bit of a bookworm. He probably soniced the glasses so he could wear them. A sonic screwdriver can fix anything!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I think that a lot of the behind the scenes stuff contributed to the fail of it. It's a good thing Joss Whedon didn't give up on the concept and gave us a really cool TV series. Usually it is the movie's that are better than the TV series.

I read that Ten fic a few year's ago. I always thought of the Doctor pining for Donna adorable. I didn't expect Toshiko at the end.

It's funny that Gwen was checking the Doctor out in "Journey's End" saying he didn't look that old.

Of course,the sonic screwdriver!. I forgot. That's a good thing, as long as Eleven doesn't damage his retina's.

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Yeah, Joss believed in his idea and he was right to, it was so cool.

Gwen checks out all good-looking men, she's never truly satisfied with what she's got.

The Doctor can always rely on his sonic. Well, mostly. Doesn't work on wood, lol!

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I wanted to wipe that smile off Gwen's face. The Tenth Doctor should have said "Don't!" at her instead of Jack and Donna.

I did like Ianto's reaction and Jack glancing at him awkwardly. Ianto got jealous!. He didn't know that the Doctor had Rose to deal with.

The wood thing. I though the Doctor was going to make a setting for that. Instead he changed his sonic tool into sunglasses's.

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I can't get used to the sonic sunglasses! They're cool, but I keep expecting him to whip out his trusty screwdriver.

Ianto's not too happy with the Doctor anyway because of how he treats Jack. I'm sure Jack has told him everything by now ;)

Gwen needs to stop looking around and focus on her husband. Rhys deserves better.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

The sonic screwdriver is as iconic as the TARDIS. You instantly think of the Doctor when you think about it. Whereas with the sunglasses, it's wearable technology. Which is something you see in almost every other Sci-Fi or action TV show.

Moffat is just trying to mix it up I suppose. At least there isn't any innuendo and Twelve is protecting his eyes during the day time. I don't know about how it works at night.

Ianto: He's not that young.

I hadn't realize that little dig at the Doctor could have been more in depth. I also didn't take it too seriously because Jack is technically "older" than the Doctor at that point I think. I'm not sure what RTD's was aiming for.

I thought that Ianto could have been saying it just to stop Gwen perving at Ten. They were in the middle of a major crisis!.

Since the Doctor recognized Gwen because of her ancestor, she got more attention than Ianto. I did like the way Jack is proud of introducing his team to Ten though.

Once again RTD finds another excuse to state that David Tennant is good-looking. Like I need to be told if I think his hot or not.

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RTD is heavy-handed with a lot of stuff. This was Doctor who, but he still found a way tp put Gwen centre-stage. I think Ianto is as tired ass everyone else of seeing Gwen throw herself at men. After all, Ianto would be the first person to say that age isn't important. Jack really would have been technically older than the Doctor at that point, though in real terms it would depend on how much of his close to two thousand year burial he'd actually been alive. I suspect most of that time he would have been more dead than alive.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

RTD put almost every character in one box.

*Rose is the best regardless.

*Ten is hot/nerd cute. Lets have women force themselves on him.

*Donna is not?. Because she isn't attracted to the Doctor.

*Gwen being passive-aggressive = super heroine.

*Jack must suffer for dramatic effect.

*Martha must be disregarded despite how awesome she is.

I could go on and on.

I read a meta on Jacks timeline just to comprehend what he was doing when but I still don't know for sure how old he technically is.

[bk_forever]

Those are great synopses! It shows how one-track RTD gets when designing characters, he doesn't allow for flexibility, they're rigidly set. That's not good writing. Characters need to have space to evolve.

I doubt that even Jack could work out how old he is. Bouncing around in time does that.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

Those are my alternative titles for RTD'S interpretation of them. Here are the original titles and my definition of what they mean:

*Rose: Bad Wolf. I still think its a weird name.

*Ten: The Oncoming Storm. Sounds like a weather forecast announcement. Ten even resented that title.

*Donna: The Most Important Woman in the Universe. I quite like this one. Minus the memory wipe.

I think of Donna as "Miss Universe". Beauty Pageant style. Her in a tiara and sash saying into the microphone "You called me Miss, do I look single?. Who cares I just saved the UNIVERSE with my temping skills!".

Jack: The man who can't die. But RTD sure liked killing him over and over again. Just to make sure viewers knew about Jacks immortality. I thought Angel had hardships!. But compare his to Jacks?!. Also Jack should have met River Song so she could help advise him on having a diary to keep track of his age, current events etc.

Martha: The girl who walked the Earth. For a year!. I prefer to say "Young Woman" instead of girl. I can barely walk to the bus stop. That takes some skill.

Gwen: ?. What was her role anyway?. Besides taking up screen time away from other characters on Torchwood?.

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Gwen was supposedly the heart of Torchwood, there to remind everyone what it means to be human. Yeah, because she's such a paragon. A selfish, hypocritical compulsive liar, she shows all the worst parts of what it means to be human. At least she showed the rest of the team how NOT to behave.

I love your Donna! I can so see her doing that!

I kinda like The Oncoming Storm, it's ominous.

Jack just went through Hell repeatedly, RTD went out of his way to make him miserable. Poor Jack. I keep making Ianto immortal so that Jack gets to keep him. He loses so many people over the years, it's only fair that he should get to keep one.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"At least she showed the rest of the team how NOT to behave."
Right!. "The heart of Torchwood". I forgot I referred to that once already. Silly me!.:D

More like: "A NASTY THORN IN TORCHWOOD'S SIDE!.

I think I forgot because she didn't act like it!. Her character was so ridiculous most times that I felt there was suppose to be a pay off. Nope. RTD just made her that way. I don't know what Eve Myles was thinking. Gwen should have gone to etiquette classes or something.

I don't usually like beauty pagents, but I did like the movie Miss Congeniality. Women should not be portrayed as the one body type that we usually see from these events.

Maybe I have misgiving about "The Ongoing Storm" because it paints the Doctor as dangerous. You have to get to the end of the speech to hear that his wonderful after knowing that his full of ice and rage. But I can't deny it can be a useful way to intimidate in life or death situations.

The Eleventh Doctor had the "silver of ice in his heart" speech from that medium in "Hide".

I wonder if Twelve will have a title.

If only Jack had one of those immortal chips.

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Someone did write a fic where Clara brought one of those chips to Jack so he could save Ianto. I think it was on ff.net.

The Doctor Is dangerous, or at least has the potential to be. He may not like violence and prefer to avoid it, but he's capable of it if the situation demands it. No one should underestimate him.

It's models too, always ultra skinny. I'm skinny myself but it's because of health issues. I find it very difficult to gain weight but all too easy to lose it. I hate to see skinny being portrayed as the ideal, because I'm cold so much of the time and often in pain from being thin. it's not at all nice.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

The Doctor: You've been retconned.
Clara: What conned?

Maybe someone could do a Bonnie fic where she plays a Torchwood baddie.

The Doctor can be hypocritical in regards to violence. He may not use it in a conventional way but he will use it as a last resort. Like pay back. One false move and he will get ya!. Look what he did to Harriet Jones, and she was a friend. But I'm sure he regretted it after she sacrificed herself.:(

Thats the reason he fake his own death at one stage. It got him in a lot of trouble using his reputation like that.

River Song: All this. All of it. You make them so afraid. When you began all those years ago, sailing off to see the Universe, did you ever think you’d become this? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name.

Everyone has the potential to submit to the dark side, but I like to be reminded of what makes the Doctor awesome. I do hate it when baddies on the show try to guilt trip the Doctor though.

Twelve: You'll find that it's a very small universe when I'm angry with you.

I'm a slim person myself. I use to get teased in high school for being too skinny. I was probably too thin because I had anxiety issues as a teenager. It could also have been genetic because everyone on my dads side is slim. The only time I put on weight was in my early twenties when I was emotionally eating.

I'm at a healthy weight now but when I do gain weight the fat just goes to my butt.:D

When your thin, the cold is not a friend. I have to rug up when its too cold outside otherwise my body aches. I try not to complain about it too much when it happens.

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I ache all the time anyway., I have arthritis everywhere. Just have to live with it. mum was small and slim until she got older. I take after her quite a lot.

The Doctor is old and very intelligent, but not infallible, he miscalculates and sometimes that earns him enemies. I don't see him as hypocritical. He's anti-violence, keeps that as a last resort, but he'll come dome hard on anyone who thinks violence is the automatic answer to everything. When thee's no other way, yes, he'll go there because if i's kill or be killed, anyone would. I'm a pacifist, but if someone tried to kill me or someone I cared about, I would fight with everything I had. most of the time the Doctor won't, he'll find another way, turn the enemy's strength against then in some devious way, make them defeat themselves if he can. But if he HAS to use violence, he'll do it and he'll live with the consequences.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I don't know what word to use to decribe when the Doctor punishes someone when they do something he doesn't like.

That's one of the reasons why he keeps running. The Master is always mocking him for doing this. If he didn't run, then he would probably have to result to violence.

Which he did after the Family of Blood wouldn't leave him alone. Ten never gave second chances. He had quite the reputation of being dangerous. Eleven was always reminded of that

I'll admit someone usually pushes it too far. His enemies think his ability to be sympathetic is a weakness but its what can motivate him to lose rational thought if someone he cares about gets hurt.

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It's a mistake a lot of people make - that pacifism is weakness. It's totally untrue though, it's really strength and intelligence at play, looking for peaceful solutions to problems. Violence is easy, it's peace that's difficult because people (and alien races) seem unable to agree to accept each other's differences. Intolerance isn't just a human trait, apparently.

When the opposition forces him into it, the Doctor will use violence, but he never enjoys it whereas the villains revel in it. Running doesn't always work, but it gives him time and breathing space to come up with other options.

The Doctor is like a parent putting a wayward child in its place. He won't tolerate certain behaviours and I suppose he thinks he's giving them what they deserve. He's not always right though. Even the Doctor isn't infallible.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

The Doctor may become conflicted when he can't find the ideal solution.

*The Gelth took advantage of Nine when Rose got him to change his mind on how to deal with them.

*Ten will punish or judge someone when they do something he doesn't like. Except Rose.

*Amy had to point out another way to deal with the situation in "The Beast Below" and Eleven almost sent her home because she withheld information.

*Twelve seems to be the most honest about making a judgement call. He doesn't revel in his decision.

It would be difficult not let his emotions get to him when he believes he has better knowledge of the situation.

The villains perceive his empathy as a sign of weakness, but if they threaten those he cares about he will do whatever it takes to protect them and the outcome may have repercussions.