Disoriented Cosmos {A Torchwood Story} [COMPLETED]

11. Tommy Reginald Brockless

A/N: I know so far there aren't many people reading this fic, but to those who are thank you so much! Torchwood is very dear to me and I've wanted to write a fic for it for such a long time, and seeing even a few of you read it is so inspiring to me! 🥰

I lean on Jack's office desk, waiting to hear what he has to say. He stands in front of me with his arms crossed.
"Evelina Cosmo Firestone, today you're meeting Tommy Reginald Brockless."
"And... who is that?"

He smiles enigmatically and moves to his set of drawers to hand me a sheaf of papers about a man from 1918. I read through everything, and ask, "But why do we need him?"
He shrugs. "Torchwood 1918 gave the sealed orders that some day we're gonna need him."
"Right, well where are the orders?"

He shrugs again, and leans over to pass me a box from his desk. "It's time-locked to open whenever we need him. Every year we have to defrost him to see if he's still working for whenever that time comes."

I nod, satisfied. "Very well done - like a rare steak. I'm surprised you haven't tried to bust it open though, Nosy Parker: you can barely keep it in what happens at the end of One Tree Hill."
"It's just so obvious!" he protests, and as I walk away to the freezers I shout at him, "Well I've never had time to watch all those shitty cliche teen shows, so just let me enjoy them despite that!"

On the way to the morgue we pass Toshiko, who looks particularly stunning today in a sexy striped minidress. I give a wolf-whistle as I walk by, and she loops her arm through mine with a pleased smile.
"You like it? You think it looks nice?"
"Ooh, baby, you are smokin," I say in a deep voice, and she laughs gleefully.

"Picked up one of those celeb gossip magazines that you wanted to check out, by the way," Tosh tells me as she produces a thin glossy book from her handbag, and I eagerly take it and flip through the pages of this new treasure trove. A new cultural thing, ooh! I frown as I reach a page about a couple that seem famous for various reasons, and something bugs me about them.
"Well, that's not gonna work out: he's gay and she's an alien."
Tosh stares at me, her delicate eyebrows raised. "What?"

Before I can tell her it's obvious, Suzie scolds us for acting unprofessional as we meet her at the wall of freezers, and guides Jack to the right one to open. I gather round one side to watch his face appear as his container is pulled out, and then there he is. Tommy Reginald Brockless.

I catch Tosh smiling softly out the corner of my eye, and I get it now. Our adorable little Toshiko has a crush.
I watch her smile never falter as the 20th century soldier gets laid on the operating table in the autopsy room to defrost - kind of like a turkey.
She and I sit on the steps of the room checking on him whilst the other two mill about getting ready, and I note how her eyes scan him all over, her lip curling up in a hopeful expression.

I nudge her. "Ooooohhh."
"Shut up," she replies half-heartedly, still watching a lifeless Tommy, and I ask, "So, why him?"
She finally turns her gaze to me. "What do you mean, why him?"
I shrug. "Well, I mean, first off, you only meet up with him once a year. Second, I know he may not look it but he's just a bit older than you."

She smiles in lieu of a laugh, her eyes warm and shining. She looks back to him and sighs dreamily.
"I've only been here nearly a year, so I've only woken him up once, but... God, he's just such a gentleman. He listens to me, and he smiles like I'm the only person in the room, and it's just... I don't know if I'll ever have someone in my future, but at least I'll have him to look forward to every year."

I see faint pink line her cheekbones, complementing her angelic tan skin. I see where she's coming from, and I can see how much she feels for this man she's only met once. The perfect day, a solid promise of the next one, a man who is matched to you in every way. Almost makes me want one.

Not really though.

When Tommy is finally room temperature, we call in the others and Suzie pulls on her gloves.
"Wait," I say, puzzled, "Shouldn't we have an actual doctor for this?"
Suzie gives me one of her famous patronising looks and asks drily, "Do you see one here?"
I raise my hands in mock surrender and back off so Toshiko can take my place beside her frozen man.

Surprisingly, Suzie is a pretty decent resurrector, and Tommy wakes with a panicked yell. He grabs whatever equipment is near him, throwing it on the floor in a state, until Tosh manage to speak over him and make him concentrate on her:
"Tommy Brockless!"

His entire body loses tension as he looks into his eyes, a smile beginning to grow on his lips. Such a tender moment between the two of them - it makes me stop and really focus on them.

I catch Jack's eye, and he smiles in such a soft way it makes me forget momentarily that there is something fundamentally wrong I can feel about him. He nods to me in full respect, and it kicks into place that I'm finally part of the real team.

Almost six months on, and I've done it. I'm a proper part of Torchwood, because I've finally realised that this job is more than aliens; it's about the people affected, the lives saved - and the connections made.