Title: Secrets
Author: Sqyd
Characters/Pairings: Jack, Ianto, OCs, Martha, Lois, Doctor (Eleven)
Rating: R
Warnings: AU - as in imaginary season 4, post-CoE
Spoilers: everything by implication, but vaguely
Word count: 18,000
Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. If I did, I'd take better care of them.
Summary: Life goes on, or so it seems. Secrets have a way of coming to the light and messing up everything.
Beta: Rootesie of the Infinite Patience.
Notes: I started writing this soon after CoE. I had an overwhelming urge to repair the damage done to the fabric of time and space by the Episode That Must Not Be Named. The creative process was peculiar: Instead of just plotting a story, my mind was spinning scenes of the fictional world, the tv show (still fictional, but almost real), and even the actors (real and imaginary) on the show. Many scenes came to me in blinding visual clarity, but assembling it all together was painful. The result is a wacky narrative structure; it's part episode-like, part filler for a season 4 that exists only in my fevered dreams and imagination. I blame PTSD. I just hope the whole thing makes sense to somebody in the end.
It was dark, the only source of illumination being what filtered through the hatch above, yet Ianto's pale skin seemed to glow in the dimness of the small room. It had been a rough few days; the Rift was particularly temperamental, and had them running from one emergency to another. The final blow being Ianto almost dying. Jack had seen it happen in slow motion, unable to intervene in time. Disaster was averted only by chance. A heavy steel door facing the alley had been flung open by an errant drunk stumbling out of a bar through the emergency exit by mistake. The loud clattering had fractured the deathly silence of the alley, distracting the alien for a life-altering fraction of a second. It hadn't been the first time something like this had happened, but knowing it didn't make Jack feel any less terrified. It didn't help things that he was still raw from the loss of Tosh and Owen. As always, he hid his fears. Once they apprehended their quarry, they returned to the Hub, did their reports, Jack sent Gwen home, and made love to Ianto.
He buried his face in the young man's neck and pulled his body tighter to him.
"Stop it Jack. I'm not dead yet."
He tensed involuntarily. He knew Ianto didn't have to be able to read his mind when he could read his body. He forced his muscles to relax. He watched his own hand slip from Ianto's waist, palm tenderly brushing over warm skin till his fingers buried themselves in dark hair over his lover's heart. Surprisingly graceful long fingers brushed over his own. They reminded him of the thin and deceptively fragile-looking young man he had first met. He was almost a kid. Ianto has matured so much in a few short years; he was more like a man now, although still so very, very young. He smirked at the idea of an older Ianto, grey-haired, with laugh-lines and wrinkles, maybe a little paunchy. He would have given up his immortality for the chance to see him grow old. Hell, he would have given it up for far less.
"We need to recruit new people. We'll fill the Hub. You wouldn't have to be out in the field so much. You could even retire." The idea of not having Ianto around all the time was unimaginable, but he made himself sound casual.
"Not in your life." Ianto retorted.
"Ianto..."
"No Jack, it doesn't work that way." Ianto's baritone was low, and calm. "I could be hit by a bus, or slip in the shower. I'd rather take my chances and do something I can be proud of, rather than live to eighty with a life that was not worth living. You're not getting rid of me that easy."
Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He felt the long fingers rubbing his knuckles.
They were quiet and still for a long time and Jack thought that Ianto had fallen asleep, but then he spoke again.
"Jack, promise me something."
He could only muster a noncommittal grumble in reply.
Ianto continued anyway. "Promise me you won't shut down and push people away. You tend to do that."
He remained silent; he knew that he couldn't make this promise.
"Jack!"
"I'll try."
Ianto sighed, and kissed him so gently that it hurt.
Ianto Jones
Baby I don't die without you by my side
As long as you return into these arms that burn
"Ianto, don't go, don't leave me, please."
Ianto Jones was an enigma hiding in plain sight. A fabric of secrets, little white lies, misdirection, omissions shrouded him like a second skin. Not unlike the stiff armor of his suits, concealing and protecting all that was so raw, so vulnerable beneath. They were tools of self-preservation, adopted as a result of spending too much of his short life kicked around by fate. They were the last line of defense of a life lived precariously. There was one thing though, the single thing that kept him grounded, one absolute, irrevocable, central truth to Ianto Jones: his undivided devotion to Captain Jack Harkness. Ianto gave himself wholly, body and soul, because that was the only way he knew how. So when Jack told him to stay with him, Ianto obeyed. Even after death.
Death pulled him into the infinite darkness, but couldn't keep him there. He wasn't sure what he was now. 'Incorporeal Entity' - he decided. 'Ghost' sounded foolish and unscientific. Anyway, ghosts were just traces that the living left behind, like dead skin cells. They were not sentient, and he was. Nobody could see him, not even Jack, but it didn't matter. Nothing did. He was with his Captain. Wherever Jack went, he did too.
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Captain Jack Harkness
Just go before you're swallowed up by bitterness
Captain Jack Harkness was spun out of secrets and lies - even his name wasn't real. He was fond of it, or used to be, but it was time to shed it, along with this planet. Time doesn't heal all wounds. It doesn't heal anything. It just numbs the pain, slowly. Jack had many invisible scars, some worse than others. These new ones cut deep. He knew the drill, he knew nothing could help, only time, lots of time, but he had all the time in the world. He had done this before and knew he had exceptional regenerative powers. However this place was working against him. On Earth practically everything triggered a painful memory. He had to leave. He said his goodbyes and took off. He knew he would never return. Needless to say, he was wrong.
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Martha Jones
It's a pity dear, we can't erase the things we've seen
The problem with having your honeymoon on a remote island is that you are on a remote island. So if the world starts falling apart in the middle of your vacation, you won't know about it right away, and even when you do, it takes too long to get somewhere with a mobile phone reception, not to mention making your way back to civilization. By the time Martha got back to London, the whole calamity was just over. Jack had disappeared. She took Ianto's body back to UNIT with her, at least. UNIT had appropriated Torchwood's alien cryogenic technology years before. She knew it was Torchwood protocol to keep the bodies of deceased agents, but with the Hub blown to bits, it couldn't be done. So she took Ianto, and put him in a nice cold drawer. It was a futile gesture, serving to soothe her own frustration more than anything else.
Martha kept an eye on the Hub recovery efforts as much as she could. She learned that UNIT wanted to seize whatever was left, but the government was keener on burying what happened in the Bay, along with other shameful secrets of those five days. There was plenty enough damage control to be done already, and the last thing that they wanted was UNIT swarming around a giant hole right in front of the Millennium Centre. Torchwood was directly under the jurisdiction of Queen and Crown, and UNIT had no choice but back down.
The top levels of the Hub were destroyed by the explosion, and only a few, mostly useless items were recovered. However the lower levels, archives, morgue, and who knows what else down there, went into emergency lockdown, and were still solidly sealed off. Martha knew that the alien cryogenic chambers were not powered by electricity, so there was a good chance that they were still operational. However those few units that were in the autopsy bay were destroyed. The damage to the Plass was repaired as fast as possible, and soon everything returned to 'normal'. None of the tourists milling around by the Millennium Centre had any idea about the secrets concealed beneath their feet.
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The Doctor
And the truth hurts because the truth is all there is
There are fixed events in time and space that you can't alter, and 456 on Earth was one of them. It was not a question of fairness or justice, it just was. On top of it, Jack being a fixed point meant that it was impossible to go back and change even the slightest details of events he was part of; whatever Jack took part in was fixed, unchangeable. He didn't really have to explain this to Jack - he knew it already. They bumped into each other in some far away galaxy. Jack was different, darker, more moody, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
The Doctor was different too. New body, new voice, new ticks, same TARDIS. Some things never change. He eventually had to dump Jack back on Earth. There was a lot of hullabaloo, Earth in danger, usual stuff, and with Torchwood practically defunct, things were getting out of hand. So when all the running, aliens, things exploding, and other assorted thrills were over, the Doctor made Jack stay. It wasn't easy, but the only man who could make Jack do something that Jack didn't want to do was the Doctor. There was even a new base for Jack to use.
In linear Earth time it was a little bit more then one Earth year after Jack last left.
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Torchwood 4
Torchwood 4 blipped back into existence without any explanation, just as it blipped out of it years before. It was convenient, and Jack made it his new command post, his new Hub. Someone else would have been reluctant to set up base at such fickle location, but it suited Jack just fine, especially since it wasn't in the Bay. Not surprisingly the team he assembled - people who met his requirements and didn't mind working at a place that had a tendency of vanishing - were similarly, shall we say, peculiar.
The computer system used the same alien-human hybrid technology as Torchwood Three, so all they had to do is transfer the newer software, and the database over from the remote server. The real server of course, not the dummy one that Tosh had so painstakingly created for the government spooks to break into - once she had caught them prying. It had taken her far too much time to do it, but it was well worth it. If she had just shut them out, they would have only tried harder. Making them think they had succeeded had proven to be the best protection. Needless to say, Jack hadn't shared this information with Dekker. Beautiful, brilliant Toshiko was helping them even now, from beyond the grave. The new guy's first job was to take the software Tosh secreted away, and get the new system up and running.
Unlike TW3 that dated back to the Victorian era, TW4 was relatively modern. It had been constructed in the 70's and had been updated in the late 90's. Instead of just the sparse and barely functional autopsy bay Owen had been used to, the new Hub had a full medical bay that was barely a few years outdated - and that could be helped easy enough. There were other conveniences as well, even a break room where they could crash on long nights.
Jack of course lived in the Hub again. Somebody needed to keep an eye on the Rift at night too, and who better than the man who didn't need much sleep. He had a real bedroom this time, but it was minimally furnished: bed, dresser, and a chair. There were no windows of course; this base was underground too. Bases well beneath the surface were the safest - not only for them, but for the world outside as well. They were far easier to lock down, contain, harder to breach. They installed several new security features; nobody was going to walk into this Hub with a concealed explosive. After the break-in they installed even more security features.
************************
Katherine "Kat" Torres came free of charge with the new Hub. In an irony of all ironies, she, the most combat capable member of her team, was the only one in the base when it vanished, whilst the rest of them, including the medic and computer tech, were out in the field. During the years their base remained absent, that team had moved on - i.e. they were all dead. There was nothing unusual about that - they were all absorbed by Torchwood 1, and met their sticky ends young, and in a variety of violent and weird ways - as it was customary at Torchwood.
How she felt about the passing of her old team, Kat kept to herself. Her own missing years seemed to trouble her little; like all the best Torchwood operatives, she had little life outside of work. She accepted Captain Harkness' offer to keep her position under his leadership without much deliberation. When Jack propositioned her she cocked an unimpressed eyebrow, said she was going to consider it, but the Captain should not hold his breath in the meanwhile. Jack liked her right off.
Kat took charge of weapons and self-defense training for the new recruits. Soon she was also in charge of most of the field operations and security.
Martha Jones was caught up in the events that resulted in Jack's return to Earth, and it was sensible for her to temporarily stay with him in the immediate aftermath of said events. This arrangement eventually became permanent. She sort of fell into the Torchwood routines, and opted to stay with them. An organization like UNIT had its office politics and bureaucracy that would chafe someone who had once traveled with the Doctor. Even if Torchwood was a much smaller, and more limited operation, at least there she had pretty much complete autonomy; nobody challenged her medical expertise, especially not faceless bureaucrats. After with her break-up with Tom she really had no reason to stay in London.
Things between her and Jack were both familiar and strained. They had an unspoken agreement never to mention certain fragments of the past. Even when the work made it absolutely necessary, together they knew how to navigate safely around the hot spots. As much as Martha was a reminder of the past for Jack, she was also his accomplice in hiding from it.
Lois Habiba was brought in by Gwen. Jack was initially resistant to the idea, but Gwen persisted. Jack had to admit that Lois had already proven herself to be dependable, smart, and courageous under pressure. She turned out to be a good choice. Lois did some filing, administrative tasks, a few of the general support duties. She was also trained for field duty, for which she shown an unforeseen aptitude. Plainly put, she kicked ass.
Mark Weston was a young, wiry computer hacker with tendencies towards anarchism and creative vandalism. Jack sprang him from a Taiwanese jail where he was under indictment either for drug smuggling or industrial espionage. The stories varied depending on their source.
Gwen Cooper-Williams didn't return to Torchwood. Even If Rhys had been okay with it - he wasn't - Jack wouldn't stand for it. He wouldn't let the last of his old crew risk her life daily under his watch. He couldn't take it if something happened to Gwen too. She went back to the police and was known DI Cooper-Williams now. It was extremely useful to have a friend in the police; she ended up being an unofficial liaison. The two of them kept in regular contact.
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David Green
I won't die if you're not by my side
Jack knew David was trouble from the first moment he laid eyes on him. He had a natural born talent for figuring out how things worked, and how to make them work better. Or go boom. He was long limbed, slender, with sandy blond hair, an easy smile, and a knack for danger. Jack knew right away he would be buying himself a bag of trouble if he recruited him. Naturally, he did recruit him, and was proven right.
David Green started at Torchwood with grand larceny - at least that's what he was accused of, but he disputed those accusations. He was only looking for information and hoped the Hub database might be easier to access from the inside than from outside - something he had no luck with. Really, it was a justifiable action - he he'd got this thing that had attached itself to his arm, and it made him have hallucinations at increasing frequency, and caused him immense pain when he tried to remove it. He had good reasons to believe that if there was any place he could find information about it, it was Torchwood. He also had good reasons not to knock on the front door - he didn't like having his memories erased.
David had known about Torchwood Three, although didn't know exactly what it was about. He chased Rift activities too, without knowing what they were. David was into gadgets. He made them, he modified them, he took them apart, rebuilt them better. He built a portable rift detector without knowing it. He was just looking for unusual energy signatures. He used to see the black SUV and the peculiar man in the long coat a lot when chasing those signatures. Then after that strange matter with the children, there had been no SUV any more. Instead, there had been a number of strange and exciting objects - like the one that attached itself to his arm. It was a good thing that the car and the man in the coat reappeared not long after. It was just a simple matter of following him back to his base. So he broke in, in search of information. He didn't count on the tall American living inside. Talk about a workaholic. After the others decided not to shoot him, or wipe his memories, they spent some time figuring out what the thing was and how to remove it. It turned out that he was not really hallucinating, but seeing things that were in the past or in the future, even things that were only possibilities. It wasn't meant for a human, and would have eventually driven him mad. Fortunately, they found a way to remove it, and Captain Harkness even offered him a job, which he accepted without hesitation.
When it was all over, and the device was removed, the visions went away. Except one. A good-looking young man in a sharp suit (waistcoat, no jacket), and a Y shape scar on his cheek. He kept it as a secret. It was his third.
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Secrets
Of the other two secrets David had, the second one was secret even to him almost till the very end. The first one he shared pretty early on, but nobody believed him. It was the first time after getting hired that Jack had shouted at him and threatened to Retcon him back to infancy, right after firing him. So he had to explain that no, he didn't have a death wish, he couldn't die, not yet anyway. He knew exactly when he would die, down to the second. It gave him limited time immortality. Of course he could get hurt, as he found out, but he did not particularly mind a little pain. It was an experience, it was part of being alive. Jack was not buying it, and David was barred from field duty for a whole month.
II. TIME GOES ON
First Death, First Kiss
Jack had an excuse, not that he ever needed one. He'd just come back from the dead, and found a horrified, confused David kneeling next to him in a pool of Jack's blood, with a shocked and petrified expression on his face. That was when Jack noticed that David's grey eyes had speckles of blue, and it reminded him of the sea of Boeshane before a storm. So he kissed him, and David kissed back. That was all then, as they were interrupted by the voices on their comms, and there was work to be done, but that night, after the others left the Hub David stayed behind.
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Human Affairs
Jack felt that he had learned his lesson (not for the first time) and he knew not to get too attached to anyone. He was still human, he cared about his team, he even loved them in his own way, but also knew how to keep a safe distance. So shagging someone from the team seemed counterintuitive, but David didn't look like someone who would hopelessly fall for him, and there was something to be said for convenience. It put his mind at ease, how completely different David was. He was 28, experienced, outgoing, outspoken, messy, loud, a practical joker, often impetuous, never shy. He had grey eyes, skin the color of desert sand, a shock of unruly blond hair.
They had a push-and-pull kind of thing going on. Not a relationship, Jack didn't do labels, and David didn't seem to care. They shagged regularly and enthusiastically, but there were no expectations or assumptions of exclusivity. David was impulsive, brazen and liked to laugh. There was a strong thrill seeker streak in him, a childishly daring curiosity that kept him pushing for the edge, wanting to peer into the abyss. He looked at every danger as an adventure. At their work it was too risky, it could endanger them all. Jack had to keep a tight rein on David, who bucked against it, fought it, but always yielded in the end. Secretly, Jack was glad for it. It kept him on his toes, kept him occupied, kept him from thinking too much. In bed however he could cut David loose, with results that thrilled them both.
From time to time Jack had his dalliances, and when he did, David accommodatingly slipped out of the picture. Jack suspected that David had his own affairs, but he didn't pry. In the end they always ended up back together, and when they did it always culminated in a glorious shag-fest. Whatever the thing was that connected them, jealousy, ownership was not part of it. They were more than just fuck buddies, less than lovers. It suited them.
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Remembering
Jack didn't forget Ianto - not only because he promised, but he just knew he never could. Especially now. Every time he died, he could sense Ianto in the darkness; a patch of black that was just a shade lighter, the scent of his soap, the soft rustle of wool. It was just a faint impression at the edge of his perception, but it was unmistakably there, every time he died. He didn't know why and how, and didn't particularly care. It gave him some measure of peace.
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Trouble
Kat was not going to kill David. She didn't have to; the Captain would do it for her.
David didn't have to use himself as Hoix bait, the alien was safe and secure on the top floor of the demolition site till they went around obtaining suitable (non-human) bait. David enjoyed entirely too much being chased by the Hoix through the unfinished building and down the rubbish chute, into the trap set up below. It worked, but only by a narrow margin, and it could have turned into a disaster. Kat was livid enough to cuff David's hands and feet before shoving him into the boot of the SUV, next to the bound and heavily sedated Hoix.
The Captain's shouting echoed through the Hub for a good twenty minutes.
David was to remain on desk duty for a month. It was his second time.
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The Pride
David was alone in the Hub. Jack and Mark were out in Splott, looking for an alien device at the local Tesco. According to the reports, it took up residence in the cereal aisle, causing prospective shoppers to exhibit unusual behaviors. Kat, Lois and Martha were hunting an unidentified alien at the edge of Cardiff, in a dilapidated industrial park.
Being relegated to desk duty, it was David's job to provide backup. He had the CCTV footage spread out on two screens. He caught a glimpse of the alien before it slipped between tall stacks of shipping palettes. It was big. Next, David was searching for the team, but couldn't see them, despite having keyed the cameras on the locations specified by their trackers. Ultimately, after some eye-straining, he spotted their crouched figures in the shadows. They approached the alien from three different directions; all routes of escape were cut off. He activated his comm.
"The alien is in the middle of the courtyard, hiding among some rubbish. Kat, straight ahead of you, about two hundred feet. Lois, go along that building, left at the corner - it'll be ahead and to the right. Martha, ahead, hundred and fifty feet."
He watched them stalking stealthily from cover to cover, getting closer and closer to their prey. It looked so familiar, but he couldn't place it right away. Then he realized they were just like of a pride of lionesses on the hunt. The thought made him break out in a satisfied grin. He looked on as the three lionesses closed in on their quarry.
The alien practically exploded out of its hiding place. It was indeed huge and uglier than the bastard child of Dame Edna and a Weevil. It had five limbs, three of them functioning as legs, two arms - one holding a large weapon. It also had a large number of spiky protrusions, an armored body, a large mouth with very sharp looking teeth, and eyes spread all around its head. It swung the weapon towards Kat and fired, but she had already rolled out of the line of fire. A large smoking hole was left in the ground where she had been standing a second before. From there everything happened very fast. Lois shot one of the leg joints of the alien, who lost balance, while Martha fired at its gun, making it fly off into the air. The alien let out a blood curdling screech and launched itself towards Martha, who ducked out of the way just in time. Kat charged the alien, her dark mane of hair flowing in the air. Even on the grainy low resolution CCTV footage she looked magnificent. She shot the thrashing alien in one of the many eyes. Lois and Martha, not any less fierce followed her without delay. The beauty of their ferocious efficiency made his breath catch. Within a few short minutes the alien was dead.
"Good work Angels!" David cooed at his best suave voice.
"David, are you having a Charlie's Angels fantasy again?" Martha tittered back at him.
"So what if I am?"
"Stop being a pillock, and get us a truck. This thing won't fit in the SUV." Kat instructed him, but he could hear the smirking in her voice.
"Yes Ma'am!"
He wondered if he should call Gwen first, or just contact Rhys directly.
It took all five of them to drag the alien into the autopsy room. Martha stayed with it, Rhys took off grumbling something about "bloody Torchwood". The rest of them went back to the main Hub, just as Jack and Mark arrived. The containment box was casually dangling from Jack's hand. Both of them looked vaguely smug. David, Martha and Lois eyed the two men suspiciously.
"All right, speak now. I know you want to tell us what happened." Lois, always the least patient, burst out with the question on their minds.
Mark who rarely spoke, just took the box from Jack and placed it on his own desk. Jack on the other hand had no problem speaking up.
"Oh, it's mostly harmless, a prank toy, really, like an alien whoopie cushion. It grabs some random thing that is in the forefront of one's mind and make you act out on it. People were cursing, stuffing their faces with chocolate hobnobs, things like that."
"Jack took all his clothes off." Muttered Mark.
Lois and David tittered gleefully, while Kat snorted.
"Why am I not surprised?"
Jack, of course, looked positively pleased.
"What did you do?" David asked Mark, who didn't reply, though his lips curled up.
"Oh, he didn't do anything..." Jack filled them in. "...but the whole store broke out in a song and dance routine. I think it was something from Chicago. It was very amusing."
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Dead Man Watching
The ghost unquestionably belonged to Jack. It was always loitering about when their leader was in the Hub, but never when he was out. David had first seen it when the alien device was still attached to his arm, expected it to be gone afterwards, along with all the other visions, but it stubbornly remained. For a while it was just a movement seen from the corner of his eyes, a shadowy figure that was gone as soon as he turned to look, but slowly it got stronger, started gaining presence. It was following Jack around all right, but it also seemed to stop to observe the rest of them. That was most peculiar.
David did some research on ghosts, spirits and apparitions, and found them to be a dull, predictable lot. They tended to have a limited routine of opening doors, rattling chains, running down hallways, and generally being spooky in a decidedly tedious fashion. Most of all, they always, without fail, stuck to the same location. They were either there or not. They did not go on field trips. Not this one though. It came to the field with them - as long as the Captain was there. David found records of an alien device called the Quantum Transducer that enabled the user to see past events, but for all practical purposes those visions were just recordings of a different kind. This particular ghost didn't fit any mold. Naturally, David was intrigued.
The reasonable thing would have been to just tell Jack about the peculiar presence, but his gut instincts told him to be circumspect. Jack was a man with a lot of past, prone to dark moods, and it was often hard to tell what would set him off. The ghost was an unknown quantity, but clearly connected to Jack, and so David couldn't risk stepping on an invisible land mine. So he picked up a new secret - his fourth.
It was during his third month-long stint of desk duty, that he set out to uncover the identity of the well-dressed ghost. He started at the most obvious place: in Captain Jack's past. Computer hacking was not his forte, but he got by, especially after a few lessons, and hacking software from Mark. The hard part was finding the offsite server where Torchwood Three's data was backed up. Once he got in there, he hit pay dirt almost immediately. The personnel files gave him a name and basic information. He found a few pieces of CCTV footage in case files, but most of those must have been stored locally and destroyed when the old Hub blew up. The little footage he found didn't give him much, but he watched it over and over. He saw a Jack who seemed somehow more relaxed than the one he knew, and people he had never met - they all looked a bit like ghosts to him. There was one small thing, that he almost missed, just a lingering look and an intimate sort of smile, that told David that telling Jack about the ghost of Ianto Jones could be extremely perilous. He did a cautious test, and his suspicions were confirmed.
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Subterfuge
His next move was to get close to Gwen. They had known each other in passing, since Gwen had stopped by the Hub a few times. All David had to do was 'accidentally' bump into her at the right time and place, and ask her out for a drink. They were almost colleagues, after all. David had a talent for charming people - not like Jack's outrageous flirting, but he made people feel comfortable, good about themselves. He was a good listener, and knew how to prod people to talk about what he wanted, without looking too eager. It was not hard to spur Gwen into talking about the old days. They swapped stories. She told him about her Torchwood Three adventures; he laughed with her, acted playfully shocked at the proper places. After a couple of beers the sadness and nostalgia that permeated her Torchwood Three remembrances made her divulge more intimate and painful memories. David actually really enjoyed listening to her tales; she made those old ghosts come alive. They struck up a friendship of sorts, and met every few weeks for a few beers. He guessed that Gwen found solace in reliving the old times - something she couldn't really do with her husband, and definitely not with Jack. David had a good time listening to her yarns, and also little by little found out more about the man whose ghost kept Captain Jack company.
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He didn't quite know why he did it at the time, but David convinced Martha to secretly transfer the body into the Torchwood vaults. He suspected that Martha agreed because privately she felt it would be the right thing to do - that the man who gave his life in and to the service of Torchwood, should spend his death in its vaults. They both agreed that it would be better if Jack knew nothing of it. David's secrets were piling up at a bewildering rate.
He observed the ghost pay a visit the vaults, curious as to what would happen, but not much did. It appeared briefly contemplative over its own corporeal remains, but mostly just looked bored.
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Keeping Time
David had the same dream again; the one that had haunted his sleep since he was a child. It was actually a memory that kept dropping by at night. It would lie low in his subconscious for months, even years, then would bubble up for no reason. It was always the same: His father handing him the watch, explaining how it worked, how to separate it into two parts. The man hadshown David that little button on the side of the watch, which when pushed made a countdown appear right on the glass: years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds. The man explained their significance. It's strange to learn to the limit of your existence at the tender age of eight. Probably not stranger then accepting that the grey-eyed blond man he had never seen before was his father. There was something like a red burn mark on his arm - coiling patterns in a circular shape - that inexplicably made David certain that he could trust the man. Although he knew his mother would not agree. This had been his first secret.
He did try to explain it to Jack once, but it didn't go down too well.
"Do you realize how ridiculous it sounds?" Jack had exclaimed. "Some strange man you had never seen before tells you he is your father, and he knows exactly how long you will live."
"You mean it's more ridiculous than being shagged by some anachronistic faux-American in Cardiff, who tells you he is over two thousand years old, and immortal?"
"It's completely different, and what do you mean "anachronistic"? I'm a classic!"
David snorted derisively.
"Oh fine, tell me then, when is this supposed date of your 'expiration'?" Jack prodded him.
"No, I don't think I will." David moved to get out of bed, but Jack grabbed onto his hip and pulled him back, but they didn't talk after that.
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David woke up in the middle of the night. The room was lit by a single lamp that they always left on - without it the windowless space would have been pitch black. He was lying on his back, listening, but all he could hear was their breathing, and the familiar murmur of the Hub, nothing out of order. Yet he felt his skin prickle. He sat up and saw the ghost a couple feet of the bed, looking down at them through translucent blue eyes. The two of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, before the spirit turned and left through the wall.
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Team
David loved his teammates. He'd never really had friends before. Sure he was friendly with a lot of people, he was a popular guy, but he never got close to anyone. He had easily slipped in and out of the lives of others. Never before was he in a close-knit group of people, whose lives depended on each other.
There was Jack, of course. Jack, Jack, Jack... He didn't know what Jack was to him. An anchor perhaps. Even David knew he was spinning out of control too much sometimes, going too wild, but Jack was always there to pull him back. The sex was great too.
Kat was beautiful; tall, strong, big mane of dark hair, brown eyes that said in no uncertain terms that she could and would kick your arse if you got out of line (and she did). He had a bit of a crush on her.
Martha was fun, playful, and sometimes sad, like someone whose heart was broken once, and never fully mended. She was also smart as hell, and a damn good doctor.
Lois was the most normal of them all. She was, serious, dutiful, looking completely out of place in that Hub of crazy aliens and even crazier humans chasing them. Then you took her out in the field, gave her a gun and she turned into Ripley from Alien.
He loved Mark the most. No, not like that. They didn't get along at first; they were opposites. Mark was gawky, quiet, plain looking, withdrawn - probably borderline autistic. Then David took notice of the other's beautiful sparkling mind, an impossible combination of left-brain, right-brain brilliance. He wanted to pet that brain, whisper sweet nothings to it.
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Creative Vandalism
Jack was off, after some pretty young thing, and David was hanging with Mark. Not that Mark was into men, but not everything was about sex. Mark had interesting hobbies, and David was always up for an adventure. Mark had a strong streak of anarchist in him, but he didn't try to break into the CIA's computer system or hack into the BBC programming grid to replace East Enders with Mongolian porn. Not any more. Mark did not talk about his time in the Taiwanese prison system, but he let it slip that he had promised Jack not to commit any unauthorized hacking in exchange of getting out of there. So, instead he engaged in what he coined "Creative Vandalism". David was down with that.
That's how they ended up in the middle of the night defacing a giant billboard. Even if he tried (he didn't), David couldn't find anything overwhelmingly wrong with this. For starters, it was a Budweiser ad. Budweiser, really? He'd rather drink donkey piss. Secondly, the slogan - "Life is Good" - was far funnier after the Mark's alterations to the accompanying graphic. It was originally a skinny female torso, starting from just under the crotch, low rise jeans, bare midriff, hand holding bottle, ending at shoulder, no head. The new version featured an overweight male body in similar position: big hairy beer-belly bursting out between trousers and a stained t-shirt. It was amazing what Mark could do with a spray can.
David was watching the other putting on the finishing touches when the ghost appeared. He rolled its eyes at their creation before nodding its head to down below. David strained his eyes, and could make out the pulsing lights of the Torchwood SUV a block away. That could mean only one thing.
"Shit Mark, I think Jack's around!"
Mark threw the spray cans in his bag, and they swiftly rapelled down to the ground, and made their getaway through dark alleys. David wondered if it was a pure coincidence that Jack showed up there, and if he knew it was them. They wore black, very Mission Impossible, but David didn't believe in coincidences, and he knew better than to underestimate the Captain.
The other thing he wondered about was the ghost. By this time he figured out that it was always within a certain range of their Captain, but not just slavishly on his heels, wandering about instead - an independent minded spirit. Despite what he had found out about the ghost, David was very consciously not thinking of it as Ianto Jones. He didn't want to accidentally blurt out that name. That could be a disaster.
This was not exactly their first 'contact', but the first when either of them took an active role. David wondered what it meant. He realized he might be able to communicate with it. Him. Whatever.
************************
The Ghost Whisperer
The first thing David learned about ghosts is that you don't want to upset them - by calling them Casper, for example - at least not if you want to have any semblance of privacy left. A tetchy ghost in your face all the time, even in your most private moments, is even less fun than one would think. So he apologized.
The second thing he learned was that some ghosts didn't appreciate being called ghosts. This one was set on the term of "Incorporeal Entity". Whatever. David went along with it, for sake of his privacy, but still thought of the other as "the ghost" - it was just simpler that way.
Communication was tricky: The ghost could see and hear, but could not touch or be heard. He could, however, point at things. A large sheet of paper with the alphabet made basic communication possible, but it was painfully slow to be practical. Instead, they gradually worked out a non-verbal mode of quasi-communication. It mostly consisted of gestures, pointed looks, and the like. The ghost appeared to be intimately familiar with the workings of the Hub. Of course, David had the option of talking to the ghost, but in the Hub, with the others around, and always under the watchful eye of the CCTV, that would have been impractical, if the didn't want to look crazy.
************************
A Game of Chess - White
Jack caught David playing chess with himself in the Hub one night. They had fallen asleep next to each other earlier that night, but a couple of hours later Jack woke up alone. It meant nothing; sometimes David stayed for the night, sometimes he didn't, but Jack felt restless, so he got up and started wandering around.
He spotted David in a small pool of light at a far corner of the Hub. He was sitting on the sofa, hunched over a chessboard on the low table. Jack stopped dead and observed the scene: David's brows furrowed in concentration, then he moved one of the white pieces and leaned back with pleased little smile. Jack was on a catwalk somewhat above, and at quite some distance, but he could have sworn David's expression was directed at the empty chair facing him from the other side of the table. Jack very slowly sat down and kept watching the scene.
For a while there was nothing, just the two of them, both sitting still in the soft murmur of the Hub. Abruptly, David leaned forward and moved one of the black pieces. He stayed hunched forward, intently staring at the board. Jack could practically see the gears turning in his head. This went on for almost two hours; long periods of stillness interrupted by a quick shuffle of a chess piece. At the end white was defeated. David shot a playful frown at the chair. Jack shuffled to his feet and made a big show of walking down the catwalk. David didn't quite jump in surprise, but almost.
"So you play chess in the middle of the night?"
"I couldn't sleep."
"You could've woken me up." Jack eyebrows waggled suggestively.
"I was in the mood for something more cerebral." David riposted.
Jack looked at him with pretend hurt.
"So who is your opponent?" Jack nodded towards the chair. He saw David's eyelashes flicker for a short second.
"It's Bob, second cousin to Harvey the Rabbit."
"Who?"
"Never mind. What on Earth are you doing skulking around the Hub at 3 am in your underwear? I can't decide whether you are over or under dressed." David looked him over rather suggestively. Soon Jack forgot all about the chess game.
************************
A Game of Chess - Black
Jack caught them playing chess one night. The ghost... Ianto, of course, couldn't move the pieces, but he could point at them and indicate where they should be moved. It was a good game, as always. Ianto was scarily analytical, and had admirable capacity to plan moves far ahead. David had his own form of precision. He looked at the game the same way as one of his gadgets: One piece affected another, different placements opening up different possibilities. The win/lose ratio was about even, and that made for immersive games. No wonder neither of them noticed Jack sooner.
David had no idea how long he had been watching them, well him, to be exact, since Jack couldn't see Ianto. It was a bit awkward, as David was no way going to tell Jack the truth, but fortunately Jack was easy to distract. They ended up shagging on the sofa, with that ghostly prat watching. David was more or less used to it by now, but still... He didn't have too many inhibitions, had a fair exhibitionist streak, but this was a bit unusual even for him. At first he used to wish the other one would just bugger off, but then he caught the look of pained desire in those ghostly eyes, and he figured what the heck, why not?
************************
Secrets of the Past
He started searching for the Thames House recordings after a comment by Gwen. She wouldn't elaborate, and he didn't push her. However he enlisted Mark's help to look for them. The files were very well hidden, but not well enough to be safe enough from the exceptional talents of Mark. David watched the recordings with ever increasing incredulity. When they were over he thought he understood everything. Well, Almost everything.
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Two for One
It happened by accident. David was trying to make coffee, but the stupid machine was not cooperating. For some reason Ianto's ghost always showed signs of irritation around the coffee machine. This time, as David was angrily pounding at it, Ianto rushed forward incensed, as if to push him away. Except, he ended up inside David. Yes, in him, like in a genuine possession, straight out of some daft movie. It was the most peculiar feeling, like two minds trying to control one body. There was some more to it, a kind of non-verbal communication. At first they could sense each other's fear, surprise, excitement. David seriously considered panicking, but then decided against it. He forced himself to relax, although his pulse kept beating faster than normal. He pulled back a little, relinquishing a little bit of control. He watched his own shaking hands, like strangers, skillfully operating the formerly obtuse coffee machine, emptying the filter, filling up with coffee grounds and water. It was the opposite of an out-of-body experience, he thought. It was getting too much, and he started freaking out. To his relief the other presence left him as suddenly as it came. He sat down and put his head between his knees. The specter of the other man looked on with concern.
Naturally, a few days later, when the memories of panic morphed into curiosity, he wanted to try it again. The ghost of Ianto took some convincing, but clearly he was interested as well. It took a lot of trial and error figuring out how much control give or take, even for simple tasks like brushing one's teeth. There was something else too: If he let go too much, sometimes a jumble of memory fragments would flicker through his mind, with echoes of emotions attached to them. Strangely it made him feel like he was the one intruding. Fortunately, the other was exceptionally considerate; he never joined him without invitation, and never overstayed his welcome. They were very professional about it, even. Once they got comfortable with each other, Ianto would sometimes join him for a lingering passive presence, but nothing more. If the Rift alarm sounded, or serious work was to be done, he left immediately. Most of their joined activities happened after hours - when Jack and David were in each other’s proximity, of course. This in itself led to the logical next step.
Having sex with Jack while willingly possessed by his dead lover was a singularly unique experience. Even though it was the other who experienced it through David's physical presence, David felt all the sensations reaching him filtered through another person. He always took pleasure in Jack's body, but now he worshipped it like a lusty little faun would worship Dionysus. He wanted to touch, lick, bite, debauch every square inch of him. He had to have him slow, and fast, tied down and stretched out. They kept him on edge, till Jack was a whimpering puddle, then they took mercy on him. David felt want, need, and love like never before. That first time, Jack felt to him like the first drink of water after an eternity spent in the desert.
"You are beautiful." He/they said, before they collapsed over Jack's spent and used body.
III. NEMESIS
The Monolith
It was one of those rare nights - though they had gotten more frequent as of late - when Jack stayed in David's flat. It was 3 am when the remote Rift alarm's wailing woke them up. Signs pointed to a massive spike in Bute Park. As he hurriedly dressed, David stole a glance at his wristwatch. The countdown was down to hours.
************************
They were at Bute Park under 20 minutes. Kat was already waiting for them there.
The thing was massive - one of the largest ever that had come through the Rift. It was a giant cylindrical object with a perfectly circular base of twenty feet at its widest, and thirty feet tall. It looked like some futuristic monolith. Its surface was hard, dark and perfectly smooth, slightly warm to the touch. It was impossible to tell whether it was solid or hollow, since none of their scanners could penetrate it. All they knew for certain that it was that it was alien, awash in rift radiation.
There was also the body, cocooned in what looked like a pressure suit, lying on its back, one heavily gloved hand holding onto a rectangular object. Only the face was visible through the transparent faceplate. It was bluish-grey and showed signs of decay. David took one look at it and jogged back to the SUV. Jack called Martha. As David returned with a containment body bag, and a containment box, he saw Jack kneeling by the body. David took the device and put it into the box. Meanwhile Jack took the other hand of the dead alien, and teased its fingers lose from its tight fist. There was a small white cube within. This too was securely stored in the box. Very carefully they lifted the body into the body bag, and sealed it - it was designed to close hermetically - and put it into the back of the SUV.
They had no hope of moving the monolith though - it was huge, and most certainly heavy. This was a problem. Soon there would be dawn, people, questions, and there was not enough Retcon in the world to undo it. They were stumped, but then David had an idea.
"I got it! Public art installation!"
"Brilliant!" Jack grinned at him appreciatively. "You call Lois, I'll call Gwen."
************************
Kat stayed with the monolith, while they took the body back to the Hub, straight to the lower levels. Martha was waiting for them wearing full hazmat suit. She took the gurney and the first of multiple sets of airlocks closed between them. Jack and David made their way back upstairs. By the time they got there, Lois was at her desk, a picture of laser-focused efficiency. She was talking on the phone while her fingers were dancing over the keyboard. As soon as she hung up she gave them the updates.
"I have bad news: UNIT is sending a team to the scene." She ignored Jack's groan. "Kat will interface with them. We can use them to our advantage. Tomorrow there will be several news articles about a Christo installation in Bute Park. Meanwhile UNIT will set up the cordon, and provide the hustle and bustle that will make the story believable.
"What will Christo have to say about that?" Chipped in David.
"Nothing, unless he wants the world know he is from Tau Ceti." Lois smirked back at him.
"David, see what you can find out about our friend's toys. Lois, Call Kat, tell her to find the person in charge from UNIT. Tell her to call me if they give her any trouble.
************************
A few hours later they were all in the conference room. Kat's voice was coming from the speakerphone.
"I was assured by Major Wilson that they would let us know as soon as they know anything." Her voice suggested that she had misgivings about the Major's honesty.
"I’ve been monitoring their communication channels and they seem to be as stumped by the monolith as we are." Added Mark.
"Okay, keep monitoring. Lois?" Jack cut in.
"Everything is going according to plan. UNIT is dealing with the gawkers. Gwen made sure that there are several uniformed policemen at the perimeter of the "under construction Christo exhibit".
"Good. Martha?"
"From the shape of the suit we can safely assume it was bipedal, probably humanoid. Definitely carbon based life form, but can't say much more. The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition. Practically liquefied."
"How is that possible? It was pretty solid when we bagged it."
"Accelerated decomposition? It might have to do with the virus."
"Virus?"
"I took samples of whatever was left of the body. Too far gone to identify the species, but found heavy traces of a virus. It doesn't look like anything in our database. It seems to have killed the host then died too. Somewhere along the line it might have set the accelerated decay in motion."
"Have you incinerated the body?"
"Yes."
"David, what do you have?"
"I'm almost certain that the larger object is a teleportation device. The alien must have been inside of the monolith and used the teleporter to get out. Unfortunately the power source is fried." He held up a green, crystal-looking thing that was charred and cracked. "I'm checking through the archives to see if we have anything similar. I haven't been able to get anything from the smaller device. Mark is taking a crack at it next."
"Alright, everyone back to work." Jack snapped at them.
************************
It was left to Mark to try to solve the secret of the alien cube. After a barrage of scans he speculated that it was some type of data storage device, but accessing the data proved to be challenging. Connecting one of the active scanners, than another one to his computer resulted in an image on the screen that best resembled a yeti in a snowstorm. He put on his headphones - punk rock helped him concentrate - and set to work. He adjusted the scanners, tried various software configurations. The patterns of the snowstorm shifted.
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The Other Shoe
Jack had to go outside to clear his head. He felt his nerves standing on edge. An overwhelming sense of foreboding washed over him. A very large impenetrable alien object was bad news to begin with, an alien virus even worse, but he had an uncomfortable feeling that this was just the beginning. He had spent too much time babysitting the Rift not to develop a sixth sense about these things. He headed back to the Hub with dread.
"Captain, Colonel Jarvis was calling for you from UNIT." - Lois rushed at him before Jack could even get fully through the door. - "He said it was extremely urgent." - She added seeing Jack's grimace. - "He sounded anxious."
Jack suppressed a groan and headed straight to his office.
Lois was watching him through the glass wall. Jack slumped in this chair and lifted up the receiver still looking annoyed. She couldn't hear from her spot what was said, but could see the Captain's expression turn from exasperated to tense, then she saw him abruptly jump up, knuckles gripping the phone white, and turn ghostly pale. She felt like a hand squeezed her heart. She knew the Captain well enough to know that there were troubled waters under the jovial surface, and witnessed enough of his moods that flared up, despite his best efforts to control them, but she had never seen him like this. She was truly frightened.
Jack slumped back into his chair and stared into nothing. He knew for sure that he was cursed. He had made sacrifices in the past that he had no right to make, lost his grandson, his daughter, his lover - all for nothing. The 456 were back. He should have expected this - he thought bitterly. They had destroyed one alien ship. What made them think that there weren't more, that there wasn't a whole race of them with an armada of ships to come back and demand payback? He thought of the Doctor losing everything to the Daleks, who just kept coming back. So that's what it felt like.
UNIT was handling it this time, but it wasn't going well. What they - he - did last time to defeat the 456 didn't work any more. He didn't want to think about how they found that out. The ships were in orbit, invisible to the naked eye, but moving closer. Jarvis was desperate, he called Jack in a last ditch effort, in case Jack knew something, anything that they didn't already have, that could have helped them to defeat this enemy. But Jack had nothing to give him.
He had to pull himself together. He had to do something, anything, just to shake off this feeling of powerlessness. He pushed himself up and trudged to the medical bay. Martha was fiddling with one of the alien-hybrid scanning devices as Jack entered. She glimpsed up as the door opened and must have known from the bleak expression that something was terribly wrong.
"It's time to make a phone call, Martha."
She reached for her phone without a word.
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The Cavalry
While they waited, Jack quickly briefed the team about their last encounters with the 456. He didn't go into detail, and didn't disclose all of his past history with the aliens.
The big blue box landed about an hour later, almost smack in the middle of the Hub. As might be expected, the intruder alarms were madly blaring, but Jack had already disabled some of the Hub's safety features, so thankfully they didn't go into automatic lockdown. A couple of jabs to the wrist strap took care of the alarms. The surprisingly young-looking man stepping out of the police box quirked an eyebrow at the sight of the assembled team. They eyed him with a wide range of emotions, ranging from curiosity to amusement and even thinly veiled suspicion.
Jack and Martha stepped forward to great him. He was pleased to see Martha, and greeted her enthusiastically, but she looked a bit awkward. Jack realized that both he and Martha were at unease. For Jack it was the third incarnation of the Time Lord, and deep in his heart he still missed the first one - 'his' Doctor. It was an odd thing; they were all different, but they were all fierce and a little mad, and there were moments when he got a glimpse of the deep well of loneliness in those sparkling eyes. He sighed inwardly. How the hell was he going to convince the Doctor to use the TARDIS to transport an explosive device to the alien mother ship? He herded the Doctor to his office.
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Connections
Everyone got back to their work, except David who was observing Jack and the Doctor engaged in an animated exchange in Jack's office. Neither man looked happy with the other. As matter of fact, he'd never seen Jack this angry. There was a strange, almost frightening tension between the two men. It was disquieting to see Jack acting almost like a rebellious teenager, railing against the other man who looked younger than him, yet had an air of authority that superseded Jack's. Who knows how that strange exchange would have ended, but just then Mark let out a triumphant cry. David took a quick glance at his screen, immediately recognizing the significance of what he saw. He ran up the stairs to Jack's office.
"JACK! DOCTOR! Come, you have to see this!"
They rushed down to Mark who was pointing at his screen in a rare display of excitement.
"Look at this!"
They crowded around him, staring at the diagram that unmistakably was a representation of the monolith-like object. There was also a picture of the assumed transporter. On the top right corner of the screen there was a word - just one word, but every few seconds it flickered and changed. The schematic was self-explanatory, but the word, the ever-changing word, running in an infinite loop made their breath catch in surprise.
"It's the word 'children' in every human language that exists, and several that don't any more." Added Mark, as if the others had not already known that. "The monolith must be somehow connected to the 456."
Jack straightened up and looked at them. "We have to get inside that thing."
"But how? The power source for what we assume is the teleporter is dead and we don't have anything remotely similar in our archives. Even its chemical composition is completely unfamiliar." David couldn't keep the frustration out of his voice.
"We can't use my wrist strap. I tested it when we were out there." Jack added.
The Doctor walked over the worktable and was looking at the half-disassembled device. He picked up the green crystal looking thing. He wheeled back to their direction with a wide grin.
"It's time to got to Market!" He announced grinning like a giddy child.
"You meant "to the market'"? I really don't think we'll find alien batteries in Cardiff."
"No, no. Market is a planet! Well, of course it's also a market - the whole planet, that is. Quite remarkable, really. Well, let's go! We can get back before we left. Well, not exactly before, that would complicate things."
As the Doctor purposefully strode towards the blue box, all eyes snapped to Jack who in turn stared after the Doctor with an unmistakable sign of apprehension. The tableau was broken by the ringing of Jack's phone.
"Kat, what is it?"
David and the Doctor both watched intently as Jack's brows furrowed dangerously.
"What?!! Stall them, I'll be there as soon as I can!" He hung up.
"Unit is trying to move the monolith. We can't let them. I have to get there right now." He glanced to David and then the Doctor. "You should take David with you, but Doctor..."
"I know, no side trips, don't worry." He turned and headed straight to the blue box. David grabbed his bag and the broken battery from his desk and headed after him. He shot back one last look back from the TARDIS door, but only caught a glimpse of Jack heading out.
************************
Market
Market looked a lot like the market in that old Indiana Jones movie, except it was far more strange, and absolutely mad. They landed in what looked like a courtyard. There were narrow passageways snaking in every which direction, brilliant white walls, stalls, little stores, wares of all sorts hanging, draping, heaping, lying in containers of myriad sizes, shapes, and colors, and there were people, throngs of people everywhere, but they were aliens, and David thought he recognized some, but most were completely unfamiliar, and to top it off there was a cacophony of noises. He felt a momentary vertigo at the aliennes of it all. He tried to take it all in, but there was no time; the Doctor sped off and David could barely keep up. The Doctor was talking, of course, but David's senses were too overloaded to take in any of it. He sure hoped that the time traveling maniac knew his way, because he was hopelessly lost already.
They ground to halt at a stall under a bright red and yellow canopy. David was relieved to see that the vendor was humanoid. Ish. Wrong color, a few too many appendages, but overall a familiar shape. At the Doctor's prodding he showed the battery to the vendor. After several minutes of comparing, scanning, and even more minutes of haggling, they had a new power source.
It was on their way back to the TARDIS that they witnessed the murder. A crowd blocked their way, but somehow they parted for the Doctor, and David kept right on his heel, to pass through before the wall of people would close again. Once on the other side, he realized that the people (aliens) were spectators, and that they had stumbled into a fight, or rather, the very end of a fight. Two aliens, one glob-like with many tentacles, another looking vaguely like a cross between a praying mantis and a crab, were entangled in a death struggle, and the mantis was winning. The tentacled glob emitted a shriek then slumped to the ground. There was a high-pitched whistle and the crowd dispersed in all directions at top speed, but David was glued to the spot. He was staring at a strange and familiar mark on one of the tentacles of the dead alien, when the body just turned into dust: bright sparkling dust that shimmered in the air where the body was just moments ago. He then noticed the other figure, one that looked like a human child, but at a closer inspection it was clearly neither, holding out a hand, clutching a small object. The dust twisted and turned and flowed like liquid light into the object and disappeared. The high pitch noise was getting closer, and David could make out two tall uniformed figures barreling in their direction. The Doctor grabbed his wrists and they set off running.
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The Reveal
"What was that? That thing with the tentacles?"
The Doctor must have noticed the rare intensity in David's voice, because he stopped whatever he was doing at the TARDIS control column, and regarded him with a curious gaze.
"Well... Obviously an alien."
David was considering strangling him. It might have shown on his face, because the Doctor chose to indulge him.
"Ehrm, some call them Romma, the Intergalactic Species Registry lists them as Tua XZA 135, but names are inconsequential really.
"Who are they?"
"Fascinating race, supposed to be extinct. They are true chameleons." - The Doctor said like it explained everything. It didn't.
"What the hell does that mean?" - He managed not to snap, but couldn't keep the exasperation out of his voice completely.
The Doctor's expression seemed to say: God, humans were so limited sometimes; he had to explain even the more obvious things. At least that's what it looked like to David. Thankfully, the Doctor continued (in a voice that suggested that he was humoring a small child).
"You know how some birds on Earth, like the cow bird, don't build their own nest, but lay their eggs in other birds' nest?"
"Yeah, I'm familiar with the concept."
"Right, so the eggs don't look a lot like the host bird's, yet they hatch them just the same. Birdbrains. The Romma does the same, except space faring sentient life forms are usually far more perceptive than your birds. So the Romma offspring doesn't just mimic its host species, but becomes it - down to the level of DNA, or whatever similar fundamental identifying component that species has. After all, matter is really just energy."
"Quantum mechanics?"
"Yeah, sort of. Not really. Well, close enough. I believe they can even completely change later in life, if the environment demands it." The Doctor pulled some levers, stabbed at a couple of buttons.
"But why do they do it?"
"Just a peculiarity of evolution. They don't have their own world - they used to, but it was destroyed, very long time ago. Now they are all scattered around the universe, never settling down, always on the move. Not the most favorable lifestyle for child rearing." He was only half paying attention to David now, as he continued doing whatever he was doing with those controls that David really didn't care about right now.
"Soo... the 'offspring', do they know what they are?"
"Well that would be a problem while they are young, obviously, but at certain point in adulthood they must come to the realization."
"At what age?"
"I have no idea, it depends, I guess. Here hold this."
"And then what?" - He knew he would lose the Doctor's attention any moment now, so held the thing he was handed, and kept on pushing the exasperating man for answers.
"I dunno, seek each other out? Would make sense." He grabbed a mallet and smashed something on the panel. David winced reflexively.
"What was that mark on its tentacle?" - David was very conscious of his own body now. He kept his eye on the Doctor, his body lax, not letting his left arm twitch, not even when the image of that swirling circular mark on it flashed into his mind. He pushed it away and forced himself to concentrate on the Doctor.
"Oh, that! Ah yeah, apparently they sense their impending death - quite fascinating really, considering the implications..." - The Doctor stopped and stared at nothing in particular for a second, before shaking his head and focusing again. "It gives them a chance to do that thing, that you just saw."
It dawned on David: "They turn back into energy!"
"Right." - The Doctor was fidgeting impatiently now. Clearly, this whole lecture on the Romma was getting boring. - "C'mon, we've arrived."
************************
So It Begins
The TARDIS materialized in almost exactly the same spot as previously. David rushed out and to his desk. On the way, he glanced at the clock on the wall: they were only gone for ten minutes. Good. He took the new power source and popped it into the teleporter. Nothing happened at first, but after some adjustments several lights lit up on its surface.
The Doctor peeked at it over David's shoulder. He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the thing.
"Hm, short range. We'll have to get closer."
"Well, Jack and Kat are already there. We better drive. UNIT might get overexcited if we arrive in that." - He gestured towards the TARDIS. "And we probably should take Martha with us." He shoved the device into his bag, grabbed a laptop, and darted to the medical bay. A minute later he emerged with Martha.
They took Martha's car, she was driving, and David courteously took the back seat. The whole way there he was furiously typing on his laptop. He slapped it shut just as they arrived at the scene.
Kat was waiting for them outside of the fence, but the Captain was nowhere in sight. As an answer to their unspoken question she motioned towards the makeshift fence that separated them from the park. She touched a finger to her comm.
"Captain, the company you were waiting for have arrived."
Within a minute Jack joined them visibly agitated, muttering choice curses under his breath.
David was twiddling with the device. "I believe we are close enough to transport." There was a familiar excitement in his voice.
"Kat, stay here, make sure they don't do anything idiotic while we are in there." Jack gave the order. "Well kids, let's do this!"
Jack, David, the Doctor and Martha grabbed onto the device, and David pushed a button. Kat watched them dematerialize, then turned on her heels and headed into to the park.
************************
Time is the Essence
As they landed inside the monolith, David felt a sharp, stabbing headache, but it passed as quickly as it came. The monolith was as round on the inside as it was on the outside, but the ceiling was cone-shaped, starting with a gentle curve from the top of the wall; like being inside of a bullet - he thought. All surfaces, except the floor, were densely covered in grooves, ridges, tubes and pipes. Even though it seemed to be made of a dull, yellowish-brown metal, it all seemed vaguely organic; there wasn't a single sharp edge or corner anywhere, it was all curved and round and asymmetric. In the middle there was a solid column of light, coming from the ceiling, ending in a circular groove in the otherwise smooth floor. It was also the only source of illumination in the room. Around the wall, at equal intervals there were three display-type looking things, with what looked liked instrumentation beneath.
The Doctor looked excited like a kid in a toy store, bouncing around, seemingly randomly poking at things, and pointing his sonic screwdriver at them.
"Brilliant!" He exclaimed, poked at something, and the displays came to life, unfamiliar letters - David assumed they were letters - scrolling across the screens, along with rapidly flashing pictures and things that looked like diagrams. Jack looked like he might have been catching bits of it, but the Doctor appeared to be absorbing it all. Eventually the screens turned blank.
"Oh." - He sounded apprehensive all of a sudden.
David glanced at his watch; he only had minutes left and he still had no idea what was happening.
"Doctor! Could you explain what the bloody hell is going on?" - Jack sounded agitated.
"Well, this is a device the Karnok built to defeat the 456 - of course they call them by a different name. This is the ship log. According to this, it wasn't only human... uhm... children that the 456 were interested in. The Karnok made this weapon to fight them, but apparently they couldn't finish it quite in time. As a last ditch effort they used the rift to bring it here to Earth - they calculated that the 456 was headed this way."
"So this can kill them?" - Martha asked
"Kill? No. But it would scatter them across several galaxies, and would probably pretty much disable their ships - which is quite effective, if you ask me."
"Can we make it work?" - Jack demanded.
David's could barely contain his impatience. If the Doctor started prattling about intergalactic warfare, David was going to take that sonic screwdriver and shove it...
"Well, there is a little bit of a problem..." - The Doctor was shooting an anxious look towards Jack. - "It works on a very similar principle as the... erhm... other one, used last time."
David saw Jack's face darken, and understood. He knew what happened on the fifth day at Thames House, even though there were no records of it, official or unofficial, that he could find. He pried some of it out of Gwen, the rest he pieced together himself.
"It doesn't utilize sound waves, but still needs a conduit." - The Doctor's eyes were fixed on Jack. - "Not a child." - He added quickly.
He turned towards the column of light, looking it up and down.
"Pretty useless I'm afraid." - He said, uncharacteristically subdued.
Martha who was standing closest to the middle of the room, took two quick steps, and stood inside the light. Jack rushed forward, after her, to pull her out, but not only couldn't touch her, but was also was violently thrown back. The screens came to life, different kind of symbols (numbers?) started scrolling through them at furious space, but soon they went blank again.
The Doctor watched with sad amusement.
"It was made to work with the Karnok; doesn't work with other species. I suppose it could possibly be readjusted to work with humans, maybe, but it would take a lot of time - even for me. I'm surprised a human can even enter it." - He gingerly raised his arm towards the light, but couldn't push his hand through - it was pushed back. He let his arm fall by his side as he looked at Martha. - "Your species must have significant similarities on the genetic level."
"You can come out, it won't work."
She stepped out sheepishly.
'I believe they can even completely change later in life, if the environment demands it.' - The Doctor's words rang in David's head. With a loud thud everything fell into place in his head, and he knew exactly what he had to do. His hand reached into his bag. He pulled out the stun gun, pressed it against Jack and pulled the trigger. He caught Jack as he fell and gently propped him against the wall. He put the gun back into the bag, and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He fastened one end on Jack's left wrist another on one of the smaller pipes jutting out of the wall.
The Doctor and Martha were staring at him with their jaws dropped.
"I can explain." - David looked up at them with an utterly inappropriate grin.
"Have you ever wondered what was the purpose of your life?" He posed them the unexpected question. "I have. I now have the answer."
He pushed up the sleeve of his jacket and showed them the twirling circular pattern burning in his skin. It was dark red now and he felt it throbbing slightly. The understanding was an instantaneous flash in the Doctor's eyes, but Martha looked befuddled.
"No. No, no, no, no." - The Doctor was shaking his head.
David looked at him with a bright grin full of sharp teeth, excited, almost feral.
"Yes! I can be anything this thing wants." - He flashed a glimpse at his watch. The minutes were ticking down rapidly. - "Time." He took the watch off and popped the back off. It came apart into two pieces: one, the watch still counting down, the other, a small metal disk. He handed both of them to Martha, gave the handcuff key to the Doctor. "There is one thing I need you to do for me" He started hastily to describe his plan.
When Jack came to, he could see David fervently explaining something to the Doctor who glanced at Jack sort of sadly before turning his attention back to David.
"It won't last you know, he'll still be mortal." - Jack heard the Doctor say.
"Nothing does, that's why it's so sweet, but you know that, don't you?" - David's voice was deep and seductive. - "You must promise!"
The Doctor nodded with weary resignation. David grabbed him and planted a kiss on his cheek. Then he turned to Martha and kissed her on the lips, chastely. He pulled away and the two of them stared into each other’s eyes, something unspoken passing between them. He squeezed her hand.
David wheeled around and strode up to Jack who was on his feet by now, though still cuffed to the wall. He looked angry and wary and bewildered. David wrapped himself around him and kissed him, gently, deeply, slowly. Then he pushed himself away fast and sudden. Jack tried to grab him with his one free hand but David slipped away. He shot him one last impish grin, then stepped into the column light. The displays came alive again, and this time they stayed on.
The Doctor ambled over to Jack and uncuffed him. He got a firm grip on Jack's arm, just till Jack's instinctive urge to rush after the younger man passed. The three of them were standing in a semi-circle staring at David, all with their own unique mix of disbelief, awe and dread. David was changing, his DNA was rearranging itself, mutating, adding and subtracting, muscles, bones, internal organs shifting, changing shape, skin stretching, rippling. It was terrifying and irresistibly fascinating at once, and they stared wide-eyed, as he stared back at them the same way, but unseeing.
Then it stopped. They were looking at him, perplexed, absorbing the impossible sight of him both completely strange, and disturbingly familiar. David looked down at himself to take stock of this new body, and realized that in the middle of it he had somehow lost all his clothing. Oddly, he was not surprised. Overall, he seemed very humanoid, same number of limbs, though only four fingers on each hand, and his skin was hairless and an improbable shade of robins-egg blue. He looked at his (?) small, but - by human standards - shapely breast, flat stomach, and an impressive - by human standards anyway - cock. Well, Bugger! The Karnok just had to be hermaphroditic, didn't they? Jack must be loving it, he thought as he looked up. Their eyes locked and they David broke out in a deep throaty laughter. This was hilarious, what a way to go! Brilliant! And that was the last thought he had.
Two things happened in quick succession. The scrolling of the strange signs on the screens stopped to be replaced by one short set of signs in red. The walls all around them came alive; there were lights, assorted sounds, and the whole thing was vibrating. The column of light became brighter, David's body suddenly tensed, back arched, head snapped back, face turned towards the ceiling, eyes open impossibly wide as he inhaled sharply, almost violently. The light exploded outwards and went out, and at the same moment David was just... gone. There was nothing, only a shimmer of gold, like a swarm of microscopic flying insects made of light. Martha realized that this was her moment to act. She stared at the small disk David had given her, lying flat on the palm of her hand. She pressed down on an indentation, and the device opened. She held it out, arm outstretched. The shimmering gold swirl moved fast till it found its way into the device where it settled. The device closed, and it was all over.
It was almost completely dark, the only illumination coming from the faint glow from the walls. Silence.
************************
Angels on Your Eyes
"Jack?" - Kat's voice came through the comm.
"Jack! Martha! Are you all right? What's going on in there?" Kat sounded anxious.
"Yeah, we are... Anything happened out there?" - Jack collected himself.
"Yeah, there was a light that came out of your monolith, it shot off into the sky. According to Mark who was monitoring the 456 ships, they just disappeared. All of them, just gone."
The teleporter landed them only a few meters away from the monolith. Kat was waiting for them.
"Where is David?" She asked.
"Gone. Dead." Barked Jack. He headed for he SUV and Kat had no other option than follow. Martha and the Doctor were already by her car.
************************
Back at the Hub Jack went straight to his office and slammed the door.
"Anyone gonna tell me what the bloody hell is going on?!" Kat burst out. Mark and Lois were standing near, eyes on Martha and the Doctor in silent anticipation. The Doctor gave the impression of being immensely fascinated by the high vaulted ceiling.
Martha sighed.
"David is dead." They all just blinked at her. "That thing... the monolith is apparently an alien device, built to defeat the 456, but it needed a conduit and David was it."
"Where is his body?" Mark demanded.
"There is no body, it's gone." Martha's fingers tightened on the slim metal disk. "Listen, it'll all be all in my report, you can read it. I have to do something." She shot a pointed look at the Doctor before heading to the morgue.
IV. The Gift
Unforeseen Events
Jack was roused from his brooding by Martha calling him through his comm.
"Jack, I need you to come to the morgue."
"Can it wait?" Jack replied, irritated.
"No."
************************
Jack arrived at the morgue looking exceptionally ill-tempered. His brows knotted warily at the sight of Martha standing by an open drawer.
"Jack..." She said, sounding weary. "David asked me to do this. It was his last wish. I'm sorry."
She held out her hand and opened her fingers: The small metal disk glinted as she pushed down on the indentation on top. The single clicking sound it made was slight, but it almost sounded like a gunshot in that cavernous room.
Jack closed the distance between them in a few steps.
"What have you done?!"
"I'm not sure." She muttered.
Golden sparkling, glowing dust burst out of the disk. It seemed frantic, as much as something inanimate can look frantic, swirled around the room, bouncing off the walls, whirling around and through their bodies, before homing in on the open drawer. Jack looked and his breath caught in his throat. He stared at the familiar face, ashen, as he had last seen it. Then he watched dumbfounded as the golden shimmering light enveloped the body, then simply just got absorbed by it. Jack watched the face gain color, become rosy. Blue eyes popped open and looked straight at him, confused.
"Jack?"
Jack stared at Ianto in shock before spinning around and practically fleeing the room.
Martha swallowed an exasperated groan, and took Ianto's hand, her fingers slipping over his wrist, picking up the unmistakable beats of a pulse.
"Martha, what's going on?"
"Where to begin?" She exhaled audibly. "I guess we'd better call Gwen. Can you walk?" She was helping Ianto to sit up. "Let's get you to the medical bay. I'll start to explain while I do some tests."
************************
When Jack got into his office the Doctor was there, waiting for him. He didn't flinch at the hurt look Jack gave him.
"David - he was an alien, all along. He didn't know it. Well, he figured it out when we took a trip to Market." The Doctor offered the explanation.
"How the hell is this even possible? We screen everyone we recruit."
"True Chameleon. Romma."
"They don't exist, they're just a myth!"
"They are a very old race. They spent more time learning to hide than most races have been in existence."
"So what now, is he in Ianto?"
"No, nothing like that. Energy is just energy. It has no personality, no memories. The David you knew is gone. The Ianto you knew is back. A simple exchange. Quite brilliant, if you think about it. I wonder how he figured out what to do. He must have been guessing."
"What will happen next time?" He didn't say next time Ianto died, but they both knew what he meant.
"I have no idea. Not regeneration, if that's what you think. Matter and energy will part, and that's pretty much it."
The Doctor gazed off into space contemplatively before shaking himself and snapping back to his usual ball-of-energy self.
"Well then. I'd better be going. Worlds to save, time lines to untangle, you know how it is!" With that he moved to leave.
"Doctor!"
Jack's shout made the Doctor stop at the door and turn look back.
"I have seen him die three times already. Still, he's here."
The Doctor gazed at him; head tilted at a slight angle, studying him with an indecipherable look on his face.
"Take care Jack." And with that he was gone.
************************
The Message from Beyond
A ping sound told Jack that he had a new email. He glanced at it, expecting UNIT, but instead it was a message from a dead man.
Dear, Lovely Jack,
By the time you get this it'll be all said and done. I hope it was (will be?) spectacular. I'm sorry about that last secret. I swear I didn't know about it myself till just now. It happened during the trip with the Doctor. That's when I realized what I was and wasn't. I've been processing it since. I feel like I'm a piece of a puzzle, and most of the other pieces have fallen into place. There are still some missing, but I have a suspicion that when they show up, if they do, there won't be time for long conversations. My time is running short, so I'll write down now what I know, and what you should know.
I never told you the date and time it would happen - you know, my expiration date (yes, it is funny, in a way, stop furrowing your brow, you'll get wrinkles). You said you didn't believe it, but you might just a little, and you'd probably try to lock me in the Hub, or some "safe" place and I'd die in one of those freak accidents that only happen in American movies. I would really hate going out like that.
I hope you like my gift. Well, I hope it all worked and you got my gift. The science behind it is a little wobbly, some alien tech that's a bit over my head, but I can feel it in my guts that it will work, because the pieces are fitting together, and it just makes sense, even if I don't understand how or why some of it works. Do you believe in fate? I always knew, since I can remember, that I had a purpose, a meaning that is bigger than me, and this is it, I know it in every pore of my being. So stop being so bloody brooding, you do it well, but charming and debauched looks much better on you. Enjoy what you have.
I guess I should explain a few things. I've been 'seeing' your ex for a while now, quite a while actually. I thought he was a ghost at first - with you it made sense, you are the haunted type, but somehow it didn't fit. You are thinking now that I should have told you. Really? I did put that name on your radar once, as a test - brilliant fake email from UNIT, by the way, nameless bureaucrats ftw - and you had that don't-fucking-come-close-to-me look in your eyes for weeks. So do you really think I should have told you? Instead, I did a little research, and found lots of surface details. It wasn't hard to figure out you two were involved - I mean, he is adorable -, but it didn't really click till I saw the Thames House footage. I might as well tell you, since you'd figure it out anyway: Yes, I talked to Gwen, about you, and him, and how the whole bloody mess went down. Don't shout at her, she doesn't deserve it, and you know it.
It's not easy to communicate with a ghost, even if it's really not a ghost - he likes the term "Incorporeal Entity" -, but we fumbled around and found ways. It would have been easier if we figured out earlier that possession is the most effective way of communicating, even if profoundly disturbing at first. I bet you had no idea you were having threesomes for the last couple of months. You are such a filthy bastard even when you don't know it. ;) Sharing consciousness was an extraordinary experience - it helped to put my own limitations and hang-ups in perspective. I almost feel like I lived two lives now. He is strange and lovely - no wonder you fell in love with him. I did too a little, I think. Maybe this time you can tell him how you feel. He knows, but it doesn't hurt to say it out loud every once in a while. For all your 51st century liberalness you are such a daft fool sometimes.
I had to get Martha involved to bring the body back to us. Don't shout at her, she doesn't deserve it either. Oddly, she is the only one here who would take things on fate, which is bloody astounding from someone in the medical profession - or maybe it makes perfect sense. Perhaps it's because she had traveled with the Doctor, I don't know. Sorry that I couldn't tell you anything. I'm sorry, really, really sorry, but you are a total idiot in these things.
So this is goodbye. I should be saying something deep and thoughtful here, but I can't think of anything. Typical. Maybe because I'm so fucking excited, and I won't lie, a bit scared too. I feel like I'll burst like a firecracker.
So Long and Thanks For All The Sex :P
Love
David
PS. I know you'll want to, but try not to bundle him up in bubble wrap and hide him in the cellar. That's no life.
************************
In the Land of the Living
Gwen arrived like a tornado. She looked at him in shocked disbelief at first, but this was Torchwood, where the dead walked with disturbing frequency. Once Martha assured her that this was really Ianto, Gwen gave him a bone-crunching hug, and wouldn't let go. Eventually Martha peeled her off; insisting on having to run some more medical scans. As Gwen, visibly shaken, was wiping tears from her face it occurred to Ianto that there was more happening than just him taking his turn in the Torchwood Zombie Program. Which, by the way, was starting to irk him more and more as the fuzziness was slowly clearing from his head. If Jack had used the glove on him, he was going to kill him.
It was quite a challenge to wrap his head around all that he learned from Gwen and Martha. His yesterday was almost three years ago for everyone else. What was he supposed to do with that? He was out of sync with everyone else. What was he to do now? Shit, so much to sort out. He needed to talk to Jack - who of course, was in a snit. He couldn't quite blame him. Seeing your long-dead lover pop up thanks to your other, freshly dead lover, could throw even an immortal time traveler for a loop. Ok, relax, he told himself, you can handle this, handle Jack. Just go slow, step-by-step. Don't let Gwen close to Jack! She would want to talk to him of course, and that would really not go down well right now.
Somehow he managed to convince Gwen to stay away from Jack, for now at least. There was something else she could do for him. He wouldn't have been surprised if after the mess surrounding his demise, the contents of his apartment were just dumped, despite Torchwood protocols.
"Gwen, what happened to my stuff?"
"Rhys and I put it all in storage. I wasn't sure what you would have wanted." She reached out and squeezed his arm.
She was even more 'touchy' than usual. He put on his confident, calming face for her benefit.
"Could you bring me my clothes, and some toiletries? Scrubs are not for the fashion conscious."
************************
Negotiations
It was late; the Hub was semi-dark, only a few lights on, no sounds apart from the usual background hum. Times like this the Hub reminded Jack of the TARDIS; it wasn't hard to imagine that it was alive. Jack had spent the last several hours in his office, not particularly doing anything. His mind was racing in too many directions at once, and he knew he had to do something, but he felt too drained to make any decisions right now.
He stood up and walked into the main Hub, into the kitchenette. He found a glass, filled it with water from the tap. He sauntered over to the sofa and slumped down. He forced himself to think of the things that had to be done. David... There was no body to put in cryogenics, but his things had to be packed up, put into storage. He knew he was avoiding thinking of the white elephant in the room. Speaking of which...
Soft steps shuffled into the room. Ianto stopped a few steps from the sofa, just gazing at him. For the first time in the whole day, Jack really looked at Ianto, and his breath caught in his throat. It was like seeing a ghost. He was still wearing the scrubs, feet bare, and that scar still on his cheek - not bloody any more, fading, but still there. Like it was three years ago. What a cruel kindness to give a "gift" like this - he thought. It felt like somebody had slammed a dagger into his chest.
Ianto moved closer ever so softly, as if not to startle him. He sat on the sofa, not too close, but close enough to touch. Slender fingers gently curled around Jack's arm.
"Jack." The fingers squeezed just a little, and there was a pause. "I know how weird this must be for you. It is for me."
Jack could hear the blood rushing in his ears, it was all so familiar, so painfully like he remembered, and he was too afraid to move, afraid it would disappear like a mirage. He didn't know what he wanted, what he was supposed to feel. He collected himself.
"What do you remember?"
"We were in London. I died. I woke up here."
"Nothing in between?"
"No. Not even the darkness. Nothing at all."
"According to David, he saw your ghost following me around."
Ianto looked genuinely nonplussed. His fingers slipped from Jack's arm.
"That's... weird."
"You don't remember anything."
"No Jack, I don't remember haunting you, sorry. Evidently, I can't stop looking after you even when I'm dead. I'm not sure how I feel about that."
They sat in companionable silence for a while, and it surprised him how easy it was to fall back into these old patterns. Ianto was the one to speak first.
"Martha filled me in. I'm sorry about David."
Jack snorted, fighting back bitterness and pain.
"He was an alien, and I had no idea."
"Aliens, cyber girlfriends in the basement - these things happen. It seems to me he cared about you, or at least you were having a good time. It's not like you didn't have a few secrets of your own." Ianto sounded more matter-of-fact than accusing, and Jack chose to leave it at that.
"Nobody would blame you if you opted to leave Torchwood after everything that happened."
"And do what? Be an accountant? Or maybe a real butler? I don't think so."
"You died."
"I know, I was there."
"Don't you think this is the time for you to get out?"
"We've been through this before. I made my choice a long time ago. It hasn't changed."
"You could reconsider. You could live a normal life."
Ianto gave him his trademark exasperated look.
"Do you really see me doing 'normal'? Because I don't. Have you ever looked around yourself? I don't know this new team, but in the old one the only reasonably normal person was Gwen. The rest? Suzie? Owen, Tosh, myself? All supremely fucked up. There is a reason you find us, or we find you, and it's not just you. Torchwood Three functioned fine when you were gone. We are here because in the absurd world of Torchwood, our existence makes sense. Out there in the normal world we would be freaks, square pegs surrounded by round holes. Not to mention we would be bored to death. Despite what you think, our fates are not in your hands. They never were."
Jack had to admit to himself that he couldn't save the people he loved any more than he could stay dead. It's not like he wouldn't lose them eventually, anyway. He suddenly felt very tired. He rubbed his face and stood up.
"Alright. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the team as the new Chief Archivist, slash field agent. Mark will help you to get your identity back. You'll need some money. Torchwood regulations require emergency funds to be allocated to temporally or otherwise displaced employees."
He left without saying goodnight.
************************
The next day Gwen stopped in early with some of Ianto's clothes and personal items. The suits smelled faintly of mothballs, but at least not of mold. He'd have to take them all to the dry cleaners, but at least he had something other than scrubs to wear.
Jack did as he promised, then retreated to his office. Ianto ignored him and went about getting to know his new teammates, figuring his way around this new Hub. The next few days were busy rejoining the land of the living and finding his way around in his changed environment. His co-workers looked at him with varying degrees of wariness at first, but eventually began to relax. He took Gwen up on her offer to spend the nights in her guest room, since his old flat was long gone, and it was better if he didn't stay in the Hub. He knew his Captain, and knew his Jack. He knew when to push into his space, and when to leave him to brood. He'd come around.
On the third day his new life he went for a walk during his lunchtime. He found some new apartment buildings in the neighborhood. They were tall buildings, with flats that had that Scandinavian style open floor plan, hard wood floors, large windows. They were bright and airy, so different than his old, cramped little flat. There was one immediately available on the top floor. It even had a balcony. He took it.
He knew he had to face his sister soon, but kept putting it off. He and Gwen had a cover story and a plan for how to break it to Rhianon, but he wanted to sort things out with Jack first.
************************
Routine
Early morning found Jack at his desk as usual. Light shuffling sounds filtered in from the Hub proper, probably Lois who was usually the first one in. Things got back to 'normal' as they tended to do soon after the world almost ended, and similar calamities, or as 'normal' as things around there got. The mug appeared on his desk out of nowhere. Ianto still had the unnerving talent of entering a room without making a noise or even disturbing the air. Jack wondered if Ianto was an alien. Really, it would not surprise him. He was beyond feeling surprise at anything his people might throw at him. The coffee was dark and strong, at least. He realized he had missed this.
"So you are making coffee again?"
"Absolutely not. I'm the Chief Archivist, not the help. They can all make their own bloody coffee. You're the only one getting the special treatment." Ianto sat across from him, sipping from his own mug.
"You're the only archivist."
"All the more reason not to spend my time with trivialities. You know, the archives here have been far better maintained here, but the way they are organized is not the most logical. I also found a whole roomful of artifacts that have never been catalogued."
Jack nodded. There was a familiar comfort in Ianto sitting in his office, giving account of his undertakings. Like the last three years had never happened. Time flowed around him, washing people up to him, then sweeping them away, and he was powerless to do anything about it. Was this what being a fixed point was all about?
"Martha told me the archives of the old Hub were never recovered."
"Yeah. The whole thing was just sealed off."
"Well, maybe it's time to unseal it."
"Fine. See to it. You're in charge."
He watched Ianto leave, like he had been watching him since that day, in all his once-familiar pinstriped efficiency.
************************
New Day
It was Sunday, not that weekends meant much at Torchwood, but it happened to be Ianto's day off. He slept in, the flat was swimming in light by the time he rolled out of bed, took a shower. It was a warm morning, so he took his coffee and toast out to the balcony. He had a good view at the city from here, almost as good as from a roof, better than some roofs, really. His doorbell rang. It was Jack.
"Come in."
He took his coat and ordered him to take his boots off.
"Nice digs. Did I give you a raise?"
"As matter of fact, you did. Come on, I'll give you the tour."
Living room, dining room, kitchen, balcony. The furnishing was bordering on the minimalist, but it was welcoming and comfortable. The bathroom had a double sink. The master bedroom had a large bed and not much else.
"I haven't really had a chance to do much with the place yet."
He showed Jack the second bedroom that had a bed, and a large desk.
"You can use this room when you're in a mood, or want to be left alone. We can also set up the remote Rift monitoring equipment here."
Jack raised his eyebrow and looked at him with disbelief.
"Are we having a spring or summer wedding?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Jack."
Jack shoved him to the wall with what could either be anger or passion. Or both.
"You just really think you know what's best for me."
Jack's fingers dug into his biceps.
"I do know what's best for you, and when I'm gone, someone else will come along who will know. It would serve you best to go along with it."
"You are morbid."
"No, just realistic. I wish I could save you from future heartache, but I can't. You'll have to figure eternity out on your own, but I guarantee you that shutting others out is not the solution. God, I wish we could grow old together, but that won't happen, so I want the next best thing. I want you. Here. Now. The future can sort itself out. I know it's selfish, but I'm allowed."
"You are the most single-mindedly stubborn person I've met in my entire life."
Ianto couldn't quite decipher if it was surrender in Jack's voice, but his grip loosened on Ianto's arm.
"Oh, shut up and kiss me."
Jack was kissing him like it was for the first and the last time, wretched and hopeful and possessive. His hands roaming over Ianto were rough, but he recognized the desperation in their touch, so he yielded to them, pulled him closer, tighter. For a brief moment he could feel Jack more sharply than ever before; the texture of his skin, the calluses on his fingers, his taste, the scratch of his stubble, the sound of his ragged breathing, the smell of sweat, and the pheromones rolling off him in thick waves, and his heart beating rapidly through his ribcage. The intensity of it nearly overwhelmed him. At last Jack calmed, although still clutched him tightly. Their foreheads rested against each other, and Jack spoke with a deep and rough voice.
"I missed you so much."
Coda
As soon as Ianto's eyes popped open, the dream vanished. It had been happening a lot lately: He'd wake up with the feeling that he had an important dream, but he couldn't recall it barely a second later. Trying to keep hold of it was like grasping at fog. He peered into the half-darkened room. It was early, far too early; the morning was nothing more than a faint glow over the horizon. He wouldn't be able to go back to sleep though. He carefully moved Jack's arm off his chest and slipped out of the bed. He picked up discarded items of Jack's clothing from the floor on his way to the bathroom. Jack had gotten in very late the night before, long after Ianto fallen asleep. It had been a long day for both of them.
The trail of shed clothing led to the living room. He surveyed the room under the sparse light of dawn. It was filled with the presence of Jack. His coat casually thrown across the sofa, a model plane on a mantel, his laptop on the dining room table, an open book face down on the coffee table, next to a pair of cufflinks. Jack moved in and mussed up Ianto's tidy life. He didn't really mind it though; it made the place feel lived-in, made it fee like home. He considered the pile of crumpled clothes in his hands and just dropped them on the sofa - he'll deal with them later. He turned back to the bedroom.
Jack was splayed out on the bed, the blanket slid down to the curve of his hips. It was not a tease he could resist. He carefully pulled the blanket further down reveal Jack's glorious morning erection. He was obscenely beautiful like this. Ianto slithered between Jack's legs to claim what was his. Jack's thighs spreading further, then his fingers in Ianto's hair informed him of Jack's waking.
"Good morning, sunshine!" Jack murmured groggily from sleep, but pleased.
"Mmmm." Ianto hummed his reply from around Jacks cock.
A saliva-slickened finger pressed into Jack's hole, who hissed in approval. Ianto knew he could easily bring Jack off like that, but he had other plans. He kept his pace slow and teasing till brought Jack to just the desired state of eagerness. He withdrew his finger despite Jack's wordless protestation, and moved up over Jack's body, planting a knee on either side of his lover's chest. He took the lube from the night table and drizzled some of it into Jack's hand. He entwined his fingers with Jack's to spread the slick substance around. Jack reached between Ianto's legs, fingers pressed against his wanting opening. Ianto hissed and arched his back at being breached.
"We need to get a carpet in here." He blurted out.
Jack stilled in surprise.
"If that's your idea of dirty talk, you got the whole concept wrong."
Ianto wriggled his bum against Jack's hand to urge him to get moving again.
"That hardwood floor is... hard. If you ever want me on my knees sucking you off..."
Jack's body shook with silent laughter.
"We'll get the thickest, softest carpet in Cardiff."
"When?"
"Today."
Ianto squeezed Jack's wrist to indicate what he wanted. Jack withdrew his hand and let Ianto dribble more lube on it. He reached down for his own cock, and slickened it up with a couple of strokes. He held it steady till Ianto eased himself down on it. Ianto loved riding Jack like this, being stretched around him, Jack's fingers digging into the fleshy mounds of his arse, Jack's hairless glory spread out in front of him. How could a man like Jack have skin so silky smooth? There was something positively pornographic about it.
"You're such a slut, Jack." He moaned.
"Says the man with a cock up his arse."
Ianto's laugh caught in his throat, and came out as more of a pained/pleasured gurgle, as Jack - grinning wickedly - jerked his hips up, impaling him hard. Jack's hands were holding him steady while they writhed against each other, making wonderfully filthy, lubricious noises. He reached for his own cock almost as an afterthought. It took only a few strokes before he came chanting Jack's name. It didn't take long for Jack to follow - seeing, feeling Ianto in the abandoned moment of orgasm always undid him. Ianto collapsed on Jack with a sloppy kiss. They just lay there for minutes till Jack started squirming, trying to get hold of the blanket. Ianto took it as his clue to get out of bed, but Jack pulled him back.
"Stay."
"Jack! I need to take a shower. I'm sticky."
"I love you sticky and smelling of sex. I'd love you filthy and depraved and smelling like a whore house."
"You are such a romantic." Ianto retorted.
Jack scooped him closer, till they were flush, chest-to-back, groin-to-arse, limbs across, and pulled the blanket over them.
"It's early. You can catch a little more sleep. Close your eyes."
Ianto settled into the warmth of Jack, and drifted off, knowing that Jack would lie awake next to him, watching him sleep.
Fin.
- Main Torchwood slash page
- New stories page
- Jack/Ianto stories
- Ianto/Owen stories
- Other pairings stories - ie threesomes
- F/F stories
- Gen stories
- Amazon.com - Torchwood: Children of Earth
- Amazon.co.uk - Torchwood - Children of Earth [DVD] [2009]
- Amazon.ca link - Torchwood - The Complete First Season (7DVD)
