Fic: The Sea After a Storm (23/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 23
Rating: R
Warnings: Little bit of language
Spoilers: Season Two thru Sleeper (2x02)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to James Moran for situations and dialogue borrowed from Sleeper. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which Jack's bad cop routine doesn't yield any answers…
Notes: Sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm found here. Thanks to my amazing beta and wonderful friend thrace_adams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Twenty-Three
Tosh went to the computer in Jack's office while Owen and Ianto moved to the observation deck, standing in front of the two-way mirror that looked down in to the interrogation room. Gwen stood to one side while Jack hammered away at the woman.
Halloran. Beth Halloran, Ianto reminded himself. She looks terrified.
"At least he didn't lose his interrogation skills while he was out gallivanting with that doctor," Owen muttered as Jack threatened Beth.
"Do you think he's right about her?" Ianto asked softly.
Gwen spread out the photos of the burglar who'd been stabbed, making Beth flinch and look away.
"Look at them!" Jack ordered. His voice was somewhat muffled by the glass, but the anger came through loud and clear.
Owen shrugged in answer to Ianto's question. "Only thing that makes sense, isn't it?"
"I guess," Ianto sighed. His eyes narrowed. "What's going on with the light?"
"Dunno." Owen leaned forward. "Same thing happ- whoa!"
The bulb exploded in the lamp. The fixture luckily remained intact, keeping the shards from raining down on Jack's head.
"Tosh?" Owen called.
"Working on it," she mumbled.
Jack slammed out of the interrogation room, leaving Gwen behind to try out some of her 'good cop' on Beth. Ianto watched as Gwen turned on the sympathy and understanding, but she didn't seem to get any further with Beth than Jack had.
Owen moved out of the way when Jack came barrelling around the corner, his face looking pinched and worried. He glowered down at Beth and Gwen talking for a second before Ianto decided he needed a little encouragement.
"'Just us and this room… for as long as it takes.'" Ianto turned so his elbow was resting on the railing, looking at Jack as he quoted one of his earlier threats. "Terrifying," he said admiringly. Ianto could hear Owen's soft snort of ridicule but ignored it, keeping his gaze on Jack.
"Really?" Jack asked uncertainly, a hesitant smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
"Absolutely," Ianto confirmed with a nod. "Shivers down my spine."
Jack looked doubtful. "You don't look scared."
"Oh, it… passed," Ianto teased, looking up at Jack from under his eyelashes.
Jack's eyes lit up and he growled, raising his fist menacingly as he leaned in to Ianto's personal space. Ianto didn't flinch. He also managed not to laugh, much to his surprise. Jack turned away, all the hesitation gone from his stride.
"Tosh, anything on the body scan?" he asked in his usual confident tone as he flopped down in his desk chair.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," she replied, still tapping away at the keyboard.
Jack frowned. "What about the light? Power surge?"
"Nothing from us." Tosh shook her head. "There was an electromagnetic build-up around her but I can't see how she caused it."
"Same thing happened at the hospital, Jack," Owen added quietly. "Can't be a coincidence."
"It's her, I know it is," Jack said. He sat up suddenly, apparently feeling a need for action. "Okay, let's do some tests, see who or what we're dealing with."
Owen nodded and pushed off the wall where he'd been leaning. "I'm on it," he called as he headed for the med bay.
"Tosh, keep running those scans, see if anything pops up. Ianto?"
"Yes, sir?"
Jack pushed out of the chair and walked back over to where Ianto was standing, still leaning on the rail.
"Take a look at the Rift Manipulator and the rest of the big pieces. If she is creating electromagnetic fields, I want to make sure she's not affecting the machinery. The last thing we need is for the rift to start chucking things at us whenever we make her angry."
"Right," Ianto agreed. As he headed for the Hub, he heard Jack behind him on the comm, telling Gwen to bring Beth to the medical bay for some tests.
Ianto picked up the iso-scanner from Jack's desk as he passed, clicking the settings to read the Rift Manipulator first. He climbed up the railing, thinking it was a happy coincidence that he'd worn a black suit that day. Usually he ended up clambering around the machinery when he was in light grey or something else that showed every speck of dirt and grease. He ran the scanner over the heart of the Manipulator and was relieved to see that the isomorphics were the same as the last scan. Well, that's something at least. If she is capable of messing about with the machinery somehow, she hasn't done it yet. Ianto leant out of the Manipulator to see the 'she' he had just been thinking about to bend down over one of their recent finds.
He glared down at her and said coldly, "We don't sniff the Sub-Etheric Resonator."
Beth muttered a quick apology and moved on, Gwen following. Gwen gave Ianto a displeased look as she passed, but Ianto just shrugged. He waited until they were past and hopped down out of the Manipulator. He circled around and came back to the Resonator. He ran the iso-scanner over it as well, but found no differences. He frowned and then glanced around. When he was sure everyone else was down in the med bay, he leant forward and sniffed at the machine. He stood back up, feeling incredibly foolish. It smelled of metal and grease, just as he'd expected. He spun the scanner in his hand, wondering what would possess a normal person to smell a hunk of metal and cables.
He shrugged again and finished the scans. He wandered over to the med bay to let Jack know there were no deviations in any of the Hub's machinery. He stepped through the archway just as Jack raised his voice.
"Stop wasting our time! We know you're an alien!" he shouted at Beth.
"There's no such thing as aliens," Beth said. She glanced at Gwen as if looking for confirmation.
Gwen gave her a weak smile and started to speak but was interrupted by Jack. He surged forward from where he'd been watching on the steps, unfastening the straps that held Beth to the table and snapping her wrist restraints on again.
"Come with me," he ordered, yanking Beth up the stairs and past Ianto. He pulled her across the Hub and disappeared down the stairway to the cells.
"Where's he taken her?" Gwen asked as she hurried up the steps.
Ianto grimaced. "The cells," he said.
Gwen frowned and clicked on the internal CCTV at the nearest workstation.
Sure enough, Jack was introducing Beth to Janet. Tosh and Owen joined them at the monitor, watching as Beth's perception of reality altered in front of their eyes.
"What the - " Owen started to say as Janet hunched over and backed away from Beth.
"Why is it doing that?" they heard Beth ask over the tinny speaker.
"My thoughts exactly," Owen muttered. "What the fuck is she?"
Gwen rounded on him, eyes flashing. "Stop that! You don't know she's not human. Jack could be wrong."
Owen rolled his eyes and then looked at the screen again. It was clear even on that small screen that Beth was trying to remain calm, to keep it together.
"How can I… prove to you… that I'm not an alien?" she asked.
Jack frowned and looked at Janet once more. He took Beth's arm and led her out of the cells. Gwen switched off the CCTV feed and they all turned to the stairwell, waiting for Jack and Beth to appear. When they did, Jack took Beth back to the interrogation room and left her there, calling for Ianto as he strode back into his office.
Jack was at the secure archives when Ianto joined him.
"What compartment did we store the mind probe in?" Jack asked as he spun the combination lock on the safe.
"The… Jack, you can't be serious."
"Can't think of anything else that will give us the answers we need," Jack grunted as he pulled open the door.
"But… it's…. what about that lie detector? You said it was more advanced than anything in existence."
Jack shook his head as he started rotating the compartments. "Only works if the subject is lying and I don't think she is, not really. I don't think she knows what she is. Where is it?"
Ianto tried another tack. "You had me tag it not for use," he reminded Jack.
Jack stepped back from the safe and turned to look at Ianto. "I know what I'm doing, Ianto."
"Are you sure?" Ianto asked, licking his lips uncomfortably. "I mean, are you sure you're not pushing this one a little too hard? This is the first case since you've been back and you've been - " He stopped when Jack took a step and cupped his cheek again, making him look right into those blue eyes as his head spun from the contact.
"What compartment or am I gonna open them all?" Jack asked quietly.
"94," Ianto replied just as quietly.
He got a smile before Jack turned back to the safe.
Ianto prayed Jack knew what he was doing.
TBC in Chapter Twenty-Four
Rating: R
Warnings: Little bit of language
Spoilers: Season Two thru Sleeper (2x02)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to James Moran for situations and dialogue borrowed from Sleeper. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which Jack's bad cop routine doesn't yield any answers…
Notes: Sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm found here. Thanks to my amazing beta and wonderful friend thrace_adams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Twenty-Three
Tosh went to the computer in Jack's office while Owen and Ianto moved to the observation deck, standing in front of the two-way mirror that looked down in to the interrogation room. Gwen stood to one side while Jack hammered away at the woman.
Halloran. Beth Halloran, Ianto reminded himself. She looks terrified.
"At least he didn't lose his interrogation skills while he was out gallivanting with that doctor," Owen muttered as Jack threatened Beth.
"Do you think he's right about her?" Ianto asked softly.
Gwen spread out the photos of the burglar who'd been stabbed, making Beth flinch and look away.
"Look at them!" Jack ordered. His voice was somewhat muffled by the glass, but the anger came through loud and clear.
Owen shrugged in answer to Ianto's question. "Only thing that makes sense, isn't it?"
"I guess," Ianto sighed. His eyes narrowed. "What's going on with the light?"
"Dunno." Owen leaned forward. "Same thing happ- whoa!"
The bulb exploded in the lamp. The fixture luckily remained intact, keeping the shards from raining down on Jack's head.
"Tosh?" Owen called.
"Working on it," she mumbled.
Jack slammed out of the interrogation room, leaving Gwen behind to try out some of her 'good cop' on Beth. Ianto watched as Gwen turned on the sympathy and understanding, but she didn't seem to get any further with Beth than Jack had.
Owen moved out of the way when Jack came barrelling around the corner, his face looking pinched and worried. He glowered down at Beth and Gwen talking for a second before Ianto decided he needed a little encouragement.
"'Just us and this room… for as long as it takes.'" Ianto turned so his elbow was resting on the railing, looking at Jack as he quoted one of his earlier threats. "Terrifying," he said admiringly. Ianto could hear Owen's soft snort of ridicule but ignored it, keeping his gaze on Jack.
"Really?" Jack asked uncertainly, a hesitant smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
"Absolutely," Ianto confirmed with a nod. "Shivers down my spine."
Jack looked doubtful. "You don't look scared."
"Oh, it… passed," Ianto teased, looking up at Jack from under his eyelashes.
Jack's eyes lit up and he growled, raising his fist menacingly as he leaned in to Ianto's personal space. Ianto didn't flinch. He also managed not to laugh, much to his surprise. Jack turned away, all the hesitation gone from his stride.
"Tosh, anything on the body scan?" he asked in his usual confident tone as he flopped down in his desk chair.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," she replied, still tapping away at the keyboard.
Jack frowned. "What about the light? Power surge?"
"Nothing from us." Tosh shook her head. "There was an electromagnetic build-up around her but I can't see how she caused it."
"Same thing happened at the hospital, Jack," Owen added quietly. "Can't be a coincidence."
"It's her, I know it is," Jack said. He sat up suddenly, apparently feeling a need for action. "Okay, let's do some tests, see who or what we're dealing with."
Owen nodded and pushed off the wall where he'd been leaning. "I'm on it," he called as he headed for the med bay.
"Tosh, keep running those scans, see if anything pops up. Ianto?"
"Yes, sir?"
Jack pushed out of the chair and walked back over to where Ianto was standing, still leaning on the rail.
"Take a look at the Rift Manipulator and the rest of the big pieces. If she is creating electromagnetic fields, I want to make sure she's not affecting the machinery. The last thing we need is for the rift to start chucking things at us whenever we make her angry."
"Right," Ianto agreed. As he headed for the Hub, he heard Jack behind him on the comm, telling Gwen to bring Beth to the medical bay for some tests.
Ianto picked up the iso-scanner from Jack's desk as he passed, clicking the settings to read the Rift Manipulator first. He climbed up the railing, thinking it was a happy coincidence that he'd worn a black suit that day. Usually he ended up clambering around the machinery when he was in light grey or something else that showed every speck of dirt and grease. He ran the scanner over the heart of the Manipulator and was relieved to see that the isomorphics were the same as the last scan. Well, that's something at least. If she is capable of messing about with the machinery somehow, she hasn't done it yet. Ianto leant out of the Manipulator to see the 'she' he had just been thinking about to bend down over one of their recent finds.
He glared down at her and said coldly, "We don't sniff the Sub-Etheric Resonator."
Beth muttered a quick apology and moved on, Gwen following. Gwen gave Ianto a displeased look as she passed, but Ianto just shrugged. He waited until they were past and hopped down out of the Manipulator. He circled around and came back to the Resonator. He ran the iso-scanner over it as well, but found no differences. He frowned and then glanced around. When he was sure everyone else was down in the med bay, he leant forward and sniffed at the machine. He stood back up, feeling incredibly foolish. It smelled of metal and grease, just as he'd expected. He spun the scanner in his hand, wondering what would possess a normal person to smell a hunk of metal and cables.
He shrugged again and finished the scans. He wandered over to the med bay to let Jack know there were no deviations in any of the Hub's machinery. He stepped through the archway just as Jack raised his voice.
"Stop wasting our time! We know you're an alien!" he shouted at Beth.
"There's no such thing as aliens," Beth said. She glanced at Gwen as if looking for confirmation.
Gwen gave her a weak smile and started to speak but was interrupted by Jack. He surged forward from where he'd been watching on the steps, unfastening the straps that held Beth to the table and snapping her wrist restraints on again.
"Come with me," he ordered, yanking Beth up the stairs and past Ianto. He pulled her across the Hub and disappeared down the stairway to the cells.
"Where's he taken her?" Gwen asked as she hurried up the steps.
Ianto grimaced. "The cells," he said.
Gwen frowned and clicked on the internal CCTV at the nearest workstation.
Sure enough, Jack was introducing Beth to Janet. Tosh and Owen joined them at the monitor, watching as Beth's perception of reality altered in front of their eyes.
"What the - " Owen started to say as Janet hunched over and backed away from Beth.
"Why is it doing that?" they heard Beth ask over the tinny speaker.
"My thoughts exactly," Owen muttered. "What the fuck is she?"
Gwen rounded on him, eyes flashing. "Stop that! You don't know she's not human. Jack could be wrong."
Owen rolled his eyes and then looked at the screen again. It was clear even on that small screen that Beth was trying to remain calm, to keep it together.
"How can I… prove to you… that I'm not an alien?" she asked.
Jack frowned and looked at Janet once more. He took Beth's arm and led her out of the cells. Gwen switched off the CCTV feed and they all turned to the stairwell, waiting for Jack and Beth to appear. When they did, Jack took Beth back to the interrogation room and left her there, calling for Ianto as he strode back into his office.
Jack was at the secure archives when Ianto joined him.
"What compartment did we store the mind probe in?" Jack asked as he spun the combination lock on the safe.
"The… Jack, you can't be serious."
"Can't think of anything else that will give us the answers we need," Jack grunted as he pulled open the door.
"But… it's…. what about that lie detector? You said it was more advanced than anything in existence."
Jack shook his head as he started rotating the compartments. "Only works if the subject is lying and I don't think she is, not really. I don't think she knows what she is. Where is it?"
Ianto tried another tack. "You had me tag it not for use," he reminded Jack.
Jack stepped back from the safe and turned to look at Ianto. "I know what I'm doing, Ianto."
"Are you sure?" Ianto asked, licking his lips uncomfortably. "I mean, are you sure you're not pushing this one a little too hard? This is the first case since you've been back and you've been - " He stopped when Jack took a step and cupped his cheek again, making him look right into those blue eyes as his head spun from the contact.
"What compartment or am I gonna open them all?" Jack asked quietly.
"94," Ianto replied just as quietly.
He got a smile before Jack turned back to the safe.
Ianto prayed Jack knew what he was doing.
TBC in Chapter Twenty-Four