Torchwood: The Forgotten Meeting
Title: The Forgotten Meeting
Date Written: 2/17/08
dwtwprompts prompt: Unconditional
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,769
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Team Torchwood, Jack/Ianto, a little Jack/Gwen (don't run!)
Spoilers: Doctor Who "Army of Ghosts", Torchwood Season One (particularly "Cyberwoman", "Countrycide" and "Greeks Bearing Gifts"), Torchwood Season Two "Adam"
Warnings: Yaoi/BL/blah blah blah...
Author's Notes: There are a few bits this story was inspired by... First was one of smallwaldo's Jack/Ianto stories When the Bough Breaks. Another was the part in Season Two, when Rose tries to use the psychic paper and Rajesh says "You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training." And then the whole bit near the end of "Adam", well, it got me thinking. Set during "Adam".
According to the Time Agency, humanity has always had some sort of psychic link to one another. Or at least that's what the justification as to why they taught Psych 101 at the Academy when someone had been cheeky enough to ask why they even had to bother with this thing in the first place in Jack's class. At the dawn of mankind it had been quite powerful -- the ancient archaeologists had called it 'pack mentality'. As the human race grew up and became more 'civilized', this mentality was shut away, used only by the psychics who spoke with the gods or by the few practitioners who turned playing cards over and gazed into dusty crystal balls, letting their subconscious guide them to the 'correct' answer.
The practice slowly came back into widespread usage starting around the 20th century. Ghost channelers and psychic readings were popular forms of entertainment, and were accepted, if a little weird to the populous at large. Psychic techniques were therefore fostered, taught and, in some instances, tested and used by the dawn of the 21st century.
Torchwood had never been explicitly listed in class, but it was easy to see why Adam had been drawn to them: Owen, Toshiko and Ianto had been extensively trained when they'd gone through their Torchwood training, and Gwen was halfway through her own courses. None of them were at Jack's levels, but they were closer than most of the residents of Cardiff. It would be easy as clicking your fingers to get inside their minds. They were all trained against it, yes, but they were also more susceptible to it than, say, Rhys would have been. Even Jack, who had his guard up at all times, a guard strong enough that Tosh's psychic pendant couldn't even dent, had easily fallen under his spell.
He'd been so blind. And now he had to fix it.
It wasn't as if Jack went rooting about in peoples' heads on a regular basis -- that was extremely rude, violated all sorts of codes that hadn't even been invented yet, and it tended to freak people out a bit when you'd answer a question they hadn't even asked yet. Besides, none of them were able to carry on a full mental conversation; close, but not quite there yet. Not under their own influence, anyway.
Adam had, essentially, left all their psychic channels open and bleeding. It was how he had fed himself in; he opened up the section in the human brain that processes memories and blasted it open with waves of mental energy. They were all raw, and in desperate need of repair. A Retcon pill would do that easily, it was designed to seal away things and keep it locked away. It was always there, but it was hidden. It would, hopefully, seal the damage done.
And if it hadn't, he'd gone back and edited in his log that they needed to all go in for a round of physic training. Just to keep up good skills and all that.
The team was gathered in the conference room, the hypnotizing graphic going and the lights dim. Once again, he found himself thankful for the classes he thought he'd never need when he took them at the Time Agency. In their own way, they had actually known what the hell they were doing after all.
"Tell me where you are."
The first person he heard in his head was Gwen, which honestly hadn't surprised him. She was more on the empathy than they psychic scale, but the principal was the same. Her IQ and her empathy had given her the edge to beat the Retcon, even if she didn't quite remember all the details. If she hadn't had one or the other, she probably would still be on the beat with her partner, Andrew.
Owen was the second, which had been a little surprising. He had the lowest scores total, but they were still high for the average 21st century human. Jack felt ashamed when he heard Owen's thoughts. Owen's mother had probably stunted his psychic growth by not giving him a solid foundation to start with. Jack's parents had been loving and kind, despite it all. Even when he lost Grey, his mother had never blamed him. Owen's mother had never even liked him. No wonder he was normally an obstinate jackass.
Toshiko was third. Her scores were high -- well, all of them were high, psychic included. The necklace had only stripped her own mental stronghold down and enabled her to pierce through everyone else's, not boosted hers. If she would only stop concentrating so much on the rational, she'd probably be a mental force to be reckoned with. Then again, she wouldn't be Tosh.
Ianto was the last, but it was by far the strongest. Ianto's scores were through the proverbial roof; if anyone could have had a psychic conversation with Jack, it would have been him. It was not a surprise to find that the memory Ianto had latched onto was Lisa; she had been his sole reason for living since at least Canary Warf, probably even before. When she'd died, Jack had been afraid that Ianto would follow her, that they'd come into the Hub one day and find that he'd killed himself up at the Information Booth.
Ianto had become more outwardly emotional after Lisa's death and after that awful mess in the country, to the rest of the team but particularly to Jack. The two of them had a connection that was definitely more than physical, and Jack could defiantly see that now. Sleeping together had formed a bond between them; Ianto had become Jack's sole confidante, and he had, in turn, become Ianto's. Their attraction was physical, emotional and, yes, mental.
It scared the fuck out of him.
He walked around the room, handing each one of them a Retcon pill, trying to help them come to peace with their memories, the good and the bad.
Gwen's outright love confession had rattled him, and for the first time in a long time he hadn't known what to say. He liked the girl, certainly, and he wouldn't really mind sleeping with her. But that's all there was; lust. He'd have probably left her bed before dawn.
Toshiko, poor Tosh, so worried she wasn't special. How could she even think that? She meant the world to Jack, they all did. They were his family.
Owen was still the scared little boy, wanting someone to love him, to save him, protect him from all the evil, mean, nasty things life kept throwing at all of them. In the end, he and Tosh were probably perfect for each other in that respect.
Coming here... "...gave me meaning again." Ianto came out of his hypnotic trance without Jack touching him, the only one to do so. He looked at Jack, really, honestly looked at him, like he was looking into Jack's very soul.
"You..."
Jack could hear the unfinished sentence in his head, Ianto's sweet accent framing the unabashed words. I love you.
Jack reached out to touch Ianto's dark hair, and leaned in to kiss his forehead, trying hard not to just start crying. Damn it, he hadn't cried in years, he'd cried himself out over losing those he'd loved -- Grey, his parents, the Doctor, Rose, they'd all had tears shed over. Ianto was here, was alive and breathing and his no matter what, he knew that now...
...but he wouldn't in an hour. In an hour they'd all go back to how things were. That, that was a loss worth crying over.
But he couldn't. Not in front of his team, not in front of Ianto. He had to be the strong one, for all of them.
Instead, he did something he also hadn't done in years. He completely let his shields down, let his mind brush gently against Ianto's. And you gave me a meaning too, Yan. He set the pill in front of Ianto, and touched his chin softly. I love you too.
Jack pulled away, trying to ignore the shocked look on Ianto's face, write it off as coming out of the hypnotic state as he calmly explained about the Retcon pill.
Ianto didn't even have to think twice, reaching out for his pill first and taking it. The unshakable, infallible loyalty took Jack's breath away while sending shivers down his spine. If he told Ianto to die, Ianto would, no questions asked. That, that was truly frightening.
Gwen and Owen followed Ianto's suit, but Tosh held on and fought. She really was giving up so much; it wasn't real, but it was real to her, and it broke his heart to make her take the amnesia pill, to make her give up what she so desperately wanted. He caught Gwen before she could fall and break her nose on the conference table, walking out of the room.
He stopped when the doors slid shut behind him, turning and entering the room again to look at his team. All of them so brave, doing what he'd asked of them while knowing that they were giving up something of themselves to do it. Their love, their loyalty, all of it given so unconditionally. It scared him to think what would happen if it didn't work.
He walked around the table once more as he looked down at their sleeping forms, sliding his fingers over Gwen's black hair, wiping away Tosh's tears, rubbing Owen's back soothingly and touching Ianto's face, tilting his chin up off his chest. He peered down at his lover's sleeping face, looking every bit as peaceful as when he watched him sleep in the few hours they left off for rest after spending the night together. He leaned down and softly kissed his mouth, and swore he felt Ianto return the movement in his sleep. He carefully lowered Ianto's head back to his chest, touching his hair softly before leaving the room for the second time.
He sniffled a little as he walked down to the vault where Adam was being held, the tears he'd held back in the conference room leaking out a little. He paused just outside the door, burying his face in his hands for a few moments as he composed himself. He'd never remember any of this, not feeling Ianto's overwhelming love, not the unwavering, unquestioned loyalty of his team, and it was All. Adam's. Fault.
He took a deep breath, wiping his face with his hands and preparing to do what he had to. The sweet memories, or his team. It wasn't even a question of which he had to choose.
His team weren't the only ones with infallible, unquestionable, unconditional loyalty.
Date Written: 2/17/08
dwtwprompts prompt: Unconditional
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,769
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Team Torchwood, Jack/Ianto, a little Jack/Gwen (don't run!)
Spoilers: Doctor Who "Army of Ghosts", Torchwood Season One (particularly "Cyberwoman", "Countrycide" and "Greeks Bearing Gifts"), Torchwood Season Two "Adam"
Warnings: Yaoi/BL/blah blah blah...
Author's Notes: There are a few bits this story was inspired by... First was one of smallwaldo's Jack/Ianto stories When the Bough Breaks. Another was the part in Season Two, when Rose tries to use the psychic paper and Rajesh says "You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training." And then the whole bit near the end of "Adam", well, it got me thinking. Set during "Adam".
According to the Time Agency, humanity has always had some sort of psychic link to one another. Or at least that's what the justification as to why they taught Psych 101 at the Academy when someone had been cheeky enough to ask why they even had to bother with this thing in the first place in Jack's class. At the dawn of mankind it had been quite powerful -- the ancient archaeologists had called it 'pack mentality'. As the human race grew up and became more 'civilized', this mentality was shut away, used only by the psychics who spoke with the gods or by the few practitioners who turned playing cards over and gazed into dusty crystal balls, letting their subconscious guide them to the 'correct' answer.
The practice slowly came back into widespread usage starting around the 20th century. Ghost channelers and psychic readings were popular forms of entertainment, and were accepted, if a little weird to the populous at large. Psychic techniques were therefore fostered, taught and, in some instances, tested and used by the dawn of the 21st century.
Torchwood had never been explicitly listed in class, but it was easy to see why Adam had been drawn to them: Owen, Toshiko and Ianto had been extensively trained when they'd gone through their Torchwood training, and Gwen was halfway through her own courses. None of them were at Jack's levels, but they were closer than most of the residents of Cardiff. It would be easy as clicking your fingers to get inside their minds. They were all trained against it, yes, but they were also more susceptible to it than, say, Rhys would have been. Even Jack, who had his guard up at all times, a guard strong enough that Tosh's psychic pendant couldn't even dent, had easily fallen under his spell.
He'd been so blind. And now he had to fix it.
It wasn't as if Jack went rooting about in peoples' heads on a regular basis -- that was extremely rude, violated all sorts of codes that hadn't even been invented yet, and it tended to freak people out a bit when you'd answer a question they hadn't even asked yet. Besides, none of them were able to carry on a full mental conversation; close, but not quite there yet. Not under their own influence, anyway.
Adam had, essentially, left all their psychic channels open and bleeding. It was how he had fed himself in; he opened up the section in the human brain that processes memories and blasted it open with waves of mental energy. They were all raw, and in desperate need of repair. A Retcon pill would do that easily, it was designed to seal away things and keep it locked away. It was always there, but it was hidden. It would, hopefully, seal the damage done.
And if it hadn't, he'd gone back and edited in his log that they needed to all go in for a round of physic training. Just to keep up good skills and all that.
The team was gathered in the conference room, the hypnotizing graphic going and the lights dim. Once again, he found himself thankful for the classes he thought he'd never need when he took them at the Time Agency. In their own way, they had actually known what the hell they were doing after all.
"Tell me where you are."
The first person he heard in his head was Gwen, which honestly hadn't surprised him. She was more on the empathy than they psychic scale, but the principal was the same. Her IQ and her empathy had given her the edge to beat the Retcon, even if she didn't quite remember all the details. If she hadn't had one or the other, she probably would still be on the beat with her partner, Andrew.
Owen was the second, which had been a little surprising. He had the lowest scores total, but they were still high for the average 21st century human. Jack felt ashamed when he heard Owen's thoughts. Owen's mother had probably stunted his psychic growth by not giving him a solid foundation to start with. Jack's parents had been loving and kind, despite it all. Even when he lost Grey, his mother had never blamed him. Owen's mother had never even liked him. No wonder he was normally an obstinate jackass.
Toshiko was third. Her scores were high -- well, all of them were high, psychic included. The necklace had only stripped her own mental stronghold down and enabled her to pierce through everyone else's, not boosted hers. If she would only stop concentrating so much on the rational, she'd probably be a mental force to be reckoned with. Then again, she wouldn't be Tosh.
Ianto was the last, but it was by far the strongest. Ianto's scores were through the proverbial roof; if anyone could have had a psychic conversation with Jack, it would have been him. It was not a surprise to find that the memory Ianto had latched onto was Lisa; she had been his sole reason for living since at least Canary Warf, probably even before. When she'd died, Jack had been afraid that Ianto would follow her, that they'd come into the Hub one day and find that he'd killed himself up at the Information Booth.
Ianto had become more outwardly emotional after Lisa's death and after that awful mess in the country, to the rest of the team but particularly to Jack. The two of them had a connection that was definitely more than physical, and Jack could defiantly see that now. Sleeping together had formed a bond between them; Ianto had become Jack's sole confidante, and he had, in turn, become Ianto's. Their attraction was physical, emotional and, yes, mental.
It scared the fuck out of him.
He walked around the room, handing each one of them a Retcon pill, trying to help them come to peace with their memories, the good and the bad.
Gwen's outright love confession had rattled him, and for the first time in a long time he hadn't known what to say. He liked the girl, certainly, and he wouldn't really mind sleeping with her. But that's all there was; lust. He'd have probably left her bed before dawn.
Toshiko, poor Tosh, so worried she wasn't special. How could she even think that? She meant the world to Jack, they all did. They were his family.
Owen was still the scared little boy, wanting someone to love him, to save him, protect him from all the evil, mean, nasty things life kept throwing at all of them. In the end, he and Tosh were probably perfect for each other in that respect.
Coming here... "...gave me meaning again." Ianto came out of his hypnotic trance without Jack touching him, the only one to do so. He looked at Jack, really, honestly looked at him, like he was looking into Jack's very soul.
"You..."
Jack could hear the unfinished sentence in his head, Ianto's sweet accent framing the unabashed words. I love you.
Jack reached out to touch Ianto's dark hair, and leaned in to kiss his forehead, trying hard not to just start crying. Damn it, he hadn't cried in years, he'd cried himself out over losing those he'd loved -- Grey, his parents, the Doctor, Rose, they'd all had tears shed over. Ianto was here, was alive and breathing and his no matter what, he knew that now...
...but he wouldn't in an hour. In an hour they'd all go back to how things were. That, that was a loss worth crying over.
But he couldn't. Not in front of his team, not in front of Ianto. He had to be the strong one, for all of them.
Instead, he did something he also hadn't done in years. He completely let his shields down, let his mind brush gently against Ianto's. And you gave me a meaning too, Yan. He set the pill in front of Ianto, and touched his chin softly. I love you too.
Jack pulled away, trying to ignore the shocked look on Ianto's face, write it off as coming out of the hypnotic state as he calmly explained about the Retcon pill.
Ianto didn't even have to think twice, reaching out for his pill first and taking it. The unshakable, infallible loyalty took Jack's breath away while sending shivers down his spine. If he told Ianto to die, Ianto would, no questions asked. That, that was truly frightening.
Gwen and Owen followed Ianto's suit, but Tosh held on and fought. She really was giving up so much; it wasn't real, but it was real to her, and it broke his heart to make her take the amnesia pill, to make her give up what she so desperately wanted. He caught Gwen before she could fall and break her nose on the conference table, walking out of the room.
He stopped when the doors slid shut behind him, turning and entering the room again to look at his team. All of them so brave, doing what he'd asked of them while knowing that they were giving up something of themselves to do it. Their love, their loyalty, all of it given so unconditionally. It scared him to think what would happen if it didn't work.
He walked around the table once more as he looked down at their sleeping forms, sliding his fingers over Gwen's black hair, wiping away Tosh's tears, rubbing Owen's back soothingly and touching Ianto's face, tilting his chin up off his chest. He peered down at his lover's sleeping face, looking every bit as peaceful as when he watched him sleep in the few hours they left off for rest after spending the night together. He leaned down and softly kissed his mouth, and swore he felt Ianto return the movement in his sleep. He carefully lowered Ianto's head back to his chest, touching his hair softly before leaving the room for the second time.
He sniffled a little as he walked down to the vault where Adam was being held, the tears he'd held back in the conference room leaking out a little. He paused just outside the door, burying his face in his hands for a few moments as he composed himself. He'd never remember any of this, not feeling Ianto's overwhelming love, not the unwavering, unquestioned loyalty of his team, and it was All. Adam's. Fault.
He took a deep breath, wiping his face with his hands and preparing to do what he had to. The sweet memories, or his team. It wasn't even a question of which he had to choose.
His team weren't the only ones with infallible, unquestionable, unconditional loyalty.