Yesterday Is But Today's Memory - 7/19+Interlude
Title: Yesterday Is But Today's Memory
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R
Disclaimer: If I was the one who owned Torchwood, you think I'd admit it now?
Spoilers: Takes place post 2x05 'Adam', but mentions briefly minor info from later s2 eps. AU
Summary: It wasn’t the lost days that were really giving Ianto Jones nightmares. It was the fact that ever since, he’d suddenly been having flashes from another period of his life he’d thought was lost forever - his first ten years.
Warning: Some chapters of this fic will contain material some may find offensive. To go into more detail would be spoilery for the plot, but DO NOT READ if you are easily offended.
Thanks to: My wonderful betas morbid_sparks, cazmalfoy and angelzbabe1989, who talked me into writing this, then held my hand while I worked through the plot and filled all its holes.
Previous chapters at master list
Chapter Seven
Ianto curled against Jack a bit more, preferring his warmth to the cold of the archive wall they were sitting against.
“So it really was John Hart?” Jack asked incredulously, holding Ianto close. Ianto nodded against his shoulder.
“It was so detailed this time. And I was awake when it hit, so I can’t write it off as some mixed-up dream thing. It was him.”
“And he was, what, rescuing you?”
“Yep. At least, I assume so. It felt like rescuing. In theory, I guess it could have been a kidnapping of sorts, but even if it was, I don’t think it could have been as bad as the things I remember from being held by the creatures.”
“You don’t remember what happened after he pulled you out of the darkness?”
Ianto concentrated for a second, probing at the edges of the newly revealed memory to see if there was anything else there. “Nope,” he huffed when nothing appeared. “Although I don’t think I was much smaller than I was when I was found in Cardiff. I’m given to understand that children that age tend to grow quite quickly, so it can’t have been too long a gap in time.”
“Hmm…” Jack looked thoughtful for a long moment before sitting up straight as if something had just occurred to him. “You said there were a lot of people taking captives out of cells - do you remember anything distinctive about them? Badges, or uniforms or anything?”
Ianto’s brow furrowed as he thought hard, playing the scene back in his head. “Yeah, they did have uniforms, now that I think about it. They were sort of… sort of a cross between, I don’t know… between army fatigues and a Star Trek uniform. Not the original ones though, more like the Next Generation ones.”
Jack nodded. “Sounds like standard Time Agency raiding uniform.” He hummed thoughtfully. “We may have conned our way around a few galaxies for a while, but John never did cut all ties to the Agency in the same way I did. Didn’t have the same motivation to do so, I suppose. They must have called him back up to active raiding duty after we parted ways.”
“So you think I was rescued by the Time Agency?” Ianto asked. “Is that even something they would do? I thought you said they were more interested in temporal disturbances and timeline protection.”
“They are, mostly,” Jack confirmed. “But sometimes the Shadow Proclamation would requisition a squad for a mission that they considered the Judoon unsuitable for.”
“The Shadow Proclamation are like an intergalactic police force, right?” Ianto checked hesitantly.
“Sorry, yes, they are. I forget sometimes that you didn’t grow up with this stuff. And the Judoon are their uniformed force. Very good at storming in to arrest criminals by force; not so good when a slightly more delicate touch is required. That’s when they called in the Agency.”
Ianto nodded. “Right.”
“It was quite rare, though; they only bothered when they thought it was particularly important.”
“How did I end up abandoned in 20th Century Cardiff, then?” Ianto asked. “No, scratch that, I think I actually have a fair idea of how. Why?”
“Standard Operating Procedures,” Jack said. “If a victim is rescued during a mission, either as the primary or secondary aim of said mission, they should be returned to their home planet and time period, unless it is unsafe to do so, or if their home planet has been destroyed by either natural or unnatural forces in the intervening time since their departure from said planet.”
Jack spoke flatly, as if quoting from a set of written regulations long memorised. “If, for whatever reason, the victim cannot identify their home planet and time period, the procedure corresponding to an unsafe return environment should be carried out. A suitable safe location should be identified, and victim relocated to there.”
“And late 20th Century Cardiff was considered a safe location?” Ianto said incredulously.
“I didn’t say they were always necessarily very good at identifying relocation places,” Jack clarified. “If you were taking them to a point in the past you were supposed to make sure it would be relatively safe for the majority of their expected lifespan, but most agents only checked about five years past the drop-off point for any major disasters in the area. There weren’t all that many major rift events in your first few years here, so it would have come up as safe on that check.”
Ianto sighed. “And I’m assuming that the administration of some sort of drug or treatment with a similar effect to Retcon was standard too?”
Jack nodded. “Got it in one. Occasionally the rule was waived if they were being returned to their home, but in cases of severe trauma or relocation to an earlier time period, it was absolutely mandatory.”
They sat, curled close together in silence for a while, slowly digesting everything that had been revealed in the past hour or so.
”Jack?” Ianto eventually said.
“Yeah?”
“I know it’s highly unlikely that they could have figured out who I was, before. But, well, I’m assuming that they’ll have done medical tests and scans on me before they brought me here.”
Jack nodded. “Of course.”
“So they might have a little information on where I might have been from, originally. And, unless the creatures that took me had some way of travelling through time - and from what I remember, I doubt it - then whenever I was found would at least tell me when I’m from.”
Jack raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Very possibly. What are you actually suggesting here, Ianto?”
Ianto took a deep breath. “Do you have a way to contact John Hart?”
Chapter Eight
Comments and concrit welcomed - comments are love!! &hearts
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R
Disclaimer: If I was the one who owned Torchwood, you think I'd admit it now?
Spoilers: Takes place post 2x05 'Adam', but mentions briefly minor info from later s2 eps. AU
Summary: It wasn’t the lost days that were really giving Ianto Jones nightmares. It was the fact that ever since, he’d suddenly been having flashes from another period of his life he’d thought was lost forever - his first ten years.
Warning: Some chapters of this fic will contain material some may find offensive. To go into more detail would be spoilery for the plot, but DO NOT READ if you are easily offended.
Thanks to: My wonderful betas morbid_sparks, cazmalfoy and angelzbabe1989, who talked me into writing this, then held my hand while I worked through the plot and filled all its holes.
Previous chapters at master list
Chapter Seven
Ianto curled against Jack a bit more, preferring his warmth to the cold of the archive wall they were sitting against.
“So it really was John Hart?” Jack asked incredulously, holding Ianto close. Ianto nodded against his shoulder.
“It was so detailed this time. And I was awake when it hit, so I can’t write it off as some mixed-up dream thing. It was him.”
“And he was, what, rescuing you?”
“Yep. At least, I assume so. It felt like rescuing. In theory, I guess it could have been a kidnapping of sorts, but even if it was, I don’t think it could have been as bad as the things I remember from being held by the creatures.”
“You don’t remember what happened after he pulled you out of the darkness?”
Ianto concentrated for a second, probing at the edges of the newly revealed memory to see if there was anything else there. “Nope,” he huffed when nothing appeared. “Although I don’t think I was much smaller than I was when I was found in Cardiff. I’m given to understand that children that age tend to grow quite quickly, so it can’t have been too long a gap in time.”
“Hmm…” Jack looked thoughtful for a long moment before sitting up straight as if something had just occurred to him. “You said there were a lot of people taking captives out of cells - do you remember anything distinctive about them? Badges, or uniforms or anything?”
Ianto’s brow furrowed as he thought hard, playing the scene back in his head. “Yeah, they did have uniforms, now that I think about it. They were sort of… sort of a cross between, I don’t know… between army fatigues and a Star Trek uniform. Not the original ones though, more like the Next Generation ones.”
Jack nodded. “Sounds like standard Time Agency raiding uniform.” He hummed thoughtfully. “We may have conned our way around a few galaxies for a while, but John never did cut all ties to the Agency in the same way I did. Didn’t have the same motivation to do so, I suppose. They must have called him back up to active raiding duty after we parted ways.”
“So you think I was rescued by the Time Agency?” Ianto asked. “Is that even something they would do? I thought you said they were more interested in temporal disturbances and timeline protection.”
“They are, mostly,” Jack confirmed. “But sometimes the Shadow Proclamation would requisition a squad for a mission that they considered the Judoon unsuitable for.”
“The Shadow Proclamation are like an intergalactic police force, right?” Ianto checked hesitantly.
“Sorry, yes, they are. I forget sometimes that you didn’t grow up with this stuff. And the Judoon are their uniformed force. Very good at storming in to arrest criminals by force; not so good when a slightly more delicate touch is required. That’s when they called in the Agency.”
Ianto nodded. “Right.”
“It was quite rare, though; they only bothered when they thought it was particularly important.”
“How did I end up abandoned in 20th Century Cardiff, then?” Ianto asked. “No, scratch that, I think I actually have a fair idea of how. Why?”
“Standard Operating Procedures,” Jack said. “If a victim is rescued during a mission, either as the primary or secondary aim of said mission, they should be returned to their home planet and time period, unless it is unsafe to do so, or if their home planet has been destroyed by either natural or unnatural forces in the intervening time since their departure from said planet.”
Jack spoke flatly, as if quoting from a set of written regulations long memorised. “If, for whatever reason, the victim cannot identify their home planet and time period, the procedure corresponding to an unsafe return environment should be carried out. A suitable safe location should be identified, and victim relocated to there.”
“And late 20th Century Cardiff was considered a safe location?” Ianto said incredulously.
“I didn’t say they were always necessarily very good at identifying relocation places,” Jack clarified. “If you were taking them to a point in the past you were supposed to make sure it would be relatively safe for the majority of their expected lifespan, but most agents only checked about five years past the drop-off point for any major disasters in the area. There weren’t all that many major rift events in your first few years here, so it would have come up as safe on that check.”
Ianto sighed. “And I’m assuming that the administration of some sort of drug or treatment with a similar effect to Retcon was standard too?”
Jack nodded. “Got it in one. Occasionally the rule was waived if they were being returned to their home, but in cases of severe trauma or relocation to an earlier time period, it was absolutely mandatory.”
They sat, curled close together in silence for a while, slowly digesting everything that had been revealed in the past hour or so.
”Jack?” Ianto eventually said.
“Yeah?”
“I know it’s highly unlikely that they could have figured out who I was, before. But, well, I’m assuming that they’ll have done medical tests and scans on me before they brought me here.”
Jack nodded. “Of course.”
“So they might have a little information on where I might have been from, originally. And, unless the creatures that took me had some way of travelling through time - and from what I remember, I doubt it - then whenever I was found would at least tell me when I’m from.”
Jack raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Very possibly. What are you actually suggesting here, Ianto?”
Ianto took a deep breath. “Do you have a way to contact John Hart?”
Chapter Eight
Comments and concrit welcomed - comments are love!! &hearts