Syntropy (part two)
Title: Syntropy (2/10 + Epilogue)
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Jack & Ianto + other TW cast members
Summary: We learn a little about Ianto's past as Torchwood investigates a familiar situation.
A/N: This is the sequel to Something that Starts with "S". The AU defined in that story is carried on here.
Warnings: Any and all Torchwood foibles are fair game.
PART ONE
Ianto Jones knew he wasn't terribly special. If anything, Ianto Jones thought he must have been born under a black cloud at the same moment a mirror broke and a black cat walked across the path. His childhood was nothing like the idyllic scenes painted on television or in books, unless they were written by the brothers Grimm, or maybe Stephen King. He knew his family was different because none of his school mates had mam's that spent months at a time resting in hospital. But young Ianto didn't mind too much; he had a tad that loved him and spent time teaching his only child about the fine art of being a gentleman in his tailor's shop during the week and filled his weekends with cinema and rugby matches. When he was older and understood; his father explained his mam's condition and how she could be okay if they both took really good care of her.
It worked for a while; she had fewer and fewer episodes, but the strain of a mentally unstable wife, a completely dependent son and a failing business were finally too much for his poor tad to take. Ianto still remembers the day when he walked into his tad's little shop after school to find him laying on the floor- a full cup of cold coffee sitting next to the sewing machine. He remembers rolling his father over and holding him as he cried waiting for the police to arrive while looking at the deep red-purple blotch on the side of his face and feeling how cold his father's body was. Postmortem lividity was a term Ianto would never forget.
He was on the road to his own heat attack considering what he did for the next three years. Taking care of his mam, going to school and working multiple jobs to keep them out of the poor house. His schoolwork stopped being a priority so his grades weren't anything impressive, but he kept the social services people away for as long as he could until he was sixteen and came home to find that his Mam had tried cutting her demons out with a kitchen knife he'd forgotten to lock away. After finding his father; finding his mother was almost a let down; she'd at least kindly taken her life in the bathtub making the cleanup easy.
He was sixteen and on his own without family or a pound to his name after it was all done. He'd shared a flat with a revolving door of people; but one there from the day he'd moved in to the day he left for London was Colin.
Ianto stared at the photo on the screen as Jack waved a hand in front of his face, Ianto startled back to reality and looked at Jack and the others. "Colin. Colin Roberts. He was my best friend and flat mate after my mam died." Ianto rose from his chair and walked to the plasma screen to read the fine details, "This can't be true." Ianto spun towards Martha, "They say he died of a drug overdose? He'd never do drugs- he." Ianto stopped himself from continuing and gave Jack a hard look, "We're going to find out the truth," before walking out of the room.
Jack watched Ianto leave the room before turning back to Gwen and Martha, "Martha, hit the hospitals involved; see what you can find. Gwen, think you can dig out the missing police reports? Then both of you find out what you can about the medical examiner and how he fits in." Jack retrieved Branwen from Martha and headed out of the room, "I'll talk to him."
Ianto was in the old bunker with a well worn book in his lap, just flipping the pages without paying attention. Jack put Branwen down in her playpen where she rolled about with her overhead toys as he sat down next to the visibly distraught younger man. Jack wrapped an arm around him, just to offer comfort as Ianto kept looking at one of his old diaries without seeing it. He spoke quietly, "Colin kept me alive after." Ianto went silent, "Well; after." He lifted his eyes and looked at Jack, "I did some really stupid things Jack- you saw the police record, but that was just the time I got caught." Ianto reached into the back of the old book and removed a photograph, crumpled and repaired with cellophane tape. It showed a younger, rougher looking Ianto hanging in the arms of a young blond haired man with laughing green eyes. Jack could tell by the way Ianto's fingers ran over the picture that this was a memory he held close to his heart. Jack gave him a light kiss on the forehead before pulling him in tightly. Ianto tried to speak, but his usual cool exterior was cracking, "He kept me alive, stopped me from self destructing from drugs. He wouldn't go there." Ianto buried his face in Jack's shoulder trying to pull himself together.
Jack let Ianto regain his composure before pulling them up and walking over to playpen where Branwen was currently carrying out a lively discussion with the brightly coloured soft toys that she was slamming into each other. Ianto gave a small laugh under his breath, Jack smiled to himself as they watched their daughter carry on in her own little world. He turned to look at Jack, his calm restored along with cold determination whispered, "I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for Colin. I owe him Jack, he deserves better than to be nothing more than a drug overdose." He pulled free of Jack's arms and headed for the ladder back to the office.
He watched Ianto climb and disappear before turning back to their daughter in her playpen, she was looking at him with adoration, then flinched as bright light flooded the room. Jack spun around looking into the golden rift storm.
Martha was sitting at the cafe table trying to look friendly and supportive, but inside she just wanted to scream at the nurse across from her. Tom was sitting with them, prodding the nurse to continue with her story and at the same time keeping Martha from going off the edge. While Martha was an excellent doctor in her own right, she'd forgotten that for a doctor to survive in a hospital they had to stay on good terms with the nursing staff- especially when trying to get a story out of one clearly nervous about talking.
So far, the story was similar to most A & E cases, a young man was brought in by paramedics showing signs of cardiac arrest, the paramedics had picked him up a few blocks from a popular nightclub so the initial diagnosis was drug overdose. The attending was known to be a right arse when it came to drug related cases; but the nurses did their jobs like always- and that's when everything started going pear shaped. The nurse, Miriam, drew blood and was stunned when all she got was plasma; then another nurse found herself being showered in plasma when a vessel ruptured as she inserted an IV. Miriam set her tea down and looked at Martha, "It's just not possible. In all my years working in casualty, I've never seen anything like it. It was like he didn't have a single blood cell in his veins." It was only moments later when the young man died of heart failure. Miriam looked in her cup, "That wasn't the worst of it though- when we started asking questions, we were told to shut it and that it was a matter of national safety. People in suits came into the records office and pulled all of our files regarding that poor boy." She looked at Martha with tears in her eyes, "He was such a pretty lad, couldn't have been more than 25 and they just brushed him under the carpet. I've seen drug overdoses- they don't cause blood to separate."
Martha was frowning at Tom who shook his head at her to drop it. He was right, the nurse didn't know anymore than she'd said and from the sounds of it, a very professional clean up job had come in behind the case. She doubted that there would be even a scrap of paper with the patients name left in the hospital. Martha reached over and held the nurses hand, "Miriam, I really appreciate you telling me all of this. We're going to get to the bottom of what's going on- your patient wasn't the only one to die under questionable circumstances." Miriam looked at Martha with tears rolling down her cheeks, "Can you tell me just a few more things, if you can remember?" Martha encouraged the nurse who nodded. "Thanks. Do you remember his name and by chance do you remember the emergency contact listed?"
Miriam dabbed her eyes with her napkin before answering, "Colin Roberts was the name on his NHS card. The emergency contact was so generic we all laughed at the time- Ianto Jones." She laughed to herself as both Martha and Tom stiffened, "I mean, in Wales? It might as well have said John Smith."
Martha thanked the nurse and left her in Tom's care. Martha was out the door and walking towards her car to call in when she heard her name behind her. It was Miriam running towards her.
"I hope you can find the truth for that boy. I know we're not supposed to get attached to patients in casualty, but he reminded me of my son so much and I didn't want his mother out there thinking her little boy died like that." Miriam pulled a crumpled card from her pocket and handed to Martha, "I shouldn't have, but I took this from his effects- I hope it helps." Miriam turned and hurried back towards the cafe entrance where Tom was waiting for her. Martha looked at the card and quickly reached for her mobile and dialed without looking.
"Jack? I might have a lead."
Gwen was giving Andy Davidson her best encouraging smile causing him to roll his eyes. She laughed under her breath, "Not working is it?" She bumped Andy with her shoulder as he continued digging through the hard copy files. They'd searched through CRIMINT to no avail; all of the digital records were gone. Andy was more than a bit peeved about it especially when he saw a deletion code he didn't recognize, but Gwen wasn't too surprised. Andy was grumbling as he flipped through the bottom drawer of the file cabinet and crowed his success.
"I knew it! See, this is why I still believe in paper!" Andy slammed the file folder down on the nearest desk flipping it open to the report overview, "Yep; here it is. Man arrested, standard drunk and disorderly; locked him in the drunk cell waiting for the paramedic to come do a blood draw for a spec. When they showed up, he was dead in the cell with what looked like blood coming out of every orifice- excepting that it was too thin and didn't clot before we cleaned up." Andy flipped the page as Gwen read over his shoulder. "Guy was an escapee from a program- still had the wristband on. Body was transferred to the medical examiners office and filed as drug or alcohol related death." Andy handed Gwen the folder, "It's one of your spooky-dos isn't it?"
Gwen gave him a smile and took the folder, "We're not sure, but I let you know what we find out." She made to leave the room but quickly turned, "Andy? Thanks for doing this." Gwen made her way out of the police station and had her mobile out typing a text message letting Jack know she might have found something.
Jack and Ianto were looking around Colin Roberts' flat- it was a small place, but very much what Ianto would expect from someone like Colin. It was obvious that he lived alone, there wasn't enough clutter for two. It was also clear that someone else had made a sweep of Colin's place before them- no sign of a notebook, calendar or computer even though there were obvious marks where they previously lived. Ianto knew a couple of secrets about Colin so he went to check the bookcase in the bedroom while Jack, carrying Branwen, looked around the sitting area. Jack smiled at the photos arranged around the room; Colin had a very open face and Jack could see what Ianto found so appealing. Jack picked up a picture in a stained glass frame and looked at it fondly. It was Colin and Ianto laughing at the camera as they sat on the beach in nothing but swim shorts. Jack ran a finger over the image of Ianto looking so carefree and wished that Ianto could go back to those days again; but Torchwood took that away- the innocence probably died at Canary Wharf for him. He quickly set the frame down as Ianto reentered the room with a smile.
"Find something?" Jack asked.
Ianto nodded, "They may have done a clean of the place, but they obviously didn't know about his James Bond fascination." Ianto dropped a large vintage bible on the coffee table and opened it to show a personal journal, calendar and a data drive hidden in the cutout well of the book shell. "I think we need to get back to the hub now." Ianto collected the items and headed out of the flat, Jack close on his heels.
PART THREE
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Jack & Ianto + other TW cast members
Summary: We learn a little about Ianto's past as Torchwood investigates a familiar situation.
A/N: This is the sequel to Something that Starts with "S". The AU defined in that story is carried on here.
Warnings: Any and all Torchwood foibles are fair game.
PART ONE
Ianto Jones knew he wasn't terribly special. If anything, Ianto Jones thought he must have been born under a black cloud at the same moment a mirror broke and a black cat walked across the path. His childhood was nothing like the idyllic scenes painted on television or in books, unless they were written by the brothers Grimm, or maybe Stephen King. He knew his family was different because none of his school mates had mam's that spent months at a time resting in hospital. But young Ianto didn't mind too much; he had a tad that loved him and spent time teaching his only child about the fine art of being a gentleman in his tailor's shop during the week and filled his weekends with cinema and rugby matches. When he was older and understood; his father explained his mam's condition and how she could be okay if they both took really good care of her.
It worked for a while; she had fewer and fewer episodes, but the strain of a mentally unstable wife, a completely dependent son and a failing business were finally too much for his poor tad to take. Ianto still remembers the day when he walked into his tad's little shop after school to find him laying on the floor- a full cup of cold coffee sitting next to the sewing machine. He remembers rolling his father over and holding him as he cried waiting for the police to arrive while looking at the deep red-purple blotch on the side of his face and feeling how cold his father's body was. Postmortem lividity was a term Ianto would never forget.
He was on the road to his own heat attack considering what he did for the next three years. Taking care of his mam, going to school and working multiple jobs to keep them out of the poor house. His schoolwork stopped being a priority so his grades weren't anything impressive, but he kept the social services people away for as long as he could until he was sixteen and came home to find that his Mam had tried cutting her demons out with a kitchen knife he'd forgotten to lock away. After finding his father; finding his mother was almost a let down; she'd at least kindly taken her life in the bathtub making the cleanup easy.
He was sixteen and on his own without family or a pound to his name after it was all done. He'd shared a flat with a revolving door of people; but one there from the day he'd moved in to the day he left for London was Colin.
Ianto stared at the photo on the screen as Jack waved a hand in front of his face, Ianto startled back to reality and looked at Jack and the others. "Colin. Colin Roberts. He was my best friend and flat mate after my mam died." Ianto rose from his chair and walked to the plasma screen to read the fine details, "This can't be true." Ianto spun towards Martha, "They say he died of a drug overdose? He'd never do drugs- he." Ianto stopped himself from continuing and gave Jack a hard look, "We're going to find out the truth," before walking out of the room.
Jack watched Ianto leave the room before turning back to Gwen and Martha, "Martha, hit the hospitals involved; see what you can find. Gwen, think you can dig out the missing police reports? Then both of you find out what you can about the medical examiner and how he fits in." Jack retrieved Branwen from Martha and headed out of the room, "I'll talk to him."
Ianto was in the old bunker with a well worn book in his lap, just flipping the pages without paying attention. Jack put Branwen down in her playpen where she rolled about with her overhead toys as he sat down next to the visibly distraught younger man. Jack wrapped an arm around him, just to offer comfort as Ianto kept looking at one of his old diaries without seeing it. He spoke quietly, "Colin kept me alive after." Ianto went silent, "Well; after." He lifted his eyes and looked at Jack, "I did some really stupid things Jack- you saw the police record, but that was just the time I got caught." Ianto reached into the back of the old book and removed a photograph, crumpled and repaired with cellophane tape. It showed a younger, rougher looking Ianto hanging in the arms of a young blond haired man with laughing green eyes. Jack could tell by the way Ianto's fingers ran over the picture that this was a memory he held close to his heart. Jack gave him a light kiss on the forehead before pulling him in tightly. Ianto tried to speak, but his usual cool exterior was cracking, "He kept me alive, stopped me from self destructing from drugs. He wouldn't go there." Ianto buried his face in Jack's shoulder trying to pull himself together.
Jack let Ianto regain his composure before pulling them up and walking over to playpen where Branwen was currently carrying out a lively discussion with the brightly coloured soft toys that she was slamming into each other. Ianto gave a small laugh under his breath, Jack smiled to himself as they watched their daughter carry on in her own little world. He turned to look at Jack, his calm restored along with cold determination whispered, "I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for Colin. I owe him Jack, he deserves better than to be nothing more than a drug overdose." He pulled free of Jack's arms and headed for the ladder back to the office.
He watched Ianto climb and disappear before turning back to their daughter in her playpen, she was looking at him with adoration, then flinched as bright light flooded the room. Jack spun around looking into the golden rift storm.
Martha was sitting at the cafe table trying to look friendly and supportive, but inside she just wanted to scream at the nurse across from her. Tom was sitting with them, prodding the nurse to continue with her story and at the same time keeping Martha from going off the edge. While Martha was an excellent doctor in her own right, she'd forgotten that for a doctor to survive in a hospital they had to stay on good terms with the nursing staff- especially when trying to get a story out of one clearly nervous about talking.
So far, the story was similar to most A & E cases, a young man was brought in by paramedics showing signs of cardiac arrest, the paramedics had picked him up a few blocks from a popular nightclub so the initial diagnosis was drug overdose. The attending was known to be a right arse when it came to drug related cases; but the nurses did their jobs like always- and that's when everything started going pear shaped. The nurse, Miriam, drew blood and was stunned when all she got was plasma; then another nurse found herself being showered in plasma when a vessel ruptured as she inserted an IV. Miriam set her tea down and looked at Martha, "It's just not possible. In all my years working in casualty, I've never seen anything like it. It was like he didn't have a single blood cell in his veins." It was only moments later when the young man died of heart failure. Miriam looked in her cup, "That wasn't the worst of it though- when we started asking questions, we were told to shut it and that it was a matter of national safety. People in suits came into the records office and pulled all of our files regarding that poor boy." She looked at Martha with tears in her eyes, "He was such a pretty lad, couldn't have been more than 25 and they just brushed him under the carpet. I've seen drug overdoses- they don't cause blood to separate."
Martha was frowning at Tom who shook his head at her to drop it. He was right, the nurse didn't know anymore than she'd said and from the sounds of it, a very professional clean up job had come in behind the case. She doubted that there would be even a scrap of paper with the patients name left in the hospital. Martha reached over and held the nurses hand, "Miriam, I really appreciate you telling me all of this. We're going to get to the bottom of what's going on- your patient wasn't the only one to die under questionable circumstances." Miriam looked at Martha with tears rolling down her cheeks, "Can you tell me just a few more things, if you can remember?" Martha encouraged the nurse who nodded. "Thanks. Do you remember his name and by chance do you remember the emergency contact listed?"
Miriam dabbed her eyes with her napkin before answering, "Colin Roberts was the name on his NHS card. The emergency contact was so generic we all laughed at the time- Ianto Jones." She laughed to herself as both Martha and Tom stiffened, "I mean, in Wales? It might as well have said John Smith."
Martha thanked the nurse and left her in Tom's care. Martha was out the door and walking towards her car to call in when she heard her name behind her. It was Miriam running towards her.
"I hope you can find the truth for that boy. I know we're not supposed to get attached to patients in casualty, but he reminded me of my son so much and I didn't want his mother out there thinking her little boy died like that." Miriam pulled a crumpled card from her pocket and handed to Martha, "I shouldn't have, but I took this from his effects- I hope it helps." Miriam turned and hurried back towards the cafe entrance where Tom was waiting for her. Martha looked at the card and quickly reached for her mobile and dialed without looking.
"Jack? I might have a lead."
Gwen was giving Andy Davidson her best encouraging smile causing him to roll his eyes. She laughed under her breath, "Not working is it?" She bumped Andy with her shoulder as he continued digging through the hard copy files. They'd searched through CRIMINT to no avail; all of the digital records were gone. Andy was more than a bit peeved about it especially when he saw a deletion code he didn't recognize, but Gwen wasn't too surprised. Andy was grumbling as he flipped through the bottom drawer of the file cabinet and crowed his success.
"I knew it! See, this is why I still believe in paper!" Andy slammed the file folder down on the nearest desk flipping it open to the report overview, "Yep; here it is. Man arrested, standard drunk and disorderly; locked him in the drunk cell waiting for the paramedic to come do a blood draw for a spec. When they showed up, he was dead in the cell with what looked like blood coming out of every orifice- excepting that it was too thin and didn't clot before we cleaned up." Andy flipped the page as Gwen read over his shoulder. "Guy was an escapee from a program- still had the wristband on. Body was transferred to the medical examiners office and filed as drug or alcohol related death." Andy handed Gwen the folder, "It's one of your spooky-dos isn't it?"
Gwen gave him a smile and took the folder, "We're not sure, but I let you know what we find out." She made to leave the room but quickly turned, "Andy? Thanks for doing this." Gwen made her way out of the police station and had her mobile out typing a text message letting Jack know she might have found something.
Jack and Ianto were looking around Colin Roberts' flat- it was a small place, but very much what Ianto would expect from someone like Colin. It was obvious that he lived alone, there wasn't enough clutter for two. It was also clear that someone else had made a sweep of Colin's place before them- no sign of a notebook, calendar or computer even though there were obvious marks where they previously lived. Ianto knew a couple of secrets about Colin so he went to check the bookcase in the bedroom while Jack, carrying Branwen, looked around the sitting area. Jack smiled at the photos arranged around the room; Colin had a very open face and Jack could see what Ianto found so appealing. Jack picked up a picture in a stained glass frame and looked at it fondly. It was Colin and Ianto laughing at the camera as they sat on the beach in nothing but swim shorts. Jack ran a finger over the image of Ianto looking so carefree and wished that Ianto could go back to those days again; but Torchwood took that away- the innocence probably died at Canary Wharf for him. He quickly set the frame down as Ianto reentered the room with a smile.
"Find something?" Jack asked.
Ianto nodded, "They may have done a clean of the place, but they obviously didn't know about his James Bond fascination." Ianto dropped a large vintage bible on the coffee table and opened it to show a personal journal, calendar and a data drive hidden in the cutout well of the book shell. "I think we need to get back to the hub now." Ianto collected the items and headed out of the flat, Jack close on his heels.
PART THREE