(**) Torchwood Fic - Had I The Heavens (part 2)
Chapter 1
CHAPTER 2
The Dim and the Dark Cloths
John flicked idly through the gossip magazine - affairs, drugs, breakdowns - tame stuff. Hells, this world was dull. But it was still better than doing more research. He preferred to act on his impulses, within the beat of a moment. But Jack had taught him years ago that just because something was unpleasant didn’t mean it was unnecessary. Of course, Jack had taught him a lot of things - some of them quite inventive.
Adam was sitting in a corner, sifting through piles of print-outs and scribbled notes. For someone who had shown little inclination towards research before, he was surprisingly competent. Every now and then he checked something on his computer.
A few days before John had taken Adam for a test run at a computer store. It was surprising what you could get away with when people honestly remembered you giving them money. They were now well supplied with equipment - it was probably Toshiko’s idea of a wet dream.
It was only once he’d read the same sentence about some pop star’s new tattoo three times that he noticed his wrist strap had begun to emit a low, persistent beeping. He’d left it doing a deep level scan of the hubs computers, to see if there was anything they’d missed He glanced up at the screen in front of him.
“Someone has a hidden folder,” he said and Adam glanced in his direction. “Ah… Eyecandy…” He opened the folder and then leaned back, rubbing his head in annoyance. “It appears that Jack didn’t delete your stuff as well as he thought. He’s getting shoddy.”
“Shit,” Adam swore behind him, “Ianto ruined everything last time.”
“Hmmm… he does rather get in the way,” John wasn’t really paying attention but his mind paused for a second. Ianto Jones had been the one team member to surprise him, just for a second as the boy forced the lift doors open, ignored the gun and demanded to be told what he’d done - John had felt surprised. Of course they’d all surprised him in the end, especially Jack.
“What are we going to do? If they find the files once we’ve started, then everything will fall apart.” John felt a moment of satisfaction; Adam wasn’t even thinking anymore, he was just obeying. He really was stupid.
“It won’t be a problem. Files we can delete. But if he’s remembering you then it might be trouble,” John was thinking out loud. He liked the sound of his own voice and it was how he worked best.
“He doesn’t remember me; Jack made them all take that pill…”
“Retcon's not perfect. It never has been, even in the future. People fight it,” John was thinking out loud. “We need to know. Go to the Plass - bump into him - see whether he recognises your face. But that’s it, don’t do anything stupid, remember: only one of us has the right to think in this relationship.”
John couldn’t shake a sense of foreboding as Adam headed immediately for the door.
* * * * *
Ianto hesitated for a moment before heading into the hub. Last time Errol had decided to practice pouncing he’d been carrying a full tray of coffee. It had been caught on the CCTV cameras and he was still trying to live it down. Owen particularly had a habit of rewatching it every time he knew Ianto was around.
Thankfully things with the dragon seemed to be working out - mostly. Tosh had invented a chemical inhibitor that stopped him flaming and they’d managed to find a way to stop Errol eating everything in sight, even if it meant most of the Hub now smelled of linseed oil, but they were still trying to convince the dragon that they weren’t all large chew toys and he was still ripping up the Hub’s furniture every time he got bored. At least most of the stuff he ruined belonged to Owen. Owen was shouting now.
“I’m going to kill the little bastard!”
“If you’re talking about Jack, I will have to put it down in your personnel report,” Ianto told him wryly from the doorway. Owen spun round angrily, gesturing behind him.
“He’s stolen my jacket!” The ‘he’ was obvious. Errol was crouched above Owen on the gangway, dangling the jacket by its arm, just out of reach. Clearly wanting to play. Tosh and Gwen were watching the scene in obvious amusement and if Ianto wasn’t mistaken Jack, who he could just see in his office, was paying less attention to the work on his desk than was entirely proper.
“Why me?! Why is it always me?” Owen spat out in exasperation.
“He knows you don’t like him,” Tosh suggested, “Animals have a sixth sense about these things.”
“He’s not an animal - he’s a rabid, impossible, little demon.” Owen’s studies had yet to reveal anything about Errol that could be counted as making logical sense. He was taking the failure personally.
Ironically the truth of the matter was that out of all of them, Errol, in his coquettish, inconsistent, cattish way, probably liked Owen the best. Ianto would get his slightly aggressive, loving attention when he was hungry, but it was Owen Errol doted on. He spent hours curled up beside Owen’s desk and Ianto had even caught Owen absentmindedly scratching him on the neck while he was, blatantly and unconcernedly, playing cards on his computer.
Owen made a sudden grab for the jacket, missed as Errol jerked it out of the way and nearly fell to the floor, swearing. The others laughed. Then with a nasty tearing sound Errol ripped the jacket in half and began to chew insolently - if dragons could be insolent. Owen made a sound like a seal choking.
“But… But I loved that jacket.”
“Well, you did refuse to let us coat it in the spray,” Gwen told him.
“I believe you said it would have a negative impact upon your sexual charms,” Ianto added with mock helpfulness.
“Are you here for anything important, Ianto, or have you just come down to make my already-wonderful life more fucking ridiculous?” Owen asked him bitterly.
“Actually I just came down to say bye, I’m off for the weekend. Making your life miserable is an added bonus.” Owen laughed sharply without humour, all sullen anger, albeit with about as much commitment as a mayfly.
Jack hurried down the stairs, pausing only briefly to rub Errol’s nose, as Gwen and Tosh told him to have a good time at the weekend and wished him goodbye. Ianto struggled to stop his eyes following him and to squash the desperate hope that Jack might be coming to ask him to stay… or to come with him. But all his hints had been ignored so far, and there was no reason to think that this would be any different.
“I’ll come up to lock the door after you,” Jack said, dragging him away. Ianto heard Tosh giggle and then Gwen called after them:
“Be gentle with him, Jack.”
In a moment they were at the door of the tourist office, Jack holding it slightly ajar, his hand on Ianto’s hip pulling him in closer.
“I don’t have to go,” Ianto said suddenly. It sounded more vulnerable than he’d intended. “I could stay. Someone should be keeping an eye on Errol…” he tried keeping his voice even.
“We will manage without you, you know, it’s only three days - I think we can just about cope,” Jack replied with a grin, his eyes tracing the line of Ianto’s lips and then he leaned in for a kiss. Slow and soft, for a change.
“OK, maybe it will be harder than I thought,” Jack said as they broke apart, his eyes merry and he laughed. “Come on Ianto, don’t worry about us, go - see your friends, have a rest - we all need to get away from this sometimes.”
“All right,” he was already out of the door when Jack grabbed his hand again.
“Just make sure you come back quickly, OK? Because I’ll miss you,” it was simple and honest and partnered with a kiss. Quick and sudden and gone in a moment, leaving Ianto staring at the door for a second, knowing the room behind it was already empty again.
As he turned to leave, he bumped into a slight man with sandy ginger hair.
“Sorry,” Ianto said automatically. It was a moment before he realised that the man was gripping his coat sleeve and there wasn’t enough time for him to notice the stun gun.
* * * * *
Adam let Ianto fall to the floor, face first. He was only just beginning to stir. Getting him back to John’s house had been difficult, but manageable. He’d used Ianto’s car.
Opening the boot had confirmed what he’d already expected - the man was a freak. Everything had been neatly in place, tools and spare parts and essentials for a break down. Like some overgrown Boy Scout.
He’d been pleasantly surprised to find a roll of electrical tape and now Ianto’s hands were securely tied behind his back. There had been no sign of the diary though - that was more of a worry. What sort of grown man kept a diary anyway?
Ianto groaned and Adam rolled him onto his back, kneeling down to secure his feet. Once the job was done, he pulled over a chair and sat down to wait.
It was another ten minutes before Ianto opened his eyes, he blinked twice and then his eyes darted around the room before settling on where Adam loomed above him.
“Who are you?” He asked. Well, that was John’s question answered.
Adam reached down, pressing his fingers against his cheek, ignoring how Ianto flinched away.
“Remem…” Before he could finish, Ianto’s eyes widened and swept past him to the doorway.
“You.”
Adam spun quickly from the chair, knocking it over. John was in the doorway, his hair slightly damp and a towel in his hand. He only paused for a second, taking in the scene and then his hand was on Adam’s throat, throwing him against the wall and pinning him there.
It was the first time that John had touched him and for a moment Adam considered doing something, but the memory of a biting pain in his stomach stopped him.
“What the hell have you done?” John growled.
“Get off me,” Adam pushed him away, hard. John released him, but only took a single step backwards.
“I just told you to find out if he recognised you. I can’t believe that the first time I let you out of my sight, you’ve already managed to ruin everything. I’ve met some stupid…”
“Shut up,” Adam said angrily. “I’ve not ruined everything.”
“Oh yes? What do you think Jack’s going to do once he realises his boyfriend is missing? Shit.” John stalked away, and leapt into the large, comfortable chair in front of his computer. Ianto was watching them, silently.
“He won’t even know - not for days. They think he’s gone to London for the weekend.” John paused for a second and turned to look at where Ianto was lying. Their eyes met for an instant and then he turned back to the screen, scrolling through the CCTV footage from the last few hours, occasionally pausing to delete something, copying other files into its place.
“Fine. And what are you planning to do once the weekend’s over?” He asked after a while, his voice heavy with sarcasm. It was Adam’s turn to hesitate then, he knew what he wanted to do, but convincing John was another matter.
“I thought we could already be part of the team by then - I could make them forget that he ever existed.”
“It wouldn’t work. There’re too many things with his name on in there, unless…” John started and then shut his mouth firmly, deleting another piece of footage. He glanced back at Ianto, stood and walked slowly over to where the boy lay. Their eyes met, John’s gaze coolly considering, Ianto’s carefully blank. “See? He’s clever. He’s just lying there, listening, working out what’s going on and looking for a way out. What about the information we still need?”
“I can take it from him,” Adam said trying to keep the excitement from his voice, “Like you said: he listens, he knows everything about that place. He can tell us whatever we need to know.” John ignored him, staring down at Ianto.
“It’s not been your week, has it, Eyecandy?”
“He ruined my plans last time, if he’s not there…” Adam tried again and John looked up at him sharply.
“No. He just figured you out - you ruined your own plans. Fine we’ll do this your way, but let’s get one thing straight - you don’t touch him,” he gestured at Ianto, “unless I’m in the room.”
He turned to the desk behind him, grabbed a camera from the mess and snapped an unexpected photo of Adam. “Congratulations, Memory Boy, from now on you get to be Ianto bloody Jones.”
* * * * *
Owen and Gwen were already outside when Tosh arrived, Owen fumbling sleepily as he unlocked the door with a yawn.
“So Jack called you as well,” Tosh said.
“I think our contracts should make it clear that us working here doesn’t mean he can call us at 6am on a Sunday morning,” Owen grumbled. Despite herself, Tosh smiled.
“Did he sound slightly panicked to any of you?” Gwen asked, frowning slightly.
“Now that you mention it…” Tosh began but Owen interrupted her.
“He probably just doesn’t know where Ianto keeps the milk.”
Jacks phone call had been a brief flurry of worried mutters and rushed commands that she’d barely registered in her half-asleep state, but he had sounded panicked. Tosh really hoped the world wasn’t ending again.
Jack was waiting for them just outside the main hub, wearing Suzie’s old welding coat and looking slightly singed.
“Jack, if you’ve called us in for some kinky sex games I feel obliged to point out that very few people are sexually aroused at 6am…” Gwen told him sternly. In spite of himself, Jack grinned.
“Actually, you’d be surprised...”
“What’s happened?” Owen interrupted.
“It’s Errol, he’s being a little… frisky.” There was a slightly manic edge to Jack’s smile now.
'Frisky' wasn’t quite the word. Errol was clearly wired. His wide eyes rolled wildly as he gripped the sub-etheric resonator. The Hub was a wreck. It looked like it had been torn to pieces and some of it was still smoking.
“What did you do?!” Tosh asked Jack.
“Well I might have accidentally mixed up Errol and Myfanwy’s food,” he replied sheepishly.
“Jack - Errol is fed dog food, plain, bog standard dog food from a tin… how could you get that mixed up?” Owen edged closer to his desk.
“The other stuff was in a tin as well,” Jack said defensively as Errol let out a steady stream of flame.
“Oh, hell. You didn’t…” Owen began.
“I thought Myfanwy was fed on normal meat?” Gwen interrupted.
“Mostly,” Owen explained quickly, his mouth struggling to keep up with his mind, “But most animals’ biological makeup has changed in the last 65 million years, so once a week Ianto puts out food with a special chemical compound added to make sure that she gets all the minerals and bits and pieces she needs… which would explain the flames - it’s cancelled out the inhibitor.”
Errol was watching him as he reached his desk, his long neck snaking from side to side. Owen scrabbled in one of the drawers for a second.
“Have you got a plan, Owen?” Jack asked.
“I’m the improvisor,” he replied softly, “Here we go. If I can just give him this injection, it’ll put him to sleep until the affects of the compound wear off.”
“OK, nobody make any sudden movements,” Jack said but as Owen turned back to face Errol, the needle held in his fingers, the dragon suddenly leapt, pinning him to the ground. Owen shrieked and Tosh felt her heart miss a beat. Almost in slow motion, she saw Errol’s mouth begin to open. On either side of her Jack and Gwen, recovering from their shock, began to move forward. Fast. Then Errol licked Owen’s face.
Five minutes later, Errol was curled up asleep under Owen’s desk and everyone, except Owen, was laughing.
“It’s not funny all right?” he snapped at them, pulling his coat on.
“I think Ianto would disagree,” Gwen pointed out. “You should start an ‘I’ve been pounced on by dragons’ club - you could relive your traumatic experiences and shriek like girls…”
“Actually I thought Ianto’s was more of a surprised roar - quite manly,” Jack interrupted.
“Well he wasn’t pounced on by a fire-breathing little monster,” Owen spat.
“What are we going to do about the hub?” Tosh asked Jack. The place still looked like a very small, smoky hurricane had it.
“Ianto’s back tomorrow, he can deal with it,” Owen said, grinning suddenly.
“I’ll clean it up,” Jack grimaced.
“Do you need any help?” Tosh ignored Owen’s look of disgust.
“Go, go,” Jack waved them out of the door, “enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
Tosh glanced sideways at Owen as they reached the door of the visitors’ centre.
“So, have you got any plans today?” She asked trying to keep her voice bright and easy.
“No,” he replied shortly and then glanced up at her, “How about you?”
“Not really. Just shopping, or I’ll have to resort to eating the house plants.”
“Well, do you fancy meeting up for a drink later?” He asked, his tone offhand.
“Of course,” Tosh replied. Was this a date?
“What about you Gwen?” Owen asked and Tosh had to keep the disappointment from her face. Gwen shook her head with a grin.
“Rhys is making spaghetti bolognese. We’re going to have a quiet night in.”
“Great,” Owen rolled his eyes, “God it’s depressing that my entire social life revolves around this place. I’ll see you at the pub at seven, all right, Tosh?”
* * * * *
John sorted through his bag again, making sure everything they needed was there.
“Don’t do this,” Ianto said behind him.
He hadn’t spoken much since he’d been brought here, even while Adam had picked him apart as John watched on carefully, he’d kept silent. They hadn’t managed to find out everything, but they’d found out enough.
John didn’t turn round, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from flickering to the pile of photos. Ianto smiled up at him, squinting slightly into the sunlight. They’d gone through his flat carefully, removing any evidence of who Ianto Jones really was and carefully replaced them with images of Adam.
“He won’t forgive you,” Ianto tried again, “If you do this, he won’t ever forgive you.” John turned to look at him then. They’d padlocked him to a chair.
“He won’t even know I’ve done anything.”
“He’ll work it out, he’ll…” Ianto hesitated and John laughed.
“He’ll what, Eyecandy? He’ll remember you? Don’t flatter yourself.” He picked up the pile of photos and threw them in the metal bin at his feet. “You know, I’m doing you a favour. He would have left you in the end anyway.” They were silent for a few moments.
“You don’t know that.” Ianto’s voice was low and soft, his eyes fixed on the arm of his chair. John grabbed his bottle of vodka and took a long gulp.
“Really? He left me.”
“He’s changed.”
“Nobody changes,” John walked closer, crouching in front of the chair. “I was with him for five years - five years of thinking I meant everything to him He was my mentor - and then we got out of the time loop and he left. He didn’t even look back. That’s exactly the sort of person he is, Eyecandy. Drink this,” he pushed the bottle of vodka against Ianto’s lips, watching as he winced, “We’re going to be gone for a while and I don’t want you to be thirsty.”
As he pulled the bottle away, the vodka sloshed across Ianto’s chin. John reached up to brush it away, meeting Ianto’s eyes. His fingers grazed the boy’s lips. He paused. After a moment Ianto looked away.
“I don’t even know what he sees in you,” John said angrily and then stood quickly. He had seen the way that Jack looked at Ianto when they were alone as if he was the most wondrous, adorable thing he’d ever seen, as if he didn’t quite believe he was real.
He reached to put the vodka bottle back on the table and then hesitated for a second and dribbled a few drops into the bin. Carefully, he removed a match from the table, lit it and turned back to face Ianto.
“But I guess he won’t be seeing it much longer,” he let the match fall into the bin and was greeted by a rapid breath of acrid smoke. Ianto blinked once, but didn’t show any other emotion. John had wanted a reaction. He gritted his teeth, but didn’t do anything else to show his disappointment. He was scared of hurting Ianto Jones too much. John had seen Jack when he was angry.
“If… if this doesn’t work, remember that I didn’t let Adam mess with you,” he regretted saying it immediately and turned back to his bag. After a few more seconds he poured some water into the bin, but still didn’t look round.
“Ready to go?” Adam asked from the doorway.
* * * * *
Tosh shifted the shopping bags in her arms again, trying to find the keys in her pocket. She always bought too much food; it was probably a side effect of never knowing when you’d next have time to go to the shops.
Today she’d also bought a dress. It had been an impulse buy. At the time she’d thought she could wear it to see Owen that night. Now she wasn’t so sure - she knew he’d probably tease her and she was fed up of seeming desperate.
Her fingers finally found the missing keys and began to edge them out of her pocket.
“Damn,” she swore softly as she felt them tumble to the floor with a clatter. She started to bend down, uncomfortably aware that she was in danger of losing all her shopping, when someone else spoke.
“Let me.” It was a man, kind of cute, short with floppy hair. Like Owen when they’d first met, although he thoroughly denied the floppy hair now. He must be new to the apartments. “Do you want me to unlock the door?” He asked and bit his lip slightly. Tosh grinned at him.
“That’d be great, thanks.” He held the door open for her and she inched past him. It was only once she was in the hallway and turned back to say thank you and retrieve her keys that Tosh spotted John. She gasped and backed away quickly, reaching for the ear piece that wasn’t there. Before she had time to do anything else, he was upon her, a needle piercing her neck.
* * * * *
Tosh collapsed almost immediately, Adam only just got to her in time to catch her, shoving John aside. “Get the shopping,” he called behind him as he carried her up to her flat and was pleased to hear John swearing. It only took a moment to let himself into the flat; he’d done it before.
He laid Tosh gently on the bed, and sat behind her, brushing the hair away from her face.
“Don’t touch her,” John snapped from the doorway to the bedroom as he ungraciously dropped the shopping bags. Adam turned to him, angrily.
“I wasn’t.”
“Remember the rules - nothing that changes who they are, no making yourself important, no messing me around. Just make sure she remembers that you’re Ianto Jones and that I never betrayed them.”
“Fine,” Adam reached out laying his hand against Tosh’s cheek, John snatched it back, holding his wrist firmly and pulling him to his feet.
“I mean it,” his voice was low, “She’s off-limits to you, understand?” Adam nodded in response. “Now check whether there’s anything new that we should know.”
Adam knelt beside the bed, and reached for Tosh again, this time he pressed his fingers against her neck, just below her ear. He sifted through the recent memories gently and then stopped.
“What is it?” John asked, noticing the suddenly rigid set of Adam’s shoulders.
“She’s supposed to be meeting Owen at the pub later,” Adam replied just managing to keep the tightness and hurt out of his voice.
“Ah, a date! About bloody time, those two are worse than the soaps. At least we know where to find Dr. Harper now - that will save us time. Now get on with it, the sooner we’re finished the better. Oh and you’d better remove the memory of that date, or she’ll wonder why she missed it.”
Adam sat still for a few seconds, his fingers still on Tosh’s neck, feeling the steady beat of her pulse. Then he began. He worked in silence, carefully picking his way through her mind, plucking away unimportant memories and easing the new ones into place.
Explaining to John how this worked had been difficult - it wasn’t an exact science. It was emotional and instinctive, working out what memories needed to be changed, repressing the old ones until they were almost invisible and making room for what was to come. He could have simply deleted the old memories; that was safer for large stuff, the things it was hard for people to forget. There were ways to stop memories from ever resurfacing, small localised brain damage. John had been fascinated by that - but it was difficult.
John sighed behind him.
“We’re going to have to put her shopping away, aren’t we? Another job for you.”
* * * * *
Owen glanced at his watch again, it was starting to look decidedly like he’d been stood up… by Tosh. Sometimes just when you thought your life had hit an all time low, it found whole new depths to sink to.
“Stood up again?” The bar maid asked with a smirk and Owen decided he was really going to have to stop meeting his dates here. He grinned at her humourlessly.
“Here,” she pushed a pint towards him.
“Thanks,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Don’t thank me mate, it’s a present from a secret admirer,” she winked at him, “At least you’ve caught someone’s eye.”
Owen didn’t even bother to look round. He had no interest in playing games, if whoever had sent the pint was interested they’d have to come to him.
He’d nearly finished drinking it when John slid into the seat next to him. Owen glanced at him, took a moment to recognise him and then pushed himself, angrily, to his feet. Almost immediately he stumbled and John caught him.
“Sorry, looks like our friend can’t handle his beer,” Owen heard John say, as the world twisted and toppled around him, “We’ll make sure he gets home all right.”
* * * * *
Gwen snuggled deeper into Rhys’ neck, enjoying the sensation as he laughed.
“Come on, you mad woman, we need to do the washing up,” he chided her warmly.
“Can’t we leave it until tomorrow?” She asked crawling onto his lap, “I’ve done enough cleaning for today.”
“You mean can’t I do it tomorrow while you work late again,” he grinned and pulled her into a kiss. She smiled against his lips, breaking away slightly.
“Of course.” They kissed again, deeper this time and Gwen couldn’t help but groan as the doorbell interrupted them.
“We could just ignore it,” she suggested, but he pushed her back onto the sofa, getting to his feet.
“You go and check who’s at the door and I’ll do the washing up.” She sighed melodramatically and then did what he said.
She’d barely opened the door a crack when it was slammed open, knocking her painfully against the wall. Gwen barely had time to register that it was Captain John. She heard Rhys call her name, and managed to kick John once before the needle sank into her neck.
* * * * *
Jack wandered back into his office. he’d thought he’d heard a noise but it had turned out to be nothing. He picked up his coffee, took a deep sip and then grimaced. Too sweet and somehow he’d made it taste like chemicals.
He’d be glad when Ianto was back. Even if he was going to be told off for the state of the Hub. He’d done his best, everything was back in the right place - as far as he could remember - but it wasn’t like he could hang up posters to cover the scorch marks. At least Errol seemed none the worst for wear.
Jack drank the rest of the coffee quickly, reminding himself that he was drinking it for the energy boost and not the taste and settled down to finish his paperwork.
After about ten minutes he heard another noise. He was certain about it this time - there was somebody outside his office. It was probably Ianto back early. Jack grinned.
“Couldn’t bear to stay away?” Jack called, scribbling one final note before looking up.
“That’s right,” John replied.
“I told you to stay away from here,” Jack said firmly. He wasn’t going to get caught up in this again.
“Well, you know, you’re just addictive,” John took a step forward and Jack pulled out his gun, rising to his feet in one steady motion.
“Stay there.”
“Fine, it doesn’t make any difference anyway,” John paused, obviously noting the confusion on Jack’s face. He smiled. “I drugged your coffee,” he added as Jack began to topple forward.
* * * * *
“Remove all the memories of him and Ianto, of them together. Delete them, scourge them from his mind, wipe him clean - whatever it is you do,” John’s face was set and emotionless. “I want them gone.”
“I told you that was dangerous… it could go wrong,” Adam replied.
“Then be careful.”
Adam worked slowly, erasing some of the memories. Longing looks and kisses and soft, unsubtle, touches. But he didn’t remove all of them: he left the most treasured behind. When he took memories away, they were gone, forever. If he just suppressed them, covered them with new memories and ideas, they could come back whenever he wanted.
And one day he might need Jack to remember how he felt about Ianto Jones.
It wasn’t as if John would ever find out.
CHAPTER 3