Finding Truth in My Existence Chapter One
Title: Finding Truth in My Existence Chapter One
Pairings/characters: Jack/Ianto, Team Torchwood, Paul
Warnings: Possible spoilers for S1-S3 Torchwood but nothing specific, spoilers for Twisted Showcase episode ‘Peter and Paul’, character death in this chapter, male/male pairing.
Summary: Torchwood/Twisted Showcase crossover- When a voice in Paul’s head told him to convince Jess to carry her pregnancy to term, he only slightly questioned his sanity. That all changed after he watched her get sucked through a rift in time and space before the child could be born. However, the biggest question is, what does it have to do with Ianto Jones, the well mannered, unassuming Archivist/Tea boy extraordinaire of Torchwood 3? More importantly, can Jack and Team Torchwood save him from the demon hidden within himself?
Disclaimer: Torchwood is owned by Russell T Davies and ‘Peter and Paul’ is owned by Twisted Showcase web series.
Rated: PG-15 (may change later)
Prologue here:
http://lorib12.livejournal.com/28781.html
Chapter One
Cardiff-Present
“What’ve we got?”
“Male, twenty seven years of age, goes by the name Paul Evans according to the identification found on his person. Passerby stumbled upon him in an alley, suffering from what appears to be shock. No obvious signs of injury.”
The attending in the local A & E had seen her fair share of trauma during her tenure and had an uncanny ability to gather a great deal of information with just a cursory glance; far more so than that of her counterparts on most occasions. What this particular patient was telling her was that he was suffering from some sort of traumatic psychological event. She’d even go so far as say that Mister Evans was on the verge of a complete and spectacular break down.
“Mister Evans, my name is Doctor Bowen. Can you tell me what happened tonight?” Paul’s eyes stared unblinkingly at a corner of the ceiling tile, showing no emotion and no hint that the words spoken to him reached his obviously stressed mind.
“Do we have any information to indicate what happened to him before he was found in this state?” The assisting nurse scanned the notes given by the PC who was first on the scene. “Apparently he was beating his hands against the brick of a building lining the alley he was found in. He was also muttering something that sounded like, ‘he took her’ over and over again, eventually going mute.”
Doctor Bowen examined Paul for any physical injury that may have caused is mental break just in case her initial assessment of a psychological event was incorrect.
“I don’t see any signs of a head injury, nothing to indicate what may have caused his state. Paul, can you hear me?” No response was forth coming.
“Paul, who took her….who were you referring to?” Those words seemed to penetrate his consciousness as Paul’s hand twitched and his eyes shifted slightly, showing terrible fear in them.
“That’s it Paul, can you tell me who ‘she’ is….was she with you in the alley?” Paul struggled on the table; his body and mind recalling the horrible events of just an hour before. Doctor Bowen tried to lay a restraining, yet comforting hand on his shoulders. “Tell me Paul; tell me what happened so we can help you.”
Paul cried out, shaking the doctor’s grip from his body; the gurney from which he was laid upon threatened to topple over in the wake of his obvious distress.
“Oh, God….Jess! It had to be him, he took her. He took Jess and the baby!”
Doctor Bowen, along with two other hospital personnel, restrained Paul’s movements once more. Now however, the doctor had a new concern; ‘where this woman was called Jess and the baby Paul was speaking of?’
“Paul, I need you to calm down, I need you to tell me where Jess and the baby are. We need to make sure they’re all right. Paul, did someone hurt them; did you hurt them?” At that, Paul became outraged, fighting with a strength that a man his size and build should not possess!
“2 mg Lorazepam stat! We need him to calm down before he hurts himself!”
Just before the sedative pulled Paul into a drug induced slumber, his last words were said with an air of pure hopelessness.
“Peter took her…..please Peter, give them back. Oh God, please giv……”
Cardiff-19th August 1983
“I’m pulling along the car park now, direct me in.”
“South wall, 45 metres on your right, it looks like it’s behind a structure of sorts.”
“Going in for visual….standby.”
“Keep your com open Harkness!”
“Sir, yes Sir!” ‘One time I get jumped (and didn’t that turn out to be a kinky night) by a shape shifting Cralolix after I gave the all clear, and my over protective boss has to have an open com at all times! I mean seriously, man that can’t die, remember?’
Jack came around the south wall to see a dumpster just ahead. Drawing his Webley, he approached the structure with caution. Slowly, he rounded the corner to see what looked to be a humanoid female curled into a fetal position, weeping quietly. As Jack drew closer, he also noted that there was a pool of blood beneath her.
“Hey boss, I’ve found what came through.” Quickly, he scanned the woman to make sure she was indeed human and not a threat, he approached her carefully. “Hi sweetheart, my name’s Jack, I’m here to help you.”
The woman didn’t move and continued to sob as well as whimper from obvious pain. Jack bent down in order to be at eye level with the frightened woman, hoping that the action would put her at ease a bit.
“What’s your name love?” Not daring to touch her just yet, Jack shuffled just a bit closer to her, to better asses her condition. The girl lifted her eyes to meet Jack’s and his heart nearly broke at the fear and pain that was so obvious for him to see within them.
“M-my n-name is Jess. It h-hurts….” Now Jack placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, hoping to convey that he was there to help and not to harm her or her unborn child.
“Nice to meet you Jess, I know it hurts sweetheart but I’m gonna get you to some help. I’m just going to step over there for a moment. I’ll be right back though, okay?” Jess nodded her head, too tired and in too much pain to do much else.
Moving out of ear shot from Jess, he relayed the information to the hub. “Ok boss, what we have here is indeed a human female confirmed by the scan. She doesn’t look to be from off world. I’m guessing she came from a different time; most likely future but not too far based on the clothes she’s wearing. She’s definitely Welsh….you know how I love listening those vowels, even if she did only speak a few words.” Jack turned more serious after his light hearted comment. “She is pregnant; heavily so. She’s in pain and bleeding….actually, more like hemorrhaging. I know Will is a good doctor, but I don’t think she’ll make it back to the hub. Hospital is closer.”
If Jack was honest with himself, he didn’t think she was going to make it out of the car park but he had to try. His boss broke into is thoughts.
“Your call Harkness, but scan her one more time for any anomalies, if she’s clean of alien influence than transport to the nearest A & E.”
Jack made his way back toward Jess, schooling his features as to not convey any of his worries regarding her dire situation. He kneeled back down to eye level with her once more after he completed the second scan.
“Ok Jess, you look like you need a bit of medical attention and even though I’ve done some triage in my time, I think this may be beyond my capabilities. So how about we get you to the hospital and see how you and your baby are doing, hmm?”
Jess nodded her head, but was very slow in moving due to the amount of pain she was in. Jack gently lifted her up and carried her toward the Torchwood vehicle. “Let me do the work Jess, you look like you could use a bit of help.”
She relaxed as much as she could in his arms given the circumstances. “Where’s Paul?”
Must be the beau, Jack thought. This could be an issue. “Is Paul your husband?” Jack opened the door to the passenger side of the vehicle and gently laid her across the back seat. She grabbed his arm as he was retreating from the car. She was obviously very frightened.
“It’s okay Jess; I’m just going to jump up front so I can get you some help. I’m not going to leave you alone.” The young lady relaxed a fraction and belatedly answered Jack’s question.
“He’s my b-boyfriend, he w-was with me, and t-then he wasn’t. W-what happened….w-where is he?”
This was a delicate situation. He didn’t want to lie to her but also didn’t want to upset her in her fragile state. “I’m not sure where Paul is love, but once we get you some medical attention, I’ll see what I can find out, okay?”
Jess looked very small and very frightened but Jack could also see the trust in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what he had done to earn it in the little time that he’d been with her but it proved a wonderful thing to keep Jess calm.
Jack asked a few questions on the way to the hospital. It served to keep Jess’s mind off her pain and to give Jack some essential information regarding where….and when she came from. What he could gather, she and Paul where living together in Cardiff, early twenty first century. He figured she must’ve fallen between twenty five and thirty years into the past through the rift. Jess also stated that the baby was to be their first and most decidedly unplanned, with Paul being very insistent on bringing the baby into the world. Jack was sure that there was more to the story but Jess was slowly losing consciousness due to her blood loss, Jack knew they were running out of time….quick!
“Ok love, were just about there. Hold on a bit longer for me, okay?”
Jack ran with lights all the way to the hospital and despite the feeling that it was a long journey, it was in fact, only 14 minutes from the time they left the car park and pulled up to the emergency entrance of the hospital. Jess was now unconscious and her breathing had become labored. Jack exited the vehicle and called toward two orderlies to bring a stretcher. Between them, they managed to get Jess into the A & E within seconds and under the care of a doctor. Jack stood by the door while he answered the rapid fire questions directed toward him.
“Who is she and what trauma has she sustained?” Jack obviously couldn’t tell the doctor that the poor girl had just travelled through a rift in time and space and that most decidedly caused unknown trauma to her already delicate state.
“Torchwood received a call regarding suspicious activities at a car park near Bute Park. When I got there, I found her in pretty much the state that she’s in now. Is she going to make it?”
Jack normally wouldn’t put much emotional stock into victims of the rift; if he did with every poor soul that he came across, he’d go insane. Jess though, she was so close to giving birth, to beginning a new chapter in her life with this Paul or hers and her new child. Jack couldn’t help but feel sadden by the fact that even if her and the baby she carried did survive, her lover would probably never see them again. It hit too close to home. It wasn’t that many years ago that Lucia gave birth to his beautiful baby girl, Melissa. Now, Lucia had gone into hiding and even if he’d be allowed to see his child, he’d never truly be able to be a father to her.
The doctor looked at Jack, having dealt on more than a few occasions with the likes of Torchwood, and it was never a pleasant thing to do, he knew that he was unlikely to get any further information regarding his patient’s condition from him.
“She’s lost a great deal of blood and the child is in distress. An operating theatre is being prepped as we speak for an emergency cesarean section. Does she have any family that we can contact that you may be aware of?”
Jack knew this man didn’t like him but that wasn’t his concern, or his problem. “Not that I know of; when I asked, she said there was no family and the baby’s father died months ago.”
The attending narrowed his eyes at the Torchwood operative but didn’t question the information he provided. “Are you waiting around for the outcome of this?”
It was Jack’s turn to narrow his eyes and spoke through gritted teeth: “I’ll be in the theatre’s waiting area. I’d appreciate an update once you’ve finished.”
As the doctor exited the room behind his patient, Jack heard a stern: “Very well.”
Jack paced the length of the waiting room. Despite the fact that he had been in Wales for more than a century waiting for his elusive Doctor, he had never managed to master the art of being patient. Just when he was about to demand of the desk nurse to find out what the hell was going on, he saw the attending walk somberly toward him. “How is she?”
The physician got right to the point as there would be no easy way to say this. “She didn’t make it. There was just too much blood loss when we got to her. I’m not sure what caused it, but she had a partial placental abruption that was most likely brought on by extreme stress to her body shortly before you found her.”
Jack had figured this would be the outcome but he was forever an optimist and was hoping beyond hope that she would beat the odds and pull through.
“What about the baby?”
“In many cases, an abruption can be fatal for the baby due to lack of oxygen in the womb but because it was only a partial, the child was able to maintain enough oxygen to sustain him until we were able to get him out. He’s a bit on the small side, as I suspect that she was about eight months along, but all things considering, he should fare well.”
Well that was something, Jack thought.
“Can I see him; the baby? I just want to see that something good came out of this tragedy.” ‘And to scan him to make sure he’s 100% human.’
Regardless of the negative feelings the attending had toward the man in front of him, he could tell that he was affected by the events of the evening.
“I’ll allow you to see him for a moment, but then he’ll need to be placed under a heating lamp to raise his core temperature. This way.”
Jack fell in line behind the doctor as he led the way to the nursery.
“What’ll happen to him now?”
The doctor opened the door and stood in front of a cot that held the beautiful child that was born into a world with no mother or father to care for him.
“We’ll notify social services, which will then look into any family he may have; if there is in fact no one to lay claim to him. Once that’s established, he’ll be put up for adoption. I’ll leave you to it, you have five minutes.”
Jack nodded absently, unable to tear his eyes away from the little boy before him. When the doctor left the room, Jack discreetly scanned the baby and confirmed he was in fact human.
“I’m so sorry you’ve had such a crappy start to your life. It happens to the best of us though; you and me kid, two people out of their time and for the most part, alone. You’ll be okay, though. You’ll get a new family who will love you and take care of you. I’ve no doubt you’ll have a good life; no memory of how you came to be. I only knew your mam for a short time but she seemed like a wonderful girl. I think she would be proud of you.”
Jack stroked the young boy’s cheek and stared into the tiny face that seemed to look right into him. ‘How is it that this child of no more than an hour old, is looking at me with soulful almost knowing eyes?’
“Get a grip Harkness, he’s just a baby.” With one last stroke down the boy’s cheek, Jack took his leave.
“Best of luck kid….have a good life.”
The baby settled into a peaceful sleep having no idea of the danger that lurked within him.
TBC
A/N: And now we move forward. What does all of this have to do with Ianto? Well, keep reading as our Ianto is in the next chapter and shortly thereafter he will start to descend into his own hell! As far as Paul’s story, we will see that crossing over with Ianto in later chapters. Hope you enjoyed it and let me know what ya think!!
A/N 2: In order to clear any confusion you may have: Peter, Paul, & Jess are characters from a web series short that Gareth did. He played both Peter and Paul. In the episode, Peter was a voice in Paul’s head that tried to convince Paul that Peter was his twin that died before birth and that baby Jess was carrying is a reincarnation of Peter. If you want to see the 14 minute video for a better idea, the link is below. If you don’t, be assured that it gets explained more and more as the story goes on. Thanks again!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSc0jWR1V1o&feature=youtube_gdata_player