Jack and Ianto private archives, season -1 -.09/19
Title: Jack and Ianto private archives, season 1.
Chapter 9 - A Broken Angel
POV: From Jack’s point of view.
Characters: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones and the whole team.
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Jack have trusted Ianto into investigating through the old archives he keeps down in the third basement.
Warning: always check for the point of view!
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money out of this, I’m just doing it for fun and because I love them, as you do.
Beta:otrame
From his office, Jack was watching the young man sitting on the edge of large table, turning his back to the camera. Ianto was skimming over one of the Big Torchwood diaries.
Jack sighed. He had trusted Ianto with the third basement secret archives’ key, and now the kid was using it to rummage in his past. Yet Jack had told him it was useless to look before 95.
Ianto was lying. He was manipulating him, using him. Jack could tell when someone was deceitful. After all he used to be a conman. Jack could tell Ianto was deceiving him but couldn’t figure why. It might not be anything he had to worry about. For all Jack knew Ianto could be simply hiding how much the battle of Canary Wharf had affected him. Jack knew Ianto had nightmare. He had one or twice made them go away.
Jack had tried to get Ianto to trust him, to confide in him, but the kid wouldn’t. Even if in some way he was calling silently for help. As if he was too afraid. As if he was keeping some overwhelming burden. Ianto was so young. What could that be?
“Jack, what the hell are you doing now? The newbie is on her own, and God knows what she could come up to.” Owen shouted from the main Hub.
Jack turned the screen off and took the SUV keys on his desk.
“Don’t get so excited, Owen, she’s not going to release sexual alien predators every day,” Jack bantered as he beckoned Owen to come along down to the car park access. Jack was hurrying ahead beckoning Owen hoping the medic wouldn’t notice someone was in the third basement archives.
But Owen did notice the light coming around the corner from behind the door.
“What? Jack, there’s someone in the archives!”
“I know. Come on!” Jack answered.
“What do you mean? The kid? The kid is in the archives. It’s only three month since... Jack. Even Suzie was never allowed in.”
“As for Suzie, it was probably wise, don’t you think so? As for Ianto, he is doing a search for me in his spare time.”
They had reached the car when Owen turned to face Jack.
“Is he aware you are going to retcon him?”
“Believe it or not, he was the one to suggest it.” Jack said, but in fact Jack was deeply hoping he would not have to.
It was late when Jack came back. He had dropped Owen and Gwen by their cars and had long sent Tosh home. The archives’ door was locked but he found Ianto asleep on the sofa in the main area. He was having a nightmare, again.
Behind his eyelid, Ianto’s eyes were moving frantically, the panic was warming up. Jack sighed and crouched beside the sofa, and then focusing on his own private peaceful place he placed his forehead against Ianto’s and very carefully Jack pushed the thought before Ianto’s dream. Ianto’s body relaxed, his breath calming down. Jack got back on his feet and contemplated the young man for a while. Ianto was reminding him of an angel. A broken angel.
Jack made some tea and went to drink it in his office. Ianto needed to sleep. Jack found one of the diaries on his desk. It was still stained with spots of dry blood. It was the 1999’s diary, the one he had found Annabel lying on. Jack had to repress the nausea.
Ianto had placed sheet of paper to point out some a specific entry.
1999, December 8th.
This morning, as I was on my way to the Hub, I ran into Kathy. She was erratic and aggressive accusing Torchwood of killing her son. “The medics are saying he was exposed to radiation. How could my son be exposed to radiation, tell me?” I didn’t know, but her son is dying from leukaemia. With Jack on the other side of the world, I just can’t get my self to believe it. How could Alex have been part of that?
Nathaniel? So that was it. Jack had always thought Alex was involved in one way or another. At least it wasn’t for money, but for his son’s sake.
1999, December 28th.
Jack is stuck abroad by the Storm. All airports are shut down. Alex is completely losing it. He is getting more frantic every day, now. I’m afraid he had come to understand that I know what he had done. I know what I should do, but since I got this job I have managed not to order anyone’s death. I would like to keep it that way. No the truth is, I’m kidding my self, waiting for Jack to take the decision out of my hands.
“Can I ask you a favour, sir?”Ianto was standing in the threshold. That kid might be a cat. It wasn’t the first time he’d managed to startle Jack like this. Without waiting for any answer the young man added “Retcon me please, Jack.”
Tears were running down his cheeks, he dried them with his crumpled suit cuff. Jack hugged him gently.
“I told you not to look before 95.”
“I had to, I would have never found out otherwise...” Ianto had to disengage from Jack’s embrace to run for the loo.
Jack went to the kitchenette and poured a glass of coke, and then he went to retrieve Ianto. It was probably not the first time the kid had been sick tonight, his stomach was empty.
Ianto took the glass Jack gave him without wavering.
“Thank you.”
“It’s only coke, I’m afraid. Sorry.”
“Jack...”
“Retcon is not always the answer, Ianto. After Canary Wharf we retconned all the survivors, apart from those would had disappeared into thin air, it didn’t prevent most of them from being interned in psychiatric-facilities.
“Sometime, like tonight, I could do with being turned into a vegetable. In fact, I even found the fact very attractive.”
“What you really need is some rest.”
“Yep. Only now I’ve got some more reasons to have nightmares.”
Jack made sure Ianto would not have nightmares, at least for that night.
Next morning.
“Okay kids. As the rift gives us a break, we’ll go on with some research.” Jack announced as everyone was having coffee on the conference table. “I want you to find out and list all cases of radiation casualties since 95, here across the United Kingdom. Focus on the unexplained one.”
“Are you saying we have a radioactive alien running out there for ten years?” Owen barked.
Later on.
“I would never have thought there could be so many cases. With this one we’ve got ninety-two of them.” Gwen said.
“I’ve got some victims from the Forces and even more among civilians, but most of them are Torchwood employees’ relatives.” Tosh added.
“From the Forces, can you be more specific?” Jack asked.
“No, Air Force, Navy... Nothing useful to get on with.” Tosh answered.
“I think I’ve got something.” Owen said “I’ve a list of thirty-five very interesting casualties, here. All of them had received organ transplants in the previous 5 years.”
“Ho, I’ve got two more here! Major Ken and Doctor Goodwill. The first one had a heart condition and the other... let me check...” Gwen shouted from her workstation.
“Oh, that’s very intriguing.” Owen said running through his data.
“What?” Jack asked.
“The donors.” Owen said “For each of these cases the donors had the same blood type. What are the odds?”
“Universal donors I guess. “ Jack said “Okay guys, good work. You can leave it now. Have a nice evening.” And with that Jack sent everyone home.
Ianto had been right. All those who had been implanted with his organs had died of leukaemia or other cancer associated with high exposure to radiation.
“Why looking for that now, sir?”
“Getting curious, now Ianto?”
“They turned you in some kind of organ bank. Jack, what does that man wants from you?”
“Not your business, Ianto. Get home, have some rest, you need it.” Jack said, but before the young man left he called him out “Ianto, one last thing. I know it isn’t the best time, but it will never be...”
“Yes sir?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, Ianto, but I can tell you’re lying.” Jack gave Ianto sometime to consider his position, but as the young man waited silently he get on “Don’t wait until it get too late. I would hate having to put a bullet in your head.”
Ianto dropped his gaze on the floor and then locked it back on Jack’s eyes with a very sad look.
“I’m sorry Jack, really sorry, but I’m afraid that’s what you’ll have to do in the end.” With that Ianto left without turning back.
To be continued. First chapter here and Master list here