Fragments of a Shattered Life 16
Title: Fragments of a Shattered Life
Part: 16/28-ish
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Explicit violence, non-con
Genre: Angst
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Tosh, Owen
Summary: The Doctor and Rose run into Jack after POTW but all is not as it seems. Note that this is a very dark fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N:
This is an AU so in my Torchwood, Owen, Tosh and Ianto run Torchwood 3, Ianto was transferred from Torchwood 1 in 2002 as a field agent (there is no cyber girlfriend in the basement).
Chapter 16: Through the Rift
The TARDIS loved Jack. She was a loyal friend and when she saw him jump unprotected into the maelstrom of a space time vortex she did everything she could to help. She couldn't transport him back out but she could reach into the vortex, provide some protection from the time winds, and manipulate the rift into providing a safe landing. And thus Jack emerged from the rift in Cardiff 2002.
As the rift released him his bracelets registered the lack of a dampening field and activated.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The sound of a rift alert echoed round the Hub.
As Ianto and Owen grabbed their gear, Tosh checked out the alert. “It's in an alley in Splott, I've got the address.”
Fifteen minutes later the SUV came to a halt (without a screech) at the end of the alley. Ianto, who was driving, had even parked legally. Exiting the SUV they walked warily into the alley, guns drawn. They couldn't see anything unusual at first so Tosh holstered her gun and activated the rift detector.
“There's residual rift energy over there,” she indicated, pointing to the far end.
They moved forward again, Owen and Ianto in the lead. When they passed a set of industrial sized bins they saw a body laying on the ground. First impressions indicated that it was a human but they didn't want to take anything for granted. And even being human didn't presuppose it was friendly.
As they got closer they could see that it was a man with short dark hair. He was dressed in a pair of loose trousers and a T-shirt. He was face down in the alley and shaking violently.
“Can you check him out Owen?” asked Tosh. “We'll cover you.”
Owen approached carefully and turned the man onto his back. As he moved him the man let out an agonised scream. “Jesus he's conscious!” Owen exclaimed. He quickly opened his medical kit and ran the Bekaran scanner over the man. “There doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with him. So why is he reacting like this?”
“Could it be mental rather than physical trauma due to the rift?” asked Ianto.
Owen ran his hands over the man's body looking for wounds or injury. “It looks exactly as if he's in a lot of physical pain but I cant find out why. We're going to have to take him back to the Hub like this. I dare not give him any drugs until we know what's going on.”
Between them Ianto and Owen lifted the man, having great difficulty due to the agonised writhing he was doing. They nearly dropped him a couple of times but eventually they got him settled in the SUV. Ianto drove back to the Hub where they took him down to the medical bay on a trolley.
Owen was at a loss. He just couldn't figure out what was wrong. It had been 2 hours since the man had come through the rift and he was no nearer understanding what was going on. And in the meantime his patient was suffering. Owen had determined that he was human so he could use normal painkilling drugs if only he could be certain they wouldn't interact adversely with whatever was causing the problem.
Two more hours later it was Tosh who made the breakthrough. By this point their patient was sobbing and whimpering heartbreakingly, occasionally he seemed to be pleading in a language they couldn't understand. Tosh was trying every scanner they had to see if she could detect anything anomalous and finally she did.
“It's the bracelets,” she cried in triumph. “They are feeding some kind of energy into his nervous system. So all we have to do is get them off him.”
“And I can give him drugs thank god,” said Owen. He filled a syringe with morphine and plunged it into his patient's shoulder. It took effect quickly and finally their patient relaxed into sleep. Owen relaxed too. Despite his sarcastic exterior he cared about his patients and hated to see them suffer.
With the man now happily unconscious they had the time to investigate the bracelets properly. Tosh moved in to take a detailed scan of each one. They were identical. They were very close fitting round the man's wrists and couldn't be moved up or down his arm. Though they couldn't be seen directly the scans showed that many thin filaments went from the undersides of the bracelets into his arms. Tosh's scanner could pick up the energy flowing from the power source in each bracelet through the filaments.
“They're barbaric,” said Ianto with quiet anger, “but how on Earth are we going to get them off him?”
“We can't cut them off him,” started Tosh, “I've scanned the circuitry, and its rigged to electrocute the wearer if the bracelet circuits or any filaments are broken.”
“Could you use the singularity scalpel?” she asked Owen.
“No,” he replied, then explained, “even if I was good at using it, I'd only ever manage to remove a compact object from something else, I'd never manage a ring shape. He'd lose his hands if I tried,”
Tosh stared intently at the circuitry diagram. “Perhaps there's some way to turn them off. I cant believe whoever put these things on him wanted to incapacitate him all the time.”
“Work on it Tosh,” ordered Owen, “I can keep him out for several hours but longer term we need to do something about these damn bracelets.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
With nothing more he could do at the Hub, Ianto went home to sleep. Owen slept on the couch in the Hub where he could keep an eye on his patient. Tosh stayed up late pouring over circuit diagrams.
Despite his absolute tiredness Ianto found it difficult to sleep. The awful plight of the rift victim was really bothering him. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the man writhing in pain. He was determined that they would fine some way to help him and if he ever met the people responsible for those bracelets he'd make them wish they'd never been born.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning Ianto arrived back at the Hub at 7am. Tosh was still awake, having had no sleep at all. Owen was still fast asleep on the couch.
Ianto went down to the medical bay to check on patient. He was still unconscious but starting to show signs of distress in his sleep. So Ianto woke Owen.
“I think he needs some more painkillers Owen.”
“You're right but I don't want to keep doing this much longer,” he replied. “Tosh have you any idea yet how to turn them off.”
Tosh looked up from her screen. “Yes I do. There's a detector in the bracelet that's looking for a signal. If we can send it the right signal it will deactivate the energy output. But it needs to be a continuous signal or the bracelets will reactivate.”
“And do you know what the right signal is?” asked Ianto.
“Just about,” said Tosh, “but we'll have to experiment until we get the right frequency.”
It only took half an hour to find the right frequency and a few minutes for Tosh to rig a transmitter up to send the signal throughout the Hub. The patient relaxed in his sleep before more painkillers were necessary.
“Thank god for that,” said Owen. “Now we need to decide what we're going to do with him.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ianto.
“Well,” continued Owen, “we know nothing about him. Perhaps there's a reason for these bracelets. Perhaps he's a criminal and dangerous. We have to treat him with the same caution we would anyone who comes through the rift.”
“You don't mean you want to lock him up,” gasped Tosh.
“Just as a precaution until we can question him,” Owen replied.
Ianto didn't like it but he could see the sense in what Owen was saying. “He's right Tosh we cant let our sympathy for him influence us, we have to put him in a cell for now.”
After Owen had checked him over to make sure there were no residual effects from the bracelets, they carried the rift victim down to the cells while he was still unconscious. They laid him gently on the bed in the cell. They had done their best to make it more comfortable with blankets and a pillow. A jug of water and a cup were left in one corner. Then they went back to the main Hub to carry on with their other work while waiting for him to wake up.
Chapter 17 is here ohinyan.livejournal.com/5394.html
Part: 16/28-ish
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Explicit violence, non-con
Genre: Angst
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Tosh, Owen
Summary: The Doctor and Rose run into Jack after POTW but all is not as it seems. Note that this is a very dark fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N:
This is an AU so in my Torchwood, Owen, Tosh and Ianto run Torchwood 3, Ianto was transferred from Torchwood 1 in 2002 as a field agent (there is no cyber girlfriend in the basement).
Chapter 16: Through the Rift
The TARDIS loved Jack. She was a loyal friend and when she saw him jump unprotected into the maelstrom of a space time vortex she did everything she could to help. She couldn't transport him back out but she could reach into the vortex, provide some protection from the time winds, and manipulate the rift into providing a safe landing. And thus Jack emerged from the rift in Cardiff 2002.
As the rift released him his bracelets registered the lack of a dampening field and activated.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The sound of a rift alert echoed round the Hub.
As Ianto and Owen grabbed their gear, Tosh checked out the alert. “It's in an alley in Splott, I've got the address.”
Fifteen minutes later the SUV came to a halt (without a screech) at the end of the alley. Ianto, who was driving, had even parked legally. Exiting the SUV they walked warily into the alley, guns drawn. They couldn't see anything unusual at first so Tosh holstered her gun and activated the rift detector.
“There's residual rift energy over there,” she indicated, pointing to the far end.
They moved forward again, Owen and Ianto in the lead. When they passed a set of industrial sized bins they saw a body laying on the ground. First impressions indicated that it was a human but they didn't want to take anything for granted. And even being human didn't presuppose it was friendly.
As they got closer they could see that it was a man with short dark hair. He was dressed in a pair of loose trousers and a T-shirt. He was face down in the alley and shaking violently.
“Can you check him out Owen?” asked Tosh. “We'll cover you.”
Owen approached carefully and turned the man onto his back. As he moved him the man let out an agonised scream. “Jesus he's conscious!” Owen exclaimed. He quickly opened his medical kit and ran the Bekaran scanner over the man. “There doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with him. So why is he reacting like this?”
“Could it be mental rather than physical trauma due to the rift?” asked Ianto.
Owen ran his hands over the man's body looking for wounds or injury. “It looks exactly as if he's in a lot of physical pain but I cant find out why. We're going to have to take him back to the Hub like this. I dare not give him any drugs until we know what's going on.”
Between them Ianto and Owen lifted the man, having great difficulty due to the agonised writhing he was doing. They nearly dropped him a couple of times but eventually they got him settled in the SUV. Ianto drove back to the Hub where they took him down to the medical bay on a trolley.
Owen was at a loss. He just couldn't figure out what was wrong. It had been 2 hours since the man had come through the rift and he was no nearer understanding what was going on. And in the meantime his patient was suffering. Owen had determined that he was human so he could use normal painkilling drugs if only he could be certain they wouldn't interact adversely with whatever was causing the problem.
Two more hours later it was Tosh who made the breakthrough. By this point their patient was sobbing and whimpering heartbreakingly, occasionally he seemed to be pleading in a language they couldn't understand. Tosh was trying every scanner they had to see if she could detect anything anomalous and finally she did.
“It's the bracelets,” she cried in triumph. “They are feeding some kind of energy into his nervous system. So all we have to do is get them off him.”
“And I can give him drugs thank god,” said Owen. He filled a syringe with morphine and plunged it into his patient's shoulder. It took effect quickly and finally their patient relaxed into sleep. Owen relaxed too. Despite his sarcastic exterior he cared about his patients and hated to see them suffer.
With the man now happily unconscious they had the time to investigate the bracelets properly. Tosh moved in to take a detailed scan of each one. They were identical. They were very close fitting round the man's wrists and couldn't be moved up or down his arm. Though they couldn't be seen directly the scans showed that many thin filaments went from the undersides of the bracelets into his arms. Tosh's scanner could pick up the energy flowing from the power source in each bracelet through the filaments.
“They're barbaric,” said Ianto with quiet anger, “but how on Earth are we going to get them off him?”
“We can't cut them off him,” started Tosh, “I've scanned the circuitry, and its rigged to electrocute the wearer if the bracelet circuits or any filaments are broken.”
“Could you use the singularity scalpel?” she asked Owen.
“No,” he replied, then explained, “even if I was good at using it, I'd only ever manage to remove a compact object from something else, I'd never manage a ring shape. He'd lose his hands if I tried,”
Tosh stared intently at the circuitry diagram. “Perhaps there's some way to turn them off. I cant believe whoever put these things on him wanted to incapacitate him all the time.”
“Work on it Tosh,” ordered Owen, “I can keep him out for several hours but longer term we need to do something about these damn bracelets.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
With nothing more he could do at the Hub, Ianto went home to sleep. Owen slept on the couch in the Hub where he could keep an eye on his patient. Tosh stayed up late pouring over circuit diagrams.
Despite his absolute tiredness Ianto found it difficult to sleep. The awful plight of the rift victim was really bothering him. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the man writhing in pain. He was determined that they would fine some way to help him and if he ever met the people responsible for those bracelets he'd make them wish they'd never been born.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning Ianto arrived back at the Hub at 7am. Tosh was still awake, having had no sleep at all. Owen was still fast asleep on the couch.
Ianto went down to the medical bay to check on patient. He was still unconscious but starting to show signs of distress in his sleep. So Ianto woke Owen.
“I think he needs some more painkillers Owen.”
“You're right but I don't want to keep doing this much longer,” he replied. “Tosh have you any idea yet how to turn them off.”
Tosh looked up from her screen. “Yes I do. There's a detector in the bracelet that's looking for a signal. If we can send it the right signal it will deactivate the energy output. But it needs to be a continuous signal or the bracelets will reactivate.”
“And do you know what the right signal is?” asked Ianto.
“Just about,” said Tosh, “but we'll have to experiment until we get the right frequency.”
It only took half an hour to find the right frequency and a few minutes for Tosh to rig a transmitter up to send the signal throughout the Hub. The patient relaxed in his sleep before more painkillers were necessary.
“Thank god for that,” said Owen. “Now we need to decide what we're going to do with him.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ianto.
“Well,” continued Owen, “we know nothing about him. Perhaps there's a reason for these bracelets. Perhaps he's a criminal and dangerous. We have to treat him with the same caution we would anyone who comes through the rift.”
“You don't mean you want to lock him up,” gasped Tosh.
“Just as a precaution until we can question him,” Owen replied.
Ianto didn't like it but he could see the sense in what Owen was saying. “He's right Tosh we cant let our sympathy for him influence us, we have to put him in a cell for now.”
After Owen had checked him over to make sure there were no residual effects from the bracelets, they carried the rift victim down to the cells while he was still unconscious. They laid him gently on the bed in the cell. They had done their best to make it more comfortable with blankets and a pillow. A jug of water and a cup were left in one corner. Then they went back to the main Hub to carry on with their other work while waiting for him to wake up.
Chapter 17 is here ohinyan.livejournal.com/5394.html