First and Last 2/7
Title: First and Last 2/7
Authors:
leofuller and
the9thdoctor
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: 15ish
Spoilers: All of S1 and 2. Set Post-Exit Wounds.
Summary: An early morning phone call brings bad news to Torchwood only weeks after the loss of Tosh and Owen - the police have found the SUV burnt out at the foot of a cliff, and Torchwood have to carry on without Ianto.
Jack refuses to accept that Ianto’s not coming back despite all the evidence to the contrary - but maybe there’s more to the crash then they realise…
Prologue
And good luck to
phantomreviewer - We hope the exams went Ok!
Chapter 1
The Hub, which had seemed empty without Owen’s sarcasm and Tosh’s quiet genius, was desolate without Ianto. Jack sat in his office and stared into space, and Gwen tried to run Torchwood on her own for three days before her patience snapped."I need your help, Jack."
Jack continued to stare past her, eyes unfocused."I can’t do this on my own, Jack. The tension rose in her voice. “I lost them too. We have to keep going, that’s what you said, before, we have to keep going.”
Jack still didn’t react when she came round the desk and leant against it, right next to his chair.We need more people. We need to get Torchwood running again so that we can mourn them all without the world coming to an end.”
Jack transferred his gaze to the ceiling, drew in a deep breath, then met her eyes and gave her a curt nod.
Gwen left him alone and went to make some phone calls.
Jack knew in his heart that Gwen was right, but it didn't seem to make it any easier. She had been doing a good job trying to hold everything together, but it hadn't been enough. Torchwood was finally crumbling around them, and they needed to pull together to prevent it. That was easier said than done.
It was almost a cliché, but Jack had discovered that he honestly had no idea what he had done before Ianto had insinuated his way into their lives. The pizza boxes were piling up and it was pretty much only Gwen that was eating them, their files were being stuffed into any old drawer they could find, and Jack was actively dreading the moment they would have to find one of them again.
It was a mess, but Jack figured he was probably more of one than the filing cabinets or available flat surfaces. It wasn't as though he had ever taken Ianto for granted, that was nigh-on impossible, but it had been all the things that the young man had done. Jack swallowed. The first time he had left the Hub after Gwen's phone call, Jack had stood next to his coat stand and tried to remember the last time he had had to lift it up and put it on himself. He could almost feel ghostly fingers brushing his collar.
Only they weren't ghostly, were they? Jack refused to think like that, despite the increasingly worried looks he had been receiving from Gwen, he was still so certain that Ianto was alive. He had even sent for a DNA comparison between the corpse they found with the SUV and the phial of blood that Ianto had donated to the Torchwood archives. He drummed his fingers on the desk, and looked out at Gwen talking animatedly on the phone. Maybe she was right, he could get out there and carry on with his job. He had to. He'd done it before and this was no different, right?
He sighed again. They needed a new Medic and a new Technician, but he knew there was one role he was going to be keeping vacant.
Finally, and making a mental note to impress upon their new recruits the importance of tidying away ones own litter, Jack stood up and left his office to join Gwen in the main Hub.
"That’s lovely. I’ll see you soon.” Gwen was finishing her call when he reached her desk.
"That was Joanne from the forensics lab. The DNA results are ready.” Gwen reached out and laid her hand on Jack’s sleeve. “She’s bringing them over.”
"What? Why is she coming here?”
“Because we need a doctor, and I think she might suit us.” Gwen told him bluntly. “If she doesn’t like us, or we don’t like her, it won’t take much Retcon to fix it. I’ve been talking to her on the phone quite a bit recently, and I think it’s worth a try.” She didn’t add that the reason she’d spoken to Joanne so often was due to Jack’s insistence that she chase the DNA results far more than was really necessary.
Jack looked around the Hub, trying to see it through a newcomer’s eyes.
"We need to clean this place up.”
Gwen stood up, sending her chair skittering backwards. “We’ve got an hour, then. I’ll start this side, you start over there.”
Dr Joanne Meyburg arrived at the Tourist Office, where Gwen met her and took her down to the Hub. Jack could barely get through the introductions before he was reaching for the envelope Dr Meyburg was holding, the one which would confirm for him that it wasn’t Ianto’s body the police had found after all.
As soon as he had the envelope, he retreated into his office and shut the door. "I’m sorry, he’s taking it very hard.” Gwen said, as Joanne stared around her in amazement.
"What was it you said you do down here?”
Gwen bit her lip. Here went nothing... “We, uh... Well...” she sighed, trying to remember what Jack had told her when she had stumbled on Torchwood for the first time, but then at least she had at least some kind of idea about what she had found. “Right.” she tried again, resolutely not glancing over at Jack.. “It's like this...”
Jack's hands shook like crazy as he fingered the thin brown envelope. It felt like it had been years since he had ordered this test to be carried out, and it was all he could focus on. He was half aware of Gwen and Joanne in the Hub, but really his world had narrowed down to this one thing. Nervously, he opened the flap of the envelope and felt for the flimsy pieces of paper inside.
This was it. The proof he would need to convince Gwen that he wasn't going crazy, that Ianto was still alive out there somewhere and that something must have happened to him...
He unfolded the sheaf of paper, it was covered in a lot of very long and scientific words, but the one at the bottom was the one that made the least amount of sense to Jack.
He could feel his knees going wobbly, and sat down, just as Joanne yelled “What!?”. A small part of his brain idly realised that Gwen had probably just told her about aliens, but most of Jack's mind was concentrating too hard on the word 'Match', and all that it entailed.
After a few moments of shock, Joanne had apparently decided to suspend her disbelief and was taking in everything Gwen was telling her about Torchwood and the Hub. They’d got as far as the autopsy bay when Gwen spotted Jack through his office window.
“I just need to…” she indicated the office. Joanne glanced up at where they could see Jack slumped at his desk, and nodded.
“I’ll just keep looking around, if that’s okay? I won’t touch anything I don’t recognise!”
Gwen patted her absently on the arm and hurried up to Jack’s office.
“Jack?”
There were tears in his eyes when he looked up. Wordlessly he held out the DNA results. Gwen walked round the desk and looked at the paper.
“Oh, Jack.” Gwen put her arms around him.
Jack straightened up as soon as Gwen touched him and rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah...” he muttered, half to himself, before jerking his head in Joanne's direction. “How is she taking it?”
Gwen bit her lip, unsure as to how best comfort Jack. “Quite well, I think...” she replied quietly. “Uh, would you like to talk about it?”
Jack shook his head. “Not right now Gwen, please. Anyway, shouldn't you be conducting an interview?”
Gwen glanced over at Joanne, who was peering at some paperwork left on Owen's old desk. “I thought you might like to...” she tailed off, Jack was shaking his head.
“I trust you.” he said, “Just let me... Just give me some time, Ok?”
Gwen nodded and moved towards the door. “You're going to have to talk to her at some point, Jack.” she told him.
Jack looked up at her, suddenly looking old. “And I will. You go ahead and give her the guided tour. I'll meet you both in the bar across the Plass.”
Gwen nodded, knowing that Jack found it easier to Retcon people in pubs - he'd done it enough times - and if Joanne wasn't going to fit into Torchwood then he would want to take her memories as quickly as possible.
“We'll be there by six.” she said, before heading back to see to the doctor.
Jack watched her leave, taking Joanne up to the hothouse, before shrugging on his coat and going to find a roof.
True to her word, Gwen arrived in the bar with Joanne just before six. Joanne was still brimming with questions, and Gwen looked pleased with how the afternoon had gone.
Jack had been in the bar for around half an hour, nursing a glass of water and resisting the temptation to get very, very drunk.
"Hi Jack.” Gwen pulled up a chair as Joanne slid onto the bench seat opposite Jack. “You okay for a drink?”
This was Jack’s chance to insist on buying the drinks, so that he could put Retcon in Joanne’s glass if they decided not to hire her.
"Joanne.” Jack spread the DNA results on the table. “This can’t be right.”
“There’s no mistake.” She told him.
“But it can’t be.”
“I ran the tests myself, Captain. These results are correct. We ran two sets of the samples, and they’re a perfect match. I’m sorry, I know you don’t want it to be true, but it is.”
“Are you sure?”
Joanne fixed him with an unflinching gaze. “I’m certain. I’m good at my job, Captain.” Jack looked away first.
He produced some money and pushed it across the table to Gwen.
“Do you mind getting them in, Gwen?”
No Retcon.
"Oh my God! And then he said, 'Yeah? Well maybe I'd show you a good time!'. I tell you, I haven't laughed so hard in my entire life!” Joanne cackled loudly, waving a pizza slice in the air. Gwen giggled along with her, and Jack could tell she was happy to have another woman working in the Hub. In fact, they were swiftly becoming close friends, thought Jack - going for coffee together, buying shoes... whatever else it was that female friends did together.
Jack, meanwhile was trying to pull himself back together. He'd even tried a bit of lighthearted flirting with Jo, who was blonde and freckly and had a tendency to drink too much Malibu. Jack knew for a fact that she was single, and if he had been feeling like his old self it wouldn't have been too much hard work to convince her to join him in his quarters after Gwen had gone back to Rhys for the night. But he couldn't do it.
He smiled at the two girls, who were now discussing some movie star who's face Jack couldn't quite picture. Jo had been convinced that the body had been Ianto's after they had trusted her with the details of what had happened to Torchwood in the previous few months. She said it was going on a million-to-one that it hadn't been, but there was a part of Jack that was still holding out hope. He'd beaten million-to-one chances before, and hopefully this was just another one. They would find him...
"Jack?” Gwen brought him back down to Earth.
“Huh?”
"Oh for heaven's sake!” said Jo, dropping her pizza crust and wiping her fingers on her ratty jeans. “Pay attention! Did you see that guy on the news?”
"Which guy?” asked Jack, confused. “Brad Whats-his-name?”
"No! The one with the telescope up on the Beacons... The one who says he saw the alien spaceship!”
"What?” Jack stood up. “Some guy has seen an alien spaceship and no-one told me?”
"I left the newspaper on your desk.” said Gwen, reproachfully.
"Oh. Right... Well. Remind me of the basics?”
Gwen sighed. “This lad has been spending every night up on the Beacons, because he reckons he’s seen an alien spaceship. Nobody’s taking him seriously, it’s only in the papers because he’s been up there every night for three weeks straight, but we ought to check it out just in case. He’s pretty determined.”
Jack darted into his office, found the newspaper underneath that month’s electricity bill and took it back out to read. "I’ll handle this one.” He said. “Standard Nerd Procedure.”
"Standard what?” Joanne asked, laughing.
"Nerd Procedure.” Jack told her. “Look at this. Twenty-six, single, lives with his parents. He’s a computer programmer, for God’s sake! And it even says here that he’s a life-long alien enthusiast.”
"So… what’s Standard Nerd Procedure?” Jo asked.
"Tell ‘em the truth.” Jack said. “Nobody’ll ever believe him…”
Samir adjusted the telescope focus again. It had been three weeks since he’d seen the spacecraft, but he wasn’t going to give up. He’d got the video camera ready this time, and then they’d HAVE to believe him.
"It’s not going to show up, you know.”
Samir turned round. There was a guy walking up the path towards him, hands in his pockets.
"It will.”
"Nope. Sorry. They were lost, we redirected them and they’re now a very long way away. You won’t see them again.”
Samir stared at him, open mouthed. The guy walked right up to him.
"Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood.”
"Sam.” They shook hands. “How do you know so much?”
Jack grinned. “It’s my job. Want to come and have a look?”
Samir peered at him, “Pardon?” he asked, not quite sure of what he was hearing. “Look, did you just say that you REDIRECTED the ship?”
"Yup. All part of the job.”
"What job?”
Jack's hands vanished into his pockets again. “Do you want to come and have a look?” he repeated.
"A look at what?” Samir asked suspiciously. People had often said that he was crazy, but he knew what he had seen, and at least he'd never implied that he actually had any contact with aliens.
Jack sighed. “And I thought you were clever...” he said.
"I am clever.” Samir said, knowing he wasn't being big-headed about it. It was true, after all.
"Right, well... Come on then...” Jack turned and wandered off back down the hill. Samir could just make out the dark shape of a large vehicle parked in the lay-by. He looked at the telescope, then at the sky, and finally back at Jack. He had reached the car now and was leaning on the bonnet.
'Torchwood...' thought Samir to himself. He'd read all the rumours on the internet about them, of course, and several guys on the message boards had had long discussions about them and what they thought they did. They would all be green with envy if they found out that Samir had been approached by one of them - if this Jack guy wasn't a total loon, obviously.
He sighed and packed away the delicate equipment. Chances like this only came along once in a lifetime, and Samir knew that if he passed it up he'd probably be kicking himself for the rest of his life.
"Wow. This is… pretty damn cool.”
"Yeah. I guess it is.” Jack couldn’t help but pick up on Samir’s enthusiasm as he showed him around the Hub. He was also fascinated by the way their visitor wasn’t in the least bit fazed by the aliens. He hadn’t flinched from Janet, and had made friendly overtures to Myfanwy - even more unusual was the positive way the pterodactyl had responded to Samir.
He left Samir clutching a mug of the industrial strength tea that Joanne brewed almost constantly and making noises at Myfanwy, and wandered over to Gwen.
"What do you reckon?”
"He seems… open minded.” Gwen agreed.
"Let’s give him a test.” Jack moved with a burst of his old energy, plucking a piece of technology from the pile which was growing on what had once been Tosh’s desk. “Hey, Sam!”
"Jack!” Gwen hissed. “What if it’s dangerous?”
"It’s okay.” Jack reassured her. “I’ve seen these before.”
Samir reached them, and Jack held out the item. “Can you tell me what this is?”
Samir took the item from Jack and turned it over.
After a few seconds he glanced up at Jack. “Well, at a guess, I'd say it was some kind of communication device. There seems to be some kind of microphone...” he turned it over again. “But then again, there doesn't seem to be any controls... So I'd have to say it was the wrong end of a one-way communicator.”
Jack beamed.
"Was I right?” asked Samir, looking surprised.
"Not really.” said Jack, taking it back off him. “Almost entirely wrong, actually... But it was a logical mistake to make, and that's what counts.”
"Oh.” said Samir. “Right...”
Jack dropped the machine back on the cluttered desk and rubbed his hands together, “So,” he said. “Do you want a job?”
Jack was sitting behind the desk in the tourist office, flicking idly through a report and resolutely not thinking about Ianto. Normally Gwen or Joanne kept an eye on the office, since Samir was totally incapable of giving accurate directions, and Jack liked to think that he had more important things to do, but today Gwen had called in sick and Joanne insisted that she had too much to do with the dead alien that had floated to the surface of Cardiff bay the previous day, so Jack found himself stuck up here in what had been Ianto’s territory.
"Good morning.”
Jack looked up at the woman who’d just walked in. "Good morning. How can I help?”
"Are you Captain Harkness?”
"Yes.” Jack wondered what this was about.
"I understand you have a temporary vacancy for a receptionist.”
Jack dropped the file onto the desk.
"Where did you hear that?”
The woman walked right up to the desk. “My name’s Margaret.” She produced a document from the large shoulder bag she carried.
“Here’s my CV. You’ll see I have more than twenty years of relevant experience.”
Jack gave the document a cursory glance, still slightly off-balance from the unexpected applicant.
"So, why do you want to work here? Why do you need to take on a temporary job?”
"Because my husband died six months ago. I need a change.”
Jack got to his feet. “Do you know what we do here?”
"I assume there’s more to it than this office.”
"Would you like a tour?”
Gwen was a little concerned at how quickly Jack was prepared to employ Margaret, without discussing it with the team. She understood that this was partly because he identified with Margaret’s recent bereavement, but there was also the worrying suspicion that Jack thought Margaret had been sent by Ianto.
Joanne wasn’t too worried. She hadn’t been at Torchwood long enough to consider anything to be more unusual or weird than anything else, and Margaret was good at the job. The tourist office functioned, and the neglected filing system was up and running again.
Samir didn’t mind.
Margaret ran the tourist office, ordered the supplies for Torchwood, and made sure that they all ate. And somehow. Torchwood kept going.
~~~
Gwen strode into the Hub and dropped her bag onto her desk. She was almost getting used to coming to work and seeing Jo poking around in the autopsy bay and Sam hunched over the rift monitor wearing his latest garish shirt.
"Jack, as was becoming more and more usual, was nowhere to be seen. The first few times, she had searched the Hub for him, even going so far as to climb down the ladder to his room under the office. He'd never been there, or anywhere else. Gwen drew the line at checking the roof of the Millennium Centre - if Jack wanted to go that far to be alone, then Gwen wasn't going to deny him that. She just hoped he wasn't tormenting himself with thoughts of Ianto. She understood that it must be hard on Jack, Gwen had even gone so far as to buy a few books on dealing with loss after... well, she'd bought them when she had thought that they might be useful. She knew all about the stages of mourning, but Ianto had been dead for a couple of months and Jack still seemed to be clinging to the idea that he was still alive.
Gwen had had a private talk with Jo and she had repeated that there was nothing wrong with the DNA test she had performed - the match between the corpse found with the SUV and the sample of Ianto's blood kept at the Hub was as close to 100% as made no difference. Ianto was gone and Jack needed to cope with it. All this moping and self-deluding was not doing Jack any good at all.
There was a beeping noise as an alert came through from one of their monitors. Gwen sighed and shrugged off her jacket.
"What is it?” she asked Sam.
Jack asked me to run some scans. We’ve had more reports of unexplained livestock deaths.”
There had been a spate of odd deaths on local dairy and sheep farms over the past couple of weeks. All the recognised animal diseases had been ruled out, foot and mouth, blue-tongue, and Defra had asked for Torchwood’s opinion on the situation.
"Anything coming up?” Gwen draped her jacket over the back of her chair and crossed to Sam’s desk.
"We’ve got strange heat residues on the farm.” Sam pointed out the coloured patches on the screen. “We’ve had them at all the sites where we’ve been notified within 12 hours of the animal’s death. They fade within 24 hours.”
"Any idea what’s causing them?”
Sam shook his head. “Not yet. We’re running scans for any unusual heat patterns in the hope that we can pick up the next one and get there a bit quicker.”
"Got any yet?”
Sam wrinkled his nose. “I think so...” he pointed at the screen and Gwen peered at it.
"Are you talking about those wavy lines?”
Sam nodded. “It's only a minor fluctuation, but it might be worth checking out.”
Gwen sighed. “Now all we have to do is find Jack.” she said, “Anything else?”
"There might be...” he replied. “There have been some funny readings in Bristol.”
"I didn't think our equipment scanned out that far.” said Gwen, surprised.
"They didn't.” admitted Sam, “I did a bit of tweaking. Jack said that we were the only people worrying about aliens around here, so I thought that the more info we got, the better...”
Gwen nodded. ”All right,” she said, “That makes sense... What kind of readings?”
"I'm not really sure, they don't tend to last long enough to get any clear signal. It could be anything.” he admitted.
"Well, we'll put that to one side for the moment then. Can you produce a report on the animal deaths? We'll show Jack as soon as he reappears. It sounds like it's worth following up.”
Sam nodded. “No problem.”
Gwen didn’t miss Owen’s driving. Over the last few months it had become usual for Sam to take the wheel when the team went out, and gradually they had come to expect the vehicle to stay in lane and not break the speed limit unless there was a genuine crisis, like an escaped alien or closing time at the pub.
Jack had returned to the Hub quickly when they called to tell him to come back - after a very loud argument with Gwen, he’d agreed to Jo’s suggestion that he would always answer their calls if they only called him about important Torchwood business.
He’d agreed with Sam’s readings, and now they were on their way to a sheep farm which was showing some very interesting heat patterns.
"Turn left up here.” Gwen was reading the map. They’d all been reluctant to get a new sat-nav after the ATMOS problems.
Sam indicated, slowed down and turned up the farm track.
Gwen glanced around, it all looked normal. They could just about see the roof of a small farmhouse at the end of the track. She could hear Jo tapping at the computer keys in the back of the car.
"The signal's getting stronger.” she said, “To the right...”
Sam drew the car to a halt, and Jack swung open the door. “Let's go...”
Jo pushed open her own door and grimaced at the muddy ground. Gwen and Sam followed Jack into a field, where he was fiddling with his wrist strap and glancing around him.
Gwen moved to stand beside him. “Are you getting anything?”
Jack drew in a deep breath. “Oh yes... I'm getting a reading alright...”
"Well?”
Jack seemed to ignore her and began jogging over to the corner of the field, where a thick hedge gave way to woodland. She glanced back at Jo and Sam, who shrugged, and followed him again.
What they found made her wish that she hadn't.
"Oh Christ, that's DISGUSTING!” cried Jo as soon as they caught sight of the mutilated creature hidden half under a bush. “What the hell is it?”
"I think it *was* a sheep.” muttered Sam, hastily pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressing it to his mouth and nose. He half-heartedly waved a scanner in the things general direction. “I'm getting strong readings, Jack.”
Jack seemed unmoved by the corpse, and nodded. “It's not been dead long.” he said, “Whatever did this can't be far away...”
"Oi! What the hell are you doing?” The team turned to see a very angry farmer storming across the yard towards them, clutching a shotgun.
"Police.” Gwen told him, showing some id too quickly for the farmer to read. He relaxed his shoulders and lowered the gun.
"About time.” He grumbled. “It’s not just kids mucking about any more, it’s real damage they’re doing. It’s my livelihood they’re destroying.”
"Why don’t we go inside, and you can tell me exactly what’s been happening while my colleagues take a look around.” Gwen gestured towards the farmhouse. The farmer nodded. Gwen and Sam followed him indoors, leaving Jack and Jo to explore the outbuildings.
"It’s not just my farm.” Tom Hughes handed Gwen and Sam a mug of tea each, and settled into a battered armchair. Gwen and Sam sat on the sofa opposite. “They’ve been to most of the farms round these parts, getting into the barns, upsetting the livestock.”
"What are they doing?” Gwen asked, taking a sip of very strong tea.
"That’s the thing.” Tom leaned forwards. “They take an animal out, leaving the others, and they kill it. Might be some sort of black magic…”
"Some sort of ritual?”
"Not just that. There’s an extra animal. There’s a dead sheep out there, and it’s one of mine, definitely, but I’m not missing any. There’s something very strange going on.”
"What happened, then?” Jack stood with his arms folded, looking down at where Jo was crouched next to the sheep carcass. Jo wrinkled her nose and prodded the sheep with her equipment.
"Well, it doesn't look like it's been mutilated in the classic sense of the word.” she said, peering back up at Jack. “You know, like X-Files style. If I had to guess, I'd just say it... well... died.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “I can see that.” he said, “Of what?”
Jo shrugged. “I have no idea. There doesn't seem to be any fatal wounds. Whatever did this,” she gestured to the carcass, “did it after it was already dead. Probably natural predation. Of course, that doesn't rule out things like poison. Maybe poachers are putting some down.” she suggested.
"I doubt it. Poachers around here would be poaching for food. Poison just wouldn't work. Most likely they'd use traps… So you can't tell what killed it?”
Jo shook her head. “If it wasn't for all the odd readings Sam has been picking up, I'd say it was natural.”
Jack nodded again. “All right. So, what do you recommend?”
She stood up and carefully peeled off her latex gloves. “I'd say we should pinpoint the readings. If it's alien, and it's been happening over a period of time, then surely the chances are they should still be around?”
"Good thinking.” agreed Jack. “If you can put that in the SUV, I'll go and see what Gwen and Sam have found out and then we can see if we can track anything down.” he turned towards the farmhouse. “There's body bags in the boot.” he called back over his shoulder.
Jo looked down at the carcass, sighed, and pulled her gloves on again.
Back at the Hub, Gwen was making lists and sticking pins in a map of south Wales on the wall by her desk. Jack came and stood just behind her, watching.
"I can’t see any patterns.” She said, stepping back beside Jack and staring at the pins in the map.
They stood in silence for a moment, until Jo shouted from the autopsy bay.
"Hey! You might want to take a look at this!”
Gwen turned and strode across the Hub to see what Jo had found, leaving Jack staring at the map.
"What is it?” she asked as she walked down the stairs.
The dead sheep was laid out on the trolley. It wasn't exactly the strangest thing Gwen had seen in the autopsy bay, but it was quite high up on the list. Jo had sliced it open and gruesome organs were inhabiting kidney dishes on the nearest table.
Jo prodded at the rest of the carcass and glanced up. “I was right.” she said, “It died naturally.”
Gwen walked to stand beside her. “So this wasn't part of the alien activity?”
"Quite the opposite actually. If anything, it makes the whole thing even more confusing.”
Gwen frowned. “What do you mean?”
"Well, I'm not a vet, but this sheep appears to be mature, yes?”
"Yes.” agreed Gwen, wondering where this was going.
"Then I'm completely confused as to how it managed to live for so long with no lungs.”
"No lungs?” echoed Gwen. “What do you mean? Are you sure they haven't been eaten by whatever caused the rest of the damage?”
Jo shook her head. “There was no sign of predation of the chest cavity. The animal has somehow managed to grow to full size without a significant amount of its internal organs.”
Gwen blinked. “That doesn't make any sense...”
"Cloning.”
"What?” Jo turned to look at Sam, who was leaning over the railings looking down at them.
"Cloning. The farmer said he had an extra sheep. You wondered how it lived so long without lungs - it didn’t. That’s why it’s dead. It’s an incomplete clone.”
Gwen and Jo stared at him.
"You know…” Gwen said slowly “there might be something in that… Jack? Jack!”
They found Jack still staring at the map. Jo explained quickly what she’d found and Sam’s theory. Jack nodded.
"Inept cloning. Sounds like we’ve got visitors using our planet for testing.” He folded his arms. “I don’t like that.” He turned back to the map, and Gwen’s pins. “Sam, we need to pick up those heat traces the moment they appear and we need to get straight out to wherever they appear.”
"Okay. I’m on it.”
"Jo, I need to know as much as you can tell me about the cloning. Everything that’s missing, and anything which is there which shouldn’t be, any implants, that sort of thing.” Jo nodded. “Gwen, keep collating the data we have from those farms, see if we can work out where they might go next. Cross reference it with the crop circles database.” Gwen looked a little put out, but went back to her computer and got to work.
Jo delivered her report a little while later, putting it on Jack's desk along with a cup of coffee.
"Do you know what's going on?” she asked, hovering by his desk as he flipped through the file.
Jack half shrugged, obviously not paying too much attention. “I think I might...” he muttered.
Jo sighed and left him alone to his thoughts.
Jack turned the pages of the folder Jo had given him again. If Sam's readings were correct, then the aliens had been taking samples from Earth for a few months, and given that they had been cloning them...
He dropped the pages back on his desk and surreptitiously checked that nobody was watching him before cradling his head in his hands. It had been months, and Ianto was still missing. He knew Gwen was worried about him, that she knew he still thought of his lover as 'Missing' rather than 'Dead', but it was impossible for him to think of him any other way. Strange to think that despite all the people he had lost over his life he simply couldn't accept Ianto was gone for good - but then, that letter had a lot to do with that, didn't it?
Gwen's voice cut through his thoughts and he mentally shook himself. They needed to get to the bottom of this. It must be the answer he'd been looking for. It had to be.
"You know,” Sam remarked, “when I signed up for hunting aliens and keeping Earth safe, I didn’t expect goats"
"This isn’t too bad.” Gwen told him. “It’s dry, it’s warm, there’s no running involved.”
"Apart from the smell.” Jo commented.
"Apart from the smell.” Gwen conceded. “That’s pretty bad.”
"Ssh.” Jack hissed from near the doorway. “They’re coming!” Everybody ducked down in the straw and kept very still as the barn door creaked open.
Moments passed, and Jack finally leapt to his feet and pointed his pistol at a tall, faintly yellow humanoid with a goat tucked under one arm and a guilty expression on his face.
Jack narrowed his eyes as the alien flapped at him and whistled in a mildly affronted way.
"Speak English.” Jack ordered, “I know you can.”
"Oh, alright then.” said the alien. It sounded high-pitched and oddly South African.
"What have we here then?” asked Jack, keeping a tight grip on his gun. “I know you know this planet is protected under the Shadow Proclamation, and as such, you have no right to conduct any kind of testing and experimentation here.”
The alien sighed. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to conduct any kind of ground-breaking scientific research these days? You can’t test at home, you can’t test on people, there’s always some kind of protest group… and do you know how much paperwork you have to complete to get a license for any kind of machinery. It’s impossible!” It threw all four of its arms up in the air, dropping the goat in the process. The goat bleated, and started to chew on the trailing hem of the alien’s robe.
"Well you can’t test here either!” Gwen protested, climbing to her feet and brushing straw off her jacket.
"What are you testing for, anyway?” Jo asked.
The alien looked even more guilty. “Just your standard cloning experiments.” it replied.
Sam frowned, “You mean you haven't managed to work that out yet?” he asked, “I mean, we're pretty close to it and we didn't have to cross the galaxy.”
Gwen could see Jack raise an eyebrow in question at the alien.
"Ah.” stuttered the creature. “You are, are you?”
"Yeah, we can do sheep and everything.” said Sam, obviously trying to keep a straight face. “They can even walk about and, you know, breathe and stuff.”
The alien scowled, “It's slightly more complex than that.”
"Well, as fascinating as this is,” broke in Jack, “The big question is, what have you done with him? Is he still on board your ship?”
The alien looked confused. "What have we done with who?”
"With Ianto.”
"What’s Ianto?”
"Jack… They haven’t got Ianto.” Gwen laid her hand on Jack’s arm. He shook her off.
"How can you know that? They’ve taken Ianto, they’ve cloned him, and the body we found was the clone. They’ve got the real Ianto somewhere.”
"Jack, you must know that’s not true.” He turned and looked at her. “Look, these guys didn’t take Ianto. They didn’t clone him.”
The alien shook its head vigorously.
"We’ve seen what they do. They steal sheep, and they can’t even clone them properly. There’s no way that they could clone Ianto.”
"And we don’t take the originals.” The alien added helpfully. “We’ve got nowhere to keep them.”
"I…” Jack looked from one person to another. The alien looked regretful, as if it wished they had stolen Ianto so that they could give him back. Jack started towards the door, and then turned back and walked towards the alien. “Get off this planet. Go away, don’t come back. Go somewhere else and do something useful.”
The alien backed up as Jack approached. It fished in the pockets of its robe, produced what had to be an alien mobile phone, and pressed some buttons.
"Hello, Bob? Can you pick me up early? Bit of a situation down here…”
The atmosphere in the SUV was tense as they drove back to the Hub. Nobody seemed to want to say anything. Jack had jumped into the driver’s seat and nobody had dared to challenge him. Gwen could see Jo and Sam exchanging nervous looks in the back seat, and she bit her lip. It was time to have a serious talk with Jack, she thought, but she wasn't going to do it in front of the others. This was something that they wouldn't really understand.
Jack pulled into their parking space and slammed on the brakes. Gwen jolted in her seat, but before she could say anything or even unbuckle her seatbelt, Jack was out of the car and striding away from the Hub.
"Where's he going?” whispered Jo, the first thing any of them had said since the alien had left.
"He's gone to find a roof.” said Gwen, with conviction.
"He does that a lot, doesn't he?” Jo asked, “Look, what's going on, Gwen? I know it's not our place to say, but we'd appreciate knowing.”
Gwen nodded. “It's about Ianto.” she said, “Jack still thinks he's alive.”
"I've told him, those tests were 100%.” said Jo, sounding confused. “Why does he think that?”
"I don't know.” admitted Gwen. “He hasn't said. I think he's just fooling himself.”
"Well?” asked Sam.
"Well what?”
"Go and talk to him then. I think he needs you.” pushed Sam, unlocking his door.
The wind whipped around him as he looked out over the city. Jack stuck his hands in his pockets and fingered the fraying piece of paper that he carried around with him constantly. He'd read it so many times it was soft and worn. He had every word memorised, especially the postscript.
He pulled it out again and looked at it, holding it tightly in case it blew away.
You're not a monster, you never have been.
The words echoed in his head. He had been wrong about the aliens and their cloning. He knew that, he could cope with it, no problem, but he knew he was right about this. He had only known Ianto for roughly two years, but he understood him. You couldn't be that close to someone and not understand them on a much deeper level. Jack knew what Ianto had meant by those final words...
As if summoned by his thoughts, Gwen pushed open the door to the roof and glanced around. Once she saw him she set her expression into one of determined compassion and strode towards him. Jack stuffed the letter back into his pocket and crossed his arms in preparation for the 'talk'.
"I miss him too, Jack.” Gwen came and stood next to him, staring out across the city. “It wasn’t the same for me, I know that, but I miss him too, and I’m the only person who’s going to understand.”
"He’s not dead.” Jack stated. Gwen turned her head to meet his eyes. “I don’t know how I know, and I don’t know what’s happened to him, but I know he’s alive somewhere.”
Gwen bit her lip. “I’d like to believe that, I really would, but all the evidence…”
Jack walked away to the other side of the roof, and stood with his back to her, hand in his pockets. Gwen followed.
"Jack. If there was any way I could believe that Ianto was still alive, I would. But I’ve seen the evidence, and I had to accept.”
"He could have run away. He could have… faked his own death.”
"How could he do that? WHY would he do that?”
"I… can’t explain that.”
Even with his back to her, Jack could see Gwen’s ‘humouring people’ face.
"You need to let him go, Jack. Whether he’s… dead, or whether he chose to leave. If he chose to go, then he’ll come back if he wants to. Either way, Torchwood needs you. We need you back, Jack, all of you.”
"I just… I want know that he’s okay.”
"Oh Jack.”
Jack let Gwen pull him into a hug, letting her think it was just his pain talking, that he’d pull himself together and accept what she believed was the truth. It was easier than fighting. Gwen was like a bulldog with this kind of thing, and he’d be able to look for Ianto in peace if she stopped smothering him with good intentions.
~*~*~*~*~*~
So, hope you're still enjoying it!
We'd both love to know what you think about the fic, so leave us a comment and let us know!
Done that? Then on to Chapter 2...
Authors:
leofuller and
the9thdoctor
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: 15ish
Spoilers: All of S1 and 2. Set Post-Exit Wounds.
Summary: An early morning phone call brings bad news to Torchwood only weeks after the loss of Tosh and Owen - the police have found the SUV burnt out at the foot of a cliff, and Torchwood have to carry on without Ianto.
Jack refuses to accept that Ianto’s not coming back despite all the evidence to the contrary - but maybe there’s more to the crash then they realise…
Prologue
And good luck to
phantomreviewer - We hope the exams went Ok!
Chapter 1
The Hub, which had seemed empty without Owen’s sarcasm and Tosh’s quiet genius, was desolate without Ianto. Jack sat in his office and stared into space, and Gwen tried to run Torchwood on her own for three days before her patience snapped."I need your help, Jack."
Jack continued to stare past her, eyes unfocused."I can’t do this on my own, Jack. The tension rose in her voice. “I lost them too. We have to keep going, that’s what you said, before, we have to keep going.”
Jack still didn’t react when she came round the desk and leant against it, right next to his chair.We need more people. We need to get Torchwood running again so that we can mourn them all without the world coming to an end.”
Jack transferred his gaze to the ceiling, drew in a deep breath, then met her eyes and gave her a curt nod.
Gwen left him alone and went to make some phone calls.
Jack knew in his heart that Gwen was right, but it didn't seem to make it any easier. She had been doing a good job trying to hold everything together, but it hadn't been enough. Torchwood was finally crumbling around them, and they needed to pull together to prevent it. That was easier said than done.
It was almost a cliché, but Jack had discovered that he honestly had no idea what he had done before Ianto had insinuated his way into their lives. The pizza boxes were piling up and it was pretty much only Gwen that was eating them, their files were being stuffed into any old drawer they could find, and Jack was actively dreading the moment they would have to find one of them again.
It was a mess, but Jack figured he was probably more of one than the filing cabinets or available flat surfaces. It wasn't as though he had ever taken Ianto for granted, that was nigh-on impossible, but it had been all the things that the young man had done. Jack swallowed. The first time he had left the Hub after Gwen's phone call, Jack had stood next to his coat stand and tried to remember the last time he had had to lift it up and put it on himself. He could almost feel ghostly fingers brushing his collar.
Only they weren't ghostly, were they? Jack refused to think like that, despite the increasingly worried looks he had been receiving from Gwen, he was still so certain that Ianto was alive. He had even sent for a DNA comparison between the corpse they found with the SUV and the phial of blood that Ianto had donated to the Torchwood archives. He drummed his fingers on the desk, and looked out at Gwen talking animatedly on the phone. Maybe she was right, he could get out there and carry on with his job. He had to. He'd done it before and this was no different, right?
He sighed again. They needed a new Medic and a new Technician, but he knew there was one role he was going to be keeping vacant.
Finally, and making a mental note to impress upon their new recruits the importance of tidying away ones own litter, Jack stood up and left his office to join Gwen in the main Hub.
"That’s lovely. I’ll see you soon.” Gwen was finishing her call when he reached her desk.
"That was Joanne from the forensics lab. The DNA results are ready.” Gwen reached out and laid her hand on Jack’s sleeve. “She’s bringing them over.”
"What? Why is she coming here?”
“Because we need a doctor, and I think she might suit us.” Gwen told him bluntly. “If she doesn’t like us, or we don’t like her, it won’t take much Retcon to fix it. I’ve been talking to her on the phone quite a bit recently, and I think it’s worth a try.” She didn’t add that the reason she’d spoken to Joanne so often was due to Jack’s insistence that she chase the DNA results far more than was really necessary.
Jack looked around the Hub, trying to see it through a newcomer’s eyes.
"We need to clean this place up.”
Gwen stood up, sending her chair skittering backwards. “We’ve got an hour, then. I’ll start this side, you start over there.”
Dr Joanne Meyburg arrived at the Tourist Office, where Gwen met her and took her down to the Hub. Jack could barely get through the introductions before he was reaching for the envelope Dr Meyburg was holding, the one which would confirm for him that it wasn’t Ianto’s body the police had found after all.
As soon as he had the envelope, he retreated into his office and shut the door. "I’m sorry, he’s taking it very hard.” Gwen said, as Joanne stared around her in amazement.
"What was it you said you do down here?”
Gwen bit her lip. Here went nothing... “We, uh... Well...” she sighed, trying to remember what Jack had told her when she had stumbled on Torchwood for the first time, but then at least she had at least some kind of idea about what she had found. “Right.” she tried again, resolutely not glancing over at Jack.. “It's like this...”
Jack's hands shook like crazy as he fingered the thin brown envelope. It felt like it had been years since he had ordered this test to be carried out, and it was all he could focus on. He was half aware of Gwen and Joanne in the Hub, but really his world had narrowed down to this one thing. Nervously, he opened the flap of the envelope and felt for the flimsy pieces of paper inside.
This was it. The proof he would need to convince Gwen that he wasn't going crazy, that Ianto was still alive out there somewhere and that something must have happened to him...
He unfolded the sheaf of paper, it was covered in a lot of very long and scientific words, but the one at the bottom was the one that made the least amount of sense to Jack.
He could feel his knees going wobbly, and sat down, just as Joanne yelled “What!?”. A small part of his brain idly realised that Gwen had probably just told her about aliens, but most of Jack's mind was concentrating too hard on the word 'Match', and all that it entailed.
After a few moments of shock, Joanne had apparently decided to suspend her disbelief and was taking in everything Gwen was telling her about Torchwood and the Hub. They’d got as far as the autopsy bay when Gwen spotted Jack through his office window.
“I just need to…” she indicated the office. Joanne glanced up at where they could see Jack slumped at his desk, and nodded.
“I’ll just keep looking around, if that’s okay? I won’t touch anything I don’t recognise!”
Gwen patted her absently on the arm and hurried up to Jack’s office.
“Jack?”
There were tears in his eyes when he looked up. Wordlessly he held out the DNA results. Gwen walked round the desk and looked at the paper.
“Oh, Jack.” Gwen put her arms around him.
Jack straightened up as soon as Gwen touched him and rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah...” he muttered, half to himself, before jerking his head in Joanne's direction. “How is she taking it?”
Gwen bit her lip, unsure as to how best comfort Jack. “Quite well, I think...” she replied quietly. “Uh, would you like to talk about it?”
Jack shook his head. “Not right now Gwen, please. Anyway, shouldn't you be conducting an interview?”
Gwen glanced over at Joanne, who was peering at some paperwork left on Owen's old desk. “I thought you might like to...” she tailed off, Jack was shaking his head.
“I trust you.” he said, “Just let me... Just give me some time, Ok?”
Gwen nodded and moved towards the door. “You're going to have to talk to her at some point, Jack.” she told him.
Jack looked up at her, suddenly looking old. “And I will. You go ahead and give her the guided tour. I'll meet you both in the bar across the Plass.”
Gwen nodded, knowing that Jack found it easier to Retcon people in pubs - he'd done it enough times - and if Joanne wasn't going to fit into Torchwood then he would want to take her memories as quickly as possible.
“We'll be there by six.” she said, before heading back to see to the doctor.
Jack watched her leave, taking Joanne up to the hothouse, before shrugging on his coat and going to find a roof.
True to her word, Gwen arrived in the bar with Joanne just before six. Joanne was still brimming with questions, and Gwen looked pleased with how the afternoon had gone.
Jack had been in the bar for around half an hour, nursing a glass of water and resisting the temptation to get very, very drunk.
"Hi Jack.” Gwen pulled up a chair as Joanne slid onto the bench seat opposite Jack. “You okay for a drink?”
This was Jack’s chance to insist on buying the drinks, so that he could put Retcon in Joanne’s glass if they decided not to hire her.
"Joanne.” Jack spread the DNA results on the table. “This can’t be right.”
“There’s no mistake.” She told him.
“But it can’t be.”
“I ran the tests myself, Captain. These results are correct. We ran two sets of the samples, and they’re a perfect match. I’m sorry, I know you don’t want it to be true, but it is.”
“Are you sure?”
Joanne fixed him with an unflinching gaze. “I’m certain. I’m good at my job, Captain.” Jack looked away first.
He produced some money and pushed it across the table to Gwen.
“Do you mind getting them in, Gwen?”
No Retcon.
"Oh my God! And then he said, 'Yeah? Well maybe I'd show you a good time!'. I tell you, I haven't laughed so hard in my entire life!” Joanne cackled loudly, waving a pizza slice in the air. Gwen giggled along with her, and Jack could tell she was happy to have another woman working in the Hub. In fact, they were swiftly becoming close friends, thought Jack - going for coffee together, buying shoes... whatever else it was that female friends did together.
Jack, meanwhile was trying to pull himself back together. He'd even tried a bit of lighthearted flirting with Jo, who was blonde and freckly and had a tendency to drink too much Malibu. Jack knew for a fact that she was single, and if he had been feeling like his old self it wouldn't have been too much hard work to convince her to join him in his quarters after Gwen had gone back to Rhys for the night. But he couldn't do it.
He smiled at the two girls, who were now discussing some movie star who's face Jack couldn't quite picture. Jo had been convinced that the body had been Ianto's after they had trusted her with the details of what had happened to Torchwood in the previous few months. She said it was going on a million-to-one that it hadn't been, but there was a part of Jack that was still holding out hope. He'd beaten million-to-one chances before, and hopefully this was just another one. They would find him...
"Jack?” Gwen brought him back down to Earth.
“Huh?”
"Oh for heaven's sake!” said Jo, dropping her pizza crust and wiping her fingers on her ratty jeans. “Pay attention! Did you see that guy on the news?”
"Which guy?” asked Jack, confused. “Brad Whats-his-name?”
"No! The one with the telescope up on the Beacons... The one who says he saw the alien spaceship!”
"What?” Jack stood up. “Some guy has seen an alien spaceship and no-one told me?”
"I left the newspaper on your desk.” said Gwen, reproachfully.
"Oh. Right... Well. Remind me of the basics?”
Gwen sighed. “This lad has been spending every night up on the Beacons, because he reckons he’s seen an alien spaceship. Nobody’s taking him seriously, it’s only in the papers because he’s been up there every night for three weeks straight, but we ought to check it out just in case. He’s pretty determined.”
Jack darted into his office, found the newspaper underneath that month’s electricity bill and took it back out to read. "I’ll handle this one.” He said. “Standard Nerd Procedure.”
"Standard what?” Joanne asked, laughing.
"Nerd Procedure.” Jack told her. “Look at this. Twenty-six, single, lives with his parents. He’s a computer programmer, for God’s sake! And it even says here that he’s a life-long alien enthusiast.”
"So… what’s Standard Nerd Procedure?” Jo asked.
"Tell ‘em the truth.” Jack said. “Nobody’ll ever believe him…”
Samir adjusted the telescope focus again. It had been three weeks since he’d seen the spacecraft, but he wasn’t going to give up. He’d got the video camera ready this time, and then they’d HAVE to believe him.
"It’s not going to show up, you know.”
Samir turned round. There was a guy walking up the path towards him, hands in his pockets.
"It will.”
"Nope. Sorry. They were lost, we redirected them and they’re now a very long way away. You won’t see them again.”
Samir stared at him, open mouthed. The guy walked right up to him.
"Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood.”
"Sam.” They shook hands. “How do you know so much?”
Jack grinned. “It’s my job. Want to come and have a look?”
Samir peered at him, “Pardon?” he asked, not quite sure of what he was hearing. “Look, did you just say that you REDIRECTED the ship?”
"Yup. All part of the job.”
"What job?”
Jack's hands vanished into his pockets again. “Do you want to come and have a look?” he repeated.
"A look at what?” Samir asked suspiciously. People had often said that he was crazy, but he knew what he had seen, and at least he'd never implied that he actually had any contact with aliens.
Jack sighed. “And I thought you were clever...” he said.
"I am clever.” Samir said, knowing he wasn't being big-headed about it. It was true, after all.
"Right, well... Come on then...” Jack turned and wandered off back down the hill. Samir could just make out the dark shape of a large vehicle parked in the lay-by. He looked at the telescope, then at the sky, and finally back at Jack. He had reached the car now and was leaning on the bonnet.
'Torchwood...' thought Samir to himself. He'd read all the rumours on the internet about them, of course, and several guys on the message boards had had long discussions about them and what they thought they did. They would all be green with envy if they found out that Samir had been approached by one of them - if this Jack guy wasn't a total loon, obviously.
He sighed and packed away the delicate equipment. Chances like this only came along once in a lifetime, and Samir knew that if he passed it up he'd probably be kicking himself for the rest of his life.
"Wow. This is… pretty damn cool.”
"Yeah. I guess it is.” Jack couldn’t help but pick up on Samir’s enthusiasm as he showed him around the Hub. He was also fascinated by the way their visitor wasn’t in the least bit fazed by the aliens. He hadn’t flinched from Janet, and had made friendly overtures to Myfanwy - even more unusual was the positive way the pterodactyl had responded to Samir.
He left Samir clutching a mug of the industrial strength tea that Joanne brewed almost constantly and making noises at Myfanwy, and wandered over to Gwen.
"What do you reckon?”
"He seems… open minded.” Gwen agreed.
"Let’s give him a test.” Jack moved with a burst of his old energy, plucking a piece of technology from the pile which was growing on what had once been Tosh’s desk. “Hey, Sam!”
"Jack!” Gwen hissed. “What if it’s dangerous?”
"It’s okay.” Jack reassured her. “I’ve seen these before.”
Samir reached them, and Jack held out the item. “Can you tell me what this is?”
Samir took the item from Jack and turned it over.
After a few seconds he glanced up at Jack. “Well, at a guess, I'd say it was some kind of communication device. There seems to be some kind of microphone...” he turned it over again. “But then again, there doesn't seem to be any controls... So I'd have to say it was the wrong end of a one-way communicator.”
Jack beamed.
"Was I right?” asked Samir, looking surprised.
"Not really.” said Jack, taking it back off him. “Almost entirely wrong, actually... But it was a logical mistake to make, and that's what counts.”
"Oh.” said Samir. “Right...”
Jack dropped the machine back on the cluttered desk and rubbed his hands together, “So,” he said. “Do you want a job?”
Jack was sitting behind the desk in the tourist office, flicking idly through a report and resolutely not thinking about Ianto. Normally Gwen or Joanne kept an eye on the office, since Samir was totally incapable of giving accurate directions, and Jack liked to think that he had more important things to do, but today Gwen had called in sick and Joanne insisted that she had too much to do with the dead alien that had floated to the surface of Cardiff bay the previous day, so Jack found himself stuck up here in what had been Ianto’s territory.
"Good morning.”
Jack looked up at the woman who’d just walked in. "Good morning. How can I help?”
"Are you Captain Harkness?”
"Yes.” Jack wondered what this was about.
"I understand you have a temporary vacancy for a receptionist.”
Jack dropped the file onto the desk.
"Where did you hear that?”
The woman walked right up to the desk. “My name’s Margaret.” She produced a document from the large shoulder bag she carried.
“Here’s my CV. You’ll see I have more than twenty years of relevant experience.”
Jack gave the document a cursory glance, still slightly off-balance from the unexpected applicant.
"So, why do you want to work here? Why do you need to take on a temporary job?”
"Because my husband died six months ago. I need a change.”
Jack got to his feet. “Do you know what we do here?”
"I assume there’s more to it than this office.”
"Would you like a tour?”
Gwen was a little concerned at how quickly Jack was prepared to employ Margaret, without discussing it with the team. She understood that this was partly because he identified with Margaret’s recent bereavement, but there was also the worrying suspicion that Jack thought Margaret had been sent by Ianto.
Joanne wasn’t too worried. She hadn’t been at Torchwood long enough to consider anything to be more unusual or weird than anything else, and Margaret was good at the job. The tourist office functioned, and the neglected filing system was up and running again.
Samir didn’t mind.
Margaret ran the tourist office, ordered the supplies for Torchwood, and made sure that they all ate. And somehow. Torchwood kept going.
~~~
Gwen strode into the Hub and dropped her bag onto her desk. She was almost getting used to coming to work and seeing Jo poking around in the autopsy bay and Sam hunched over the rift monitor wearing his latest garish shirt.
"Jack, as was becoming more and more usual, was nowhere to be seen. The first few times, she had searched the Hub for him, even going so far as to climb down the ladder to his room under the office. He'd never been there, or anywhere else. Gwen drew the line at checking the roof of the Millennium Centre - if Jack wanted to go that far to be alone, then Gwen wasn't going to deny him that. She just hoped he wasn't tormenting himself with thoughts of Ianto. She understood that it must be hard on Jack, Gwen had even gone so far as to buy a few books on dealing with loss after... well, she'd bought them when she had thought that they might be useful. She knew all about the stages of mourning, but Ianto had been dead for a couple of months and Jack still seemed to be clinging to the idea that he was still alive.
Gwen had had a private talk with Jo and she had repeated that there was nothing wrong with the DNA test she had performed - the match between the corpse found with the SUV and the sample of Ianto's blood kept at the Hub was as close to 100% as made no difference. Ianto was gone and Jack needed to cope with it. All this moping and self-deluding was not doing Jack any good at all.
There was a beeping noise as an alert came through from one of their monitors. Gwen sighed and shrugged off her jacket.
"What is it?” she asked Sam.
Jack asked me to run some scans. We’ve had more reports of unexplained livestock deaths.”
There had been a spate of odd deaths on local dairy and sheep farms over the past couple of weeks. All the recognised animal diseases had been ruled out, foot and mouth, blue-tongue, and Defra had asked for Torchwood’s opinion on the situation.
"Anything coming up?” Gwen draped her jacket over the back of her chair and crossed to Sam’s desk.
"We’ve got strange heat residues on the farm.” Sam pointed out the coloured patches on the screen. “We’ve had them at all the sites where we’ve been notified within 12 hours of the animal’s death. They fade within 24 hours.”
"Any idea what’s causing them?”
Sam shook his head. “Not yet. We’re running scans for any unusual heat patterns in the hope that we can pick up the next one and get there a bit quicker.”
"Got any yet?”
Sam wrinkled his nose. “I think so...” he pointed at the screen and Gwen peered at it.
"Are you talking about those wavy lines?”
Sam nodded. “It's only a minor fluctuation, but it might be worth checking out.”
Gwen sighed. “Now all we have to do is find Jack.” she said, “Anything else?”
"There might be...” he replied. “There have been some funny readings in Bristol.”
"I didn't think our equipment scanned out that far.” said Gwen, surprised.
"They didn't.” admitted Sam, “I did a bit of tweaking. Jack said that we were the only people worrying about aliens around here, so I thought that the more info we got, the better...”
Gwen nodded. ”All right,” she said, “That makes sense... What kind of readings?”
"I'm not really sure, they don't tend to last long enough to get any clear signal. It could be anything.” he admitted.
"Well, we'll put that to one side for the moment then. Can you produce a report on the animal deaths? We'll show Jack as soon as he reappears. It sounds like it's worth following up.”
Sam nodded. “No problem.”
Gwen didn’t miss Owen’s driving. Over the last few months it had become usual for Sam to take the wheel when the team went out, and gradually they had come to expect the vehicle to stay in lane and not break the speed limit unless there was a genuine crisis, like an escaped alien or closing time at the pub.
Jack had returned to the Hub quickly when they called to tell him to come back - after a very loud argument with Gwen, he’d agreed to Jo’s suggestion that he would always answer their calls if they only called him about important Torchwood business.
He’d agreed with Sam’s readings, and now they were on their way to a sheep farm which was showing some very interesting heat patterns.
"Turn left up here.” Gwen was reading the map. They’d all been reluctant to get a new sat-nav after the ATMOS problems.
Sam indicated, slowed down and turned up the farm track.
Gwen glanced around, it all looked normal. They could just about see the roof of a small farmhouse at the end of the track. She could hear Jo tapping at the computer keys in the back of the car.
"The signal's getting stronger.” she said, “To the right...”
Sam drew the car to a halt, and Jack swung open the door. “Let's go...”
Jo pushed open her own door and grimaced at the muddy ground. Gwen and Sam followed Jack into a field, where he was fiddling with his wrist strap and glancing around him.
Gwen moved to stand beside him. “Are you getting anything?”
Jack drew in a deep breath. “Oh yes... I'm getting a reading alright...”
"Well?”
Jack seemed to ignore her and began jogging over to the corner of the field, where a thick hedge gave way to woodland. She glanced back at Jo and Sam, who shrugged, and followed him again.
What they found made her wish that she hadn't.
"Oh Christ, that's DISGUSTING!” cried Jo as soon as they caught sight of the mutilated creature hidden half under a bush. “What the hell is it?”
"I think it *was* a sheep.” muttered Sam, hastily pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressing it to his mouth and nose. He half-heartedly waved a scanner in the things general direction. “I'm getting strong readings, Jack.”
Jack seemed unmoved by the corpse, and nodded. “It's not been dead long.” he said, “Whatever did this can't be far away...”
"Oi! What the hell are you doing?” The team turned to see a very angry farmer storming across the yard towards them, clutching a shotgun.
"Police.” Gwen told him, showing some id too quickly for the farmer to read. He relaxed his shoulders and lowered the gun.
"About time.” He grumbled. “It’s not just kids mucking about any more, it’s real damage they’re doing. It’s my livelihood they’re destroying.”
"Why don’t we go inside, and you can tell me exactly what’s been happening while my colleagues take a look around.” Gwen gestured towards the farmhouse. The farmer nodded. Gwen and Sam followed him indoors, leaving Jack and Jo to explore the outbuildings.
"It’s not just my farm.” Tom Hughes handed Gwen and Sam a mug of tea each, and settled into a battered armchair. Gwen and Sam sat on the sofa opposite. “They’ve been to most of the farms round these parts, getting into the barns, upsetting the livestock.”
"What are they doing?” Gwen asked, taking a sip of very strong tea.
"That’s the thing.” Tom leaned forwards. “They take an animal out, leaving the others, and they kill it. Might be some sort of black magic…”
"Some sort of ritual?”
"Not just that. There’s an extra animal. There’s a dead sheep out there, and it’s one of mine, definitely, but I’m not missing any. There’s something very strange going on.”
"What happened, then?” Jack stood with his arms folded, looking down at where Jo was crouched next to the sheep carcass. Jo wrinkled her nose and prodded the sheep with her equipment.
"Well, it doesn't look like it's been mutilated in the classic sense of the word.” she said, peering back up at Jack. “You know, like X-Files style. If I had to guess, I'd just say it... well... died.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “I can see that.” he said, “Of what?”
Jo shrugged. “I have no idea. There doesn't seem to be any fatal wounds. Whatever did this,” she gestured to the carcass, “did it after it was already dead. Probably natural predation. Of course, that doesn't rule out things like poison. Maybe poachers are putting some down.” she suggested.
"I doubt it. Poachers around here would be poaching for food. Poison just wouldn't work. Most likely they'd use traps… So you can't tell what killed it?”
Jo shook her head. “If it wasn't for all the odd readings Sam has been picking up, I'd say it was natural.”
Jack nodded again. “All right. So, what do you recommend?”
She stood up and carefully peeled off her latex gloves. “I'd say we should pinpoint the readings. If it's alien, and it's been happening over a period of time, then surely the chances are they should still be around?”
"Good thinking.” agreed Jack. “If you can put that in the SUV, I'll go and see what Gwen and Sam have found out and then we can see if we can track anything down.” he turned towards the farmhouse. “There's body bags in the boot.” he called back over his shoulder.
Jo looked down at the carcass, sighed, and pulled her gloves on again.
Back at the Hub, Gwen was making lists and sticking pins in a map of south Wales on the wall by her desk. Jack came and stood just behind her, watching.
"I can’t see any patterns.” She said, stepping back beside Jack and staring at the pins in the map.
They stood in silence for a moment, until Jo shouted from the autopsy bay.
"Hey! You might want to take a look at this!”
Gwen turned and strode across the Hub to see what Jo had found, leaving Jack staring at the map.
"What is it?” she asked as she walked down the stairs.
The dead sheep was laid out on the trolley. It wasn't exactly the strangest thing Gwen had seen in the autopsy bay, but it was quite high up on the list. Jo had sliced it open and gruesome organs were inhabiting kidney dishes on the nearest table.
Jo prodded at the rest of the carcass and glanced up. “I was right.” she said, “It died naturally.”
Gwen walked to stand beside her. “So this wasn't part of the alien activity?”
"Quite the opposite actually. If anything, it makes the whole thing even more confusing.”
Gwen frowned. “What do you mean?”
"Well, I'm not a vet, but this sheep appears to be mature, yes?”
"Yes.” agreed Gwen, wondering where this was going.
"Then I'm completely confused as to how it managed to live for so long with no lungs.”
"No lungs?” echoed Gwen. “What do you mean? Are you sure they haven't been eaten by whatever caused the rest of the damage?”
Jo shook her head. “There was no sign of predation of the chest cavity. The animal has somehow managed to grow to full size without a significant amount of its internal organs.”
Gwen blinked. “That doesn't make any sense...”
"Cloning.”
"What?” Jo turned to look at Sam, who was leaning over the railings looking down at them.
"Cloning. The farmer said he had an extra sheep. You wondered how it lived so long without lungs - it didn’t. That’s why it’s dead. It’s an incomplete clone.”
Gwen and Jo stared at him.
"You know…” Gwen said slowly “there might be something in that… Jack? Jack!”
They found Jack still staring at the map. Jo explained quickly what she’d found and Sam’s theory. Jack nodded.
"Inept cloning. Sounds like we’ve got visitors using our planet for testing.” He folded his arms. “I don’t like that.” He turned back to the map, and Gwen’s pins. “Sam, we need to pick up those heat traces the moment they appear and we need to get straight out to wherever they appear.”
"Okay. I’m on it.”
"Jo, I need to know as much as you can tell me about the cloning. Everything that’s missing, and anything which is there which shouldn’t be, any implants, that sort of thing.” Jo nodded. “Gwen, keep collating the data we have from those farms, see if we can work out where they might go next. Cross reference it with the crop circles database.” Gwen looked a little put out, but went back to her computer and got to work.
Jo delivered her report a little while later, putting it on Jack's desk along with a cup of coffee.
"Do you know what's going on?” she asked, hovering by his desk as he flipped through the file.
Jack half shrugged, obviously not paying too much attention. “I think I might...” he muttered.
Jo sighed and left him alone to his thoughts.
Jack turned the pages of the folder Jo had given him again. If Sam's readings were correct, then the aliens had been taking samples from Earth for a few months, and given that they had been cloning them...
He dropped the pages back on his desk and surreptitiously checked that nobody was watching him before cradling his head in his hands. It had been months, and Ianto was still missing. He knew Gwen was worried about him, that she knew he still thought of his lover as 'Missing' rather than 'Dead', but it was impossible for him to think of him any other way. Strange to think that despite all the people he had lost over his life he simply couldn't accept Ianto was gone for good - but then, that letter had a lot to do with that, didn't it?
Gwen's voice cut through his thoughts and he mentally shook himself. They needed to get to the bottom of this. It must be the answer he'd been looking for. It had to be.
"You know,” Sam remarked, “when I signed up for hunting aliens and keeping Earth safe, I didn’t expect goats"
"This isn’t too bad.” Gwen told him. “It’s dry, it’s warm, there’s no running involved.”
"Apart from the smell.” Jo commented.
"Apart from the smell.” Gwen conceded. “That’s pretty bad.”
"Ssh.” Jack hissed from near the doorway. “They’re coming!” Everybody ducked down in the straw and kept very still as the barn door creaked open.
Moments passed, and Jack finally leapt to his feet and pointed his pistol at a tall, faintly yellow humanoid with a goat tucked under one arm and a guilty expression on his face.
Jack narrowed his eyes as the alien flapped at him and whistled in a mildly affronted way.
"Speak English.” Jack ordered, “I know you can.”
"Oh, alright then.” said the alien. It sounded high-pitched and oddly South African.
"What have we here then?” asked Jack, keeping a tight grip on his gun. “I know you know this planet is protected under the Shadow Proclamation, and as such, you have no right to conduct any kind of testing and experimentation here.”
The alien sighed. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to conduct any kind of ground-breaking scientific research these days? You can’t test at home, you can’t test on people, there’s always some kind of protest group… and do you know how much paperwork you have to complete to get a license for any kind of machinery. It’s impossible!” It threw all four of its arms up in the air, dropping the goat in the process. The goat bleated, and started to chew on the trailing hem of the alien’s robe.
"Well you can’t test here either!” Gwen protested, climbing to her feet and brushing straw off her jacket.
"What are you testing for, anyway?” Jo asked.
The alien looked even more guilty. “Just your standard cloning experiments.” it replied.
Sam frowned, “You mean you haven't managed to work that out yet?” he asked, “I mean, we're pretty close to it and we didn't have to cross the galaxy.”
Gwen could see Jack raise an eyebrow in question at the alien.
"Ah.” stuttered the creature. “You are, are you?”
"Yeah, we can do sheep and everything.” said Sam, obviously trying to keep a straight face. “They can even walk about and, you know, breathe and stuff.”
The alien scowled, “It's slightly more complex than that.”
"Well, as fascinating as this is,” broke in Jack, “The big question is, what have you done with him? Is he still on board your ship?”
The alien looked confused. "What have we done with who?”
"With Ianto.”
"What’s Ianto?”
"Jack… They haven’t got Ianto.” Gwen laid her hand on Jack’s arm. He shook her off.
"How can you know that? They’ve taken Ianto, they’ve cloned him, and the body we found was the clone. They’ve got the real Ianto somewhere.”
"Jack, you must know that’s not true.” He turned and looked at her. “Look, these guys didn’t take Ianto. They didn’t clone him.”
The alien shook its head vigorously.
"We’ve seen what they do. They steal sheep, and they can’t even clone them properly. There’s no way that they could clone Ianto.”
"And we don’t take the originals.” The alien added helpfully. “We’ve got nowhere to keep them.”
"I…” Jack looked from one person to another. The alien looked regretful, as if it wished they had stolen Ianto so that they could give him back. Jack started towards the door, and then turned back and walked towards the alien. “Get off this planet. Go away, don’t come back. Go somewhere else and do something useful.”
The alien backed up as Jack approached. It fished in the pockets of its robe, produced what had to be an alien mobile phone, and pressed some buttons.
"Hello, Bob? Can you pick me up early? Bit of a situation down here…”
The atmosphere in the SUV was tense as they drove back to the Hub. Nobody seemed to want to say anything. Jack had jumped into the driver’s seat and nobody had dared to challenge him. Gwen could see Jo and Sam exchanging nervous looks in the back seat, and she bit her lip. It was time to have a serious talk with Jack, she thought, but she wasn't going to do it in front of the others. This was something that they wouldn't really understand.
Jack pulled into their parking space and slammed on the brakes. Gwen jolted in her seat, but before she could say anything or even unbuckle her seatbelt, Jack was out of the car and striding away from the Hub.
"Where's he going?” whispered Jo, the first thing any of them had said since the alien had left.
"He's gone to find a roof.” said Gwen, with conviction.
"He does that a lot, doesn't he?” Jo asked, “Look, what's going on, Gwen? I know it's not our place to say, but we'd appreciate knowing.”
Gwen nodded. “It's about Ianto.” she said, “Jack still thinks he's alive.”
"I've told him, those tests were 100%.” said Jo, sounding confused. “Why does he think that?”
"I don't know.” admitted Gwen. “He hasn't said. I think he's just fooling himself.”
"Well?” asked Sam.
"Well what?”
"Go and talk to him then. I think he needs you.” pushed Sam, unlocking his door.
The wind whipped around him as he looked out over the city. Jack stuck his hands in his pockets and fingered the fraying piece of paper that he carried around with him constantly. He'd read it so many times it was soft and worn. He had every word memorised, especially the postscript.
He pulled it out again and looked at it, holding it tightly in case it blew away.
You're not a monster, you never have been.
The words echoed in his head. He had been wrong about the aliens and their cloning. He knew that, he could cope with it, no problem, but he knew he was right about this. He had only known Ianto for roughly two years, but he understood him. You couldn't be that close to someone and not understand them on a much deeper level. Jack knew what Ianto had meant by those final words...
As if summoned by his thoughts, Gwen pushed open the door to the roof and glanced around. Once she saw him she set her expression into one of determined compassion and strode towards him. Jack stuffed the letter back into his pocket and crossed his arms in preparation for the 'talk'.
"I miss him too, Jack.” Gwen came and stood next to him, staring out across the city. “It wasn’t the same for me, I know that, but I miss him too, and I’m the only person who’s going to understand.”
"He’s not dead.” Jack stated. Gwen turned her head to meet his eyes. “I don’t know how I know, and I don’t know what’s happened to him, but I know he’s alive somewhere.”
Gwen bit her lip. “I’d like to believe that, I really would, but all the evidence…”
Jack walked away to the other side of the roof, and stood with his back to her, hand in his pockets. Gwen followed.
"Jack. If there was any way I could believe that Ianto was still alive, I would. But I’ve seen the evidence, and I had to accept.”
"He could have run away. He could have… faked his own death.”
"How could he do that? WHY would he do that?”
"I… can’t explain that.”
Even with his back to her, Jack could see Gwen’s ‘humouring people’ face.
"You need to let him go, Jack. Whether he’s… dead, or whether he chose to leave. If he chose to go, then he’ll come back if he wants to. Either way, Torchwood needs you. We need you back, Jack, all of you.”
"I just… I want know that he’s okay.”
"Oh Jack.”
Jack let Gwen pull him into a hug, letting her think it was just his pain talking, that he’d pull himself together and accept what she believed was the truth. It was easier than fighting. Gwen was like a bulldog with this kind of thing, and he’d be able to look for Ianto in peace if she stopped smothering him with good intentions.
~*~*~*~*~*~
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Done that? Then on to Chapter 2...