Fic: Torchwood Paranormal, Part Seventeen

[veronicaluv]

Nope, haven't given up yet!



Torchwood Paranormal, Part Seventeen

The aftermath of the bruising kiss lingering on Ianto's mouth, he followed Jack into the foyer to meet Gwen, who'd just run in from outside and was now bouncing on her toes with excitement.

"What's going on?" Jack's eyes scanned past her to the others, milling about on the terrace.

Gwen pointed toward the van. "The cameras aren't on, but we've got something on the monitors."

Ianto didn't have time to even formulate a question as Jack bolted down the stone steps toward the van. Pausing only to share an incredulous look with Gwen, Ianto quickly followed, squeezing in behind Jack next to Tosh, who was sitting in her chair, staring dumbfounded at the bank of monitors.

"Fill me in." Jack sat down in the chair beside her. "What's going on?"

"I--I'm not sure." Tosh pointed to one screen, then another. "Look at this. And this! None of it makes sense."

Ianto wedged himself further behind behind Jack and Tosh to get a better view, looking at the screen directly in front of him but unable to make out much beyond smudges of grey in the midst of a roiling, thick blackness. The cacophony of ghostly voices around him was dying down to a fretful hum, but the underlying thread of fear remained. It tore Ianto apart to know that his friends, lifelong and true for all they were formless spectres, were suffering.

"I don't understand." Ianto waved his hand at the malfunctioning monitors. "What are the cameras picking up?"

Jack looked over his shoulder, eyes wide. "That's just it. All the cameras were placed on standby and left sitting in the hall by the music room."

"Jack's right," Tosh muttered, eyes still on the monitors, "we shouldn't be seeing anything. Or hearing anything. We've picked up a power source from somewhere else that's blown open everything we have. I think--yes, I think this may be feedback from the EMF monitors we left inside the music room. But I have no idea how it's getting routed through the cameras or the monitors."

"Show me the EMF readouts." Jack leaned forward as Tosh pulled a laptop closer to the edge of the counter. "Play it back from ten minutes ago."

The coloured lines on the laptop screen's black background meant little to Ianto, as they looked nothing like the images he'd seen after spending time in the van with Toshiko. He looked over toward the open front doors of the Hall where the rest of the crew had gathered on the top step. He could tell they were waiting for Jack and Tosh to fill them in, and he couldn't help but admire their steadfastness in the face of so much uncertainty. They were talking quietly together, gathered around a tablet Rhys was holding, and simply seeing their professional demeanour assured Ianto enough that he turned his attention back to Jack and Toshiko with renewed purpose.

"See?" Tosh was using the blunt end of her biro to trace one of the lines pulsing across the laptop's screen.

"What was the time stamp of the strongest surge?"

"Let's go back further, to this morning." Toshiko pressed a button, bringing up another chart across the bottom of the screen. "There was a low-level increase that started around nine, peaked here, then levelled out. Then, another slow increase in EMF activity, too gradual to cause concern until here." She tapped the screen. "A sharp spike, then a drop and see, here it starts to rise. The largest surge was a few minutes ago, just as I was beginning to bring everything back online."

"I think I know what's happening." Jack's tone was grim. "It's Adam, he's testing us, pushing his boundaries and look, this--" he pointed to a spike on the screen "--is approximately when Ianto and I were at the mines. What happened to us there definitely had an effect on the equipment."

"I don't understand." Ianto peered over Jack's shoulder. "Why didn't we see this before?"

Toshiko leaned back in her chair with a frustrated sigh. "We weren't monitoring the EMF output, but I'd set it to record automatically out of habit. We often leave EMF meters in isolated areas whilst investigating other locations, just in case something like this occurs. If the screens hadn't activated, I wouldn't have looked at the recordings until after tonight's investigation. We use the meters for information gathering, not for real time investigations."

Ianto tugged at his ear, trying to make sense of what Tosh was saying. "I thought Rhys said there wasn't any EMF activity during the set-up."

"We checked the meters themselves and they showed no data." She tossed the biro aside. "I didn't think to check any recordings here in the van. I just assumed there wouldn't be any."

Jack slipped his hand beneath Toshiko's ponytail and gave the nape of her neck a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about it. No one could've known."

"You mentioned that Adam was testing us," Ianto said. "Could he be adapting as well? Learning how to use the very things we need to communicate with him against us?"

"That's not far off." Rhys stepped up the back of the van and leaned inside, handing the darkened tablet to Toshiko. "Lost that a minute ago so if what you say is true, that explains why all of our gear is properly buggered now. Batteries are drained, all the cameras are offline, and that may be just the beginning." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, holding it up. "No signal, and I know it was fully charged this afternoon."

Ianto had left his mobile behind, but Toshiko and Jack quickly checked theirs and found them non-operational.

"Great." Jack tossed his phone onto the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "So far everything's disrupted except electricity in the Hall, the van's battery, Tosh's laptop and possibly the back-up generator. We don't know why, but I'm pretty sure we can guess who."

"Perhaps, but it's just as imperative that we understand how," Ianto added. "We've never encountered any kind of energy disruption here at the Hall beyond the normal outages of an old house. Even so, we update the wiring to modern standards on a regular basis. Mobile coverage has always been adequate as well, there's a tower nearby."

"You're right and besides, we can't assume it's Adam." Jack pinched his lower lip between his fingers. "There may be another explanation."

By now the rest of the team had gathered around the van's open doors. A light drizzle had developed along with plummeting temperatures, bringing cold and damp into the van on a wave of frost-tinged mist. Andy was stomping his feet and blowing on his hands whilst Rhys had Gwen tucked beneath the warm of his encircling arm.

"Share it, Jack," Martha said. "It's getting bloody cold out here."

Jack turned to look at Ianto and though he said nothing, the question in his eyes was enough. The team knew about Adam and they knew about Philip. Ianto nodded at him--it was time to tell them about Rose.

"There's another entity in the house," Jack turned back to the team, "just arrived this morning. If I were to guess, I'd say the three of them are about to have a reunion. And we're not invited."

"And you were going to tell us this when?" Gwen brushed her hair out of her eyes. "We're going to be out-numbered soon if we can't figure out what's happening and withholding information isn't helping."

"That's my fault," Ianto said. "I didn't know at the time, but I brought her back with me from the mines. I'd informed Jack only moments before all this began happening."

"Her?" Andy's voice rose to a squeak. "How can you tell?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Owen pushed through and leaned his fists on the van's floor. "Rhys and I checked, every battery in the Hall is either dead or dying. That could effectively shut us down for the night."

"No." Jack's mouth tightened. "No, I'm not going to let them do this to us. Andy, I want you to check the generator in the other SUV, see if it's got any power. If it does, drive around to the front of the Hall and get it up and running, we'll use that as a backup to the house electricity. Tosh, go over every system we have here in the van, try and find something that will record any kind of activity, I don't care what. Owen, Rhys, Gwen, re-check all the gear we have in the Hall and pull out anything that might have a pulse, then start running cables so we can use the Hall's electricity. Martha, help Andy and then come take my place and keep an eye on Tosh's laptop battery. Run it through the SUV, even if you have to drain its juice to keep her up and running. What else have we got?"

"Comms are working," Tosh said. "The feeds show live, so I'll need to run a sound check as soon as possible."

"Great, we'll do it on the fly. What else?"

"Power in the Hall, at least." Ianto glanced at the Hall's windows, still brightly lit and comforting in the onset of deep twilight. "That's something in our favour."

"I'll take it." Jack hopped down from the van and turned to Ianto. "Let's get out of the way and figure out if we can make contact with Philip. If he and his new friend are going to be any help at all, now would be a good time to start. Come on, let's go."

Ianto nodded in agreement when Jack looked at him, but inside, his felt his heart lurch with something that felt very much like guilt. Philip's continued silence was more than unnerving. It felt as though it was the end of something, a slow rending of the bonds that had so often held Ianto's life together. More than that, it felt like abandonment, with Philip finding another path, one that didn't include Ianto.

But maybe Jack was right. They hadn't outright attempted to contact Philip, but then Ianto had never needed to. Jack, for all his ability to see the same things Ianto could see, hadn't lived with spirits all his life. Even years of studying them could never prepare Jack for what it felt like to always know that Philip was close, a constant source of companionship and protection .But this was no time for personal considerations, not with Torchwood scattering to do Jack's bidding. They all had their assignments and he needed to join Jack, who was standing still as he stared up at the music room windows.

It was an uncharacteristically motionless stance for Jack, who only moments ago had been vibrating with energy. Ianto frowned, sensing something amiss in the stiffness in Jack's spine, the rigid set to his shoulders, his unwavering attention to the window. As Ianto watched, Jack raised his hand and pressed his palm to his forehead, eyes closing as though in pain. Grasping the van's frame to steady himself, Ianto opened his mouth to call out to him but before he could get a word out, the beads of his necklace began to warm against the skin of his throat. He paused and took a step back, stumbling slightly as he reached for the beads. Even before he touched them, he could feel a sharp flare of energy against his fingertips.

That was enough to startle him, but then the chorus of ghostly cries rose up to a deafening cacophony. Slapping his hands over his ears, he barely had Jack's name formed on his lips when he was bombarded by a pulsing wave of sensation that passed over him before abating, allowing him one breath before returning with enough strength to knock his legs out from beneath him and send him crashing into the back wall of the van, crumbling into a graceless heap on the metal floor.

"Ianto!" It was Jack's voice but Ianto could barely hear it above the vibration again building inside him and the frantic wails of the spectres. The vibration was not unlike the sensation he'd experienced on the drive back from the mines, only this time, it was a thousand times stronger. He felt Jack's fingers wrap around his wrist, trying to guide him to his feet, but his eyes were shut as the pounding continued. Reaching out blindly, his free hand was taken in a strong grip as he doubled over, trying to curl in on himself in a vain pursuit of protection. It wasn't painful, not exactly, but it wasn't pleasant, either. Something--someone--was trying to break him apart, and it was only deepest instinct that had him wrenching his hand from Jack's hold and curling his fingers around the beads of his necklace.

Just as suddenly as it arrived, the vibration was gone, the frantic outpouring of fear from the ghosts along with it. Ianto slumped forward into Jack's arms as Jack and Toshiko guided him into one of the chairs. The relief was so acute that Ianto momentarily felt cut off from his own body, but the sensation quickly passed and his vision cleared as he felt able to look into Jack's worried eyes as he knelt beside Ianto, his pupils black in a face gone paper white.

"Jack," he said, but then realised no sound came out. Swallowing, he tried again. "Jack, are you all right?"

Jack rocked back on his heels, wiping his mouth with the back of a hand that trembled. "Hell of a thing to ask," he said on a shaky laugh, "considering you just did a great imitation of someone getting side-swiped by a lorry."

Ianto squinted at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

"One minute you were just standing there." Toshiko pressed an open bottle of water into Ianto's hand, then rested her cool palm on his cheek in a brief, steadying caress. "And the next, it was as though you'd been picked up and tossed against the wall."

Ianto turned to Jack. "Is that what it looked like?"

Jack took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah." He started to say something else and then turned his head, facing the open doors of the van. "Owen! Owen, get in here, we need you!"

"No, no." Ianto took a sip from the water bottle aside, then set it aside. "I'm fine, not even bruised." He felt a twinge in his neck and frowned. "I think. But you, Jack, you didn't feel or hear anything?"

Jack stood up and perched on the low counter, fingers clenching the edge. "I did, I heard the ghosts, they were crying, calling out for help. And then I--" he straightened up and leaned back to make room for Owen. He started to continue, then shook his head. "I was about to try again to get a signal on my mobile. I came back to say something to you and you were in the air."

Ianto knew, even without the aid of telepathy, that Jack was withholding something. Not lying, but something had also happened to Jack, something he was reluctant to share.

"What happened?" Owen had his stethoscope out and was trying to listen to Ianto's heart, but Ianto blocked him with his arm as he frowned up at Jack. Owen lost patience with that attitude immediately and pressed Ianto's arm down and out of his way. "Anyone to care to fill me in or shall I just guess?"

"We don't know," Jack said, "anything happen in the Hall? Anyone hear anything?"

Owen wrapped the stethoscope around his neck, then reached for Ianto's wrist, eyes on his watch. "Rhys and I went upstairs to start pulling out the equipment. Gwen was checking the monitors in the drawing room and so as far as I know, no one heard or saw anything odd."

"Okay." Jack frowned down at the floor, then looked up at Ianto with a faint smile. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." Ianto glared at Owen, who was trying to attach a blood pressure cuff to his arm. "Would you please stop that?"

"Absolutely." Owen ignored him as he inflated the cuff, so Ianto turned to Jack and shrugged.

"The obvious conclusion is that Adam has strengthened enough to gain access outside the music room. He must have gathered enough energy for one attack, as a distraction, I would assume."

"And all this activity," Jack jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the monitors, "may reflect that as well. The question is, did his attack on you now weaken him."

"That's not the question at all," Tosh spoke up. "The question should be why does Adam continue to attack Ianto in the first place."

Ianto watched as Jack bit his lip and looked outside toward the front of the Hall. Then, as clearly as if Jack spoke aloud, Ianto could hear his thoughts.

Got to go up, must stop this, can't let anyone get hurt, won't--

Ripping the cuff off his arm, Ianto stood up and brushed past Owen to get to Jack's side.

"No." He grabbed Jack's arm and pulled until Jack looked at him. "You can't."

Jack stared at him, the shook his head. "This telepathy thing is pretty damn inconvenient, but it doesn't change anything. I'm not doing anyone any good down here."

"You are doing good, Jack, you're exactly where you need to be. Adam wants you, he baited you by attacking me. Don't give in to him."

Jack rested his hands on Ianto's shoulders. "Don't you get it? He reached you here, all the way outside the walls of the Hall. Now there's no place safe for you. Adam has to go, Ianto. Tonight."

"I agree, but you're not the one to confront him. You have to--"

"Oi, you two, that's enough." Owen pushed between them and jumped to the ground, then turned back to face them. "I'd advise you both to remember we have a plan. So the entity is kicking off, that's what you wanted, yeah? Let us go up there and see what's happening, get eyes on the situation. As for you," Owen concluded, turning to Ianto, "your pulse is too fast, your blood pressure is through the roof, but none of your bones are poking through your skin, so we'll consider that a win. And that's all I can find in two minutes." He sighed and hitched the strap of his case higher on his shoulder. "I am getting very tired of the two of you having these close calls. As far as I'm concerned, the sooner we solve this great bloody mystery and get the hell out of Wales, the better."

Ianto watched him stalk off, then turned his gaze back toward Jack. "I assume the rest of your team must feel the same way. This hasn't been exactly textbook, has it?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't mind Owen, he doesn't speak for Torchwood Paranormal and I doubt he actually feels that way himself. He just doesn't like seeing people hurt, no matter what the cause. It makes him grumpy."

"Jack, look." Toshiko drew their attention back the monitors. "They've gone black, all of them. Just as they should be."

Jack turned to look, then nodded, his expression tight. "All right, let's get back on track. Ianto, get your comm gear on while I go check on the others. Then we'll have another quick meeting before I send them up."

"Right. And Jack," Ianto waited until Jack turned back to him, "remember your promise."

Jack hesitated, his gaze sliding away from Ianto's and Ianto wished their inconvenient, hit-or-miss telepathy was more reliable. He knew there was something that Jack wasn't saying, and even though Ianto trusted him, he couldn't wait for Jack to decide when to share it.

"Jack, talk to me. What are you thinking?"

"You mean you can't tell?" Jack winked at him, but Ianto could tell his heart wasn't in it. "Yeah, okay, about that," Jack muttered, "don't worry, I'm not going back on my word, but there was a moment, just before we came outside, that Adam spoke to me."

"He--he spoke to you? Again? What did he say?"

"He extended another invitation."

"An invitation for what?"

"We didn't get that far, but I assume he's still trying to get me up there on the pretext of showing me something."

"That means that he's reached us both, doesn't it?" Ianto held up his hand when Jack tried to interrupt. "No, it's true. What does he want to show you?"

Running his hand over his face, Jack seemed momentarily bereft of words. "Everything," he murmured. "Sights, sounds, tastes, anything I want. But it's all sensation and feeling, something just beyond my grasp. He's speaking directly to my sense of curiosity, my need to know. And, God, Ianto. I can't deny it's still a tempting thought."

Ianto felt as though he'd been punched in the midsection, a sensation more painful than his recent assault. He'd always know Jack was fascinated with Adam but had never doubted that Jack would put the Hall and its occupants first. The wistful, yearning tone beneath Jack's matter-or-fact recital chilled the blood in his veins as he began to fully realise what a struggle it was for Jack not to give in.

"There's more," Jack continued. "Just before this last attack on you, he tried again. He pushed, hard, opening up more of himself than ever."

"He came after us simultaneously." Ianto took a step back, his thigh hitting the counter and rattling the instruments. "My God, Jack, he's stronger than ever."

Philip, where are you?

It was an agonised inner cry, born of Ianto's fear that Adam had grown too powerful for Jack to withstand. Even as he watched, Jack turned his head toward the Hall, his gaze rising up over its stout frame to rest on the dark patch of window that hid Adam from sight.

And still, Philip was silent.

Swallowing to clear a throat gone dry, Ianto placed his hand on Jack's shoulder, regaining his attention. He waited until Jack's gaze met his own, then dropped his hand.

"Know this, Jack. If you go into the music room, I will follow you."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Ianto, you don't trust me?"

"With my life, Jack, yes. But Adam is relentless. He's pulling at you now, even I can feel it." And he could, like a spongy, foul-smelling wind tugging at the air. There was none of the mystery that called to Jack, no dark words of promise luring him toward brilliant secrets yet to be uncovered. To Ianto, it was like the skeletal scrape of tree limbs on ice, a grating, cold beckoning that made him long to escape to somewhere safe, with Jack at his side.

But he couldn't, he never would, not with the Hall at stake.

"Then let's do this." Jack's jaw hardened with determination, the familiar glint in his eye returning hope to Ianto's flagging spirits. "Tosh," Jack continued, "get Ianto wired while I go check on the team and tell them to get ready for a sound check, then we'll do mine last when I get back. Agreed? Ready? Good."

"Oh, Jack, wait," Tosh said. "See if you can find that broken spectrometer and bring it back, I think it's in the drawing room."

"You got it."

He jumped to the ground and strode away as Ianto searched for the words that would call him back. Even crossing the Hall's threshold seemed like tempting fate now, though Ianto believed Jack would keep his word and return--if he could. Setting aside his doubts, Ianto reached for the earpiece that Toshiko was holding out to him.

"Right," she said, "let's get settled. Take the chair on my right, Jack can have the one on the left." She put on her own headset and handed an earpiece to Ianto. "Let's start with you. Tell me when you're ready."

Ianto slid the earpiece into place. "Ready."

Tosh entered a series of commands on her computer. "Sound check. Ianto, are you live?"

Ianto took his seat, pressing the small device into his ear until it was more comfortably seated. "Yes."

"Brilliant. Rhys, sound check."

Ianto listened as Toshiko contacted each team member in the Hall, relieved as each one came back online. After the sound checks, the monitors flickered to life, this time with static views of the inside of the music room, as well as the feeds from the cameras that Owen and Rhys would be using. Ianto listened impatiently as the team discovered that their equipment was working once again, more often gazing out the back of the van to the steps that led to the Hall's front door, wishing Jack would return.

When he couldn't wait any longer, he interrupted the chatter. "Rhys, tell Jack to come back downstairs so we can begin."

There was a moment of silence, then Rhys' voice came through Ianto's earpiece.

"Jack should be there, he left us two, three minutes ago. We're here outside the music room, waiting for his signal."

"Are you sure? Gwen, is he in the drawing room with you?"

"No, I haven't seen him. Some of the cords are knotted, I've been too busy untangling them to notice what Jack was doing."

Ianto stood up and moved around Toshiko. She grabbed his wrist to get his attention.

"Where are you going?"

"To look for Jack. Something's wrong, he wouldn't leave us like this."

"Maybe he just had to use the loo. I'm sure he's fine."

But Ianto knew different. In his heart, a heart now turning cold at the ramifications of Adam's attack, he feared that Jack and Adam were drawing closer together, as inevitably as the pull of the tide.

"No," he muttered, "no, that's not it. He's out there, and he's not alone. I have to find him."

"Stay on comms," Toshiko said quickly, "and I'm coming with you."

Ianto didn't pause to answer. Right now, nothing mattered, no one mattered, only finding Jack mattered. Stumbling out of the back of the van he looked around, scanning the front terrace of the Hall and the immediate area for any sign of him. Toshiko jumped down behind him and he could hear her talking to the others on comms, filling them in.

Jack was nowhere in sight and Ianto had to take a deep breath to force down the panic that threatened to choke him. After assuring himself that Jack wasn't outside, at least where Ianto could find him, Ianto bounded up the steps and into the drawing room, finding Rhys, Gwen, and Owen talking over each other as they tried to ascertain what was going on.

"No, no," Rhys was saying, "he was saying he would pick up the spectrometer and take it back with him, I know that's what he said."

"But it's still here." Gwen gestured toward an instrument on one of the side tables. "Why isn't he answering us?"

"I didn't have time to wire him," Tosh said from the doorway, her eyes wide with worry. "I was going to do it when he came back to the van."

"Do we know who saw him last?" Ianto asked, desperation sharpening his tone.

"He came up as far as the landing," Rhys said, "but no further. He told us all to suit up, that we were trying again, and just about that time, everything started functioning properly. He said it looked like we were back in business, that he'd grab the spectrometer and go back to the van." He glanced at his watch. "That couldn't have been more than five minutes ago."

"But when he came in here, I never saw him, I only heard him." Gwen swung her head from side to side, pointing toward the door and then to a partially coiled pile of cords. "I was kneeling over there, working on the knots." She turned an apologetic expression to Ianto. "My back was to him the whole time."

Ianto stifled his impatience and forced himself to take another calming breath. None of this seemed out of place to the team, and no doubt they assumed Jack would come strolling in and wonder what the fuss was about. But they couldn't know what Ianto knew, that the pressure of colliding energies was beginning to build, a subtle vibration in the air signalling an approaching storm.

"Gwen, what exactly did you hear?" he asked.

Gwen raised her fingers to her lips as she tried to remember. "Footsteps, Jack's, definitely, there's no mistaking those boots. He said something I didn't quite catch, so I assumed he was talking to someone else."

"Someone else?" Rhys shook his head. "It wasn't us, we were already getting our gear on, doing sound checks with Toshiko."

"Did you hear what he said?" Ianto asked.

"I don't--wait, he was asking something, it sounded like he was asking if someone was all right."

"Who?" Ianto ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Please, Gwen it's important."

She frowned in concentration. "There wasn't a name that I remember. I heard him ask the question, then he said something else, like you'll see or you see. Then nothing, I assumed he was heading outside." She shrugged. "I guess I also assumed he was talking to you, that you were with him."

"All right, you'll see," Ianto muttered, his gaze on the floor. "Are you all right, you'll see, you see--Lucy?" He looked up. "Gwen, could he have said Lucy?"

"Lucy, yes, that could be it," Gwen breathed, "I'm sure you're right, it was Lucy. Who is that?"

Ianto stared at her. He knew that Lucy would never hurt Jack, so he found it hard to believe that Lucy would have coaxed him into danger for any reason, not with their promise still standing between them. But he also knew that if Lucy was in any kind of trouble, Jack would've attempted to help her. Had the circumstances been dire, if Lucy had shown fear or pain, Jack would do whatever he could to help without a second thought. In fact, with Lucy's ability to communicate to them both, and her service as Philip's host, it was entirely possible that she'd been able to draw Jack away before Jack could tell anyone what was happening.

But Jack had promised him, had sworn he'd never go near the music room, and since both Rhys and Owen had said Jack had never gotten closer than the landing, where could he have gone?

Ignoring Gwen's question, Ianto turned to Tosh, a sudden thought occurring to him. "What about Martha and Andy? Have we heard from them? Maybe Jack went to help with the generator." It made sense--the SUV carrying the backup generator had been parked on the far side of the Hall near the stables, out of sight and neither Andy nor Martha had been wired.

"Are the phones working?" Owen pulled his mobile out of his jacket pocket. "Has anyone tried calling him?"

"Don't bother," Ianto snapped, "Jack left his phone in the van. Try Martha or Andy."

Owen pressed a button and they could all see the phone light up. Ianto bit his bottom lip as the call was placed to Martha, his brief flare of hope extinguished as soon as Owen reacted to Martha's response to his question regarding Jack's whereabouts. With a brief shake of Owen's head, Ianto knew that Jack was not with Martha and Andy.

Pacing away to look out the window into the darkness, he barely heard Owen instruct them to join the rest of the team in the drawing room. Jack wouldn't have gone far, and if he was trying to help Lucy, then it was up to Ianto to figure out where Lucy would've gone. The pressure was growing oppressive, a weight pushing against his shoulders that would soon become unbearable if he didn't figure out what was happening.

"Ianto."

He looked up to find the team watching him, indicating it wasn't the first time they'd called his name. He paused before answering, waiting as Martha and Andy joined them from outside, both of them asking questions until Rhys raised his hands requesting silence.

"Listen, Ianto was just about to tell us about Lucy."

"Lucy?" Martha asked. "Who's that?"

"Not a who," Ianto sighed. "A what. She's a ghost, a ghost dog, to be exact. She's been a part of or close to everything that's happened in the music room. She's the one that led us to the attic to find the article on the mine and I know that Jack trusts her as much as I do. If she was in trouble, Jack would find a way to help her."

"Hold on, wait a minute." Gwen took a step toward Ianto. "How does this work, exactly? You always speak as if these ghosts are intelligent, almost as though they're alive."

"They are, somehow. Some more than others but they know something terrible is about to occur. They're terrified."

"Terrified of what?" Andy whispered.

"Of whatever is going to happen next. That's why I have to find Jack. Please," Ianto held out his hands, "help me, I think he's in grave danger. I can feel something's wrong, something's going to happen."

"Look," Martha said, "let's split up. We know he isn't upstairs--"

"We don't," Ianto interrupted. "All we know is that he didn't go up the main staircase. There's a servant's staircase at the back of the house but we never let the guests use it. I don't know if Jack is aware of it, but--"

"But I'll bet your Lucy knows." Gwen grabbed her leather jacket from a nearby chair and pulled it on. "Could she have led him there?"

"Possibly," Ianto said. He straightened his shoulders and moved toward the door. "I'm going up there."

"Hang on." Owen grabbed his arm and spun him about. "I think that's the last thing Jack wants you to do."

Ianto yanked his arm out of Owen's grip. "It doesn't matter any more," he gritted out between clenched teeth. "I have to go." Looking at the team gathered around him, he made a final plea. "If Jack's up there, he's in trouble. I have to go to him."

He watched as Rhys and Gwen exchanged glances, then Rhys turned back to him with a decisive nod.
"We'll go. And before you get all pissy about it, there's enough area to cover that we all need to begin searching. Why don't you take the ground floor with Martha, and Andy and Owen can check outside. Tosh can stay here and coordinate the search."

"Here." Toshiko fished in her pocket and pulled out two earpieces, handing them to Martha and Andy. "I can use one of the laptops in here to get you online. Just give me two minutes."

It seemed it was settled, but Ianto still hesitated. There was an inevitability to all this, a growing certainty that Adam had planned three steps ahead of them all and was now beginning to make his move. And whatever that move was, whatever he hoped to achieve this night, Adam wanted Jack.

Unable to come up with a better solution, he nodded. "Let's go."

"We'll find him." Martha's smile was reassuring, but Ianto couldn't return it. He took the lead, crossing through the foyer as the other teams moved off. He tried not to envision what Rhys and Gwen would encounter upstairs; certainly, in a perfect world, Jack would be found some place safe with an explanation for his absence that made complete sense. Yet even if Jack appeared with that explanation, nothing would make the growing pounding in Ianto's head go away, nothing except the confrontation he knew was coming.

Any flicker of hope that would happen died as Ianto entered the hallway leading to the breakfast room at the back of the Hall. He'd intended to take Martha to the servant's stairs, hoping to discern if Jack had indeed passed that way, but before they'd gone ten feet down the hallway, the lights went out.

"Oh, brilliant," Martha muttered. "Raise your hand if you didn't think that was coming." Ianto turned to face her, encouraged that she had a torch already glowing in her hand.

"You're prepared," he said.

"Always." Martha shrugged. "Standard operating procedure when your job is to crawl around in dark places hunting for ghosts." She pressed her finger to her ear and shook her head, confirming what Ianto already suspected. "Comms are down again. We'd better head back to the drawing room, I expect everyone else will, too."

"You go ahead," Ianto, then rushed on when she hesitated. "Don't worry, I need to grab the torch in my office, I'll get it and join you straight away."

Martha pointed the torch's light down and away, illuminating the floor. "I'll come with you, you'll need the light."

Ianto smiled at that. "Hardly. I know this house better than anyone, I can find my way in the dark. You need to return to the drawing room because if it's as you say, everyone will gather there, they'll wonder where we are. If you don't, no doubt they'll send out another search party." When Martha still looked doubtful, Ianto continued. "Don't worry, I'm right behind you."

Martha reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "All right then, don't waste any time. We can't afford to lose another member of the team."

She turned and left, making her way down the corridor and disappearing around a bend, leaving Ianto in total darkness. Even with all that was on his mind, even with the emotions of the ghosts pressing down upon him and the weight of both Jack's absence and Philip's withdrawal, there was a small but not insubstantial warmth found in Martha's easy acceptance of Ianto into the Torchwood family.

Squaring his shoulders, Ianto pivoted and trotted down the corridor, turning left toward his office instead of continuing to the back stairs. His eyes adjusted enough to keep his step firm as he opened the office door, his purpose to retrieve the large torch he kept in his desk drawer. It was easily found, a hefty, solid presence in his hand as he turned it on, testing the batteries. The little office was immediately flooded with enough light to make him flinch, so he turned it off, confident in his ability to manoeuvre through the house unaided.

Once again in the dark, he waited for his vision to adjust, blinking impatiently until he could make out shapes before stepping around the desk, anxious to join the crew and regroup but even more, hoping that Jack had made his way back and was waiting for Ianto with the others in the drawing room.

Almost as an afterthought, he reached out to Jack, a wayward tendril of yearning that escaped before he could put a name to it or call it back. And just for a moment, for the briefest span of time, he felt Jack reach back to him. An impression of pain, nothing more, a fleeting wisp of something indefinably Jack, recognizable and yet achingly brief. Gone before Ianto could fully grasp its presence, it left him at first devastated for the lost opportunity, then more determined than ever to find Jack and put an end to Adam's reign of terror.

A cool wash of air drifted across his face, stopping him a few feet from the door. There was a scent on that breeze, a breeze that shouldn't have existed outside of a spring meadow or freshly mown lawn. Closing his eyes, Ianto paused to breathe it in, for all it was elusive and already fading. It was Philip's scent, tantalizingly close yet dissipating even as Ianto recognized its presence. It was confusing and enthralling all at once, an unexpected intrusion into a night already filled with obstacles.

"Philip?" Ianto chased the elusive sensation with his mind, silently begging Philip to appear. A quick breath, the fleeting touch of his hand to his eyes as if to grasp a loving touch, and the scent intensified, enough that Ianto's eyes flew open with the joyful expectation of seeing Philip's glowing, amorphous form in front of him.

A sharp stab of disappointment pierced his midsection, leaving him breathless as he found himself alone in the dull grey darkness. Yet just as he was pressing down against the raw disappointment that Philip's absence continued to fuel, he became aware of movement out of the corner of his eye. At first he thought his vision was still unaccustomed to the lack of light, but as he held still and concentrated, he saw a trail of iridescence beginning merely inches away from the toe of his boot then stretching out the door. It was subtle, shifting and blending with the faded floral pattern in the rug, but the more Ianto watched, the more he could see the faint wave in the pattern, coaxing him into the hallway as it pulsed brighter in spots, fading in others, always flowing away from the office.

"You're here," Ianto whispered, his throat tightening. He raised his hands and watched as iridescent air rose up from the carpet to flow through his fingers. "Help me now," his voice cracked but he pushed on, "help me find Jack."

The scent immediately changed, a sharp snap of citrus giving Philip's presence an edge Ianto had never experienced. Before he could comment or even process the shift, the sparkling path reignited at his feet, the intent obvious. Gripping his torch, Ianto stepped carefully, eyes on the patches of sparkling light as they led him toward the main corridor that bisected the Hall. Once there, he could see the trail lead toward the front of the house, disappearing around a corner that led to the foyer and the drawing room beyond. He knew his answers lay in following the glittering path, in the unexpected tang of lemon that lingered on his clothing.

Biting his lip, he looked down the corridor toward the front of the Hall, just barely able to make out brief flashes of torch light bouncing off the dark walls. He assumed that the team had reassembled and were awaiting his return in order to continue the search for Jack. Yet instead of guiding him upwards, to Adam and all his mysteries, Philip was guiding him toward Torchwood Paranormal and away from Ianto's instinctive choice, which was to go upstairs alone to find Jack and face Adam.

Ianto knew that Jack's absence was somehow his fault, and now he alone was responsible for Jack's safety. And Philip, knowing Ianto so well, was leading him back toward the warmth and support of a group of virtual strangers, people Ianto had met only a few days ago yet now considered almost as close as family. It went against Ianto's long-standing belief that he was a man on a solitary journey through life, that his problems were his alone to solve. Which brought him back to Jack, still missing, still beyond Ianto's reach both physically and mentally. Finding him, finding him safe, was now Ianto's only goal. With that in mind, he made the right turn down the hallway, each footstep now set ablaze with purple and yellow sparks, exhibiting Philip's approval. They faded away altogether as Ianto crossed the foyer and entered the drawing room to find the Torchwood team standing about in a loose circle illumined by their torches, their obvious relief at his arrival indicated by playful remarks and fleeting touches before they sobered, all of them returning to the task at hand.

"So you all came back, then," Ianto said. He turned to Rhys. "How far did you get?"

"Not halfway up the staircase, to be honest. As soon as the lights went, we came back down here."

"We've lost all our tech again, too," Tosh added. "Everything's down now. We can check the generator--"

"Don't bother," Ianto shook his head and winced as the rhythmic pounding in his head resumed, joined by the low hum of despair vibrating from the ghosts. He pulled his earpiece out and set it aside. "It doesn't matter any more. This investigation is over."

"Over?" Gwen repeated. "Why is it over? We can't just stop, can we?"

"We're not stopping," Ianto said, "but now it's down to me. If Jack is upstairs, then I'm going up there."

"That isn't what Jack wanted." Toshiko's words were firm, but her touch remained gentle as she placed her hand on Ianto's wrist.

"I know," Ianto smiled at her, "but I'm going anyway. However," he continued to the group at large, "I'm not above wanting company if any of you'd like to come along. I have no idea what--"

He stopped as a blossom of iridescence appeared at his feet, then quickly faded before reappearing at the drawing room's threshold.

"What?" Martha followed Ianto's gaze. "What is it, what do you see?"

"It's time," Ianto muttered, then looked around at the team. "It's time."

Raising the edge of his torch to his forehead in a brief salute, Owen swept his other hand toward toward the door.

"We're right behind you." Then he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "God help us all."

Relieved, Ianto stepped around Toshiko and quickly made his way to the foyer. With no clear plan other than searching for Jack, he was heartened when the sparkling purple and yellow-tinged blooms that had guided him back to the Torchwood team reappeared on the faded octagonal rug that covered the foyer floor. Fully expecting to be led upstairs, Ianto was surprised to see the blotches cut a path around the ball and claw feet of the centre table until the last one paused next to the front door, undulating in a clear pattern toward the Hall's terrace outside.

"I don't understand," Ianto muttered. "Where are you taking me? Is Jack outside?"

The others had followed him and even now, Rhys had one foot on the first step of the staircase. "Ianto? Where are you going? I thought you said you needed to search for Jack upstairs."

"I know, I--" Ianto shook his head, trying to make sense of Philip's guidance. "This doesn't make sense. I don't--"

A sudden wave of dizziness swept through him and he staggered back, bumping his hip against the table. He was aware of someone on either side of him taking hold of his arms to steady him, but his reality was suddenly awash in the one presence he'd longed for.

Ianto!

It was Jack, or Jack's essence, pushing against Ianto's senses in waves of emotion, Ianto's name whispered over and over in Jack's incorporeal but recognizable voice. In a few, precious seconds, the foyer and the others faded away as Ianto's vision clouded over and he was swept up in the joyous knowledge that wherever Jack was, he'd managed to find Ianto.

But joy turned to fear as he felt Jack's desperation break through, desperation that Ianto knew was directed at himself. Jack was terrified that Ianto was in danger, and though no words passed between them, Jack's emotions were undeniable, unbearable--and coming from above.

"Ianto? Ianto!"

Ianto blinked as Owen snapped his fingers in front of his eyes, bringing him back to awareness as Jack's presence vanished, cut off as though a line had been clipped. Rhys was on one side of him and Andy on the other, each of them with one hand supporting Ianto by the elbows.

"It's Jack," Ianto panted, "he reached out to me. He's afraid--"

"Afraid?" Gwen pushed forward. "Not the Jack Harkness I know, he's not afraid of anything."

"No." Ianto closed his eyes and shook his head. There was no explaining to those who'd never understand that there are connexions made beyond the flesh and beyond what the eye could see. He understood their scepticism and confusion but he had no time for it. "He's being kept somewhere, somewhere close."

"Kept?" Rhys repeated. "You mean, held against his will?"

Instead of answering, Ianto shook off the hands that held him and searched for Philip's trail. It was still pulsing at his feet, the purple now nearly obliterated by yellow and white. Philip wanted Ianto outside, but Ianto was almost certain that Jack was still in the house.

"Are we not going upstairs, then?"

Andy's confused query snapped Ianto back to the reality that his goal had always been to eradicate Adam from the library and he had no doubt that the answer to the secret of Jack's disappearance would also be found there. Yet Philip was going in the opposite direction, with no indication that Jack would be found outside. It was as if Philip was leading Ianto away from something, protecting him from the violent energies gathering around the Hall.

Ianto's decision was made when there was a loud thump from the floor above them, strong enough to rattle the crystal pendants hanging from the candlesticks that sat on the foyer's table. To Ianto's mind it sounded like a body falling hard, and visions of Jack at the mercy of Adam, under attack, maybe hurt, flooded his mind. It was a fear of his own devising, but no less terrifying.

"That's it," Rhys barked, "we're going--"

Ianto was already on the move, running to the stairs, the pounding in his head in sync with each step upon the riser. Yet beneath his fear of whatever awaited him in the music room was a sense of inevitability, combined with a feeling of relief. After tonight, he knew there would be no more guessing, no more wondering who Adam was and what he wanted.

And Jack--one way or another, Jack would be safe.

The team following close behind him, Ianto reached the hall and sprinted toward the music room until a blast of cold, foetid air stopped him in his tracks. The statement was clear, neither a warning nor an invitation. It was Adam's calling card, a reminder of his growing strength, and it drove Ianto into the wall, stopping their progression.

"What is it?" Martha asked. "What's wrong?"

"D'you not smell that?" Ianto muttered. Of course they didn't smell anything, any more than they could hear the moans of his ghostly family growing more desperate. He held the back of his hand to his nose and closed his eyes for a few seconds, willing the smell to go away. When he could draw a clear breath, he nodded at her and then moved forward, stepping around the equipment lined up in the dark hallway for an investigation that was no longer required.

"Do you want us to go in first?" Rhys whispered.

Ianto shook his head. Torchwood Paranormal couldn't do what he had to do, couldn't protect him from whatever lay in wait for him inside the music room. They would now serve only as witnesses, unable to see all the players of the forthcoming drama, but needed to deal with the consequences of a battle they could not see.

"No," he said, "help Jack, no matter what happens. He is your priority."

Reaching out with a steady hand, Ianto poked his fingers through the hole created by the missing lock. The silly votive he's placed there had been removed during the team's earlier preparations, so all he needed to do was give the door a sharp, inward shove. It swung open easily and silently, a whisper of chilling evil sliding out and curling around Ianto's ankles as he staggered backward, the ability to breathe momentarily forgotten as the cold draught wound upward around his throat before easing away with a taunting hiss.

"Ianto?" Rhys grabbed Ianto around his upper arm, steadying him once more. "What's going on?"

Ianto didn't reply, closing his eyes as the foul odour was chased away by the sudden presence of a cool draught washing over his skin. Taking a deep breath to cleanse his lungs, he opened his eyes as he felt a firm pressure against his shoulder. It was Philip, not a member of the team, now urging him to go forward, to face Adam and finish the night's work. Whatever reason Philip had for trying to take Ianto outside, it was now forgotten as Philip tugged at his clothes. But most of all, it was the need to find Jack and the expectation that he'd be in music room that had him taking that next step, and if Ianto had to go through Adam to save Jack, so be it.

Sweeping his torchlight into the darkness before him, Ianto took a short step forward. "Jack? Where are you? Jack!"

There was no response as the Torchwood team surged past him, invading the music room and shining their torches over every surface and into every corner, calling Jack's name. Ianto stayed rooted to the spot as he swept his torchlight upward, shining it directly into Adam's corner, not sure what he was expecting to find but still confused when he saw nothing there. No shadow, no dark smudge undulating in the dark, all Ianto saw was the lazy end of a cobweb trailing from the ceiling.

It all appeared so harmless, save for that one brush of Adam's presence Ianto had initially encountered. Ianto wondered if Adam had retreated somewhere beyond the music room, perhaps even escaping the confines of the Hall, but before he could speculate any further, the ghostly chorus arose once more, this time a dolorous hum that vibrated deep in Ianto's bones.

Terrified but determined, Ianto took a few steps deeper into the room, ignoring the others and prepared to search it inch by inch himself if necessary. He had no expectations of getting answers from Adam, but he had hoped that Adam would be eager to confront Ianto and Philip and in that eagerness, give Ianto an advantage. He had no idea what role Philip could play in all this or even he could--in fact, if Ianto wasn't so worried about finding Jack, he'd have been trying to convince Philip to stay away. The music room hadn't proven safe for either of them but for Philip, it had nearly been fatal. There was only one reason Ianto would risk Philip now, yet it tore at him that it had come to this choice.

Then, just as he'd done all Ianto's life, Philip was there, reaching out to him, understanding and acceptance infusing the fresh scent of grass that wafted across Ianto's skin. It was the loving touch that Ianto knew so well, offering support and strength and more than a hint of understanding of how deeply Ianto was conflicted. There was forgiveness in this touch but determination as well, as if he was committed to something Ianto could barely understand, and prepared to face Adam without Ianto, if necessary.

Feeling a light touch fall on his arm, Ianto turned his head to see Rhys' profile, barely discernible in the dark.

"Jack's definitely not here," Rhys stated. "Pretty anticlimactic after all that, isn't it?" He clapped Ianto on the shoulder. "Right, I'll pair up the others, get them looking for him in the house and on the grounds." Raising his voice, he raised his hands. "All right, everyone, let's regroup in the hall, figure out our next move."

Ianto didn't move, his eyes still straining to find Adam through the darkness. He heard the others conversing in low tones behind him but he remained still. The conversation continued, accompanied by footsteps as the team disbursed but Ianto could feel his own impatience rising--this seemingly empty room held no clue to Jack's whereabouts and finding Jack remained Ianto's top priority.

Tightening his jaw, Ianto gave the room one last, level sweep with his torch, then took a step toward the door. He could just make out Gwen and Rhys standing in the hall and he was glad of it--since the two of them had remained behind, he'd ask them to accompany him to the stables, a favourite haunt of Lucy's and perhaps the destination she'd led Jack to earlier. That thump they'd heard earlier could be anything, most likely an unsecured piece of equipment falling over, and he dismissed it from his thoughts.

Eyes returning to Adam's corner near the ceiling, Ianto directed his next words to Rhys. "Let's move outside," he said. "There are a few places I think Lucy and Jack could be."

He never knew if Rhys and Gwen heard him. Just as he came even with the door frame, he felt a firm yank at his collar, the beads of his necklace turning hot as they were drawn tight against his throat, choking him. He stumbled back into the centre of the music room as the door slammed shut.

"No!" Ianto leapt forward, shoving his fingers in the lock's empty hole and pulling, but already knowing that the cause was lost. The trap had been sprung and the door didn't move, its wooden surface turning cold and damp.

"Ianto! Are you all right?" It was Rhys, calling from the hallway, his frantic words punctuated by his fist pounding against the door.

"I'm okay," Ianto replied. He backed away from the door as a feeling of unease began a slow crawl up his spine. The once vague scent of decay and mould was returning, heralding Adam's return. "Find Jack," Ianto said, his free hand clenching into a fist. "Please, you have to find him." He tugged at the necklace, still taut against his skin. "I--I don't think I can help now."

There were soft words he couldn't hear, following by fading footsteps. Ianto swallowed, encouraged that Torchwood would do everything they could to find Jack. But behind that swift feeling of hope was terror, unavoidable now, everything he'd hoped to avoid. He could feel Adam drawing closer, pushing Philip away from Ianto as inexorably as the tide pushed against the shore.

"Ianto! I'm still here, Ianto. I won't leave you." It was Gwen, bless her, apparently having stayed behind. It was one less person searching for Jack, but Ianto was heartened to know that there was a friend close by. "Tell me what's going on."

Ianto opened his mouth to reply but then Gwen was forgotten as the air began to thicken with foetid moisture. Like the slick, black surface of an underground cave, it seemed to be approaching from everywhere at once, folding in on Ianto in a foul wave. Instinctively, he reached out mentally for Philip, dropping his torch from fingers suddenly robbed of their strength and hearing it roll away, its light flickering uselessly against the walls and furniture.

Then Philip was there, pushing Adam back just far enough to envelop Ianto in a thin layer of his protection, cooling and loosening the beaded necklace around Ianto's throat. It was lighter inside that bubble, light enough for Ianto to see a faint path to the door, an escape path forged by the force of Philip's will. And in that brief moment, Ianto understood the choice before him, a choice granted to him by Philip. A choice that illuminated Ianto's way out of the music room, and to safety, leaving Philip alone with Adam and allowing Ianto to join in the search for Jack.

It was an impossible dilemma, a decision Ianto had never dreamed he'd have to face. Every fibre, every muscle strained forward with the need to find Jack, but leaving Philip to face Adam alone was unthinkable. Even now he could feel Philip weakening against Adam's presence, and that's when Ianto understood. In that undefinable, unexplainable communication they shared, Ianto knew that Philip needed him, that only together could they solve the mystery of Adam and forever remove him from their lives. Ianto didn't know what that looked like--he could still remember the angry red welts on his neck, the recent attack that had thrown him against the walls of the van. But he could also remember the threat that Adam posed to Jack and Philip, and as long as that threat existed, Ianto had to do everything in his power to eradicate it.

Deliberately turning away from the door, Ianto paused to compose himself. There was only one path now, only one way to ensure Jack's safety and the future of Caernarfon Hall and that was to give himself up to whatever Philip needed him to do. With a sense of terrified resignation, he tilted his head back, gazing upward through the thin layer of Philip's quickly fading protection and finding exactly what he knew he'd find: Adam, spreading like a malignant fog over the ceiling, rippling inward, thickening, becoming opaque as he gathered his power for whatever was going to happen next.

Ianto thought of Jack, lost somewhere, possibly hurt or in danger and needing Ianto's help. He thought of Philip, his companion through the years, a reliable source of love and support whenever Ianto needed it. With Adam bearing down on him and Philip pushing back to give Ianto more time to make his decision, Ianto knew there was only one to make.

"I choose you both," Ianto whispered. Curling his fingers around the still-warm beads, he closed his eyes.