Everything Changes 7/11
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Ianto ran a hand across his face as he parked the SUV. Earlier the others had watched silently as Owen, in a daze, had fallen to his knees next to the body of the cyberwoman. As the doctor bent over her crying, Jack had quietly reached into one of the lab drawers, removing a sedative. He grabbed Owen by the arm, but the doctor had resisted, falling back to the ground. Jack quickly injected him and after a brief struggle, Owen collapsed. Jack had sent Gwen home while Tosh and Ianto drove Owen to his flat. Even though Tosh and Ianto were told to go home themselves, Tosh had refused to leave Owen. And Ianto found himself returning to the hub rather than the hotel.
Walking into the autopsy lab, Ianto saw the captain standing amidst the toppled equipment and scattered supplies. The cyberwoman was still on the ground at his feet. Jack looked up at Ianto as he walked down the stairs. He smiled tiredly, ruefully.
"I don’t even know where to start," he said, exhaling sharply.
Ianto, more experienced than he would have liked at cleaning up after catastrophes, took control. "You go to the morgue. Disable that machinery and bring the other body to the freezers. I’ll start in here."
Jack nodded in agreement, before looking around the room a final time, sighing. "Secrets and lies," he muttered as he walked away.
Ianto stepped closer to Katie, staring at her body, blood pooled beneath it. Jack was right, he knew. It wasn’t the first time secrets and lies had torn apart the team - he had heard of Alex and, of course, there had been Suzie. But the thing was, Jack kept his own secrets. He lied to the others every day. Only Ianto knew who he really was, that he couldn’t die. The problem with spending decades making difficult decisions, Ianto realized, was that you soon believed you knew all the answers. Had Owen been blinded by love, or could Katie have been saved? Owen was, Ianto hated to admit, a genius, and he truly believed it was possible. Jack hadn’t even given them a chance; if this was how he treated Katie, Ianto wondered what he would do to Lisa. He had been right not to trust Jack. He would have to research the Family of Blood and figure out what was happening on his own.
Resolved, Ianto bent to pick up Katie’s body, dragging her to a gurney and lifting her onto it. He pushed her towards the freezer vaults. As he opened an empty one, Jack came into the room, the dead man slung over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Ianto reached over and opened another empty drawer. Nodding his thanks, Jack deposited the body, then turned to help Ianto move the cyberwoman from the gurney to the slab.
"Keep these at a cool temperature only. I want them autopsied in a day or two, so they probably shouldn’t be completely frozen."
Startled, Ianto looked up at the captain. "You’re going to make Owen..."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Jack interrupted. "I’m calling in a friend of mine from UNIT to cover for him."
Jack turned to walk away and Ianto called out to him. "What’s going to happen to him? Are you going to retcon him or, or-"
Jack put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, staring off to the side. "I don’t really know. It’s up to him, I guess. He’ll need some time off, but I’m not going to give up on him." He paused, then looked directly at Ianto. "He’s not the first person to do something stupid for love." With that, Jack walked back to the lab.
***
It was early morning before Ianto carefully and quietly opened the hotel door. Yawning, he loosened his tie and kicked off his shoes. A sleeping Lisa muttered and rolled to the side. He quickly removed the rest of his clothes, leaving them on the floor where they dropped. It would only be Gwen and Jack on duty this morning. Once they had put the hub to rights, the captain had sent Ianto home to rest. He had also called Toshiko, telling her to stay with and care for Owen, who was still sleeping soundly. Ianto crawled into bed next to Lisa. His mind racing with thoughts of their first date and the engagement ring in his drawer and the terrifying man who had taken her and the danger of keeping secrets and Jack’s warm body beneath him in the warehouse and the cold metal on Katie’s skin and her lifeless eyes, Ianto took a deep breath, pulling Lisa closer to him and breathing in her scent as he closed his eyes.
***
By the time the sun rose, Toshiko had flipped through every single channel on Owen’s big screen TV eight times, read some of the more interesting articles in the medical journals strewn across the coffee table, raided the fridge and then the liquor cabinet, cleaned the kitchen, thought about cleaning the bathroom, and stared unseeing out the windows for hours. She did not, however, sleep.
She also did not think about the fact that, all this time, Owen had been desperately in love with another woman. And the night before, Toshiko had taken part in killing that woman.
The bedroom door opened, and Owen emerged. Upon seeing her, he came to a stop, confusion followed by pain flashing across his face. "It wasn’t a dream."
Although it wasn’t a question, Toshiko answered him. "No. Owen-"
He immediately began to move again, walking into the kitchen and turning on the faucet. Rather than getting out a glass, he merely stuck his head into the sink, taking long gulps of water. Standing, he slammed the water off and turned to open the fridge.
"I’m hungry. Are you hungry?"
"No," Toshiko said, before shaking her head. "Yes, I mean. But Owen-"
Not looking at her, Owen let the fridge door swing shut. "What’s going to happen now? Are you supposed to retcon me?"
"No!" Toshiko stood, walking closer to the doctor. "Jack didn’t say anything like that. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m not going..."
Toshiko trailed off as Owen leaned forward, gripping the edge of the counter and breathing deeply. He slowly dropped his head onto his hands, and his shoulders began to shake in silent sobs.
***
The sun was well in the sky by the time Ianto woke again. He opened his eyes to see Lisa gazing down at him, a soft smile on her face, her hand caressing his cheek.
"How long have you been up?" he asked groggily, pushing himself up on his elbows.
Leaning forward, she kissed his forehead. "A while now. When did you get in last night?"
Laughing, Ianto fell back to the pillow. "I didn’t. It was this morning." He rubbed his eyes, then brought his arm around behind him to prop his head up.
She moved to kiss his eyebrow, then his cheek. "You must be..." his nose, his chin "so..." the corner of his lip "...tired" and finally his mouth. Ianto reached with his other hand to pull her closer, deeper. She turned to stretch out next to him, and Ianto broke the kiss.
"Not...that tired," he decided as he went in for another kiss. It was surreal to have her in his arms again, after so long. That enforced absence, Ianto told himself, was the reason her skin felt unfamiliar, her kisses wrong.
______
Ianto lay on his back, threading his fingers through Lisa’s hair, catching his breath. His eyes were closed, but he was fighting sleep. She traced one finger across his chest and kissed his shoulder.
"Ianto," she asked softly. "Did you find anything out yesterday?"
"Mmm. No, sorry. There was a - small incident. I’ll look today."
"Are you sure we shouldn’t ask your friend for help?" she asked, moving her hand up to his neck.
"Yes, I’m sure. Trust me. I’ll search the archives when I go back in. There has to be something there."
"If not," Lisa said quietly, as she leaned in to kiss his cheek then laid her head down on his shoulder, "I heard them talking about someone else once. You should see if you can find anything on the Doctor."
Ianto, now wide awake, opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
***
Owen and Toshiko sat silently side by side on a bench, staring over the waters of Cardiff Bay. Tosh softly scraped the side of her empty coffee cup with a fingernail. Owen’s food, uneaten, sat on the bench next to him.
"I’m sorry, Tosh," Owen started, then cleared his rough throat. "I didn’t want - I never meant to..."
Not looking at Owen, Tosh reached over and placed her hand on his. He turned his hand around so their palms met, tightening his grip. "I know," she said.
***
When Ianto arrived at the hub that afternoon, Jack and Gwen were gone, dealing with a weevil disturbance. Ianto took the opportunity to search the archives. He started by pulling his own file as well as Lisa’s, copies of the Smith, John files he had stolen from the Ministry, and a small folder on the Family of Blood. Taking the items upstairs to the tourist office, he sat in the back room and prepared to read. At that moment, the bell above the door sounded, and he glanced out. He could just see a young black woman standing by the counter and for one brief moment, he feared Lisa had followed him. Ianto stepped through the curtain, and the woman turned to face him. It wasn’t her.
Ianto smiled politely, slipping into the role of tourist office employee. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I’m looking for Jack Harkness."
Ianto dropped the smile, intrigued. "And you are?"
The woman reached into her pocket, removing and showing him her ID. "Dr. Martha Jones, UNIT."
Next Chapter
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Ianto ran a hand across his face as he parked the SUV. Earlier the others had watched silently as Owen, in a daze, had fallen to his knees next to the body of the cyberwoman. As the doctor bent over her crying, Jack had quietly reached into one of the lab drawers, removing a sedative. He grabbed Owen by the arm, but the doctor had resisted, falling back to the ground. Jack quickly injected him and after a brief struggle, Owen collapsed. Jack had sent Gwen home while Tosh and Ianto drove Owen to his flat. Even though Tosh and Ianto were told to go home themselves, Tosh had refused to leave Owen. And Ianto found himself returning to the hub rather than the hotel.
Walking into the autopsy lab, Ianto saw the captain standing amidst the toppled equipment and scattered supplies. The cyberwoman was still on the ground at his feet. Jack looked up at Ianto as he walked down the stairs. He smiled tiredly, ruefully.
"I don’t even know where to start," he said, exhaling sharply.
Ianto, more experienced than he would have liked at cleaning up after catastrophes, took control. "You go to the morgue. Disable that machinery and bring the other body to the freezers. I’ll start in here."
Jack nodded in agreement, before looking around the room a final time, sighing. "Secrets and lies," he muttered as he walked away.
Ianto stepped closer to Katie, staring at her body, blood pooled beneath it. Jack was right, he knew. It wasn’t the first time secrets and lies had torn apart the team - he had heard of Alex and, of course, there had been Suzie. But the thing was, Jack kept his own secrets. He lied to the others every day. Only Ianto knew who he really was, that he couldn’t die. The problem with spending decades making difficult decisions, Ianto realized, was that you soon believed you knew all the answers. Had Owen been blinded by love, or could Katie have been saved? Owen was, Ianto hated to admit, a genius, and he truly believed it was possible. Jack hadn’t even given them a chance; if this was how he treated Katie, Ianto wondered what he would do to Lisa. He had been right not to trust Jack. He would have to research the Family of Blood and figure out what was happening on his own.
Resolved, Ianto bent to pick up Katie’s body, dragging her to a gurney and lifting her onto it. He pushed her towards the freezer vaults. As he opened an empty one, Jack came into the room, the dead man slung over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Ianto reached over and opened another empty drawer. Nodding his thanks, Jack deposited the body, then turned to help Ianto move the cyberwoman from the gurney to the slab.
"Keep these at a cool temperature only. I want them autopsied in a day or two, so they probably shouldn’t be completely frozen."
Startled, Ianto looked up at the captain. "You’re going to make Owen..."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Jack interrupted. "I’m calling in a friend of mine from UNIT to cover for him."
Jack turned to walk away and Ianto called out to him. "What’s going to happen to him? Are you going to retcon him or, or-"
Jack put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, staring off to the side. "I don’t really know. It’s up to him, I guess. He’ll need some time off, but I’m not going to give up on him." He paused, then looked directly at Ianto. "He’s not the first person to do something stupid for love." With that, Jack walked back to the lab.
***
It was early morning before Ianto carefully and quietly opened the hotel door. Yawning, he loosened his tie and kicked off his shoes. A sleeping Lisa muttered and rolled to the side. He quickly removed the rest of his clothes, leaving them on the floor where they dropped. It would only be Gwen and Jack on duty this morning. Once they had put the hub to rights, the captain had sent Ianto home to rest. He had also called Toshiko, telling her to stay with and care for Owen, who was still sleeping soundly. Ianto crawled into bed next to Lisa. His mind racing with thoughts of their first date and the engagement ring in his drawer and the terrifying man who had taken her and the danger of keeping secrets and Jack’s warm body beneath him in the warehouse and the cold metal on Katie’s skin and her lifeless eyes, Ianto took a deep breath, pulling Lisa closer to him and breathing in her scent as he closed his eyes.
***
By the time the sun rose, Toshiko had flipped through every single channel on Owen’s big screen TV eight times, read some of the more interesting articles in the medical journals strewn across the coffee table, raided the fridge and then the liquor cabinet, cleaned the kitchen, thought about cleaning the bathroom, and stared unseeing out the windows for hours. She did not, however, sleep.
She also did not think about the fact that, all this time, Owen had been desperately in love with another woman. And the night before, Toshiko had taken part in killing that woman.
The bedroom door opened, and Owen emerged. Upon seeing her, he came to a stop, confusion followed by pain flashing across his face. "It wasn’t a dream."
Although it wasn’t a question, Toshiko answered him. "No. Owen-"
He immediately began to move again, walking into the kitchen and turning on the faucet. Rather than getting out a glass, he merely stuck his head into the sink, taking long gulps of water. Standing, he slammed the water off and turned to open the fridge.
"I’m hungry. Are you hungry?"
"No," Toshiko said, before shaking her head. "Yes, I mean. But Owen-"
Not looking at her, Owen let the fridge door swing shut. "What’s going to happen now? Are you supposed to retcon me?"
"No!" Toshiko stood, walking closer to the doctor. "Jack didn’t say anything like that. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m not going..."
Toshiko trailed off as Owen leaned forward, gripping the edge of the counter and breathing deeply. He slowly dropped his head onto his hands, and his shoulders began to shake in silent sobs.
***
The sun was well in the sky by the time Ianto woke again. He opened his eyes to see Lisa gazing down at him, a soft smile on her face, her hand caressing his cheek.
"How long have you been up?" he asked groggily, pushing himself up on his elbows.
Leaning forward, she kissed his forehead. "A while now. When did you get in last night?"
Laughing, Ianto fell back to the pillow. "I didn’t. It was this morning." He rubbed his eyes, then brought his arm around behind him to prop his head up.
She moved to kiss his eyebrow, then his cheek. "You must be..." his nose, his chin "so..." the corner of his lip "...tired" and finally his mouth. Ianto reached with his other hand to pull her closer, deeper. She turned to stretch out next to him, and Ianto broke the kiss.
"Not...that tired," he decided as he went in for another kiss. It was surreal to have her in his arms again, after so long. That enforced absence, Ianto told himself, was the reason her skin felt unfamiliar, her kisses wrong.
______
Ianto lay on his back, threading his fingers through Lisa’s hair, catching his breath. His eyes were closed, but he was fighting sleep. She traced one finger across his chest and kissed his shoulder.
"Ianto," she asked softly. "Did you find anything out yesterday?"
"Mmm. No, sorry. There was a - small incident. I’ll look today."
"Are you sure we shouldn’t ask your friend for help?" she asked, moving her hand up to his neck.
"Yes, I’m sure. Trust me. I’ll search the archives when I go back in. There has to be something there."
"If not," Lisa said quietly, as she leaned in to kiss his cheek then laid her head down on his shoulder, "I heard them talking about someone else once. You should see if you can find anything on the Doctor."
Ianto, now wide awake, opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
***
Owen and Toshiko sat silently side by side on a bench, staring over the waters of Cardiff Bay. Tosh softly scraped the side of her empty coffee cup with a fingernail. Owen’s food, uneaten, sat on the bench next to him.
"I’m sorry, Tosh," Owen started, then cleared his rough throat. "I didn’t want - I never meant to..."
Not looking at Owen, Tosh reached over and placed her hand on his. He turned his hand around so their palms met, tightening his grip. "I know," she said.
***
When Ianto arrived at the hub that afternoon, Jack and Gwen were gone, dealing with a weevil disturbance. Ianto took the opportunity to search the archives. He started by pulling his own file as well as Lisa’s, copies of the Smith, John files he had stolen from the Ministry, and a small folder on the Family of Blood. Taking the items upstairs to the tourist office, he sat in the back room and prepared to read. At that moment, the bell above the door sounded, and he glanced out. He could just see a young black woman standing by the counter and for one brief moment, he feared Lisa had followed him. Ianto stepped through the curtain, and the woman turned to face him. It wasn’t her.
Ianto smiled politely, slipping into the role of tourist office employee. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I’m looking for Jack Harkness."
Ianto dropped the smile, intrigued. "And you are?"
The woman reached into her pocket, removing and showing him her ID. "Dr. Martha Jones, UNIT."
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