We Could Be Heroes 7/30
Title: We Could Be Heroes 7/30
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, John/Nick, Gwen/Rhys
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, John Hart and a cast of (probably!) thousands.
Spoilers: Set after Exit Wounds. Sequel to 'Will My Arms Be Strong Enough?'
Rating: Adult - it's going to get very dark in some places.
Warnings: Slash, language, angst, dark themes.
Summary: Who is waiting at the barracks?
Disclaimer: I'm a student. I don't own Torchwood.
The Master List (as it stands) is here: anduria-trianys.livejournal.com/27610.html#cutid1
Chapter 7
When the team pulled up to the old barracks, they could instantly tell that something was very wrong. For one thing, the ground was covered in a strange silvery substance, almost like water, but at the same time too solid. For another thing, what little space there was outside the living quarters was packed out with army vehicles from which scores of soldiers were pouring, hardly any of them dressed in their uniforms, but most of them armed, and quite clearly very hastily. And finally, the small house was filled by a bright blue light.
Jack’s eyes widened as he jumped out of the car, his gun loaded. “It can’t be!” He seemed to be saying that an awful lot recently. But this time, he was truly shocked. Cautiously, he moved up to the barracks, but before he could get too close, he was stopped by a tall and muscular young man with short and spiky dark hair and a stern expression. He placed his hand firmly on Jack’s chest and started trying to manoeuvre him away.
However, Jack was not having any of that. Calmly, he dislodged the man’s hand. “As much as I wouldn’t usually object to having a handsome young officer lay his hands on me, I’m here on official business.” He flashed his Torchwood identification. “The name’s Captain Jack Harkness.”
But the man wasn’t impressed. In fact, he looked exceptionally annoyed. “And my name’s Matt Davies,” he said. “And I’m telling you now that if you think you can flash the Torchwood card and you’ll automatically have unrestricted access wherever you go, you’re wrong!” He shook his head and started towards the house once the last of the travelling soldiers had already gone in.
Jack growled and pinned him to one of the vehicles, his eyes blazing. “Now, you listen to me, and you listen hard,” he hissed. “Your men are in that house. Listen to them.” He directed the young man’s attention to the screams coming from inside. “Do they sound like they know what they’re up against?” He waited for the look of fear to enter the officer’s eyes. “If you’d just let me go in there straight away, that could have been avoided; I know what it is they’re up against.”
The young man’s pupils dilated as he took in the truth of what the other man was saying. “Okay,” he squeaked. “Go on; if you’re so sure you know what you’re doing.”
Jack moved away. “Thank you. Gwen!” The woman came running up, Ianto close behind her. “Gwen, I want you to stay with this young man; find out what, if anything, he was told.”
He dug his mobile out of his pocket and flipped through to the address book before handing it to Ianto. “I need you to dial that number,” he said, pointing at one of them. “It’s the number for a good friend of mine. Tell him to be ready.” He rubbed his head. “He’s going to need to be."
Ianto didn’t argue; he simply nodded and rushed to a quiet corner to make the call. However, Gwen turned to look at her leader. “Jack, what’s going on?” she asked.
Jack didn’t answer her question, just told her to make sure no one else entered the house, and then left her alone with Matt. He had a terrible feeling he knew exactly what was going on. And sure enough, when he stepped into the barrack house, it took him less than a moment to recognise the shapes of the once beautiful aliens. Swallowing, he bent down and examined the body, writhing with pain now that it had been shot full of bullets. He felt a surge of anger for what the men had done to the poor creature, but, as he looked around at the bodies strewn across the floor, he realised that there had been no other choice. This had not been a case of a gang of psychopaths abusing a hapless alien.
Sighing, he closed his eyes and drew his Webley, shooting the struggling being in the fins, stroking its head as it died. A moment later, he started at the sound of Gwen’s voice in his ear, asking him if he was all right.
“I’m fine, Gwen,” he said as he shut the alien’s eyes and stood up. “Is everyone okay out there?”
“Everyone’s fine; Jack, Matt just told me his partner’s in that house; one of the army doctors.” She paused. “His partner’s name is Garrett Evans.”
Jack froze as he recognised the name. “You mean -”
“Yes, Jack. I mean the doctor we’re considering recruiting.” Gwen’s voice crackled slightly. “Matt’s worried about him,” she added, stating the obvious.
“I’m sure he is.” Jack knew he would be climbing the walls if it had been Ianto. “Listen, I’ve asked Ianto to call a contact of mine from St. David’s - the hospital, not the hotel.” He heard her chuckle slightly. “His name is Dan Olsten.”
“Okay.” Gwen sounded relieved.
“Jack, the ambulance’s here,” Ianto’s voice cut in. “Dan’s arrived.”
“Good,” said Jack. “Tell him to come in; the coast’s clear. Oh, and for the record, I know he looks like him, but don’t compare Dan to that doctor from Twilight; he really doesn’t like that.”
He didn’t wait for a response, but instantly ended the transmission and stood up. “Is there anyone alive in here?” he called out. “Can anyone hear me?”
“Over here!” The response was muffled, but Jack still caught it. He rushed towards the back of the room and around to a corner where a short man with messy black hair and glasses was surrounded by eight others, many of them badly wounded.
Jack didn’t need to ask who the man was. “Dr. Evans?” When that didn’t gain a response, he tried again. “Are you Garrett Evans?”
The young army doctor looked up, his face pale but he looked unhurt. “Who’s asking?” His Welsh accent thickened with the suspicion in his tone, but then he caught sight of the familiar coat and sighed. “No, wait; don’t worry - it’s Captain Jack Harkness, isn’t it?”
“I see my reputation precedes me.” Jack smirked and then bent down to look at the other men. “I take it these are the only survivors?”
Garrett still looked distrustful, but he seemed to realise that Jack was there to help. “Yeah. Those,” he gestured at the alien corpses, “things…whatever they are - they just attacked.” He gently steadied a young man who was starting to collapse and placed a rolled up blanket - presumably rescued from one of the rooms - under his head as he carried on talking. “There were six of us staying in the barrack house; we’d been stationed here for a training exercise. We were just sitting down and having a few drinks when this really bright light just…it just seemed to appear. Next thing we knew, those things were attacking.”
Jack nodded. Garrett was clearly shocked by what had happened, but he had earned himself some brownie points with his calmness as he described the events, as well as his ability to do so while looking after his injured comrades. He knew that the full extent of what had happened wouldn’t truly hit until later, but for now he was displaying a level of maturity that might have seemed out of place on someone so young.
“Captain Harkness?” Jack jumped and turned round when he heard the soft Mancunian accent behind him. He smiled weakly at the blonde man who was stood in the doorway, an expression of confusion on his face.
“Hi, Dan,” he said quietly, beckoning him over. “Thanks for coming.” He wanted to ask the other man to just call him Jack, but that would be a waste of time. It always was.
Garrett looked up. “Who’s he?” he asked, his guarded expression returning.
“This is a friend of mine, Dan Olsten,” answered Jack. “He works in the Accident and Emergency department at St. David’s Hospital. I guess you could say he’s my secret agent,” he added with a small chuckle.
Dan rolled his eyes slightly. “It’s Dr. Evans, isn’t it?” he asked and then without waiting for an answer ploughed straight in. “Are you the only survivors?”
Garrett nodded. “Those things were vicious!” He looked at Jack, his eyes filled with anger and confusion. “You know what they were, don’t you?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, I know what they are, but I also know that they’re all dead.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice when he said that. Garrett flinched slightly.
Dan took charge again. “Right, there’s an ambulance outside,” he said and started to move around to the injured men. “You’ve done a very good job here, Dr. Evans, but I still feel that they should have some time in hospital, just to be on the safe side”
“Hold on!” interrupted Garrett. “Who do you think you are, Carlisle Cullen? Well, you may look like him, but you’re not in charge here, Dr. Olsten!” He applied a fresh bandage to a cut on a young woman’s arm. “I’m the official doctor for now and I’ll be -”
“Garrett,” interrupted Jack, his voice quiet but firm. “You’ve done a wonderful job here, but you’re tired out. I can see it just from looking at you. Dan can take over from here and finish things off. You get yourself home.”
He paused. “Besides - Matt’s outside and he’s worried about you. Don’t you think you should go and let him know that you haven’t been savaged to death by a bunch of aliens?”
Instantly, Garrett stood up. “Matt’s outside? Is he okay?” But he was halfway out of the house before he’d finished the sentence. Jack stood up and watched him get swept into the arms of the man who Gwen had been talking to a few minutes earlier.
“Your powers of persuasion are just the same as ever,” remarked Dan.
“Oh, really?” Jack allowed his amusement to show on his face.
“Yep.” Dan stood up as well. “Still as subtle as a brick.”
“Hey, this time it actually worked!” exclaimed Jack indignantly.
“Keep telling yourself that, Jack.” Ianto had come in unnoticed. He smiled. “Hi, Dan.”
“Hi, Ianto.” Dan smiled back at him. “I’ll be right back with the stretcher,” he called out from halfway across the room.
Ianto looked around the room at the alien corpses. He stroked the smooth skin gently. “What are they?” he whispered. “They seem so…beautiful.”
Jack, who had been lost in thought about how well Ianto and Dan seemed to know each other, turned and knelt beside him. “It’s a dalphonic rhapsadon,” he said quietly. “Space dolphin,” he clarified. “There’s a planet out there, galaxies away, that’s almost entirely made up of small islands. The dolphins live there in their millions.” He stroked the smooth velvet-like nose of one of them. “People keep them as pets, sometimes; just swimming through the sea and chuckling. You should see them, Ianto - they’re so beautiful…so peaceful.” He sighed quietly, lost in the images of the beautiful place and these amazing animals leaping through the water like silver rays flying through the sky. He remembered making friends with one of them, the way she’d let him stroke her nose and talk to him all day and all night. It had been one of the most incredible and heart-warming experiences of his life.
Ianto, sensing that his partner was lost in thought, waited for a few moments before speaking. “What happened to these ones?” he ventured cautiously.
Jack sighed. “Something’s turned them rabid,” he whispered. “But until we get Andie to do an autopsy on the corpse, I can’t say what it is for certain.”
“But you have a hunch?”
“I have a hunch, but I could be wrong.” Jack stroked the dolphin’s nose again and sighed. “What happened to you?” he whispered.
“Do you want some time alone with them?” Ianto’s tone was light, but the gentle hand he placed on Jack’s leg was a measure of his true intentions.
Jack smiled weakly. “You go,” he said. “Go and make sure everyone’s…okay, you know?” Ianto nodded and started to leave. “Oh - but tell Matt and Garrett they can come with us. I’ve got a little proposition for them.”
~*~
Back at the Hub…
“You’re going to hire them straight away?” asked Ianto, looking stunned.
“Trial period,” answered Jack. He looked down at Matt and Garrett who were looking around the Hub with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension on their faces. “Garrett handled himself extremely well earlier when I spoke to him. He was calm and efficient without being too hasty. We could use someone like that. As for Matt - quite aside from me not thinking that he’ll be leaving Garrett’s side in a hurry - we could really use a weapons trainer.” Especially with how quickly we seem to be going through employees, he mentally added.
“You’re right,” agreed Gwen. “However, I was also thinking about something Rhys said the other day.” She paused for a moment as Jack and Ianto looked at her curiously. “He suggested that, with all the trouble we get ourselves into…we should have more than one doctor.”
To her surprise, Jack nodded. “I’ve actually been thinking the same thing. Ever since I did that profiling job, I’ve been thinking that we need another doctor on hand. I mean, we’ll still have Dan as a liaison at the hospital, but it would make sense to have someone else on hand.” He paused to think for a moment as he looked over the remaining two candidates before coming to a decision. “Gwen, can you talk to our boys downstairs while I call Martha and ask her to send us a young blonde New Zealander down here?” He chuckled.
Ianto smiled at Jack as Gwen left. “I take it that means Declan?”
Jack nodded. “What can I say? I like the look of him. Besides,” he added, a small and slightly sad smile crossing his face as he glanced down to where Andie was elbow-deep in the dolphin’s corpse. “It can’t hurt to have another blonde.”
Ianto chuckled at the small reference to one of John’s earliest comments. “No, I guess it can’t,” he admitted. “Speaking of blondes - I didn’t realise Dan was our liaison officer. Well, I didn’t even realise we had a liaison officer.”
Jack shrugged. “I’m the boss and he’s a contact,” he said simply. “I didn’t think that you kids would need to know, unless something really bad happened.” He filed some papers away. “What about you? How do you know Dan?”
Ianto bit his lip. “He’s an old friend of Nick’s. They go back.”
Jack looked up. “Go back?” he repeated. “You mean…they go back in the same way that -”
“Yep.” Ianto nodded. “They go back in the same way that you and John go back.” He chuckled at the dumbfounded look on Jack’s face. “What?”
“Nothing,” stammered Jack. “It’s just…I always thought John was Nick’s first male partner. And that Alison was his first partner.”
Ianto shook his head. “No. Dan and Nick were together before all that. You know Nick went to university a year early, because he was pushed ahead a year in school?” Jack nodded. “Well, he and Dan were in the same hall of residence in their first year. They were the only two medical students on their floor and they became friends very quickly. From what Nick’s told me, they…dabbled for about three months before things got really serious.” He sighed. “Altogether, I think they were together for nearly two years before things went wrong.”
Jack looked curious. “It didn’t work out?”
“Well, given that Nick ended up married just over a year later, I’d say it didn’t,” replied Ianto dryly. “Apparently, one of the more…old-fashioned lecturers warned them that they could get blacklisted if they were caught together. I don’t know exactly what was said, but it scared them both enough to end it.”
“Wow.”
“I know.” Ianto sighed quietly. “They did stay friends, though.”
~*~
Back at St. David’s Hospital, Dan had finished the clean-up from the earlier events at the barracks and was sitting in his office. He had shut the door, apparently because he needed to do some paperwork, but really it was simply because he wanted to be alone for a while. He needed some time to think.
He opened a drawer in the bottom of his desk and removed a dark green photo album. The fabric was covered in dust, but he could still trace the letters he had embossed into it.
“The happiest days of my life,” he whispered as he turned to the first page and smiled sadly at the picture of himself as a bright young student wrapped in the arms of another man with beautiful hazel eyes and bright auburn hair blowing around him like flames. Swallowing, he turned the page and continued to look at the pictures, chuckling occasionally at the notes he had added at the bottom of each page. “They really were, Nicky,” he whispered. “They really were.”
But even as he smiled, Dan felt the hole in his heart start to expand painfully until he almost couldn’t breathe. Those two years had been perfect, the most perfect years he could remember.
From the first day they had met to the day that they had walked away from each other, he couldn’t remember ever feeling so cherished, so…complete, he finally realised.
Another soft laugh escaped him, only this time it sounded like a sob as he remembered the day that they had walked away from each other. They had spent one last night together, a night filled with tender kisses, soft strokes and silent tears. Even though they had promised to be together again one day, it hadn’t stopped Dan’s world from shattering beneath his feet as Nick’s hand had slipped out of his own.
“Oh, Nicky,” Dan whispered, wiping away a few tears. “I don’t know what’s brought this all up, but every day, I wish we hadn’t walked away from each other. I know we were young, but we shouldn’t have done that. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I lost you…and when I did that I lost the only person I had ever loved.”
He swallowed hard and shut the album, unable to look at the picture of them together on their last night for a moment longer. He hadn’t just lost the man he had loved then…
He had lost the man he would always love.
***
Next Time: Jack has made steps towards a new team, but he still needs a new technological officer. He knows who he has in mind, but how will they react?
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, John/Nick, Gwen/Rhys
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, John Hart and a cast of (probably!) thousands.
Spoilers: Set after Exit Wounds. Sequel to 'Will My Arms Be Strong Enough?'
Rating: Adult - it's going to get very dark in some places.
Warnings: Slash, language, angst, dark themes.
Summary: Who is waiting at the barracks?
Disclaimer: I'm a student. I don't own Torchwood.
The Master List (as it stands) is here: anduria-trianys.livejournal.com/27610.html#cutid1
Chapter 7
When the team pulled up to the old barracks, they could instantly tell that something was very wrong. For one thing, the ground was covered in a strange silvery substance, almost like water, but at the same time too solid. For another thing, what little space there was outside the living quarters was packed out with army vehicles from which scores of soldiers were pouring, hardly any of them dressed in their uniforms, but most of them armed, and quite clearly very hastily. And finally, the small house was filled by a bright blue light.
Jack’s eyes widened as he jumped out of the car, his gun loaded. “It can’t be!” He seemed to be saying that an awful lot recently. But this time, he was truly shocked. Cautiously, he moved up to the barracks, but before he could get too close, he was stopped by a tall and muscular young man with short and spiky dark hair and a stern expression. He placed his hand firmly on Jack’s chest and started trying to manoeuvre him away.
However, Jack was not having any of that. Calmly, he dislodged the man’s hand. “As much as I wouldn’t usually object to having a handsome young officer lay his hands on me, I’m here on official business.” He flashed his Torchwood identification. “The name’s Captain Jack Harkness.”
But the man wasn’t impressed. In fact, he looked exceptionally annoyed. “And my name’s Matt Davies,” he said. “And I’m telling you now that if you think you can flash the Torchwood card and you’ll automatically have unrestricted access wherever you go, you’re wrong!” He shook his head and started towards the house once the last of the travelling soldiers had already gone in.
Jack growled and pinned him to one of the vehicles, his eyes blazing. “Now, you listen to me, and you listen hard,” he hissed. “Your men are in that house. Listen to them.” He directed the young man’s attention to the screams coming from inside. “Do they sound like they know what they’re up against?” He waited for the look of fear to enter the officer’s eyes. “If you’d just let me go in there straight away, that could have been avoided; I know what it is they’re up against.”
The young man’s pupils dilated as he took in the truth of what the other man was saying. “Okay,” he squeaked. “Go on; if you’re so sure you know what you’re doing.”
Jack moved away. “Thank you. Gwen!” The woman came running up, Ianto close behind her. “Gwen, I want you to stay with this young man; find out what, if anything, he was told.”
He dug his mobile out of his pocket and flipped through to the address book before handing it to Ianto. “I need you to dial that number,” he said, pointing at one of them. “It’s the number for a good friend of mine. Tell him to be ready.” He rubbed his head. “He’s going to need to be."
Ianto didn’t argue; he simply nodded and rushed to a quiet corner to make the call. However, Gwen turned to look at her leader. “Jack, what’s going on?” she asked.
Jack didn’t answer her question, just told her to make sure no one else entered the house, and then left her alone with Matt. He had a terrible feeling he knew exactly what was going on. And sure enough, when he stepped into the barrack house, it took him less than a moment to recognise the shapes of the once beautiful aliens. Swallowing, he bent down and examined the body, writhing with pain now that it had been shot full of bullets. He felt a surge of anger for what the men had done to the poor creature, but, as he looked around at the bodies strewn across the floor, he realised that there had been no other choice. This had not been a case of a gang of psychopaths abusing a hapless alien.
Sighing, he closed his eyes and drew his Webley, shooting the struggling being in the fins, stroking its head as it died. A moment later, he started at the sound of Gwen’s voice in his ear, asking him if he was all right.
“I’m fine, Gwen,” he said as he shut the alien’s eyes and stood up. “Is everyone okay out there?”
“Everyone’s fine; Jack, Matt just told me his partner’s in that house; one of the army doctors.” She paused. “His partner’s name is Garrett Evans.”
Jack froze as he recognised the name. “You mean -”
“Yes, Jack. I mean the doctor we’re considering recruiting.” Gwen’s voice crackled slightly. “Matt’s worried about him,” she added, stating the obvious.
“I’m sure he is.” Jack knew he would be climbing the walls if it had been Ianto. “Listen, I’ve asked Ianto to call a contact of mine from St. David’s - the hospital, not the hotel.” He heard her chuckle slightly. “His name is Dan Olsten.”
“Okay.” Gwen sounded relieved.
“Jack, the ambulance’s here,” Ianto’s voice cut in. “Dan’s arrived.”
“Good,” said Jack. “Tell him to come in; the coast’s clear. Oh, and for the record, I know he looks like him, but don’t compare Dan to that doctor from Twilight; he really doesn’t like that.”
He didn’t wait for a response, but instantly ended the transmission and stood up. “Is there anyone alive in here?” he called out. “Can anyone hear me?”
“Over here!” The response was muffled, but Jack still caught it. He rushed towards the back of the room and around to a corner where a short man with messy black hair and glasses was surrounded by eight others, many of them badly wounded.
Jack didn’t need to ask who the man was. “Dr. Evans?” When that didn’t gain a response, he tried again. “Are you Garrett Evans?”
The young army doctor looked up, his face pale but he looked unhurt. “Who’s asking?” His Welsh accent thickened with the suspicion in his tone, but then he caught sight of the familiar coat and sighed. “No, wait; don’t worry - it’s Captain Jack Harkness, isn’t it?”
“I see my reputation precedes me.” Jack smirked and then bent down to look at the other men. “I take it these are the only survivors?”
Garrett still looked distrustful, but he seemed to realise that Jack was there to help. “Yeah. Those,” he gestured at the alien corpses, “things…whatever they are - they just attacked.” He gently steadied a young man who was starting to collapse and placed a rolled up blanket - presumably rescued from one of the rooms - under his head as he carried on talking. “There were six of us staying in the barrack house; we’d been stationed here for a training exercise. We were just sitting down and having a few drinks when this really bright light just…it just seemed to appear. Next thing we knew, those things were attacking.”
Jack nodded. Garrett was clearly shocked by what had happened, but he had earned himself some brownie points with his calmness as he described the events, as well as his ability to do so while looking after his injured comrades. He knew that the full extent of what had happened wouldn’t truly hit until later, but for now he was displaying a level of maturity that might have seemed out of place on someone so young.
“Captain Harkness?” Jack jumped and turned round when he heard the soft Mancunian accent behind him. He smiled weakly at the blonde man who was stood in the doorway, an expression of confusion on his face.
“Hi, Dan,” he said quietly, beckoning him over. “Thanks for coming.” He wanted to ask the other man to just call him Jack, but that would be a waste of time. It always was.
Garrett looked up. “Who’s he?” he asked, his guarded expression returning.
“This is a friend of mine, Dan Olsten,” answered Jack. “He works in the Accident and Emergency department at St. David’s Hospital. I guess you could say he’s my secret agent,” he added with a small chuckle.
Dan rolled his eyes slightly. “It’s Dr. Evans, isn’t it?” he asked and then without waiting for an answer ploughed straight in. “Are you the only survivors?”
Garrett nodded. “Those things were vicious!” He looked at Jack, his eyes filled with anger and confusion. “You know what they were, don’t you?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, I know what they are, but I also know that they’re all dead.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice when he said that. Garrett flinched slightly.
Dan took charge again. “Right, there’s an ambulance outside,” he said and started to move around to the injured men. “You’ve done a very good job here, Dr. Evans, but I still feel that they should have some time in hospital, just to be on the safe side”
“Hold on!” interrupted Garrett. “Who do you think you are, Carlisle Cullen? Well, you may look like him, but you’re not in charge here, Dr. Olsten!” He applied a fresh bandage to a cut on a young woman’s arm. “I’m the official doctor for now and I’ll be -”
“Garrett,” interrupted Jack, his voice quiet but firm. “You’ve done a wonderful job here, but you’re tired out. I can see it just from looking at you. Dan can take over from here and finish things off. You get yourself home.”
He paused. “Besides - Matt’s outside and he’s worried about you. Don’t you think you should go and let him know that you haven’t been savaged to death by a bunch of aliens?”
Instantly, Garrett stood up. “Matt’s outside? Is he okay?” But he was halfway out of the house before he’d finished the sentence. Jack stood up and watched him get swept into the arms of the man who Gwen had been talking to a few minutes earlier.
“Your powers of persuasion are just the same as ever,” remarked Dan.
“Oh, really?” Jack allowed his amusement to show on his face.
“Yep.” Dan stood up as well. “Still as subtle as a brick.”
“Hey, this time it actually worked!” exclaimed Jack indignantly.
“Keep telling yourself that, Jack.” Ianto had come in unnoticed. He smiled. “Hi, Dan.”
“Hi, Ianto.” Dan smiled back at him. “I’ll be right back with the stretcher,” he called out from halfway across the room.
Ianto looked around the room at the alien corpses. He stroked the smooth skin gently. “What are they?” he whispered. “They seem so…beautiful.”
Jack, who had been lost in thought about how well Ianto and Dan seemed to know each other, turned and knelt beside him. “It’s a dalphonic rhapsadon,” he said quietly. “Space dolphin,” he clarified. “There’s a planet out there, galaxies away, that’s almost entirely made up of small islands. The dolphins live there in their millions.” He stroked the smooth velvet-like nose of one of them. “People keep them as pets, sometimes; just swimming through the sea and chuckling. You should see them, Ianto - they’re so beautiful…so peaceful.” He sighed quietly, lost in the images of the beautiful place and these amazing animals leaping through the water like silver rays flying through the sky. He remembered making friends with one of them, the way she’d let him stroke her nose and talk to him all day and all night. It had been one of the most incredible and heart-warming experiences of his life.
Ianto, sensing that his partner was lost in thought, waited for a few moments before speaking. “What happened to these ones?” he ventured cautiously.
Jack sighed. “Something’s turned them rabid,” he whispered. “But until we get Andie to do an autopsy on the corpse, I can’t say what it is for certain.”
“But you have a hunch?”
“I have a hunch, but I could be wrong.” Jack stroked the dolphin’s nose again and sighed. “What happened to you?” he whispered.
“Do you want some time alone with them?” Ianto’s tone was light, but the gentle hand he placed on Jack’s leg was a measure of his true intentions.
Jack smiled weakly. “You go,” he said. “Go and make sure everyone’s…okay, you know?” Ianto nodded and started to leave. “Oh - but tell Matt and Garrett they can come with us. I’ve got a little proposition for them.”
~*~
Back at the Hub…
“You’re going to hire them straight away?” asked Ianto, looking stunned.
“Trial period,” answered Jack. He looked down at Matt and Garrett who were looking around the Hub with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension on their faces. “Garrett handled himself extremely well earlier when I spoke to him. He was calm and efficient without being too hasty. We could use someone like that. As for Matt - quite aside from me not thinking that he’ll be leaving Garrett’s side in a hurry - we could really use a weapons trainer.” Especially with how quickly we seem to be going through employees, he mentally added.
“You’re right,” agreed Gwen. “However, I was also thinking about something Rhys said the other day.” She paused for a moment as Jack and Ianto looked at her curiously. “He suggested that, with all the trouble we get ourselves into…we should have more than one doctor.”
To her surprise, Jack nodded. “I’ve actually been thinking the same thing. Ever since I did that profiling job, I’ve been thinking that we need another doctor on hand. I mean, we’ll still have Dan as a liaison at the hospital, but it would make sense to have someone else on hand.” He paused to think for a moment as he looked over the remaining two candidates before coming to a decision. “Gwen, can you talk to our boys downstairs while I call Martha and ask her to send us a young blonde New Zealander down here?” He chuckled.
Ianto smiled at Jack as Gwen left. “I take it that means Declan?”
Jack nodded. “What can I say? I like the look of him. Besides,” he added, a small and slightly sad smile crossing his face as he glanced down to where Andie was elbow-deep in the dolphin’s corpse. “It can’t hurt to have another blonde.”
Ianto chuckled at the small reference to one of John’s earliest comments. “No, I guess it can’t,” he admitted. “Speaking of blondes - I didn’t realise Dan was our liaison officer. Well, I didn’t even realise we had a liaison officer.”
Jack shrugged. “I’m the boss and he’s a contact,” he said simply. “I didn’t think that you kids would need to know, unless something really bad happened.” He filed some papers away. “What about you? How do you know Dan?”
Ianto bit his lip. “He’s an old friend of Nick’s. They go back.”
Jack looked up. “Go back?” he repeated. “You mean…they go back in the same way that -”
“Yep.” Ianto nodded. “They go back in the same way that you and John go back.” He chuckled at the dumbfounded look on Jack’s face. “What?”
“Nothing,” stammered Jack. “It’s just…I always thought John was Nick’s first male partner. And that Alison was his first partner.”
Ianto shook his head. “No. Dan and Nick were together before all that. You know Nick went to university a year early, because he was pushed ahead a year in school?” Jack nodded. “Well, he and Dan were in the same hall of residence in their first year. They were the only two medical students on their floor and they became friends very quickly. From what Nick’s told me, they…dabbled for about three months before things got really serious.” He sighed. “Altogether, I think they were together for nearly two years before things went wrong.”
Jack looked curious. “It didn’t work out?”
“Well, given that Nick ended up married just over a year later, I’d say it didn’t,” replied Ianto dryly. “Apparently, one of the more…old-fashioned lecturers warned them that they could get blacklisted if they were caught together. I don’t know exactly what was said, but it scared them both enough to end it.”
“Wow.”
“I know.” Ianto sighed quietly. “They did stay friends, though.”
~*~
Back at St. David’s Hospital, Dan had finished the clean-up from the earlier events at the barracks and was sitting in his office. He had shut the door, apparently because he needed to do some paperwork, but really it was simply because he wanted to be alone for a while. He needed some time to think.
He opened a drawer in the bottom of his desk and removed a dark green photo album. The fabric was covered in dust, but he could still trace the letters he had embossed into it.
“The happiest days of my life,” he whispered as he turned to the first page and smiled sadly at the picture of himself as a bright young student wrapped in the arms of another man with beautiful hazel eyes and bright auburn hair blowing around him like flames. Swallowing, he turned the page and continued to look at the pictures, chuckling occasionally at the notes he had added at the bottom of each page. “They really were, Nicky,” he whispered. “They really were.”
But even as he smiled, Dan felt the hole in his heart start to expand painfully until he almost couldn’t breathe. Those two years had been perfect, the most perfect years he could remember.
From the first day they had met to the day that they had walked away from each other, he couldn’t remember ever feeling so cherished, so…complete, he finally realised.
Another soft laugh escaped him, only this time it sounded like a sob as he remembered the day that they had walked away from each other. They had spent one last night together, a night filled with tender kisses, soft strokes and silent tears. Even though they had promised to be together again one day, it hadn’t stopped Dan’s world from shattering beneath his feet as Nick’s hand had slipped out of his own.
“Oh, Nicky,” Dan whispered, wiping away a few tears. “I don’t know what’s brought this all up, but every day, I wish we hadn’t walked away from each other. I know we were young, but we shouldn’t have done that. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I lost you…and when I did that I lost the only person I had ever loved.”
He swallowed hard and shut the album, unable to look at the picture of them together on their last night for a moment longer. He hadn’t just lost the man he had loved then…
He had lost the man he would always love.
***
Next Time: Jack has made steps towards a new team, but he still needs a new technological officer. He knows who he has in mind, but how will they react?