Fic: To The Pain (39/41)
Title: To The Pain, Chapter 39
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just don’t feel like changing the rating :)
Spoilers: Season One thru End of Days (1x13) and Season 3 of Doctor Who
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around!
Summary: In which the team deals with the fallout from First Contact…
Notes: Almost there - thanks so much for waiting, I was just too zonked from Torchsong to post on Monday. Sequel to Vizzini’s Rule; previous chapters of To The Pain can be found here. Thanks to my wonderful beta
thrace_adams for all the support and putting up with my lastminuteness - any mistakes are mine!
To The Pain: Chapter Thirty-Nine
At first, the biggest event in history was just the typical breaking news story. They cut quickly to the Valiant where the President Elect of the United States greeted the world and welcomed the new race to the planet. When the first Toclafane appeared on the screen, it was accompanied by gasps from most of the people in the room. The images were much clearer than anything that had been broadcast thus far and Ianto was transfixed, staring at the small spheres. It was unlike any alien or artifact he’d encountered in his entire time at Torchwood. The President spoke to the sphere, his pompous voice grating on Ianto’s nerves as he welcomed them to Earth. But the Toclafane didn’t appear to care for his greeting or the President himself, their tinny, childlike voices asking for someone called the Master. Typical American, Ianto thought with a roll of his eyes as the President, instead of asking who the Toclafane were referring to, offered to be Master of the alien race. Before the spheres could respond, however, Mr. Saxon jumped out of his seat.
Thank God, now we’ll get some answers, Ianto thought. Gwen tensed beside him and Ianto reached over to squeeze her shoulder. He was just about to murmur something comforting when Mr. Saxon spoke.
“Ta-da!” he sing-songed as he moved in front of the cameras.
What is he doing? Ianto thought.
Mr. Saxon continued. “Sorry, sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed. Is it the smile?” he asked. “Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don’t know. It’s crazy!”
“You’ve got that right,” Gwen muttered next to Ianto.
The President interrupted the Prime Minister, asking the question that was on half the world’s mind. “Saxon, what are you talkin’ about?”
The news cameras swung around to capture a shot of the President who looked livid.
“I’m taking control, Uncle Sam,” Mr. Saxon replied.
The cameras swung madly back around to show the PM, all traces of silliness wiped from his face. “Starting with you. Kill him,” Mr. Saxon said coldly.
The spheres surged forward, surrounding the President and suddenly he was gone, vaporized right before the eyes of the entire world.
There was panic in the mess as the UNIT soldiers cried out and stood up, not sure what to do but apparently certain that action of some kind was required. Ianto tried to stand as well but his legs didn’t want to cooperate. He clutched at his head as a tremendous pressure began to build inside it.
“Ianto?” He dimly heard Gwen’s voice but couldn’t reply.
He could hear Saxon’s voice, though. It seemed to reverberate inside his head, pounding like drums. “Now then!” he shouted with obvious glee. “Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully.”
Saxon opened his mouth to continue, but there was a commotion on the Valiant which interrupted him. Ianto thought he caught a glimpse of the Doctor just before all the screens in the mess went black. They were back on in an instant but showed only the snowy static of a lost connection, pushing UNIT’s panic into overdrive.
Ianto struggled to join the throng of soldiers rushing about the room, but he slid from the chair to his knees instead, his head pounding, close to exploding from the pressure. He pressed on the sides of his skull, trying to keep it in one piece. A series of strange visions flashed across his tightly closed eyes: the Doctor, screaming in pain, Jack lying on the floor, struggling to remove his wriststrap, the spheres, millions of them descending on Earth like a plague of insects.
“No!” he cried weakly as the sound of drums intensified, trying to block out any other sound.
“Ianto? Ianto, can you hear me, mate?”
The Earth in ruins, Gwen lying in a pool of blood, Owen standing over her for a second before being shot as well, Tosh sobbing, reaching out to him.
“Tosh!”
“I’m here, Ianto. What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Something’s - ” Ianto gasped out.
And then the pain and the pressure and the drums and the visions were all gone, leaving Ianto feeling nauseated and weak. He groaned and tried to sit up, vaguely wondering why he was on the floor.
“What happened?” he panted. He registered concern on his teammate’s faces but before he could ask what was wrong everything went black.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ianto came back to himself slowly. At first he could only hear - Gwen and Owen speaking in low tones somewhere nearby, Tosh murmuring his name, the faint sound of someone barking out orders. He tried to open his eyes but stopped when pain shot through his head. He groaned.
“Owen!” Tosh called.
“Is he awake?”
“Yes, yes,” Tosh said sounding close to tears.
“What happened?” Ianto whispered roughly, swallowing around the cotton-wool feeling in his mouth.
“What happened?! You fell out of your chair. It looked like you were having a seizure,” Owen said. Ianto felt Owen’s hand on his wrist, monitoring his pulse.
“I saw… I saw…” Ianto struggled to remember but the visions were completely gone.
“What did you see, p - er… Ianto?” Gwen asked.
“I… ” Ianto shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. What happened?” he asked again.
“We don’t know the full story yet,” Tosh said. She was sitting next to the bed, holding Ianto’s other hand. “But, the Prime Minister assassinated the President of the United States.”
“What?” Ianto exclaimed and then cradled his pounding head in his hands.
Gwen spoke quietly, explaining that after a few minutes of nothing but static being broadcast from the Valiant, the picture had suddenly come back. The Commander of the Valiant was on the screen, announcing to the world that Mr. Saxon had suffered a break with reality and while the balance of his mind was disturbed, he attacked the President with an experimental weapon he’d been developing as Minister of Defense, the so-called Toclafane.
“So First Contact was just a ruse,” Ianto muttered, somehow almost childishly disappointed.
Gwen nodded. “He apparently engineered the whole situation just to kill the President.”
“Do they have him in custody?”
“No, mate,” Owen said bluntly. “He’s dead. When he turned on the rest of the crowd on the flight deck, his wife grabbed a sidearm from one of the guards and shot him.”
“His wife?”
Gwen reached for Ianto’s hand. “I know you liked him, Ianto but - ”
“I did,” Ianto interrupted. “But it’s all… gone. I can’t even remember why I wanted to vote for him. Wait!” Ianto sat up, pleased when his head didn’t fall off. “What does this mean about the rift on K2? Was that just a hoax as well?”
The rest of the team looked surprised.
“He was the one who sent us here,” Gwen said slowly. She nodded at Ianto. “I’m going to go fine Major Davies and get some bloody answers once and for all. Owen, check him out. I want to make sure he’s able to fly because we are out of here the first chance we get.”
Owen nodded to Gwen as she left the room and turned to face the bed with a steely glint in his eye.
Ianto groaned. “Let me guess - turn my head and cough?”
Owen chuckled.
Luckily for Ianto, Owen was satisfied by a few vitals and a full body scan that he was physically fit to fly.
“But,” the doctor warned. “We need to talk about whatever it is that you’re doing. That was psychic shock, Ianto, a mild case but still. I let you pawn me off after Jack left, but I need to know. Now.”
“Should I go?” Tosh asked softly.
“No,” Ianto said quickly as he reached for her hand again. “No, it’s fine.” He took a deep breath. “Just after Jack disappeared, I tried to use the little mental training I have to contact him.”
Owen raised his eyebrows. “Mental training?”
“It was standard at Torchwood London. I… you were right, Owen. I was running myself into the ground trying to reach Jack. I started slipping into trances when I was tired, when I wasn’t even trying.”
“You’d opened yourself up but weren’t strong enough to close it off again,” Owen pointed out.
Flushing, Ianto nodded.
“I thought you’d stopped?”
“I did! I haven’t tried since March, even accidently. Today was different. It was more like the pain I felt when Jack destroyed Abaddon. Didn’t you feel it?”
Owen pursed his lips and shook his head. He glanced over at Tosh who was also shaking her head.
“Sorry mate, you seem to be the resident sensitive.” Owen stood up and packed away the scanner. “You tell me first thing if this happens again, even just a glimmer of it, right?”
Ianto nodded.
Owen had his hand on the doorknob when he paused and turned around. “You never told us… did you… did you get through to Jack?”
Ianto paused and then nodded again, figuring he owed his teammates the truth.
“That’s why you’ve been… why you think…”
“He’s coming back,” Ianto said with confidence.
Owen nodded and then reached for the door which suddenly slammed inward. He cursed, shaking his hand as Gwen stormed through the door.
“Nothing! They have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“Who?” Tosh asked.
“UNIT! They don’t know anything about reports of suspicious activity. Major Davies just basically ordered me off her base! They have too much to deal with right now and, no offense meant, would Torchwood be so kind as to bugger off back to Cardiff!” Gwen was practically sparking with anger. “She’s got her admin arranging flights right now, so you better be able to fly, Ianto, because we’re leaving. Now!” And with that, Gwen stormed out of the room.
Owen looked over at Ianto and Tosh and raised one eyebrow. “So he’s really coming back?”
Ianto nodded.
“Good. Then I may not have to chuck her out the airplane on the way home,” he said.
TBC in Chapter Forty
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just don’t feel like changing the rating :)
Spoilers: Season One thru End of Days (1x13) and Season 3 of Doctor Who
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around!
Summary: In which the team deals with the fallout from First Contact…
Notes: Almost there - thanks so much for waiting, I was just too zonked from Torchsong to post on Monday. Sequel to Vizzini’s Rule; previous chapters of To The Pain can be found here. Thanks to my wonderful beta
thrace_adams for all the support and putting up with my lastminuteness - any mistakes are mine!
To The Pain: Chapter Thirty-Nine
At first, the biggest event in history was just the typical breaking news story. They cut quickly to the Valiant where the President Elect of the United States greeted the world and welcomed the new race to the planet. When the first Toclafane appeared on the screen, it was accompanied by gasps from most of the people in the room. The images were much clearer than anything that had been broadcast thus far and Ianto was transfixed, staring at the small spheres. It was unlike any alien or artifact he’d encountered in his entire time at Torchwood. The President spoke to the sphere, his pompous voice grating on Ianto’s nerves as he welcomed them to Earth. But the Toclafane didn’t appear to care for his greeting or the President himself, their tinny, childlike voices asking for someone called the Master. Typical American, Ianto thought with a roll of his eyes as the President, instead of asking who the Toclafane were referring to, offered to be Master of the alien race. Before the spheres could respond, however, Mr. Saxon jumped out of his seat.
Thank God, now we’ll get some answers, Ianto thought. Gwen tensed beside him and Ianto reached over to squeeze her shoulder. He was just about to murmur something comforting when Mr. Saxon spoke.
“Ta-da!” he sing-songed as he moved in front of the cameras.
What is he doing? Ianto thought.
Mr. Saxon continued. “Sorry, sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed. Is it the smile?” he asked. “Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don’t know. It’s crazy!”
“You’ve got that right,” Gwen muttered next to Ianto.
The President interrupted the Prime Minister, asking the question that was on half the world’s mind. “Saxon, what are you talkin’ about?”
The news cameras swung around to capture a shot of the President who looked livid.
“I’m taking control, Uncle Sam,” Mr. Saxon replied.
The cameras swung madly back around to show the PM, all traces of silliness wiped from his face. “Starting with you. Kill him,” Mr. Saxon said coldly.
The spheres surged forward, surrounding the President and suddenly he was gone, vaporized right before the eyes of the entire world.
There was panic in the mess as the UNIT soldiers cried out and stood up, not sure what to do but apparently certain that action of some kind was required. Ianto tried to stand as well but his legs didn’t want to cooperate. He clutched at his head as a tremendous pressure began to build inside it.
“Ianto?” He dimly heard Gwen’s voice but couldn’t reply.
He could hear Saxon’s voice, though. It seemed to reverberate inside his head, pounding like drums. “Now then!” he shouted with obvious glee. “Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully.”
Saxon opened his mouth to continue, but there was a commotion on the Valiant which interrupted him. Ianto thought he caught a glimpse of the Doctor just before all the screens in the mess went black. They were back on in an instant but showed only the snowy static of a lost connection, pushing UNIT’s panic into overdrive.
Ianto struggled to join the throng of soldiers rushing about the room, but he slid from the chair to his knees instead, his head pounding, close to exploding from the pressure. He pressed on the sides of his skull, trying to keep it in one piece. A series of strange visions flashed across his tightly closed eyes: the Doctor, screaming in pain, Jack lying on the floor, struggling to remove his wriststrap, the spheres, millions of them descending on Earth like a plague of insects.
“No!” he cried weakly as the sound of drums intensified, trying to block out any other sound.
“Ianto? Ianto, can you hear me, mate?”
The Earth in ruins, Gwen lying in a pool of blood, Owen standing over her for a second before being shot as well, Tosh sobbing, reaching out to him.
“Tosh!”
“I’m here, Ianto. What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Something’s - ” Ianto gasped out.
And then the pain and the pressure and the drums and the visions were all gone, leaving Ianto feeling nauseated and weak. He groaned and tried to sit up, vaguely wondering why he was on the floor.
“What happened?” he panted. He registered concern on his teammate’s faces but before he could ask what was wrong everything went black.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ianto came back to himself slowly. At first he could only hear - Gwen and Owen speaking in low tones somewhere nearby, Tosh murmuring his name, the faint sound of someone barking out orders. He tried to open his eyes but stopped when pain shot through his head. He groaned.
“Owen!” Tosh called.
“Is he awake?”
“Yes, yes,” Tosh said sounding close to tears.
“What happened?” Ianto whispered roughly, swallowing around the cotton-wool feeling in his mouth.
“What happened?! You fell out of your chair. It looked like you were having a seizure,” Owen said. Ianto felt Owen’s hand on his wrist, monitoring his pulse.
“I saw… I saw…” Ianto struggled to remember but the visions were completely gone.
“What did you see, p - er… Ianto?” Gwen asked.
“I… ” Ianto shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. What happened?” he asked again.
“We don’t know the full story yet,” Tosh said. She was sitting next to the bed, holding Ianto’s other hand. “But, the Prime Minister assassinated the President of the United States.”
“What?” Ianto exclaimed and then cradled his pounding head in his hands.
Gwen spoke quietly, explaining that after a few minutes of nothing but static being broadcast from the Valiant, the picture had suddenly come back. The Commander of the Valiant was on the screen, announcing to the world that Mr. Saxon had suffered a break with reality and while the balance of his mind was disturbed, he attacked the President with an experimental weapon he’d been developing as Minister of Defense, the so-called Toclafane.
“So First Contact was just a ruse,” Ianto muttered, somehow almost childishly disappointed.
Gwen nodded. “He apparently engineered the whole situation just to kill the President.”
“Do they have him in custody?”
“No, mate,” Owen said bluntly. “He’s dead. When he turned on the rest of the crowd on the flight deck, his wife grabbed a sidearm from one of the guards and shot him.”
“His wife?”
Gwen reached for Ianto’s hand. “I know you liked him, Ianto but - ”
“I did,” Ianto interrupted. “But it’s all… gone. I can’t even remember why I wanted to vote for him. Wait!” Ianto sat up, pleased when his head didn’t fall off. “What does this mean about the rift on K2? Was that just a hoax as well?”
The rest of the team looked surprised.
“He was the one who sent us here,” Gwen said slowly. She nodded at Ianto. “I’m going to go fine Major Davies and get some bloody answers once and for all. Owen, check him out. I want to make sure he’s able to fly because we are out of here the first chance we get.”
Owen nodded to Gwen as she left the room and turned to face the bed with a steely glint in his eye.
Ianto groaned. “Let me guess - turn my head and cough?”
Owen chuckled.
Luckily for Ianto, Owen was satisfied by a few vitals and a full body scan that he was physically fit to fly.
“But,” the doctor warned. “We need to talk about whatever it is that you’re doing. That was psychic shock, Ianto, a mild case but still. I let you pawn me off after Jack left, but I need to know. Now.”
“Should I go?” Tosh asked softly.
“No,” Ianto said quickly as he reached for her hand again. “No, it’s fine.” He took a deep breath. “Just after Jack disappeared, I tried to use the little mental training I have to contact him.”
Owen raised his eyebrows. “Mental training?”
“It was standard at Torchwood London. I… you were right, Owen. I was running myself into the ground trying to reach Jack. I started slipping into trances when I was tired, when I wasn’t even trying.”
“You’d opened yourself up but weren’t strong enough to close it off again,” Owen pointed out.
Flushing, Ianto nodded.
“I thought you’d stopped?”
“I did! I haven’t tried since March, even accidently. Today was different. It was more like the pain I felt when Jack destroyed Abaddon. Didn’t you feel it?”
Owen pursed his lips and shook his head. He glanced over at Tosh who was also shaking her head.
“Sorry mate, you seem to be the resident sensitive.” Owen stood up and packed away the scanner. “You tell me first thing if this happens again, even just a glimmer of it, right?”
Ianto nodded.
Owen had his hand on the doorknob when he paused and turned around. “You never told us… did you… did you get through to Jack?”
Ianto paused and then nodded again, figuring he owed his teammates the truth.
“That’s why you’ve been… why you think…”
“He’s coming back,” Ianto said with confidence.
Owen nodded and then reached for the door which suddenly slammed inward. He cursed, shaking his hand as Gwen stormed through the door.
“Nothing! They have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“Who?” Tosh asked.
“UNIT! They don’t know anything about reports of suspicious activity. Major Davies just basically ordered me off her base! They have too much to deal with right now and, no offense meant, would Torchwood be so kind as to bugger off back to Cardiff!” Gwen was practically sparking with anger. “She’s got her admin arranging flights right now, so you better be able to fly, Ianto, because we’re leaving. Now!” And with that, Gwen stormed out of the room.
Owen looked over at Ianto and Tosh and raised one eyebrow. “So he’s really coming back?”
Ianto nodded.
“Good. Then I may not have to chuck her out the airplane on the way home,” he said.
TBC in Chapter Forty