Fic: The Valentine's Day Massacre (3/6)
The Valentine's Day Massacre (3/6)
Words: 35,300 (6200 this part)
***
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
***
Chapter 3
***
Jack's reckless disregard of the speeding laws was legendary, and in the Torchwood official vehicle, passably legal. They arrived in record time, even for Jack. Ianto was at the door first, taking a breath before he knocked. The dog went off, barking like mad. He shouted through the door, "Shut it!" Upon recognising his voice, the dog went madder still. By the time Steven had the door unlocked, Dribble was chasing her own tail in excitement, and then tried to bowl Jack over with affection as the pair of them hurried inside.
Ianto took in the room, but nothing seemed amiss. Steven's homework was out on the table. In a calm voice, he said, "Let's go over this while I'm here, yeah?"
"Sure."
They'd taken turns on the phone with him for most of the trip. Ianto was better at chatting about small details of Steven's day, asking after his friends. Jack kept trying to ask about Alice, for obvious reasons, but Ianto didn't want to make Steven more upset. The last time Alice had been abducted, everything in all their lives had gone to hell.
"She might just be late getting home," he reassured Steven, checking his maths homework as Jack investigated the house.
Steven said, "She's not." He kept his own voice calm, but Ianto wasn't fooled.
"Is your dad still out of the country?"
"For two more weeks. He and Petra are having their second honeymoon." His eyes darted away, and he played with his pencil.
"Are they?"
"Petra's going to have a baby. They're travelling to enjoy the time they have before it's born. I'm not supposed to know."
"Well, that's exciting news," Ianto said. Joe couldn't remember Steven's death. He also couldn't remember Steven was twelve, not four, and that he paid attention to conversations around him.
Jack stopped his search. "You didn't tell your mother that, did you?"
Ianto followed his thought; if Alice knew her ex and his new wife were expecting, she might have taken it badly and needed time to go think. But Steven shook his head. "She'd just get sad. Mum's already sad Dad replaced her. She won't like finding out he's replacing me, too."
"Hey," Jack said, taking a chair at the table with them. "That's not what's going on. You're going to be a big brother. That's an important job." He managed not to sound the way he usually did when he reminded himself of Gray, even putting on a genial smile.
"No, it's all right," Steven said, putting his school books away into his satchel. "Dad and Petra can have a new baby, and Mum has me." He clicked his pack closed and looked at his grandfather. "Where is she?" The calm cracked.
"We'll find her," Jack said.
Ianto wondered who he was convincing. He came to a decision. "Steven, I'd like you to pack some of your clothes. You'll come stay at ours whilst we look for your mum."
Steven looked at both of them, and saw Jack's nod. "Okay." He scampered upstairs to pack. He'd once again outgrown the clothes he left at their flat, and Ianto ought to take him shopping for more. He also needed to contact the school and let them know Steven would be out for a few days. He could ask Alice's neighbours to watch the dog. Ianto began jotting down a quick list. Action items kept him sane. God alone knew what he would do, what Jack would do, if the worst had happened.
As soon as Steven's door shut, Jack said, "Your first priority is to watch him. The second you believe either of you is in any danger, I want you both on a train out of Cardiff. I trust you to keep him safe."
"He's safest with both of us."
Jack gazed up the staircase. "I don't know if that's true right now."
***
They reconvened at the Hub. Gwen thought Dr. Pol was already looking healthier, the colour restoring to her cheeks despite the bruising. "What's this about, Jack?"
"I need all of you on this," he said, face drawn in an icy stolidity. "Alice is missing. The Boss Bug made a threat the other day. I'm about to go pay it a visit. I need the rest of you to search every database and camera you can. Find out where she's been taken."
"We need to call in the police," Gwen said, as reasonably as she could in the face of Jack's meltdown. If it was her child, she'd be going mad. Just the thought sent her pulse shooting, and her mind scrabbled at her with horrible implication.
Albert said, "And tell them she's been abducted by aliens?"
Jack said, "No. Albert's right. The public has a problem remembering aliens exist."
"Andy remembers. They're not stupid."
"I can't risk it now. Off the table." Jack cut the air with his hand. "I'm going to talk. Do what you can."
"I'm going with you," Albert said. "You might need backup."
Gwen said, "So am I."
Jack glanced between the two of them. "Albert, with me. Gwen, I want you here. Lois, help her. Polly … "
"Don't give me any damn orders. Go."
Gwen went to her workstation and began her usual search routines. She could have the cameras in Alice's area under her command in less than a minute. Lois came to her elbow. Jack was out of the building already. Even so, Lois whispered, "Do you think she's still alive?"
"She'd better be," said Pol from where she rested. "He was bad enough last time."
"Last time what?" asked Lois, mystified.
Gwen shrugged. "Did she disappear before?"
Pol looked at them both, and said something under her breath. It sounded a bit like, "Humans." Then she sighed. "Lois, be a dear and bring me a tablet. I've got some ideas."
***
"Where is she?" Jack's fists hit the table which served as the Boss Bug's desk. The bodyguards had put up exactly as much objection as they could when faced with a man who couldn't die. Albert might be in more danger than he thought, but Jack wouldn't let himself worry.
The Boss Bug refused to be cowed. "She who?"
"Alice. You threatened me two days ago, and now she's missing. For your sake, she had better be completely fine, or I swear I will burn your hive to the ground myself."
"Strong words. No meaning. We don't know the woman you speak of."
Jack growled. "Two days ago, you told me to watch my young. My child is gone. Ring any bells?"
The Bug stared at him. "No."
"I swear … "
"Captain, we promise you we did not take your offspring. We have no quarrel with you. Mopolite hates you, and hates us. If any took your child, look to his," the Bug sputtered into a broken language even Jack didn't speak.
"No distracting. Mopolite wasn't the one who threatened her."
"What does that mean? Only that he wants us to quarrel."
"TELL ME!"
The Bug made a gesture, and Jack recognised the motion: regret, shared sorrow, grief for a friend. "Ask him. If you have faith in gods, ask them as well."
***
Alice's head ached. Her vision swam in front of her like water, and only gradually cleared. She was in a small cell. The room was clean, without the smell of old urine and regret she normally associated with prisons. She lay on a thin mattress with clean sheets and a small, firm pillow. She saw a steel sink and a steel toilet. By the closed door, a small tray sat with a covered lump which smelled mouth-wateringly of roast.
As she sat up, she fought the terror growing in her throat. Wherever she was, her captors, and she had to assume captors if she assumed cell, held her in decent conditions. They wanted her alive.
She tried to focus her memory. She'd left work and driven towards home. She'd stopped at a light, and someone had approached her car. She'd met the person's eyes, and her heart had stopped at the face from her nightmares.
A grill opened on the door. "Hello, Mrs. Carter," said Agent Johnson.
***
February 12th
***
Jack hadn't come home. He'd checked in via text, which meant he was currently alive and didn't want to answer questions on what leads he was following. Ianto traced his mobile's GPS to London and back. A meeting with Mopolite, then, and not productive.
Dragging himself up from two hours of sleep, Ianto fixed breakfast for himself and Steven, who came into the sitting room with his blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. Rather than insist on the table, Ianto spooned their porridge into bowls and handed one to Steven on the sofa.
"Jack will find her," Ianto said reassuringly. "He's been out all night."
Steven said nothing. He ate his porridge and stared out the window.
Ianto said, "After you've eaten and washed, we'll do some shopping. Get you some clothes, pick up food. You and I can cook together tonight."
"If Mum doesn't come back, can I live here with you?"
The question ought not have surprised him. Ianto set down his bowl, made Steven set down his bowl, and waited until the child looked him full in the face. "Steven, we are going to find your mother."
"Not alive. Maybe." He was holding himself together, barely. "The last time she was taken ... " Tears he wouldn't admit to moistened his eyes.
"I know."
"If she's dead, I want to stay here."
The thing was, of course Alice might be dead. They were dealing with monsters, literally, and any one of them could have murdered Alice in retaliation for Jack's past wrongs. Ianto and Steven were both witness to that path. Steven wasn't stupid, and he wasn't little. He was the closest Ianto would ever have to a son of his own, and he was growing older every day. Innocence had passed a long time ago.
"I promise we will do everything in our power to bring her home safe. You know Jack will tear the world apart to find her if he must." He took Steven's hands. "But if the worst happens, you will almost certainly go live with your dad and Petra. And I will call you every day, and come visit you every weekend, and when you're old enough to decide where you can go, you will always be welcome here. You always have a home with us. And if Jack buggers off and leaves the planet again, you will always have a home with me. No matter what, no matter when. Okay?"
Steven nodded, and the threatened tears began to roll down his face. Ianto bent to reach the box of tissues and handed him one.
"But we will find your mum. I swear."
***
"I have questions for you," said Agent Johnson. She'd opened the cell door and gestured to someone outside to lock her in. This did not comfort Alice in any fashion. While she believed herself capable of killing another human if necessary, she had no means, and the woman standing in front of her had obvious military training and no scruples.
"Let me go," she said, without hope.
"September 2009. Tell me what you remember."
Alice stared at her. She remembered everything. She didn't want to. The rest of the damned world had been allowed to forget that awful week. She remembered screaming. She remembered her baby's face as he bled. She remembered this monster she'd briefly trusted. And she had to make herself remember, because Steven's life depended on her knowing what had happened to him. She had to remind herself every day of his death just to keep him tethered here and alive.
"I don't recall."
Johnson frowned. "Don't you? Did you know your son has a death certificate on file for September 11th, 2009?"
She did. She'd looked at the paper once, and she'd set it face-down on the desk in front of her, and she'd cried and cried. "No."
"You're a terrible liar, Mrs. Carter."
"Why am I here?"
Johnson sat down on the floor in a crouch. Her face was wrong. Now that Alice paid attention to her features, little tics and motions cascaded over her skin and were gone. The woman in the cell with her was mad. Fantastic.
"I remember the day your son died. I remember the room, and the signal into the stars. I remember you. I can't stop remembering you, remembering him. I shot a man in the leg that day. I can remember the feel of my gun as it discharged. I remember.
"But I also remember that same day, that same time, being out on a mission. A small terrorist cell was operating in Edmonton, planning on setting a bomb on the Underground. We stormed their hideaway. I shot two of them, one in the shoulder and one in the foot. I can remember the feel of my gun. I remember."
Johnson's head twitched. "The others don't remember. They think you're here because we have information you're involved in some gang-related killings between Cardiff and Lewisham. I think they're aliens."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Johnson edged closer. "I dream about you. You were there. We spoke several times. Your son died, and now he's alive."
Alice let her panic set in. "Let me see him."
"He isn't here. I didn't need him."
"You don't need me for anything!"
Johnson got to her feet. "I need to know what you remember. I need to know you remember the same things I do. Tell me what you know."
Alice stayed seated on the small bed. She didn't reply.
Johnson turned and knocked twice at the door. "You'll be fed. You'll be comfortable. You're not leaving until you tell me what you know."
The door opened, and any thought Alice had of escaping was stopped by the sight of the armed guards outside. The cell door slammed.
As soon as the footsteps echoed down the hall and away, she rested her face in her hands.
***
Lois was on her sixth cup of coffee, and felt it. Torchwood meant going without sleep, and according to Gwen, many a week in the old days had been spent fuelled by nothing more than desperation and Ianto's industrial blend. Ianto said Gwen exaggerated about that, although he still refused to give Lois the final two ingredients of his secret brew.
She realised she'd been staring at her cup for over a minute, and quickly set it down. Gwen had gone home for a few hours. Lois ought to do the same.
Dr. Pol said, "Lois, as your physician, I order you to lie down for a quick kip. No falling over."
She smiled. "Pity there's someone in the spare bed right now."
Dr. Pol clucked. "Don't say that in front of Jack. You know what he'd say."
"Suggest we share it." She yawned. "Actually, budge up." Pol laughed but scooted a bit to make some space. Lois nestled, a bit uncomfortably, in the warm spot next to her. This was more awkward than she'd thought.
Pol said, "I should be getting up. Back on my feet can only do me good."
Lois made a quiet noise. Sleep really did sound nice. "Take your time to rest. We don't get much rest here." She closed her eyes, then let them drift open. At this angle, the Hub looked askew, strange and magical. Odd shapes caught her eyes. "What's that?" She couldn't make out what the lumpy brown package was from here.
Pol followed her arm. "I'm not certain. Ianto brought it in the other day. Said he acquired it before those horrid Firestone people could. It's been singing to me."
"Singing?" If she closed her eyes again (and wasn't that a tempting thought?) she could almost make out what Pol meant. Not quite music, not quite words, but very soothing. Whatever was inside the package, it made her feel good. "Probably toxic. Going to kill us all."
"Could be. Nice, though."
"Yeah."
She awoke with a start sometime later. The Hub had no windows, and no way to tell the time of day. She heard two people talking at the same moment she noticed she was alone on the camp bed.
Albert said, "I don't have a name, but I've got faces."
Pol's tired voice replied, "I don't recall faces. But I'll look, if that makes you happy."
They were supposed to be looking for Alice, though it sounded as though Albert was still following the leads on Pol's attackers. He was sweet on her, not in a romantic way but in the way he'd love a maiden aunt who might not quite be a maiden. They all fit together in this strange, broken little family Jack kept rebuilding from the ashes of families long gone. When she was gone, and Albert and Pol, and even Jack's two favourites, he'd go on and create a new team on their graves.
Lois wondered if she'd be strong enough to walk away before that.
Pol said, "Him."
"Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be. You said the other was recently blinded?"
"That's what the hospital records say."
She paused for a long moment. "Good."
***
Ianto made a list of groceries and personal items, and added to his list a note to look at flats. He and Jack had chosen this one together, leaving Jack's sterile, quickly-chosen and unloved flat in exchange for a larger unit which fit their tastes and had a second bedroom for Steven's visits. All of his own personal possessions had been donated or lost, and most of Jack's had burned. Living together meant finding out what the other really wanted in a table, and a desk, and a sofa. (As it turned out, the primary concern was "hard-wearing and able to hold both of them without breaking." No surprise there.) That lamp was their lamp. This cushion was their cushion. The whole situation was sickeningly domestic. Ianto didn't mind at all.
But Jack had entrusted him with Steven's safety, and his own. Bolt holes were mandatory, and backup residences never hurt. They all had several sets each of false identities. Signing a short lease would be simple. A change of clothes left at each wouldn't hurt.
"I like this one," Steven said at the second shop, holding up a shirt that looked very much like the rest of the shirts.
"Not much style," Ianto said, placing it in the trolley. "Why not something like that?" He nodded at a display of t-shirts with animated characters all on.
"Not those. Those are for babies."
"Ah. My mistake."
"This one!" came a loud shout. Feet thundered towards the display, but it was only one set of feet, followed by two other sets walking much more slowly. Ianto's brain had registered the shout without identifying the owner. However, his sister was impossible to miss as she joined her son at the t-shirts, and she didn't miss him.
"Fine day for them," she said. He was afraid she was going to hug him, but instead she pecked a kiss on his cheek. "Say hello to your uncle."
"Hi," said David and Mica in unison, and both went back to the t-shirts, arguing over which character was the best.
"I didn't expect to see you here," said Rhi. "What're you doing?"
"Oh. Right." He nodded at Steven, who'd mostly hidden himself behind Ianto. "Steven needed clothes. He's outgrown the ones he keeps at ours."
Rhiannon craned her neck around. "Oh, hello there." She gave Ianto a look which clearly said, "Who's this?"
"Steven, you remember meeting my sister Rhiannon? She came to the hospital. That's David, and that's Mica. Who ought to be in school now, I thought."
Mica shouted, "The pipes froze and busted!" She returned to haranguing her brother over which character would annihilate the other.
Rhi said, "They're out the whole week. What about him?"
"Mum is out of town," Steven lied, watching the other two children.
"He's Jack's nephew. He's staying with us until she gets back." Ianto gestured at his niece and nephew. "You could go talk to them."
"No, thanks." He played with the sleeve of one shirt. "Besides, they're both wrong. Batman could kick everyone's arse."
Ianto wasn't sure how, but the next he knew, Rhiannon had decided the five of them would get lunch together, somewhere with tables if not with tablecloths. Steven warmed to David and Mica's five-year-long argument, throwing in his own observations about heroes Ianto didn't know. Growing up, he'd always looked askance at his friends and classmates who spent all their time nose-deep in comic books. Now that he was dating a superhero, the 2-D adventures of made-up people couldn't hold a candle.
"Where's Jack?" Rhiannon asked over her menu.
After everything, he still wasn't sure where she stood on Jack, and whether any innocent inquiry would twist into questions Ianto didn't want to answer or advice he didn't intend to take. "Work. He's busy with a project."
"He's always busy," she tutted. "He ought to take a break. You two can go somewhere nice for a change."
Ianto nearly choked on his glass of water. If there was one thing more horrifying than the thought of his sister disapproving of his relationship, that thing would be her getting involved and giving advice for same. "It's fine. We're fine. In fact," he said, placing the glass on the table, "we've been a few places together. We took a trip together to Switzerland, and one to India." He could just about think on their time on those missions without shuddering, too. Both near-death experiences had led to appropriately remorseful cuddling on Jack's part after, which was the very last item on a long list Ianto intended never to share with her. "We even took a cruise together. Rode in a submarine near Japan." Sort of near. Nearer than here.
Steven set down his fork and stared, and David and Mica followed. "Cool."
"That was a while ago," Ianto covered quickly. "And I would've told you, but I didn't know how." He dropped in a bit of truth amongst the half-truths. "I didn't think you'd take it well if I said I've started dating a much older man, and by the by, we're off to CERN for a holiday."
"I'd've taken it fine if I could've come along," Rhi said.
"Nah. Jack snores."
She laughed, and there was the smile he remembered from long ago. "You two should come visit more often. We're not that far." She nodded at Steven. "Bring him with you."
Now there was a thought. Ianto could take Steven to hers, spend time in Newport instead of Cardiff, risk their lives once again. As a very last resort, he could leave Steven with her, have him blend in with the gaggle of children in her new neighbourhood. He wondered if she ever thought about why they'd moved, and where the money had come from. He hoped she didn't. "Maybe later."
"Can we go to the zoo?" asked Mica. Despite the cold, and the impeding snow, she was obviously gauging how much she could get out of this unexpected visit.
"It's too cold out," said her mother.
Ianto remembered his last trip to the zoo. He'd gone on a date, and went home invisible and reeking of tiger shit. He reminded himself to tell Steven later. "That's for the best."
David said, "What about the cinema?"
"Steven and I have more errands we need to run today."
***
The CCTV between Alice's work and home had been deactivated an hour before her disappearance. Lois watched Gwen try every trick she knew to pull out the data, scanning in wider and wider circles searching for anything unusual before and after, and around the blackout area. Dr. Pol had busied herself with contacting her various acquaintances in both the human and alien communities. Her skills had often come in aid of those who needed unofficial help, or couldn't set foot in a normal doctor's office.
"How are the quintuplets doing?" she asked, voice full of marmalade, "Really? Their horns are coming in earlier than I'd thought. Remind me and I'll be by next week for a check-up. Now, I've got a question for you."
Lois let them both work. Albert had disappeared, saying he had to go pay a bill. Jack didn't seem worried about him, spending all his worry on the phone right now. He'd been trading calls with the Smiths since he got in. Dr. Smith wanted to come in, do an exam on Dr. Pol and also lend a hand on their search for Alice. Jack wanted her to stay where she was, but did want a list of their contacts. Lois gathered this through the open door at which she definitely wasn't eavesdropping.
She wasn't quite sure how to think of his relationship with the couple. She was almost certain he hadn't slept with one or both of them. Dr. Smith appeared to be second only to Gwen in Jack's list of best friends for life. Her husband was one of his favourite people to rag on whenever possible, yet if he ever did marry his boyfriend, he'd almost certainly ask Mickey to stand up as his best man. The whole arrangement confused her. Her own friendships were far more straightforward. No insults, not even a friendly "you cow." No mad chemistry making everyone around her wonder if she was sleeping with her mates. No time travel or alternate timelines, either. Her own friends were drifting away, one by one, though. She'd cut her hair, and she couldn't talk about work. Dating was hard, and listening to her friends chat about the men they were seeing, and their jobs, and the kids they wanted soon, was much harder.
She let her eye fall to the floor. Speaking of kids, Anwen hadn't cleaned up all her toys when she'd come in with her mum. Lois tidied them into a bin, shoving the lot under a desk. Perhaps this was her life now, cleaning up for everyone else and never managing a life of her own. And what good would it do if she did? Anwen was being raised knowing all about aliens, and her life had been in danger several times because of it. Jack's daughter was missing due to this life. Pol had almost died.
"Fine," Jack said through the door. "We'll see you this evening."
Lois chose that moment to bring him a new coffee. "Getting visitors, are we?"
"Martha and Mickey are coming by, yeah." He glowered from losing the argument.
"Any leads?"
"A few. But Mickey wants to check them out for himself. For some reason, he thinks I won't be 'reasonable' when I talk to their friends." He made air-quotes around the word himself. "It's not my fault that every time I try to talk sense I end up getting shot at." He was, she noticed suddenly, not wearing the same shirt he'd worn this morning.
She oughtn't ask, but she did anyway. "How many times have you died this week?"
Jack took a long drink of his coffee, and didn't answer. "Tell Gwen and the rest I'm going back out. I've got more heads to knock together."
***
Alice ignored the camera in her cell as she used the toilet. She'd tried to resist, hating the thought of some faceless person, or some person with a face she knew too well, watching her have a pee. She thought about refusing to eat, refusing to cooperate. She wasn't sure where that would get her, or if she'd wind up getting herself killed before someone got her out of here. It'd probably be her father, and he'd probably expect her to be grateful. This only added to her bad mood.
Johnson waited until the flush to let herself back into the cell with Alice. She attempted a smile, which came out wrong on her face. "Do you need an extra blanket? Is the food acceptable?"
Today she was Good Cop. Alice knew where she stood with Bad Cop. Good Cop could pull out the rug at any time. "I'm fine, thank you." She'd like a book, or her mobile, or a gun.
"I'm not your enemy."
"You killed my son."
Johnson's smile became genuine. "You do remember."
"Get out."
"I need to know what you remember, Alice. Dekker wasn't human. When we treated his wounds, we discovered the blood was alien. After some persuasion, he talked." Alice didn't want to imagine what kind of persuasion she meant.
"You should know," Johnson went on, "that he arranged it all. He contacted the 456. He told them to come. His people are called the Pantheon of Discord. They can change time. He knew if he cost the Earth the lives of millions of children, he could feed on the potential energy for every fate he changed, bringing each back for a price."
Alice shuddered, and did not reply. Nothing she'd learned during her lifelong association with Torchwood suggested Johnson was lying. But Jack had stopped that future, in the worst possible way, and Dekker couldn't even come to Alice to offer her a deal she'd have gladly accepted.
"I interrogated him myself." Johnson pulled her hands into fists. "Aliens bleed like anyone else."
She stepped closer to Alice, who stepped back in response. Johnson stopped. "In training, we're taught about blood-born pathogens, how to avoid contracting Hepatitis or HIV from enemies or prisoners. I contracted time. I can remember the day your son died, and I can remember the day he didn't. No-one else recalls the first any longer. It doesn't exist. But you remember. I need to know what you know. I need to know I'm not mad."
Alice stared at her. "You're going on about aliens and alternate timelines and murdering time-travelling aliens, and you want me to tell you you're sane?"
"You know what happened."
"Go away," said Alice, tired and sad. "Or let me out."
Johnson came closer. Alice wasn't sure if she would feel a strike against her chin, or if this obsessed woman was about to kiss her and force her down to the bunk. She tensed against both, closing her eyes.
When nothing happened, she opened them again. Johnson stood there, angry and immobile.
"Tell me what you know, and you'll be released."
"I suppose I have your personal promise on that, do I?"
Johnson turned, knocking at the cell door until the door opened and let her out.
***
Ianto answered an ad for a rental house in Caerphilly. He gave false credentials and two months' deposit to the manager for lodgings for his family. He was careful to refer to Steven's mother without actually calling Alice his wife, as she'd throttle him should she ever find out. Steven played along, asking plenty of questions about the local schools and other kids nearby. As they drove back, Ianto realised he hadn't driven this way since his ill-fated run-in with the Arcanis Servitorus during that business with Robert Craig. He shivered as he passed the turn-off which had nearly killed him five long, strange years ago.
They drove to Barry and rented a flat with a second set of credentials under the names Mr. and Mr. White. "My husband will be by to sign later," Ianto promised. "No, we don't have custody of Christopher. He lives with my ex, but he does visit us when he can."
As they headed back towards home, Ianto watched Steven sitting quietly in the other seat, gazing out the window. They'd fled this way once, driving to escape capture or worse. With the funds in his pocket and the clothing in the boot, they could run away now. He'd pick a place on the map, drive them to the train or the ferry, and leave the company car for Torchwood to find. The two of them could vanish together, just as Jack had asked.
"Steven?"
"Hm?"
"Would you be interested in going on a short holiday? You and me. We could drive up the coast, or take a trip to Scotland. Torchwood Glasgow has an old manor house we could visit."
Steven kept his eyes out the window. "Are we running away again?"
"We could. Jack thinks you'd be safer away from Cardiff."
There was no reply for a while. Ianto stole a glance as he drove. The clothing had been the first clue that Steven was growing again, was no longer the scared little boy he'd met in Amy Pond's kitchen. Due to the gap in their lives from death to resurrection, none of them could accurately give his age. Nevertheless, given the amount of hell this child had experienced, and everything he'd survived since, he'd grown enough to make some decisions for himself.
"I don't want to be safe. I want to be with you, and Mum, and Uncle Jack."
"All right."
Their third stop was back in Grangetown. "Two singles or one double?" asked the landlady.
"Whatever you have available is fine," Ianto said, signing his name 'Andrew Jacob.' "My brother may be by to see me. He's a bit of a rake, but don't mind him."
"No visitors, and no women," she said. "I don't want any trouble." Ianto soothed her over by putting his brother John alongside his name. "No visitors and no women," he agreed with a smile.
***
Albert had emigrated to England with his parents when he was two years old. They'd died by the time he was four, and he'd been passed from home to home without ever finding another couple to love him as their own. He'd been quiet, first by nature and then by lack of care, and had trouble connecting to his foster families. Later, much later, he realised he'd been lucky. He'd never been struck, never been touched inappropriately, never starved or hurt or neglected more than any other child in the large families he'd found himself briefly part of. He'd left the last family the day he turned sixteen, and never went back to visit.
In another life, one not too distant from the one he lived, he'd have become a criminal and died on the street. Albert had stolen more than once when times were lean, between what jobs he could pick up with no school and no connections. He was bright, and good with electronics and with weapons. He spent two years in the Army Reserves before deciding it wasn't for him, and took the extra training they'd given him into a new life of petty, nearly-victimless electronic theft with a side of breaking and entering.
Jack had almost shot him when he'd caught Albert breaking into the initial storefront he and Gwen had set up as their temporary headquarters. He would have, too, had Dr. Pol not laughed and laughed, and teased them both about the holes in their security. (Later, she told Albert how puffed up Jack had been about all the measures he'd taken. He hadn't stopped talking about how impregnable the place was but two minutes before Albert's breach.)
She'd saved his life, and had done so over and over ever since. Albert couldn't remember his mum. He'd like to think she had the same sharp sense of humour and kind spirit as Pol did.
The blind man in hospital hadn't been of much use. He didn't know the name of the person who'd paid him. He was expendable muscle, hired for cheap and handed a chip of concrete which rendered him difficult to see. Albert left him alive, and no more harmed than when he came in, but he did relieve him of the concrete chip. He knew all about perception filters, thanks.
The train station was at a lull when he arrived and bought his ticket. With the chip in his pocket, Albert passed unobserved through crowds, looking for the second face on his list. When he found one compartment with the shade drawn, he let himself inside. At the same time, he clicked the noise-dampener he'd nicked from the Hub. Ianto'd go mental when he found out Albert had taken it, but Ianto was a prat and he could fucking get over himself.
"Michael Pryce?" he asked.
The man hid his face further inside his hood. "Sorry, no." Thanks to his own filter, Albert saw him clearly.
"You visited Dr. Irene Pol at her home three days ago. You tried to kill her."
"I don't know what you're talking about!" said Pryce in a strangled voice. "If you're with the police, I have an alibi," he added, belying his first statement. He shuddered. "Anyway, whatever that thing was, it wasn't human."
Albert stepped forward, his knife clicking open. "I'm not with the police. If you tell me who hired you, this will be quick."
"I don't know! I never saw them!" wailed Pryce.
"How sad for you," said Albert.
***
Chapter 4
Words: 35,300 (6200 this part)
***
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
***
Chapter 3
***
Jack's reckless disregard of the speeding laws was legendary, and in the Torchwood official vehicle, passably legal. They arrived in record time, even for Jack. Ianto was at the door first, taking a breath before he knocked. The dog went off, barking like mad. He shouted through the door, "Shut it!" Upon recognising his voice, the dog went madder still. By the time Steven had the door unlocked, Dribble was chasing her own tail in excitement, and then tried to bowl Jack over with affection as the pair of them hurried inside.
Ianto took in the room, but nothing seemed amiss. Steven's homework was out on the table. In a calm voice, he said, "Let's go over this while I'm here, yeah?"
"Sure."
They'd taken turns on the phone with him for most of the trip. Ianto was better at chatting about small details of Steven's day, asking after his friends. Jack kept trying to ask about Alice, for obvious reasons, but Ianto didn't want to make Steven more upset. The last time Alice had been abducted, everything in all their lives had gone to hell.
"She might just be late getting home," he reassured Steven, checking his maths homework as Jack investigated the house.
Steven said, "She's not." He kept his own voice calm, but Ianto wasn't fooled.
"Is your dad still out of the country?"
"For two more weeks. He and Petra are having their second honeymoon." His eyes darted away, and he played with his pencil.
"Are they?"
"Petra's going to have a baby. They're travelling to enjoy the time they have before it's born. I'm not supposed to know."
"Well, that's exciting news," Ianto said. Joe couldn't remember Steven's death. He also couldn't remember Steven was twelve, not four, and that he paid attention to conversations around him.
Jack stopped his search. "You didn't tell your mother that, did you?"
Ianto followed his thought; if Alice knew her ex and his new wife were expecting, she might have taken it badly and needed time to go think. But Steven shook his head. "She'd just get sad. Mum's already sad Dad replaced her. She won't like finding out he's replacing me, too."
"Hey," Jack said, taking a chair at the table with them. "That's not what's going on. You're going to be a big brother. That's an important job." He managed not to sound the way he usually did when he reminded himself of Gray, even putting on a genial smile.
"No, it's all right," Steven said, putting his school books away into his satchel. "Dad and Petra can have a new baby, and Mum has me." He clicked his pack closed and looked at his grandfather. "Where is she?" The calm cracked.
"We'll find her," Jack said.
Ianto wondered who he was convincing. He came to a decision. "Steven, I'd like you to pack some of your clothes. You'll come stay at ours whilst we look for your mum."
Steven looked at both of them, and saw Jack's nod. "Okay." He scampered upstairs to pack. He'd once again outgrown the clothes he left at their flat, and Ianto ought to take him shopping for more. He also needed to contact the school and let them know Steven would be out for a few days. He could ask Alice's neighbours to watch the dog. Ianto began jotting down a quick list. Action items kept him sane. God alone knew what he would do, what Jack would do, if the worst had happened.
As soon as Steven's door shut, Jack said, "Your first priority is to watch him. The second you believe either of you is in any danger, I want you both on a train out of Cardiff. I trust you to keep him safe."
"He's safest with both of us."
Jack gazed up the staircase. "I don't know if that's true right now."
***
They reconvened at the Hub. Gwen thought Dr. Pol was already looking healthier, the colour restoring to her cheeks despite the bruising. "What's this about, Jack?"
"I need all of you on this," he said, face drawn in an icy stolidity. "Alice is missing. The Boss Bug made a threat the other day. I'm about to go pay it a visit. I need the rest of you to search every database and camera you can. Find out where she's been taken."
"We need to call in the police," Gwen said, as reasonably as she could in the face of Jack's meltdown. If it was her child, she'd be going mad. Just the thought sent her pulse shooting, and her mind scrabbled at her with horrible implication.
Albert said, "And tell them she's been abducted by aliens?"
Jack said, "No. Albert's right. The public has a problem remembering aliens exist."
"Andy remembers. They're not stupid."
"I can't risk it now. Off the table." Jack cut the air with his hand. "I'm going to talk. Do what you can."
"I'm going with you," Albert said. "You might need backup."
Gwen said, "So am I."
Jack glanced between the two of them. "Albert, with me. Gwen, I want you here. Lois, help her. Polly … "
"Don't give me any damn orders. Go."
Gwen went to her workstation and began her usual search routines. She could have the cameras in Alice's area under her command in less than a minute. Lois came to her elbow. Jack was out of the building already. Even so, Lois whispered, "Do you think she's still alive?"
"She'd better be," said Pol from where she rested. "He was bad enough last time."
"Last time what?" asked Lois, mystified.
Gwen shrugged. "Did she disappear before?"
Pol looked at them both, and said something under her breath. It sounded a bit like, "Humans." Then she sighed. "Lois, be a dear and bring me a tablet. I've got some ideas."
***
"Where is she?" Jack's fists hit the table which served as the Boss Bug's desk. The bodyguards had put up exactly as much objection as they could when faced with a man who couldn't die. Albert might be in more danger than he thought, but Jack wouldn't let himself worry.
The Boss Bug refused to be cowed. "She who?"
"Alice. You threatened me two days ago, and now she's missing. For your sake, she had better be completely fine, or I swear I will burn your hive to the ground myself."
"Strong words. No meaning. We don't know the woman you speak of."
Jack growled. "Two days ago, you told me to watch my young. My child is gone. Ring any bells?"
The Bug stared at him. "No."
"I swear … "
"Captain, we promise you we did not take your offspring. We have no quarrel with you. Mopolite hates you, and hates us. If any took your child, look to his," the Bug sputtered into a broken language even Jack didn't speak.
"No distracting. Mopolite wasn't the one who threatened her."
"What does that mean? Only that he wants us to quarrel."
"TELL ME!"
The Bug made a gesture, and Jack recognised the motion: regret, shared sorrow, grief for a friend. "Ask him. If you have faith in gods, ask them as well."
***
Alice's head ached. Her vision swam in front of her like water, and only gradually cleared. She was in a small cell. The room was clean, without the smell of old urine and regret she normally associated with prisons. She lay on a thin mattress with clean sheets and a small, firm pillow. She saw a steel sink and a steel toilet. By the closed door, a small tray sat with a covered lump which smelled mouth-wateringly of roast.
As she sat up, she fought the terror growing in her throat. Wherever she was, her captors, and she had to assume captors if she assumed cell, held her in decent conditions. They wanted her alive.
She tried to focus her memory. She'd left work and driven towards home. She'd stopped at a light, and someone had approached her car. She'd met the person's eyes, and her heart had stopped at the face from her nightmares.
A grill opened on the door. "Hello, Mrs. Carter," said Agent Johnson.
***
February 12th
***
Jack hadn't come home. He'd checked in via text, which meant he was currently alive and didn't want to answer questions on what leads he was following. Ianto traced his mobile's GPS to London and back. A meeting with Mopolite, then, and not productive.
Dragging himself up from two hours of sleep, Ianto fixed breakfast for himself and Steven, who came into the sitting room with his blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. Rather than insist on the table, Ianto spooned their porridge into bowls and handed one to Steven on the sofa.
"Jack will find her," Ianto said reassuringly. "He's been out all night."
Steven said nothing. He ate his porridge and stared out the window.
Ianto said, "After you've eaten and washed, we'll do some shopping. Get you some clothes, pick up food. You and I can cook together tonight."
"If Mum doesn't come back, can I live here with you?"
The question ought not have surprised him. Ianto set down his bowl, made Steven set down his bowl, and waited until the child looked him full in the face. "Steven, we are going to find your mother."
"Not alive. Maybe." He was holding himself together, barely. "The last time she was taken ... " Tears he wouldn't admit to moistened his eyes.
"I know."
"If she's dead, I want to stay here."
The thing was, of course Alice might be dead. They were dealing with monsters, literally, and any one of them could have murdered Alice in retaliation for Jack's past wrongs. Ianto and Steven were both witness to that path. Steven wasn't stupid, and he wasn't little. He was the closest Ianto would ever have to a son of his own, and he was growing older every day. Innocence had passed a long time ago.
"I promise we will do everything in our power to bring her home safe. You know Jack will tear the world apart to find her if he must." He took Steven's hands. "But if the worst happens, you will almost certainly go live with your dad and Petra. And I will call you every day, and come visit you every weekend, and when you're old enough to decide where you can go, you will always be welcome here. You always have a home with us. And if Jack buggers off and leaves the planet again, you will always have a home with me. No matter what, no matter when. Okay?"
Steven nodded, and the threatened tears began to roll down his face. Ianto bent to reach the box of tissues and handed him one.
"But we will find your mum. I swear."
***
"I have questions for you," said Agent Johnson. She'd opened the cell door and gestured to someone outside to lock her in. This did not comfort Alice in any fashion. While she believed herself capable of killing another human if necessary, she had no means, and the woman standing in front of her had obvious military training and no scruples.
"Let me go," she said, without hope.
"September 2009. Tell me what you remember."
Alice stared at her. She remembered everything. She didn't want to. The rest of the damned world had been allowed to forget that awful week. She remembered screaming. She remembered her baby's face as he bled. She remembered this monster she'd briefly trusted. And she had to make herself remember, because Steven's life depended on her knowing what had happened to him. She had to remind herself every day of his death just to keep him tethered here and alive.
"I don't recall."
Johnson frowned. "Don't you? Did you know your son has a death certificate on file for September 11th, 2009?"
She did. She'd looked at the paper once, and she'd set it face-down on the desk in front of her, and she'd cried and cried. "No."
"You're a terrible liar, Mrs. Carter."
"Why am I here?"
Johnson sat down on the floor in a crouch. Her face was wrong. Now that Alice paid attention to her features, little tics and motions cascaded over her skin and were gone. The woman in the cell with her was mad. Fantastic.
"I remember the day your son died. I remember the room, and the signal into the stars. I remember you. I can't stop remembering you, remembering him. I shot a man in the leg that day. I can remember the feel of my gun as it discharged. I remember.
"But I also remember that same day, that same time, being out on a mission. A small terrorist cell was operating in Edmonton, planning on setting a bomb on the Underground. We stormed their hideaway. I shot two of them, one in the shoulder and one in the foot. I can remember the feel of my gun. I remember."
Johnson's head twitched. "The others don't remember. They think you're here because we have information you're involved in some gang-related killings between Cardiff and Lewisham. I think they're aliens."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Johnson edged closer. "I dream about you. You were there. We spoke several times. Your son died, and now he's alive."
Alice let her panic set in. "Let me see him."
"He isn't here. I didn't need him."
"You don't need me for anything!"
Johnson got to her feet. "I need to know what you remember. I need to know you remember the same things I do. Tell me what you know."
Alice stayed seated on the small bed. She didn't reply.
Johnson turned and knocked twice at the door. "You'll be fed. You'll be comfortable. You're not leaving until you tell me what you know."
The door opened, and any thought Alice had of escaping was stopped by the sight of the armed guards outside. The cell door slammed.
As soon as the footsteps echoed down the hall and away, she rested her face in her hands.
***
Lois was on her sixth cup of coffee, and felt it. Torchwood meant going without sleep, and according to Gwen, many a week in the old days had been spent fuelled by nothing more than desperation and Ianto's industrial blend. Ianto said Gwen exaggerated about that, although he still refused to give Lois the final two ingredients of his secret brew.
She realised she'd been staring at her cup for over a minute, and quickly set it down. Gwen had gone home for a few hours. Lois ought to do the same.
Dr. Pol said, "Lois, as your physician, I order you to lie down for a quick kip. No falling over."
She smiled. "Pity there's someone in the spare bed right now."
Dr. Pol clucked. "Don't say that in front of Jack. You know what he'd say."
"Suggest we share it." She yawned. "Actually, budge up." Pol laughed but scooted a bit to make some space. Lois nestled, a bit uncomfortably, in the warm spot next to her. This was more awkward than she'd thought.
Pol said, "I should be getting up. Back on my feet can only do me good."
Lois made a quiet noise. Sleep really did sound nice. "Take your time to rest. We don't get much rest here." She closed her eyes, then let them drift open. At this angle, the Hub looked askew, strange and magical. Odd shapes caught her eyes. "What's that?" She couldn't make out what the lumpy brown package was from here.
Pol followed her arm. "I'm not certain. Ianto brought it in the other day. Said he acquired it before those horrid Firestone people could. It's been singing to me."
"Singing?" If she closed her eyes again (and wasn't that a tempting thought?) she could almost make out what Pol meant. Not quite music, not quite words, but very soothing. Whatever was inside the package, it made her feel good. "Probably toxic. Going to kill us all."
"Could be. Nice, though."
"Yeah."
She awoke with a start sometime later. The Hub had no windows, and no way to tell the time of day. She heard two people talking at the same moment she noticed she was alone on the camp bed.
Albert said, "I don't have a name, but I've got faces."
Pol's tired voice replied, "I don't recall faces. But I'll look, if that makes you happy."
They were supposed to be looking for Alice, though it sounded as though Albert was still following the leads on Pol's attackers. He was sweet on her, not in a romantic way but in the way he'd love a maiden aunt who might not quite be a maiden. They all fit together in this strange, broken little family Jack kept rebuilding from the ashes of families long gone. When she was gone, and Albert and Pol, and even Jack's two favourites, he'd go on and create a new team on their graves.
Lois wondered if she'd be strong enough to walk away before that.
Pol said, "Him."
"Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be. You said the other was recently blinded?"
"That's what the hospital records say."
She paused for a long moment. "Good."
***
Ianto made a list of groceries and personal items, and added to his list a note to look at flats. He and Jack had chosen this one together, leaving Jack's sterile, quickly-chosen and unloved flat in exchange for a larger unit which fit their tastes and had a second bedroom for Steven's visits. All of his own personal possessions had been donated or lost, and most of Jack's had burned. Living together meant finding out what the other really wanted in a table, and a desk, and a sofa. (As it turned out, the primary concern was "hard-wearing and able to hold both of them without breaking." No surprise there.) That lamp was their lamp. This cushion was their cushion. The whole situation was sickeningly domestic. Ianto didn't mind at all.
But Jack had entrusted him with Steven's safety, and his own. Bolt holes were mandatory, and backup residences never hurt. They all had several sets each of false identities. Signing a short lease would be simple. A change of clothes left at each wouldn't hurt.
"I like this one," Steven said at the second shop, holding up a shirt that looked very much like the rest of the shirts.
"Not much style," Ianto said, placing it in the trolley. "Why not something like that?" He nodded at a display of t-shirts with animated characters all on.
"Not those. Those are for babies."
"Ah. My mistake."
"This one!" came a loud shout. Feet thundered towards the display, but it was only one set of feet, followed by two other sets walking much more slowly. Ianto's brain had registered the shout without identifying the owner. However, his sister was impossible to miss as she joined her son at the t-shirts, and she didn't miss him.
"Fine day for them," she said. He was afraid she was going to hug him, but instead she pecked a kiss on his cheek. "Say hello to your uncle."
"Hi," said David and Mica in unison, and both went back to the t-shirts, arguing over which character was the best.
"I didn't expect to see you here," said Rhi. "What're you doing?"
"Oh. Right." He nodded at Steven, who'd mostly hidden himself behind Ianto. "Steven needed clothes. He's outgrown the ones he keeps at ours."
Rhiannon craned her neck around. "Oh, hello there." She gave Ianto a look which clearly said, "Who's this?"
"Steven, you remember meeting my sister Rhiannon? She came to the hospital. That's David, and that's Mica. Who ought to be in school now, I thought."
Mica shouted, "The pipes froze and busted!" She returned to haranguing her brother over which character would annihilate the other.
Rhi said, "They're out the whole week. What about him?"
"Mum is out of town," Steven lied, watching the other two children.
"He's Jack's nephew. He's staying with us until she gets back." Ianto gestured at his niece and nephew. "You could go talk to them."
"No, thanks." He played with the sleeve of one shirt. "Besides, they're both wrong. Batman could kick everyone's arse."
Ianto wasn't sure how, but the next he knew, Rhiannon had decided the five of them would get lunch together, somewhere with tables if not with tablecloths. Steven warmed to David and Mica's five-year-long argument, throwing in his own observations about heroes Ianto didn't know. Growing up, he'd always looked askance at his friends and classmates who spent all their time nose-deep in comic books. Now that he was dating a superhero, the 2-D adventures of made-up people couldn't hold a candle.
"Where's Jack?" Rhiannon asked over her menu.
After everything, he still wasn't sure where she stood on Jack, and whether any innocent inquiry would twist into questions Ianto didn't want to answer or advice he didn't intend to take. "Work. He's busy with a project."
"He's always busy," she tutted. "He ought to take a break. You two can go somewhere nice for a change."
Ianto nearly choked on his glass of water. If there was one thing more horrifying than the thought of his sister disapproving of his relationship, that thing would be her getting involved and giving advice for same. "It's fine. We're fine. In fact," he said, placing the glass on the table, "we've been a few places together. We took a trip together to Switzerland, and one to India." He could just about think on their time on those missions without shuddering, too. Both near-death experiences had led to appropriately remorseful cuddling on Jack's part after, which was the very last item on a long list Ianto intended never to share with her. "We even took a cruise together. Rode in a submarine near Japan." Sort of near. Nearer than here.
Steven set down his fork and stared, and David and Mica followed. "Cool."
"That was a while ago," Ianto covered quickly. "And I would've told you, but I didn't know how." He dropped in a bit of truth amongst the half-truths. "I didn't think you'd take it well if I said I've started dating a much older man, and by the by, we're off to CERN for a holiday."
"I'd've taken it fine if I could've come along," Rhi said.
"Nah. Jack snores."
She laughed, and there was the smile he remembered from long ago. "You two should come visit more often. We're not that far." She nodded at Steven. "Bring him with you."
Now there was a thought. Ianto could take Steven to hers, spend time in Newport instead of Cardiff, risk their lives once again. As a very last resort, he could leave Steven with her, have him blend in with the gaggle of children in her new neighbourhood. He wondered if she ever thought about why they'd moved, and where the money had come from. He hoped she didn't. "Maybe later."
"Can we go to the zoo?" asked Mica. Despite the cold, and the impeding snow, she was obviously gauging how much she could get out of this unexpected visit.
"It's too cold out," said her mother.
Ianto remembered his last trip to the zoo. He'd gone on a date, and went home invisible and reeking of tiger shit. He reminded himself to tell Steven later. "That's for the best."
David said, "What about the cinema?"
"Steven and I have more errands we need to run today."
***
The CCTV between Alice's work and home had been deactivated an hour before her disappearance. Lois watched Gwen try every trick she knew to pull out the data, scanning in wider and wider circles searching for anything unusual before and after, and around the blackout area. Dr. Pol had busied herself with contacting her various acquaintances in both the human and alien communities. Her skills had often come in aid of those who needed unofficial help, or couldn't set foot in a normal doctor's office.
"How are the quintuplets doing?" she asked, voice full of marmalade, "Really? Their horns are coming in earlier than I'd thought. Remind me and I'll be by next week for a check-up. Now, I've got a question for you."
Lois let them both work. Albert had disappeared, saying he had to go pay a bill. Jack didn't seem worried about him, spending all his worry on the phone right now. He'd been trading calls with the Smiths since he got in. Dr. Smith wanted to come in, do an exam on Dr. Pol and also lend a hand on their search for Alice. Jack wanted her to stay where she was, but did want a list of their contacts. Lois gathered this through the open door at which she definitely wasn't eavesdropping.
She wasn't quite sure how to think of his relationship with the couple. She was almost certain he hadn't slept with one or both of them. Dr. Smith appeared to be second only to Gwen in Jack's list of best friends for life. Her husband was one of his favourite people to rag on whenever possible, yet if he ever did marry his boyfriend, he'd almost certainly ask Mickey to stand up as his best man. The whole arrangement confused her. Her own friendships were far more straightforward. No insults, not even a friendly "you cow." No mad chemistry making everyone around her wonder if she was sleeping with her mates. No time travel or alternate timelines, either. Her own friends were drifting away, one by one, though. She'd cut her hair, and she couldn't talk about work. Dating was hard, and listening to her friends chat about the men they were seeing, and their jobs, and the kids they wanted soon, was much harder.
She let her eye fall to the floor. Speaking of kids, Anwen hadn't cleaned up all her toys when she'd come in with her mum. Lois tidied them into a bin, shoving the lot under a desk. Perhaps this was her life now, cleaning up for everyone else and never managing a life of her own. And what good would it do if she did? Anwen was being raised knowing all about aliens, and her life had been in danger several times because of it. Jack's daughter was missing due to this life. Pol had almost died.
"Fine," Jack said through the door. "We'll see you this evening."
Lois chose that moment to bring him a new coffee. "Getting visitors, are we?"
"Martha and Mickey are coming by, yeah." He glowered from losing the argument.
"Any leads?"
"A few. But Mickey wants to check them out for himself. For some reason, he thinks I won't be 'reasonable' when I talk to their friends." He made air-quotes around the word himself. "It's not my fault that every time I try to talk sense I end up getting shot at." He was, she noticed suddenly, not wearing the same shirt he'd worn this morning.
She oughtn't ask, but she did anyway. "How many times have you died this week?"
Jack took a long drink of his coffee, and didn't answer. "Tell Gwen and the rest I'm going back out. I've got more heads to knock together."
***
Alice ignored the camera in her cell as she used the toilet. She'd tried to resist, hating the thought of some faceless person, or some person with a face she knew too well, watching her have a pee. She thought about refusing to eat, refusing to cooperate. She wasn't sure where that would get her, or if she'd wind up getting herself killed before someone got her out of here. It'd probably be her father, and he'd probably expect her to be grateful. This only added to her bad mood.
Johnson waited until the flush to let herself back into the cell with Alice. She attempted a smile, which came out wrong on her face. "Do you need an extra blanket? Is the food acceptable?"
Today she was Good Cop. Alice knew where she stood with Bad Cop. Good Cop could pull out the rug at any time. "I'm fine, thank you." She'd like a book, or her mobile, or a gun.
"I'm not your enemy."
"You killed my son."
Johnson's smile became genuine. "You do remember."
"Get out."
"I need to know what you remember, Alice. Dekker wasn't human. When we treated his wounds, we discovered the blood was alien. After some persuasion, he talked." Alice didn't want to imagine what kind of persuasion she meant.
"You should know," Johnson went on, "that he arranged it all. He contacted the 456. He told them to come. His people are called the Pantheon of Discord. They can change time. He knew if he cost the Earth the lives of millions of children, he could feed on the potential energy for every fate he changed, bringing each back for a price."
Alice shuddered, and did not reply. Nothing she'd learned during her lifelong association with Torchwood suggested Johnson was lying. But Jack had stopped that future, in the worst possible way, and Dekker couldn't even come to Alice to offer her a deal she'd have gladly accepted.
"I interrogated him myself." Johnson pulled her hands into fists. "Aliens bleed like anyone else."
She stepped closer to Alice, who stepped back in response. Johnson stopped. "In training, we're taught about blood-born pathogens, how to avoid contracting Hepatitis or HIV from enemies or prisoners. I contracted time. I can remember the day your son died, and I can remember the day he didn't. No-one else recalls the first any longer. It doesn't exist. But you remember. I need to know what you know. I need to know I'm not mad."
Alice stared at her. "You're going on about aliens and alternate timelines and murdering time-travelling aliens, and you want me to tell you you're sane?"
"You know what happened."
"Go away," said Alice, tired and sad. "Or let me out."
Johnson came closer. Alice wasn't sure if she would feel a strike against her chin, or if this obsessed woman was about to kiss her and force her down to the bunk. She tensed against both, closing her eyes.
When nothing happened, she opened them again. Johnson stood there, angry and immobile.
"Tell me what you know, and you'll be released."
"I suppose I have your personal promise on that, do I?"
Johnson turned, knocking at the cell door until the door opened and let her out.
***
Ianto answered an ad for a rental house in Caerphilly. He gave false credentials and two months' deposit to the manager for lodgings for his family. He was careful to refer to Steven's mother without actually calling Alice his wife, as she'd throttle him should she ever find out. Steven played along, asking plenty of questions about the local schools and other kids nearby. As they drove back, Ianto realised he hadn't driven this way since his ill-fated run-in with the Arcanis Servitorus during that business with Robert Craig. He shivered as he passed the turn-off which had nearly killed him five long, strange years ago.
They drove to Barry and rented a flat with a second set of credentials under the names Mr. and Mr. White. "My husband will be by to sign later," Ianto promised. "No, we don't have custody of Christopher. He lives with my ex, but he does visit us when he can."
As they headed back towards home, Ianto watched Steven sitting quietly in the other seat, gazing out the window. They'd fled this way once, driving to escape capture or worse. With the funds in his pocket and the clothing in the boot, they could run away now. He'd pick a place on the map, drive them to the train or the ferry, and leave the company car for Torchwood to find. The two of them could vanish together, just as Jack had asked.
"Steven?"
"Hm?"
"Would you be interested in going on a short holiday? You and me. We could drive up the coast, or take a trip to Scotland. Torchwood Glasgow has an old manor house we could visit."
Steven kept his eyes out the window. "Are we running away again?"
"We could. Jack thinks you'd be safer away from Cardiff."
There was no reply for a while. Ianto stole a glance as he drove. The clothing had been the first clue that Steven was growing again, was no longer the scared little boy he'd met in Amy Pond's kitchen. Due to the gap in their lives from death to resurrection, none of them could accurately give his age. Nevertheless, given the amount of hell this child had experienced, and everything he'd survived since, he'd grown enough to make some decisions for himself.
"I don't want to be safe. I want to be with you, and Mum, and Uncle Jack."
"All right."
Their third stop was back in Grangetown. "Two singles or one double?" asked the landlady.
"Whatever you have available is fine," Ianto said, signing his name 'Andrew Jacob.' "My brother may be by to see me. He's a bit of a rake, but don't mind him."
"No visitors, and no women," she said. "I don't want any trouble." Ianto soothed her over by putting his brother John alongside his name. "No visitors and no women," he agreed with a smile.
***
Albert had emigrated to England with his parents when he was two years old. They'd died by the time he was four, and he'd been passed from home to home without ever finding another couple to love him as their own. He'd been quiet, first by nature and then by lack of care, and had trouble connecting to his foster families. Later, much later, he realised he'd been lucky. He'd never been struck, never been touched inappropriately, never starved or hurt or neglected more than any other child in the large families he'd found himself briefly part of. He'd left the last family the day he turned sixteen, and never went back to visit.
In another life, one not too distant from the one he lived, he'd have become a criminal and died on the street. Albert had stolen more than once when times were lean, between what jobs he could pick up with no school and no connections. He was bright, and good with electronics and with weapons. He spent two years in the Army Reserves before deciding it wasn't for him, and took the extra training they'd given him into a new life of petty, nearly-victimless electronic theft with a side of breaking and entering.
Jack had almost shot him when he'd caught Albert breaking into the initial storefront he and Gwen had set up as their temporary headquarters. He would have, too, had Dr. Pol not laughed and laughed, and teased them both about the holes in their security. (Later, she told Albert how puffed up Jack had been about all the measures he'd taken. He hadn't stopped talking about how impregnable the place was but two minutes before Albert's breach.)
She'd saved his life, and had done so over and over ever since. Albert couldn't remember his mum. He'd like to think she had the same sharp sense of humour and kind spirit as Pol did.
The blind man in hospital hadn't been of much use. He didn't know the name of the person who'd paid him. He was expendable muscle, hired for cheap and handed a chip of concrete which rendered him difficult to see. Albert left him alive, and no more harmed than when he came in, but he did relieve him of the concrete chip. He knew all about perception filters, thanks.
The train station was at a lull when he arrived and bought his ticket. With the chip in his pocket, Albert passed unobserved through crowds, looking for the second face on his list. When he found one compartment with the shade drawn, he let himself inside. At the same time, he clicked the noise-dampener he'd nicked from the Hub. Ianto'd go mental when he found out Albert had taken it, but Ianto was a prat and he could fucking get over himself.
"Michael Pryce?" he asked.
The man hid his face further inside his hood. "Sorry, no." Thanks to his own filter, Albert saw him clearly.
"You visited Dr. Irene Pol at her home three days ago. You tried to kill her."
"I don't know what you're talking about!" said Pryce in a strangled voice. "If you're with the police, I have an alibi," he added, belying his first statement. He shuddered. "Anyway, whatever that thing was, it wasn't human."
Albert stepped forward, his knife clicking open. "I'm not with the police. If you tell me who hired you, this will be quick."
"I don't know! I never saw them!" wailed Pryce.
"How sad for you," said Albert.
***
Chapter 4