A New Dawn 3
Title: A New Dawn
Part: 3/?
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Mentions of previous torture and rape
Genre: Angst, AU
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Owen, Tosh, Gwen
Summary: AU. The Torchwood team discover the truth about what happened on the Valiant and search for Jack. A dark fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: This is Part 3 of a Trilogy. Part 1 is the story Hidden Behind Our Appearances and Part 2 is Too Long A Sacrifice. You need to read those first or this will make no sense.
Previous chapter here: ohinyan.livejournal.com/20356.html
Chapter 3
Though Owen had technically been on duty throughout the day, things had been slow, so Joanne had sent her boss to sleep in the bunker under the main office. This was used by whoever was on overnight duty. She had deduced that the original members of the team had been up all night, working on a project that, for some reason, they were unwilling to share with the new members.
She and Mark had been hired at about the same time. She knew that there had been some upset in the command structure of Torchwood, leading to the abrupt departure of their leader. This had led to the two hirings. Mark was an ex member of the police special operations squad, and a friend of Gwen's. She had approached him shortly after Joanne had been hired, and he had agreed to come work for Torchwood. He was a tall, strong guy, well able to take care of himself in a fight, and intelligent, a real asset to Torchwood.
While Owen was sleeping, Joanne had filled Mark in on the furtive behaviour of the rest of the team. His pragmatic attitude was just to wait, and when it was the right time, they would be told what was going on. As long as the mysterious project did not significantly interfere with Torchwood's functions, he did not have a problem with it.
* * * * * *
Late in the afternoon, the rest of the team started to trickle back in. Gwen was first, followed by Tosh, who still looked shattered. Ianto arrived back at 5pm, by which time Owen had emerged from the bunker.
Joanne and Mark, concluding correctly that the others would rather be alone, finished up their work and left dead on time at 6pm.
As soon as they had gone, Owen called a meeting in the boardroom. The others were there in double quick time.
As soon as they were all sitting down, Tosh couldn't hold back any longer. “What are we going to do about Jack?”
“What do you suggest we do about him?” asked Owen.
“We have to get him declared innocent,” she answered forcefully. “After seeing those recordings, none of you can doubt that he didn't work for the Master willingly.”
“No, I don't doubt it,” agreed Gwen, “but that was in the beginning. By the end of the Master's time on the Valiant, I think he was willing.”
“I agree,” concurred Ianto. “God knows we can't blame him for working for the Master, after what that psycho did to him. And I truly regret how harshly I treated him back then. But it doesn't change the fact that he tortured several people to death.” He scrubbed at his eyes, then brought up the fact that had hurt and plagued him since he had first seen it on the Valiant. “The way that he acted on that film, in bed with the Master. That wasn't under duress. That was someone in love. Something must have made that happen, and I want to know what.”
Tosh could hardly believe her ears. After seeing the hell that the Master put Jack through, they weren't rushing out to get him exonerated. “We can't just ignore Jack! He's out there somewhere, living in fear of UNIT. We have to help him.”
“You think that we can just announce to the judiciary that he was coerced, and he'll be vindicated?” asked Owen.
“Yes, isn't what we've seen so far enough?”
“I'm not a lawyer,” responded Owen, “we'll have to look into legal precedents, but I wouldn't count on it.”
“We have to watch more of the DVDs,” Ianto put in.
“Yes, if you want to make a case for Jack, we have to look for anything on those DVDs that could help,” Owen continued.
Tosh caught her breath. “No, I can't, I just can't watch any more of that,” she pleaded.
Ianto looked at her sympathetically. “It's OK Tosh, you don't have to. I'll do it.”
Tosh was pathetically grateful for that. She knew someone had to, and if it came down to her, or no one, she would have done it, for Jack's sake. “Thank you Ianto,” she said sincerely, “I'll help in any way I can. I can do double shifts to give you the time to go through the DVDs.”
“Me too,” said Gwen. “I'd rather not watch any more either.”
“God save us from female sensibilities,” snarked Owen. “I'll help you go through them Ianto, you shouldn't have to do it all yourself. We can split them between us.”
Ianto nodded his thanks.
“Gwen, you check into the legal situation,” ordered Owen. “Find out if coercion is a valid defense against the charges Jack was convicted of.”
“Tosh, find Jack. It'll do him no good if we can help him, but we don't know where he is.”
“But remember,” he added, “Jack is free, so there is no dire urgency. Urgent Torchwood business comes first.”
“Now, I'm off home for once, or Karen will think I've moved out.”
* * * * *
When Owen got home, he called out to his girlfriend. She was home and had been cooking, It smelled like chilli. Karen was great at making chilli. It came from the time she had spent living in Texas. Unlike Gwen, he had remembered to contact her when he didn't make it home. So his reception was a good deal more amicable.
Karen immediately noticed his despondency. She sat him down at the table, put his chilli in front of him, and sitting across the table from him, started on her own food. “What's wrong?” she asked.
Owen considered how much to tell her. Karen knew that he worked for a special ops organisation, but didn't know the precise details. In particular the word alien had never been mentioned. He could not explain the nine months that never was, when the Earth was enslaved by a psychotic Time Lord, so he couldn't put the case in context.
“Some new evidence has come to light in a case that I was personally involved in,” he started. “It's really grim stuff. And it's stirred up a lot of trauma and guilt in the team, as it directly involves someone we used to work with.”
“And what effect has it had on you?” asked Karen.
Owen hesitated. He was finding it difficult to reconcile the sympathy he felt for the Jack they had seen on the DVDs, the helpless, abused man, with the hate he felt for the Jack who he had watched torture and kill people who were fighting for mankind.
“I'm emotionally involved in the case. No, that's too weak. I hated the man involved, and I was a right bastard to him. Yet this new evidence shows that I may have totally misjudged him.” He grimaced as he got a wry look from Karen. She knew what he could be like.
“So you were wrong about him then?” she queried.
“I don't know, but I'm worried that I'll let my personal feelings affect my judgement.”
“I don't believe you would do that,” she reassured him.
“I'm trying to be impartial. We need to find out whether the evidence is enough to clear him. If so we'll have to take it to the courts. Tosh already wants to do that, but I'm going to make sure we have all the facts first.”
“Well it sounds to me like you are doing the right thing,” Karen said as she cleared their plates, stacking them in the dishwasher.
“I certainly hope so,” replied Owen.
Next chapter here: ohinyan.livejournal.com/20776.html
Part: 3/?
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Mentions of previous torture and rape
Genre: Angst, AU
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Owen, Tosh, Gwen
Summary: AU. The Torchwood team discover the truth about what happened on the Valiant and search for Jack. A dark fic.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: This is Part 3 of a Trilogy. Part 1 is the story Hidden Behind Our Appearances and Part 2 is Too Long A Sacrifice. You need to read those first or this will make no sense.
Previous chapter here: ohinyan.livejournal.com/20356.html
Chapter 3
Though Owen had technically been on duty throughout the day, things had been slow, so Joanne had sent her boss to sleep in the bunker under the main office. This was used by whoever was on overnight duty. She had deduced that the original members of the team had been up all night, working on a project that, for some reason, they were unwilling to share with the new members.
She and Mark had been hired at about the same time. She knew that there had been some upset in the command structure of Torchwood, leading to the abrupt departure of their leader. This had led to the two hirings. Mark was an ex member of the police special operations squad, and a friend of Gwen's. She had approached him shortly after Joanne had been hired, and he had agreed to come work for Torchwood. He was a tall, strong guy, well able to take care of himself in a fight, and intelligent, a real asset to Torchwood.
While Owen was sleeping, Joanne had filled Mark in on the furtive behaviour of the rest of the team. His pragmatic attitude was just to wait, and when it was the right time, they would be told what was going on. As long as the mysterious project did not significantly interfere with Torchwood's functions, he did not have a problem with it.
* * * * * *
Late in the afternoon, the rest of the team started to trickle back in. Gwen was first, followed by Tosh, who still looked shattered. Ianto arrived back at 5pm, by which time Owen had emerged from the bunker.
Joanne and Mark, concluding correctly that the others would rather be alone, finished up their work and left dead on time at 6pm.
As soon as they had gone, Owen called a meeting in the boardroom. The others were there in double quick time.
As soon as they were all sitting down, Tosh couldn't hold back any longer. “What are we going to do about Jack?”
“What do you suggest we do about him?” asked Owen.
“We have to get him declared innocent,” she answered forcefully. “After seeing those recordings, none of you can doubt that he didn't work for the Master willingly.”
“No, I don't doubt it,” agreed Gwen, “but that was in the beginning. By the end of the Master's time on the Valiant, I think he was willing.”
“I agree,” concurred Ianto. “God knows we can't blame him for working for the Master, after what that psycho did to him. And I truly regret how harshly I treated him back then. But it doesn't change the fact that he tortured several people to death.” He scrubbed at his eyes, then brought up the fact that had hurt and plagued him since he had first seen it on the Valiant. “The way that he acted on that film, in bed with the Master. That wasn't under duress. That was someone in love. Something must have made that happen, and I want to know what.”
Tosh could hardly believe her ears. After seeing the hell that the Master put Jack through, they weren't rushing out to get him exonerated. “We can't just ignore Jack! He's out there somewhere, living in fear of UNIT. We have to help him.”
“You think that we can just announce to the judiciary that he was coerced, and he'll be vindicated?” asked Owen.
“Yes, isn't what we've seen so far enough?”
“I'm not a lawyer,” responded Owen, “we'll have to look into legal precedents, but I wouldn't count on it.”
“We have to watch more of the DVDs,” Ianto put in.
“Yes, if you want to make a case for Jack, we have to look for anything on those DVDs that could help,” Owen continued.
Tosh caught her breath. “No, I can't, I just can't watch any more of that,” she pleaded.
Ianto looked at her sympathetically. “It's OK Tosh, you don't have to. I'll do it.”
Tosh was pathetically grateful for that. She knew someone had to, and if it came down to her, or no one, she would have done it, for Jack's sake. “Thank you Ianto,” she said sincerely, “I'll help in any way I can. I can do double shifts to give you the time to go through the DVDs.”
“Me too,” said Gwen. “I'd rather not watch any more either.”
“God save us from female sensibilities,” snarked Owen. “I'll help you go through them Ianto, you shouldn't have to do it all yourself. We can split them between us.”
Ianto nodded his thanks.
“Gwen, you check into the legal situation,” ordered Owen. “Find out if coercion is a valid defense against the charges Jack was convicted of.”
“Tosh, find Jack. It'll do him no good if we can help him, but we don't know where he is.”
“But remember,” he added, “Jack is free, so there is no dire urgency. Urgent Torchwood business comes first.”
“Now, I'm off home for once, or Karen will think I've moved out.”
* * * * *
When Owen got home, he called out to his girlfriend. She was home and had been cooking, It smelled like chilli. Karen was great at making chilli. It came from the time she had spent living in Texas. Unlike Gwen, he had remembered to contact her when he didn't make it home. So his reception was a good deal more amicable.
Karen immediately noticed his despondency. She sat him down at the table, put his chilli in front of him, and sitting across the table from him, started on her own food. “What's wrong?” she asked.
Owen considered how much to tell her. Karen knew that he worked for a special ops organisation, but didn't know the precise details. In particular the word alien had never been mentioned. He could not explain the nine months that never was, when the Earth was enslaved by a psychotic Time Lord, so he couldn't put the case in context.
“Some new evidence has come to light in a case that I was personally involved in,” he started. “It's really grim stuff. And it's stirred up a lot of trauma and guilt in the team, as it directly involves someone we used to work with.”
“And what effect has it had on you?” asked Karen.
Owen hesitated. He was finding it difficult to reconcile the sympathy he felt for the Jack they had seen on the DVDs, the helpless, abused man, with the hate he felt for the Jack who he had watched torture and kill people who were fighting for mankind.
“I'm emotionally involved in the case. No, that's too weak. I hated the man involved, and I was a right bastard to him. Yet this new evidence shows that I may have totally misjudged him.” He grimaced as he got a wry look from Karen. She knew what he could be like.
“So you were wrong about him then?” she queried.
“I don't know, but I'm worried that I'll let my personal feelings affect my judgement.”
“I don't believe you would do that,” she reassured him.
“I'm trying to be impartial. We need to find out whether the evidence is enough to clear him. If so we'll have to take it to the courts. Tosh already wants to do that, but I'm going to make sure we have all the facts first.”
“Well it sounds to me like you are doing the right thing,” Karen said as she cleared their plates, stacking them in the dishwasher.
“I certainly hope so,” replied Owen.
Next chapter here: ohinyan.livejournal.com/20776.html