A New Dawn 23
Part: 23/?
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.
AN: Yet again, I apologise for being so slow. I should keep a permanent apology in my author's note! This time I was overwhelmed with work due to the A-levels and GCSEs here in the UK. Exam season is practically over now though, and my workload has dropped significantly. I'm off to Ibiza for a week with the hubby and kids on Friday (where I'll have no computer access!!) so I wanted to get this chapter posted before I go.
Previous chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/27649.html
Chapter 23
While Ianto was keeping an eye on Jack and Tosh, Owen contacted the therapist, Charlotte Nash. He outlined the case to her. Needless to say she was taken aback. She, of course, had no memory of the Master's reign over Earth. She did not want to commit herself to taking the case, before knowing all the facts, so Owen arranged to send down all the documentation that they had. The legal submission they had sent to the Queen would be a useful starting point, but he would need to add a report with the new information that they had accrued since Jack's pardon. After a few minutes reflection, he decided to include the extracts of the DVDs. The therapist would need the whole story, to make her decision.
Owen spent a couple of hours organising the material, and writing a summary of what they knew about Jack's treatment by UNIT, and his subsequent life in Manchester. They would need Jack himself to produce written evidence for submission to the Queen, when they put their case against UNIT together, but his summary would be sufficient for the therapist. Once done, he went back to the boardroom to check how Jack and Tosh were doing.
To Owen's shock, Ianto was sitting morosely at the table, and the CCTV of Jack's room had been deactivated.
“What's going on, Ianto, why have you switched the monitor off?”
Ianto looked embarrased. “Tosh is down there with Jack, they needed some privacy.”
“What do you mean, they need privacy! You were supposed to make sure that Tosh was safe.”
“Oh, use your imagination, Owen,” snapped Ianto. “And there's no need to worry, Jack won't hurt her. Quite the opposite.”
It took a moment for Ianto's meaning to filter into Owen's brain. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “I see. Well that's a turn up.”
“Isn't it just,” Ianto agreed, slightly shrewishly.
* * * * *
When Tosh woke, Jack was looking down at her. She blushed, and panicked internally, as she waited for Jack's reaction. They had both been swept away by emotions. What if he now regretted it? Her fears were allayed seconds later, as he leaned down and kissed her gently. It was a long lingering kiss. She could feel his hardness against her thigh as he lay back on the bed, pulling her to follow him as he did so. Tosh went willingly, following his lead as he nudged her legs apart. She let him take complete control, knowing that he desperately needed it. This time there was nothing frantic about their lovemaking. It was slow and languid, and surprisingly innocent. Tosh, along with everyone who knew Jack, and his reputation, would have expected him to go for excitement and novelty in bed. But that was the Jack before the Valiant, before he had been used by the UNIT guards, and his clients in Manchester. It was not so surprising really.
As they lay entwined in the afterglow, Tosh's emotions were pure happiness. Jack would not have made love to her again if he had regrets. And she certainly did not.
With a kiss to her forehead, Jack sat up. “I guess we'd better get dressed, and get back up to the boardroom. They'll be worried.”
“I imagine that they know what we've been doing,” Tosh pointed out wryly. “Someone turned the CCTV off.”
“Jack laughed. It's a good thing we're not ashamed then, isn't it,” he joked.
Tosh beamed.
“Anyhow,” Jack continued. “I need a shower, but you can go first if you like.”
“That's OK,” Tosh replied, “you go first. But bring me back a towel, so I don't have to dash across the corridor naked.”
Jack flashed her a grin, and then did just that.
* * * *
Owen had gone off to catch up with paperwork (unrelated to Jack for once), so Ianto was again alone in the boardroom. He didn't have a clue where Gwen had gone off to. Probably somewhere where she could wallow in guilt for causing this grief.
Jack and Tosh remained down in Jack's room, and Ianto paced. He was not only getting his head round the new developments between Jack and Tosh, but also the bombshell that Gwen had dropped, which had prompted Jack's flight. Primarily he was furious that UNIT could treat a prisoner that way, and, in particular, someone who was actually innocent, and had in fact done more than anyone to serve humanity. And to do that to someone who had already suffered so much; it was incredible that Jack was even remotely sane. And Jack's reaction to Gwen's ill timed words was completely understandable. Ianto could imagine what he would feel in Jack's place. He needed to show Jack that he did not think less of him, and in no way blamed him for giving away Torchwood secrets, or anything else he had done to get heroin.
Ianto racked his brain to come up with something that would show Jack that it did not matter. He finally came up with an idea. It was a small gesture, but would hopefully please Jack, and get the right message across. When Jack had been convicted, all his personal belongings from Torchwood, and a few items found on the Valiant, had been boxed up and archived. To return his things would indicate to Jack that the Torchwood team considered him one of them again, as indeed they always should have.
Ianto knew exactly where Jack's belongings were kept, and he had them moved upstairs into the boardroom in less than half an hour.
* * * *
As Tosh lay on the bed, waiting for Jack to finish his shower, she had a sudden realisation. They had not used protection! In one respect it did not matter. Tosh knew that she was clean, and Owen had done a thorough check on Jack when they first brought him back to Torchwood. There were no worries there. But, statistically unlikely as it was, particularly at this time in her cycle, she could get pregnant. If this was going to happen again, and she really hoped that it would, she'd need to go to her GP and get sorted out with the pill. And as for this occasion, if the unthinkable happened, she found herself wondering if that would be such a bad thing.
Just then Jack came back in the room and handed her a towel. She got up, and wrapped it round herself as she went to the bathroom.
* * * * *
Tosh was a bit nervous, as she and Jack made their way to the boardroom. She did not know what the rest of the team would think of their liaison.
As they got nearer the boardroom, Jack's demeanor changed from happy and flirty to a bundle of nerves. Although his fears had been somewhat assuaged by Tosh's comfort and support, he still feared the condemnation of the others.
When they entered the boardroom, only Ianto was present. He smiled at them and, turning to Jack, said, “I thought it was time that we returned your things to you.” Stepping back, he indicated the boxes piled against the wall. “Everything that was in your quarters when you left are in these boxes. And this box contains things of yours that were found on the Valiant.”
At Ianto's words, Jack relaxed a little. Ianto was clearly not going to censure him for his actions as a prisoner. And Jack was genuinely touched that Ianto had thought to do this, particularly as he knew that he must be experiencing some emotional distress, knowing what had just happened between himself and Tosh. He moved over to the box from the Valiant and, placing it on the table, opened it.
Jack caught his breath as he looked at the contents. In it lay his coat. It was a symbol of his previous life. His life before the Valiant, when he had been happy and self assured. He lifted it out of the box and examined it. It was in perfect condition. He stroked it lovingly, and almost put it on, but found that he just couldn't do it. He wasn't the man who had worn it. That man had been erased from existence, through torture and betrayal. It wasn't time. In the future, he hoped, it would be right to wear the coat again, but not yet. Laying it carefully aside, he picked up the one item remaining in the box. It was his TARDIS key.
“What happened to the Doctor after the Master was killed?” It was something that he had avoided thinking about since the day time was reset on the Valiant. Why hadn't the Doctor intervened on his behalf, when he was being handed over to UNIT?
Ianto knew what Jack's question implied. He wished that he had an answer that would be anything other than yet another blow to Jack. But he had to be honest. “Despite what the Master had done, the Doctor was devastated by his death,” he stated. “I don't think he could deal with anything but that, so he just left all other matters to Torchwood and UNIT. He and Martha left as soon as things were under control on the Valiant. They took the Master's body with them.”
“So he didn't care if I was imprisoned, innocent or not?” Jack questioned.
“He thought you were guilty,” muttered Ianto in embarrassment, “like we all did.”
Jack was stunned. He had honestly not believed that the Doctor would believe that as easily as the others. And to not even bother to ask him, because he was so wrapped up in grief over a sadistic mass murderer, who made Hitler and Mengele look like choirboys. It was one abandonment too many.
Seeing his distress, Tosh moved close to Jack and laid her hand on his shoulder. She could feel him tremble. Jack looked at her gratefully, and then dropped the key back in the box. He had guarded that key with his life, for well over a hundred years. It had been his most treasured possession since the Doctor left him on the Gamestation. But now it was meaningless. “Put that back in the archives,” he said harshly. “I don't need it anymore.” Then, flashing a patently false grin at Ianto and Tosh, he declared, “Who needs the Doctor anyway?”
Pushing the Doctor from his mind, Jack moved over to the other boxes. He opened one and saw his box of photographs. He had thought he had lost those forever. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to go through them, and remember the past. “I'll take these down to my room,” he told Tosh and Ianto. “I'll come back for the other boxes in a while.” He headed for the door, where he paused and said, with a genuine smile, “Thank you, Ianto. I really appreciate you returning my things to me. It means a lot.”
Next chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/28538.html
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.
AN: Yet again, I apologise for being so slow. I should keep a permanent apology in my author's note! This time I was overwhelmed with work due to the A-levels and GCSEs here in the UK. Exam season is practically over now though, and my workload has dropped significantly. I'm off to Ibiza for a week with the hubby and kids on Friday (where I'll have no computer access!!) so I wanted to get this chapter posted before I go.
Previous chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/27649.html
Chapter 23
While Ianto was keeping an eye on Jack and Tosh, Owen contacted the therapist, Charlotte Nash. He outlined the case to her. Needless to say she was taken aback. She, of course, had no memory of the Master's reign over Earth. She did not want to commit herself to taking the case, before knowing all the facts, so Owen arranged to send down all the documentation that they had. The legal submission they had sent to the Queen would be a useful starting point, but he would need to add a report with the new information that they had accrued since Jack's pardon. After a few minutes reflection, he decided to include the extracts of the DVDs. The therapist would need the whole story, to make her decision.
Owen spent a couple of hours organising the material, and writing a summary of what they knew about Jack's treatment by UNIT, and his subsequent life in Manchester. They would need Jack himself to produce written evidence for submission to the Queen, when they put their case against UNIT together, but his summary would be sufficient for the therapist. Once done, he went back to the boardroom to check how Jack and Tosh were doing.
To Owen's shock, Ianto was sitting morosely at the table, and the CCTV of Jack's room had been deactivated.
“What's going on, Ianto, why have you switched the monitor off?”
Ianto looked embarrased. “Tosh is down there with Jack, they needed some privacy.”
“What do you mean, they need privacy! You were supposed to make sure that Tosh was safe.”
“Oh, use your imagination, Owen,” snapped Ianto. “And there's no need to worry, Jack won't hurt her. Quite the opposite.”
It took a moment for Ianto's meaning to filter into Owen's brain. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “I see. Well that's a turn up.”
“Isn't it just,” Ianto agreed, slightly shrewishly.
* * * * *
When Tosh woke, Jack was looking down at her. She blushed, and panicked internally, as she waited for Jack's reaction. They had both been swept away by emotions. What if he now regretted it? Her fears were allayed seconds later, as he leaned down and kissed her gently. It was a long lingering kiss. She could feel his hardness against her thigh as he lay back on the bed, pulling her to follow him as he did so. Tosh went willingly, following his lead as he nudged her legs apart. She let him take complete control, knowing that he desperately needed it. This time there was nothing frantic about their lovemaking. It was slow and languid, and surprisingly innocent. Tosh, along with everyone who knew Jack, and his reputation, would have expected him to go for excitement and novelty in bed. But that was the Jack before the Valiant, before he had been used by the UNIT guards, and his clients in Manchester. It was not so surprising really.
As they lay entwined in the afterglow, Tosh's emotions were pure happiness. Jack would not have made love to her again if he had regrets. And she certainly did not.
With a kiss to her forehead, Jack sat up. “I guess we'd better get dressed, and get back up to the boardroom. They'll be worried.”
“I imagine that they know what we've been doing,” Tosh pointed out wryly. “Someone turned the CCTV off.”
“Jack laughed. It's a good thing we're not ashamed then, isn't it,” he joked.
Tosh beamed.
“Anyhow,” Jack continued. “I need a shower, but you can go first if you like.”
“That's OK,” Tosh replied, “you go first. But bring me back a towel, so I don't have to dash across the corridor naked.”
Jack flashed her a grin, and then did just that.
* * * *
Owen had gone off to catch up with paperwork (unrelated to Jack for once), so Ianto was again alone in the boardroom. He didn't have a clue where Gwen had gone off to. Probably somewhere where she could wallow in guilt for causing this grief.
Jack and Tosh remained down in Jack's room, and Ianto paced. He was not only getting his head round the new developments between Jack and Tosh, but also the bombshell that Gwen had dropped, which had prompted Jack's flight. Primarily he was furious that UNIT could treat a prisoner that way, and, in particular, someone who was actually innocent, and had in fact done more than anyone to serve humanity. And to do that to someone who had already suffered so much; it was incredible that Jack was even remotely sane. And Jack's reaction to Gwen's ill timed words was completely understandable. Ianto could imagine what he would feel in Jack's place. He needed to show Jack that he did not think less of him, and in no way blamed him for giving away Torchwood secrets, or anything else he had done to get heroin.
Ianto racked his brain to come up with something that would show Jack that it did not matter. He finally came up with an idea. It was a small gesture, but would hopefully please Jack, and get the right message across. When Jack had been convicted, all his personal belongings from Torchwood, and a few items found on the Valiant, had been boxed up and archived. To return his things would indicate to Jack that the Torchwood team considered him one of them again, as indeed they always should have.
Ianto knew exactly where Jack's belongings were kept, and he had them moved upstairs into the boardroom in less than half an hour.
* * * *
As Tosh lay on the bed, waiting for Jack to finish his shower, she had a sudden realisation. They had not used protection! In one respect it did not matter. Tosh knew that she was clean, and Owen had done a thorough check on Jack when they first brought him back to Torchwood. There were no worries there. But, statistically unlikely as it was, particularly at this time in her cycle, she could get pregnant. If this was going to happen again, and she really hoped that it would, she'd need to go to her GP and get sorted out with the pill. And as for this occasion, if the unthinkable happened, she found herself wondering if that would be such a bad thing.
Just then Jack came back in the room and handed her a towel. She got up, and wrapped it round herself as she went to the bathroom.
* * * * *
Tosh was a bit nervous, as she and Jack made their way to the boardroom. She did not know what the rest of the team would think of their liaison.
As they got nearer the boardroom, Jack's demeanor changed from happy and flirty to a bundle of nerves. Although his fears had been somewhat assuaged by Tosh's comfort and support, he still feared the condemnation of the others.
When they entered the boardroom, only Ianto was present. He smiled at them and, turning to Jack, said, “I thought it was time that we returned your things to you.” Stepping back, he indicated the boxes piled against the wall. “Everything that was in your quarters when you left are in these boxes. And this box contains things of yours that were found on the Valiant.”
At Ianto's words, Jack relaxed a little. Ianto was clearly not going to censure him for his actions as a prisoner. And Jack was genuinely touched that Ianto had thought to do this, particularly as he knew that he must be experiencing some emotional distress, knowing what had just happened between himself and Tosh. He moved over to the box from the Valiant and, placing it on the table, opened it.
Jack caught his breath as he looked at the contents. In it lay his coat. It was a symbol of his previous life. His life before the Valiant, when he had been happy and self assured. He lifted it out of the box and examined it. It was in perfect condition. He stroked it lovingly, and almost put it on, but found that he just couldn't do it. He wasn't the man who had worn it. That man had been erased from existence, through torture and betrayal. It wasn't time. In the future, he hoped, it would be right to wear the coat again, but not yet. Laying it carefully aside, he picked up the one item remaining in the box. It was his TARDIS key.
“What happened to the Doctor after the Master was killed?” It was something that he had avoided thinking about since the day time was reset on the Valiant. Why hadn't the Doctor intervened on his behalf, when he was being handed over to UNIT?
Ianto knew what Jack's question implied. He wished that he had an answer that would be anything other than yet another blow to Jack. But he had to be honest. “Despite what the Master had done, the Doctor was devastated by his death,” he stated. “I don't think he could deal with anything but that, so he just left all other matters to Torchwood and UNIT. He and Martha left as soon as things were under control on the Valiant. They took the Master's body with them.”
“So he didn't care if I was imprisoned, innocent or not?” Jack questioned.
“He thought you were guilty,” muttered Ianto in embarrassment, “like we all did.”
Jack was stunned. He had honestly not believed that the Doctor would believe that as easily as the others. And to not even bother to ask him, because he was so wrapped up in grief over a sadistic mass murderer, who made Hitler and Mengele look like choirboys. It was one abandonment too many.
Seeing his distress, Tosh moved close to Jack and laid her hand on his shoulder. She could feel him tremble. Jack looked at her gratefully, and then dropped the key back in the box. He had guarded that key with his life, for well over a hundred years. It had been his most treasured possession since the Doctor left him on the Gamestation. But now it was meaningless. “Put that back in the archives,” he said harshly. “I don't need it anymore.” Then, flashing a patently false grin at Ianto and Tosh, he declared, “Who needs the Doctor anyway?”
Pushing the Doctor from his mind, Jack moved over to the other boxes. He opened one and saw his box of photographs. He had thought he had lost those forever. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to go through them, and remember the past. “I'll take these down to my room,” he told Tosh and Ianto. “I'll come back for the other boxes in a while.” He headed for the door, where he paused and said, with a genuine smile, “Thank you, Ianto. I really appreciate you returning my things to me. It means a lot.”
Next chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/28538.html