A New Dawn 27
Part: 27/?
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:
I have started to post a new story: Lacrimis Morientium. It is Jack-centric and very angsty. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I can't list it on slavefics or jack_in_cuffs, as it doesn't fit their guidelines, so I'm listing it on dwfiction, galactic_conman and dw_slash.
You can find chapter 1 here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/29370.html
I will of course keep updating A New Dawn as quickly as I can.
Previous chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/29070.html
Chapter 27
Two days after he had sent the report to the Queen, Owen got a phone call summoning him to Buckingham Palace. The Queen wanted him to go alone, and as soon as possible.
Owen immediately phoned Mark, and asked him to come in and cover his shift. As soon as Mark arrived at the Hub, he headed for the train station. Trains to London went every half hour, so he wouldn't have to wait long. The train was far more efficient than driving and, as it wasn't peak commuting time, it was a comfortable trip. He arrived at Buckingham Palace three hours after leaving Cardiff, and was taken to a waiting room.
He had to wait for an hour before the Queen was able to join him, but he was provided with a sumptuous afternoon tea, served by a butler.
When the Queen, and her aide, did arrive, Owen leaped to his feet and made a small bow. “Ma'am.”
“Good afternoon Doctor Harper, it was good of you to come so quickly, I'm sorry you had to wait.”
“Not at all, Ma'am. I understand how busy you are.”
“Please, sit down,” the Queen invited graciously, as she took her own seat. “You remember my legal advisor?” she asked. “He is here to make sure that I don't make any legal faux pas.”
“Indeed,” Owen confirmed, with a nod. “Sir Richard, it's good to see you again.”
“I was shocked, to say the least, to learn of the allegations that you and Jack Harkness are making against UNIT,” the Queen advised Owen. “Are you sure of your facts?”
“Absolutely Ma'am. It is not just Jack's word. We have corroborating evidence from one of the UNIT guards at the prison that he was held in. And the fact that UNIT attempted to kidnap Jack, after he had been pardoned, does imply that they had something to hide and were extremely worried.”
The Queen sighed. “To be honest, Jack's word would have been sufficient for me. But one must go through the proper channels. We have had Mr Peterson called to London for interview. That will take place tomorrow. His superiors, of course, are unaware of this. Assuming that he confirms the events, there will be serious repercussions, not only for Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya individually, but for UNIT as a whole. As you will know, their attempt to obtain information about Torchwood, a successful attempt as I understand it, is nothing short of treason. I am head of Torchwood and hence any action taken against it, or the people who run it on my behalf, is an action against the crown.”
“Yes Ma'am,” Owen acknowledged.
“Also,” the Queen continued, keen to assure Owen that there were other issues equally important, “it is completely unacceptable for UNIT to torture or abuse any prisoners, for whatever reason.”
“Can I ask what steps you intend to take?” Owen ventured, knowing that it was very early days, and Her Majesty would need to consult her advisors before a final decision would be made.”
The Queen was remarkably forthcoming. “Assuming that Peterson confirms the information that you have presented, our priority will be to bring Oduya and Stamford to justice,” she explained. “Apparently they were both sent on highly secret, but separate, missions, the day after UNIT's attempt to kidnap Jack. We need to find them, without alerting them that we are looking, and having them go even further underground. For that reason no action will be taken against anyone else in UNIT, for the time being. Once we have them, that will be a different matter.”
“It won't be safe for Jack to leave the Hub until they are caught,” Owen pointed out. “How are you going to find them?”
“I will send SAS agents after them,” the Queen explained with a small smile. “We know where they went, when they left the UK. The agents will follow their trails from there. Once we've located both of them, I'll send a squad in to extract them.”
“Is that legal?”
“As legal as many undercover operations that take place,” the Queen answered noncommittally. “Are you saying that you would object?”
“Christ no, those fucking bastards deserve everything they get after what they did to Jack!” Owen exclaimed. He blushed bright red as he realised what he had just said, to the Queen of all people. “Erm, sorry Ma'am, I mean no, I don't object.”
The Queen merely looked amused. “Leaving aside the way I deal with UNIT, there is another important issue. The EMP device. I have talked to General Ingham and he confirms that the device was never found, and that no one knows who built and used it. Jack is from the future, and highly technologically competent. It makes sense that he would be able to build it. So I believe his story, despite the lack of direct corroboration. And it infuriates me that someone who did that, and was thereby instrumental in bringing down the Master, was treated as a traitor and imprisoned. When I issued Jack's pardon, it was bad enough that all he would receive was a pardon, with it's implicit assumption of guilt forgiven. The kind of duress that Jack was under was not something that anyone could have resisted. What he should have received was vindication. And the law is at fault.”
Sir Richard Featherstone nodded in agreement at that.
“And knowing all the facts,” the Queen continued, “I can no longer tolerate that. I will not allow a hero to be labelled a murderer and traitor. I am therefore going to put it right. I will change the law so that extreme duress, of the type that no one could hope to withstand, coupled with evidence that resistance was present, will be accepted as a valid defence against murder and treason. And I will make sure that the new law is retrospective, so will apply to Jack's case.”
Owen was flabbergasted. He had thought the pardon was as good an outcome as Jack could possibly get. “Can you do that?” he stammered.
“I will do it,” the Queen stated categorically. “It will take time. It will have to pass through Parliament. But I will make it clear that this new law has my highest priority, and that, if it is blocked, I will no longer feel able to grant royal assent to other legislation passed by the Houses of Parliament. If that does not bring MPs round to my point of view, my next step would be dissolution of Parliament. And, if I do that, it is within my power to appoint anyone I want to the post of Prime Minister. Harriet Jones would be the first name that springs to mind.”
Owen was open mouthed in shock, as the Queen outlined the steps she would take to push through her new legislation. He knew that the Monarch had the powers she had just mentioned, but they never used them. It would cause a major political upheaval if she did. “You would do all that for Jack?”
“He helped save the Earth, and was unjustly treated. It is the right thing to do,” was the Queen's adamant reply. Then she smiled. “Anyway, I don't think anyone is going to be so staunchly against my new law, that they would risk their political lives over it, do you?”
Owen laughed. For almost all MPs, and indeed the Prime Minister, keeping their positions, and getting re-elected, were their main priorities. They would not do anything to trigger an early election.
The Queen then glanced at Sir Richard, who stood and said “If there is nothing that you need me for now Ma'am, I will continue with my duties.” He bowed to the Queen, nodded politely to Owen, and left the room.
“Sir Richard was here for the official part of this meeting,” the Queen explained. “Now I'd just like to have an informal chat. Tell me how Jack is.”
Owen knew, from his last meeting with her, that Jack was a long time friend of the Queen's. He hated to have to tell her the condition that Jack was in. He begin hesitantly. “It's not good news, I'm afraid. He's a mess. It took us two months to find him, after you pardoned him. When we did find him, he was stoned out of his mind on heroin. He could never kick it after UNIT addicted him.” Owen left out any mention of the prostitution, feeling that the Queen did not need to know that. She already knew about Jack's time in prison. That was bad enough.
“We took him back to Torchwood, and tried to keep him there, for his own good. But he was so desperate for drugs that he escaped as soon as he could. UNIT grabbed him practically as soon as he left the Hub. They must have been watching us for weeks.”
“And you never noticed?” asked the Queen in surprise.
Owen was ashamed to admit that they had not. “They were using the highest tech miniature cameras,” he explained. “No one would have spotted those, unless they were specifically looking. Luckily, we realised he was missing quickly, and since we had planted a tracer under his skin, it didn't take long to find him. He was being threatened by three men, who we later discovered were UNIT personnel. We shot them before we knew that,” he acknowledged, “but it wouldn't have made any difference. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Jack is still completely addicted to heroin. We are hoping to get him off the drugs gradually, while treating his PTSD, which as you would expect is really bad. We have found a therapist for him. She's only done one session with him so far, but I have high hopes.”
“I'm so sorry to hear that,” the Queen exclaimed. “Though from the reports you sent, I feared it would be bad. Tell me, are you having difficulty looking after Jack and manning Torchwood?”
“Yes,” Owen agreed. “It's been difficult ever since we received the DVDs. We've been spending a lot of man hours on this.”
“Right. Well then, you had better get more staff. Hire as many as you think you need. The funding will be provided,” she promised. “And any funding you need for Jack's therapy, or treatment, will also be provided. You don't need to use existing Torchwood funds to cover it.”
Though Owen was very pleased at the offer of more staff, he knew it would not be simple. “Thank you. But it's not just a question of funding for staff,” he pointed out. “It's finding suitable people. I would poach UNIT staff, since there are some good people in UNIT. But I don't think that would go down well with Jack, or the others, particularly Tosh, ” he added wryly.
“No, I can see the problem,” the Queen agreed. “But, however you want to proceed, you have my full backing.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate that,” Owen replied. “And there is some good news. Jack and Tosh have got together. She's helping him a lot.”
“That's good to hear,” the Queen said, with a smile. “But what happened to that nice young man Jack was seeing before all this? Mr Jones, wasn't it?”
“It's complicated,” Owen began. “You probably didn't get the whole picture from the reports we sent you. There were several events that occurred, on the Valiant and afterwards, that make it difficult for Jack to fully forgive Ianto. So their relationship has been strained since we found Jack. They aren't together anymore.”
“I see. That is a shame, but at least he has someone. I'm pleased about that.” With that, the Queen rose and rang a bell to summon her aide. “It's time for us to finish for today. But be assured that I will keep you informed about our progress regarding Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya. You may tell your staff, and Jack, that they are being sought, but make it clear that this must not go any further.”
At that moment, the Queen's personal assistant came into the room. “Ah, Perkins. Could you see Doctor Harper out?”
“Of course Ma'am. This way sir.”
Owen stood up and gathered his coat. “Thank you for everything Ma'am.”
“You're welcome. Oh, and Doctor Harper.”
Owen turned back. “Yes Ma'am.”
“Don't tell Jack anything about the new law. It could take a long time, and I would hate to get his hopes up before it is all confirmed.”
“Of course not Ma'am,” Owen confirmed. He then followed Perkins out. Time to head back to Cardiff.
Next chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/30355.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:
I have started to post a new story: Lacrimis Morientium. It is Jack-centric and very angsty. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I can't list it on slavefics or jack_in_cuffs, as it doesn't fit their guidelines, so I'm listing it on dwfiction, galactic_conman and dw_slash.
You can find chapter 1 here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/29370.html
I will of course keep updating A New Dawn as quickly as I can.
Previous chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/29070.html
Chapter 27
Two days after he had sent the report to the Queen, Owen got a phone call summoning him to Buckingham Palace. The Queen wanted him to go alone, and as soon as possible.
Owen immediately phoned Mark, and asked him to come in and cover his shift. As soon as Mark arrived at the Hub, he headed for the train station. Trains to London went every half hour, so he wouldn't have to wait long. The train was far more efficient than driving and, as it wasn't peak commuting time, it was a comfortable trip. He arrived at Buckingham Palace three hours after leaving Cardiff, and was taken to a waiting room.
He had to wait for an hour before the Queen was able to join him, but he was provided with a sumptuous afternoon tea, served by a butler.
When the Queen, and her aide, did arrive, Owen leaped to his feet and made a small bow. “Ma'am.”
“Good afternoon Doctor Harper, it was good of you to come so quickly, I'm sorry you had to wait.”
“Not at all, Ma'am. I understand how busy you are.”
“Please, sit down,” the Queen invited graciously, as she took her own seat. “You remember my legal advisor?” she asked. “He is here to make sure that I don't make any legal faux pas.”
“Indeed,” Owen confirmed, with a nod. “Sir Richard, it's good to see you again.”
“I was shocked, to say the least, to learn of the allegations that you and Jack Harkness are making against UNIT,” the Queen advised Owen. “Are you sure of your facts?”
“Absolutely Ma'am. It is not just Jack's word. We have corroborating evidence from one of the UNIT guards at the prison that he was held in. And the fact that UNIT attempted to kidnap Jack, after he had been pardoned, does imply that they had something to hide and were extremely worried.”
The Queen sighed. “To be honest, Jack's word would have been sufficient for me. But one must go through the proper channels. We have had Mr Peterson called to London for interview. That will take place tomorrow. His superiors, of course, are unaware of this. Assuming that he confirms the events, there will be serious repercussions, not only for Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya individually, but for UNIT as a whole. As you will know, their attempt to obtain information about Torchwood, a successful attempt as I understand it, is nothing short of treason. I am head of Torchwood and hence any action taken against it, or the people who run it on my behalf, is an action against the crown.”
“Yes Ma'am,” Owen acknowledged.
“Also,” the Queen continued, keen to assure Owen that there were other issues equally important, “it is completely unacceptable for UNIT to torture or abuse any prisoners, for whatever reason.”
“Can I ask what steps you intend to take?” Owen ventured, knowing that it was very early days, and Her Majesty would need to consult her advisors before a final decision would be made.”
The Queen was remarkably forthcoming. “Assuming that Peterson confirms the information that you have presented, our priority will be to bring Oduya and Stamford to justice,” she explained. “Apparently they were both sent on highly secret, but separate, missions, the day after UNIT's attempt to kidnap Jack. We need to find them, without alerting them that we are looking, and having them go even further underground. For that reason no action will be taken against anyone else in UNIT, for the time being. Once we have them, that will be a different matter.”
“It won't be safe for Jack to leave the Hub until they are caught,” Owen pointed out. “How are you going to find them?”
“I will send SAS agents after them,” the Queen explained with a small smile. “We know where they went, when they left the UK. The agents will follow their trails from there. Once we've located both of them, I'll send a squad in to extract them.”
“Is that legal?”
“As legal as many undercover operations that take place,” the Queen answered noncommittally. “Are you saying that you would object?”
“Christ no, those fucking bastards deserve everything they get after what they did to Jack!” Owen exclaimed. He blushed bright red as he realised what he had just said, to the Queen of all people. “Erm, sorry Ma'am, I mean no, I don't object.”
The Queen merely looked amused. “Leaving aside the way I deal with UNIT, there is another important issue. The EMP device. I have talked to General Ingham and he confirms that the device was never found, and that no one knows who built and used it. Jack is from the future, and highly technologically competent. It makes sense that he would be able to build it. So I believe his story, despite the lack of direct corroboration. And it infuriates me that someone who did that, and was thereby instrumental in bringing down the Master, was treated as a traitor and imprisoned. When I issued Jack's pardon, it was bad enough that all he would receive was a pardon, with it's implicit assumption of guilt forgiven. The kind of duress that Jack was under was not something that anyone could have resisted. What he should have received was vindication. And the law is at fault.”
Sir Richard Featherstone nodded in agreement at that.
“And knowing all the facts,” the Queen continued, “I can no longer tolerate that. I will not allow a hero to be labelled a murderer and traitor. I am therefore going to put it right. I will change the law so that extreme duress, of the type that no one could hope to withstand, coupled with evidence that resistance was present, will be accepted as a valid defence against murder and treason. And I will make sure that the new law is retrospective, so will apply to Jack's case.”
Owen was flabbergasted. He had thought the pardon was as good an outcome as Jack could possibly get. “Can you do that?” he stammered.
“I will do it,” the Queen stated categorically. “It will take time. It will have to pass through Parliament. But I will make it clear that this new law has my highest priority, and that, if it is blocked, I will no longer feel able to grant royal assent to other legislation passed by the Houses of Parliament. If that does not bring MPs round to my point of view, my next step would be dissolution of Parliament. And, if I do that, it is within my power to appoint anyone I want to the post of Prime Minister. Harriet Jones would be the first name that springs to mind.”
Owen was open mouthed in shock, as the Queen outlined the steps she would take to push through her new legislation. He knew that the Monarch had the powers she had just mentioned, but they never used them. It would cause a major political upheaval if she did. “You would do all that for Jack?”
“He helped save the Earth, and was unjustly treated. It is the right thing to do,” was the Queen's adamant reply. Then she smiled. “Anyway, I don't think anyone is going to be so staunchly against my new law, that they would risk their political lives over it, do you?”
Owen laughed. For almost all MPs, and indeed the Prime Minister, keeping their positions, and getting re-elected, were their main priorities. They would not do anything to trigger an early election.
The Queen then glanced at Sir Richard, who stood and said “If there is nothing that you need me for now Ma'am, I will continue with my duties.” He bowed to the Queen, nodded politely to Owen, and left the room.
“Sir Richard was here for the official part of this meeting,” the Queen explained. “Now I'd just like to have an informal chat. Tell me how Jack is.”
Owen knew, from his last meeting with her, that Jack was a long time friend of the Queen's. He hated to have to tell her the condition that Jack was in. He begin hesitantly. “It's not good news, I'm afraid. He's a mess. It took us two months to find him, after you pardoned him. When we did find him, he was stoned out of his mind on heroin. He could never kick it after UNIT addicted him.” Owen left out any mention of the prostitution, feeling that the Queen did not need to know that. She already knew about Jack's time in prison. That was bad enough.
“We took him back to Torchwood, and tried to keep him there, for his own good. But he was so desperate for drugs that he escaped as soon as he could. UNIT grabbed him practically as soon as he left the Hub. They must have been watching us for weeks.”
“And you never noticed?” asked the Queen in surprise.
Owen was ashamed to admit that they had not. “They were using the highest tech miniature cameras,” he explained. “No one would have spotted those, unless they were specifically looking. Luckily, we realised he was missing quickly, and since we had planted a tracer under his skin, it didn't take long to find him. He was being threatened by three men, who we later discovered were UNIT personnel. We shot them before we knew that,” he acknowledged, “but it wouldn't have made any difference. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Jack is still completely addicted to heroin. We are hoping to get him off the drugs gradually, while treating his PTSD, which as you would expect is really bad. We have found a therapist for him. She's only done one session with him so far, but I have high hopes.”
“I'm so sorry to hear that,” the Queen exclaimed. “Though from the reports you sent, I feared it would be bad. Tell me, are you having difficulty looking after Jack and manning Torchwood?”
“Yes,” Owen agreed. “It's been difficult ever since we received the DVDs. We've been spending a lot of man hours on this.”
“Right. Well then, you had better get more staff. Hire as many as you think you need. The funding will be provided,” she promised. “And any funding you need for Jack's therapy, or treatment, will also be provided. You don't need to use existing Torchwood funds to cover it.”
Though Owen was very pleased at the offer of more staff, he knew it would not be simple. “Thank you. But it's not just a question of funding for staff,” he pointed out. “It's finding suitable people. I would poach UNIT staff, since there are some good people in UNIT. But I don't think that would go down well with Jack, or the others, particularly Tosh, ” he added wryly.
“No, I can see the problem,” the Queen agreed. “But, however you want to proceed, you have my full backing.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate that,” Owen replied. “And there is some good news. Jack and Tosh have got together. She's helping him a lot.”
“That's good to hear,” the Queen said, with a smile. “But what happened to that nice young man Jack was seeing before all this? Mr Jones, wasn't it?”
“It's complicated,” Owen began. “You probably didn't get the whole picture from the reports we sent you. There were several events that occurred, on the Valiant and afterwards, that make it difficult for Jack to fully forgive Ianto. So their relationship has been strained since we found Jack. They aren't together anymore.”
“I see. That is a shame, but at least he has someone. I'm pleased about that.” With that, the Queen rose and rang a bell to summon her aide. “It's time for us to finish for today. But be assured that I will keep you informed about our progress regarding Major Stamford and Colonel Oduya. You may tell your staff, and Jack, that they are being sought, but make it clear that this must not go any further.”
At that moment, the Queen's personal assistant came into the room. “Ah, Perkins. Could you see Doctor Harper out?”
“Of course Ma'am. This way sir.”
Owen stood up and gathered his coat. “Thank you for everything Ma'am.”
“You're welcome. Oh, and Doctor Harper.”
Owen turned back. “Yes Ma'am.”
“Don't tell Jack anything about the new law. It could take a long time, and I would hate to get his hopes up before it is all confirmed.”
“Of course not Ma'am,” Owen confirmed. He then followed Perkins out. Time to head back to Cardiff.
Next chapter here: http://ohinyan.livejournal.com/30355.html