Fic: Secrets and Hope 7/9
Title: Secrets and Hope - (7/9)
Characters/pairings: Ianto, Jack, Gwen, Rhys, various other characters introduced in CoE. Jack/Ianto and Gwen/Rhys
Rating: PG, maybe pg13ish in places.
Genre: Happy ended angst, hurt/comfort.
Summary: As Torchwood rebuilds following the events of CoE the government is still keeping secrets and it's up to Ianto to reveal the truth.
Spoilers: Children of Earth days 4 and 5, mention of a character from Doctor Who The Sontaran Stratagem.
Authors note: A CoE fix-it fic. The much longer working life of previous Torchwood operatives is taken from the BBC website for series two and relates to the staff of Torchwood 3 during WW1. I will try to update once a week, but a new baby means my posting schedule could be a bit erratic.
part one
part two
part three
part four
part five
part six
The water is freezing cold, but Ianto swims for as long as he can before surfacing for air, knowing that every second he manages it will improve his chances of escape.
Ianto's not sure how far he's swum before the water starts shallows and he has to abandon swimming in favour of wading. Uncertain of how far it is to Henley-in-Arden and not knowing how far he's come Ianto stops when he reaches a bridge that crosses the river and listens.
Hearing no sound of pursuit behind him Ianto decides to abandon the river in favour of the roads hoping to find some indication of where he is and what direction he needs to go to reach the station.
Scrambling up the bank, Ianto hides in the shadow of the bridge, and listens again, both for those following him and for traffic. When, after a couple of long, cold minutes he hears none Ianto ventures up on to the quiet country road.
The faint moonlight that reflects off a road sign a few yards from the bridge, telling him that the small town of Henley-in-Arden is less than a mile away.
Ianto knows that he's got to get dry clothes fairly quickly if he's going to be in any shape to continue his escape, or at least find somewhere that he can dry the clothes he’s currently wearing. Until then Ianto knows that he’s got to keep moving, both to keep warm and to avoid being found, and he starts walking quickly toward Henley.
Ianto hasn’t been walking long before the countryside gives way to a residential area, and after looking in the gardens of the first few houses that he passes Ianto finds one that has washing left out on the line. Thankful that although the night is cold it's also dry and frost free, Ianto takes jeans and a jumper before getting out of sight amongst trees that line the road opposite the house.
Ianto feels bad about taking the clothes, but he knows he can't stay in what he's wearing. They aren’t a particularly good fit, but they’re dry and Ianto dresses quickly, glad of the warmth they provide, before continuing on his way into Henley-in-Arden.
The station, when Ianto reaches it, is unstaffed, the platform empty apart from a ticket machine and a small, locked waiting room.
There is still no sign of anybody from the Audley Clinic, and Ianto wonders if Ruth has somehow managed to get them to search in the wrong places, or if they have just assumed that his first action would be to call Torchwood, and are listening in for any calls.
Shivering, Ianto smiles grimly, he knows exactly how he would track himself if he were in their place - he also knows how he can avoid it - no contact with Torchwood or his family until this is over. It’s a hard decision to make, but Ianto hates the idea of putting them in danger, especially when there are other people who he can contact for help.
There’s no alarm on the waiting room. Probably, Ianto decides, because there’s nothing in there worth taking, just a couple of rows of plastic seats. It only takes a couple of minutes for Ianto to get the door open.
Inside the heating is on in preparation for the commuters who’ll be arriving in the next couple of hours. Sitting down by one of the heating vents, Ianto is glad of the warm air that's drying his hair and relieving the chill that seems to have worked it's way in to every part of him.
As soon as he feels warmer Ianto takes the notes from his pocket. He’s relieved to find that the paper hasn’t disintegrated, and that Ruth’s writing is in biro, the ink not having run with its submersion in the river Alne.
Spreading the notes out on the floor by the vent, Ianto waits for them to dry. He knows it's risky drying the notes here just in case he's discovered, but the sooner the notes are dry the more information is likely to survive.
The wait for the first train of the day to stop at Henley-in-Arden station is nerve wracking, but eventually the 6.45 arrives, and a few minutes later Ianto is on his way, the now nearly dry notes tucked back into his pocket.
The journey into Birmingham is uneventful, being able to buy a ticket with some of the money that Ruth gave him meaning that he doesn’t have to try to dodge the conductor as he checks everybody’s tickets.
By the time Ianto arrives at Birmingham, Snow Hill station is bustling with commuters, and after so long seeing very few people and interacting with even less the crowds seem noisy and chaotic.
They are easy to disappear amongst, to become just another face in the crowd. The fact that he’s been declared dead, Ianto knows, actually works in his favour, as they can't easily put out any public requests for finding him in case anybody at Torchwood or any of his family sees it and realises something is going on.
Leaving the station it doesn’t take Ianto long to find an internet café, although this early in the morning the only other people there are commuters checking their emails and the latest stocks and shares as they wait for their trains.
Ianto knows that he looks out of place amongst them, and it's with regret that he finds himself looking at the smart suit of a man a couple of tables away. It makes him wonder what Jack will have done with his suits - will he have kept them, got rid of them or put them into storage?
It’s not just his clothes though, Ianto realises, finally allowing himself to think about it now that he’s free, it’s all his possessions, his flat, his car, everything, all of it will have been disposed of, his entire life gone.
Ianto has never consider himself to a materialistic person, and it’s not losing the flat or the car that saddens him the most, it’s the small things, the last Christmas card he got from Tosh, the postcards he and Lisa had bought on their only holiday together in France and had then never posted because Lisa couldn't decide which one to send, or the photo of him and Jack dancing at Gwen’s wedding, the little irreplaceable things that mean so much.
There no time to dwell on it though, and Ianto pushes down the feeling of loss to be dealt with once all this is over. Ordering a coffee, Ianto sits down at one of the computer and after opening a few generic web pages so that any casual observer would just see somebody reading the news headlines or a film review, he accesses Torchwood three’s computer network.
After Tosh's death Ianto had taken over much of the running of the Torchwood computer systems. With his own login disabled - not that Ianto would risk using it and alerting anybody to his presence, especially given that Johnson had already hacked the systems in the past and he can't be sure that she's no longer watching - Ianto uses the backup login.
The backup login system had been developed by Tosh as a failsafe when Jack had been missing in case they were all locked out of their accounts or if the entire team was wiped out all at once, so there would be a way for whoever was brought in to run Torchwood three to access the computer systems.
The plans for the new layout of the Hub look good, the mismatched architecture of over a century of partial rebuilds removed, and a new more functional design built.
Ianto knows he doesn’t need to look at half of the things he’s reading, not yet, but be can’t stop. There’s Andy’s recommendation that stab vests would be a good idea when dealing with weevils, Gwen’s dates for maternity leave, the paper work for Jack’s resignation from Torchwood.
The coffee mug shakes in Ianto’s hand, and he puts it down, before rubbing a hand across his eyes. Of all the things that he’d thought to find on his escape from the Audley Clinic Jack being gone hadn’t been one of them.
Closing his connection to the Hub and erasing his browser history, Ianto finishes his coffee and leaves the café.
Finding a phone box that’s working, and is somewhere that isn’t surrounded by people who can overhear him is more difficult than Ianto had thought it would be, and it’s only after half an hour of wandering around that he finds one.
Using a payphone isn’t ideal, as Ianto knows that it limits what he can openly say, but it does have the advantage that since he’s chosen the phone at random there is virtually no chance of the line being tapped.
Using the last of the money that Ruth gave him, Ianto phones the one person who has access to the resources to help and who’s unlikely to be being watched; Martha.
The phone rings until Ianto is sure that it’s going to go over to voicemail, and he is considering hanging up, knowing that he can’t leave a message, when Martha answers.
“Hello.”
“Martha, it’s Ianto. I know this is going to sound strange, but-”
“Strange doesn’t begin to cover it.” Martha sounds annoyed. “A sick joke maybe, now who is this?”
“It really is me, just listen, please.”
“Ianto died six months ago. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but what whatever it is you’re not going to get it.”
Looking around to make sure there isn’t anybody close enough to hear, Ianto says quietly and urgently, “What I want is for you to contact UNIT and help me rescue the thirteen people whose deaths were faked along with mine.” Ianto looks at the display on the phone, the credit dropping fast, knowing that he’s only got a couple of minutes to convince her. “We can argue this all day, but I’m going to run out of credit before then and these people are going to run out of time. Either you can believe that I’m telling the truth and I am Ianto and I need you to help me, or that I’m lying or an alien or a clone or something else in which case UNIT need to stop me. Either way somebody needs to come here and get me.”
Martha is quiet for a moment before saying, “If you’re lying you won’t have to worry about UNIT, I’ll stop you myself.”
“I’m not,” Ianto promises. “If you need something to convince UNIT to come and pick me up then the fact that one of the people being held is a UNIT soldier, Darren Wicks, should do it. There was another, Robert Price, he tried to escape, and they killed him. Check the casualty list for Thames House, they’ll be on it, the bodies won’t have been returned to their families though, just ashes.”
“That’s what they said…” Martha trails off, sounding horrified.
“About me. I know,” Ianto says quickly, seeing that his credit is nearly gone. “Call me back on this phone once you’ve got UNIT to agree to come and get me, tell me how long it will be.”
“Alright. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“See you-” Ianto stops as the dial tone cuts in, before adding quietly to the now empty line, “Soon.”
Sitting down on a low wall opposite the phone box, Ianto waits for Martha to call him back.
* * *
"It's a bit Thunderbirds, isn't it," Andy says looking down from the boardroom to the newly finished lift. Above on the Plas the fountain has been rebuilt in a similar style, although now rather than being a single pillar it’s a tall central column with four shorter ones around it, the invisible lift exiting between the two smaller columns that face the Millennium Centre.
“Thunderbirds?” Lois says, giving Andy an amused look as she glances over from where she’s monitoring the system start up from her laptop.
“Well it is. Top secret organisation that everybody has heard of, underground base.”
“The SUV is hardly a spaceship, and they had a tropical island.”
Walking in to the boardroom carrying an armful of files Gwen smiles a little wistfully at them, remembering other times in the Hub when other such good natured banter had been common place. That it’s present again means that things are getting back to what passes for normal at Torchwood, and for Gwen it seems to heighten the sense of what has been lost.
Putting the files down on the table, Gwen walks over to one of the new additions to the boardroom, a plaque bearing the names of all those who have worked for Torchwood Three. The plaque is large, the litany of names stretching back to the opening of Torchwood Cardiff back in the 1890's seeming almost endless.
Looking through the records Gwen had found that Torchwood three used to run with a staff of at least seven people, and that when it had been fully staffed people had actually gone on retire, in the 1920's and 30's active service of over twenty years hadn't been unusual, before they went into semi-retired consulting post. In more resent years as Torchwood three had become short staffed and it's operatives overworked with everybody needing to be able to cover at least two key roles in the team the life expectancy had, unsurprisingly, dropped.
Gwen runs her finger over the last of the names, and sighs. “All our names will be on here one day.”
“Well that’s cheerful,” Andy grumbles.
“I mean everybody who ever works for Torchwood will have their name here, no one will ever be forgotten. Surely that’s a good thing?”
“I suppose so. Still seems a bit morbid though.”
Gwen looks likes she’s going to argue for a moment, before shaking her head, and pointing at the files she brought in. “Want to give me a hand with these? You’ll be working with these people as much as me, more probably once I go on leave.”
Gwen hadn't wanted to recruit anybody not so soon, but unable to take part in the capture or disposal of aliens herself, and with Jack gone leaving everything to Andy is risking his life - a risk that Gwen knows that she can't take.
“All right.”
They’ve only just started to look through the files when Lois says, mostly to herself, “That’s odd.”
“What is?” Gwen asks looking up from what she’s reading.
“It looked like there was another user on the system, now they’re gone.”
“A hacker?”
“I don’t think so, it looked like an old login, something the system recognised.” Lois tries to get the information back on her laptop, without success. “It might have been triggered by the set up. I don’t know, this system is so complicated.”
“Find out what you can.”
“I think that’s going to have to wait,” Andy says, looking at his phone. “You know I said I’d get a few of the lads back at the station to let us know if there’s anything odd going on, well there’s what sounds like a weevil in over in Splott.”
“There’s a place called Splott?” Lois sounds amused.
“And it’s just as lovely as it sounds,” Andy says cheerfully, getting up from his seat. “Come on, you can help catch your first alien.”
“Lucky me.” Lois follows Andy out of the boardroom.
“I’ll just stay and coordinate from here then,” Gwen says mostly to herself as she watches them leave.
* * *
It’s only twenty minutes later that the phone rings and Martha tells Ianto that both she and some UNIT personnel are on their way, although since they are driving from near Bedford they’ll be at least an hour and a half.
After agreeing to meet them at the cathedral; most of the other places that Ianto can think of in Birmingham being too crowded with people if their meeting goes wrong, Ianto wanders around a few of the shops, before making his way there.
UNIT arrive as covertly as they can, although Ianto spots them as soon as their vehicles come into sight; military landrovers being more than a little out of place in a cathedral car park.
Martha gets out of the first of the two vehicles, closely followed by two armed UNIT soldiers.
Glad that for the moment there aren’t any other people around to see, Ianto walks forward slowly, not wanting to give the soldiers any reason to consider him a threat.
While the soldiers keeps their guns pointed at Ianto another, carrying a handheld scanning device which Ianto suspected has more than a little alien tech in its construction, gets out from the second vehicle.
“Stand still.” He sweeps the scanner over Ianto, stopping occasionally to check the readings. “Now turn round.”
Ianto tenses as he feels the soldier’s hand on the back of his neck, but stays still.
“You can turn back round now.”
Switching off the scanner the soldier turns to Martha. “No Probic vent, all his other readings are human, so either he is who he says he is or we’ve got real problems.”
Martha smiles, then nods at the soldiers who still have their guns pointed at Ianto. “Stand down.”
The soldiers lower their guns and there’s an awkward moment with them just staring at each other, then Martha steps forward and hugs Ianto.
“Jack’s thing isn’t catching, is it?” Martha asks quietly, still hugging him.
Ianto shakes his head, holding on to Martha tightly, unable for a moment to speak. It seems too incredible that, after everything that has happened in the last six months that he safe and amongst friends.
When Ianto doesn’t answer Martha lets go of him and steps back, saying, “Probably a stupid question, but how are you?”
“Alive, hungry.” Ianto smiles, trying to reassure her. “In need of a decent cup of coffee.”
Martha looks a little concerned, as if she doesn’t quite believe that Ianto is as okay with everything as he’s saying, but doesn’t mention it, saying instead, “We can get food and coffee on the way, it’ll be at a service station though.”
Turning to the soldiers she says, “Ianto will travel with me.”
“Where are we going?” Ianto asks, relieved that Martha is, for the moment at least, not pressing the matter.
“Northampton, we’ve got a meeting with Colonel Mace,” Martha says walking back over to the landrover, “He’s interested in what you have to say. He was furious over the bodies not being returned to their families, and now, well I don’t think I’ve seen him this angry since what happened with the Atmos devices.”
“He believes me then?” Ianto says, surprised as he hadn’t dared hope that convincing UNIT to help would be this easy. “He’s going to help?”
“Depending on how this meeting goes I think he might go after them himself.”
“Good,” Ianto says getting into the landrover and sitting down next to Martha, “Just don’t let him leave me behind.” .
Looking out of the window, Ianto watches Birmingham pass by with little interest, his mind focused on what to say at the meeting that will, he hopes lead to his quick, and armed return to the Audley Clinic.
part eight
Characters/pairings: Ianto, Jack, Gwen, Rhys, various other characters introduced in CoE. Jack/Ianto and Gwen/Rhys
Rating: PG, maybe pg13ish in places.
Genre: Happy ended angst, hurt/comfort.
Summary: As Torchwood rebuilds following the events of CoE the government is still keeping secrets and it's up to Ianto to reveal the truth.
Spoilers: Children of Earth days 4 and 5, mention of a character from Doctor Who The Sontaran Stratagem.
Authors note: A CoE fix-it fic. The much longer working life of previous Torchwood operatives is taken from the BBC website for series two and relates to the staff of Torchwood 3 during WW1. I will try to update once a week, but a new baby means my posting schedule could be a bit erratic.
part one
part two
part three
part four
part five
part six
The water is freezing cold, but Ianto swims for as long as he can before surfacing for air, knowing that every second he manages it will improve his chances of escape.
Ianto's not sure how far he's swum before the water starts shallows and he has to abandon swimming in favour of wading. Uncertain of how far it is to Henley-in-Arden and not knowing how far he's come Ianto stops when he reaches a bridge that crosses the river and listens.
Hearing no sound of pursuit behind him Ianto decides to abandon the river in favour of the roads hoping to find some indication of where he is and what direction he needs to go to reach the station.
Scrambling up the bank, Ianto hides in the shadow of the bridge, and listens again, both for those following him and for traffic. When, after a couple of long, cold minutes he hears none Ianto ventures up on to the quiet country road.
The faint moonlight that reflects off a road sign a few yards from the bridge, telling him that the small town of Henley-in-Arden is less than a mile away.
Ianto knows that he's got to get dry clothes fairly quickly if he's going to be in any shape to continue his escape, or at least find somewhere that he can dry the clothes he’s currently wearing. Until then Ianto knows that he’s got to keep moving, both to keep warm and to avoid being found, and he starts walking quickly toward Henley.
Ianto hasn’t been walking long before the countryside gives way to a residential area, and after looking in the gardens of the first few houses that he passes Ianto finds one that has washing left out on the line. Thankful that although the night is cold it's also dry and frost free, Ianto takes jeans and a jumper before getting out of sight amongst trees that line the road opposite the house.
Ianto feels bad about taking the clothes, but he knows he can't stay in what he's wearing. They aren’t a particularly good fit, but they’re dry and Ianto dresses quickly, glad of the warmth they provide, before continuing on his way into Henley-in-Arden.
The station, when Ianto reaches it, is unstaffed, the platform empty apart from a ticket machine and a small, locked waiting room.
There is still no sign of anybody from the Audley Clinic, and Ianto wonders if Ruth has somehow managed to get them to search in the wrong places, or if they have just assumed that his first action would be to call Torchwood, and are listening in for any calls.
Shivering, Ianto smiles grimly, he knows exactly how he would track himself if he were in their place - he also knows how he can avoid it - no contact with Torchwood or his family until this is over. It’s a hard decision to make, but Ianto hates the idea of putting them in danger, especially when there are other people who he can contact for help.
There’s no alarm on the waiting room. Probably, Ianto decides, because there’s nothing in there worth taking, just a couple of rows of plastic seats. It only takes a couple of minutes for Ianto to get the door open.
Inside the heating is on in preparation for the commuters who’ll be arriving in the next couple of hours. Sitting down by one of the heating vents, Ianto is glad of the warm air that's drying his hair and relieving the chill that seems to have worked it's way in to every part of him.
As soon as he feels warmer Ianto takes the notes from his pocket. He’s relieved to find that the paper hasn’t disintegrated, and that Ruth’s writing is in biro, the ink not having run with its submersion in the river Alne.
Spreading the notes out on the floor by the vent, Ianto waits for them to dry. He knows it's risky drying the notes here just in case he's discovered, but the sooner the notes are dry the more information is likely to survive.
The wait for the first train of the day to stop at Henley-in-Arden station is nerve wracking, but eventually the 6.45 arrives, and a few minutes later Ianto is on his way, the now nearly dry notes tucked back into his pocket.
The journey into Birmingham is uneventful, being able to buy a ticket with some of the money that Ruth gave him meaning that he doesn’t have to try to dodge the conductor as he checks everybody’s tickets.
By the time Ianto arrives at Birmingham, Snow Hill station is bustling with commuters, and after so long seeing very few people and interacting with even less the crowds seem noisy and chaotic.
They are easy to disappear amongst, to become just another face in the crowd. The fact that he’s been declared dead, Ianto knows, actually works in his favour, as they can't easily put out any public requests for finding him in case anybody at Torchwood or any of his family sees it and realises something is going on.
Leaving the station it doesn’t take Ianto long to find an internet café, although this early in the morning the only other people there are commuters checking their emails and the latest stocks and shares as they wait for their trains.
Ianto knows that he looks out of place amongst them, and it's with regret that he finds himself looking at the smart suit of a man a couple of tables away. It makes him wonder what Jack will have done with his suits - will he have kept them, got rid of them or put them into storage?
It’s not just his clothes though, Ianto realises, finally allowing himself to think about it now that he’s free, it’s all his possessions, his flat, his car, everything, all of it will have been disposed of, his entire life gone.
Ianto has never consider himself to a materialistic person, and it’s not losing the flat or the car that saddens him the most, it’s the small things, the last Christmas card he got from Tosh, the postcards he and Lisa had bought on their only holiday together in France and had then never posted because Lisa couldn't decide which one to send, or the photo of him and Jack dancing at Gwen’s wedding, the little irreplaceable things that mean so much.
There no time to dwell on it though, and Ianto pushes down the feeling of loss to be dealt with once all this is over. Ordering a coffee, Ianto sits down at one of the computer and after opening a few generic web pages so that any casual observer would just see somebody reading the news headlines or a film review, he accesses Torchwood three’s computer network.
After Tosh's death Ianto had taken over much of the running of the Torchwood computer systems. With his own login disabled - not that Ianto would risk using it and alerting anybody to his presence, especially given that Johnson had already hacked the systems in the past and he can't be sure that she's no longer watching - Ianto uses the backup login.
The backup login system had been developed by Tosh as a failsafe when Jack had been missing in case they were all locked out of their accounts or if the entire team was wiped out all at once, so there would be a way for whoever was brought in to run Torchwood three to access the computer systems.
The plans for the new layout of the Hub look good, the mismatched architecture of over a century of partial rebuilds removed, and a new more functional design built.
Ianto knows he doesn’t need to look at half of the things he’s reading, not yet, but be can’t stop. There’s Andy’s recommendation that stab vests would be a good idea when dealing with weevils, Gwen’s dates for maternity leave, the paper work for Jack’s resignation from Torchwood.
The coffee mug shakes in Ianto’s hand, and he puts it down, before rubbing a hand across his eyes. Of all the things that he’d thought to find on his escape from the Audley Clinic Jack being gone hadn’t been one of them.
Closing his connection to the Hub and erasing his browser history, Ianto finishes his coffee and leaves the café.
Finding a phone box that’s working, and is somewhere that isn’t surrounded by people who can overhear him is more difficult than Ianto had thought it would be, and it’s only after half an hour of wandering around that he finds one.
Using a payphone isn’t ideal, as Ianto knows that it limits what he can openly say, but it does have the advantage that since he’s chosen the phone at random there is virtually no chance of the line being tapped.
Using the last of the money that Ruth gave him, Ianto phones the one person who has access to the resources to help and who’s unlikely to be being watched; Martha.
The phone rings until Ianto is sure that it’s going to go over to voicemail, and he is considering hanging up, knowing that he can’t leave a message, when Martha answers.
“Hello.”
“Martha, it’s Ianto. I know this is going to sound strange, but-”
“Strange doesn’t begin to cover it.” Martha sounds annoyed. “A sick joke maybe, now who is this?”
“It really is me, just listen, please.”
“Ianto died six months ago. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but what whatever it is you’re not going to get it.”
Looking around to make sure there isn’t anybody close enough to hear, Ianto says quietly and urgently, “What I want is for you to contact UNIT and help me rescue the thirteen people whose deaths were faked along with mine.” Ianto looks at the display on the phone, the credit dropping fast, knowing that he’s only got a couple of minutes to convince her. “We can argue this all day, but I’m going to run out of credit before then and these people are going to run out of time. Either you can believe that I’m telling the truth and I am Ianto and I need you to help me, or that I’m lying or an alien or a clone or something else in which case UNIT need to stop me. Either way somebody needs to come here and get me.”
Martha is quiet for a moment before saying, “If you’re lying you won’t have to worry about UNIT, I’ll stop you myself.”
“I’m not,” Ianto promises. “If you need something to convince UNIT to come and pick me up then the fact that one of the people being held is a UNIT soldier, Darren Wicks, should do it. There was another, Robert Price, he tried to escape, and they killed him. Check the casualty list for Thames House, they’ll be on it, the bodies won’t have been returned to their families though, just ashes.”
“That’s what they said…” Martha trails off, sounding horrified.
“About me. I know,” Ianto says quickly, seeing that his credit is nearly gone. “Call me back on this phone once you’ve got UNIT to agree to come and get me, tell me how long it will be.”
“Alright. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“See you-” Ianto stops as the dial tone cuts in, before adding quietly to the now empty line, “Soon.”
Sitting down on a low wall opposite the phone box, Ianto waits for Martha to call him back.
* * *
"It's a bit Thunderbirds, isn't it," Andy says looking down from the boardroom to the newly finished lift. Above on the Plas the fountain has been rebuilt in a similar style, although now rather than being a single pillar it’s a tall central column with four shorter ones around it, the invisible lift exiting between the two smaller columns that face the Millennium Centre.
“Thunderbirds?” Lois says, giving Andy an amused look as she glances over from where she’s monitoring the system start up from her laptop.
“Well it is. Top secret organisation that everybody has heard of, underground base.”
“The SUV is hardly a spaceship, and they had a tropical island.”
Walking in to the boardroom carrying an armful of files Gwen smiles a little wistfully at them, remembering other times in the Hub when other such good natured banter had been common place. That it’s present again means that things are getting back to what passes for normal at Torchwood, and for Gwen it seems to heighten the sense of what has been lost.
Putting the files down on the table, Gwen walks over to one of the new additions to the boardroom, a plaque bearing the names of all those who have worked for Torchwood Three. The plaque is large, the litany of names stretching back to the opening of Torchwood Cardiff back in the 1890's seeming almost endless.
Looking through the records Gwen had found that Torchwood three used to run with a staff of at least seven people, and that when it had been fully staffed people had actually gone on retire, in the 1920's and 30's active service of over twenty years hadn't been unusual, before they went into semi-retired consulting post. In more resent years as Torchwood three had become short staffed and it's operatives overworked with everybody needing to be able to cover at least two key roles in the team the life expectancy had, unsurprisingly, dropped.
Gwen runs her finger over the last of the names, and sighs. “All our names will be on here one day.”
“Well that’s cheerful,” Andy grumbles.
“I mean everybody who ever works for Torchwood will have their name here, no one will ever be forgotten. Surely that’s a good thing?”
“I suppose so. Still seems a bit morbid though.”
Gwen looks likes she’s going to argue for a moment, before shaking her head, and pointing at the files she brought in. “Want to give me a hand with these? You’ll be working with these people as much as me, more probably once I go on leave.”
Gwen hadn't wanted to recruit anybody not so soon, but unable to take part in the capture or disposal of aliens herself, and with Jack gone leaving everything to Andy is risking his life - a risk that Gwen knows that she can't take.
“All right.”
They’ve only just started to look through the files when Lois says, mostly to herself, “That’s odd.”
“What is?” Gwen asks looking up from what she’s reading.
“It looked like there was another user on the system, now they’re gone.”
“A hacker?”
“I don’t think so, it looked like an old login, something the system recognised.” Lois tries to get the information back on her laptop, without success. “It might have been triggered by the set up. I don’t know, this system is so complicated.”
“Find out what you can.”
“I think that’s going to have to wait,” Andy says, looking at his phone. “You know I said I’d get a few of the lads back at the station to let us know if there’s anything odd going on, well there’s what sounds like a weevil in over in Splott.”
“There’s a place called Splott?” Lois sounds amused.
“And it’s just as lovely as it sounds,” Andy says cheerfully, getting up from his seat. “Come on, you can help catch your first alien.”
“Lucky me.” Lois follows Andy out of the boardroom.
“I’ll just stay and coordinate from here then,” Gwen says mostly to herself as she watches them leave.
* * *
It’s only twenty minutes later that the phone rings and Martha tells Ianto that both she and some UNIT personnel are on their way, although since they are driving from near Bedford they’ll be at least an hour and a half.
After agreeing to meet them at the cathedral; most of the other places that Ianto can think of in Birmingham being too crowded with people if their meeting goes wrong, Ianto wanders around a few of the shops, before making his way there.
UNIT arrive as covertly as they can, although Ianto spots them as soon as their vehicles come into sight; military landrovers being more than a little out of place in a cathedral car park.
Martha gets out of the first of the two vehicles, closely followed by two armed UNIT soldiers.
Glad that for the moment there aren’t any other people around to see, Ianto walks forward slowly, not wanting to give the soldiers any reason to consider him a threat.
While the soldiers keeps their guns pointed at Ianto another, carrying a handheld scanning device which Ianto suspected has more than a little alien tech in its construction, gets out from the second vehicle.
“Stand still.” He sweeps the scanner over Ianto, stopping occasionally to check the readings. “Now turn round.”
Ianto tenses as he feels the soldier’s hand on the back of his neck, but stays still.
“You can turn back round now.”
Switching off the scanner the soldier turns to Martha. “No Probic vent, all his other readings are human, so either he is who he says he is or we’ve got real problems.”
Martha smiles, then nods at the soldiers who still have their guns pointed at Ianto. “Stand down.”
The soldiers lower their guns and there’s an awkward moment with them just staring at each other, then Martha steps forward and hugs Ianto.
“Jack’s thing isn’t catching, is it?” Martha asks quietly, still hugging him.
Ianto shakes his head, holding on to Martha tightly, unable for a moment to speak. It seems too incredible that, after everything that has happened in the last six months that he safe and amongst friends.
When Ianto doesn’t answer Martha lets go of him and steps back, saying, “Probably a stupid question, but how are you?”
“Alive, hungry.” Ianto smiles, trying to reassure her. “In need of a decent cup of coffee.”
Martha looks a little concerned, as if she doesn’t quite believe that Ianto is as okay with everything as he’s saying, but doesn’t mention it, saying instead, “We can get food and coffee on the way, it’ll be at a service station though.”
Turning to the soldiers she says, “Ianto will travel with me.”
“Where are we going?” Ianto asks, relieved that Martha is, for the moment at least, not pressing the matter.
“Northampton, we’ve got a meeting with Colonel Mace,” Martha says walking back over to the landrover, “He’s interested in what you have to say. He was furious over the bodies not being returned to their families, and now, well I don’t think I’ve seen him this angry since what happened with the Atmos devices.”
“He believes me then?” Ianto says, surprised as he hadn’t dared hope that convincing UNIT to help would be this easy. “He’s going to help?”
“Depending on how this meeting goes I think he might go after them himself.”
“Good,” Ianto says getting into the landrover and sitting down next to Martha, “Just don’t let him leave me behind.” .
Looking out of the window, Ianto watches Birmingham pass by with little interest, his mind focused on what to say at the meeting that will, he hopes lead to his quick, and armed return to the Audley Clinic.
part eight