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a_silver_storyTitle: The Ballad of Ianto Jones
Chapter: 5 | James
Characters: Jack Harkness, OFC, OMC, Gwen Cooper
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
a_silver_story
Genre Angst like yo momma's watchin'
Rating: PG-13
Warnings:
Disclaimer: If I owned anything in this, I'd be a rich rich rich bitch. However, I am not a rich rich rich bitch so you may all, therefore, assume I own nothing. Which I don't. It all belongs RTD and the BBC, in case any of you didn't know.
Summary: Can't summarise without spoiling, really. It's post-COE, so go figure.
FIRST PART | Keeping Promises
PREVIOUS | Torchwood Index/Masterlist
05 |
Jack woke up with Button in his bed again. Three days in a row, he smiled to himself. Did that mean this was going to be a regular thing? Should Jack turn the tables and creep to Button’s bed in the middle of the night instead? He rolled over to find Button still sleeping peacefully – which made a change, as normally he was stressing and fretting over something or other and sleep would refuse to take him – and Jack lifted an arm over his head so that he could settle in the crook of his shoulder. Inhaling, Jack could smell the lingering scent of copier ink, with a slightly burnt scent he guessed would come from the overheating computers. There was peppermint, too. Behind that, was the masculine musk of sweat and sex.
‘Uh oh.’ said that voice in Jack’s head. ‘Watch it, Jack. He’s a quiet one.’
The Captain sat bolt upright, clutching the covers with whitened knuckles. No, no, no, no, no! he screamed inside. He had to break off whatever was starting here. He couldn’t get close. He couldn’t let himself fall for anyone like that again ...
Long arms snaked around his waist, and despite himself he couldn’t help but relax into the embrace Button offered. “What’s wrong?” asked Button’s sleepy voice.
“Erm ... bad dream.” mumbled Jack. He let Button cuddle him from behind, and allowed his head to loll backwards onto his shoulder. His ear was near his mouth, and he couldn’t help but flick his tongue out and touch the shell. Button laughed and kissed his shoulder.
“I really like you, Captain.” said Button awkwardly. “I mean ... we’ve only known each other for five days ... but ... I really like you, Captain.”
Jack sighed and nuzzled into Button’s hair. “I really like you, too.” he said. “I shouldn’t. But I do.”
“Why shouldn’t you?” He sounded a little hurt.
The Captain considered it for a second. Maybe it would scare him away if he told him about ... his ‘wrongness’.
“I have something I need to tell you.” said Jack, carefully.
He felt Button stiffen. “What?” he asked.
“I ... erm ... I might have to show you ...”
“What? Show me? Wha- ... what are you talking about, Jack?”
Jack disentangled himself from Button’s arms and pulled his Torchwood issue gun out of his bedside drawer. He felt Button freeze on the bed, clearly uncertain and terrified that maybe Jack was a psychopath about to shoot him. Jack raised the barrel to his head and fired.
~*~*~*~
The darkness was being ripped from him again. Cold air was searing his lungs, and every nerve-ending was firing in their orgasmic call back into life.
Button was crouched over him, pale and crying. The colour drained from him further as he backed away, staring disbelievingly at the Captain. He ran his eyes up and down Jack’s form, lingering over where the bullet hole was now healing itself, then on to the spatters of blood and bone and brains that were slashed across the wall and floor.
Jack spoke first. “I can’t die.” he said simply. Button was still staring. Run away, thought Jack. ’Run away and leave me so I can’t fall in love with you.’
Button swallowed hard. “How?” he breathed, his voice cracked.
“I don’t know.” lied Jack. If Button ever found himself by a TARDIS or an Untempered Schism, he didn’t want him getting any ideas about bringing back others – even if Jack knew that if he ever saw the Doctor again, he himself would rip open the TARDIS and ...
No. No he wouldn’t. The Doctor wouldn’t let him. The Doctor would know better than to leave a man who would lose everything over and over again on his own with the Time Vortex.
Button crouched by him, touching the perfect skin of Jack’s temple that had only seconds ago been a bloody, scorched hole. “You can’t ... you’re immortal? That’s not ... that’s impossible ...”
“Impossible, but true. I’m a mistake. I’m an error. I’m wrong – that’s what the Doctor says.”
“Then the Doctor doesn’t know you properly.”
“You don’t know me at all.”
“I’d like to.”
Stupid Button. He wasn’t going to let him get away. Jack stared into his deep blue eyes, watching as they flicked down to his mouth. He thought of the possibilities. He could fall in love with Button; they could have an affair or a relationship (or whatever the hell Jack might call an affair or relationship). Jack could be happy for a few short years – until Button’s self doubt set in as he started to get grey hair and wrinkles and saggy skin. Then it would all be arguments and mistrust. Button would end up hating him, and either die hating him or leave Jack to die alone.
Jack lost his train of thought as Button’s lips touched his, and he allowed himself to get lost in a kiss. They broke apart, but Button still looked uncertain. Jack hauled himself to his feet and offered a hand to help him up, which he took, but Button didn’t stop frowning.
“Do you age?” he asked, tentative.
“No. Not that I can tell.”
“Oh ... how old are you?”
“I’m 3, 170 odd.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
Button pulled him into a hug. “I have to go.” he said quietly. ’Yes,’ thought Jack. ’You really do.’ “The droid’s going to mental at the blood and brains, so I’m making myself scarce.” explained Button, pulling on his clothes.
“Droid? You mean ... the Big Beige Monster comes into my room?”
Button laughed. “No! Of course not! The Hospitality Droid does the rooms. The Archiver does what it says on the tin. The very beige tin.”
Jack began pulling on a clean suit, avoiding the blood on the sterile white floor. Just as Button was coming over to give him a kiss goodbye, he held up his black tie and pouted his silent plea to have it done up for him. Button sighed and smiled, flicking the ebony silk around Jack’s neck and using it to pull him down for a kiss. Jack let his hands wander down to Button’s cute little backside, and got a sharp nip of teeth in return.
“Not now, Captain.” he chastised playfully. “You really are insatiable, aren’t you?”
Jack nodded in mock guilt, and let Button go. He gave him a cheery wave as he left and got ready for the day of work they had ahead of them.
They hadn’t found that much on the URLs the images had provided for them, and Jack was starting to give up hope. Things were going painfully slowly on the ancient laptop – nothing had been done the day before as they had been waiting for one website to load – and when it had, the whole thing malfunctioned and they got nothing but a random collection of letters and symbols. But still Ianto Jones smiled to him from the nine pictures Jack had of him. His eyes – those cool, blue, inviting eyes – gave Jack the motivation to keep going. To find out what had happened, and when.
He pulled out one of the photographs now. He’d printed them all off when Lennie and Button weren’t looking. Particularly Button.
It was Jack’s favourite. Ianto Jones was wearing an ill-fitted suit and was sat behind a birch desk, smiling what Jack had called a ‘Secret Smile’. Jack had the feeling it was a smile reserved for the photographer, who had offhandedly decided to take a random photo at work. It was quite a personal moment, in Jack’s mind, and having it in his hands make Jack feel like it belonged to him.
A knock rattled on the door, and Lennie entered looking as exhausted as she had earlier. She’d been working pretty much non-stop to try and get the computers in Research and Information Retrieval up and running again, and the only time Jack had seen her not typing furiously or untangling masses of wires or throwing bits of computer around the room was when she finally gave in to her exhaustion and fell asleep where she was. Jack felt bad – she was putting herself through this for him, really – but he made sure she knew how grateful he was.
“How’s it going?” he asked, hugging her.
“I’ve got two workstations up and going. Button’s with them now while they’re processing. Hopefully we’ll have something that makes sense soon.” she yawned.
“You’re beyond knackered. You should get some sleep.” Jack told her, turning her so she could see herself in a mirror. She certainly looked haggard and sleep-deprived, and she groaned loudly at her reflection.
“No time for sleep!” said a robotic voice behind them. A white droid bustled into the room. “What happened? Why the blood? Assessing content. DNA match: Captain Jack Harkness. Contains traces of blood, brain matter, plasma bullet type 3 and carbon residue. Is there an incident to report?”
Jack shuffled a little, and Lennie’s exhausted state allowed her to notice the blood and brain splatter for the first time. “What the ....”
“Nothing to report.” said Jack, cutting her off. He gave her meaningful look that told her he’d explain afterwards. The robot wheeled itself over to the mess and zapped at it with a laser. It evaporated, and the droid began its usual straightening and dusting, muttering under its breath about disrespect, uncleanliness and more disrespect. Jack left it to get on, guiding Lennie away and back towards Button’s office.
“Tell me what you’ve been up to, then.” he asked as they walked with linked arms. She yawned again.
“Trying to purge that virus out, mainly. It’s stubborn. I think it might even contain elements of AI – it learns, I think. Learns what I’m doing to try and stop it so that it’s prepared when it comes back for another attack. You’re right, though, it must be targeted at us. It’s being way to discriminate for it not to be tailored directly for our systems.”
Jack ‘mmmed’ his agreement. They were approaching the office, and were just about to go inside when the door flung open.
“Jack!” shouted Button, his face twisted in concern. He looked totally different to fifteen minutes ago, when he had been in Jack's room. Stubble had grown over his cheeks and chin and his eyes were red rimmed with exhaustion. His uniform was crumpled and his hair was stood on end. “Thank god ... I was just running to fetch you!”
“You’ve found something?” asked Lennie, as Jack had suddenly lost his ability to speak.
“Yep.” said Button. “I even locked myself in a Time Bubble to make sure nothing came in while I pieced it all together. I’m fed up of obstacles .... anyway ... it’s all safe on an external hard drive that’s not connected to any networks – not even the Internet. Completely cut off from sabotage. I’ve made several backup copies in several different formats, too.”
“Excellent!” grinned Lennie. “How long were you in the Time Bubble? And why didn’t I think of that?”
“About three days.” said Button. “Sorry ... I should have called you two down ... but I didn’t want to risk it. I got everything downloaded and sealed myself off ASAP. And ... god ... it’s huge, Jack! It’s huge! It shouldn’t even be possible! And .... well ... I don’t think I’d believe it if ... the other morning ... anyway ...” he babbled, then shuffled a little uncomfortable. “It’s massive, Jack. Huge.”
“Wh ... What’s huge?” stammered Jack, moving to sit down next to Lennie on the couch Button was directing them to. He’d set up a digital projector, not feeling comfortable sending any signals through the air using the wireless HoloScreens. The projector flickered into life, and Jack’s original photograph appeared on the screen.
“Shouldn’t Diana be here, if this is a big reveal?” yawned Lennie, clearly too tired to care she and Jack were completely in the dark while Button had single-handedly pieced something together.
“She’s busy. I buzzed her on the earpiece, but she’s gonna have to catch up later.” said Button, typing on a keyboard. “I’ve also ... I mean ... I really think that he should be here.”
“Who?” asked Jack.
“James.”
Lennie sat up. “You’ve invited James down?”
“Believe me Lennie, he really needs to see this. And I think maybe the man himself will be able to answer a few questions.”
“James? Answer questions?” asked Jack. “Wha – you think he had something to do with this?”
“I do.” said Button regretfully. “I’ve never met him ... but you hear the stories ... the rumours. And ... he’s mixed up in this. I don’t think he orchestrated it though.” he gave a shifty look to the blank wall where his Mrs. Cooper interface was.
Jack noticed, but decided to let Button reveal everything he needed to in chronological order. Button went to stand by the projector screen, and shuffled a couple of note cards.
“I hope we get this finished before James gets here, though. I think it will make more sense that way ...” he cleared his throat, then pointed at the photograph projected on the screen. “Ianto Jones, born August 19th 1983. Average student, not really that exceptional. From what I can gather, there wasn’t much on him even then. It’s not until he died that he really began to make some ripples.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. Maybe Button was a little jealous? Jack remembered Ianto Jones as being quite exceptional indeed.
“The Thames House Disaster.” announced Button, pressing a remote control and watching the photograph disappear and a news report take its place. “No one knew in 2009 that there were aliens in Thames House. They were told it was an experimental leakage. Ianto Jones, and a large number of others, were killed by a virus released by these aliens as a warning. That’s all. Snuffed out because someone with more power decided to be cruel and create a lot of meaningless death ... Anyway ... the Government felt bad, so built a memorial just outside the city centre. All the victims of the Thames House Disaster were buried there, and left undisturbed for nearly fifty years. Then ... it starts getting weird.”
The screen changed again. Another news report, but from much later. Button took a sip of water before continuing. “The city was expanding. They needed the land, so they dug up the memorial with the intention of sending the remains back to their respective hometowns. Obviously, after fifty years, the caskets were in no state to be transferred anywhere ... so they decided to put the remains in new ones. Only ... when they opened the coffin that contained the remains of Ianto Jones ...”
“The body was gone?” volunteered Lennie.
“Nope. Weirder.”
“It was a different body?” she offered. “Oh ... wait ... how would they have known?”
Button smiled grimly. “This is a photograph I managed to pull out of police records from that time on the case. It shows the body of similar remains found in the memorial and, next to it, the body of Ianto Jones. Remember: buried for fifty years.”
The screen changed. There was a skeleton on the left hand side, brown and full of cavities. The joints had loosed and the ribs were lying flat, and the jaw was sickeningly slack and wide. On the right hand screen, was Ianto Jones. Jack was holding his breath, and Lennie was just staring at the screen.
Button spoke for them. “He hadn’t even begun decomposing.”
“That’s ...” gasped Lennie. “That’s not possible! Something must have ... what the hell?”
“They found a discreet piece of alien technology hidden below the surface of the skin. It kept the body in stasis, not allowing it decompose. In fact, it even healed it a little. See the cut on the cheek?”
Sure enough, what had been a red scab when Jack had last seen it was now properly healed over and scarred. He rose to his feet, staring. “He’s ... alive?”
Button looked away. “He was in the ground for fifty years. If the alien tech saved him from the virus – which I severely doubt it did, it just preserved the body - he’d have just suffocated again. I think it just preserved. The hair and nails didn’t grow, so I think it just kept him in Ideal Stasis. Anyway ... it doesn’t end there. If anything ... it gets ... well ... they removed the alien tech, and transported him to Cardiff. Only ... part of him never got here.”
“Part of him?”
“During the transition from London to Cardiff, someone hacked open his head ... and stole his brain. The driver of the vehicle transporting the remains was one ... and this creeps me out ... one Rhys Williams. But ... by this point, Rhys Williams had been dead for twenty years.”
Silence fell. The screen changed again. It showed Ianto Jones’ head, split open, red, bloody and empty. Jack couldn’t help but think, what with the way his head had been moved and his mouth allowed to fall open, it looked like he was screaming. He had to look away. “What else have you got?”
“Well, the police interviewed round for a bit. Searched through all kinds of rubbish. Then a witness came forward saying that they were more than certain the driver of the van had been a woman, not a man. Told him 'Rhys' was short for 'Rhiannon'. She’d come into his shop. He showed them the CCTV – of which I have a screencap, because I’m brilliant – and here she is:”
The screen flickered. “GWEN COOPER!” shouted Jack, staring at the grainy image.
“Gwen Cooper.” agreed Button.
"But ..." began Lennie, rising to give Jack a hug. "What would the Great Gwen Cooper want with the brain of man whose been dead for fifty years?"
"No idea." said Jack, frowning. He turned away from them while the daggers behind his eyes tried to bring forward his tears.
"Someone has an idea." muttered Button. "The trail ... it was hard to follow. But I figured out all the places I needed to look. Realised what signatures I had to search for. It took hours. I'm beyond exhausted. I'm running on empty. The only thing that kept me going was getting to the bottom of this. The trail ran cold, but I've heated it up again. I've found everything I can but ... but all I've done is unearth more questions."
Jack crossed the room and hugged him. They broke apart, and Button caught him in a kiss before he could pull away. Jack gave in.
"Anyway ..." announced Button, untangling himself from Jack, who was now reluctant to let go. "Onwards!"
The projector screen changed again.
"So ... Gwen Cooper stole the brain of Ianto Jones. I'm also willing to bet that it was also she who implanted the alien tech to preserve the body until all the hububaloo about Thames House died down. I think - I'm sure - she had this planned before the death of Ianto Jones, but not specifically planned for him. When the hub was destroyed in 2009, a lot of the morgue went with it. The bodies floated out into the bay, and Torchwood registers were used to identify them. Obviously, they were frozen and preserved before then, but after they came out of the freezer ... they started melting. But, despite spending a hours in the water, none of them became waterlogged or bloated. All of them stayed the same. It was only when they dredged out that the officials noticed though: they all had their brains missing. Nearly 700 bodies, none of them with brains. All of them perfectly healthy aside from the fact they were very much dead."
The screen was flicking through photographs of dead people with their heads split open and empty. Jack recognized Suzie Costello and Toshiko Sato among them.
"All of them were implanted with this alien tech, according to the official documents. Which had been deleted, but not well enough for me to unearth them - even after a thousand years. Most of the officials were wiped very cleanly after this point - so really ... we've got somewhere ... kind of. But ... all I can think is ... well ... all I've done is answer one question, then unearthed a million others. And I don't know what the answers to those are ... but ... I know that they're hidden both in the Classified Archives and ... I think someone else knows ..."
A deep, smooth voice spoke behind them. "Didn't anyone ever tell you? You dig up the past ... all you get is dirty?"
Jack spun round. His heart leapt into his mouth. "Y-y-y-you!" he stammered.
Lennie was frowning. "James? What ... what are you ... you know something?"
James winked at her, then focussed his startling blue eyes back on Jack. The Captain had found his voice.
"You ... you're ... alive?"
"Sickening, isn't it?" replied James. "Oh, and you! Button, is it?" Button gave a quick nod, rooted to the spot, confused as to how Jack would know this man. "Get the fuck away from my man."
The last thing Jack registered as he dived in front of the plasma bullet was the look of pure hatred in cold, blue eyes. They sparkled like sapphires, reminding Jack of how much he hated this man.
Reminding Jack of how much he loathed Captain John Hart.
FIN
Next Part | Previous Part | Torchwood Index | Request a Convo/Prose Fic
Chapter: 5 | James
Characters: Jack Harkness, OFC, OMC, Gwen Cooper
Author:
a_silver_storyGenre Angst like yo momma's watchin'
Rating: PG-13
Warnings:
SPOILERS FOR COE! DON'T READ!
Disclaimer: If I owned anything in this, I'd be a rich rich rich bitch. However, I am not a rich rich rich bitch so you may all, therefore, assume I own nothing. Which I don't. It all belongs RTD and the BBC, in case any of you didn't know.
Summary: Can't summarise without spoiling, really. It's post-COE, so go figure.
FIRST PART | Keeping Promises
PREVIOUS | Torchwood Index/Masterlist
05 |
Jack woke up with Button in his bed again. Three days in a row, he smiled to himself. Did that mean this was going to be a regular thing? Should Jack turn the tables and creep to Button’s bed in the middle of the night instead? He rolled over to find Button still sleeping peacefully – which made a change, as normally he was stressing and fretting over something or other and sleep would refuse to take him – and Jack lifted an arm over his head so that he could settle in the crook of his shoulder. Inhaling, Jack could smell the lingering scent of copier ink, with a slightly burnt scent he guessed would come from the overheating computers. There was peppermint, too. Behind that, was the masculine musk of sweat and sex.
‘Uh oh.’ said that voice in Jack’s head. ‘Watch it, Jack. He’s a quiet one.’
The Captain sat bolt upright, clutching the covers with whitened knuckles. No, no, no, no, no! he screamed inside. He had to break off whatever was starting here. He couldn’t get close. He couldn’t let himself fall for anyone like that again ...
Long arms snaked around his waist, and despite himself he couldn’t help but relax into the embrace Button offered. “What’s wrong?” asked Button’s sleepy voice.
“Erm ... bad dream.” mumbled Jack. He let Button cuddle him from behind, and allowed his head to loll backwards onto his shoulder. His ear was near his mouth, and he couldn’t help but flick his tongue out and touch the shell. Button laughed and kissed his shoulder.
“I really like you, Captain.” said Button awkwardly. “I mean ... we’ve only known each other for five days ... but ... I really like you, Captain.”
Jack sighed and nuzzled into Button’s hair. “I really like you, too.” he said. “I shouldn’t. But I do.”
“Why shouldn’t you?” He sounded a little hurt.
The Captain considered it for a second. Maybe it would scare him away if he told him about ... his ‘wrongness’.
“I have something I need to tell you.” said Jack, carefully.
He felt Button stiffen. “What?” he asked.
“I ... erm ... I might have to show you ...”
“What? Show me? Wha- ... what are you talking about, Jack?”
Jack disentangled himself from Button’s arms and pulled his Torchwood issue gun out of his bedside drawer. He felt Button freeze on the bed, clearly uncertain and terrified that maybe Jack was a psychopath about to shoot him. Jack raised the barrel to his head and fired.
The darkness was being ripped from him again. Cold air was searing his lungs, and every nerve-ending was firing in their orgasmic call back into life.
Button was crouched over him, pale and crying. The colour drained from him further as he backed away, staring disbelievingly at the Captain. He ran his eyes up and down Jack’s form, lingering over where the bullet hole was now healing itself, then on to the spatters of blood and bone and brains that were slashed across the wall and floor.
Jack spoke first. “I can’t die.” he said simply. Button was still staring. Run away, thought Jack. ’Run away and leave me so I can’t fall in love with you.’
Button swallowed hard. “How?” he breathed, his voice cracked.
“I don’t know.” lied Jack. If Button ever found himself by a TARDIS or an Untempered Schism, he didn’t want him getting any ideas about bringing back others – even if Jack knew that if he ever saw the Doctor again, he himself would rip open the TARDIS and ...
No. No he wouldn’t. The Doctor wouldn’t let him. The Doctor would know better than to leave a man who would lose everything over and over again on his own with the Time Vortex.
Button crouched by him, touching the perfect skin of Jack’s temple that had only seconds ago been a bloody, scorched hole. “You can’t ... you’re immortal? That’s not ... that’s impossible ...”
“Impossible, but true. I’m a mistake. I’m an error. I’m wrong – that’s what the Doctor says.”
“Then the Doctor doesn’t know you properly.”
“You don’t know me at all.”
“I’d like to.”
Stupid Button. He wasn’t going to let him get away. Jack stared into his deep blue eyes, watching as they flicked down to his mouth. He thought of the possibilities. He could fall in love with Button; they could have an affair or a relationship (or whatever the hell Jack might call an affair or relationship). Jack could be happy for a few short years – until Button’s self doubt set in as he started to get grey hair and wrinkles and saggy skin. Then it would all be arguments and mistrust. Button would end up hating him, and either die hating him or leave Jack to die alone.
Jack lost his train of thought as Button’s lips touched his, and he allowed himself to get lost in a kiss. They broke apart, but Button still looked uncertain. Jack hauled himself to his feet and offered a hand to help him up, which he took, but Button didn’t stop frowning.
“Do you age?” he asked, tentative.
“No. Not that I can tell.”
“Oh ... how old are you?”
“I’m 3, 170 odd.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
Button pulled him into a hug. “I have to go.” he said quietly. ’Yes,’ thought Jack. ’You really do.’ “The droid’s going to mental at the blood and brains, so I’m making myself scarce.” explained Button, pulling on his clothes.
“Droid? You mean ... the Big Beige Monster comes into my room?”
Button laughed. “No! Of course not! The Hospitality Droid does the rooms. The Archiver does what it says on the tin. The very beige tin.”
Jack began pulling on a clean suit, avoiding the blood on the sterile white floor. Just as Button was coming over to give him a kiss goodbye, he held up his black tie and pouted his silent plea to have it done up for him. Button sighed and smiled, flicking the ebony silk around Jack’s neck and using it to pull him down for a kiss. Jack let his hands wander down to Button’s cute little backside, and got a sharp nip of teeth in return.
“Not now, Captain.” he chastised playfully. “You really are insatiable, aren’t you?”
Jack nodded in mock guilt, and let Button go. He gave him a cheery wave as he left and got ready for the day of work they had ahead of them.
They hadn’t found that much on the URLs the images had provided for them, and Jack was starting to give up hope. Things were going painfully slowly on the ancient laptop – nothing had been done the day before as they had been waiting for one website to load – and when it had, the whole thing malfunctioned and they got nothing but a random collection of letters and symbols. But still Ianto Jones smiled to him from the nine pictures Jack had of him. His eyes – those cool, blue, inviting eyes – gave Jack the motivation to keep going. To find out what had happened, and when.
He pulled out one of the photographs now. He’d printed them all off when Lennie and Button weren’t looking. Particularly Button.
It was Jack’s favourite. Ianto Jones was wearing an ill-fitted suit and was sat behind a birch desk, smiling what Jack had called a ‘Secret Smile’. Jack had the feeling it was a smile reserved for the photographer, who had offhandedly decided to take a random photo at work. It was quite a personal moment, in Jack’s mind, and having it in his hands make Jack feel like it belonged to him.
A knock rattled on the door, and Lennie entered looking as exhausted as she had earlier. She’d been working pretty much non-stop to try and get the computers in Research and Information Retrieval up and running again, and the only time Jack had seen her not typing furiously or untangling masses of wires or throwing bits of computer around the room was when she finally gave in to her exhaustion and fell asleep where she was. Jack felt bad – she was putting herself through this for him, really – but he made sure she knew how grateful he was.
“How’s it going?” he asked, hugging her.
“I’ve got two workstations up and going. Button’s with them now while they’re processing. Hopefully we’ll have something that makes sense soon.” she yawned.
“You’re beyond knackered. You should get some sleep.” Jack told her, turning her so she could see herself in a mirror. She certainly looked haggard and sleep-deprived, and she groaned loudly at her reflection.
“No time for sleep!” said a robotic voice behind them. A white droid bustled into the room. “What happened? Why the blood? Assessing content. DNA match: Captain Jack Harkness. Contains traces of blood, brain matter, plasma bullet type 3 and carbon residue. Is there an incident to report?”
Jack shuffled a little, and Lennie’s exhausted state allowed her to notice the blood and brain splatter for the first time. “What the ....”
“Nothing to report.” said Jack, cutting her off. He gave her meaningful look that told her he’d explain afterwards. The robot wheeled itself over to the mess and zapped at it with a laser. It evaporated, and the droid began its usual straightening and dusting, muttering under its breath about disrespect, uncleanliness and more disrespect. Jack left it to get on, guiding Lennie away and back towards Button’s office.
“Tell me what you’ve been up to, then.” he asked as they walked with linked arms. She yawned again.
“Trying to purge that virus out, mainly. It’s stubborn. I think it might even contain elements of AI – it learns, I think. Learns what I’m doing to try and stop it so that it’s prepared when it comes back for another attack. You’re right, though, it must be targeted at us. It’s being way to discriminate for it not to be tailored directly for our systems.”
Jack ‘mmmed’ his agreement. They were approaching the office, and were just about to go inside when the door flung open.
“Jack!” shouted Button, his face twisted in concern. He looked totally different to fifteen minutes ago, when he had been in Jack's room. Stubble had grown over his cheeks and chin and his eyes were red rimmed with exhaustion. His uniform was crumpled and his hair was stood on end. “Thank god ... I was just running to fetch you!”
“You’ve found something?” asked Lennie, as Jack had suddenly lost his ability to speak.
“Yep.” said Button. “I even locked myself in a Time Bubble to make sure nothing came in while I pieced it all together. I’m fed up of obstacles .... anyway ... it’s all safe on an external hard drive that’s not connected to any networks – not even the Internet. Completely cut off from sabotage. I’ve made several backup copies in several different formats, too.”
“Excellent!” grinned Lennie. “How long were you in the Time Bubble? And why didn’t I think of that?”
“About three days.” said Button. “Sorry ... I should have called you two down ... but I didn’t want to risk it. I got everything downloaded and sealed myself off ASAP. And ... god ... it’s huge, Jack! It’s huge! It shouldn’t even be possible! And .... well ... I don’t think I’d believe it if ... the other morning ... anyway ...” he babbled, then shuffled a little uncomfortable. “It’s massive, Jack. Huge.”
“Wh ... What’s huge?” stammered Jack, moving to sit down next to Lennie on the couch Button was directing them to. He’d set up a digital projector, not feeling comfortable sending any signals through the air using the wireless HoloScreens. The projector flickered into life, and Jack’s original photograph appeared on the screen.
“Shouldn’t Diana be here, if this is a big reveal?” yawned Lennie, clearly too tired to care she and Jack were completely in the dark while Button had single-handedly pieced something together.
“She’s busy. I buzzed her on the earpiece, but she’s gonna have to catch up later.” said Button, typing on a keyboard. “I’ve also ... I mean ... I really think that he should be here.”
“Who?” asked Jack.
“James.”
Lennie sat up. “You’ve invited James down?”
“Believe me Lennie, he really needs to see this. And I think maybe the man himself will be able to answer a few questions.”
“James? Answer questions?” asked Jack. “Wha – you think he had something to do with this?”
“I do.” said Button regretfully. “I’ve never met him ... but you hear the stories ... the rumours. And ... he’s mixed up in this. I don’t think he orchestrated it though.” he gave a shifty look to the blank wall where his Mrs. Cooper interface was.
Jack noticed, but decided to let Button reveal everything he needed to in chronological order. Button went to stand by the projector screen, and shuffled a couple of note cards.
“I hope we get this finished before James gets here, though. I think it will make more sense that way ...” he cleared his throat, then pointed at the photograph projected on the screen. “Ianto Jones, born August 19th 1983. Average student, not really that exceptional. From what I can gather, there wasn’t much on him even then. It’s not until he died that he really began to make some ripples.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. Maybe Button was a little jealous? Jack remembered Ianto Jones as being quite exceptional indeed.
“The Thames House Disaster.” announced Button, pressing a remote control and watching the photograph disappear and a news report take its place. “No one knew in 2009 that there were aliens in Thames House. They were told it was an experimental leakage. Ianto Jones, and a large number of others, were killed by a virus released by these aliens as a warning. That’s all. Snuffed out because someone with more power decided to be cruel and create a lot of meaningless death ... Anyway ... the Government felt bad, so built a memorial just outside the city centre. All the victims of the Thames House Disaster were buried there, and left undisturbed for nearly fifty years. Then ... it starts getting weird.”
The screen changed again. Another news report, but from much later. Button took a sip of water before continuing. “The city was expanding. They needed the land, so they dug up the memorial with the intention of sending the remains back to their respective hometowns. Obviously, after fifty years, the caskets were in no state to be transferred anywhere ... so they decided to put the remains in new ones. Only ... when they opened the coffin that contained the remains of Ianto Jones ...”
“The body was gone?” volunteered Lennie.
“Nope. Weirder.”
“It was a different body?” she offered. “Oh ... wait ... how would they have known?”
Button smiled grimly. “This is a photograph I managed to pull out of police records from that time on the case. It shows the body of similar remains found in the memorial and, next to it, the body of Ianto Jones. Remember: buried for fifty years.”
The screen changed. There was a skeleton on the left hand side, brown and full of cavities. The joints had loosed and the ribs were lying flat, and the jaw was sickeningly slack and wide. On the right hand screen, was Ianto Jones. Jack was holding his breath, and Lennie was just staring at the screen.
Button spoke for them. “He hadn’t even begun decomposing.”
“That’s ...” gasped Lennie. “That’s not possible! Something must have ... what the hell?”
“They found a discreet piece of alien technology hidden below the surface of the skin. It kept the body in stasis, not allowing it decompose. In fact, it even healed it a little. See the cut on the cheek?”
Sure enough, what had been a red scab when Jack had last seen it was now properly healed over and scarred. He rose to his feet, staring. “He’s ... alive?”
Button looked away. “He was in the ground for fifty years. If the alien tech saved him from the virus – which I severely doubt it did, it just preserved the body - he’d have just suffocated again. I think it just preserved. The hair and nails didn’t grow, so I think it just kept him in Ideal Stasis. Anyway ... it doesn’t end there. If anything ... it gets ... well ... they removed the alien tech, and transported him to Cardiff. Only ... part of him never got here.”
“Part of him?”
“During the transition from London to Cardiff, someone hacked open his head ... and stole his brain. The driver of the vehicle transporting the remains was one ... and this creeps me out ... one Rhys Williams. But ... by this point, Rhys Williams had been dead for twenty years.”
Silence fell. The screen changed again. It showed Ianto Jones’ head, split open, red, bloody and empty. Jack couldn’t help but think, what with the way his head had been moved and his mouth allowed to fall open, it looked like he was screaming. He had to look away. “What else have you got?”
“Well, the police interviewed round for a bit. Searched through all kinds of rubbish. Then a witness came forward saying that they were more than certain the driver of the van had been a woman, not a man. Told him 'Rhys' was short for 'Rhiannon'. She’d come into his shop. He showed them the CCTV – of which I have a screencap, because I’m brilliant – and here she is:”
The screen flickered. “GWEN COOPER!” shouted Jack, staring at the grainy image.
“Gwen Cooper.” agreed Button.
"But ..." began Lennie, rising to give Jack a hug. "What would the Great Gwen Cooper want with the brain of man whose been dead for fifty years?"
"No idea." said Jack, frowning. He turned away from them while the daggers behind his eyes tried to bring forward his tears.
"Someone has an idea." muttered Button. "The trail ... it was hard to follow. But I figured out all the places I needed to look. Realised what signatures I had to search for. It took hours. I'm beyond exhausted. I'm running on empty. The only thing that kept me going was getting to the bottom of this. The trail ran cold, but I've heated it up again. I've found everything I can but ... but all I've done is unearth more questions."
Jack crossed the room and hugged him. They broke apart, and Button caught him in a kiss before he could pull away. Jack gave in.
"Anyway ..." announced Button, untangling himself from Jack, who was now reluctant to let go. "Onwards!"
The projector screen changed again.
"So ... Gwen Cooper stole the brain of Ianto Jones. I'm also willing to bet that it was also she who implanted the alien tech to preserve the body until all the hububaloo about Thames House died down. I think - I'm sure - she had this planned before the death of Ianto Jones, but not specifically planned for him. When the hub was destroyed in 2009, a lot of the morgue went with it. The bodies floated out into the bay, and Torchwood registers were used to identify them. Obviously, they were frozen and preserved before then, but after they came out of the freezer ... they started melting. But, despite spending a hours in the water, none of them became waterlogged or bloated. All of them stayed the same. It was only when they dredged out that the officials noticed though: they all had their brains missing. Nearly 700 bodies, none of them with brains. All of them perfectly healthy aside from the fact they were very much dead."
The screen was flicking through photographs of dead people with their heads split open and empty. Jack recognized Suzie Costello and Toshiko Sato among them.
"All of them were implanted with this alien tech, according to the official documents. Which had been deleted, but not well enough for me to unearth them - even after a thousand years. Most of the officials were wiped very cleanly after this point - so really ... we've got somewhere ... kind of. But ... all I can think is ... well ... all I've done is answer one question, then unearthed a million others. And I don't know what the answers to those are ... but ... I know that they're hidden both in the Classified Archives and ... I think someone else knows ..."
A deep, smooth voice spoke behind them. "Didn't anyone ever tell you? You dig up the past ... all you get is dirty?"
Jack spun round. His heart leapt into his mouth. "Y-y-y-you!" he stammered.
Lennie was frowning. "James? What ... what are you ... you know something?"
James winked at her, then focussed his startling blue eyes back on Jack. The Captain had found his voice.
"You ... you're ... alive?"
"Sickening, isn't it?" replied James. "Oh, and you! Button, is it?" Button gave a quick nod, rooted to the spot, confused as to how Jack would know this man. "Get the fuck away from my man."
The last thing Jack registered as he dived in front of the plasma bullet was the look of pure hatred in cold, blue eyes. They sparkled like sapphires, reminding Jack of how much he hated this man.
Reminding Jack of how much he loathed Captain John Hart.
FIN
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 09:57 pm (UTC)WTF!
You...you! GAH!
You've killed my efforts at coherency!
Curse you
I'm in love with button, though ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 09:58 pm (UTC)Jokinnnnn.
I'm starting to like Button, too. Am I allowed to ship my own OFC/Jack pairing???
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:19 pm (UTC)DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT say that even in jest. Please don't sully yourself in trying a comparison to that man
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:38 pm (UTC)I love John!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:16 pm (UTC)I thought (no, make that hoped) James was Ianto...
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:21 pm (UTC)Totally not what I expected but intriguing very intriguing....
You have a very devious mind and I am eager to read more... soonest.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:25 pm (UTC)JOHN?!?!?!?
WHUT?!
*dies*
(This is brilliant by the way. Edge o' me seat here)
*dies for realz*
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 11:02 pm (UTC)That was definitely a HUGE twist! Especially with all the little things that made it seem like James was Ianto.
And WTF is going on with the brains?
*crosses fingers Ianto is really alive* And Please say Button is okay too. I'm kinda liking him.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 11:22 pm (UTC)I know it's just Jack, and I know that up till now he thought Ianto was dead (and now...God, what is he?) but I can't say I'm all that happy at the Button fling whilst Jack is searching for Ianto. :( Not that I want to see the cutesy die though. But I'm sticking with it anyway, because this is fantastic!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-25 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 12:22 am (UTC)I didn't see -him- coming, really °° I thought James was Ianto, instead...wow! Amazing plot twist **
Poor Button, but he knows that Ianto comes first (no pun intended XD ), so he'll have to step aside.
But maybe John would like some new company *winks* ^^
Loving the fic **
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 02:51 am (UTC)Thanks!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 02:56 am (UTC)Dashed all my hopes and dreams you have :( More please soon, yes? For my poor heart?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 03:09 am (UTC)*heart still hummering*
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 03:26 am (UTC)I am intrigued and oddly creeped out by the whole thing... something about this story that is just ... creepy. I don't know how to say it any other way.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 11:21 am (UTC)That really was a surprise!!!
Button's okay...but still I miss "my" Ianto. v.v
And Gwen stealing brains....>_>...not sure if I'm ok with that.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 01:59 pm (UTC)Where is he?! Where is our Ianto??
no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 05:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-05 02:51 pm (UTC)Buuut! *Growls at Mister Hart.* What a poop head!
no subject
Date: 2009-08-09 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-09 12:51 pm (UTC)this is getting good, coing onto the next bit now.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-12 09:47 am (UTC)I have to say, my first response was 'oh...fuck.' (which in itself says a lot if you look at how many times (rarely) I actually swear out loud..)
I'm really loving this series.
Now. Onto more fic! :D
no subject
Date: 2009-09-02 06:07 pm (UTC)Does this mean Ianto's dead? Awww..
no subject
Date: 2010-03-10 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-01 06:54 pm (UTC)I laughed because it's so true!
James=John Hart though? Not sure how to feel about that one, where's Ianto? And what does Gwen want with the brains of former staff? Hmm...
Another great chapter!