Salvation's Tears

Chapter 1

(1st May 2009)

Torchwood Three was undergoing a change.

It was not a visible change, not yet anyway. But as Captain Jack Harkness stared down at a booklet of paper, he could feel the changing times. When he signed this document nothing would be the same again. Swallowing hard, he drew in a deep breath and signed the paper with a decisive flare of the hand. He then passed it over to Archibald McGregor, who signed it too. Then he passed it on to Toshiko Sato, who also scribbled her signature. Her writing was almost as messy as Owen Harper's, who signed it after her. Ianto Jones, Owen's brother, was next, followed by Michaela Murphy and finally Gwen Cooper. Gwen then passed the sheets back to Jack, who looked down and patted the document, then looked up at the anxious faces. He gave a grim smile.

"So… we're in agreement. Torchwood Two is officially being merged with Torchwood Three. From now on, we are just Torchwood."

They all nodded.

"And each of you has accepted your new title under this organisation's new structure."

Again, they nodded.

"Ok then. Could the Chief Archivist make it final?"

Michaela nodded, reached out and took the documents away from Jack. She pulled out a large stamp and marked the page next to Archie and Jack's signatures. Then she sealed it up inside a special folder, with Torchwood's original 'T' logo, rather than the more recent hexagonal design. With a final stamp, and her own signature, Michaela put the final nail in the old way of Torchwood. She passed it back to Jack, who took it in hand and smiled.

"And that is that."

They all relaxed, letting out soft noises of relief as if they had been expecting someone to strike them down with lightning for daring to challenge the old order.

"This will be put in the Special Archives, but there will always be a hard copy and a soft copy available for both newcomers and older members to read. From now on we will not hide our constitution from anyone who joins us, and we will make sure that all our rules are enforced. No more picking and choosing which rules we will follow."

Gwen flushed as Owen threw her a smirk.

"This is a big step, and we're going to take more, so we need to work together and deal with problems as they come."

Here Jack fought the urge to look at Ianto. His lover had been keeping a secret from him for a while now. Jack had hoped Ianto would eventually admit what it was without pressure. But instead Ianto seemed to be only talking about it with Owen and Michaela. Jack had seen them arguing in the corners of the Hub when they thought no one would notice. Jack wasn't sure what to do about that.

Michaela cleared her throat and spread her hands out on the table. "Erm… well then, perhaps you ought to know that there might be a slight… little… complication coming up."

Ianto sat up ramrod straight, looking alarmed. The fact that he had been unable to hide it, told Jack that this was something very serious.

"Erm, 'kaela…"

Michaela gave him a narrow-eyed look. "You've had time Ianto."

"But-"

"They need to know." she told him.

"But-"

"Ianto for god's sake!" growled Owen.

Ianto sighed and said, "Fine." He turned to Jack, "I should have told you sooner, but I wasn't sure how."

"What? What's going on?" Jack was beginning to feel very worried.

Michaela sighed, "I'm pregnant."

One could have heard a pin drop in the room as they all stared at her.

Then Archie burst out laughing.

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Sorry! Sorry! It's not funny but… excuse me."

Archie got to his feet and walked out, sniggering. Owen had his face buried in his hands. Ianto was bright red and Michaela was looking determined to put up a fight.

"You're… pregnant." repeated Jack slowly.

"Yes. Pregnant."

Although it was the obvious answer, Jack still had to look at Ianto who gave an eyebrow twitch of confirmation. Jack was unsurprised that Ianto was the father, there was no one else it could be really, unless aliens were involved again.

"Well… are congratulations in order?" he asked carefully.

"It'd be nice." Michaela's voice was icy, "A change from Owen's tune."

"How many times do I have to say this? Neither of you are ready to be parents, can't you see that?" asked Owen loudly, dropping his hands onto the table. He looked between Ianto and Michaela. "You're both on anti-depressants still! You're both still seeing a shrink. Neither of you are ready for a kid."

"Maybe not, but I am not killing it." said Michaela fiercely. Jack noticed that she had a hand resting on her stomach protectively, an action she did not seem aware of.

"It's not killing, it-"

"Look, I don't care how you phrase it, I'm not doing it!" snapped Michaela.

Owen looked irritated, turning to Ianto, "And are you just going to sit there mute as fucking usual?"

Ianto flushed, glancing up at Jack, "I…"

"You must have enough sense to know this isn't the right time."

"So what?" demanded Michaela, rising onto her feet. "It's my choice, not yours Harper, and I am not doing anything to hurt my baby. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to the PM."

With a final contemptuous glare at Owen, she walked out of the room.

"Great." sighed Ianto, glaring at Owen, "Do you have to keep pushing this?"

"An abortion has to be done as early as possible. She's already nine weeks along."

"She'll never, ever, ever go for it Owen. And no, it's not because of religion or anything like that. Even if Blaine had gotten her pregnant she would never have had an abortion, she told me so."

"Ok, enough!" said Jack raising a hand. "Clearly you two need to talk, so I'm calling this meeting to an end. Gwen, Tosh, you two get back to work."

The two women nodded and hurried out of the room. Jack looked at Ianto and Owen and fixed them with a level stare, "I take it this is what you three have been arguing about when you think no one is looking."

The two men nodded, Owen still looking angry. Ianto was struggling to meet Jack's eyes.

"Well, try not to let it interfere with your work, ok?"

Owen nodded and got to his feet, walking out of the room, leaving Jack and Ianto alone. The air became electric with tension, making the hair on the back of Jack's neck stand on end.

"So… you were planning on telling me?" he asked quietly. Ianto flushed and dropped his head.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, "I wanted to tell you, but I wasn't sure how."

"You still should have said something. Or have you decided to go back to keeping stuff from me until it explodes?"

"I was going to tell you, but… fuck!" Ianto's fist hit the table and he got to his feet, pacing away from Jack. Jack remained where he was, waiting. Ianto ran his hand over his face, then turned back to Jack, looking frightened. "Look, I've only known for a week. I've been trying to deal with it in my own head, and I… I guess I wasn't ready to tell you because then… then it would be real."

Jack sighed, "I can understand that."

This seemed to relax Ianto a little and he returned to his chair, sitting back down. He pressed his hands together like he was praying and tapped them against his lips.

"Owen's right." he admitted quietly.

"You think she should abort?"

"I –no, I dunno about that, but I am not ready to be a dad. And Michaela isn't ready to be a mum. Like Owen said, we're still on anti-depressants."

"Will she have to go off them now?"

"I don't know." Ianto admitted, spreading his hands, then resting them on the table.

"… Were you careful?" asked Jack, needing to know if this was happening through bad luck or stupidity.

"Yes! We were super vigilant, obsessively so. Which is why this threw me so much. Plus…" Ianto squirmed, looking embarrassed, "I didn't think 'kaela could. Nine months with Blaine, and not once did she get… well. I didn't think there was a chance in hell I could… when we were using protection."

"Damn things aren't foolproof yet." sighed Jack.

"I know. But…" Ianto buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was afraid to admit it to myself, never mind anyone else."

"You need to face up to this Ianto."

"I know I do!" snapped Ianto, "But Owen's doing enough lecturing for him, you and Archie, so could you please not tell me off?"

Jack sighed and sat back, "So what do you want me to say?"

Ianto looked up at Jack and said quietly, "I… I need you to tell me things could be worse."

"Of course they could. Things can always get worse. And a baby… a baby isn't a bad thing." said Jack gently, reaching out and resting his hand on Ianto's shoulder. "This is just a bad timing thing."

"Owen's acting like it's the end of the world."

"He's worried about you, and Micka."

"I know. I know he is. But I… I don't think I could go through with an abortion anymore than 'kaela."

"Well, maybe you could consider adoption."

"Adoption?"

"Yeah, why not? You said it yourself, you're not ready, but you don't want to abort. Why not give it up when it's born? I think these days you can have open adoptions, so you can pick the family, and even get to see the baby grow up."

Ianto tilted his head in thought. "Yeah… maybe that'd be best. I mean… with this job it wouldn't be right to raise a child knowing it might be left an orphan."

"You don't have to decide now Ianto. You need to talk with Michaela and see what you'll do."

Ianto nodded, closing his eyes, "Ok…"

Jack studied his lover carefully, then got to his feet and walked so he could wrap an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. Ianto sighed and leaned against him.

"I am sorry for not telling you."

"It's ok. I know now, and we can deal with this, if you'll let me help you."

Ianto nodded, slipping an arm around Jack's neck as he stood up, so they were holding each other tight, Ianto's nose pressed against Jack's neck. Jack held him tight for a long moment, then pulled away gently.

"C'mon. Let's get back to work. We can talk about this at home."

Ianto nodded.

Together they walked out to the Main Hub and found Archie having a whispered conversation with Michaela outside the greenhouse. Owen was making a lot of noise by banging things around in the Autopsy Bay. Gwen and Toshiko were staying out of the way, Gwen's big eyes watching Ianto with open curiosity. Ianto ignored her as Jack walked towards his office, pausing at the door,

"Oh, before I forget, Michaela!"

Michaela and Archie looked around.

"You're officially off field work."

Michaela raised an eyebrow, "So, same old, same old?"

Jack shrugged, "Pretty much."

"Noted." Michaela went back to talking with Archie.

"So… I guess since I'm not the Archivist anymore, I can't really go work down there." sighed Ianto.

"Why don't you start scouring for recruits? New Field Agents and the like." suggested Jack gently, knowing Ianto needed something to do to take his mind off the problem.

"Yeah, ok." Ianto nodded and walked over to his computer consol, sitting down and within a few minutes he was absorbed in his searching. Jack watched him work for a few minutes, then walked down to the Autopsy Bay. Owen was elbow deep in a Hoix they had found and been forced to shoot down.

"Your bedside manner needs serious work." said Jack quietly, walking down the steps and standing close enough that they could talk privately.

"Sugar-coating the truth isn't going to work on those two twits!" hissed Owen, not looking up from his work.

"Twits?" asked Jack, raising an eyebrow.

"They are twits! They're stupid and insane."

"Should you really use that word considering one of them has actually been in a mental hospital?"

Owen lifted his eyes long enough to throw Jack a withering look. "Ianto is still coming to terms with the fact that he is no longer in love with her. Now she's carrying his kid. You really don't think that's gonna confuse him more? He'll feel obligated to be with her, to look after the kid."

"He'll want to be there, but he's not going to want to be with her, not after all they went through to get here."

"Yeah, and where is here Jack?"

"Ianto's with me. Micka's starting to date Andy Davidson."

"Oh and I bet Andy's gonna be real enticed at the idea of dating someone who got knocked up by another bloke the night he went on a date with her."

"Wasn't a real date."

"My point is," ground out Owen, "The second she tells Andy she's pregnant, he's gone. Nice guy or not, he's out of here. And then what? She's just gonna be ok with it and find someone else? No. She'll latch on to Ianto again, or you and fuck up your relationship."

"Didn't realise you cared about me and Ianto that much."

"Much as it pains me, you're much better for him right now than she is." snarled Owen.

"Ouch, you're really pissed." observed Jack, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well I'm sorry, was I the only one who was looking forward to some semblance of normality with my brother?"

"Yeah, but sounds like you're blaming her and not Ianto for the situation."

Owen stilled for a moment, then resumed his dissection. "Maybe I am."

"They're both at fault. And they've both made a mistake. Ianto said they were careful."

"And you believe him?"

"You don't?"

"They're on meds! They're not well. They could have forgotten the whole time, not thinking for a damn second what the consequences might be. Clearly they weren't because it was a stupid thing to do from the outset."

"Complaining about it won't help." said Jack thoughtfully. He was a little annoyed at Owen's anger. He understood it, but he did not think it was fair to keep riling about it. After all, if nothing else, it was a baby. A person. Did that not count for something? Or was Owen afraid to let himself think about it, because he was too worried about how Ianto would handle it? That seemed likely. Owen was not as heartless as he liked to act.

"Which is why we need to take action." Owen retorted, looking up at Jack with serious eyes.

"You can't make them do it. Hell, if you tried, I'd stop you."

Owen glared at him, and then looked back at the Hoix. "Fuck off Jack."

Jack sighed and left the Autopsy Bay. Archie followed him into his office and shut the door.

"Idiots!" he barked as soon as the door was closed. "Absolute idiots!"

Jack sighed again and sat down in his chair. "So is everyone on the same wavelength?"

"You can't think this is a good thing." retorted Archie, folding his arms.

"I don't, but… well you know what'll happen if we push them. They'll start being secretive and won't feel able to come to us for help, all the stuff we've been trying to teach them to do."

"I know. But this is quite possibly the worst timing in history."

"I dunno… I've met people with worse." said Jack, thinking about the Doctor.

"Humph!" grunted Archie as he sat down in the chair opposite Jack's. "So, standard 'no field work' rules, and we'll let the two of them muddle along?"

"With our help, of course."

"Of course."

"It's not like this is a really bad time, the world isn't ending."

"No. But she's gonna have to go off her meds if she wants to keep it."

"Ok… that could be a problem."

"And he sees the light!" sighed Archie, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Look, is there no way she can stay on her meds and keep the pregnancy?"

"Ask Dr. Hamilton when Micka tells her."

"If she can't we'll deal with it."

"If she can't there's a good chance Social Services will watch her like a hawk until she gives birth, and after that they might decide that she's just not fit to be a mother. And that, Jack, will kill her."

"What about Ianto?"

"He's better off than her, but the fact is he's in a high-risk job and on meds as well. Doesn't look good for him either."

"They wouldn't just take the baby, would they? It's not like that anymore, is it?"

Archie shrugged, "Who the hell can say? We're supposed to have better monitoring on foster kids these days, and then you hear about all the abuse going on."

Jack grimaced. "I suggested to Ianto they consider adoption."

"Funny, so did I to Micka."

"It's their choice."

"I know. But let's get through these next nine months before we worry about that."

Jack nodded, then he sat forward. "We should call UNIT and inform them of our changes. Like you've said before, keeping them in the loop will ease their fears."

Archie nodded.

Well, here it is. The first chapter of the sequel to that mammoth fic Tear-Filled Trails of Blood. In these first few chapters as the story gets going, I'd really appreciate any and all criticism. It'll help guide me in the development of the main plot.

Please note I haven't watched Miracle Day and have no interest in watching it.

Anyway, here we go again!

Night's Darkness