Beautiful Disaster
McRaider
Summary: Torchwood is always left with the aftermath, but for the first time it's heavily affecting one of their own people.
Author's Note: This was inspired but a number of fanfictions, some of which were fantastic! Others were so short that I got frustrated and wanted to do better. Thus this little baby was born. I do not claim to be an expert on radiation poisoning what little I know I got from the CDC website, Wikipedia and various TV shows. Martha and the Doctor will both be making an appearance in this. This is set shortly after Gwen's wedding (she'll just have returned from her honeymoon)
Warning/Rating: Graphic description of radiation poisoning.
Rated: R
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. I did a large amount of research for this and if you'd like to know more feel free to ask for the websites, mostly it was the CDC website and
Thanks: Thanks to jshu0chan, and pabzi for their glorious beta skills.
Chapter One: "Little Boy"
In 1945 America unleashed the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki bringing about the end of World War II. America was the only country to ever have used nuclear weapons in waging war.
He'd had a bad feeling all morning, from the moment he's woken up with Ianto curled in his arms. They'd forced themselves to get up and get ready for another day. Neither of them ready to separate, but both aware they had to be adults. Jack had stepped out into the main Hub area when he heard the unusual beeping. Tosh's computer was detecting some type of rift activity. He began typing, searching for more information when Tosh and Gwen entered the hub, the clanking of the cog door opening.
"Good morning Jack!" greeted Tosh as she stepped over to her desk to look at what he was doing. She'd long ago grown accustomed to him watching the rift activity on her computer. "What's that?"
Jack shook his head as he looked over the readings. "I don't know but something just came through the rift that's showing signs of high energy output, someone call up Owen. We need to get out there as soon as possible. Ianto!"
The suited man stepped forward slightly from the kitchenette, "Yes sir?"
"We're headed out to one of the far piers. We'll be back, have lunch ready?"
The young archivist nodded as he moved off towards the tourist office, making a mental note to grab his blue tooth, as well as keep an eye on rift activity while they were gone. He was puttering around the office when Tosh, Gwen and Jack all headed out the main entrance. Waving goodbye to his lover, Jack stepped into the sunlight. Ianto watched them carefully, this was one of the first few times they weren't taking him in out to the field. He didn't mind so much, he'd come to recognize that there were times when they didn't need him. He only hoped that this too would be one of those times, though he couldn't quite shake the eerie feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. Making his way back downstairs, he watched his team on the CCTV. Now and then he looked over to check on the rift activity, knowing that he would do whatever it would take to keep his teammates safe.
Like Ianto, Jack couldn't quite shake off the feeling of dread that was racing through his veins. They swung by Owen's flat and picked him up on the way to the pier. The object in question was supposed to be in one of the empty warehouses along the pier. Jack pulled the SUV to a halt in front of the warehouse district, "Gwen you're with Owen, Tosh you're with me. Be safe and if you find or even think you've found it contact us immediately, since we're dealing with a large amount of energy there's no telling what it could do to you." Once he received a nod from his team he looked at the various warehouses, "You two take the far one, stay in contact, we'll take this one."
o0o
Owen and Gwen split up once they stepped inside the far warehouse, "So tell me Gwen—" Owen began over his blue tooth, "How was the honeymoon?"
Gwen shook her head as she glanced up at the second level stairs where Owen was standing looking down at her. "Had a great time, thanks Owen. How's death treating you?"
He chuckled softly then pressed the button on his earpiece. "Jack its Owen, we haven't found anything. How are you doing?"
"Jack and I have split up, where I am shows no signs of the energy spike." Tosh offered.
Jack was just about to tap his ear bud and make a comment about being safe when he saw it there. Sitting in the middle of the room, was a piece of what looked like metal casing. It wasn't very large, and it appeared to have some type of writing on the side. Stepping out of the doorway he moved into the room, glancing around to make sure it was safe to move towards the casing. "Hey kids, I think I may have found it, Tosh do you have any readings on it?"
"Readings are off the scale, be careful Jack. Whatever it is, I think it's going to do something. Where are you?"
Jack leaned down close to the piece, reaching out as if something was drawing him in, he touched the casing. While dusting away some dirty and charred pieces, he hissed in pain then felt his eyes grow wide. There on the side in clear white lettering were the words Little Boy. He felt sick. "Get out!" he yelled.
"Jack?" Tosh's voice wasn't far outside the room.
"Don't come in here! Get the radiation suits! I think I just touched a piece of radioactive casing from the bomb that took out Hiroshima."
"I'm sorry I don't think I caught that, did you just say Hiroshima!?" Owen's voice crackled in his ear.
Jack felt his stomach twist as he looked down at his lightly singed fingers. He'd just touched it, and probably just by being in this room with it, he'd signed his own death warrant, but that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was radiation sickness was a slow and painful death. "Put in a call to UNIT they're better equipped for radiation exposure of this magnitude."
"Jack—" Gwen began, but she stopped unsure what to say, "Are you sure?"
"Make the call."
o0o
Sitting in a room with casing from the original bomb that blew up Hiroshima did nothing to help Jack feel more secure about dying. There was a constant stream of chatter over the comms while they waited for the arrival of a UNIT team. Jack didn't look forward to the idea of Martha being one of the people who came, but he knew that if she heard what happened she'd be there in an instant.
He sat cross-legged on the floor several feet away from the casing, his stomach still churning in fear when he finally heard footsteps. "Captain?" A voice called out. Scott Millers, the head of UNIT stepped into the doorway, clad in a heavy lead uniform and looking very nervous.
"I think I'm in trouble, Scott," was all Jack could think of as he looked up at his friend of several years.
"Yeah I bet. Dr. Jones and Dr. Harper are currently dressed in the lead uniforms two rooms away, we've swept the rest of the building, and it seems that the entire building is made of lead— lucky for us. We won't have to evacuate anyone and raise suspicions."
"What about me?"
Scott looked down at the Captain, "You're going to be scrubbed down, which will make sure you don't contaminate anyone else. Then we'll go from there. You can leave now; we'll take care of the specimen and scrub down the room so no one else will be infected."
Jack stepped through the warehouse into another room, Owen and Martha both stood in radiation suits, looking at him hesitantly. A large steel like shower had been wheeled into the middle of the room. Jack looked at it slowly, trying to hide his nervousness. "Normally I'd be all for getting naked for you two in a shower." He offered trying to break the tension.
"It's going to be okay Jack; this will make sure that you won't contaminate others and then we can touch you and run scans on you." Martha explained as she opened the door to the shower.
"What's to test—I'm going to die, then I'll be back."
No one said a word in response as Jack quickly stripped and stepped into the shower, for the first time feeling truly naked and fearful. He cried out in surprise as cold water hit him from every angle. Owen watched briefly for a moment before he moved to dispose of Jack's clothes and get him a pair of scrubs to wear. If Jack was really exposed to a large amount of radiation, they were in for a long and hard road. Dying would be the easy part of all of this; it was the process of everything that would be horrible. He tapped his ear piece "Ianto, its Owen, I need you to set up a location in the hub where we can keep twenty-four hour surveillance on Jack. It will also need to be comfortable for him; he shouldn't be alone for this."
Ianto had been in the hub when he heard Jack's initial declaration. Since then both Tosh and Gwen had returned to the hub, leaving Owen and Jack with UNIT. Ianto knew very little about radiation sickness, but if the fear in Jack and Owen's voice was any indication he suddenly knew why he'd felt sick this morning.
Jack stepped out of the shower and took the proffered towel from Martha. Drying himself off he looked over at Owen. "So, now what?" He knew he wasn't in control of this situation; it was up to the doctors.
Owen sighed heavily before he met Jack's blue eyes. "Get dressed, we're going to run a few quick scans on you, Tosh left the medical scanner so it'll be quick and painless, we'll make sure you're no longer radioactive. Once we've determined that we'll all go back to the hub. From there we're going to run a series of tests on you to determine how much exposure you've had and how bad this is going to get."
The scan was indeed quick and painless; Owen didn't once look at Jack, afraid that if he did he'd lose the composure he worked so hard to keep. As a doctor he'd been trained to keep a poker face while looking over his patients. However, this was one patient that Owen couldn't be stoic for, this was Captain Jack, his Captain Jack—their Captain Jack. "You're definitely no longer radioactive, and from what we've pieced together you were exposed to 9-10 grays just by being in the room, when you touched it you received about 8 grays."
"What's that mean?" Jack questioned.
Owen finally looked up, meeting Jack's eyes, without wavering he replied, "It's a lethal dose. "
"Hold on though, Jack, you're immortal shouldn't you heal faster?" Martha asked from where she'd been standing in the corner watching the two.
Owen glanced up, "We've run tests on Jack up until now, he does have accelerated healing, but generally he heals at the same rate as most of us—" Owen stopped.
"Unless I die, then I heal rapidly. It's okay Owen, we'll get through this."
"Right, Jack, I'm sorry."
Jack didn't reply to Owen's final words, instead he looked around the warehouse. "Can we go home?" he asked quietly, trying to act strong for his cohorts.
"Course we can." Owen replied gently as he patted Jack on the shoulder. "Gwen, Tosh, Ianto we're on the way back to the hub with Jack, and Martha will be joining us. I'd like to have a meeting in the conference room."
o0o
The ride was silent, Jack was too busy thinking up all the horrible things he knew about nuclear weapons and radiation sickness. Owen was trying to figure out how to break it to everyone that they'd likely be spending the next two weeks watching Jack die a slow and painful death. And Martha was recalling every horrific moment Jack had told her about what happened on the Valiant. It didn't seem fair that Jack should have to keep suffering and dying.
They arrived back at the hub and as promised everyone, including Jack, gathered in the conference room. It was deadly silent; all eyes were swapping between Owen and Jack. "Okay so what are we about talking here? I mean Jack's immortal—" Gwen spoke up.
Owen shook his head. "Yes, Jack can't die permanently, but we've all seen him suffer and die. However, while his body heals at an accelerated rate to that of normal people—this is different."
Tosh looked around, "I'm not quite sure I understand."
Owen sighed as he pointed the control at the CCTV, a moment later a strand of what appeared to be DNA appeared on the screen. "This is Jack's DNA, aside from a few shifted cells, it's identical to ours. However, to give you all an idea of what radiation sickness does, this is—" He flipped the switch to a regular strand of DNA, "What would happen if say I were to be in Jack's shoes." They all watched as little waves attacked the DNA molecules, breaking the chains apart. Owen flipped the screen back to Jack's DNA and then pushed the control button again, "Deterioration of the DNA, no matter who it is, is so rapid that there's no way Jack's accelerated healing would ever be able to catch up to it. Even now it's trying, the problem is that ultraviolet rays and electro magnetic rays, such as uranium, which is what Jack touched; cause mutations in the DNA, keeping it from fixing itself. The DNA is breaking down. No, Jack is going to have to ride this out."
The response was grim as everyone looked back at Jack, who looked equally as grim as everyone else in the room. "H—How long?" whispered Ianto from his position beside Jack.
"Fourteen days at best, a month at worst."
"I'm sorry, but what exactly are we going to be dealing with?" Gwen questioned.
Owen nodded to Tosh who took over and flipped to another slid on the CCTV. "In 1945 America dropped the first Nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.The release at 08:15 (Hiroshima time) was uneventful, and the gravity bomb known as "Little Boy", a gun-type fission weapon with 60 kg (130 pounds) of uranium-235, took 57 seconds to fall from the aircraft to the predetermined detonation height about 600 meters (1,900 ft) above the city. It created a blast equivalent to about 13 kilotons of TNT. (The U-235 weapon was considered very inefficient, with only 1.38 of its material fissioning.) The radius of total destruction was about 1.6 km (1 mile), with resulting fires across 11.4 km² (4.4 square miles). Infrastructure damage was estimated at 90 percent of Hiroshima's buildings being either damaged or completely destroyed. The blast was so large and the fire so vast that nearly everyone in that radius died, even now those who were outside the blast radius are still suffering cancer and other types of diseases from the fall out. Everything in the blast radius was seared to death, animals, humans and plants. The casing Jack found, and proceeded to touch, was a piece of "Little Boy". Though it shouldn't be possible, it appears to be a piece from the actual bomb after the explosion. It would also appear that it was shot through the rift at the time of the explosion, it was sent forward in time."
Martha took her turn, accepting the control from Tosh and sighed, "Radiation poisoning is read in a term called grays, depending on how many grays you're exposed to, is how medical personnel determine the life expectancy. Because it was directly after the blast, Jack was exposed to 8 grays of radiation all over his body and 7 by direct contact. 35 of people exposed to 2 to 3 grays die after a month. 50 die from 4-5 grays in a month, 60 die after a month when exposed to 5-6 grays. 100 of all people exposed to 6 or more grays die within two weeks, generally from hemorrhaging, internal bleeding and infection. There will be three distinct phases, Prodormal Stage, Latent Stage, and Manifest Illness stage. The prodormal stage symptoms will begin anywhere within the next hour, it'll start out with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion and possibly loss of consciousness. This will last anywhere from a couple days to a week. Followed by that stage is the Latent Stage, Jack will probably feel at his best during this stage, it usually lasts two-six days, he'll appear fine; however he'll continue to loose weight, his body: bone marrow, DNA, gastro intestines and central nervous system will rapidly decay. The final stage, Manifest Illness Stage will entail nausea will be followed be tremors, convulsions and something called ataxia—which is the loss of muscle function. Surface tissue, brain tissue and internal organs will inflame and degrade which is called necrosis. If he doesn't drown in his fluids first, he will bleed to death and there is no medical treatment to prevent that."
The silence was palpable and painful; Jack could feel the pity stares coming from every person in the room. He hated being vulnerable, and here he was less than an hour away from the most vulnerable he'd ever been. He felt his stomach roll and realized they'd miscalculated how quickly this was going to start. He shoved his seat back and hurried out of the room, in part to get away from the stares, another part of him however was beginning to feel the first affects of the nausea and vomiting.
Ianto watched his lover race out of the room he looked around the table. "I'll take the first shift," he whispered. He stood up and followed Jack out of the room; in hopes of giving the man the support Jack would easily give him in a similar situation.
Owen waited until they were both out of ear shot, "We'll do this in shifts, and everyone takes four hours with him. However we've also set up a CCTV in the room so we can watch him should we need to leave the room. It's going to be a long ride ladies, probably the worst we've ever witnessed—I know we're all aware that if Jack dies he'll likely come back, but in this case you might not want to treat it like that."
"Why?" Tosh asked fearfully.
"Radiation deteriorates DNA Tosh. There's no telling what might or might not happen. Savor the days you have with him, just in case. Besides, he's going to need support more than ever."
TBC