A/N: Yes, I usually HATE OCs/Mary Sues, but I couldn't resist-I had to fix RTD's mistakes somehow. And I started this like forever ago, before I realized just how annoying they were.
Disclaimer: I totally own Torchwood and the boys... Not! Too bad-I would have been nicer to them. Spoilers for Cyberwoman.
The first time Ianto saw her was just after Lisa died-no, Lisa had been killed, for the first time, in the horror that was Canary Wharf. It was after the Cyberwoman that had taken her place had only just been destroyed. He was cleaning, and trying desperately to lose himself in the work to keep from drowning in regret. Ianto hardly meant a word of what he had said or done all night. There were two things he never allowed himself to do-get drunk, and get excessively angry. Both of them made him talk more than he usually would, and he always regretted it. He heard, absently, the alarm of the door as Gwen left.
Only a few minutes later, Ianto realized that he and Jack were alone in the Hub. With Gwen gone home to Rhys, and Ianto felt a slight tinge of fear mixed in with the regret for the pain he had caused. There was no telling what Jack might do now that no one else was there; he had been holding himself in check, but now Ianto feared Retcon or worse. He looked back down at his task, dutifully trying his best to pick up the mess he had made, and to avoid being sick. Every time he closed his eyes he saw blood and the chilling glow of the Cyber technology.
"I'm so sorry, Ianto, I really am," the feminine voice startled him and he looked up to see a girl who looked to be no more than fifteen or sixteen. Her eyes gave her away though-the hazel depths were far older than the rest of her face.
"Who are you?" he asked softly, confused and not even entirely sure she was there. She seemed almost ethereal, and her voice had a half-echo during some of the longer pauses. Her very presence seemed to soothe him, and his regretful mourning was temporarily interrupted by an odd sense of calm.
"This is the first time you've met me then. I'm a friend. Or, I will be. I'm so sorry I'm late... If I could have spared you this I would have, I swear. Come here. I have a mess to sort out." She wrapped her arms around him in a strangely protective gesture, and something about her seemed to leech the pain out of him, leaving him only pleasantly confused. When she finally pulled back she kept hold of Ianto's wrist and tugged him, with a strength that was far too great for her size, up to Jack's office, where the man in question was looking nearly as confused as Ianto felt. He seemed to look straight through the girl to Ianto, until she let go of his hand and clicked her fingers.
All at once, her presence seemed to register with Jack. In two seconds flat, he had stood up and drawn his gun, aiming it at the intruder.
"If it's all the same to you, Captain, I'd rather you didn't shoot me. That would be one of the more destructive ways to find out exactly what I am. Regeneration can be a very messy process." Her voice was sharp, with thinly veiled anger towards Jack. Ianto looked at her, the meaning of her words beginning to sink in. "Now, Jack, if you would please look me in the eye for a second... ah, that's better."
After a split second of eye contact with the strange girl, the man visibly relaxed, and took on a very puzzled expression.
"What did you do to me? And what are you?" he asked.
"Suspended your capability to feel anger for the time being. I can't have you going all destructive on me. Oh, don't look like that. Scan me if you must, but then let me talk." Jack's Vortex Manipulator was instantly up and beeping as his eyebrows rose higher and higher at the readings.
"Age nine hundred and seven, binary vascular system... You can't be... He said he was the only one left..." Words seemed to fail the captain and he trailed off.
"He is. I was born on the twin planet, actually." Her lips curled into a smirk.
"Twin planet? Gallifrey's twin planet?"
"Yes, well, no one seems to care about Cantira anymore... it's not like we had the most perfect and peaceful society in the Universe or anything... But that's beside the point. I'm not strictly from either world, I'm a hybrid."
"Cantira?" Ianto interrupted softly. They were the first words he had spoken in the whole conversation, and Jack looked over, almost surprised to see that he was still there.
"Planet identical to Gallifrey, where the Time Lords came from; birthplace of the Pathos." He said it impatiently before turning back to the mysterious, and apparently alien girl. Ianto understood vaguely what he was referring to, but only because of his work in the archives.
"You're impossible. How are you even alive?" She smirked at that.
"So are you. Well, the Time Lords, in all of their brilliance, thought that with the right genetic manipulation it might be possible to meld our two species in such a way that our respective abilities would dampen each other. They created me. And, as seems to be so often the case, they were entirely wrong. I have the powers of Time and Empathy, so I can not only feel the emotions of roughly three galaxies right now, but throughout the majority of Time. Feeling sorry for me yet?"
Ianto was hit by just how small his pain was, compared to what this girl was feeling. He had the sudden urge to hug her-which he repressed, going instead for a sympathetic glance.
"I'm sorry," he said, low enough that only she could hear it.
"What is your name?" Jack asked, suddenly very respectful towards her. The words brought a short, musical laugh past her lips.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you that... My other half wouldn't approve." Ianto felt his eyebrow raise at the Cantiran's use of the words other half.
"And what does any significant other have to do with your name?" Jack wondered.
"I'll explain later. I think you said I explained it on my second visit? Or maybe... no, definitely the second. Sort of," she rolled her eyes.
"Time travel. Just call me Muse. But we can catch up later. For now... you two ruined my nap! You have no idea how long I've been trying to sleep! I had to go all the way out into the Dead Space just to get other people's emotions out of my head enough, and then, I get dragged out here because Jack screwed up-and Jack's always screwing up somehow or other-so I get pulled off course to come play counselor, again! I was trying to aim for your wedding!" She suddenly clapped her hands over her mouth in a gesture that clearly showed that she'd said too much. "Oops."
Ianto and Jack's eyes met a bit sheepishly. Wedding? She couldn't mean what he thought she did...
"Um, okay then... what were you saying?" he said, trying to break the sudden awkward silence.
"Yes, well, okay, I was trying to sort out your problem. See, I like you both-which is really saying something, Jack-so I don't want you to have any more pain than you have to. I sensed this, and willed myself through space and time to get here." She turned to Ianto. "I wish I could have done something to help, to save Lisa... but if it had been any other outcome, the Universe would end." Seeing his hurt and somewhat skeptical expression, she exclaimed, "Really! If it didn't happen how it did, Jack won't leave the Doctor when he does, so Martha won't leave him when she does, so Donna won't join the Doctor when she does, and she won't be there the time she's supposed to be, so the Daleks will disintegrate the Universe. Long story short."
"You sure have a way of comforting people," Jack said sarcastically.
"Like you're doing much better! You're not even trying." This effectively shut him up in seconds. "Ianto, look me in the eye," she instructed, and he did so extremely cautiously, well aware of what she had done to Jack with just that look. "I'm not going to hurt you, just talk to you. Really, that's the only purpose eyes have with the Pathos. I can't see a thing, they just focus the telepathic energy."
As Ianto met the Empath's eyes, he suddenly felt a warm, pleasant sensation pushing up against his mind, deep and inherently musical. As the song began to form words, it took a conscious effort to avoid swaying to the pulse of the music.
Lisa will always be a part of you, but your life doesn't begin and end with her. You will heal quicker than you think, but you must forgive yourself. What you did isn't all wrong, nothing done purely in love is. Your team will understand given time, and Jack quicker than they. Just give them-give him-a chance. You saw it in his eyes, when you asked that question... he has loved more deeply than most can imagine.
Muse drew away, leaving him with a song, and a very confusing bit of hope. And then, she turned almost angrily to Jack, fixing him with a stare that was completely devoid of the warm compassion that had fallen on Ianto.
He wanted to hear what she was saying to the Captain, but he knew it wasn't his place. This was still the same man who had threatened to kill him hours earlier... and kissed him back to life, but he didn't think Jack would appreciate his remembering that. He did know, however, that his lips had felt hot and slightly tingly for quite a while afterwards. Ianto pushed his curiosity down-until, of course, he heard Jack exclaim,
"No way! That's blackmail, you can't tell him that!"
"Sure I can. He already knows." Jack paled visibly, and Ianto grew curious. He knew a great deal about his mysterious superior-it wasn't that hard to work out, if you just took all of his stories seriously-but which thing in particular was he so worried about? "But that's all for now, folks, I have another version of you two to sort out... Dear God, Jack, do you ever stop being stupid? For goodness sakes, leave a note or something, at least..." and with that, she vanished, leaving only a shimmering patch of air behind.
Ianto turned to leave, needing time to sort out what Muse had said. The calm feeling he had been experiencing vanished with the alien girl, and his tumultuous emotions returned full force. He had just reached the door when he felt a hand on his elbow, and he froze, looking back momentarily.
"I just wanted to say... I'm sorry, Ianto." He was loathe to meet the Captain's eyes, but when he did, just for a second, he saw only pain, sympathy, and honesty there.
