Notes: At the end of season 1, Owen opened the Rift. It caused time distortions and serious global problems before it closed. Between seasons 1 and 2 are there were a couple Doctor Who episodes with Jack. A paradox device was created and the effect later destroyed. In the first episode of season 2, John's manipulations lead to a bomb being detonated in a time portal and time briefly reset. During season 3, the hub is blown up damaging or destroying an unknown amount of alien technology. During season 4, a massive alien entity in the center of the Earth is affected by Jack's blood with global consequences.
2047. Decades after a bomb destroyed access to the Blessing from Argentina, a large drill pierced the chamber. A light faintly illuminated the rubble as the drill retreated. After it reached the surface, a few minutes of silent, still darkness followed. Nothing to indicate what was about to happen.
A pod was lowered down the hole, scraping against the sides with a rock on metal sound. Dislodged stones clattered downward, dislodging the already unstable rubble. The pod hit bottom with a thud, sending debris sliding toward the edge of the platform into the Blessing's maw.
The door slid open and a terrified, bleeding alien stumbled out. Disoriented on unstable ground, it lost it's footing, stumbled and fell. The incline and rubble sent it sliding toward the edge. It screamed as it tumbled over.
On contact with alien blood, the Blessing reacted. Without an equal offering in Shanghai, a centralized effect rather than a morphic field resulted. The interdimensional nature of the alien, combined with a natural adaption to chronons, caused a retrograde explosion.
The effect collided with the Rift opening in 2006 and rebounded forward through the distortion, diffusing like light through a prism, affecting the Time/Space Continuum. It blended with residual paradoxical energy from the insane Time Lord's manipulations. Then collided with another temporal disruption.
Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales
Friday, February 1, 2019
Jack Harkness woke disoriented as someone nudged his foot. Dizzy and nauseous, he opened his eyes. He recognized the hub, and his bedroll in the back of his office, even as the memories of it's destruction swirled. It looked and felt the same. While a dream made the most sense, he doubted it. There were too many differences. Most were subtle. Two coats hung on the rack in the corner. He didn't recognize the second one, but it reminded him of Ianto.
"Why did you sleep in the office?" Ianto's question sounded more like an accusation.
"I'm dreaming," Jack muttered.
"We had dinner plans," Ianto reminded, annoyed. "You wanted to apologize again. And remind me it's my fault I want a relationship and can't compete with Gwen's memory."
Jack reached for his wrist-strap and flipped it open. Programming it took longer with unsteady hands. He didn't know how or why, but his scan results showed a higher concentration of chronons. He experienced some type of time travel.
"Have the Rift alarms gone off?" Jack struggled to push himself up.
"We shut them off three days ago." Ianto sounded uncertain. "Something disrupted the Rift. It's causing sporadic spikes of exotic energy."
"What year is it?" Jack held out his hand for help.
Ianto stepped forward and tugged Jack to his feet. "2019."
Jack shook his head. "Not possible." The hub was destroyed years earlier.
"You're going to the infirmary." Ianto wrapped an arm around Jack's back to hold him up. "Geraint will run scans."
Jack didn't recognize the name. "Is Gwen here?"
Ianto sighed, maneuvering Jack across the office. "She died three years ago. Don't mention her to Geraint. His wife disappeared in the same situation. Presumed dead."
Gwen didn't die in 2016, Jack thought as they exited the office through the sliding door. "Who else is here?"
"Kylia."
They struggled down the steps to the main floor near the entrance. It looked different. The work stations were gone. Jack looked at the second floor platform and noticed it circled the room with multiple offices.
"What do you remember last?" Ianto half-carried Jack toward the entrance to the back hallway.
"Drinking myself blind on cheap whiskey." Sioned's death had been too much. Jack retreated to the Institute's crypt and sat against a support beam facing her vault.
"I didn't think you drank," Ianto commented, confused.
"It was 2047. Things changed." The back hallway looked different. "The layout's different."
"After Owen opened the Rift, it changed. We haven't had a new hallway or section in years."
Jack had no idea what that meant. He tried to remember what events followed that. He reconnected with The Doctor and found out his immortality was a result of being a fixed point in time and space. While the Blessing somehow affected it, it was doubtful anything else could.
"Are Owen and Tosh alive?"
"Yeah. They're in London. Together," Ianto said wistfully.
If the time change was real, Jack had no idea how. From what he remembered, the 456 killed Ianto. No matter how many years passed, Jack clearly remembered that horror. Losing friends and lovers happened frequently when one lived for centuries. Being responsible made it harder to cope.
"I hurt you."
Ianto tensed. "Yep."
"I never meant to." After returning from the nightmare of being held prisoner for a year by The Master, Jack reached for the two people he cared for. Only one accepted. Seeing a Time Lord almost destroy the planet affected him in ways he could never explain.
"You never do."
They continued on in silence. The door slid open presumably to the infirmary. It looked like a specialty ward at the new Institute. Eight medical cots with individual scanners and computer panels between them.
"What happened?" An unfamiliar man with a Welsh accent asked.
"Time travel," Ianto said, "Or his mind is scrambled."
"His excuses for missing dates are getting better." The man took Jack's other side and they walked Jack over to a cot across from a desk.
Ianto swung Jack's legs onto the cot. "Geraint specializes in biomechanics. He's a doctor and an engineer."
"I should be offended." Geraint returned with a hand-held scanner. He programmed it. "We've gotten into trouble together for years."
A creak of gears needing oil distracted Geraint briefly. He looked at Ianto as he rubbed his twitching left hand. "You're stressing it out." The sound increased.
Ianto motioned at Jack. "I'm stressed."
He knew he was missing something. "What's wrong with me?"
Geraint smiled. "I'm not qualified to answer psychological questions." He reviewed the scan results. "Your neurological results are different. You have had extended contact with atmospheric pollutants and other contaminates not found anywhere I know of on Earth."
"2047 is a war zone."
Geraint nodded. "Your energy readings and quantum signature are different from four days ago." He looked at Ianto. "I'm uploading the scans. They need to be compared to Rift fluctuations."
Ianto removes an ear com from his pocket with his right hand and stared at it. "I better walk over to Kylia's lab."
Geraint waited until Ianto left the infirmary. Then turned back to Jack. "There have been indications of a major temporal disruption for twelve or thirteen years. I don't know the details. That's before my time here. But something happened to the Rift."
Owen opened it, Jack thought. Except the consequences were contained when they closed it. And the demon-creature was destroyed by his immortal life energy.
"What is my relationship with Ianto?"
Geraint closed his eyes and lowered his head. "You don't remember?"
The pain of losing Ianto and Sioned blurred. Jack blamed himself for her death too but for very different reasons. If he had insisted they get married like they discussed, Sioned wouldn't have been in the situation that killed her. Then it dawned on him; she wasn't dead. In 2019, she was a kid. One more bizarre detail to process.
Jack propped himself up. If the situation was real, and it looked that way, he needed to fix it. Finding the current version of Sioned would help with the guilt. She had a chance at a different life. Ianto was more complicated. The guilt was a private burden Jack shouldered a long time. Not just how Ianto died. Jack knew Ianto wasn't into casual relationships.
"I remember holding Ianto in my arms as he died."
Ianto Jones rubbed his left hand as the gears continued to grind. The alien prosthetic was an ongoing reminder that Torchwood was one insanity after another. They still didn't know where it came from or even if it was intended to be a prosthesis. Some of it's varied quirks suggested an AI.
The door to Kylia's lab slid open and he stepped inside. She had several computers and monitors arranged so she could view them at the same time. It made running simultaneous searches easier.
"What's his excuse this time?" She asked.
Ianto smiled. No matter what, she cared. "He just returned from 2047."
"That's new." Kylia walked over and gave him a hug.
"Did you get scan data from Geraint?"
"Yeah. I'm running computer comparisons. Tosh will have to look at it, but Jack wouldn't want me to send it."
"Check for a temporal anomaly. Start with the last hour."
The humor faded. "You weren't kidding about 2047."
"No." There was no reason for Jack to lie. While the excuses were a running joke, Ianto knew the cause wasn't funny. Any time circumstances forced them to reevaluate, usually sex, Jack took him to a restaurant to talk about it. They argued and tried to compromise. It never worked.
"What do you think I'll find?"
Ianto had no idea.
Jack Harkness stood in the doorway to his room hours later. None of it looked familiar. He could only guess Ianto decorated it. The changes generated a growing list of questions. But the one that stayed with Jack was what kind of man created the environment he found. It looked like he'd taken advantage of Ianto for years.
Fix it, Sioned's voice echoed through Jack's thoughts. It was what she'd tell him if she was there.
"Problem?" Ianto asked.
"No." Jack stepped through the door. "Still adjusting."
Ianto followed slowly and stopped just inside. "You have clean suits in the wardrobe. The hampers are marked." Pause. "I posted labels everywhere."
Jack turned. "You don't have to do my laundry."
"I don't mind."
You should, Jack thought. "We have a lot to discuss. I…" Have no idea where to start. "My partner of seven years died. I need to process that." And losing nearly thirty years.
Ianto nodded.
Jack reached for Ianto's hand. It jerked away, seemingly on it's own.
"It's mad." Ianto only then realized he needed to explain. "My arm." He motioned at the upper part pf his arm near his shoulder with his right hand. "Is metamorphic alien technology. It responds to my moods. And has an attitude."
That explained Geraint's comments earlier. "How long have you had it?" Jack didn't know where else to start.
"Six years. I lost my arm in an explosion." Ianto looked like he wasn't sure how to explain. "It attached itself while I was in London recovering." Pause. "Owen arranged for a consult with Geraint. That's how we met."
"It can't be removed."
"No." Ianto looked down at his hand while flexing his fingers. "We get along most of the time."
"Will it accept a hug?" Jack held out his arms.
Ianto moved closer. They embraced. The awkwardness was another reminder to Jack he had a lot to atone for.