1
Water.
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink…..
Ianto suddenly became aware of the water, cocooning him in a strange blue light and that weird sing-song voice in his head laughed then whispered 'well? Aren't you going to swim?'
Ianto panicked.
He knew he was panicking and trying not to but it only made it worse. Thank the gods he was still holding his breath and the VM felt like it was burning, gods, even the water was warm as he struggled.
Like a baby in the womb.
The thought of the baby renewed his failing and he hoped it was in the right direction as he really started to lose control, then there was a clamp on his wrist and he was dragged from the water like a fisherman hooks a carp, blinking at the man who held him up.
"Shit" a familiar voice said, "You caught your doppelganger Yan."
Ianto stared into his own stormy eyes and then they blinked, frowned and widened to fill the face with horror as Ianto was swung over to land in a heap on the dock.
"Give him some air" another familiar voice, not Owen's this time and Ianto started to weep with relief as Jack knelt and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. Ianto lunged for him, burying his face in his neck as he sobbed, shook and had a wee moment of absolute madness.
The sting of a needle was not unwelcome.
.
.
.
.
.
He woke to a feeling of incredible warmth unlike any he had ever known. He opened his eyes and blinked up at what resembled the submarine's internal Hub. Sitting up he noted he was dressed in a set of clothing not his own but seemed to fit perfectly and he was confused as all hell as he now took in all the differences.
This was not his Hub.
"No it isn't" familiar Welsh vowels replied and he looked up at himself leaning over the banister to the med-bay. "Look, we are going to have a few problems here. Let's say you are Ianto and I am Yan. OK? That way we won't get too confused, although in my suit you are un-nerving. Oh, and one more thing."
Yan straightened up and then moved to the stairs, descending with a natural grace that had Ianto wondering if he really looked like that.
"Yes we do" Yan replied, "You are projecting quite a lot. A shock can do that. Don't worry, only Jack and I can hear you. The others do not have the ability, well….Toshiko has a mild touch but only if we project at her. So. The thing. Jack will get confused, he is a fickle creature with too much energy and not enough filter. If he pats your bum please do not strike him, just remind him it is you, not me. He will be horrified each time, yet do it again. He won't always know it's you."
Ianto found himself grinning at the apt description of Jack's manner, "He does have a habit of that. Acting like a three year old, I always thought Owen fed it."
"Yes" Yan's frown was deep, yet Ianto saw the hidden amusement, "He is a feeder."
"So. Alternate?" Ianto guessed.
"Yes. This is Torchwood, we are the team" Jack said as he skipped down the stair with such a familiar excitement that Ianto felt a flood of affection, "I hope you don't mind but you were saturated. Yan hates being wet and cold, we assumed the same with you as you are alternates. So. This reality is one where the world is Alien Aware but chooses to ignore them. We have a hidden world of them, and an outwardly normal world. The humans prefer it that way. There was a note in your pocket that was written in my hand, I also used a secret code when writing that is from…"
"The Time Agency" Ianto nodded, "Yes. It's weird. My mind is even clearer here."
"So, in your reality it was fracturing?" Yan asked as he propped a hip against a workstation and Jack looked at him hungrily for a moment before turning back to Ianto and Yan's blush began to creep up his neck.
"Yes" Ianto tried not to watch how easily Jack had somehow flustered the other man, "A device. The Doctor is the only one who can deactivate it, or…reactivate it as the case may be. My Cariad was determined to set things right. As it fractures we are getting these images that…Gods. Is that a pterodactyl?"
"Actually…" Yan started.
"She's a Pteranodon" Ianto finished "Chocolate lover. Shit. I know this, why do I know this?"
"You do not have a Myfanwy at your end?" Jack asked calmly, his eye twitch betraying his interest.
"You have a tell" Ianto said with a smile, "Always have had. That wee twitch shows you are annoyed and curious but don't want your subject to know. You always try to be so unruffled for a conman."
Jack blinked.
Yan roared with mirth, his booming laugh echoing and Owen's voice drifted down, "If that's a threesome starting let us get the fuck out of Dodge first!"
"Oh my gods" Ianto said with wonder, "This is real. I am in an Alternate Universe."
"Or we are" Jack said softly, sharing a look with Yan as they both agreed nothing felt right about this at all.