Confrontation

Jack stormed through the doors of the Sunny Side Institute. The complex was a maze of small buildings and he along with Owen had been directed towards the secure wing. Owen followed close behind trying to keep up. They had spent the night trying to find out exactly where Ianto was being held. Finally they had found he was in this hospital. Owen had tried instilling some patience into Jack without result. He had no idea what state Ianto was in and could get no information from the hospital. Visiting times were Saturday's two till four otherwise with permission from the Doctor. However all visitors to this wing had to vetted first. They were asked to leave a message for Doctor Green who would get back to them. After shouting down the phone Jack had taken off driving like maniac, six hours later it was now mid-afternoon. The drive for the most part had been silent except for Jack swearing at motorists who got in his way. Owen figured it was lucky Jack wasn't driving a tank because he would have rolled over the top of them without a second thought.

He moved over to the glass window that was in the wall before the secure section and almost shouted at the woman standing there demanding to be taken to Ianto Jones, now.

She asked him to calm down as he repeated his request and said she would call Doctor Green, as they had no one here called Ianto Jones but they did have an unknown man who they had called James.

Jack looked confused. "The man I want to see is Ianto Jones," he told her

"Unknown man brought in here eight months ago," Owen interjected.

"I think you mean James," she told them.

"Ianto Jones," Jack corrected her as he showed her a picture.

"Well that might be his real name, he's never told us his real name so we called him James," she told them.

The phone rang and she picked it up, after listening she turned to them.

"Doctor Green apologises he's been held up he's asked if you could wait…" she started to say as Jack moved towards the locked screened doors.

"You can't go in there," she warned him as he lifted his wrist and touched his wrist strap, hearing the door click Jack pushed his way through.

"Look you need to wait," she shouted out as Owen looking embarrassed hesitated then followed looking back to see the receptionist pick up the phone dialling with speed.

Racing down the hallway of the unit Jack, his heart pounding, looked in every room searched every face, coming to a large room filled with several tables and chairs. He looked across at the screened window and saw a familiar shape. His heart leapt and he raced across and spun him a round.

'Ianto! Thank God I've found you; I thought I had lost you. How did you get here? Have you been here all this time? What happened to you?"

"STOP!" he heard a voice bellow behind him, startled he turned towards the voice, he was about to speak again when the man shouted pointing at Ianto.

"Look at him!" the voice commanded. Jack turned to see that Ianto was terrified. Jack pulled back to see a growing patch of wetness growing around his groin.

He instinctively moved forward to comfort him only to see Ianto start to shrink away from him and began edging along the window heading to the far corner of the room.

Jack went to speak again, but was prevented by a large man in casual clothing who moved towards Ianto. Opened mouthed he turned to face the man behind him.

"Move away from James, do not ask another question, especially in front of him and not to him," he commanded.

Jack backed off numb as he observed Ianto who on reaching the corner of the room looked like he was trying to claw his way out. As the big man approached him he collapsed on the floor in a heap and curled himself into a tight ball.

"But?" Jack started to say

"Not another word," the man charged as he pointed towards the door.

Following the man they were directed to a small office. Once inside the man shut the door and immediately launched into him.

"Who the hell are you and by what right do you think you can come into this unit?" He roared at them as Jack tried to stutter an answer.

"This is a unit for our most stressed and traumatised residents. You have stormed in here without a briefing, approached him without any warning, or any preparation," he took a deep breath. "God only knows who you are, for all I know you could be the very people who put him into this state. How dare you barge your way in here, and upset him!" Both Jack and Owen saw he was controlling himself with difficulty.

"Doctor Owen Harper," Owen said as introduction as the man glared at them both.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said subdued, still reeling from Ianto's reaction to him.

"I have called security, to escort you out," he told them both bluntly.

"You have Ianto Jones in there, I need to see him and I need answers," Jack said a desperate edge to his voice as he realised they were being thrown out.

"What you need is not important. Unless you are a family member or next of kin or have some proof of a relationship you are going nowhere near him," the man spat out.

"Ianto worked with us, we thought he was dead, we just found out he was here," Owen tried to explain.

"As a fellow Doctor your behaviour is inexcusable. Have you any idea of the damage you have done to him today"?

"What happened to him?" Owen asked shaking his head.

"We believe he is the victim of severe physical and physiological torture, the worst I have ever seen. Now get out!" he told them pointing to the door.

"I need to see him, I…" Jack tried to say as Dr Green interrupted him

"Unless you are a family member or next of kin, I intend to make it my life's work to ensure you will never come anywhere near James now or in the future," he told them as a knock interrupted the conversation and three security guards stood in the corridor.

"I am family," Jack burst out in a stutter desperate to get some answers.

"Let's not make this any more difficult than this already is. Leave now, or I will call the police," Doctor Green told him sternly as Owen grabbed Jack's arm who shrugged it off.

"I'm his civil partner is that family enough," Jack spat out trying to keep control as Owen stared at Jack as if he was mad.

"Prove it!" Doctor Green spat at him and indicated the door.

"This is not over," Jack pointed at him as he pulled out his cell phone as he headed for the door.

Proof

Jack stood by the SUV; his arms crossed as he saw a white courier van drive up the long drive of the institute. It approached them and stopped.

"Captain Harkness?" the voice asked as the window was wound down. Jack nodded.

"I'm going to need I.D," the man said as Jack pulled out his wallet.

"Sign here,' the man held out a clipboard then handed over a buff package.

"Thank you," Jack said as he pulled out the contents to check them over.

"23 hours that's got to be a record for Gwen and Tosh," Owen commented.

"Civil Union Ceremony 12th April 2007. You, Tosh and Gwen attended." Jack handed him a photograph of the Torchwood team standing in front of the Cardiff registry office. Jack and Ianto had their arms around each other looking very happy.

"Like the button hole, red rose very classy," Owen said as he was handed another photo this time Jack and Ianto embracing with a sweet kiss.

"This has better be watertight," Owen told him as Jack now handed him a certificate. From what he could see it would be impossible to tell it was not genuine.

"Tosh has filled in the gaps. Anyone checking the appointments for that day will find us booked in and attended. The celebrant won't recall us as there were 17 other couples that day, several were same sex couples." He opened another envelope and pulled out a cork and couple of other small things.

"Mementos we might have both kept from our honeymoon," Jack told him as he now strode off towards the building.

"You had better know what you're doing," Owen muttered under his breath as he followed behind.

Doctor Green looked through the documents with care. He was still furious; James/Ianto had had a difficult disturbed afternoon, and night. The confrontation and questions had caused him to regress, triggering a flashback. He had had to be heavily sedated and he knew it would take days to get James/Ianto fully settled.

Looking at the documentation he could not fault them but they were fakes; they were very good almost indistinguishable from the real thing but fakes none- the-less. He knew this because of his own investigation overnight, via his contacts at UNIT. He had uncovered some information about Jack Harkness and Owen Harper. Owen Harper was a surgeon of some repute. Jack Harkness was the head of an organisation called Torchwood based in Cardiff with whom Doctor Harper was associated with. Ianto Jones was a fellow employee, some kind of support person.

They had not imparted much information but said they were sure Jack Harkness was not in any Civil Partnership, if he was it would have been recorded. He pulled at his lip as he continued to study the photographs. Now he had to consider Ianto, since the day he had been brought here no one had taken any interest in him and yet this man if he was to be believed had within hours on finding him alive had been so desperate to see him, he had acted with complete recklessness. Carl had reported the captain's questions the day before to Ianto were the sort one asked someone who was missing. He looked at the Captain who was the picture of anxious misery as he picked up the birth certificate and Civil Union certificate and made his decision.

"Let's say for now I accept you are his civil partner," he said leaning back and looking at the two men in front of him, as he saw Jack almost fold into himself in relief.

"I will allow you to see James, Ianto," he corrected himself, "but only under certain conditions. Before I do there are some things you need to know. He arrived here by ambulance eight months ago under escort by UNIT under the orders of Colonel Brandon. He had been found in a tiny room on the lower decks of the fleet vessel Valiant; no one knows how he got there.

"Do you have any ideas how ended up there?" he asked them. Seeing them both shake their heads he continued. "He had been found during a security sweep after the American president had been assassinated. He was in terrible shape and had spent several weeks at a UNIT hospital before coming here. They had no idea who he was, he has no finger or palm prints and his DNA was not on record. He had been severely beaten suffering long term deprivation including starvation and sexual assault." He saw them both blanch. "UNIT determined that due to his condition and timing he would have been incapable of being involved in the death of the American president and it was also clear he was damaged mentally." He took a breath and continued.

"Searches of all records pertaining to the Valiant have not been able to uncover how he got there or who tortured him. All indications indicate to months of incarceration rather than weeks; this was determined by the number of healed and partially healed fractures. After being released from hospital he was transferred here because this unit has been set up to cater for survivors of torture. Ianto is the worst I have ever seen. We have done our utmost best; but he has not made any significant improvement in all the months he has been here." He took a deep breath to allow them time to come to terms with what he said.

"I will arrange for you to see him the afternoon at 2pm. He will be in the day room at that time. I will tell him he has visitors and your names. Only one of you may approach him at any one time," he told them categorically.

What can we expect?" Owen asked, seeing that Jack was incapable as speaking at that moment.

"He is non-responsive and non-verbal so he will not reply to anything you say or look at you. If you push him to respond he will look away and start to become agitated, so- don't- do -it. He will ignore you because we believe he has developed this as a defence mechanism to cope with the torture he endured. Be prepared for the fact he may not remember you. We have no idea how much of his memory he retains or how fragmented it may be. I do not have to explain to you that after the events of yesterday he is emotionally extremely fragile." He looked at the subdued men in front him thinking how 24 hours could make such a difference.

"Finally, Ianto has multiple triggers under no circumstances are you to ask him any questions, you saw the effect yesterday, this we believe is another aftermath. You must also not ask him to choose anything; if you do he will freeze and begin to panic. Other than that talk to him as you would anyone else, quietly and calmly, stick to general topics only?"

"Why this afternoon?" Owen asked curious thinking how extraordinary it was to ask Jack to wait considering the declaration of his relationship.

"Ianto only feels secure within a very strict routine; he does things in a particular order without variance every day. He has lunch at 12.10 am; he draws for one hour after lunch, in the afternoon you will find him in the main day room. Here he spends his time looking out the window. This lasts two hours after this he has afternoon tea. He will then go and have a shower, he will then study his books and gets ready for his evening meal," he told them as he looked at their serious faces.

"While you are in the unit you will be escorted by Carl who will keep an eye on you," he saw the look on Jack's face. "Considering your behaviour yesterday you can hardly blame me, and I have to consider your safety. Carl is strong enough to intervene if Ianto goes into one of his moods."

"Moods?" Owen queried

"He has a tendency to throw things around if he's of a mind," the Doctor said as an understatement.

"Now the grounds are lovely. Go and take a walk and I will meet you here at 2pm and I will escort you in," he told them

"I prepared these for you, Doctor Harper," he handed over several thick files which Owen took.