Ianto is let out of the cells ...

Strange Encounter

Chapter Four

A Hoix howls when it's distressed. People think a baby's cry is irritating but they should try five adult Hoix spread over two cell blocks howling for an hour or two. It was sending needles through my brain and eventually I had had enough. I also, belatedly, remembered the boy down there with them. If it was bad for me it would be ten times worse for him. It took a while but I eventually found the universal sedative where Owen had hidden it and went down armed with it and ear defenders. In the first cell block, I shot the sedative darts into the three Hoix with little trouble. They crumpled to the floor and their noise lessened to a dull moan but the remaining two in the other block continued to howl. Here I had a bit more trouble as they sensed something had happened to their fellows and did all they could to make a clear shot harder than ever but finally I got them both down.

The Jones boy was curled up in his cell with his arms over his head. Opening the door, I chucked a pair of ear defenders on the floor in front of him. He looked startled, not having heard me, but scrabbled to put them on. While the howling had stopped the moaning that took its place carried on. It was pitched so low it travelled down the auditory nerves to the brain and was almost as bad; the defenders helped. I gestured for the boy to come out of the cell and herded him up the stairs to the main levels. The moaning was inaudible here and I took the defenders off with relief; I hate wearing the things, they muss up my hair.

"You can take them off now," I said, gesturing to the defenders. Cautiously the boy removed them and shook his head, probably still got ringing in his ears same as me. "Want a drink?"

"Yes." He was eyeing me and the surroundings warily, can't say I blame him.

Leaving him looking round, I went up to the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottles of water. I wasn't concerned about leaving him free to roam around. The loaded dart gun was tucked in my waist band and I had a stun gun in my pocket as well as having sealed the armoury and exits. Besides, while I took no chances, I did not expect him to make any kind of move on me. If he was the man I thought he was, he would suss out the place before deciding what to do next. Standing in the work area, I saw him doing exactly what I had expected and smiled.

"Here's your drink," I said, holding out the bottle. "If you're hungry, help yourself."

He walked up to me and took the water saying nothing. Maybe he thought it was all a trick. After a disgusted look round the unappealing kitchen, he poked about in the fridge finding some stale bread and cheese which he toasted. It smelt good. "I didn't know Hoix made a noise like that," he commented finally, taking a seat on the sofa.

"Something you don't learn from the records."

"Yeah." He understood that I had researched him, that I knew all about him, and seemed resigned to the fact.

He ate his toast hungrily, all the time looking round at the equipment scattered around. Only Toshiko's desk, where I was sitting, was relatively tidy. The rest looked a mess despite, or maybe as a result of, Owen's efforts the day before. The equipment boxes were where he and I had left them that morning and empty food containers and cans were cluttering up the floor along with stains the cause of which even I didn't know. I saw it with new eyes and realised something REALLY had to be done about it.

"Sorry I didn't get you out of there earlier." I tried the friendly approach, hoping he would respond.

"What are you going to do with me?" he asked, laying aside his plate.

"I don't know. What should I do with you?"

"Torchwood article five, sub-section fourteen -"

I interrupted him. "You can forget that execution crap! Torchwood One has gone and that means we can ditch the outdated and plain stupid articles." I stood up, pleased to have an audience on which to try out my new approach. I'd been devising it for a while and there were still kinks to be worked out but it was the way I was going to take my team for the little time I had left with them. "Whatever Queen Victoria meant when she drew up that Charter she was plain bonkers. The Doctor is not our enemy and not all aliens are threats. Everything has a right to live provided it accords us the same right. Torchwood's role is changing. We are here to protect Earth and will use whatever means are available and necessary but we are also here to foster understanding with other beings when we can. So executing people who get in our way is not mandatory any more." I paused to take a breath.

"What's the alternative?" he interjected in the gap. "Are you going to keep me locked up here for the rest of my life?"

"Normally I'd Retcon you." I saw he didn't understand. "Oooh, something the great Torchwood One didn't know about? It's a drug, an amnesia pill that could take away your memories of the past three days, three months or three years. However, my doctor advises me you may not be a good candidate."

He looked at me blank faced for a moment or two. "I don't want to forget Lisa. She meant everything to me. I loved her," he added under his breath, looking at his feet.

"I know. That's the only reason I'm talking to you." That surprised him.

"What?"

"You loved Lisa Hallett and saved, or thought you saved her from Canary Wharf. Your plan to remove the implants and return her humanity were naïve but commendable in their way. It wouldn't have worked but I don't blame you for trying." I paused, trying to judge how he was taking this but he had that unreadable expression on his face. He'd be a great poker player. "In your position, I might have done the same."

I had got all this from his diary. In those pages he had set out his great plan for rescuing his lost love from her metal prison, to paraphrase his words. It was hopelessly naïve and idealistic but no one could fault his loyalty to the woman. Unfortunately, the diary had also revealed that a lot of the planning – scavenging equipment and trying to infiltrate the Hub – had originated with her. She had been conscious and telling him what to do. No doubt he thought she really wanted to become human once more: I knew better.

"You killed her."

"Yes, I did. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat." I paused for effect. "I killed a Cyberman while I had the chance before it could make me, you and everyone on this planet just like it. It may have had your girlfriend's body but that was not your girlfriend." I was standing close to him, looking down and trying to impress on him how dangerous it could have been. He looked away first. Was that a sign he agreed with me? Probably not, it was too soon for him to understand fully but in time maybe there was hope.

Deciding to lessen the tension, I picked up the dirty plate and empty water bottles and took them to the kitchen. I added the plate to the stack waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher and stuck the bottles in the overflowing bin. I'd have to get Suzie in here on some pretext. She hated mess too and once she saw this she'd organise the others to clear the place before we got vermin running around. Back at the work area, Jones had moved from the sofa. I found him in the medical bay by a tray of instruments which no doubt contained a scalpel or two. He was obviously not giving up hope of getting out or killing me.

"I advise you not to take anything sharp. I don't want to have to hurt you." I was at the railings looking down on him and his back stiffened at my words.

"You're very sure of yourself." He turned and made a show of dropping the scalpel in his right hand back onto the tray.

"Against a filing clerk? No contest."

We stared at one another for a moment or two and I still liked what I saw. He was cute, no getting away from it. Of course, after twenty four hours in the cells he was rumpled and grimy but that didn't detract from his overall good looks and fit body. Even enhanced it a little. I felt like jumping on him there and then, especially as I realised I still hadn't had the shag I craved.

"Want a shower?" I asked, and I swear it was not a line to get him naked in front of me, although that would be a welcome bonus. It was the result of the whiff of unwashed body that floated my way. He nodded, obviously surprised at the offer. "Then put the other scalpel, the one in your left hand, on the tray and we can go."

He managed a wry grin this time and I smiled back; it's always satisfying when an opponent recognises when he's beaten. He replaced the second scalpel and moved towards me. I stepped back, leaving space between us and kept him in front of me as I directed him to the bathroom. It was not a huge room - three showers and the same number of wash basins and toilets - but it gets a lot of use. Dealing with aliens can get us pretty messy. Standing in the middle of the tiled space he looked at me but I did not move. I was not letting him out my sight. Shrugging, he stripped off his clothes and stepped into a shower cubicle. I went through the clothes to make sure he had not secreted anything else he could use as a weapon and was reassured to find nothing; I was not losing my touch. The clothes were grimy and needed a wash but he had no others. I got clean underwear and socks from our store cupboard – not as snazzy as his but they would do - and put them all tidily on the side. Someone could get him some other clothes some time, once we'd decided what to do with him.

He turned off the water and stepped out, not ashamed of what was a very nice body indeed but not flaunting it. Toned and slightly hairy, it was just as I like a body to be and I took my time looking him up and down. He didn't flinch but he couldn't meet my eyes and there was touch of a blush all over his pale skin. He reached for a towel and started drying himself, not briskly as I'd expected so he could cover himself up as fast as possible, but slowly and sensuously. My God, I realised, he was trying to seduce me! I laughed, I couldn't help myself. He was so young and innocent and his moves were clumsy and awkward; he'd not done this before. Irritated, he got to work with the towel and started to dress, not even commenting on the replacement underwear.

"Come on," I said when he was fully dressed once more. I let him go before me again and directed him back to the cells. I put him in a different block with just one of the injured Weevils to keep him company. The Hoix were quiet now so he should be able to sleep. When he was safely locked up, I stopped outside the door and looked at him sitting on the shelf bed. "If you want to sleep with me, just ask." He blushed bright red and I was happy for the rest of the night.

-ooOoo-

Daylight swept over the Bay bringing the possibility of a dry, sunny day. We don't get many of those in Cardiff, it's usually wet and cloudy, so I wanted to make the most of it. I was out in the Plass, sitting on the steps and enjoying a coffee from the restaurant that was always the first to open in the morning. Waiting here reminded me what normal life was like for these people: the commute to work, eight hours at a desk or in a shop or factory, commute home again and, if they were lucky, some telly before lights out and starting all over again. Not much, maybe, but I was happy to ensure they were able to carry on living their mundane little lives and not be bothered by aliens dropping on them from the Rift. It keeps me busy until The Doctor arrives. I had almost finished my coffee when the tall brunette I was waiting for appeared and walked in front of the Millennium Centre. Her dusky skin gave her a touch of the exotic and I remembered how smooth it felt under my hands when we were … I stopped that thought straight away. Our little fling had been short but sweet and neither of us were going back there.

"Suzie!" I called, seeing she was going to walk right past me. Lord knows what she was thinking of, how could anyone miss me? I waved her over and she joined me on the steps.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, looking round in case of alien activity.

"Wanted a breath of fresh air and a word."

"Is it the boy?" She looked me straight in the eye, something I've always liked about her. She is straightforward and direct, no messing about from our Suzie.

"Yeah. I've been thinking of using him."

"You don't need my permission to bed him, Jack."

"Almost did last night, he was trying it on with me."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, the whole seduction thing but I'm not that easy." I was pleased to see her laugh, she doesn't do it enough. "What I'm thinking is that he could be useful round the Hub. He's an archivist and Lord knows we need someone to sort out the disaster that is our archives. And he could clean the place up a bit. What do you think?"

She shrugged. "Not a bad idea, the rest of us don't have time. But how are you going to keep him out of trouble? Assuming you don't want him killing us or running off."

"I have something that'll keep him close and it's only me he wants to kill. I can look after myself."

"Then go for it. If it doesn't work out he can go back in the cells."

She stood up and I joined her, crushing the empty paper coffee cup and throwing it into a handy bin. We walked round to the Tourist Office and I wondered to myself if this was something else the boy could help with. Not yet, I'd not trust him this far away from the rest of us, but in time maybe he could lick the place into shape.

Leaving Suzie in the Hub, I grabbed the boy's keys and went off to his flat. It was the first time I'd been back and I was pleased with the clean up job the others had done. No one would have known there had been a Cyberman here. I found a small holdall and shoved some clothes into it – jeans and tops, boots and more of the fancy underwear. I was surprised to find three pristine suits in the wardrobe and was tempted to take one of them too but decided against it. If my plan worked out, I'd let him come and get more stuff but until then this would do. With a final look round, I locked up and drove back to the Hub taking my time for once. Suzie called with an order for more coffees for everyone so I grabbed those and some flapjacks before taking the invisible lift down into the base.

Will Ianto go along with Jack's plan?