4

Ianto followed Jack silently, like a wraith and it took Jack a few minutes to get what the problem was.

He had no direction.

"How strong was her control?" Jack asked.

"She chose the colour of my tie, the food I ate as she wanted to experience the taste through me" Ianto frowned, "Things like that."

"You made small choices, inconspicuous ones as a way of showing defiance?"

"Yes sir" Ianto smiled.

"So, now she's gone you have no idea what to do, do you" Jack sighed.

"Sir" Ianto concurred with a soft cant of his head.

"Coffee might be a nice start" Jack said as he sat and Ianto frowned as he studied him.

"But … am I not …I mean…" Ianto stammered with confusion.

"I'm angry, I will consider what action to take once I've calmed down. Suspension will be the first step. You need time to acclimatize yourself to the silence in your head, we need time to lick our wounds as well." Jack leaned back to face him, "But coffee first, yeah?"

"Sir" Ianto nodded, heading off.

"So that's it?" Gwen asked from the doorway, "We give him a pass?"

"He has woken to a new world where he has no idea what he is going to do" Jack said calmly as he watched Gwen stalk in and slump into a chair, "He was a test subject, kept in a lab and experimented on, all in the name of Torchwood. How much more would you like him to suffer for the sins of his mistress?"

Gwen blanched at the thought

"Imagine it Gwen, you were on that table for how long?" Jack gave her a moment, "Imagine spending the two years leading up to the Ghost Shifts where that cold hearted bitch was playing God. Two years with no control over your life, scared, alone, lost."

Ianto was down below, handing Tosh a dainty cup and Jack could see her fingers delicately take the cup as she thanked him.

"How do you know it was that long?" she finally asked.

"After T1 fell we went through the ruins, we found a lot of shit we didn't really want to know even existed. Project Cyberhive was documented on the cloud servers. We just never knew she had actually initiated it, we thought she was using rats or monkeys. Christ." Jack rose and walked over to watch Ianto as he reached out to place a biscuit on Owens plate for him. "They operated on him, tortured him. Humans. Not other Cybermen, it was us that did this. Torchwood."

"Torchwood London" Gwen corrected him, "Not us."

"Gwen, you need to remember that Ianto doesn't see the distinction there" Jack huffed, "Torchwood is torchwood. He didn't come here to save her, he could have taken her anywhere and waited it out. No, he came here with her because he needed Torchwood. This is the only thing he knows. We must terrify him. We are his masters now."

Gwen looked at Jack was horror as he let her have a moment.

"Ianto is terrified. He just tried to kill himself, did you realize that?" Jack asked and then watched her change gear as she rose from the chair.

"We have to help him" she blustered, "My god, he needs … he needs help."

"Owen has started tests, we are waiting for him to decide what to tell me" Jack smiled softly, "He is already trying to work out how to protect Ianto from my temper. Funny isn't it. The snarky prick of a doctor is more concerned than the one who wants to remind us how to be human."

Gwen huffed as she stormed from the office and Jack smiled to himself as he watched her head down to Ianto, then his smile faded as Ianto physically rocked back, followed by Owen's raised voice.

"What happened!" he demanded as he came down the steps.

"She just asked him if there were more fucking cybermen in the city!" Owen snarled, "Like they have a secret fucking handshake and meet each Friday night for dinks and to discuss their plans to take over the fucking world!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" she snarled, "I was just asking if there were more …. Stuff he had somewhere."

"Gwen, Owen and I went over Ianto's flat with a fine toothed comb, you saw what was downstairs and there were no other bolt holes. He didn't own any other properties and we checked the entire hub for another room" Jack was angry now, shaking as he watched Ianto take another step back, "He is no more hiding another Cyberman than you are still a copper."

Ianto took another step.

"Ianto freeze" Jack said calmly, watching the man become a stature.

"Take three steps forward" Jack said and Ianto calmly took the three strides to stand in front of Gwen, so close they were touching.

"Hit her for me" Jack demanded.

Ianto slowly turned his head to stare at him, "Why?"

"There" Jack pointed, "See? Ianto has free will. He chooses to override my order as it didn't make sense. He can now tell us if we are still in danger and I trust that he would have by now."

"I am obliged to" Ianto said, as Jack had hoped, "Under subsection 93 of the employment contract, I must inform my superior of any danger."

"Which is why you kept trying to, even though it meant she kept punishing you for it" Jack smiled.

"Of course sir" Ianto said with a shrug as he turned to Gwen, "I do not have any other entity in my care."

"Satisfied?" Owen demanded as he sneered at Gwen, "Yeah? Good? Fucking grand then!"