Chapter Six: One Heart Two Many

"What?" exclaimed the Doctor, a look of complete shock flashed on his face as he streaked past Ianto Jones.

Matt and Ivy attempted to follow suit, but before they could even take a step forward, Captain Jack had grabbed hold of the back of their jackets.

"Hey let us go," yelled Matt as he struggled to get free of Jack but he maintained his tight grip. "We're with The Doctor."

"No!" barked Jack louder and Matt and Ivy fell silent and stopped resisting. Though fear lapped at him at the thought of what Ianto had just said, Jack's experience helped him to stay calm. They needed to take each step one at a time and the first involved keeping these two away from the body. "The autopsy room is no place for you two. Stay out of this."

He released his grip on them and placed his hands on their shoulders. He knew he needed to explain. "This is why we don't allow kids in the Hub. We have to deal with things that not even a normal person can handle. It's too dangerous."

"But maybe we can help or-"

"No," said Jack firmly. "In this world, this alien world, many people die. It's not all fun and games. Not every alien you meet is going to be nice like me or the Doctor. Personally, I don't think you're ready for this."

Ivy did not speak but nodded. Matt simply stared at his feet, his hands rustling uncomfortably in his jacket pockets that clinked and jingled slightly. They knew when they lost an argument to an adult.

"Ianto," said Jack finally, "take care of them and don't let them near the autopsy room."

The Doctor ran through the corridor, his hearts beating furiously. His mind was in freefall, spinning madly out of control, unable to grasp at the impossibility that had been laid out before him. The voice of the Vortex beginning to get through, haunting him yet again. What did it all mean? The Doctor knew something deeper must be going on. Nothing that happened today could have been a coincidence.

Ion efflux in the vortex that only a TARDIS could leave behind? A man with two hearts that had fallen through the Rift? And how did the Doctor's psychic awareness to the Vortex become stronger? And why was it calling out to him? All of the clues screamed out to him but he couldn't understand it. There was no other Time Lord in existence anymore so what did it all mean? It was impossible. None of it made sense. The Time Lords burned. All of them. He remembered their faces. But he knew, his first step in solving this grim and sinister puzzle was lying in the autopsy room.

"Is that him?" asked the Doctor guardedly, as he sprinted down the staircase. He stared at the body, whose top half was no longer concealed under a white sheet. The man was fair-haired, tall, and thin and looked very old judging from his long beard. He was unfamiliar to the Doctor.

"Do you know him?" asked Martha apprehensively, staring at his grim expression. She remembered the last time she found another Time Lord.

The Doctor kept quiet and moved closer to the body to exam it closely as Jack Harkness entered the autopsy room silently. His serious expression was shared with everyone else as the Doctor still examined the body in complete silence, pressing his glasses closer to his face. Then he looked up and slowly shook his head.

"He could have regenerated, like you did," said Mickey immediately.

"No," the Doctor replied gravely, his eyes still on the body. "I'd still know. Time Lords have a telepathic sense to help us identify one another so we'll always be able to recognise who's who after regenerations."

"Would you be able to sense it even if he's dead?" asked Gwen.

"Yes. During wars," said the Doctor slowly, "we pick bodies of Time Lords from battlefields to be sent back to Gallifrey. They also smell differently."

Images of friends and family, sprawled on a red alien ground next to burning debris of Dalek casings and War TARDISes sprang to his mind. Young men and women clutching each other, their screams silent, as the black sky rained fire, lightning and dead bodies.

"For a proper funeral?" asked Jack carefully.

"If you were lucky..." muttered the Doctor.

"Let's not get carried away here," said Jack reassuringly. "We can't be certain if he is or isn't a Time Lord. I mean, they couldn't have been the only species in the universe to have two hearts."

"But they are," said the Doctor stiffly, gritting his teeth. His composure slipping. He could not seem to be able to marshal his thoughts. A wealth of emotion flooded him.

"They were."

"Maybe I was wrong," interjected Martha. "But I don't think so. This makes this really bad. We need to find out what this person is immediately."

"That's why we're in here right?" said the Doctor gravely, turning his head staring at the various scalpels that Martha brought out.

There was a strange atmosphere in the main hall where Matt, Ivy and Ianto Jones were seated together in a circle on squeaking swivelling chairs, barely hearing the conversation going on in the autopsy room below. Nobody spoke and the awkward silence was almost deafening. It was clear Ianto Jones was not very good with teenagers, nor were teenagers very good with Ianto Jones.

"So, how long have you been travelling with the Doctor?" said Ianto, finally. It was awkward and stupid but it was the only words that seemed to form in his mind to say to them.

"A few hours," said Matt still trying to sound impressive. "Yeah, there was this scary alien in the museum but we fought it off pretty easy. What was it called?"

"A Hoix," replied Ivy, flipping her annoying light brown hair out of her face again.

"Ooh," said Ianto cringing, though inside he was relieved the awkward silence broke. He tried to prolong the conversation further the best he could. "Nasty piece of work Hoixes. How did you bring it down?"

"Oh. It was nothing," claimed Matt, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles, in nonchalance. "We gave it a proper smack down."

"What he meant to say was, the Doctor saved us," grinned Ivy, as he corrected him. "He used some gas pills or something and knocked it out."

"Ah. Paralysis capsules," added Ianto, tapping the arm of his seat. "Martha invented those. She used to travel with the Doctor. Mickey and Jack too."

"Really?" asked Ivy interestedly. "Wow, that's pretty cool."

"Yeah," said Ianto lamely, attempting to maintain his smile. "Yeah..."

The awkward silence returned as Ianto struggled to find another way to keep the conversation going. He wondered what kids these days were doing. Being cooped up in the Hub most of the time, he hadn't really had to deal with them. He's fought off Weevils, Daleks, alien sex gas, the Welsh weather and alien rhinoceroses but he'll be damned if he had to deal with kids.

The painful silence drew longer and everyone shifted uneasily in their seats. Matt had taken to staring at his feet, and rummaging around in his pockets whilst Ivy simply stared around the Hub uncomfortably.

Ivy cleared her throat to break the uneasy silence.

"Oh. Sorry. I'll get you something to drink," reacted Ianto immediately jumping to his feet. "Uhm, what would you like?"

"Beer please," chirped Matt optimistically.

Ianto shook his head smiling apologetically.

"Tea?" asked Ivy.

Quickly, Ianto dashed off to the cafeteria. He could still see them from there, as only the bullet proof glass stood between the cafeteria and the main hall. The cafeteria wasn't much. It was essentially made of a round table with not enough chairs, a drawer full of snacks, instant food, unused dusty mugs, hundreds of delivery leaflets from restaurants and fast food places and a coffee machine that strangely only Ianto could work. Jack and Mickey reckoned it was alien. Overall, catering was not one of the greatest aspects of Torchwood, which was why they had fast food delivered to them all the time.

Ianto rummaged around for any snacks but there was none left. Not even a biscuit. He also searched the drawers for tea but that was all gone as well. No sugar. No tea bags. Though, he knew he didn't have any secret stash of tea hiding away somewhere, Ianto continued looking around. He simply wanted to have something to do rather than have another awkward quiet conversation with Ivy and Matt.

However, he did find it odd that almost all of the food was gone and began worrying what to offer to Ivy and Matt. He considered giving them coffee, but perhaps that might be a bit too strong. He then thought perhaps they could simply just have beer but quickly rubbished the idea as firstly that would be illegal and secondly, that would involve going down to the cryo-chambers where the beer was kept meaning he'd be leaving them out of his sight.

"Sorry. We're all out of tea at the moment," said Ianto apologetically.

At that very moment, Gwen Cooper came up the staircases looking slightly fatigued but Ianto leapt at what he saw as a clear opportunity.

"Ah, Gwen. Could you take care of them for me while I go up for a bit? We've run out of tea."

"Yeah sure no problem," said Gwen hesitantly, a bit confused.

"Don't let them near the autopsy room," Ianto added finally before dashing out of the entrance.

"Don't worry. Not going near it anytime soon," she replied back though he was already gone. "Gwen Cooper. Nice to meet you."

"Matt. Ivy. You don't look too good," said Ivy.

"No, I don't," said Gwen, her looking ill and drained. "I'm fine with bodies, but not a big fan of when they cut open their chests to be honest."

"Whoa. Awesome!"

"Sit down Matt."

"Definitely two hearts Doctor," muttered Mickey grimly, trying to break the dark heavy tension that filled the atmosphere. Nobody spoke or moved a muscle. They were simply stunned and bewildered at the revelation. Except for the Doctor, who pushed his glasses closer to his face, and peered into the body with concentration. Everyone else simply watched. They weren't sure how to react anymore. Another Time Lord had been found.

"Two hearts alright," said the Doctor finally addressing everyone "but in the wrong place."

"What?" exclaimed Martha, scrambling closer for a look to where the Doctor was pointing. Jack and Mickey turned to each other, a heavy expression their faces. They weren't sure this new revelation was better or worse but they were guessing it was worse. Things usually worked that way in Torchwood.

"He's not a Time Lord. I don't know what he is but he's not a Time Lord. Very close to a Time Lord but not enough. Very, very, very close. But not Time Lord. Not a hundred percent anyways." The Doctor's eyes were ablaze and a stirring anger from within surfaced as he stared at the body silently before he spoke again seething through gritted teeth. "The hearts, the muscles, the veins, the organs, the skeleton. It's not Time Lord. It's human. He's a human being."

"But how did he get two hearts? Mutation? Caused by the Rift?" asked Jack carefully.

"No. They used the morphic field to mutate them. Manipulated it to do this," replied the Doctor, the anger boiling inside of him surfacing, "Someone's been experimenting on humans! Someone's been trying to make Time Lords out of humans!"

"Oh my god," shrieked Martha taken aback, staring from the Doctor to the body momentarily as her heart dropped, "Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but I swear I'm going to end it!"

Then, without any warning, a mighty explosion rocked the Hub. The blast caught everyone by surprise, the powerful force knocking them off their feet and slamming them straight onto the cold hard floor.

Dark and dense smoke billowed out of the main hall. Alarms blared their loud sirens and flashed their bright lights as the Doctor scrambled to his feet, adrenalin already spreading throughout his entire body; he then bolted straight up to the main hall. Everything else in his mind disappeared instantly. It was now firmly on two things: Ivy and Matt.

"Ooh fancy," said a jubilant faint voice from behind the thick clouds of dust and debris. A panic stricken Matt could barely see the intruder as blood dripped from his stinging forehead, even though Gwen had vaulted on top of him and Ivy to protect them, pulling them under the safety of a workstation as several more chunks of the Hub's ceiling thundered down to the floor.

Dust and smoke choked Matt as he tried to breathe and his eyes watered from the heat of the explosion. He was unable to see anything though he could feel Ivy's familiar hand gripping his, and Gwen towering over, holding and shielding them in her arms, refusing to let go.

"I like what you've done with the place," said the intruder, addressing someone casually," no shop though. I'd have a little shop right there if I were you."

The dust was settling, and Matt could almost see him. So could Gwen. Her face was contorted with rage as she finally loosened her grip on him and Ivy, reaching underneath her jacket for her gun.

Immediately, Ivy grabbed hold of Matt and pulled him into a protective hold putting herself between him and the attacker. Matt could see her eyes were welling up with tears. Just when he thought he was safe, his heart was racing madly again for the second time today as he heard the heavy footfalls of the intruder approaching closer.

"Where is everyone though? No reception?"

"The reception's right here," shouted Gwen as she jumped up from underneath the workstation, armed and prepared to kill. The smoke and dust was finally settling as she took aim at the intruder's distorted silhouette. Once she saw him, she was going to pull the trigger, whoever or whatever it was.

"Oh really," said the voice, turning suddenly vicious in tone, "I thought he was the receptionist." The dust cleared, revealing clearly Ianto with his hands high in the air, a gun pointed at the back of his skull by a heavily armed peculiar looking man.

"Really! Services in this country's gone to pot. Pointing a gun at me."

"Who are you?" barked Gwen angrily, hesitantly taking aim at the intruder. She knew she couldn't shoot with Ianto still in front of her still being a human shield, but she had a good shot on her. Plus, she and Ianto were Torchwood members. If it really came down to it, they knew what they had to do when fighting against alien threat; anything possible. Only the most dangerous of opponents were able to force their way into the Hub.

"I'm Wade Watson also very widely, broadly, length-wisely known as The Mercenary," said the intruder happily and waving the gun in his hand airily about, "though I'd really rather you not point that gun at me or this will get quite unnecessarily messy. Torchwood. You have some things that I want. But besides sex, I'd like you to go get the Doctor for me."

A flurry of movement interrupted him as the Doctor rushed into the main hall followed by everyone else, shock and panic on their faces. The room was full of fear, and silence fell abruptly and completely as the Doctor stared down the Mercenary for the shortest of moments, before running straight to Matt and Ivy.

The Mercenary did nothing but watch him quietly and intently. His eyes widened and seemed to bulge seeing his prey again. He ignored the rest of Torchwood. He did not even seem to notice Jack pulling out his pistol and pointing it at his head. They were just tiny distractions in the big plan. He didn't even look away from the Doctor as he pointed his gun back at Ianto, clearing his throat.

The Doctor was ignoring the Mercenary. His first priority was not him. It was Ivy and Matt. How could he be so stupid and thought this was a good idea?

"Are you alright?" he whispered to them.

"Yeah," muttered Matt gravely, noticing the dark expression on his face. "Just a cut on my head."

The Mercenary cleared his throat much louder once more.

"Ivy?" asked The Doctor coolly.

"I'm fine Doctor," she replied quietly, glancing at the Mercenary as he cocked his gun. Jack and Gwen made tense silent movements, their eyes set firm on their target. The others stood frozen as if petrified, and of everyone nobody seemed to breathe but the Doctor and the intruder.

"Oh right. Britain. NHS. I must be way back in the list or something," babbled Wade impatiently, "Hellooo? Is it my turn to see the Doctor yet? I'm here for him and a missing dead guy. I know you have him."

The modicum of calm the Doctor pretended to have vanished instantly at being reminded of the experimented corpse. Ivy and Matt were alright. No more games. His face turned harsh as he finally got up silently and turned to the Mercenary, fixing an intense stare. The Doctor's eyes were now dark and cold, but only fury and rage of a Time Lord burned inside of him. Only one thought was now engulfing the mind of the Doctor.

"Did you experiment on him?"

"What?"

"Did you experiment on him?" hissed the Doctor through gritted teeth. Anger boiling over. "The body. The one that used to be a human being, a person! Before you-"

"Ah, so he's still dead," said Wade simply. His face flashed of disappointment for a moment. Eyes darting left and right on the ground, before he perked up again seemingly as if nothing had happened. "Too bad. Doesn't matter though. My main target really is just you."

The Doctor remained still. He caught the glint of Wade's dangerous eyes. The stab of rage felt like a spike driven through The Doctor's head. Experiments on humans. The pieces of the puzzle did not yet seem to fit. The Doctor couldn't figure it out. He was still struggling to suppress his anger. The very idea of experimenting on humans revolted him. His hands curled into fists were shaking.

"Or else," growled Wade coldly, pressing his gun against Ianto's temple. He then gestured animatedly shooting Ianto's head and made an exploding noise with his mouth. He was enjoying the moment. He was insane with pleasure. The Doctor saw Ianto's brave face, but his eyes betrayed him. In the depths of the dark pair, it was filled with anxiety and fear. The Doctor's mind planned a thousand ways to rescue him as he stared back.

"Nobody's going anywhere," shouted Jack, suddenly taking a step forward. His eyes fixed on his target. He looked beyond rational at the sight of Ianto held hostage. "Let him go!"

"First, the Doctor will come with me," repeated Wade menacingly.

"I told you, nobody's going anywhere! Let him go," barked Jack angrily. "Or else."

"Or else?"

"Myfawny."

"Bless you."

"Myfawny!"

"Jack, no!" cried the Doctor.

Suddenly, with a tremulous scream, the pterodactyl reared in mid-air, her wings spread open to show her full might, and then closed tightly as Myfawny dived from high above. She plummeted like a bullet straight down at Wade with loud foul shrieks then swooped down at him, clawing away with her scaly feet.

"Ianto, get down!" shrieked Gwen as she tried to take aim at Wade.

In the commotion, Ianto broke free of Wade's grip, ducking low to avoid any gun fire. But he was too slow. In one swift, fluid motion Wade leapt aside evading Myfawny's clawing feet, took aim with his pistol and shot Ianto Jones from the back, through his chest. The gun shot could not be heard over Myfawny's cries or seen above her flapping wings and yet everyone knew...

Chaos reigned. Myfawny knocked Wade down, and her claws tore through his face and coat. Wade let out a blood curdling scream, before abandoning his pistol and swinging out his machine gun from behind and shooting indiscriminately above him at the giant beast. Jack and Gwen, in unison, screamed in pain as they let out a flurry of shots at Wade. Every bullet bursting into his bloodied chest.

Martha was at Ianto's side immediately. Her mind was blank as she approached the dying man. She did not know what she felt as she saw his white face, and his hands trying to staunch the bloody wound at his chest. His widening black eyes found her as he tried to speak, then looked up at Jack and Gwen as Mickey joined Martha as his side. A terrible rasping noise issued from his throat, now full of blood that he sputtered out trying to speak.

"I'm so sorry," whispered The Doctor as he too bent over Ianto. Martha cried silently, and Mickey put a comforting arm around her. The Doctor could hear tiny sobs from Ivy and Matt behind him. He turned around and grabbed them both tightly in his arms, comforting them and relieving their shock.

The Doctor remained kneeling and holding them in his arms, until quite suddenly a high, cold dark voice spoke that made him jump to his feet. The Mercenary was still standing. His body and face that was missing an eye from it's' socket was bathed in his own thick blood. Bullet holes clearly visible in him. Jack and Gwen's guns finally emptied. Wade's voice reverberated from the walls and floor loud and clear almost as if his stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks.

"That," said the cold voice, "was painful. Well duh, but still-"

Wade smiled malignantly, as his eyes lit up and his body glowed, energy radiating from every part of him. The Doctor's widened in fear and shock as golden flames of energy began trickling out from Wade's body and wrapping itself around him. A singularly mirthless smile curled Wade's mouth before it too dissipated into bright golden energy.

"But, that's impossible," whispered The Doctor, his voice full of apprehension.

"Doctor, what's happening?" asked Ivy quietly.

"He's...he's regenerating."