Doomsday
a Torchwood story
by RoadrunnerGER
Dislaimer: Oh, really! They're the BBC's.
Suspense/hurt/comfort – T – Ianto Jones/Jack Harkness
Chapter 7 - A comrade in predicament
Cardiff
Even though Owen worked at record speed Jack sat quite impatiently through the treatment of his back. Of course he knew that the pottery shards had to come out, but none of the wounds was serious which made Jack testy while he waited for Owen to patch them up. Once they were done Jack trusted Toshiko to get things organized from the Hub while he quickly got into fresh clothes before he went to see for himself what was happening in his city and whether there were any more incidents that called for Torchwood's involvement. Suzie and Owen dropped him off at the Cardiff Central Police Station and continued their drive to London.
Entering the building Jack stepped into an ant hill. Police officers were running around, seemingly headless. As a couple of constables came in they jostled Jack on their way past. He heard an inspector yell orders.
Unimpressed Jack directly strode to the staircase to find his way up to the chief's office. Taking two steps at a time Jack breezed up the stairs and bumped into an officer who was on his way down.
"Hey! Look out! Where are you headed anyway?"
"I'm on my way to see Chief Superintendent Cadwallader," Jack said, grinning as he looked the handsome young man up and down, "but I can tell you, if it weren't a matter of some urgency, I just might make time to ask you out for a drink first." He turned and was about to resume climbing the stairs when a hand on his arm stopped him.
"Not without an appointment, you don't," the handsome young man, whose badge declared he was Constable A. Davidson, told him.
"Oh, I don't need an appointment, Constable," Jack chirped, "but I appreciate your sense of duty." He was about to go on when he stopped himself and asked, "What's the A standing for?"
"Huh?"
"On your badge, Constable," Jack smiled winningly. "Alun? Adrian? Ashley? Adam? Ainsley?"
At that the constable bristled and cut him short, "Do I look like an Ainsley to you?"
"I don't know," Jack shrugged. "So what is it?"
"Andrew," the young man said. Then noticing the intensity of Jack's gaze he shifted uncomfortably and coloured slightly. "Uh, actually, most people call me Andy. Only my Mam uses my Christian name."
"Well, that's a shame," Jack told him. "Andrew is a lovely name and suits the man who bears it." When the young constable scowled and reddened even more, Jack hurriedly agreed, "But if you prefer Andy, then that's what I'll call you." Offering his hand to shake, Jack said, "I'm…"
"Captain Jack Harkness," Andy interrupted, trying to regain his footing.
"I'm pretty sure we haven't met before…" Jack mused aloud.
"Oh, you're living up to the stories, Captain."
"Oh, really?" Jack raised an eyebrow sceptically. "A legend in my own time, am I?"
"More like a horror story, from what I've heard, Captain," Andy grunted. "Still, I know you're with Torchwood. Not sure what that means, but you still need an appointment to see the Chief Superintendent."
"Actually, I don't," Jack insisted with a mischievous grin, "and if you want to know more about Torchwood, why don't you just… escort me to his office?"
"All right…" The constable still did not seem too impressed by the Torchwood captain, but he gestured Jack to follow him and led him up the stairs and through the beehive that was the Heddlu headquarters. Andy walked ahead of the captain to the commanding officer's sanctuary. The secretary wanted to announce the visitor and jumped up from her chair but dropped back down when she recognized the captain who walked straight to her chief's oaken door while Andy slowed his steps instead of barging in with the Torchwood agent.
Jack came right in time to hear Cadwallader chuckling about, "…the arrogant bastard. Thanks for the warning sergeant." Hanging up the phone the head of the Cardiff Police grinned at Jack and said, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear! Bloody hell, Harkness, am I glad to see you!" the Chief Superintendent greeted Jack with an eager handshake as soon as he was through the door. "What in the world were those things and where did they go?"
"First of all, they're not from this world," Jack said, giving the gaping PC Andy a wink as he flopped casually into one of the chairs in front of the desk, "and secondly, they're not in it any longer. They've been sent back to wherever they came from, I think for good." With a grateful smile he accepted a mug full of strong black coffee that Cadwallader poured him from a thermos.
"You look like you need it," Cadwallader shrugged it off. Rather than circling round behind his desk again, the Chief Superintendent pointed Andy to a small, straight-backed chair in an unobtrusive corner of the room, took the chair beside Jack's for himself, and said, "You sure about that?"
"We tracked them," Jack assured him. "All the way to London. They're gone. I've sent a couple of my people there to help with the cleanup. I was intending to round up any stragglers that might still be in Cardiff and neutralize them, but with half my team gone, I am low on manpower and lacking transportation. I was hoping you could lend me some personnel and a vehicle."
"I can give you that," Cadwallader agreed. "Anything else?"
"No, thank you. I think that will be sufficient."
"Good. And I suppose you'd like PC Davidson here for your driver?"
"I suppose that would be safer than the other way around," Jack admitted with a devilish grin. "I think I might find it a bit difficult to keep my eyes on the road with him riding beside me." When the young man gaped and then flushed beet red, Jack gave a smirk.
"You really are incorrigible, aren't you?" Cadwallader grumbled as he got up to start for the door. Leading Jack to his outer office, Cadwallader turned to the constable who had escorted the Torchwood Commander up from downstairs. "Constable, I am assigning you to be Captain Harkness's driver and assistant until such time as he releases you from those duties. I would strongly advise you to obey his orders without question." Grinning and shaking hands, Cadwallader said, "Jack, do try to bring this one back in one piece."
The constable's deep scowl gave away clearly what he thought: This one? In one piece?
"I'll do my very best, Sir!" Captain Jack replied and saluted with a broad smirk cracking his features.
"I know, Jack," Cadwallader could not help but smirk, too. "Constable. Take your partner with you, too."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good luck, Captain."
"Thank you, Chief Superintendent."
Then Jack turned on his heels and walked away, not bothering to check if the constable followed him. He smiled to himself when he heard the slaps of his shoes behind him. Out in the hall he abruptly stopped and turned to the unsuspecting police officer.
"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack introduced himself with a broad, winning smile. "Nice to meet you, Constable Andy Davidson."
"Didn't we just do this on the stairs?" Andy asked in a mildly confused tone as if he really was not sure.
"Well, I tried to, but you interrupted me," Jack replied, "so we weren't properly introduced…" The Torchwood commander beamed at the young man, letting his gaze slowly travel from the top of his head to his shiny black shoes and up again to linger on his blue eyes just as he had done on the stairs a few minutes before. "Just call me Jack."
With that he made the constable frown even deeper.
"Now let's pick up your partner and we're ready to go," Jack said cheerfully, slapping the young man's shoulder. "Where is he?"
The he turned out to be a she. They found her downstairs at her desk where she typed up their paperwork.
"Hey, partner!" Andy greeted cheerfully, "We have a special assignment. Come."
"I've got to finish our report," she replied without looking up. "I'll be done in a few minutes."
She seemed to be oblivious of his cheer being faked. Actually Andy was already becoming irritated by the delay as he was anything but happy with playing Captain Harkness' chauffeur. "Sorry, it'll have to wait," he said and switched off her monitor.
"Andy!" she complained. "Sergeant Fuller will pace up the wall if he doesn't get that report until the end of our shift."
"As if we'd have an end of shift today," Andy grumbled and nudged her upper arm. "C'mon!"
"What special assignment is it anyway?" she wanted to know as she grabbed her uniform jacket.
"Babysitting," he told her. "Let's go."
From under the doorway Jack had watched the display with amusement. When the two officers approached him now he offered Andy's partner a dazzling smile.
"Captain Jack Harkness… and who are you?"
Protectively Andy stepped between Jack and his partner. Jack saw it with mild amusement but never took his attention off the female constable.
"Police Constable Gwen Cooper," she told him, returning his firm handshake. When she smiled she showed a gap between her front teeth, and her brown eyes sparkled under the shade of her policeman's cap on her black hair. "You can release my hand now, Sir. I'll still be needing it."
If possible Jack's smirk grew even wider. He liked both officers. Toshiko chose right this moment to call him over his ear comm.
"Gotcha," he confirmed her message and turning to the constables again he said, "Okay, quick! Grab your stuff from your lockers and then let's go."
Trailing behind Gwen on their way to their patrol car, Jack could not see how Andy rolled his eyes at him.
xXx
London
Usually Ianto had a good sense of time, but now it deserted him. In vain he waited for the firemen Carol and Tony had promised to call and time passed agonizingly slowly. Ianto could not tell for how long the couple had been gone, but he believed that help should have arrived by now if they had really called in the emergency.
They've abandoned me! Ianto's chest tightened painfully as he tried to suppress more sobs. He did not want to cry. He would only block his nose again. Still his throat corded up with anxiety at his desperate situation.
How am I supposed to get out of here? Lord save me, if you saved me before surely you have a purpose? Why can't you just get me out of this thing, too? I'll be good, I promise! No swearing, no smoking, no sex… well, maybe the sex would not be on the list…
Ianto took a deep breath, held it and exhaled slowly.
Already bargaining? he asked himself and laughed inwardly. Oh, Ianto, do you hear yourself? Next thing you know you're talking to yourself…
Now he really laughed.
Ianto, you're pathetic!
Colourful spots danced before his eyes. Their flickering lights made him dizzy and so he opened his eyes. Seeing did not make it any better. Right above him he saw the arm that had come out of the shutter. It carried five limbs, two with circular saws on their ends, one with six knives, another with a laser, and the last one held an injector, an oversized syringe that was filled with a light blue liquid.
Ianto shuddered.
His shaking body pushed against his restraints and all of a sudden the desperation of his condition hit him full force.
I won't get out of this thing!
Ianto cried out with anxiety. His lungs were burning as were his eyes and he was unable to keep his tears at bay. Irregular sobs filled the silence around him until he was too exhausted to cry.
Obviously he fell asleep for a while because he was clearly waking up now, feeling surprisingly rested. For a fleeting moment he thought he was home in his bed, coming to after having a good night's rest, which was a rather odd feeling.
When Ianto opened his eyes he groaned.
There were the instruments again which were supposed to turn him into a Cyberman. His natural curiosity turning against him Ianto studied the appliances closer. At first the syringe caught his attention. The liquid inside was of a light blue. Strange enough, Ianto wondered what exact colour it was. He would not call it an ice blue, but it sure was not turquoise either as it did not have a touch of green.
It's hard to tell in the twilight anyway, Ianto concluded, forcing himself to take his mind off this question. Instead he focused on the other tools. The one that appeared to be a laser also looked like a drill with its spiral head, but it seemed to be too big to be meant for drilling. Aside from that there was the arm holding several scissor shaped blades. They glinted ominously in the low light. Finally Ianto looked at the circular saw, about six inches in diameter, and counted the teeth.
Sixty-two.
"Mr. Jones?"
Ianto's heart skipped a beat.
Bloody hell! A female voice! Slightly distorted, though.
"Hello? Who's there?"
"I'm Virginia Logan!" she answered him. "I was in the accounts department."
Seemingly from out of empty space her voice waved over to Ianto. It was kind of surreal to suddenly hear from her. She sounded tired and a little artificial.
"I heard that you worked here, too," she said. "When you were talking with David."
"Yes, I did," Ianto replied, still pretty perplexed by her sudden attempt at communication. Actually she seemed to shout to reach him. Probably she was several conversion chambers away. "I worked in Information Retrieval!"
"With Dr. Markham, right?"
"Yeah!" Ianto could not keep his surprise out of his voice.
"I know because I worked the payrolls," Virginia said. "I…" She groaned.
"Are you okay?" he asked only to berate himself a second later, Stupid question, Ianto!
"No… n-not rrreally."
"Where are you, Virginia?"
"I-I'm stuck in this machine, Mr. Jones,"
Ianto chuckled.
"Don't you think we should just call each other by our first names in this situation?" he suggested. "I would feel bloody awkward if I'd call you Mrs. Logan."
His question died away on its way through the storey. For quite a while Ianto did not hear anything from Virginia. When she finally spoke he had to strain to understand her.
"Hurt… I… hurt."
"Where?" Ianto queried worriedly. That her voice did not sound quite clear already was a bad sign. That she seemed to be injured certainly meant that the machine had already started the upgrade process when it was interrupted.
"My… leg," Virginia moaned. "It's… that thing, it… I don't know… it's cold… and… hurts."
Suddenly Ianto was reminded of Lisa. She had looked so different from the other Cybermen. The upgrade did not convert her into a full metal man but had grafted bionic parts directly on her body. Ianto suspected that the same happened to Virginia. His wild imagination provided him with a clear picture of her leg being augmented with armour and wires.
That thought made him sick. Seeing himself upgraded like Lisa upset him further.
Coughing he tried to fight his nausea.
Don't throw up! Whatever comes, don't throw up!
"Ianto…?" she called out, her voice vibrating with anxiety.
Ianto felt compelled to answer, "I'm so sorry, Virginia," he wept. "I wish I could help you!"
"I… it's okay. I know you're caught up at the moment."
Her bitter laugh sent chills down Ianto's spine. The truth of her words sank in and corded up his throat.
"Um… Virginia," Ianto asked tentatively. "Why didn't you talk earlier? Were you scared?"
"I… must've been… unconscious." There was a pause. "I… was woken up by screams…"
I believe that at once, Ianto thought. They were loud enough.
"After that, I… must've lost consciousness…."
"Your accent is not from here," Ianto said, intending to distract her. "Where are you from, Virginia?"
"Originally I'm from Edinburgh, but I grew up in the United States." She moaned.
Ianto sensed that she was struggling to maintain her composure and so, if he was honest, was he. So he prodded her a little, "Tell me more about yourself."
"We… lived all over the United States, Florida, North Carolina… New Jersey…"
Talking must be difficult for her, Ianto thought.
"Came back here for… a guy… big mistake. Then I joined Torchwood. Where are you from?"
"I'm from Wales myself," Ianto told her. "From Newport."
"I see. I've… never been in Wales. Did you… always live there?"
Ianto could not help but smile as he heard honest interest in her question. "Yeah. I grew up there. Didn't get far out of Wales, though. London's the farthest."
"Oh, really?"
She seemed surprised.
"Yeah…" For a moment Ianto thought about that. "Well, I was on a short trip to Brittany once… with my girl… friend."
He trailed off. The mention of Lisa hit him like a fist in the stomach and he gasped for breath. His insides constricted with grief as memories surfaced that he was not prepared for. Forcefully he pushed them back and hoped to distract her as he croaked, "What's the farthest you were away from here?"
"Hmmm… Australia and New Zealand. I was there on a six-month trip… with my former… fiancé." She rather spat the last word. "Uuuuuugh!"
Hearing her groan like that tightened the knot in Ianto's stomach and he asked, "The pain?"
"Yeah… Thought it would lessen, but… oooooh."
"I'm sorry…"
His words seemed so inadequate. Being sorry did not help one bit. Neither of them, but especially not her. While Ianto still racked his mind over whether he should apologize for apologizing she spoke again.
"Don't… don't get me wrong, but… you're just stuck, right?"
Ianto grimaced. She was right, he was tempted to get her wrong. The word just rankled him, even though he knew quite well what she meant.
"I'm not injured," he said in the end. "I'm sorry that you are."
"It's getting… a little better now… So… you have a girlfriend?"
At that a sob escaped Ianto.
Clearly startled Virginia called out, "What did I say?"
Even though he did not want to talk about it Ianto sensed that it had to get out. Otherwise it would slowly suffocate him. It already corded up his throat painfully and it would get worse. Still he did not quite know how to start.
"Lisa…" he choked. "She… was caught up in battle with me. She…" Tears spilled out again. "She was… led in… right before me."
"Oh, my God!" Virginia wheezed. "I'm sorry."
She fell silent, probably with regret for asking.
Ianto was glad. He was not in the mood to talk anymore. In vain he tried to chase away the terrifying pictures of Cyber-Lisa. He had to sort his own mind and emotions before he could take on distracting Virginia from her pain. For now Ianto appreciated the settling silence. It fell over the storey like a shroud.
tbc…
