Chapter 6 The Aftermath
Jack and Owen sat disconsolately at Ianto's and Gwen's work stations, a glass of whiskey in each of their hands. Toshiko sat at her computer, fingers flying furiously as she attempted to hack into Heathrow's Flight Schedules. She was trying to find Ianto's name against all the flight manifestos that she could call up. There were so many planes leaving Heathrow for all parts of the world.
After half an hour of Toshiko working feverishly to find Ianto's name, she found it. His name came up on a flight manifesto. He was flying to the United States, New York to be exact. Unfortunately, by the time she got the information, the plane had already departed. Toshiko burst into tears and huddled over her keyboard, sobbing into her arms.
Jack and Owen guessed what had happened. Jack just stared without seeing anything, to the far wall of the Hub where the sign Torchwood blazed out at him. His face was drawn and haggard, his mouth set in a hard line.
Owen got up and walked over to Tosh, bent over her chair and placed his arms tightly around her shoulders. As his own tears began to fall, he murmured soft assurances to his broken team mate, no more convinced of them than she was. But he didn't know what else to do.
Jack couldn't face going down to his bunker with all the memories … the scent of his beloved Welshman still lingering there, locked into every part of his room. When he noticed Toshiko's head drooping with fatigue, he persuaded her to go over to the couch. Then when Toshiko laid down on the couch, he proceeded to cover her tenderly with blankets. She had not wanted to leave the Hub.
Owen appeared up from the storage rooms. He had grabbed a couple of mattresses for himself and Jack which he laid in whatever space he could find on the Hub floor. He didn't want to leave Toshiko. He honestly didn't care too much about Jack. Eventually he fell asleep. Jack laid awake until the early hours of the morning, then a disturbed and restless sleep replaced the deep pain and burning memories in his heart.
Gwen was inconsolable in her mother's arms. Her parents looked tired and exhausted. They decided they would handle the finances of the wedding, paying off all the bills. Rhys' parents had refused to lift a finger to help, blaming their daughter for the disasterous wedding ... and their son leaving. Gwen's parents understood and accepted the responsibility.
Geraint Cooper answered an early morning call at 4.15 a.m. It was from Barry Cooper, Rhys' father who was howling down the end of the line in grief. Geraint felt sick as the man related to him the tragedy that had occurred half an hour ago. Rhys' cousin Daffyd Williams had picked him up from Heathrow Airport and then taken him to an all night café for a quick bite and a cuppa. They had then travelled through the streets of London for a tiki tour for Rhys, before continuing on their way to Sittingbourne in Kent. Five minutes after Daffyd's bright red Mini had entered the motorway, a truck driver in the north bound lane to London lost control of his vehicle and flipped it over … right onto the Mini in the south bound lane. The occupants of the Mini were killed instantly. The driver was a bit scratched and bruised. Apparently he had dozed off at the wheel.
Geraint immediately woke his wife, Mary to break the horrific news to her. She immediately sobbed in his arms then got up to accompany him as they went into the guest room where their daughter was restlessly tossing and turning in her sleep.
Geraint gently woke her up. Having only been in a light sleep, Gwen woke instantly and saw the tear-streaked faces of her parents holding each other and staring down sadly at her.
"What the hell has happened? What's wrong?" Gwen cried out, her eyes widening with fear. She paled as she waited for her father to gather himself before replying.
Geraint whispered hoarsely, "I'm sorry, Gwen. So terribly sorry. Rhys' father rang. I'm afraid Rhys … and his cousin Daffyd … were killed in a car crash on their way to Kent. A truck in the opposite lane flipped over and landed on top of Daffyd's Mini. They died instantly."
There was a brief moment's pause as Gwen's whole body stiffened in shock; her face paling in disbelief. Then a heart wrenching scream emanated from her throat and the flood gates of grief opened. Gwen's parents immediately sat either side of their daughter and held her as she rocked continuously, screaming out her agony. Neither Gwen nor her parents cared that they were disturbing the peace at such an early hour of the morning. Neighbours awakened by the terrible cries of grief were annoyed, but recognised that now was not the time to lay a complaint. It was obvious that the cries were of grief and should not be disturbed.
At 6.45 a.m. Toshiko's phone rang loud and clear throughout the silent Hub. It took several moments to rouse her. As she shook off the deep slumber she had been in, she grabbed her phone off the arm of the couch and answered. It was Rhiannon.
The phone's melodic ringing had managed to wake both Jack and Owen who just stared sleepily at Toshiko, wondering who the hell was ringing at such an hour. Toshiko's sleepy voice suddenly jerked as understanding crept through her. Her face paled considerably and horror distorted her fine Asian features. "No! No! It can't be! Please! There must be a mistake! It can't be!" Toshiko began to tremble and the phone fell from her hand to the floor, the sound of a distressed Welsh voice yelling into it.
Fully awake, Jack and Owen leapt up from their mattresses. Owen was closest to Toshiko and grabbed the phone off the floor and spoke sharply to the caller. He pushed his hand out to stop Jack from grabbing the phone while he listened to the caller repeat her message. He then paled as Toshiko had done and slumped down to the floor, clicking the phone off. His hands were shaking.
"What the hell was that all about it?" Jack yelled at them, confusion in his face. "Someone! Tell me!"
Toshiko erupted into tears, huge sobs wrenched from her chest as she turned away on the couch to face the wall; away from Owen and Jack, her whole body shaking as her head shook from side to side.
Owen's face was ashen as he stared at Jack. "That was Rhiannon. The plane Ianto was on to New York. It developed engine trouble over the Atlantic. So the airport authorities believe. It crashed into the sea. Another plane heading for England saw the whole thing and reported it to Heathrow. The nearest ship was two hours away. By the time it arrived at the place where the plane went down, there was only some debris found on the surface of the water that they believe was from one of the engines. It must have broken off. There were no survivors."
Jack stiffened in shock, his head throbbing in disbelief and anguish. No! No! It can't be! It just can't be. Like Owen, he collapsed down onto the floor, his head falling into his hands as he began to howl like a lost wolf, an agonised cry of grief torn from his throat. All three members of Torchwood were lost in their separate cocoons of pain; unable to reach out to each other; unable to comfort and help each other.
High above the Hub, Myfanwy sensed their deep grief and screeched out in sympathy with them. She had no way of knowing that her the one member of Torchwood she cared about, her favoured one, had just lost his life. But something deep within her sensed a broken connection inside that she would recognise later on in the day. When she did, Myfanwy would fly out of the Hub and circle the waters of the Bay crying out in her own anguish and grief.
By the middle of the day, the three members of Torchwood team had succumbed to the exhaustive wave of grief that had swept over them. It was more that they all, one by one, fell into a state of unconsciousness, rather than sleep.
They were roused as one, reluctantly as they all chose the abyss of restless, dreamless sleep to hide back in, by the ringing of the main Hub phone. Owen, the most responsive of the trio, pulled himself off the floor and trudged up to Jack's office. Toshiko's back remained resolutely to the wall, though her eyes were open as she stared blankly at the wall above the couch. Jack had sat up, slumped over his knees with his head down, not caring about who was one the other end of the line. The only thing he knew was that it wouldn't be Ianto.
Five minutes later, Owen stepped out onto the landing and gripped the rails, his face twisted in a mask of pain. Jack looked up and wondered what could be worse than the death of his beloved Ianto. Toshiko hadn't looked up, so missed the scenario playing out on the landing.
Slowly, Owen released the rails and trudged back down the stairs to come and stand before Jack and Toshiko. His voice was breaking as he called out softly. "Toshiko! Wake up!" There was something in his voice that caused fear to clench at Toshiko's heart. She turned around to stare at Owen, her eyes wide at the look on his face. Even Jack sat straighter on the floor, waiting to hear what Owen had to say.
Staring down at the floor in front of Jack, tears falling down with gentle plops on the floor, he spoke in a ragged voice. "That was Andy. He rang to tell us … let us know what's happened. Rhys flew in to London last night and was picked up by his cousin, Daffyd. On their way to Kent, a truck overturned on the motorway … and fell on top of Daffyd's vehicle. It was crushed and killed Rhys and Daffyd instantly. Andy is at the Cooper's home helping Gwen's parents deal with Gwen."
A loud wail emitted from Toshiko's lips as her eyes filled with tears. Owen was at her side immediately, cradling her in his arms as they wept into each other's shoulders. Jack's face was white with shock. His voice was shaking as he whispered into the Hub, "No … oh no … no … this can't be. It just can't be. This is too much … too much to bear."
Deep pain clenched his heart and awakened Jack's grief for Ianto. He screamed into the Hub, completely ignored by Toshiko and Owen who could only hold on to each other as if their very lives … their sanity … depended on it.
The only part of Jack's body that seemed to work was his throat as the screams ripped forth and resounded throughout the Hub, startling the Weevils downstairs who felt the shocking grief coming out in waves to them, through their empathic link. They discerned multiple deaths … deep grief … brokenness. They all began to groan and bang at their cells in agitation.
At that very moment, Myfanwy startled awake at the shocking noise beneath her. As she shook the last vestiges of sleep from her head, Myfanwy suddenly discerned what was missing within her empathic link. She realised with whom her connection had been broken. Myfanwy crawled out of her nest and lifting her voice to the roof of the Hub, screamed out her agony and grief. She knew whom she had lost … the favoured one who cared for her above all others … who spent time to talk to her in his strange tongue … who petted her as if she were precious to him. Then she lifted her wings and flew up to the opening, the confines of the Hub too small to bear her terrible grief.
It was the middle of the day and many eyes stared up in shock at the giant bird who flew high above them, screaming into the sky. She soared over the Bay, then headed out over the waters, her heart crying out in pain for her favoured one … lost forever to her.
Many people speculated that day about her identity. Some said it was an albatross, others argued it was a giant eagle. Only one small schoolboy from the local Elementary school peered through his eye-glass and correctly identified her. "That's a Pteranodon" he gasped in amazement, barely able to believe his eyes. He checked and checked many times over, but yes, it was definitely a Pteranodon. He sighed bitterly, realising that no-one would believe him. After all, they were long ago extinct … gone with the dinosaurs and Pterydactyls. But he knew what he saw and he kept that knowledge locked in his heart, even until the end of his days …