Archangel - Chapter Seven

Author: Milady Dragon

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's note: I am so sorry! I meant to update this so long ago, and things happened... :(

Chapter Seven

Ianto felt grateful that Jack had trusted him with this part of the plan.

But, at the same time, a part of him was bothered to be missing the distraction that was currently going on in the lobby of the office building that housed the London branch of Magister Innovations.

Of course, he'd known the moment that the TARDIS had shown up within the range of the alien contact lenses that they would be going in after the time ship. And, because of the contacts, they had the coordinates Tim needed to jaunt them in directly.

And so, Ianto found himself, along with Alexis, teleporting into the lab that the TARDIS had been seen in.

Luckily, the ship was still there, and the laboratory itself was empty. So was the hallway outside, and with a slight burst of his telekinesis Ianto jammed the hermetically sealed door, making certain no one could get in if he and Alexis were seen.

It looked as if someone had been working on something in the lab. All sorts of equipment was strewn about, and a single coil of cable led from a connection to a large computer and into the open door of the TARDIS. A sickly red light shown from within the machine, and Ianto knew that couldn't be right.

In the back of his mind he could hear the running commentary that Elena was giving, letting them know just what Jack was up to. It had been his lover's idea to announce Torchwood, and hope that it would cause a mad scramble that would distract anyone within the building from the two other teams infiltrating the company. Ianto could sense John two floors above, where he, Toshiko, and Paul were working to get any and all files downloaded to Tim before their presence was discovered. Judging from what Elena was sending them no one had realised yet that there were others inside; however, it was also the weekend, which meant a skeleton staff was on duty.

It was why Jack had chosen that particular time to storm the building.

Ianto had expressed concern that they wouldn't be able to get the TARDIS out of there, but Jack had been confident. He'd explained that the ship was alive, and telepathic, and that Ianto could most likely convince her to help him pilot her if she was able to. Ianto had to trust Jack as Jack had trusted him.

His eyes took in the cable, knowing that had to be disconnected first. He was reaching down for it when he heard Alexis call his name.

Ianto turned to look at her, and was surprised to see how pale she was. "What is it?"

"Something's…wrong with her," his friend gasped. "Can't you feel it? The pain?"

To be honest, Ianto had raised his shields all the way, only letting in his fellow Tomorrow People. He'd been afraid of another burst from the Archangel Network – if that was where it had come from, they still had no proof of that – and hadn't wanted to risk being incapacitated this far into enemy territory.

He glanced back at the TARDIS, and withdrew his shields a bit.

Ianto was hit by a sense of pain and sadness that nearly had him crying.

He shook it off. They had to see about getting the time machine to out of there. "Help me," he asked. "We need to disconnect her from whatever she's hooked up to."

Alexis visibly shook herself, and then moved over to where Ianto was attempting to figure out how to pull the cable from the machine. It looked as if it was molded to the ceramic tile, and it took both of them and their telekinesis to finally work it out.

There was a mental sigh from the time machine as the cable came free.

"She's still hurting," Alexis said, "but it's not as bad as before."

Ianto had to agree. "Let's see what's going on inside her, and see if we can fix it."

Together they pushed the TARDIS' doors open, and the feeling of pain nearly overwhelmed them. It was all Ianto could do not to raise his mental shields once more, but he needed to be able to feel the sentience that surrounded them, even as he wept at whatever had been done to her.

The interior of the ship would have been impressive if it didn't look so very wrong. The red light seemed to come from everywhere, and a weak sound like a muffled gong sounded around them as Ianto and Alexis moved toward what had to have been the control console. It must have once been amazing but for the conglomeration of equipment that was it out of shape and had been twisted into something sickening.

"What have they done to you?" Ianto whispered. He might never have seen the inside of the TARDIS, but he could easily imagine how wonderful it would have been without all of this damage.

A soft, mental probe caressed his mind, and even though the TARDIS wasn't actually speaking, she managed to get through to him what all they had been trying to accomplish, communicating in colours, and ideas, and in emotions.

A paradox machine.

Ianto hissed. The TARDIS retreated back into her pain, once she'd gotten her message across. "We have to fix this." He had no idea what someone would want create a paradox for, but it had to be stopped, if just to save the TARDIS any more pain.

Alexis looked determined in the sickly lighting. "It's not right that they've done this to her."

They both nodded in tandem. "Close the doors and see if they can be locked some way." Jack had once shown him his TARDIS key, and realised that whoever had brought the time ship there must have had access to one since they'd been able to get inside. Perhaps they'd stolen the Doctor's.

The young woman trotted back to the doors, and Ianto heard them shut. He moved closer to the console, his eyes tracing the wires and tubing and everything that had been connected to it. He also felt it out with his telekinesis, hoping to find some sort of weakness they could exploit, all the while wondering just what someone would gain by trying to convert a time and space ship into a paradox machine.

"The door is locked," Alexis said, joining him. "At least I hope so." Her eyes squinted as she also took in the mass of equipment before them. "What are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing I can think of." Ianto smirked as he reached out with his power and began ripping pieces away from the console.

Alexis whooped, and followed his example. As they worked, the TARDIS began to sing; at first it was a disharmonious sound, echoing in Ianto's head like a distortion. But, the more they removed, the clearer the song became, and he found himself dropping his shields entirely in order to hear her better.

He could feel the TARDIS looking into him as they worked, and he allowed it, knowing she meant no harm. He gladly showed her his memories, and he felt it as the time ship recognised Jack in his thoughts, letting her see his love for the immortal man.

She approved.

In return, the TARDIS let Ianto see into her own mental matrix. She showed him what had happened back on the Gamestation; how a well-meaning Rose Tyler had taken things too far and had made Jack immortal instead of only bringing him back the once. Ianto felt her sorrow at what had been done to her beloved Captain, and her despair of him ever gaining a normal life once more.

Ianto didn't know he was weeping until Alexis asked him what was wrong.

He dashed the tears from his eyes. "I'll be fine," he told her. "Let's get this finished."

The lighting in the control room was gradually fading into normal, the lurid red glow leaching away as they destroyed the paradox machine that had been forced onto the TARDIS. The mournful gong also ceased sounding, and the singing surrounded them, echoes of joy teasing through their minds. Ianto couldn't help but smile as they released the TARDIS from her torment, and he could see Alexis doing the same even as he felt her fierceness.

The ship sang her thanks to them, but there was also worry in the celestial music that prompted Ianto to ask her what was wrong. The barrage of sensation was too strong for him to comprehend, and as soon as she realised that the TARDIS slowed down, and he was able to digest what she was trying to tell him.

There had been a malfunction, and she had inadvertently travelled to the end of Time itself, to a dead world populated with the remnants of the human race. A good man turned into a renegade Time Lord who had stolen her and had stranded her true master and his Companion in the far-flung future, at the mercy of a cannibalistic race that had overrun the world they'd been abandoned on.

Ianto was shocked to recognise the Time Lord who had taken the TARDIS and had attempted to twist her into something unnatural. Perhaps that explained a few things…

The telling of her tale took only seconds, so quickly was the information transfer between ship and Tomorrow Person.

"I know where the Doctor is," he told Alexis, explaining to her what the TARDIS had conveyed to him.

"That explains why John didn't sense him in the area," the girl replied. "He's only like trillions of years in the future."

"And it's going to be up to us to save him." Ianto rested his hands on the cleaned console, and the TARDIS' song got stronger.

"How are we going to do that? Unless you know how to fly her?"

"I don't, no. But Jack was hoping that I'd be able to convince the TARDIS to show me how, and she's willing, only Jack wanted us to pilot her to the Hub."

Alexis grinned. "Looks like we're gonna be taking a detour to the future?"

He returned the grin. "I think that's in the cards, yes."

"That is so cool. I've never been out of this time zone. I was getting a bit jealous of the stories about working with the Time Guardians!"

Ianto smiled, thinking of the Time Guardians, the beings that eventually evolved from Homo Superior and replaced the Time Lords. "Don't feel bad; I never got to travel in time, either. So this will be a first for both of us."

With that, Ianto welcomed the sentient time ship into his own mind.

The TARDIS was all around him, inside him, a part of him, and Ianto could see more than he'd ever thought possible. Every bit of her was there for him to touch, and he laughed in delight at everything he was being shown.

Without thinking about it, he let his hands stroke the controls, the TARDIS showing him what he needed to do to pilot her through the time vortex. It was a heady experience; he could feel the vortex surrounding them, even though he knew that it was the TARDIS experiencing it, and she was simply telegraphing those sensations to him.

There was so much more to the TARDIS than what could be seen with the naked eye. Her mind was so complicated, and Ianto knew it would take him centuries to experience everything. Her lifeforce was near overpowering, and it wrapped him up in a blanket of calm as she gave him the coordinates he would need to reach her abandoned master and his companion.

"Ianto!" Alexis was shouting his name, and he could barely hear her over the song the TARDIS was singing to him. He glanced up at her from his work at the console, and she was staring at him in awe. "Your eyes are glowing," she exclaimed.

Ianto found a shiny area of the TARDIS console, and saw that she was right: his eyes were, indeed glowing, golden smoke swirling within their formerly blue depths. He couldn't help but smile at the sight. "It's fine," he reassured her. "The TARDIS' mind has merged with mine. It's just long enough for us to get to where we're going." He went back to work, moving around the control console, feeling as if he'd done this thousands of times before. "Once the Doctor is back on board, I'm certain he'll be more than glad to take over once more."

There was a small part of him that didn't want to lose this connection. The TARDIS' mind reminded him of being around the Sophostrians, aliens of pure thought, and of the sharing that had been like melding with a force of the Universe. The comparison was apt; the TARDIS was a creature of Time, and could harness that elemental energy to power herself throughout all of time and space.

It was also that same energy that had made Jack immortal, even as it also bound Ianto to the TARDIS' enormous mind, giving him what he needed to have in order to achieve their goals.

That energy tingled in every cell of his body, and expanded his mind outward. It was a gift to him, for aiding in the rescue of the Doctor, and for taking care of her Captain. Ianto knew the changes to his mind wouldn't last, but anything physical…that would linger.

He thanked the TARDIS, even as he was terrified by the implications.

The time ship shuddered, and with a powerful lurch it came to a halt. Ianto used the TARDIS' communication system to check their surroundings, and what he saw outside had him acting quickly.

"Alexis," he ordered, "open the door. The Doctor and Martha Jones are outside, and they're trying to hold off the aliens. They won't be able to do it much longer, but if they let go they'll be taken down almost immediately."

"I'm on it." In fact, she'd already moved to the door, and had flung it open. Ianto could actually sense the telekinesis she was bringing to bear on the door that the Doctor and his companion were desperately trying to close. "Hurry! I can't hold it for too much longer!"

The Doctor looked confused and shocked and every emotion in between, but he grabbed Martha by the arm and dragged her toward the TARDIS. "Who are you?" he demanded as he brushed past Alexis and into the TARDIS.

Alexis slammed the door shut. "Get us out of here, Ianto!"

She didn't have to ask twice.