Chapter Nine
"You don't understand!" pleaded Ianto. "He isn't dead. He can't die!"
The attending paramedic shook his head, irritated that he had to speak English. "He flat lined over 20 minutes ago," he said while packing away his last bit of equipment. Taking a second look at Ianto, the attending was also bothered that a man who a few minutes ago had a large gash in his head and other injuries was animated and talking like a massive explosion hadn't just happened. "We did what we could. You're welcome to follow the body in the coroner's transport." The paramedic was going to walk away but stopped to stand close to Charlye and let his words drop down her exposed cleavage. Pointing not so subtly back to Ianto then lightly caressing her bandaged arm, he said, "Il capte rien! Maintenant jolie fille , si vous avez besoin d' aide supplémentaire , je serais heureux d'offrir personnelle , les soins de suivi (He's stupid! Now if you need some additional assistance lady, I would be happy to offer personal, follow up care)."
"Va te faire foutre! (Go fuck yourself)," Charlye responded in a low growl.
The paramedic walked away grumbling to himself but Ianto could have cared. "We have to find Jack's body."
Despite her fearlessness to the paramedic's advances, Charlye was badly hurt and grateful she wasn't dead. "If you hadn't fallen on me, I would have . . .. You should be hurt too. Are you immortal like Jack?"
Ianto noted his torn suit jacket and wondered how much or how many times he could cheat death. "I can't think about that now – I have to stay focused," he thought to himself. He had to protect her first – that what Jack would have wanted. "Not exactly." He pulled out his mobile to call Chief Inspector Andy. "I've going to get you somewhere safe then I've got to find Jack's body," he said while waiting for Andy to answer. "He's going to need me when he wakes up."
Andy told Ianto that he could arrange for one his French contacts to personally transport Charlye to Cardiff. "The truth Ianto," asked Andy, "how bad is the business?"
"It's likely intergalactic."
Ianto got the information from the other paramedic to locate the coroner's office so when Andy's contact picked up Charlye, Ianto headed straight to there in an Uber. It was busy inside as the blast had taken out many people both in and surrounding the Charlye's apartment building. Waving his wedding ring and indicating that he and Jack were in a pacte civil de solidarité (civil partnership) quickly got him to where the bodies were temporarily being stored and to the deceased personal items. He was able to access the latter first, which was only Jack's vortex manipulator and the long coat. Initially, Ianto didn't question why the latter was heavier than usual as he was anxious to get to Jack before he woke up and freaked out some poor assistant trying to do an unnecessary autopsy. There were rows and rows of bodies in black bags with identification tags taped to them. Shuttering inwardly, he hesitated, realizing this was the second time it could have been him in one of those bags – was it gratitude or relief he was feeling now? He pushed past this existential moment and found "number 76 out of 103". Quickly, he bent down and unzipped the bag – it wasn't Jack.
Ianto was furious and stormed back to the clerk who originally gave him the number, showed him a picture of Jack from Ianto's mobile – a pic from the wedding. "But Monsieur Jones, that is the right number! I packed the body myself," pleaded the clerk.
"And that isn't Jack Harkness in that bag," Ianto screamed while dragging the man to the #76. Ianto ripped open the bag and showed the frighten man. "Are you blind?!"
The frighten little man began ripping open the bags of bodies surrounding that one, hoping that he had simply misplaced the numbers. "I'm so sorry Monsieur!" he cried out.
A supervisor came up as she noticed the other family members becoming concerned their loved ones too might be mislabeled. "It is okay everyone! Please, stay calm." She charged toward Ianto, intending on taking control of the situation. "Monsieur, you must lower your voice," the supervisor chided Ianto. "You are upsetting the others. We will find your . . .."
Ianto brushed her aside and stormed out. He reckoned Jack had crawled away somehow and was never taken to the coroner's. He would go back to the explosion site and look for him. Entering the revolving door to exit the building, he was caught by Jack's smell – that scent that started this maddening relationship in the first place. Once outside, he frantically turned the corner that looked down an auxiliary street away from sight, leaned against the wall then drew the coat close to his face and inhaled deeply. Doing this only increased his panic. What if in giving me his blood he woke up but couldn't remember who he was? Jack could be in some hospital somewhere, lost, not knowing what is going on. Or maybe he really is . . .. Ianto gripped the coat tighter and the weight of it finally registered. He pulled it from his face and began to examine the outside. He checked the outside pockets and found a folded, slightly torn photograph of Tosh and Owen but that was it. Ianto's stuck his hand within an inside pocket and pulled out something metallic. It was a Dalek arm. "Ah fuck."
Ianto put the object back in the coat pocket and pulled out his mobile. He called Gwen. "You two were supposed to be back here hours ago!"
"Jack's missing. I think he's been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped? By terrorists?"
"No, worse. Daleks."
"Shit!" she was in the conference room with the others. "I'm going to put you on viewer." Gwen switched systems so he was on screen with everyone. "Can you hear and see us?"
"Yes," Ianto replied. "Gwen, I've gotta go find him before they, they do something terrible to him?"
"How did this happen?" asked Martha. "We heard of another explosion – another 100+ people killed?"
"Yes, I know. We were there."
"What?" asked Rhys. "Are you okay? I mean there isn't a scratch on you!"
"Yes, no, never mind that," Ianto dismissed. "Jack's out here somewhere and I have to find him."
Aliyah knew she needed to gain some control of the situation before Ianto completely unraveled. "Ianto, tell us exactly what happened. How do you know it's Daleks?"
Ianto took a deep breath then explained what happened. "Charlye was the only survivor of Torchwood Paris and Jack wanted to bring her back to the Hub, keep her safe." At that moment, Gwen's mobile rang with Andy on the other line – Gwen left the room to coordinate a safe handoff. "I found this Dalek part in Jack's pocket. He must have found it at the first explosion site."
"Things are starting to make sense now," concluded the rabbi. "Ianto, you brought us the last piece of the puzzle." She typed something on her tablet then brought it as a split image on the holoscreen along with Ianto's. "I think I know where Jack is and if I'm right, both he and the world are in grave danger." The image was the puzzle pieces the staff had worked with earlier. As she offered the solutions, she shifted the pieces, "The Daleks have been trying to take over Earth for centuries."
"And The Doctor always stops them," Martha interjected.
"Yes," Aliyah responded, "And that's why this time, they're trying a different angle." She added their name to the puzzle. "They are trying to take over again but this time, to keep The Doctor out of the picture, by having us kill each other." She let that sink in and then continued, "By supporting every hate group all over the world, they can get us to kill each other off fast and more efficiently than an invasion that risks their lives."
"What? That's insane!" said Gwen who had returned to the room. "How do you know this?"
Aliyah sighed, "Sarah's information confirmed that every group considered as 'benevolent' to their own kind, from the Klan in the US and FARC in Colombia to ISIS in the Middle East and Aum Shinrikyo in Japan, has been either escalating their violent attacks or growing their master race all in effort to destabilize and overthrow national governments."
"There are liberals in America and Europe who've been saying that shit for decades now," Mickey replied.
"True, but I got a call from a Mossad friend of mine – told me of a raid at the headquarters of a liberal group in Israel, Meretz, where they found enough weaponry for a small army and plans for bombing of an upcoming session of the Knesset. My contacts across numerous secret service groups have confirmed such similar findings across all types of activist groups, liberal AND conservative alike - the 99%ers, Green Peace, the anarchists, etc.," Aliyah dropped her head in shame.
"Okay, so everyone's wants to have a violent revolution," Rhys interjected, "now what?"
Martha interrupted, "But the Daleks, or more likely Darvos, is doing more than just giving some alien weapons to both sides. He's also experimenting with human DNA, trying to grow superhumans. It isn't working. They are able to get the multiple births with in vitro fertilization but where ever they were doing the fetal experiments must not have the necessary consistent gravity – that's what causing the deformities. NASA had the same results from their conception experiments on the International Space Station – nasty parasite looking creatures who often died within hours of 'birth'."
"This is not helping me find Jack!" said an inpatient Ianto.
"Jack is likely in the expanse where Darvos his hiding his dirty business," replied Aliyah. "Ianto, do you have Jack's vortex manipulator?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Because it is likely that whoever took him needed him to stay put. So before taking his body, they tossed it aside," Aliyah took in a long breath, then said, "If what Martha and I suspect is correct, Davros thinks by using Jack's blood, he can override the gravity problem and create the master human monsters to kill off the regular ones – make the race war move along a bit faster."
"So how do we save him?"
Sarah took over from Aliyah, "Martha, wait for Jack's friend and tend to her wounds. Aliyah and I have developed the necessary equipment to enter and function effectively in the expanse. Mickey and I are going to use our wrist bands to teleport to your location. The modified equipment will allow us to get into the rift expanse we found near the Torchwood Paris HQ site. It is likely Jack is there."
"I'm going too," said Gwen. "Rhys, be a dear and pick up Charlye from the airport for me?"
"Done," Rhys replied. "It will give me a chance to show the baby off to Andy. He really has to get off his ass and go ahead with asking that waitress l to marry him." Before he left the room, he grabbed at Gwen's arm and whispered, "Be positive, for Ianto's sake." She nodded weakly.
Gwen, Sarah, and Mickey found an anxious Ianto Jones sitting in the open café where they agreed to meet. They entered from an alley around the corner as Sarah felt that was better not to materialize in some public place. Gwen sat next to Ianto, offering sympathetic massage on his shoulder that caused him to raise his eyes to hers – she had never seen him so worried, not even when they faced the 456. "Jack's been in tougher straights than this and come back to us," realizing mid-sentence that her words were wholly inadequate.
"He had his full powers of immortality then," Ianto spat. "The idiot gave some of his blood to me and now who knows if he had enough to endure whatever cruelty Davros has designed." To Mickey, he asked, "Did anyone get a hold of that Doctor?"
"He's not in this time line," Mickey said reluctantly. "It will take some time before our message gets to him and even if it does, I'm not sure we can count on him right now. From Martha's last contact, the loss of Clara has sent him on one of his emotional spirals. He's always difficult to reach when he loses a companion."
Ianto growled, started to say something but Sarah interrupted. She firmly grasped Ianto's forearm and looked at him directly, "We don't need him – we are going to do this ourselves. It is our mission." Although Sarah had never cared for Jack, she had developed a fondness for Ianto. She also appreciated the powerful attachment, a need coming from every cell in your body, to keep that person safe and near you at all times. Sarah and Aliyah had had their fair share of scraps with both aliens and humans. And Sarah knew that the price of Aliyah's immortality was that the latter felt the pain and terror of death and dismemberment three times more keenly than any other creature in the galaxy. If it was Aliyah in Davros' clutches, Sarah would be as frantic as Ianto was now. However, Sarah's Mossad training had taught her how to channel these feelings, making her an effective warrior thus increasing the likelihood of success – she promised Aliyah, before parting for this mission, that when everyone got back she was going to teach Ianto how to do the same.
"Serveur! Quatre tasses d'eau chaude et du citron , s'il vous plait. (Waiter! Four cups of hot water and lemon, please.)", Sarah shouted in French.
"Do we have time for this?" questioned Gwen.
"There is always time for good preparation," Sarah responded as she dug into her backpack. She pulled out a paper bag with four prefilled tea ball infusers. "This is Brahmi, Bacopa monnieri, a plant commonly used in Eastern Indian Ayurvedic medicine." The waiter brought the hot cups and Sarah put the infuser in each then squeezed the lemon in each one. "Brahmi is traditionally used to improve brain functioning. The IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, have been experimenting and perfecting this blend for a decade now."
Everyone took a sip of the unexpectedly sweet herb. "Its effects come quickly," said Mickey as he looked around him and noticing details in the environment he hadn't previously.
"In its natural, purified form it acts as an adaptogen; which means it helps the body adapt to new or stressful situations," Sarah continued. She took a capsule from a small pouch in the same bag and bit into it. She grabbed Ianto's face and turned it to her, squeezing his mouth open. She came toward him as if to kiss but instead blew into his mouth like someone offering pot smoke shotgun. Ianto head fell back and as he slowly sat upright, a fierce continence fell from his head down his body, transforming him like a controlled Hulk emergence. "The IDF's results allow soldiers to go into places and complete complex tasks where others would run or fall apart," Sarah explained.
Gwen's natural empathic feelings were enhanced so she heard the thoughts of the girl sitting behind her. Gwen turned around and said to young woman, "Darling, I know it is none of my business but you really should drop him if you feel THAT way about his brother!" The woman, obviously understanding enough English to get the gist of Gwen's comments, stormed away from the table, grabbing her partner's arm and steering him away from the café. Gwen, shocked at her behavior and having a bit of trouble blocking out the thoughts of the other patrons, became concerned at the looks of a Ianto Jones who now seemed as if he would and could burrow through the concrete with his bare hands if he knew Jack was underneath. "What are the side effects of this stuff?"
"Your concentrations aren't strong enough to cause much more than a headache or some fatigue," Sarah said nonchalantly, repacking her bag. "What I gave Ianto is a more concentrated form that went straight to his brain via his nasal passages. When it wears off, he'll likely sleep hard for at least 24 hours but I doubt he'll have any lasting problems."
Eyes darkened, Ianto fixed his gaze like an Olympic running envisioning the finish line. Under his torn suit jacket, shirt and vest caked in mud and dust, his muscles were taunt and set. His mind was no longer agitated but resolute – no longer worried whether or not they would rescue Jack in time. "Tell me the plan."
