Chapter 10: Why Do They Keep Killing Suzie?

Ianto had thought that when Suzie shot herself it was over. He had liked Suzie, they had been friends so today had been more than a little difficult for him. It had all started this morning when the team were called out to a crime scene in the suburbs. When they got back they were talking about something called Pilgrim and RETCON, he hadn't gone with them on this one as Janet had decided to go a little crazy this morning but as Jack wanted him to get more involved in active cases he had joined them in the boardroom for their briefing. As he sat down Owen decided to theorise about all of the people they have ever retconned going psychotic. He paled at the thought, he was personally responsible for signing out RETCON from the stores so if everyone they gave it to became dangerous, he was partially responsible for that.

He wasn't in the room when Gwen made her argument about the team using the glove to help in this case, watching her use it, he couldn't help but compare her to Suzie, he had helped Suzie with her experiments, timing the resurrections and looking after her when the physical drain form when she overdid it with the glove because too much, they were friends. now Gwen was trying to take her place and it wasn't right. the glove was Suzie's and Gwen should know that she had no right to use it. Even the name that he gave them "The Risen Mitten" had been one that he and Suzie came up with one night when they had been totally sloshed in the HUB. She had tried to kiss him that night and he had accidentally told her about Lisa, but rather than turning him in or using it to blackmail him as he expected her to do she had helped him. Just as he took care of her when she was physically exhausted from using the glove, she took care of him when he was emotionally exhausted from caring for Lisa. During his suspension he had wished for his friend, he thought that she would know what to say to make him feel better, she always did.

So even though he was impressed by Gwen's natural affinity with the glove she could never be a match for Suzie. With Suzie there had been none of the gasping and tensing as she made a connection, Suzie's control had been masterful and he had loved to watch her work, she always got much more information out of them as well, somehow knowing just what to say to calm a person down. As the last of their witnesses died for the last time he said Suzie's name, Ianto refused to believe that Suzie would be involved with this, even though she had killed people and had obviously not been entirely open with him he refused to think poorly of her now.

"Suzie wouldn't go to that support group bollocks"
"How would you know, were you friends? any of you? who was her best friend in this place?"
"Me" Ianto stepped up "if she was involved with Pilgrim it could have only been her Wednesday night thing, she told me she was ringing her Dad but she was always a bit vague about why it took all night."
Though he thought that maybe he should be there, he had decided not to join the team at the lock up containing Suzie's belongings, he had been the one who had to pack it all up in the first place and it had nearly destroyed him seeing his friend's life reduced to a pile of boxes, he couldn't bring himself to face it all again.

Tosh didn't want to be there when they resurrected Suzie, and while he knew that Jack was expecting him to leave the room as well rather than running away like Tosh did Ianto had stood at the back of the room watching as Gwen tried to pull his friend back into life.

"Life Knife" he had been a little more reluctant to say this name, as he knew what they were going to do with it, it was another of the names Suzie came up with and as Jack plunged it into her chest, Ianto stood at her side, holding her hand and watching as she took in her first, painful lung full of air.
"Suzie, Suzie Look at me"
Rather than focusing on Jack, Suzie had looked straight at Ianto, he squeezed her hand and she turned back to the captain, only to yell at him until she fell unconscious a minute later. he stayed holding her hand, trying to alleviate some of her fear. Lying on the autopsy table her eyelids moved in the same way that they had when she had a nightmare while she was alive, she seemed to suffer from them much more in the days before her death: perhaps out of guilt.

He watched from the observation station as Jack questioned Suzie, she just looked tired, no that was wrong, she looked dead. He listened intently, trying to learn something which would divorce her from responsibility from these new murders at least. he was happy to listen until she told Jack that she had gone to Max because she had no one to talk to, he was on his feet and through the door before he could stop himself and was yelling at her before he was down the stairs.
"No one to talk to? what about me? I told you everything!"
"Ianto" she looked up at him with pleading eyes "I'm sorry"
"Yan" Jack put his hands on Ianto's arms, preventing from coming any further into the room "is now really the time, we have a killer to catch"
"Give me five minutes Jack, I'll get you what you need"

When Jack and Gwen had left the room Ianto took a seat next to his friend. "Suz, why couldn't you talk to me? I told you everything, why couldn't you do the same?"
"Because Ianto, the worst thing you ever did was love someone too much, I killed people, I killed them to get better results with the bloody glove" she was crying now "Just because you trusted me about Lisa doesn't mean that I was going to tell you that I'm a monster" she realised her slip.
"Oh god, they're still recording...Lisa.. I didn't mean to"
he took her hand "It's fine, they know"
"But"
"Dr Tanazaki, the one you helped me find, he came here and helped her, she could breathe without the life support and.. he choked on the tears which were threatening. "she killed people Suz, Dr. Tanazaki, a pizza girl and Jack"
"Oh, Ianto I'm sorry" he found himself pulled into a hug "...wait did you say she killed Jack? I killed Jack. Ianto, how is it that everyone keeps killing Jack but he's still here?" he pulled away from the hug
"yeah, Jack can't die. well he can he just doesn't stay that way. And before you ask I don't know how" There was quiet for a few minutes as Suzie cursed Jack and muttered 'poor bastard'
"Suzie we really need to know about this Max" she took the piece of paper from the table and wrote down everything she knew about him, which wasn't really a lot but it was something to go on at least. he stood to leave and she held onto his hand.
"Ianto, you're okay aren't you, not lonely"
"no, I've been well I..."
"you didn't give in to Jack at last did you"
Ianto flushed and mumbled "sort of", Suzie burst out laughing "God Ianto, I was kidding but hey, good for you. So is he really as good as the stories say?"
"I can hear you" Jack's voice singsonged over the comms and Ianto's blushed crimson"Yan, if you're done gossiping with Suzie I could really use that information. he stood, flushed again, kissed Suzie goodbye and made his way to Jack's office to hand over the sheet of information.

The rest of the day passed quickly, Suzie locked them in, kidnapped Gwen and Jack killed her, and at some point Ianto had managed to make Jack angry with him. While Jack was confronting Suzie on the pier, he had been on the comms begging Jack not to kill Suzie, surely they could figure out a way to keep both her and Gwen alive? But Jack had chosen Gwen and Ianto had some making up to do. He prepped Suzie to be frozen because he knew how Jack hated it and also he wanted it to be done with a little love. But then he was left standing there, babbling about the things you could do with stopwatches and Jack turned that winning smile onto him and he knew he must have said something right – inwardly Ianto grinned that he could seduce Jack while babbling about a timepiece. Satisfied, he arrived at Jack's office with a minute to spare, and by the next morning he was sure he'd undone any of the damage he'd done to their relationship yesterday.