9.

"You can't be serious!"

Gwen frowned, fighting against the mist of unconsciousness, and groaned when it felt like she was losing.

"... childish, Captain!"

"It's your fault this situation ended the way it did! I think it's time that Torchwood ..."

Jack's voice. She tried to open her eyes but felt incredibly weak, like something just sapped all strength out of her.

"... a diplomatic solution." This man's voice was vaguely familiar. Calm, self-confident and smooth. She trusted that voice.

A woman said, "I agree."

"Without a doubt, we can't repeat the mistake we just made."

Furiously, the man that had been yelling before answered, "No mistakes were made! We didn't have all the information ..."

Gwen coughed and rolled her head to the side, towards the voices. A cool breeze brushed through her fringe and over her cheek and she shivered. The skin of her cheeks felt like it always did after she'd had a huge row with Rhys, after she'd cried a lot. Had she cried?

"You're not making the decision here, Captain. And neither are you, Harold. With all due respect, I'm still Prime Minister."

What was going on?

She opened her eyes a crack and saw blurred figures, dark against bright lights. She blinked, realizing suddenly that she was sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV and that the voices were drifting inside through the slightly open window. Coleman was the first one she recognized, standing there, staring at the SUV and rubbing his neck. Even slightly overweight, he looked wrung-out and pale, just like UNIT London head General Pizano, who was leaning back against the wall, her arms crossed. Jack had his back to her, his shoulders tense under his coat and his hands on his hips. Saxon and Nowak were standing to both sides of him like bodyguards, shielding the SUV from Coleman, Pizano and the yelling, imposing soldier, who stood next to Coleman. The memory of what had happened slowly returned and Gwen wondered how long she'd been unconscious. A glance at the clock on the dashboard told her that it was just after midnight, so not too long.

She turned her attention back to the argument outside the car, the bright floodlights hurting her eyes.

Coleman shook his head. "Doesn't make much sense to deny that what happened here is the perfect picture of Bedlam."

Jack replied, "It's called emotional warfare. It will be, at least."

Coleman looked at him. "What will happen when he wakes up?"

"Nothing," Jack answered. "Not as long as we keep the injections up. Trouble is that they will only work for a while before he gets immune. They're usually used to support training, not to stop something like this. You want to do permanent damage to an empath, you do it with something else."

"Why can't we do that then?"

"Because it would destroy everything resembling emotion." Jack's voice was tight and Gwen could just imagine his angry scowl. "You want to turn him into a zombie?"

Saxon raised a hand. "This is all rather interesting, but we have another problem at hand, don't we? Sycorax."

For a moment, it was silent, then Coleman said, "I think we all made our positions clear. UNIT wants to persecute Mr. Jones and Captain Harkness refuses to unlock the car and let them get to him."

Gwen frowned and looked around, finally turning in her seat to find Ianto sleeping soundly on the backseat.

Coleman continued, "So let's get one problem out of the way before dealing with the next, shall we? Captain Harkness thinks Torchwood may have a way to rid us of the Sycorax. Which gives him the advantage." He gave Jack a sour look. "Let him have Mr. Jones back in his care … for now."

Jack nodded. "That settles it."

He started to turn away but Coleman said, "I'm not done yet."

Jack froze.

"The Torchwood base will become base of operations for the Sycorax incident. You're going to allow a number of UNIT personnel access."

"No-"

"That can be arranged," Saxon said, talking over Jack who stared at him in disbelief. "Mr. Jones will remain fully in Torchwood's care, though. Any arrest is invalid as of now."

Pizano seemed reluctant and the angry soldier looked about ready to attack Saxon, but Saxon just stepped up to them and leaned in, starting to talk to them in hushed tones. Jack turned away, towards the SUV and Gwen saw how livid he was … and how worried. When he saw her looking at him, he smiled, though, just to be distracted by Pizano who agreed, "Alright … then I will inform Major Wells and he will put together a team." With that, she turned away and left, Nowak and Coleman following in her wake, the angry soldier doing as well, though reluctantly.

Jack rounded on Saxon. "Do you know what you did? By allowing them access, I practically turn the Hub over to them. I probably won't be able to protect Ianto if they want to take him."

"It'll all work out, Captain, don't you worry," Saxon answered.

"What did you tell them?"

"I piqued their interest. An empath as powerful as Mr. Jones … they better make sure he gets time to recover in an emotionally stable and safe environment … or what passes for it at the moment. Just so that he's ready for a few questions concerning his abilities when the crisis blows over."

"You promised them to let them experiment on him?" Jack hissed.

"No," Saxon answered with a wink, "but they might think I did." When he saw that Jack wasn't happy, he sighed. "I can get him out. I can help you, Captain, believe me … I'm a master of arguments." He chuckled to himself and followed the others back to the entrance of the base.

Jack unlocked the SUV and opened the passenger door. "Alright?" he asked Gwen gently.

She nodded, still feeling a bit shaky.

He opened the glove compartment. "Here," he said, handing her a bottle of apple juice. "That'll help you."

"I still can't believe this happened," Gwen said and softly asked, "Is Ianto really that strong? A whole building?"

Jack glanced at Ianto and then answered earnestly, "He's untrained, he was scared, his abilities have been all over the place for days … he is that strong. The scary thing is ..." He hesitated for a moment, then added, "With a bit of training, he could become much stronger."

xxx

Tosh made sure to be at the Hub when Jack and Gwen returned from Newport just after one in the morning. As Jack had told her on the phone, she'd readied one of the guest quarters. Jack had very quickly explained what had happened but Tosh still couldn't quite understand. It was possible that you only were able to if you had seen it with your own eyes, like Gwen.

As expected, she was pale and wore a haunted look. And she was irritated at Jack, that much Tosh could tell. Jack led an oddly quiet and glassy-eyed Ianto through the corridors to the room Tosh had prepared. Ianto looked as if he wasn't quite aware of what was going on, but let himself be manipulated to sit on the bed of the sparse quarters. In the weak glow of the old desk lamp, he looked almost serene and happy, as if in a trance.

Jack sat next to Ianto, the bed squeaking in protest. Absently, Tosh caught herself thinking that they needed to do something about these rooms. They looked like nobody had bothered to update them since the 70s and comfort apparently hadn't been the main concern.

Jack gave a weak smile at Ianto which faltered a bit when it was returned with just a blank stare. "Okay," Jack said gently. "It's alright, now. You can rest a bit."

"Should I call in Owen?" Tosh asked hesitantly, setting a water bottle down on the bedside table.

"No," Jack answered slowly, taking off Ianto's suit jacket. "Owen can't do a thing and I don't fancy him being anywhere near this situation at the moment. The state he's in, with UNIT breathing down our necks within the hour … they've got enough reason to doubt us. We don't have to give them more."

Tosh glanced at Gwen who was watching them from the door, a frown on her face. "I still think we should call Archie."

"Archie can't help," Jack said.

"Damn it, Jack!" Gwen snapped. "I wish you'd consider accepting help from … anyone, really!" Tosh saw Jack's jaw clench, the way his shoulders hunched, but he didn't answer, kept his eyes on Ianto. He reached for the bottle and put it into Ianto's hand, while Gwen continued, "It's no wonder they're considering to shut us down, which you forgot to mention to us for God knows how long, by the way. This is rubbish!"

"Shut up, Gwen," Jack said. She stared at him in disbelief. He returned her glare. "This is not the time or the place," he added, watching Ianto drink. Tosh shuddered at seeing Ianto like this, acting as if on auto pilot.

Gwen huffed and turned, slamming the door on her way out.

"We don't need help," Jack said, looking up at Tosh as if he was looking for a confirmation. She sighed and went over to him, kneeling to hug him. His hands grasped her cardigan, pulling her closer.

"Jack-"

"Now Ianto's falling to pieces and his freedom is hanging on by a thread and depends on Saxon who wants to use Torchwood in some way – I just know that he is not up to as much good as he claims. Owen's not himself and the only thing I can do is try and give him space. And with UNIT here ..." He looked at her, his big hands cupping her face tenderly. "I'm scared for you."

"Don't worry about me," Tosh whispered. "You're here, I'm fine."

Jack looked at Ianto. "Gwen doesn't understand-"

"Gwen is right," Tosh interrupted him. "We need help. And if Saxon can provide that help, who are we to turn it down?"

"And if it comes back to bite us in the ass?"

Tosh bit her lip. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Jack smiled sadly. "Toshiko Sato," he whispered. "What would I do without you?"

"You won't have to find out. Work with what you have, Jack – Gwen and me. You're a good leader, you can do this. We'll take care of the Sycorax and then we'll take care of the rest. One step at a time."

Jack nodded slowly. "One step at a time." He kissed Tosh's forehead and looked at Ianto.

Tosh leaned against him and took Ianto's free hand. "What happened to him?"

"I drugged him, shut down his emotional centre of the brain." Jack gave a sad smile. "He can't feel a thing." He swallowed. "It won't last. Pre-7 is used in training when an empath loses control."

"You knew what was going to happen," Tosh realised.

"I hoped I'd be in time to stop it. I hoped I'd be able to avoid anyone dying."

Which reminded Tosh of her main concern. "Will he remember?"

Jack took the water bottle out of Ianto's hand and cupped his cheek. "Maybe."

"Gwen looked scared."

Jack got up and kissed Ianto's forehead, before pushing him down to lie on the bed. "Ianto is an empath. A strong one. Maybe even the strongest I've ever seen except for the Doctor. I know he's our friend." Jack looked at Tosh earnestly. "But you've got every reason to be scared."