Chapter 11
"Are you sure Jack?" Toshiko's eyes were wide with doubt. Jack nodded.
"Absolutely. She's the one pulling the strings here. She has to be. She's the only one who doesn't act like this world is real, because she knows it isn't."
"And you're not just saying that because you're jealous?" asked Owen snidely. Jack grit his teeth in anger, and tried to look calm. They were gathered in the garden, on the pretence of letting the family have some time together to calm down after the trauma of the morning.
"No. I'm telling you she's the one behind it all."
The more Jack thought about it, the more certain he was becoming.
"Ok, say she is… what does she want?"
"She doesn't want us here." Jack said quickly.
"…then why are we here?"
"Don't you get it? We're not meant to be here, this is some sort of fake world… I think Ianto was the target."
"Ianto?"
Jack nodded.
"You mean… you think she wanted to brainwash Ianto into thinking he's married to her… that they're some sort of power couple, giving him what she thinks he wants?" Gwen raised an eyebrow in dubiousness.
"Exactly. But we must have gotten caught in the wake of the device she used, and she had to improvise with us, so she came up with this lie that we were lost in time. Think about it, she could implant memories of Ianto being alone without us –he had nothing outside of Torchwood –and she comforts him and it turns to love… all very pretty and very Ianto."
"But what about the kids?"
"Projections probably." Jack felt a slight twist in his gut, "Otherwise she might have kidnapped real kids and forced them to believe she's their mother."
"If that's true… we're dealing with someone very dangerous Jack." said Owen, eyes glittering. "What do you think we should do?"
"We need to get her on her own, somewhere where I can interrogate her, find out the truth and break her hold over Ianto."
"If she's controlling it all, that might not be easy. Wouldn't it be better to try and get through to Ianto?" asked Toshiko carefully. Jack shook his head,
"No, he might go and tell her what we know and she'll manipulate the world to get rid of us." Jack was absolutely certain of that.
There was a grim silence as they considered their options. Finally, Gwen said,
"So… you really think this is all fake?"
"Gwen, I'm absolutely sure that the moment we break out of this, you'll have Rhys all over you in relief that you're ok."
It was a dirty trick, but it worked. Gwen nodded, "Ok… but… I don't want to hurt the children."
"The kids are probably innocent of the truth. We just might need to let Michaela think we'll hurt them if she doesn't cooperate. She's determined to keep this world, so threatening it will be the key."
Owen nodded, "If we could only get at the guns, we could just point them at one of the kids and she'd cave."
"Owen!" Gwen looked appalled.
"I wouldn't fucking shoot. But we need to get out of here."
"I could probably open that little armoury they had." said Toshiko quietly, "It's just a simple numeric code."
"Good Toshiko." Jack smiled at her with pride. "Don't worry, we'll do this quick as we can."
"How are we going to manage it?"
"Didn't Ianto say something about letting the kids have the day off tomorrow after the shock of today?"
"I don't know if Michaela agreed with it."
"But maybe if Ianto went out with the older ones and we just had the younger ones to worry about, we could get Michaela on her own and question her."
Jack nodded, "Possible. We need to do this right, so let's take our time."
They nodded and made their way back into the house. Dotty, the freckled woman they had met the day they had arrived, smiled at them cheerfully as she made tea.
"Probably not much of a stress for you lot today, a single love-struck alien running around."
"Well… I wish I could say it was new…" Jack said, finding it easier to play along now he knew where the danger was. Dotty laughed,
"Yeah, Bobby told us all sorts of stories about you Captain. And they always seemed to end with 'Sad to say, but I am not lying.'"
Jack almost asked who Bobby was, but then he remembered, it was the Torchwood nickname for Ianto. A stupid name that made no real sense.
"Tea?" Dotty pointed at the pot.
"Sure." Gwen said quickly.
"I'm good." said Jack, striding across the kitchen. "Ianto with the kids?"
"Uh… I think he's in his office with Torin. Michaela's with the kids. Christoffer's clinging to her like a limpet."
Jack nodded and started up the stairs. He passed two Torchwood operatives who were cleaning away the alien blood from the wood and a scientist running scans over the alien's body, already half in a body bag. He kept walking up to Ianto's office and knocked sharply on the door.
"Open!"
Jack pushed the door open and found Ianto talking to Torin at his desk. Ianto gave him a quick smile of greeting,
"Jack."
"I just… wanted to check in… See if there was a way she was able to get in."
He hadn't, but it sounded ok. Torin gave him a disapproving look, but Ianto said,
"One of the kids left a bathroom window open, she was able to get in that way. Torin, if there's nothing else, I'd like a word with Jack."
Torin nodded, saluted and walked out of the room. Jack shut the door behind him as Ianto chuckled, "He's been working for me for seventeen years, you'd think he'd give up the military attitude."
"Some things just can't be unlearnt." said Jack quietly, finding himself looking straight at Ianto. Ianto's eyes flickered and he shrugged,
"All things can be learned and unlearnt. Depends on if you're willing to work for it."
Jack shrugged and stepped further into the room. "So…" he started, smirking, "That alien was in love with you?"
Ianto sighed, mouth turning down. "Yeah… something along those lines."
"Well, can you blame her?" Jack shrugged, "Hard not to."
Ianto looked at him levelly, "You tried pretty hard."
Jack's smile faltered. Ianto got to his feet and stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking around the desk to lean back against it.
"Listen Jack… I wanted to thank you for looking after the kids this morning. I really appreciate it."
Jack nodded, "Of course, although I should probably warn you Toshi tried to take matters into her own hands."
"One of the reasons we have a code on the door. I supervised Torin and Elisa training her, but it made her happier thinking Michaela and I knew nothing."
"Ah… I see." Jack felt a smile pulling his lips.
"Every child needs a particular way of being managed. Toshi needs to be given her space, it means she chooses to come to us when she wants to feel looked after. Christoffer on the other hand, needs to be reassured constantly that we're there, even if he can't see us. That… needs work."
"He's a clingy kid."
Ianto shrugged, "Just the way of some kids. At least Christoffer is vocal, Deva inherited my silence. I try to make sure she isn't missed in the chaos of the others, otherwise she just sits in the corner, drawing or whatever."
Jack nodded, he had seen a lot of Ianto in Deva, which was why he was leaning to the belief she and the other children were projections, created to keep Ianto enmeshed in this world.
"Michaela was pretty pissed that the alien got in."
"I was pretty pissed." Ianto said quickly.
"Not as pissed as her."
"Well… she never forgave what happened to her and Jacque."
"And you did?" Jack found that very hard to believe.
"No, I never forgave that." said Ianto quietly. "But… she was lost… she needed a friend. I tried to be that, and it backfired. So it was my fault partially. I had always hoped I would be able to deal with it better the next time… she was one of the first aliens I dealt with as head of Torchwood, I'd only just asked Michaela to marry me. And it just got out of hand."
Ianto smiled faintly at Jack. "I wanted to handle the alien the way you would have wanted me to. But it… didn't work out."
Jack nodded. "That happens."
Ianto nodded, running a hand over his face and letting out a heavy breath. "I've never been able to… match your method. And to be honest, there were times I either did not want to, or did not need to. I had to figure my own path… with Michaela."
"You're the one running the show." said Jack, shrugging. Ianto shook his head,
"No… no, I'm only half of it. She's the other half. I am the face, but she's the heart."
Jack felt an itch to roll his eyes at such a stupid notion. Ianto, brainwashed or under control as he was, could obviously still read him because he snapped,
"You think I'm full of shit? How many times did you call Gwen the heart of the team? Like I had none, like Toshiko and Owen had none. But when I call my wife the heart of the organisation, I mean she's like the mother of it. She looks after the personnel, she's in charge of displaced people, but at least she doesn't scream and yell and stamp her foot like Gwen used to."
"Yeah, instead she gets you to make speeches to the cameras and tell the world aliens are trying to kill them!" Jack regretted opening his mouth as soon as he spoke.
"That was the Doctor's fault! And it was me, the Prime Minister, UNIT, Torchwood's senior staff, and, yes, Michaela, who decided to reveal Torchwood to the world, to let people know we've been protecting them for years."
"That's not Torchwood!"
"No! That's not your Torchwood." Ianto snarled, "But guess what Jack, Torchwood is mine now, mine, and Michaela's, and Torin's and Elisa's, Nabil's and Meiriona's and Philipp's!"
"I don't know who any of those people are!"
"I know! That's my point."
Jack glared at him. "If you were so eager to replace us all, you must have been relieved when we were stolen by the Rift."
Ianto went white, his eyes bugged a little, but otherwise he gave no reaction. He just stared at Jack for a while, then turned away from him, leaning on his desk.
"Get out of my office Jack." he whispered. Jack stood where he was for a moment, just staring at Ianto, remembering how often he had admired that very stance over his own desk. Ianto's arms were trembling, as if he could barely hold himself up. "I said out!" he spat.
Jack swallowed and backed up to the door, then opened the door and walked out. The scientist and operatives were watching him openly, warily, as he strode past them into his bedroom. He shut the door and let out a heavy breath. That had not gone how he had hoped.
Gwen could not sleep, she kept thinking about Rhys, about Ianto, about Jack, about how unfair this all was, and how much she wished this world wasn't real. It made believing Jack's assertions about this being a lie and Michaela being the enemy so much easier. But still… Gwen worried. What if Jack was wrong? What if they acted and hurt someone, only to realise things were real? What then?
Getting to her feet, Gwen pulled on a thick, warm dressing gown and decided to get some warm milk. She tip toed down the hall, knowing that Ianto and Michaela would probably hear her if she didn't. Parents had that uncanny ability to hear the slightest sound. She was half way down the hall when she saw a faint light coming from Ianto and Michaela's bedroom. They were still up at 2am? And the door was open? Gwen grimaced. If one of them heard her, they might try to talk to her and she wanted to avoid that at all costs.
A soft voice filtered through the door and Gwen found herself pausing to listen. Maybe she would be able to gather evidence for Jack if she eavesdropped.
"-need to push them further. Bring them to Torchwood, have them run errands, just get them out of this house." Michaela's voice was insistent, irritated.
"I'm not throwing them out!" Ianto hissed back.
"I'm not asking you to! Don't be so dramatic."
"Then what? Why do you keep badgering me to get them out of here?"
"Because they need to accept this is their life now and the longer they stay here, the harder their adjustment will be."
They were talking about the team. Michaela wanted them out? It certainly lent itself to the idea she didn't want them around… but it did not mean she was some evil mastermind. She could just be a needy wife.
"It's been a week 'kaela!"
"And normally by now displaced people are set up with their own home, we have at least some semblance of a job or a hobby set up for them to help them deal. That is how we do it, that is how I do it."
"This is different!"
"Not in the grand scheme of it. They are displaced, they need to adjust, and you are not helping them by coddling them."
Gwen scowled, Ianto was not coddling them! He was being a good friend.
"These are my friends!" hissed Ianto. There was a long silence. Then Gwen heard rustling and she peered through the crack in the door, spying Ianto, in his underwear which made her blush, sitting on the end of his big, fancy bed. Michaela was wearing some very sexy negligée of deep blue, and had crawled on the bed to kneel behind Ianto, her arms going around his shoulders, kissing his neck. She murmured something to him, but Gwen could not hear it. Ianto dropped his head,
"I know… but still…"
Michaela caressed his bare skin, still murmuring in his ear and Gwen was uncomfortably reminded of a temptress, whispering seductions and evil in Ianto's ear.
"They're my friends…" Ianto sighed, leaning into her. "Please…" His voice softened too much for Gwen to hear, but Michaela used her hands to turn him to face her. She cupped his face and kissed him. Gwen frowned. If Jack was right… then Ianto kissing Michaela was wrong.
Michaela broke the kiss, sighing something, and all Gwen could catch was,
"… you're mine. Forever…"
Ianto nodded. Gwen wished she could see his face. She knew she could be misreading everything, but it didn't sound right at all.
Ianto and Michaela were kissing again, and it was getting more heated, Ianto pulling her into his arms, kissing her tenderly. Gwen shifted and moved away, not wanting to see anymore. She felt a chill go down her back. If Jack was right and Michaela had manipulated everything, including Ianto's feelings… then by sleeping with him… that was rape.
Gwen felt sick. She wanted to go into the bedroom and stop it… but what then? It still wasn't definite, was it? So she could very easily just be storming in and interrupting a real married couple's most private moment. Not stopping a rape was infinitely worse… but there was a good chance that if Jack was right, Ianto would be angry and indignant and Michaela would try to get rid of them quicker. So… what could she do? Could she maybe figure out some way of distracting them both, without arousing suspicion?
Then she hit upon an idea.
She quickly tiptoed back to her bedroom, grabbed the door, then took a deep breath and threw it open with a bang, shouting as she did,
"Rhys! Rhys! Where are you?"
She tripped herself up and staggered down the hall, shouting for Rhys again. She was more than halfway down the hall before Ianto came running out the door. He grabbed her and held her still and called her name,
"Gwen! Gwen, calm down."
Gwen put up a token struggle, then gave a start like she had just awoken, looking around in shock before finally looking at him.
"Ianto? What am I doing out here?"
Ianto smiled at her affectionately and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "I think you were sleep… shouting cariad."
"Oh? Sorry, did I wake you?"
"It's ok." Ianto reassured her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I, uh…" Gwen faltered, not sure what she should actually say. She glanced up and spotted Michaela standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She looked very put out, but there was concern on her face too. Gwen had no idea if it was genuine or not, but she found herself pressing closer to Ianto as Jack, Toshiko and Owen came up to them from behind.
"What's going on?"
"Gwen was sleep walking." said Ianto gently, petting Gwen's hair like she was a child.
"I had a dream I couldn't find Rhys." she said quickly, "Next thing I knew I was here in the hall."
"C'mon, let's get you back to bed." said Ianto, still stroking her hair. Despite herself, Gwen found herself cuddling close to him and inhaling his scent. It made her feel safe and secure, and when Jack and the others gathered around them, it felt good, like things were as they ought to be.
"Mummy!" called a frightened voice from above.
"Great!" hissed Michaela, pulling her dressing gown around her and storming past them to go upstairs. "Coming Christoffer!"
"What's going on?" called Archer in alarm.
"It's ok kids!" Ianto called, "Go back to bed. Gwen just had a nightmare."
Gwen flushed at being spoken about like she was a child with the actual children.
"Does she want my teddy bear?" called Guinevere, "I've loads!"
Ianto chuckled and looked at Gwen, "Would you?"
"I'm ok, thanks sweetheart!" Gwen called, smiling faintly.
"Ok!" Guinevere called back.
"Everyone back to bed now!" barked Michaela from above. The kids could all be heard scrambling back to bed. Ianto sighed and said,
"C'mon Gwen."
They all went into her bedroom and she sat down on the bed. Ianto sat next to her and squeezed her hand.
"Sorry, I think I got you in trouble."
"It's ok. She's just stressed because of today and worrying the kids will need extra looking after because of this."
Gwen nodded, thinking to herself that a mum was meant to give her kids as much attention as they needed.
"I'm ok now… just a bad dream." she said quickly. "You can all go back to bed."
"Are you sure?" asked Ianto.
She nodded, certain her dramatics had put a dampener on the mood for Ianto at least.
"I'll stay with her." said Jack, "You should sleep, I'm sure you'll be busy tomorrow." His tone indicated whatever he had argued about with Ianto was still annoying him. Ianto glanced at him, then nodded and got to his feet.
"Remember, you know where I am."
They all nodded and he left them. They waited a few moments, then Jack asked wryly,
"Did you really have a nightmare?"
Gwen flushed, "I didn't know what else to do?"
"What do you mean?" asked Toshiko.
"I… erm, I noticed Ianto and Michaela seemed to be…"
"Getting in the mood?" asked Jack. At Gwen's look, he shrugged, "I could smell it on them."
"Lovely." Owen wrinkled his nose.
"Anyway!" Gwen said quickly, "I started thinking that if this is all fake, and Ianto's been lied to or brainwashed, then he can't give consent… if she sleeps with him it's rape. I didn't want her to think we suspected her, so I thought I could ruin the moment."
"A fine job you did too." said Jack, looking proud of her. Gwen flushed with pleasure. She loved it when Jack was proud of her, even now. "Think you can sleep now?"
"Yeah, I think so, thanks."
"On that note, I'm going to bed." said Owen, "Still… nice call Gwen."
Gwen smiled at him and Toshiko gave her a grateful look as they made their way back to their own rooms. Gwen curled up on her bed and sighed, finally able to sleep.