12
Jack was pacing, upset and visibly shaken as he asked Ianto to describe the Doctor and then he sat and stared into space for a while. Owen watched from a sofa as Ianto sat at the table with a quilt around him.
Still cold.
"OK" Jack finally sighed, "This is what I know. I know him. I don't know how, there is something … blocking me but I know him. I see him in my mind but you describe him differently. He has regenerated since we last met."
"Regenerated?"
"Timelord" Jack said as he tried to explain, his mind waking up to returning memories like a slow dawn not a sudden light bulb of enlightenment, "They have so many lives, like a cat. Each time they die they actually regenerate, their bodies renew and they look different. The vessel recreates itself so the Timelord …ah…essence within remains."
"Wow" Ianto blinked.
"Yeah" Jack grinned.
"So, he has something to do with you doing the same thing?" Ianto canted his head and Jack leaned back in his chair as he considered.
"Yes. I feel that. I died for him, I feel a deep sense of loyalty to him. He did something or the…thing that killed me made me this way…like ... some of his power went to me or something" Jack struggled, "Damn it. It's right there I just can't…"
"Brainwash" Ianto said softly, "That's what he said. We were brainwashed, mind wiped. Only our firewalls are saving us. Mine are failing; I am seeing things that aren't there, like ghosts."
"Like what?"
"Like…the dream. Not a dream, someone is doing it" Ianto frowned, "Someone was really running, scared in some place without water, like a huge countryside. Frightened and confused. It's not a dream, it's an event somewhere else. Their dream or memory. Another…well. Me?"
"That's why she attacked maybe" Owen said as he listened from the sofa "Like…you are changing? Assimilating to this new reality?"
"Does it mean I am fading into it" Ianto frowned, "That is the question. Am I becoming part of that world, fading from this one or are the two worlds crashing together. If this is true, what happens to this one? That one? Which will be dominant?"
"Easy" Jack soothed, "Your mind is whirring, you need to calm. This is all theory, I feel that the Doctor lies. He always lies. This could be some sort of test or….or…game."
"Jack, what if it is?" Ianto's eyed widened with fear, "If he was saying that to placate me? What is all this then? Am I going insane? Maybe this is a psychotic break or something, oh gods."
"No" Owen said calmly, "You make sense to me, I met him and he spoke the same. No."
"It all revolves around the artefact she was hunting for" Jack frowned, "The photo! She was almost energised by it right?"
Jack fingered his VM, looking at it. It was important, it was special. It was from his past and he knew it might help but he just couldn't remember how. Ianto seemed to think it was what set her off, could it be?
Jack looked at the photo of him again, the VM and the shadow Tardis.
No.
Definitely the Tardis.
"No, the other one" Ianto tapped the screen on the tablet Jack had and the second picture appeared, the partial. Jack looked at it and frowned, the blue box now clearly visible.
"Shit" Jack said softly, "It's something to do with this. Right?"
"The blue one?" Ianto asked with surprise.
"I've seen it before, it's something to do with HIM" Jack rose and paced some more as Ianto stared at the photo.
"What is it?"
"A police call box" Owen said with a shrug, "They used to be…"
"Tardis" Jack swung to point as Ianto, "It's called the Tardis and it's a she. Sexy. She is a…a…spaceship."
"Bullshit" Owen crowed, "Sorry, I call bullshit!"
"What?" Ianto looked at him, "What is Bull shit?"
"Shit from a…shit" Owen blinked, "A male cow was called a bull. They shit. What the hell. Why would I…wow."
"See? Those weird things we are saying, it's not just me" Ianto said to Jack, "We are all starting to exhibit this. Is this just some form of mass hysteria? Are we all suffering from some mass event or is this really some sort of mind control slipping?"
This was something that brought a new question.
How the hell did she know what it was? Tardis or VM, she could only know it was some form of power that can be used against her if she retained memories they had lost. Ergo, she still knew the truth.
Jack looked up with shock.
"Ianto, she is from the other place" he said with alarm and Ianto frowned, shaking his head to show his confusion.
"Think about it, she knows who HE is, she knows who I am…she reacted to either this VM and or the Tardis, right?" Jack held up finger for each point, "Baby, if we don't know why, how can she? Unless she was there. Part of whatever this thing is that is befuddling our brains."
'Great" Owen snorted, "So we've named it. The Befuddler."
"No" Ianto shook his head, "She called it a Paradox Machine."
"And how long before she works out that you know this too?" Owen asked with a frown, "How long before you are more wanted than the Captain here?"
"Shit" Ianto said as his hand slid to the base of his neck, "The trackers. Mine is still inactive right? We deactivated it."
"Yeah, we did" Owen rose and grabbed a handheld device, waving it at him.
"See?" He held it out for Ianto to see the screen, "Inactive. She would have to be within ten metres to reactivate it. If she even realises it isn't on anymore."
"Oh, she knows" Jack said as he started to estimate how far he needed to get Ianto to keep that thing in his head safe, "She will be screaming right about now when she tries to find him."
"The worst thing is, she will know where he is" Owen sighed, "The only way it is deactivated is each time he sets foot on this bloody vessel. As soon as he came on board and winked off her screen she knew we had him and he was now subversive."
"Subversive in a submarine" Ianto muttered.
Jack knew this was the beginning of something he hadn't wanted but looking at his poor love he knew it was something he was ready for.
This was war.
