We know our enemies for they wear our faces at times, as well.
John dropped the sleeping form of Mark on the bed with a slight grunt. "You've gotten a little heavier Lovely, since I last picked you up." Not that Mark looked it. It was more like mature muscle weight that came with exercise and working out. John was glad that Mark despite the sadness, had kept up his appearance. John patted his own middle and wondered just how he was going to compete with this man that seemed to just get better looking even while aging.
Mark flopped over on to his side with a little "hum" as his breath went low. He was fast asleep, leaving John to remove his shoes and cover up his lover with a blanket. John was exhausted and debated if he should join the sleeping man. He smiled, shaking his head. He needed to get some more work done first. It was important. He ran his hand over his soon to be dreaming love and shut the light as he left.
He didn't hear what Mark mumbled to the dark as the young man fell into a fitful sleep.
John went to the kitchen, retrieving a beer from the refrigerator. He liked this home he was sharing with friends, but he really thought they should have their own house now that he was back. At some point he would have to bring it up with Mark. He realized that his children might not like the concept of moving, they seemed to be so much apart of the others that he knew it wouldn't go over too well. He sighed at all he had missed with watching them grow up. Mark was being so strong with Jack and Ianto helping him. John was feeling rather like a fish out of water. So what better way to get a foothold back into his life than to start back to work right away? Besides, sleep was something he didn't need. His body had three and a half years of sleep. His mind didn't want to see the darkness yet either, even if Mark did tempt him with his adorableness. He would have only lain there for a short time. He was not at all tired.
He went to the dining room table after he took the laptop out of its case. He had some battery power, so he didn't seek to plug it in. He was hoping by now that Jack would have obtained another power source to upgrade this primitive thing. He added that to his mental list of things to mention to Captain Amazing when he got a chance. He had an idea when he was sleeping about how to do it; he just needed to run it past Dan when he got the chance. He pressed the power button and watched the black screen go to its Torchwood logo and then to his main page.
That was another thing that was bothering him. Mark had made a friend in Dan, a close friend it seemed. Not that it was a problem; it just made John miss what he didn't have even more. But he was here now, he thought. Also, it wasn't like anyone was treating him like a stranger. That feeling was all in his head. He would catch up to them; it was just a matter of time.
He got to the page with the footage of Mark's reaction to the test with the moonstone. He asked his lover much against Jack's better judgment to reenact his emotions during the final attack that Sebastian had made on him. Mark did, charging the moonstone enough to make it send out a reading. Mark fell to his knees. John didn't move from his spot, just asked Mark if he could do it again. Mark nodded and stood up.
Dan worked on the other stats as Mark prepared to reenact the whole thing again. He did and the reading was matched to the residual signal left from Mark using the moonstone years prior to now. It was Ianto who put the pieces together.
"I have something. It is the same reading as from the 'ghost.' The source in power is the same. The moonstones control the Mechanoids. So we now know what the 'monsters' use to power themselves. Is there away of turning them off, then?" He asked glance at the men in the room.
"I'm not sure it works that way. Ianto, come over here and take the moonstone." Mark asked, despite the little squeaking noise Jack made from the other side of the room.
John noticed how much the test was taking out of Mark as the young man stood on shaky legs. He handed Ianto the moonstone, slapping him on the shoulder before moving away.
"I could ask you to say cheese," Mark joked as he scanned the space with Ianto and the moonstone. He then took note of the leftover energy he generated and covered that signal up with a magnetic field. "Okay, think of something that would make you Incredible Hulk angry, and not that Jack leaves the bathroom floor wet after a shower angry and he is a slob and can't pick up after himself angry."
Jack shot Mark a warning glare, but his friend was too lost in the moment to notice.
"Thanks, now I can't stop thinking about what happens after I try to teach him to put the mat down and pick after himself." The moonstone glowed red.
"I guess that is its way of telling us that Ianto is reminded of a sexual encounter. It matches the color in his cheeks." Dan laughed as the Welshman went from amorous to angry at his joke. The moonstone followed to green, but didn't produce any signal.
"So, it detects mood and reacts to it, but it can only produce energy from Mark." Jack added. "Well, I should get you one darling, so I know whether I should duck or I should kiss you." The stone went to green at Jack's statement. "Any theories as to why Ianto can't use it?"
"Well, it was tuned to my brainwaves so it must stay that way permanently. I guess that is the only way it can be powered up. But why did my Master give it to me like he did? I thought it was to protect myself form harm. But his 'for the future' is taking on a lot of different meanings. If only there was a way to figure out how to read the holder's brain wave patterns. We may be able to use that to block the Machines." Mark took the moonstone back from Ianto with a smile.
"Or you can block them with your moonstone when they enter our space," Jack suggested.
"That may take too much out of Mark. We have no idea what he would have to do, or the amount of energy he would need to block another's moonstone. What if an alien mind is stronger?" John added.
Mark looked at the others before he said something that he still was ashamed of. "They said my mind and theirs were close. My telepathic abilities are equal to theirs, which is one of the reasons why they mated with me." His voice lowered at the last part.
John went to him and hugged him. "Listen, we are not judging you here. I love you more because you are strong. But it is up to you to try the next time they come through, if we can get you there in time. Right now they aren't staying any length of time. Even if they are really coming through at all, it is still unknown how long that will be for. This is still a lot of guessing with few answers actually gotten. So humor your future partner here and let's do a few more tests." He kissed Mark full on the lips while wrapped around him.
Mark smiled as they finished and agreed. The rest went back to his spots to take down every reading, light and sound possible to help with finding a weapon.
John knew it was wrong to ask Mark to be that weapon. But if a moonstone could fight a moonstone then that was what would be needed. Mark believed that his Master had designed his for more than just minor things. But after Mark's reaction and as his energy began to be decease as the test went on, Mark as a weapon would have limited uses. So it was up to John and Dan to design a similar weapon. John smiled, knowing that the night was not wasted. He was glad he went back to work. His mind wanted to feel used again.
Jack saw the light on in the kitchen as he left the bedroom. Ianto and he had left around one to head back home. Nick was going in to work and the Twins needed someone to be there. Jack felt there was no need to stay. He would go over all of the findings later. Seeing Mark didn't mind the testing or being in the warehouse, they had said their goodnights and headed home.
"You should rest," he said to John as he headed for the kitchen for a snack.
"I could say the same to you. Do you sleep better now that you are married?" He didn't look at Jack, just watched the screen while jotting down notes on a pad.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." He smiled, returning to the table with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk.
John grinned. "Good, I was worried about you. But I see I didn't have to." He tilted his head in the direction of Mark and his room. "He is out like a light. Don't make him work today. He really won't be able to. But he said something about how he is going to start on Grey next week. I have the program already to go. I should have mentioned that during our talk, but it slipped my mind. Believe it or not I started it before. I was so bored stuck at home, I just figured that you would want it done, sooner or later." He flicked a button and turned the laptop towards the eating immortal.
"Hey, this looks like it might work! John, I want to thank you. This means a lot to me." He puckered up to kiss John.
"You know I hate peanut butter mouth!" He laughed as Jack showed him his mouth full of sandwich. "You are still so full of charm and manners." He stole the rest of Jack's milk, leaving him to suffer the aftereffects of too much peanut butter and bread and not enough jelly. John shut down the laptop, got up to return it to its case and waved goodnight as he returned to his room with Mark.
Jack grunted and went for more milk, smiling that his friend was home.
John woke to a strong smell in the room. By the way his body reacted he knew what it meant. Mark was fertile. He groaned as his member became impossibly uncomfortable. Mark moaned deep in sleep, unaware of what was going on. John sat there debating what to do. If Mark didn't want this he wouldn't have told John he could conceive again.
"Mark sweetheart, wake up, we have a problem here." Mark did the worst thing possible; he pushed himself closer to John, right next to his naked body. "Oh dear, you are a vixen aren't you? Well, I tell you what Lovely; since you don't want to wake up, I'm going to give you a very nice dream. I'm sorry, but you are too much of a turn on right now. I hope you enjoy it."
John was able to remove Mark's pants and underwear with his skill. It wasn't long until he had entered Mark, who just grunted before he began to dreamily hum. John was very excited about making a child that he came rather quickly. It didn't stop him from trying a few more times.
Mark woke to the morning light in bed with his pants off and he was feeling little sore. John snored, wrapped around him and he realized what must have happened. He was sad he didn't wake up to enjoy it, but he wasn't angry. He knew why John had done it. He just hoped that he was with child. Unlike John, he couldn't sense it this time. He dozed back off to sleep, pulling John tighter around him and wondering for a moment if that should bother him that he wasn't in tune with himself.
Days passed into weeks and nothing happened again pertaining to the Mechanoids. One strange event was Jolein ended up breaking her arm when she fell trying to get up to Myfanwy's nest. The Hub was in an uproar because apparently Leon broke into the CCTV cameras and hid his sister's escape from the nursery. Jack was livid at Dan for showing his godson how to hack into systems. Dan said he didn't think the kid was paying attention, as he was too interested in the candy he was eating. Needless to say, Weevil cleaning was now Dan's new job until further notice.
It took Anna at least a week to figure out that the boys were pulling her leg. She told them it was a great joke as she plotted her revenge. To her it was a dish best served cold. Hey, if she was to be one of the family, they would have to suck up and take it as well as they dished it out.
The other change was in Mark. He was trying to get ready to bring Grey back when something got in the way. He woke up one morning getting up to pee. He soon found himself down on the ground as if he had no equilibrium. Jack was in the living room when he heard the thud off in the bedroom. He opened the door to find Mark throwing up on the carpet, unable to stand.
Mark explained to him that he went to stand and fell over, and then he just lost the contents of his stomach. He said if he weren't on dry land he would have said he was seasick. Jack helped him to the bathroom to clean up and take care of business, while he phoned Anna and John to come to the house. Much to Jack's chagrin he cleaned up the mess opening a window to get out the smell, which triggered Mark to run back into the bathroom and vomit some more.
Anna was left to examine Mark while John paced outside the door. Jack jokingly said that he looked like an expectant father. The look on John's face said that Jack had hit the nail on the head.
"Really, do you think?" Jack smiled, remembering how wonderful Mark was when he was pregnant.
"I knew the night it happened. I couldn't stop from touching him. He slept through it though. I should have warned him."
Anna opened the door to John saying Mark needed to tell him something. Jack smiled as he heard John howl loudly at the good news. Mark was with child.
Rest was needed for a few days in order for Mark to adjust to his condition. Anna just wanted to make sure that there were no complications when Mark could return to work. The project was being set up as the Hub made a special group of rooms that would be Grey's home while he was reintroduced and reconditioned back into the world around him. Jack was not taking any chances. But the John was not too happy that Mark was still going through with it. Now that he was carrying, there was another life to think about.
Mark was aware of the risks but something told him that they needed to do this now. That any delay would only hurt in the long run. The only thing that worried him was the gas they could pump into the room if Grey became too much or tried to hurt Mark. Dan solved the problem by introducing a shock collar that worked much the way that John's bomb did that Grey had fused to his arm. Grey couldn't remove it without knocking himself unconscious. Mark would have the controls and so would Jack who would be watching on camera. Then gas would only be used as a last resort.
John held onto Mark for a long time while Anna brought Grey out stasis. He was cooing and rocking him taking in his entire lover before letting him go to his job.
"We'll be fine, John. I'll see you in a few hours." He smiled, entering the room as Anna exited. Grey was just starting to stir as the eyes of the Hub watched the pair.
Jack was fearful as Grey popped his eyes open, searching for something that was familiar about his surrounding. He tried to sit up but he was too dizzy, so he slid back down onto the table.
"Hey, let me give you a hand." He let his eyes focus on an all too familiar face; older, but it could belong to no other.
He widened his eyes that were filled with emotion as he let his guard down to grab his lost friend in a hug. "My god, Andy! They said you were dead."
"There were times where I wished I was. But I'm glad I'm not, if just to see you again, Grey." The two men hung onto each other. It was a good start. There was still so much that they needed to talk about and to be remembered by the two men. But right now there was just the warmth found in old memories and the comfort of somehow finding a part of home.
Ianto broke Jack's spell that he had begun to weave around the moment in the hope his brother my return to them. "Jack, one thing. You should have asked Gwen and I if we wanted this. I love you, Jack; I will do all I can for your happiness. And though I know you planned this, it would have been nice if you warned Gwen and I about the date. If you hadn't noticed, you raised your brother on the same date he killed Tosh and we lost Owen because of Grey's plans." Ianto let his breath out while he waited for Jack to respond.
Jack looked at the old fashioned calendar on the wall, blinking into a frown but he didn't comment. He went back to the screen, watching his brother move around the room. "Truth is Ianto, I planned it this way. But you're right; I should have asked the both of you. I'm sorry." He was cold in his response. Ianto for the most part was not happy, but he understood his partner all too well. He closed his eyes for a moment and turned to find Gwen before she showed up at the Hub to the surprise of Grey walking around on camera.
End Part 10 TBC.