Strange Encounter

Chapter 21

Watching Helen and her team care for the woman had been harrowing but I'd done it. I owed both Helen and her carers and the woman that much. I also owed the latter a name. There had been no identification on her so I'd sent a photograph and fingerprints to Toshiko to run through the databases and it had come back as Felicity Warner, twenty nine, a bank teller from Swansea who had been missing from her home - taken by the Rift - for four years leaving behind a husband and two children. I had got away from Flat Holm as soon as I could, after discussing day to day matters with Helen and looking in on some of the patients, the ones that were able to function a little, and it was close to midday when I got back to the Hub.

Music was playing, some easy listening tune so it must have been Toshiko's choice. She looked up from her desk as I appeared in the work area. Her eager smile faded when she saw me so I must have looked grim.

"She's dead?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's her but the family can't have the body. What do you suggest as a cover?" I stood behind her and was not aware of Ianto until the greatcoat was lifted from my shoulders and a mug of coffee pressed into my hand. He went off without a word.

"There was a serial killer who died in Cardiff prison last month, John Grayson. He was operating in Swansea at the time Felicity Warner disappeared and the police wondered at the time if he had been responsible." She was tapping furiously at her keyboard and images appeared on her screen; arrest photos of Grayson and of his nine victims. "I can arrange for evidence that he murdered her to be found. No need to produce a body, three of his known victims were never found. The police will be keen to close the case and the family will be able to grieve." She stopped what she was doing and looked round at me. "Okay?"

"Do it." I looked round and saw Ianto at his desk in the corner, head down working, but there was no sign of Owen. "Did Owen make it in?"

"Uh huh. He's down with the Weevil."

I may be paranoid but it was clear Toshiko did not want to look at me, was hiding something. Well, that made two of us because I'd not told anyone about the facility on Flat Holm. That was my own personal cross to bear. Retreating to my office, I shut the door and leaned against it for several long minutes. Finally, I went to my desk and reached for the whisky bottle, put a large shot in the remaining coffee and downed it in one. The heat travelled down to my stomach and made me at least feel alive.

Flat Holm island, a tiny pimple of land equidistant between the coasts of Wales and England and now home to some of the most damaged people on the planet. Contrary to popular opinion the Rift works both ways, it gives and takes. And sometimes it spits back what it's taken. Human beings were never made to travel through the Rift unprotected and those that come back are damaged in ways it would be impossible to describe. Some damage is physical but that's not the worst, worse is the mental trauma which strips people of their reason. The first person I came across like this was back in 1924, a young man who was kept in the vaults until he managed to hang himself after five years in Torchwood's tender care. There was a string of them after that, one or two a decade, who resided in the cells, existing as little more than beasts. They were cared for, after a fashion, and studied but no one tried to cure them. There is still no cure but at least now they get nursing and remedial care and some of them respond. It's better than nothing.

"Sir? I was going to order lunch." Ianto had the door partly open, standing with his head through the gap.

"Not for me."

He retreated out of the office and I went down to my quarters. I suppose I had been a bit short with the boy but I couldn't stomach food or company at that moment. Lying on the bed, I realised the bedding had been changed and the room tidied – Ianto this morning, I presumed – and it looked as good as a hole in the ground could look. On the side was something new, a small toy Welsh dragon. I was smiling as I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep, anything to forget.

The Rift alarm woke me from a restless doze in which deformed creatures were attacking me from all sides. I fought my way back to consciousness and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands before going back topside. Owen and Toshiko were standing at her desk while Ianto was hovering midway between them and my office. I guessed he was in two minds about disturbing me, he certainly looked it.

"What is it?" I asked. As I passed Ianto I put a hand on his arm - half apology, half reassurance - and was rewarded with a smile.

"Arkans," said Owen shortly, turning to look at me. The disgust was evident in his expression. "Bloody things."

"Where are they and how many?"

"Lisvane, near the reservoir. And I think it's just two of them," replied Toshiko without looking up.

"Okay. Owen, how are you feeling? You up to a dunking?" I smiled at him. The Arkans are mostly water and when they're taken down we get wet.

"I'm all right." He looked it. He had a good colour and the dressing on the Weevil gashes was smaller than the one from the day before; he'd obviously been doctoring himself. "Let's go get 'em." He was reaching for his leather jacket and Glock as he spoke.

"I don't know, Jack. Maybe Owen should stay here and me go with you," said Toshiko anxiously.

"Will you stop fussing!" protested the doctor, grabbing an equipment box which were now, thanks to Ianto, always stocked and ready to go.

"Your gun," said Ianto from behind me, holding out the holster. My greatcoat was over his arm. I took both and got ready to depart, marvelling at the boy's anticipation. It really was like having a butler, like Alfred in the Batman stories. For the first time that day I grinned.

"Ianto, you are a marvel," I told him as I headed out after Owen. "Talk us in, Tosh."

Now, I know I shouldn't say this but going out with Owen was more relaxing than having one of the others with me. There was less chat for a start. Suzie and Toshiko always want to go over what we're going to do, and then have a fall-back plan and a last resort after that. They worry a problem to death whereas Owen and I exchanged a couple of grunts and we knew what we were going to do. And, for once, it worked like a charm. The Arkans were crossing South Rise, a pleasant cul-de-sac with big houses that overlooked the two reservoirs, like they were out for a stroll. Being Sunday afternoon there was no one around, not even a man washing his car or cutting the lawn. Owen and I pulled up alongside the Arkans, pointed out the consequences of them polluting the reservoirs – their favourite trick – and persuaded them to return to their ship and depart for more amenable planets. We waited until they'd gone, a streak of light in the sky that made me a bit jealous, and then headed back to the Hub.

Owen gave Toshiko a heads up on what had happened as we drove back. When he'd finished, he turned to me. "So, Harkness, where were you all morning?"

"Out." I had no intention of telling him although, of all the team, it was Owen's help and skills I need most at Flat Holm. He's an intuitive doctor and tenacious enough to search for something, anything, that could help those people.

"Fuck, you're a secretive son of a bitch. The teaboy was worried about you, wanted us to track you down. Had your mobile switched off, didn't you?"

"I had to be somewhere. Now, can we change the subject?" I concentrated on my driving.

"Huh! Just don't start two timing the boy, he doesn't deserve it." Owen crossed his arms and stared out of the windscreen.

My mouth fell open. "Since when have you cared about Ianto!?"

"He saved my arse yesterday. And, yes, I know I was stupid to get him to help me but he still did it. He's got balls."

"I can vouch for that."

"Ah, jeez, Jack, keep your sordid private life to yourself!" I laughed, grateful to have something to laugh about. Owen would never change but it seemed he had accepted Ianto as one of the team.

It was around five o'clock when we got back to the Hub. The music was still playing and Toshiko and Ianto were at their desks where we had left them. Both looked up when we came in but neither said anything. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled. If I didn't know them both and trust them I'd think they'd been plotting a coup. As it was, I decided they'd merely been talking about me. At the bottom of the steps up to the work area, I stopped and considered.

"Tosh, any more activity predicted?" I asked.

"No," she answered after a moment spent checking the program.

"Okay. How about we go out for a drink and something to eat?"

"You and me? Is this a date?" she asked innocently. She can be a tease.

"Noooo, all of us."

"Bit early, Jack," put in Owen. "Everywhere will be dead this time on a Sunday. But I'm up for it later."

Toshiko was nodding her head. "Me too."

I turned to look across at Ianto, sitting at his remote desk. "Ianto?"

"Okay." He smiled at me, one of those little ones.

"So, teaboy, get us a coffee to keep us going. Chop, chop," said Owen, now seated at his desk. "If I've got to write a bloody report on these Arkans I'll need something to keep me awake."

"Good idea," I agreed.

We put in a couple of hours' solid work before we decamped to a favourite haunt of Owen's. Loud music, dancing and so dark away from the dance floor I could barely see where I was going. But the beer was good, the food tasty and the flesh on display was young and firm. Owen and I appreciated the girls barely out of their teens in skimpy tops and skirts prancing around. The boys were toned and in shape too and Toshiko and I compared notes on some of those in skin tight T-shirts and tight trousers. We both liked one in particular who was dressed all in leather. Only Ianto seemed unmoved by the display, sipping his beer and staying quiet.

"Come on, Tosh, let's dance."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her after me onto the dance floor. She protested a bit but once I'd got her in my arms for a smooch around to some slowish tune she calmed down and followed my lead. It was fun and I needed that very much after the day I'd had. I passed her on to Owen after that first dance. I like to throw them together from time to time and it was good to see them bopping around – not as close as she and I had been but at least she was getting to be with him one-on-one.

"Want to dance?" I asked Ianto, glancing towards where he was a blur in the red light from the candle that was the only illumination on the table.

"No."

"Aw, come on." I leant forward ready to stand.

"No, Jack." This was said with such force I sat back in my chair.

"You're no fun."

"Nor are you when you disappear and don't tell us where you're going or what you're doing." He'd leant forward so I could see him clearly, challenging me to reply.

"There's a lot more to this job than you've seen so far," I began only to be cut off.

"Tosh and Owen had no idea where you were either. And they told me you do this a lot, just go out and no one can find you for hours. They've worked with you for years so why don't they know about this other part of your job?" His gaze was piercing, pinning me to my chair.

"Because it's my job, not theirs. You if anyone should know how Torchwood works." I was leaning forward too, arms on the table and we couldn't have been more than a foot apart over the table. I could feel the heat from the candle on my face. "There are some things it's better no one else knows."

He made a disgusted sound. "You're no better than Yvonne Hartman! Keeping secrets all the time. They were asking me – me who's only known you five minutes! – about you, wanted to know what you'd let slip in the sack. They have no idea who you are or where you come from."

"They know as much as they need to."

"Bullshit. Keeping secrets doesn't make working for you any easier, you know. Did you consider what would have happened if there had been a major Rift opening this morning? Tosh and Owen couldn't have coped alone."

"They'd have called in Suzie."

"They should have been able to rely on you! You're the leader of this team, or you're supposed to be." His tone told me just what he thought of my leadership skills.

"And as leader it's my decision who does what around here. Ever think that I might be protecting them by looking after business alone?" That surprised him, obviously he'd not thought of that possibility. I pressed the advantage. "There are some things that no one should have to deal with."

He was silent for a long moment, regarding me closely. "So you do them."

"Yeah."

"What if something had happened to you, then? You could have needed help and no one knew where you were." His tone had become more reasonable as he changed his argument around.

"I can manage."

"You're not invincible, Jack, you could get hurt." He reached a hand and put it on my wrist. "I was worried about you."

He said this with real feeling and I felt a heel for keeping quiet about Flat Holm. But I had many secrets – professional and personal – and I wasn't about to share them with this boy no matter how tempting it might be. I did want to protect the team from some of the worst aspects of the work and, of them all, it was Ianto I wanted to protect the most.

"There was no need to be but … thank you all the same." I smiled and was pleased when he returned it. "Now, how about that dance?"

"No, I have two left feet." He let go of my wrist and sat back, picking up his beer glass.

"Well I have two right ones, so that's okay."

I reached across the table and grabbed his arm. Before he knew what I was intending, I had him on his feet and halfway to the dance floor, beer glass still in his hand. This I took from him and dumped on an empty table before dragging him close and holding him pressed against me. The music was loud with a beat but other than that I didn't really notice. These days as long as you're moving you can do anything on a dance floor and no one cares. We swayed around to three songs, Ianto relaxing in my arms after initially resisting. I twirled him round once or twice and he even giggled in my ear. He must have had more to drink than I had noticed.

We returned to the table after twenty minutes or so dancing to find Owen had got another round in. He and Tosh had been watching us – of course – and immediately started to pass comment. Happily, Ianto didn't mind their teasing and just sipped at his beer. Toshiko was getting tipsy and would soon by nodding off if we let her while Owen was eyeing up the talent, looking for someone to share his bed that night. Why he can't see what's under his nose is beyond me. Not long after that, he went off with a busty blonde and Ianto and I took Toshiko home – she was in no state to drive.

Which left the Welshman and me all alone which was just as I liked it. Ianto appeared to have got over his earlier concerns and we repaired to his room for a much needed shag or two. A pleasant ending to a day that had started badly.