Chapter 34
Kathy Swanson watched on from the safety of her office as several bulky figures in Hazmat suits swarmed over the staff multi storey car park. The CBRN specialists had initially protested that looking for plants wasn't their line of work, but in the end they had decided that given a choice of searching for small, toxic, mutant plants or devices containing biological, nuclear or chemical agents, they were happy to kill weeds for a change.
The deal breaker had been the location – Cardiff. There had been that many incidents in the city over the past several decades that it was taken as read that if something odd turned up in South Wales that required their assistance, then the department dealt with the suspected threat first and asked questions later. More often than not either UNIT or Torchwood stepped forward at that point and took over the investigation.
It had been a sharp-eyed policeman who had spotted the strange purple foliage first, just before he'd succumbed to a coughing fit and had been carted off to hospital. Kathy thought she'd heard that it was PC Davidson, but it couldn't have been, he wasn't on the duty roster.
The narrow strip of soil in which the plants had been growing had been scraped out and placed in biohazard disposal bags. A remote grasper had been used to collect some whole specimens for analysis, one of which was destined for Torchwood in accordance with the standing arrangement that any toxic or harmful substance, of unknown origin found in Cardiff, be submitted to the organisation for further analysis.
As soon as all visible traces of the plants had been removed, the ground had been scorched with blowtorches to ensure that any remains were destroyed. Vehicles in the car park and in the surrounding area were being wrapped in plastic sheeting in preparation for transfer to a special decontamination car wash facility. Decon showers were also being set up in the locker rooms for any personnel still on site.
Flipping open her mobile phone Kathy selected a number from her contacts list. It went through to voicemail, which surprised her, but she left a message anyway.
"The plants have all been located and neutralised. I've been informed that a sealed specimen is being dispatched by courier to your base. You're a pain in the arse, Jack, but thanks for helping us out. I'll do my best to spread the word that Torchwood assisted us in finding the cause of the problem and dealing with it. Give my regards to your boss, he'll be hearing from me soon."
"Message?" Ianto yawned as he stretched his arms out above his head. He could have happily curled up in bed and stayed there the rest of the day – even if Jack hadn't been sprawled out alongside him. However, he knew full well that their work was far from done for the day and that he'd have to make an appearance back at the Hub sooner rather than later to avoid an invasion by Gwen or Tosh, or heaven help him, both of them.
Jack was standing in the doorway, naked except for his wrist strap, holding his phone in his hand.
"Yeah – Kathy." Jack smiled to himself.
"If you cheat on me with her, I'll demote you. I'll have you know that I won't have my personal assistant acting like a slut."
Ianto tutted loudly as Jack feigned mock outrage at the suggestion.
"Who, me? Of course not, sir. I wouldn't dream of it – well actually that's not true, I can't control my dreams and just in case-"
"Jack. Stop there. That hole is quite big enough already, you can stop digging."
"Oops?"
"Didn't I ask you to get me something to eat a few hours ago?"
"Yes sir, that was before you ordered me to join you in your bed…sir."
"Yeah, well I'm even hungrier now. I don't suppose you found anything to eat did you?"
"If you must know, I did, I made you a sandwich – it's on the kitchen table. Shall I bring it upstairs for you?"
"What's in it?" Ianto frowned, wondering what on earth Jack could have found to put in a sandwich and whether or not it would still be safe to eat. The last thing he wanted was food poisoning.
"Cheese – that's OK isn't it?"
"Hang on – this is weird." Tosh called out from her computer.
"What've you got?" Owen asked in reply, reluctant to abandon the analyses he had running of both the plant he'd collected from the drain in the garage and the one sent to them by courier courtesy of the CBRN team.
"More reports of people collapsing, just like at Cardiff Central Police Station. Non allergy sufferers – all taken ill at more or less the same time, symptoms include difficulty breathing and wheezing. Several going on to experience full anaphylactic shock."
"What's weird about that? Sounds like another cluster of those bloody plants."
"Except that none of these victims are in Cardiff."
"What?"
"Four in Bristol, two in Bath, six in Portsmouth, one in Salisbury and three in Warminster – apart from the fact that they're all towns in south west England, there's no pattern-"
"Yes there is."
"Ianto! How are you feeling?" Tosh rushed up from her seat and dashed over to greet Ianto with a gentle hug.
"I'm fine – really."
"I hope he looked after you properly." Owen walked towards them and pointed at Jack.
"Oh yes – made me a sandwich and tucked me up in bed," Ianto winked at Owen. "Couldn't have been more attentive to my needs."
"I really hope 'sandwich' isn't some euphemism for one of your kinky games." Owen had caught the way Jack was leaning back on the nearest desk with a smug look on his face.
"Nope – it was cheese on wholemeal bread."
Ianto hadn't believed that Jack had actually made him a cheese sandwich. But it was a million times tastier than the one he'd refused to eat the previous day. The bread was fresher, the sharp-tasting cheddar finely grated and it had been covered to stop it from drying out. It had tasted all the better for the fact that Jack had made it for him; the number of times the other man had prepared him something to eat, rather than calling for takeout could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
"Ianto, what did you mean just then? You said there was a pattern?" Tosh asked suddenly.
"Well yes – it's obvious really." Ianto shrugged as he remembered what he'd been referring to.
"Fancy enlightening us mere minions?" Owen waved his arms to encompass himself, Tosh and Jack.
"They're all on the main train line from Cardiff to Portsmouth." Ianto stated as if he couldn't believe they'd not made the connection. Perhaps it was because he'd never had a car of his own until Jack had bought him the Audi and was more familiar with the destinations of trains from the various stations in Cardiff. He'd also handed out plenty of timetables from the tourist office as well. Sometimes it seemed as if the whole world gathered on Mermaid Quay for some unfathomable reason.
"So the plant decided to get on a train?" Owen asked sarcastically. "Triffids – 'letting the train take the strain'?"
"I doubt it. Not like they could buy tickets, could they, Owen?" Ianto responded sarcastically. "However, it does mean there must be some of those plants at the train station – maybe on the platform awnings?"
"Of course – that would explain it." Tosh began typing quickly – accessing the station's website to search for the exact platform from which the Portsmouth train departed. "Platform 2 and there's at least one train every hour, which means-"
"We need to send warnings to the health trusts responsible for each of those towns and cities, make sure they're ready to act." Owen grabbed his phone and dialled the number of his contact at the department of Health. "Nice call, boss, well done."
Jack was about to say he hadn't said anything and then realised that Owen's uncharacteristic compliment was directed at Ianto and not to himself. He shook his head ruefully only to find Tosh smiling at him.
"Jack? Did you really transfer power to Ianto? I saw what you did at the police station, but-"
"Owen witnessed it, I'm sure he confirmed it."
"Well, yes and he told Gwen as well."
Jack sighed; he should have known that Owen would have delighted in being the one to break the news to Gwen.
"So, just who is in charge – you or Ianto?"
"Me," both men said simultaneously. Jack scowled at Ianto who tilted his head to one side, silently challenging Jack.
"Trouble is that now he's got a taste of power, he won't give it up." Jack pouted petulantly, it was one thing for Ianto to take control in the bedroom, but this wasn't what he'd had in mind.
"Hey – how do I know that if I give up the position of leader I won't get locked up again?"
"He's got a point, Jack." Owen sauntered back to stand between the two men. "Right then, I've been in touch with the Health Protection Agency, and they're going to issue bulletins warning hospitals about sudden influx of patients needing immediate treatment. Paramedics are being equipped with extra epi-pens to deal with cases quickly."
"Good work, Owen," Ianto said with a smile, speaking up quickly before Jack could respond.
"However, someone should get onto the railway police and get that platform closed for now. They need to divert trains to different platforms until the plants are found and destroyed."
"Sounds like a job for Gwen." Jack looked around, surprised he'd not noticed she was missing earlier. "Where is she?"
"At home," Owen muttered. "Shagging Rhys I should think."
"What?"
"I told her it's what the boss would've wanted her to do." Owen said slyly, catching Ianto's eye.
"Excuse me?" demanded Ianto, flabbergasted. Was that really the sort of thing Owen thought he'd suggest as leader of Torchwood?
"Don't deny it - I used to hear you mumbling sentiments along those lines to yourself all the time. Now how did it used to go? Oh yeah - 'she's got her own boyfriend, why doesn't she just piss off home and shag him?'… sound familiar?"
"Context, Owen! That was ages ago and I had my reasons." Ianto spluttered, embarrassed by how jealous he'd once been. He didn't think anyone had heard him back then in the days when Gwen didn't seem to know when to call it a night, when she'd just sit around in Jack's office for hours, thinking everyone else had left for the night. Except he hadn't, he was there waiting for Jack. He'd thought Owen had left by then as well – obviously he hadn't and must have witnessed Ianto venting to himself in the kitchen one evening.
"Ianto? Something you want to tell me about?" Jack had caught the look on Ianto's face and was curious.
"Nothing to bother yourself with, Jack." Ianto rolled his eyes; he knew that tone in Jack's voice. "It's just Owen shit stirring for a change."
Not waiting to hear any more, Ianto made his way over to his own desk and opened a detailed street map of Cardiff. Something was bothering him.
"Owen – tell me more, later," whispered Jack. He'd not missed the tightly pressed lips of Ianto, the giveaway tell that confirmed there was definitely more to this than met the eye.
"Oh fuck. We've got a problem."
Ianto's exclamation rapidly got everyone's attention.