Sleep and dream for you may never see things the same way in the waking world.
Ianto woke in a bed that was rather comfortable, almost homey. The problem was he couldn't feel his limbs. He was sure they were there. He just couldn't move them. His groan disturbed the other occupant of the room.
"Hey you're really sick, you're are just lucky I know how to find the right meds. This type of flu can have a lot of complications if not treated right." The voice said.
Ianto tried to slit open his eyes only to find it impossible. But the voice was unmistakable. "Jack? I'm so afraid, Jack, I thought I was sold off to some sadist." He laughed coughing up a little phlegm that the person in by the bed wiped off of him.
"No, sorry sweet bottom, I'm not Jack. But if you want I could be." The voice snickered as Ianto shook trying to get away from what he couldn't see." Why can't I open my eyes?' He yelled, causing more coughing to spasm his lung in a fit.
"Part of the illness, just take it easy. We have yet to reach the second part of the illness, boils!" The voice's laugh faded as Ianto was left all alone.
"Oh god, you're not Jack! Where the hell am I? Please come back. Don't leave me!" He tried to move but realized it was more than the sickness's fever that held him down. By the feel of it, which was from a fonder memory, his feet were cuffed, or maybe chained to the bed. "You sick fuck, you chained a sick man!" He struggled against his bonds but he was overcome from the sickness with more coughing.
Footsteps entered the room. Ianto strained against the bonds, causing a spasm to wrack his body again. Ianto smelled something warm and welcoming, with chicken he thought. "You made me soup?" He questioned finally getting his eyes open enough to be staring at Jack, or someone who could be Jack.
"No, I just picked it up down the street. It is a little place that makes the best mock chicken soup around. As for the cuffs, I have to protect my investment. Now open your mouth so we can make you well. I have a buyer for you." He tried to feed the ill man but his mouth was shut in protest.
"Oh please, it isn't like it hasn't been the first time with you, I was given you because someone owed me, you were sold to the person I got you from. So it isn't like I'm your first." He shoved the spoon into Ianto's mouth forcing him to take it. Ianto did the only thing he could spit it back into the jerk's face.
"Oh real mature, well I don't care how big your puppy dog eyes get, you're going to eat this and get better, I don't have time for this." Sergie jumped on Ianto and poured the bowl down his throat, holding his nose shut and forcing him to swallow. Ianto gagged a little but was too weak to not consume the soup.
"There," Sergie said, "much better, now get some rest. You are going to need it." He patted Ianto on his damp fever hair and left the room. Ianto cried in his distress sucking in his breath causing himself to cough some more. He wished Jack were here to wake up from this nightmare. He wished he were in his own bed with Jack next to him. All he could do was sleep, get better and try to get out of this somehow.
Jack and Dan were going over some data as Nick explained to Gwen what Anna was talking to Martha about earlier on the video phone.
"I still don't get what she meant by an unusual rhino virus strain of blah, blah?" Gwen was shaking her. "Nick. I'm sorry but I don't get doctor lingo. What does she mean in English?"
Nick chuckled. "You make me laugh, Gwen, you have been around Torchwood and enough doctors to pick something of this "lingo" up. But I can see where you're coming from; I had a hard time remembering what she was referring to myself. It has been a while." Nick smiled at her before continuing. "The virus isn't a virus, it can trigger a virus."
"A virus's virus?" Dan tilted his head for a moment as he continued to go over readings of the air quality in the area. "Martha seems to think since it is airborne; we can defeat it that way." He added, causing Nick to shake his head at the younger technician.
"Killjoy! Why not stop the wind from moving my sails next time?"
"Are we going in the boat Uncle Nick?" Leon asked coming out from under the coffee table while playing with a little red toy car.
"What are you doing here, little man?" Jack stood in front of him looking sternly down at the boy. "You are supposed to be playing in your room watching your Papa." This time he was angry with the boy.
Leon pouted as he looked up at Jack with brown sad eyes. "I know, Uncle Jack, it is just I was waiting for Daddy to come home. This way I could run and tell Papa when he gets home so Papa stops crying." Leon rolled the car on the floor rather miserably.
"He is crying?" Jack bent down to listen to the boy.
Leon nodded his head. Jack reached for the boy and picked him up. "Well let's see what this is about. I'll be back."
"Well, what was that all about?" Gwen asked.
"Mark has been having dreams about the future and he knows that John and Ben are with Darby." Anna said going back to her notes.
Nick had nothing but bad thoughts when he heard Darby and Ben in the same sentence. He didn't want to worry about Ben. But the hair standing up on the back of his neck from what he knew of Darby was not a good sign. Ben was in trouble and John put him there. He didn't want to fall apart so he did the next best thing. He punched the wall listening to the sound of the bones crack in his hand.
The room stopped to look at the young doctor panting and holding his broken hand. "Anna, I just did something really stupid. I think I need a doctor." He was laughing at his own joke.
Anna went to Nick and said. "Well I didn't think you did that for fun. Come lets get an x-ray and set the bones. What Nick wanted to say, Gwen was this virus targets viruses in the body and magnifies the gestation period, quickening the processes. For example if you have cancer, it helps it grow, if you have the flu, it makes it worse. At first we thought the last woman that died was from the virus that came through the Rift, now we realize it was an aggravated form of a virus she already had. So Martha has suggested we start at the hospitals and find causes of death connected with a form of a virus." She followed Nick in the medical by leaving Gwen to look more confused then ever.
"So we are looking for a virus's virus? How the hell are we going to do that?"
"That is the puzzle. I have been over the files and because of the death rate from the attack alone it is impossible for the hospital to do any autopsies. So I have been gathering data from other hospitals around the world and so far, we don't have a clue. Martha says we have to keep looking. If only we can find away of detecting it in a person. We have its make up, it is just immune to everything we treat viruses with." Sally said resting her feet on the coffee table that Leon had been hiding under.
"Gwen, did you know that you needed to have a science degree for this job?" Rhys ducked as she swatted at him.
"Oh you, come on let's see if we can cross reference any local cases with our data. Sally did Martha say if UNIT sent out the make up on the virus to the local hospital so they can test for it in the patients." Gwen said as she sat down at her console.
"Sorry, it isn't something that shows up in the blood stream. No one at UNIT or anywhere can seem to pinpoint if it is what is causing the deaths. The make up we picked up before, when it entered from the Rift seems to have mutated." Sally responded closing her eyes.
Dan watched Sally close her eyes and realized just how tired she was. He went to rechecking the data on the day the virus entered the Rift and went airborne. What up set him is that it just changed so easily. Anything John came up with in the future may not help them in the here and now. If it was mutating it may just be unstoppable. He looked over at Sally again, seeing her slip off to sleep. Stifling a yawn of his own he continued to cross-reference his information with that of Dr. Jones.
"So there is nothing we can do?" It was Hunter as she came out of the autopsy bay. She looked tired and lonely.
"Maybe it is a good time to pray. I'm not into that but it helps. Hunter, let's go make some coffee, I think we can help them best that way." Rhys smiled at the young woman easing her fears a small bit. She was starting to see that everyone had a place here and that was what made all of them a team. She nodded and followed Rhys to the kitchen. It was after all a simple way of not thinking of the fate of the human race by slipping into a simple daily task. Up stairs in the kitchen she asked."Maybe they would like something to eat?" She went about gathering stuff to try and make a decent meal for them. It was the least she could do for the life she had been given a chance with.
Ben was dragged out of the room he shared with John, while John lay unconscious on the floor. Darby's servants bound his hands before he was brought to the landing bay. Mark was there, talking to a man with a light material mask covering his face. Mark turned when Ben yelled.
"Really, it is the 51st century you can come up with a little more originality then a Mexican wrestler?" He struggled against the servants but was stopped as one poked him with a cattle prod. He yelled out at the shock and slumped over a bit stunned. The odd thing was he was more concerned with what happened to John than his own fate as Mark was having a discussion with the Masked Man.
"My boss is pleased with the transaction. Safe journey." Mark turned and left. He whispered at Ben through his thoughts. "Don't worry, he is a friend. You will be safe."
Ben didn't have time to say anything back as the "friend" injected him with a sleeping drug. His vision blurred as he gently went to sleep. He managed a soft. "But what about John?" The masked stranger picked him up and carried Ben to another world.
The passing of time seems so minimal when you are looking for answers. Mark realized that it was already two and half weeks since John left. It might be even more to John and Ben. Time was like that. It waited for no one and where John and Ben ended up was bothering Mark. He knew what happened then, he was there, though most of it was a blur, a hazy dream, it happened just like he saw. The dream confirmed it. He also was aware of what happened with Ben and John. But that wasn't half as bad as what he thought happened to John during his time with Darby in the little room Darby saved for the ones he played with.
He was remembering too much of that time and it was terrible to relive. He didn't know that John was such a part of what made him kill Darby in the end.
Jack was suddenly in the room holding him as he wept. Mark couldn't see Ianto, but he knew more than he wanted to remember. Jack didn't need to hear any of it. And even though he asked, Mark didn't tell him, he just cried out all of it that he could. It was how he fell asleep that night wrapped in Jack's arms. But even Jack couldn't keep the flood of memories away this time. In the end all he could do was comfort Mark.
For the most part, Mark was back in his past watching things he hoped were just a nightmare. It was then he reached out to himself so he could talk to John. It was maybe against the rules a bit, but somehow he knew it was something that had to be done.
They were running out of time, as John was aware of when they dragged him to this place in a semi conscious state. He thought that this time he might not make it out of this place. In his mind he grabbed hold of the last image he had of his partner; Mark's painful face watched as he left with Loyalwin. It wasn't long for it to settle in that he may never see any of them again. And laying in a dark basement damp and moldy, not knowing if he was going to be killed, he decided he would try to reach his family one more time. But something was blocking him. And it was in the room with him. He opened his eyes to find Mark staring at him.
"I wouldn't try to contact whoever you thought of, it is pointless as I was ordered to block you." He looked past John, the drugs Mark was on preventing him from focusing on the man in front of him. "If Darby's techniques get to be too great, I will set you free of the pain, I promise, you won't suffer. Death serves this best." Mark look at John, not taking in his features but just his existence.
"I don't think that will be necessary. I have to be somewhere. I have family waiting." John pushed himself up but couldn't move freely because of the electro chains around his neck. He scratched the area that was rubbing the skin raw and leaned into the wall waiting for Mark to say something. Mark stood as still as a statue not moving.
It was soft when he spoke, not much more then a spec above a whisper. "I had family once, people I loved. It has been along time since I heard that word." His eyes didn't leave the floor.
John felt like holding his Lovely, just telling him that someday, he would be loved again, with friends and warm loving embraces enough to fill this planet hundreds of times over again. But all he could do was guard his thoughts and feel hopeless. Right now he knew more about Mark than he needed. And right now he needed to be with his Mark more than anything.
So he broke his Time Agent oath and said to the sad brown eyes barely seeing him. "You will someday Mark, I guarantee it." The words fell silent as Darby entered the room. He was naked as John thought he would be. He remembered that is how Asher did his work. Mark then removed his clothes and waited.
"Has my 'pet' been helpful? I would hate for him to be a problem." He grabbed Mark and brought him into a long kiss, making John wretch a little. "I see how you watch him, John. You want some John, you know for old time sake. Really, did you think I wouldn't know that it was you that ran back to the agency with that report on me? How stupid did you think I was? Well The Agency is gone, just some old farts piecing things together, so the universe and time are there for our pickings." He fondled Mark causing him to pant. John averted his eyes and wished he could stop the moans from reaching his ears.
"Where's Ben?" He had almost forgot about Ben. Fear gripped him, as he thought of him in chains bloody and beaten.
"Oh, your pet? Well, I have a buyer that came for him this morning, some stranger needing a little distraction, one of those snuff types, so it was decided that your little friend was good for that. I wish I were watching, as he is tortured. Isn't that right, Mark? You made sure of that, right? It was you after all that made sure Ben was away from here before I could have fun?" Darby pushed Mark into the wall.
Mark paled at the words sinking to the floor. "Darby, I just couldn't let you. The last time, that one was just a boy. I just didn't want that on my hands, my love." He looked up at Darby waiting for his life to end. "Please Darby, he was innocent of hurting you." Mark bowed his head in shame.
What Darby did surprised him. He gently picked Mark up and caressed his skin. "I can't be mad at you, but you have to do something for me. Go over to John and kiss him. Show me that there is nothing between you two. I see how you look at him, prove me wrong and touch him without feeling." Darby eyes went huge as he watched Mark move towards John. He watched as Mark squatted down to John's face and planted a kiss that was such a turn on to Darby he touched himself briefly.
"I'm in your thoughts John Hart, one has asked me to reach out to you and say how much he loves you. He says he is waiting for you and he knows how hard this all is for he can remember all of it now. "Your children love you and your friends miss you. John, my beloved, come home to us safe." There is no more, you must calm your thoughts and not let my kiss get to you. I feel how excited you are."
John gagged as he struggled on his chain. Pushing Mark gently out of the way, he growled loudly trying to reach Asher with all of his might. Asher used the shock collar bringing John down with a yelp. He twitched a little trying to regain his composure. But he failed as he began to sob for Mark, for Ben and all of the people he had finally found to love.
Asher leaned in front of John with a smile on his face. "You cared for this one your Ben, but not for my beauty here." He knelt down closer whispering in John's ear. "And here I thought you loved Grey, oh yes, I ran into him when I was in Trienda last week. He said he just sold off a nice piece of ass to some tart looking to pay off a debt. He was rolling in credits and high as the Ontriern Mountains. That was when he said you would be around; looking for something, ah and then there was the little report he gave me that you penned so professionally. How did you put it? 'Darby Asher is a menace to the Time Agency. He is dealing in human slaves and selling drugs to known enemies.' Like that would get me in trouble. I helped finance them!" He bit John's ear, causing him to scream. With blood on his lips he continued. "That is the least amount of pain you will feel. But first I need to be with my pet, I'm sure you will like the show." He pushed Mark down on his hands and knees in front of John.
Tears rolled down John's cheeks as he averted his eyes to the brutish display of sex that Asher put Mark through. 'This is hell,' John thought. Suddenly the lights went out. He heard Asher say "What the hell" before an unusual sleepiness over took him.
Sergie was getting bored with watching the tasty treat lay in bed and he was not able to have his little bit. The good thing was that his fever broke that morning so now he was just resting and smelling rather bad. He shook the sleeping man.
Ianto woke with at start to his non-Jack looking at him with a crinkled nose. "You have gone beyond ripe, my dear. I think it is time you bathe." He violently pulled back the covers undoing the cuffs and shouted. "Get up now!"
Ianto hesitated straining his eyes to see the man in front of him. He pushed himself up even though he was dog-tired he managed a quip. "It would be nice if you could tell me you name Mr. Charming Personality."
The young man laughed. "Sergie Latham. And you are my beauty?" He undid the cuffs at Ianto's feet.
Ianto knew better than to give his name so he thought of the first name that came to his head. He cursed the fact that he was now into reading Batman comics because Mark got into them and left them all over the house. He even had Nick liking the hero. In so many ways Jack was like Bruce Wayne, a man with a hidden identity and a haunted past. And what was Ianto at the beginning but a butler to the playboy so he said out loud and with conviction. "Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, at your service." He held out his hand to his captor.
Sergie frowned not really understanding what the gesture meant. He creased his brow and pouted before he used the man's hand to pull him out of the bed. Ianto swayed a little as Sergei caught him. Both men flushed slightly forcing them to part quickly. Ianto got his footing before he asked his question. "Which way to the shower?"
Sergie blinked at the manners this man had and pointed to the door over to the left of the bed. "Don't get any ideas or I'll have to watch you, unless you would want that. I think I could be talked into helping you. After all, you are as weak as a new born right now." He let his voice betray something. Ianto heard it as concern, which meant a weakness. It was something that could be used later if Ianto needed a way to escape.
"Don't worry, I would run five feet and fall on my face. I really don't have any strength." Slowly he walked to the room, a little unsure of his footing but he mange to get there. Sergie was cautious but he followed behind him. Ianto didn't shut the door as he began to undress.
Sergie watched like a hungry lion waiting for the first taste of the fresh kill. He licked his lips as he took in the delicate shape of Ianto's hips, his small round cheeks of his ass and the little tuft of hair he glanced on his well-toned stomach. Ianto for the most part didn't care that he had eyes on him. He knew that his body distracted Jack at times. So if Sergie were Jack, it would seem only correct that it should work on him, too.
Sergie panted a little as Ianto touched his hip and rubbed his crotch a little before going into the shower.
"So Alfred…" It came out a little husky. "What is it you did to get sold to my friend? You must have pissed someone off." Sergie watched the washcloth run over the water soaked body of his merchandise with another lick of the lips. He felt the heat settle between his legs and knew it was not going to be easy to keep his hand off of this one for long. But he wanted to enjoy having sex with him and fever broke or not the man was still not well enough to be much fun.
Ianto looked right at Sergie as the water left diamond drops on his pale skin. "I just fell in love with the wrong man that had an angry relative that wanted to get back at him. So he kidnapped me leaving me no way of getting home. So I guess I'm left to fate, I'm at the end of my rope as one might say." He closed his eyes, letting the water run over his face.
The ringing in Sergie's ears prevented him from hear some of Ianto's words. He was so excited watching this man that he excused himself before Ianto was done, saying something about lunch. He was stunned by this man but swore that he wasn't going to get involved. But the least he could do was change the bedding.
Despite the words lunch was making his stomach turn slightly he smirked watching his captor's hasty retreat. "Well at least I know my Jacks. I guess he never really changed." He thought to himself as he dried off. Not wanting to get back in his clothes he returned to the bed naked.
Sergie returned sometime later with food. To find a wet delicious looking man asleep under the covers.
End Chapter 33
TBC