"Is it the only way?" John asked Jack. "I mean, what if he is a sleeper? What are we going to do? The device itself can cause a lot of damage to the mind, right? Jack, I don't like this!" He shook as he said the last part. It was what he feared most. He didn't want to know if Mark was a sleeper agent. He couldn't lose him. Not yet, not ever. But the survivor in him was willing to take that chance. When it was over and Mark was free from doubt, they could live their life together. It was interesting that Jack had also decided to have Mark join Torchwood if all went well.

"I'm sorry, my friend." Jack hugged John tightly. He would hate to lose John also after he could trust in the man again. But he had to make it understood that this was for the greater good. Jack gave John a small kiss to show his affection.

He gazed into Jack's eyes and said. "I know, Jack. I just don't want to lose him."

Jack blinked. He knew that feeling all to well. But he also knew that he didn't what any more deaths and that included John, which came form not sticking to the rules. He smiled at his once lover. "I'm sure it will be fine. I know him, too. This is just for security reasons. Let's have a little faith." He said as he clasped John's shoulder.

"He should be done with Nick soon. It seems like a bad time to ask him. But knowing Mark, he will just say it is okay and do it." John realized why their love making this morning had been so fantastic. There was a ton of raw emotion coupled with real love. John was aware that it could be for the last time. All of a sudden he didn't feel so well from these thoughts.

Jack noticed the paler complexion on John's features. He ran his hand over his friend's face forcing John to look in his eyes. " John, it will be alright. I promise." He kissed John's cheek softly. "Let's go see what else has been happening." He led John out of the office down into the main section of the hub.

Nick and Mark were another part of the building. Somewhere in the basement near Archives, Ianto had set up an old unused room for Nick to have as an office. It was designed so it would be comfortable to have talks in. Ianto provided all the latest equipment for Nick and it also created the complete privacy that Nick's practice required. He also added a few things he knew his cousin would like. A small refrigerator stocked with orange juice and water. His own coffee maker that Ianto said he would take care of and a special music channel that played all of Nick's favorite tunes. And there was the gag picture of the dogs playing poker hanging on the wall. Nick had it in his dorm in college. Ianto hated it. Nick would laugh at his cousin and tell he knew nothing of the true genius of art.

Nick was now staring at the young man before him with his eyes popping out of his head. He blinked several times and asked Mark to repeat his statement. He shook his head to make sure his ears where clear as well.

"I was pregnant with Jack's child." He studied the doctor's reaction and laughed. "Oh, that's right, that hasn't happened with men here yet. I keep forgetting that stuff. In the 51st century, men can conceive and carry babies to term. One out of every twenty men can conceive children. It is dangerous, but can be very successful. I wasn't that lucky. I lost the boy at six months and could not conceive again. It ruined things for Jack and me. We were never the same afterwards."

"I notice that you are calling him Jack now. What has made you accept his name?" Nick asked.

"It is who he is now. Just like I'm Mark. It has been a long time since I was Andy. Even a longer time since Jack was Blue. Right? So doesn't it make perfect sense that he should I should call him by that name? He still is Blue to me, but I can accept Jack as well. I think your question should be, how am I getting on with Jack?" He smiled at Nick and the doctor nodded in agreement. He was dumbfounded by how Mark could read things. "We are as we were before the baby, before we were lovers. That is more then I ever dreamed that I would have again."

"That isn't why you wanted to see me though?"

"No." He paused. Mark was unsure how to start this. He really wanted to make sure it came out right. He took a deep breath and began. "When I told you how those creatures used me, I left things out. I had a dream last night about something my master wanted from me. Sometimes in the back of my mind, I still think they are there. Watching and waiting for the right time to bring me back to them. It makes me nervous. When I was with Darby, it really got to me. I feel like I'm still joined to them. Darby wouldn't comfort me when I had these moments with him. He would tell me that they were a dead race and that I was damaged goods because of how they used me." Mark stopped for a moment and stared ahead as if he was lost in thought.

"Darby is gone, Mark. He can't tell you falsehoods about yourself anymore." He waited for Mark to continue. Mark just sat there and looked at Nick yet it was as if he were looking at something that was beyond Nick. It was as if he saw something far away for a long moment.

He studied Nick's face before he spoke. "Darby was never the problem. He was right. Those creatures…" He swallowed hard and focused on Nick. "They never let up. They found out I was with child. How? I don't know, maybe because they never spoke their language to us directly, only through our minds. They saw us as stupid. Not capable of understanding their language. But I fooled them. I started to talk back to them in their tongue. It intrigued them. They became aware of me as more than a toy. I was given to my master at that point." Mark shivered and looked away form Nick.

"What was it like to be just with him?" Nick was at a loss for words. It was at this point he didn't know if he had the skill to really help Mark. What did he know about helping a case like Mark's surround by a world he just didn't understand? He decided to do what James and he had discussed earlier. He would just be there to listen. It is after all what Mark seemed to need.

"He was a drug. I needed our joining so bad because they wanted me to be that way. I would beg for him to touch me. He enjoyed me. His eyes were a luminous green and yellow. They bored into my soul and being. I need him to be with me because he satisfied me. He was a blessing and a curse. When he wasn't there I was in pain. I was addicted to him. That is what sex was like with them. They took you over completely. If you didn't get it often enough, you would suffer. I loved our joining. I can't even describe it. It was so not human. I would feel all of it because it was imprinted in my mind and through my body I would react. Their sweat was a narcotic. I was told that they were at one point, hunted, killed and sold as a drug. Then they became stronger than anyone else. How much of that is true, I don't know." He stopped to get a drink of water.

Nick noticed that Mark returned to looking right at him. He was beginning to get nervous. He had a feeling that Mark was trying to read his thoughts. Making him squirm a little he cleared his throat. "Mark you can ask me something. You don't have to try and pull it out of my head. It is rather rude don't you think?"

Blinking at Nick, he shifted awkwardly in his chair. "I'm sorry," he said shyly. " It is an old habit. I always did that, since I was a kid."

Nick realized that was Andy that said sorry. Mark would have made a joke. It would make sense; Andy was the one that was victimized. "That is okay. How long have you been able to read minds?"

"I think it was more like understand thought through actions. I could read body language. It was after I was kept by them, that the ability became stronger. Darby said it was part of my survival instinct. I don't know if he was right. I used to probe minds for him. At least it made me useful. The first time I read his, I thought he was going to kill me. John is different. Someone must have trained him. Jack, well he doesn't have, how do you say, a really good firewall. I can break him down after a bit. Though there are things missing. I might be able to help him with that." He paused to drink more water.

"Is there something that you wanted to know?" Nick asked when he noticed that Mark went back to trying to bore through his thoughts again.

He laughed. "Yeah, sorry. I just was trying to figure out just how uncomfortable this is making you? The next part is very difficult for me to say. They kept me because…" he paused to take a sip of water and to wait for Nick's approval to continue. Nick nodded at Mark and he finished his thought. "They wanted to breed with me."

Nick's eyes bugged out of his head for the second time that day. "What? I thought you said that you couldn't have children any more?" He was really going to have to go through the archives and bone up on future concepts and sciences. Also ask Jack things as well. He was really going to have to figure this out. God help him when he sat down with John Hart. Does mankind get intensely more complex as time goes on?

"They were going to change that. They chose my master for me because we could mate and bear children. At least that is how I understood it. It never happened. He died before I was fixed. Then I woke up in Darby's servitude. The thing is, I keep hearing a baby crying. In my sleep, it is like I'm missing something. It just started to happen. I never thought about it before I met John and found Jack again. What do you think it means?"

He look at Nick with such pain it his eyes, that Nick felt compelled to stand and sit next to the young man. He put his arm around Mark and pulled him close. It was nothing more then an affectionate gesture. Mark understood this and didn't pull away. "All that has happened to you before and since you got here has been locked away in your mind. You have had a shock. Not in just finding Jack, but being with John and the fact you are in a strange place. Your mind is opening up to the things that were put away in corners. It is a bit much to handle. You probably want your child still and they made you believe you could."

He looked at Mark who smiled up at Nick. "God!" Nick thought to him self, "this kid is beautiful! He is an amazing soul." To go through all that and to still have a golden smile made Mark seem all the more stronger then he should be.

"I guess you're right, Doc!" He joked. "It has been a rough few days." He chuckled. "Thank you. I feel so much better. Can we stop for now?"

"Sure. Why don't you go find John?" Nick stood with Mark who grabbed him in a hug.

"Sounds good." He left Nick alone. In the hall Nick heard, "Congratulations on James and you. I wish you the best!"

Nick smiled despite it all. The next thing he did wasn't going to go over well with his new boss. He phoned Jack. "He is on his way up. NO! I'm telling you now, because of the state he is in! You will do a lot of damage to him if he isn't a sleeper agent. Jack, I'm against this." He sighed. Jack had told him it would be fine. He could sense even Jack didn't believe that. He disconnected the call. A noise in the hallway made him look up.

There stood James with two cups of coffee and a smile. "A penny for your thoughts, Babe." He walked over and sat down across from Nick. Handing him a cup he waited for Nick to being to tell his tale.

.

End Part 34 TBC