20
Toshiko was still trolling through records, amazed at what Ianto had managed to get her into. She was rapped and not afraid to tell everyone how interesting the entire thing was to her. The images of the bodies were flashing across the screens on the wall as each one got assigned a latent power or staff designation along with their name. A small picture from the files of what the person had looked like in life at the bottom corner of the screen did not help matters, only adding to the horror as they resembled nothing of the remains. It was like a puzzle she slowly unravelled with the DNA from records to match those samples taken by Owen and they had over twenty to ID still as she hummed happily. Puzzles were her jam and this was the sort of work she enjoyed. Not only because only she could do it at this speed but also for the fact that her gift could be used freely to do so now everyone knew about it.
"This is so much fun" she finally blurted out "I've never felt so in control!"
Of course, these were lives and she remembered as Ianto rose from his chair to leave the room with stilted movements and she called after him "Sorry, didn't mean to sound cold. It's just… this is more than we've ever had."
Ianto didn't answer, moving down for a look over the railing to find Derp in the medical bay with Owen. Owen was showing him different samples of things and they seemed comfortable with one another. Ianto then turned and found Jack behind him "Hey. You OK?"
"Yeah, just … they are all gone and it's like … the world didn't even pause. Not even a hole in the fabric of it … just… smoothed over it like someone taking a drop of water from a glass of it, not even a ripple really"
"Is this about them? Or you?" Jack pulled Ianto close "Are you thinking back to your own powers and possibilities. Seeing that carnage and seeing your own potential?"
"You know me so well, yeah. Yeah. That was a terrible thing, all those powers used at once. No one there to channel them into one force … they all tore their world apart. Yeah" Ianto sighed letting his head move to fall against Jack's.
"If they had you there … of … of your elk. A Gleaner … what would have happened?"
"Well, depends on the powers. You are powerful and we both know the strength of your regenerations is like a nuclear power. Gray…" Ianto passed and Ianto felt his mouth go dry. He waited.
"Gray is … he is a companion power to you. You complement him, without you the power he holds could not be fully utilised … together .. Gray's power is extraction. He does not know, probably never used it without you beside him to wake it. Gray can pull emotions from people. Make them like him, fear him, love him … he can force an emotion for a short period. If I use that power from him added to my Gleaning I could not only pull the strength from you but turn it into an emotion before throwing it at someone. I could make them all insane with anger, lust, sorrow, fear … I could plant a seed of thought into the subconscious of a small city block then sit back and watch everyone turn on one another. Powerful, so powerful but without a gleaner ... not so scary." Ianto sighed "Why we are so sought after."
"So … you could have made the explosion work. Had a Gleaner been in the building when that happened, they could have got out. Escaped?"
"Yeah. Yeah" Ianto pulled away and scrubbed at his face as he considered as Jack had another thought too.
"So, if they suspected or believed one of theirs was a Gleaner, hiding themselves in the group …" Jack let it hang for a moment and Ianto stared at him.
"Wait. What?"
"Might they not have set that up thinking the Gleaner would react if only to save themselves if not their team? They might not have expected to die, for there to be one hiding in there that was an emotive? Like Gray? Made them all insane? Made them all sort of implode like that … they might have thought their pet would finally show itself?" Jack suggested "It was no accident they were all locked in, no accident that they were lose and rampaging about the building right? Panicked, afraid and confused. Why? How? No logical thought, no leader. They were almost crazed … the powers thrown at one another like monkeys throwing shit about … no Gleaner to hone and manage. Think about it love."
Ianto was thinking about it. Thinking about his own reveal all those years ago, forced to show himself to save the group he was in even as other groups failed around them and as he stared at Jack it all became sickeningly clear that Jack had hit the nail on the head.
They had done the same thing to him.
He had stepped up, saved them and shown himself to be a Gleaner.
Now Ianto had a new emotion that he had to deal with as he stared at Jack and struggled to control it.
Fury.
