TITLE: The Power of New Beginnings
SUMMARY: AU VERSE! After the events of Beauty of a Broken Angel, can Ianto balance recovering from his imprisonment, controlling his powers, and working for Torchwood Three, all while struggling to understand his growing feelings for Jack. Closely follows Pre-season Canon in later chapters.
PART TWO OF SERIES: The Five Elements (AU Verse)
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, because if I did Ianto would be immortal!
Words: 3000
Notes: I split this one in two due to length. Enjoy!
Chapter 15: Jeopardy And Deception 1 (2005)
8th March 2005
Jack sighed as he transferred the now dated and signed report to the side, checking his watch as he reached for the next that needed completing. He was on a promise, Ianto having declared that morning that if the hadn't at least halved the amass of paperwork by lunchtime, he would not only deprive him of the best coffee, but also anything even resembling sexual activity for the next week.
Thinking back to the previous night and wondered if Ianto would actually be able to keep up his end of the deal – the sex, not the coffee – but Jack could easily remember the times Ianto's stubbornness had won out against his own and had decided not to risk it.
Absorbed in his memories, Jack was glad no-one was around to witness him almost jump out his skin as the rift alarm blared seemingly twice a loud as usual. "Tosh, status!" He called, leaving his office quickly to congregate with Owen and Suzie around at Tosh's workstation.
"Rift activity. Two different locations." Tosh explained, reading the locations aloud from one monitor while cross-checking something on the other. "This doesn't make sense; nothing was predicted for today."
"Welcome to Torchwood. There's no such thing as a holiday." Jack mocked, impersonating an old colleague. "Suzie, Owen, take the first. I'll take Cardiff Docks. Ianto..."
Jack spun around to address the other man as he entered the main Hub from the archives, making Owen groan in frustration. He knew the others found it unsettling how he always knew when Ianto entered the room, but both he and Ianto often found their attempts at speculation amusing and therefore continued to demonstrate.
"…stay here on comms, coordinate with Tosh."
"Yes, sir." Ianto replied, sliding Jack's greatcoat onto his shoulders.
The three of them raced out the Hub and Ianto made his way over the monitors, Tosh typing rapidly at her keyboard. He hooked his earpiece into his ear, and activated the line, rolling his eyes at the expletives coming from Owen as Suzie clearly ignored all speed limits.
"This doesn't make sense." Tosh repeated, causing him to look over. She was frowning extensively at her screen beside him. "None of the external devices are detecting any activity from the rift."
"It might have been too small a burst of activity for them to detect." Jack theorised. "Whatever's come through may be small but remember it still could pack a punch."
"We're not stupid Jack. We've arrived at our location now." Suzie announced and Ianto could hear the slamming of car doors over the line. "The signal says should be right…here…"
"Suzie? Owen?" Ianto asked as the line fell silent.
"There's nothing!" Owen exclaimed after a few moments. "If this turns out to be a bloody hoax. I'll…"
"Owen's right. This has all the trademarks of a trap." Jack declared over the line, blocking out Owen's complaining. "There's nothing at my location either. Keep your ey ̶ "
Jack voice cut out with abrupt shout of pain, and Ianto's fingers froze over his keyboard.
"Jack?" Static answered him. "Jack!" Ianto repeated, his voice increasing in urgency as fear tried to take over, but he shoved through it, already moving for tourist office as he spoke, hoping, needing, the other to respond. "Jack, can you hear us?"
"His comm's dead. Last known co-ordinates sent to your PDA's" Tosh interjected over the line. Ianto grabbed his keys from the hook on the wall, sprinting out to his black Audi and booting up the locator program on his PDA. He knew Jack was close at least, only a few blocks away, but the Cardiff Docks covered a lot of ground and it would take too long to find him without it.
"We're on our way. 15 minutes out." Owen informed in his ear.
The PDA finished loading, revealing a flashing indicator of Jack's last know location and Ianto stepped hard on the accelerator, tires squealing.
"Make it 10!"
Ianto arrived at the co-ordinates not long after, but there was no sign of Jack, the area empty. Owen's car pulled up behind his and Ianto jumped out his own vehicle to join the others, his eyes scanning the surrounding areas more closely.
"It says we're right on top of him!"
"Ianto…" Owen's unusually quiet tone made Ianto turn around. His hopes fell as he followed the medic's line of sight towards a familiar Webley and blue-grey greatcoat discarded between two containers.
Ianto's gut clenched as he drew nearer. The coat had a dark burn mark visible, but surprisingly that wasn't what shook Ianto the most. Positioned deliberately on top of the coat were Jack's worn leather wristband. Jack never removed it, even at night.
"That's a taser burn." Owen dipped his head towards the mark on the coat. "The bastard stunned him from behind, he didn't have a chance."
"He's gone. Someone's taken him."
Ianto voice was hollow as he confirmed with finality what everyone was thinking. He fell quiet, only vaguely noticing as Owen and Suzie disappearing further into the Docks, searching the area to for any other signs of the Captain. He fiddled with the wristband now in his hands, not knowing how much time passed before his comm buzzed again in his ear.
"Ianto?" Tosh sounded nervous. "I think you'd better get back here. You need to see this."
~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~
Ianto entered the Hub steps ahead of the others. The initial shock had worn off and concern spurred him into action. "What is it?" he asked, bolting to Tosh's workstation.
"This arrived 20 minutes after we lost contact with Jack."
She fell silent, pulling up a blank email and clicking open its single attachment. The screen loaded gradually to reveal a hazy photo of what appeared to the inside of a corrugated metal container. Jack was face down in the middle, limbs strewn as if he'd just been callously dropped to the ground. Ianto couldn't see his face, but it was clear he was still unconscious.
Or worse.
The words flashed briefly in his mind, the still image providing not evidence Jack was even alive, but he shoved them away. He wasn't going to go there, yet, and he hoped he would never have to.
The phone rang in Jack's office, the sudden noise after the previous silence alarming the team.
"Ignore it." Ianto ordered uncharacteristically, not taking his eyes off the screen. "UNIT's scheduled to call; they can wait. Tosh, can you trace where the photo came from?"
"Sorry, signal's masked." Tosh replied, apologetically, but tried again despite her words.
The phone rang off in the other room, but gave only a brief respite before the noise instantly resumed as the caller redialled. Frustrated at the distraction, Ianto marched into Jack's office and grabbed the offending item, speaking sharply.
"Ianto Jones, Torchwood."
"Ah, finally, the almighty Torchwood. We speak at last. Now, I believe I have something you might be interested in – or should I say someone?"
Ianto froze for second as the words registered in his brain. Racing out of Jack's office, he dropped the phone from his ear, simultaneously switching over to loudspeaker.
"I want to speak to Jack." Tosh and Owen looked up at his words, their expressions turning stony in recognition.
"Sorry, I'm afraid Jackie can't speak right now, but if you'd like to leave a message, I'll certainly forget to pass it on when he returns from the Land of Nod."
Ianto clenched his jaw in anger at the childish attitude. "What do you want?"
"Uh uh, wrong question. Someone's been watching too many Crime Shows. What makes you think I'm going to announce my whole plan over the phone."
"I'm not in the mood for games. Tell us where Jack is."
"Now, there's the word I was looking for: Games. How about this? You've got 4 hours to attempt to stop me and rescue your Captain or… oh what's the saying? Oh yeah. End of the line people."
"If you hurt him…"
"I don't think you're in the position to make demands, Jones. The clock is ticking." The voice interrupted sharply. "And don't even think about calling reinforcements or Torchy's going to have a seat to fill."
The dial tone rang insultingly loud around the room as the caller hung up. "How the hell did he get our number?"
Tosh didn't react to Ianto's anger. "I ran a system wide scan and found back-door into our mainframe. They passed all the safeguards I programmed. I'm sorry, I didn't notice…"
"It's not your fault, Tosh. Jack will say the same when we find him." Ianto squeezed her shoulder reassuring, feeling the waves of guilt emanating from her.
He failed to notice his unintentional use of when rather than if. He still wasn't going to consider the alternative. "So, whoever it is must have been planning this for ages then."
"Undoubtedly." Tosh replied. "This amount of code, it must have taken months."
"That gives them more time to have made a mistake then." Ianto stretched, giving Tosh a tight smile. "What about the cameras at the Docks."
She shook her head regretfully, the distress clear on her face. "I tried to access them, while you were there." Tosh pressed a few keys bringing up a reel of blank footage. "The cameras surrounding the fake rift alert are broken. Nothing but black screen."
"Did you hear that?" Owen asked, coming up from behind. Ianto looked at him blankly, he hadn't heard anything.
"I've always been told I have good hearing." Owen boasted, but it sounded half-hearted compared to usual. "Turn it up and play it again."
This time Ianto clearly heard what Owen was referring to. "That sounded like seagulls."
"Exactly!" Owen leant over Tosh's shoulder to hijack her keyboard. "The camera's not broken; it's still recording." He held his finger down on rewind, speeding over the footage for ages until something flickered on screen. He slowed it back down, reading the timestamp at the bottom. "This was three days ago."
They watched as van pulled up and a masked man climbed out and collected a ladder from the rear. A few minutes later, the camera lens went dark with black spray paint.
"It was sabotaged." Tosh breathed. "Hang on…" She rewound the footage once again, only this time pausing and zooming in on the van in the background.
"Raymond Auto Repairs." Suzie read aloud from the screen.
Tosh typed the company name into Google, selecting the first result and navigating to the promotional video. The voice unmistakeably matched the one on the phone.
"It's same guy." Owen confirmed.
"It's a small company; single garage in Adamstown." Tosh explained, effortlessly breaking into their systems, and scrolling through a list of employee records.
"Wait!" Ianto called, pointing at the screen over her shoulder. "Scroll back a bit."
Tosh obeyed, scrolling back the list slower than before, selecting the ones Ianto signalled. "What's a small auto company doing hiring three different computer experts?"
~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~
By the time Ianto returned from Adamstown, his carefully controlled anger was about to burst. He hauled a handcuffed Raymond through the Cog Door by the scruff of his collar, dragging him across the Hub and shoving him down the steps of the interrogation room. Unlocking one cuff, he resecured it around the leg of the metal chair, before heading back up the stairs to try give himself time to compose himself.
Tosh looked nervously from her desk when he returned, having remained at the Hub to monitor the systems for more breaches. "Jack?"
"Nothing!"
"It's not their base of operations though," Owen voiced when it became clear Ianto wasn't going to elaborate. He was standing in the door from the garage, keeping one eye on what was occurring behind him. "Not a single piece of computer tech anywhere, and only a handful of the employees on the list. Suzie's with them now."
"She can shove them cells next the weevils. I don't care." Ianto directed, turning back towards the door to the interrogation room. "I've got Raymond."
"As I make it, there's less than 90 remaining on the clock, Jones." Raymond taunted as Ianto sat down opposite him. "You're wasting your own time."
"No, you are." Ianto stated, firmly. "You've lost Raymond. We know you took Captain Harkness as a diversion but it's over. Tell us where Jack is, and you might see the sun again."
"You think this is over? It's just the beginning!" Raymond snarled. "We've got access to your servers. We know what degenerate scheme you run here."
"Please. Enlighten me." Ianto replied, trying to keep the sarcasm out his voice. He could read disgust pouring from the other man, and it concerned him as he contemplated where this was heading.
"I think you are experimenting on people. Making them dangerous, calling them aliens then releasing them in the public. All so you can just play hero and 'save' us. My colleagues have everything. One button and all the files are released to the press. After tonight, your little scheme is over."
"You could have kept quiet, released them before we even knew about it. Why risk us stopping you?"
"Well, what would be the fun with that." Raymond smirked. "Go, on. Try and stop me. But tell me this Jones, what's more important, your Captain or your secrets?"
Ianto's anger flared. The table upended as Ianto charged forward, his momentum driving the chair backwards into the concrete wall without warning. Caught up in his wrath his carefully managed control on his power collapsed and unleashed from within, the window behind Raymond's head blowing outwards with the force of the gale.
Overwhelmed, he bolted up the stairs of the interrogation room without another word, putting distance between him and the lunatic now trembling in his chair. Grateful not to come across anyone on his way, he crashed through the door of bathroom, taking deep breaths to regain his control.
He hadn't lost control over his powers like that for years.
Cupping his hands under the cool water, he splashed some onto his face. He hoped none of the others had witnessed the incident on the internal camera but wagered if they had, he could easily pass the broken window off from having slammed Raymond's head against it.
He huffed unenthusiastically in amusement at how quickly he'd come up with the excuse. It seemed that constantly producing cover stories for Torchwood had finally rubbed off on him.
A quiet knock on the door disturbed him. It creaked open a few seconds later to reveal the Torchwood medic. "Wondered where you'd vanished to. You get anything from Raymond?"
Ianto sighed internally in relief, the others clearly hadn't been watching the interrogation. He could delete the footage later, but his lover came first.
"Nothing on Jack's whereabouts." He shook his head, looking at the floor. "He knows about aliens but believes they're the results of experimenting on humans."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Nope. They're a bunch of bloody conspiracy theorists!" Ianto scowled. "His colleagues have files from our servers, they're being uploaded to the press this evening. They took Jack to prove a bloody point!"
"Shit."
"Yeah, shit." Ianto breathed, shoulders slumping as he leant against sink. "That sums just about everything up."
"The Captain's made of strong stuff, he'll be fine. He's probably annoying the hell out of them with his flirting." Owen declared with a hint of confidence. "We'll find him. Jack keeps us around for a reason, and I like to think it's because we're good at what we do."
Ianto glanced up in fake surprise. "Are you giving advice? Who are you are what have you done with Owen Harper?"
"Hey, if you're only going be cheeky, I won't try again."
"Sorry, I'm just…"
"Scared. We all are, but we can't give up hope." Owen paused. "If you ever repeat this though, I'll deny it."
Ianto laughed, letting Owen's words sink in for a moment. He was right. Jack had saved him once, rescuing him from Torchwood Tower and blackmailing Yvonne into giving him his freedom. It was beyond time he repaid the favour.
The silence was broken by another, more urgent bang at the door. "Guys! Get out here." Suzie shouted. "Tosh has found something new."
Owen grinned. "See… what did I just say?"
He returned to the main level of the Hub, Owen close behind. The disconcerting image of Jack was once again on the screen and he looked a Tosh, confused. "I thought…"
"Just wait for it." Suzie complained. Tosh selected a small section in the far corner of the image, a separate window appearing with the highlighted area enlarged. A program scanned the blurred image, gradually enhancing the copy to reveal a white label which would be almost impossible to spot on the original.
It still wasn't the sharpest image, having been scaled considerably but Ianto could clearly decipher the pixelated lettering of a logo sticker.
Cardiff Industrial Units
[Loc. Cardiff Docks]
"Damn it! He didn't even leave the bloody docks!" Ianto yelled, resisting the urge to kick himself.
"Ianto…"
"No. I should have seen it! It took me less than 10 minutes to get there as soon as we lost contact. They didn't have time to leave, not without passing us. He was right in front of us the whole time and we missed it!"
"The Units are the opposite end of the Docks. You couldn't have known." Owen replied.
"I…"
"Hey!" Suzie interrupted, exasperated. "What is it with you men? Do you think we do this, say, after we get going?"
"She's right." Owen conceded, checking his watch. "The 4 hours are almost up."
Ianto nodded in agreement, a determined fire in his eyes. "Let's get Jack back."
Notes: Sorry! Next chapter won't be long, promise!