TITLE: To Separate The Lies From Truth

PART THREE OF SERIES: The Five Elements (AU Verse)

CHAPTER SUMMARY: The team are tested to the limits when the Battle for Torchwood leaves devastation in its wake.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Torchwood or Doctor Who which is unlucky because Jack and Ianto deserve so much more!

WORDS: 3600

NOTES: Thanks for all the support with the first chapter. Here's the next as promised. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Fall of Canary Wharf (2006)

4th July 2006

When the Battle for Torchwood One happened, no-one had expected the extent of the tragedy. Just before Alex had killed himself, he had warned something big was on the horizon, and that Torchwood wasn't ready and despite Jack's attempts in the years since then, he'd still been right.

Jack lay awake in his bunker in the early hours of the morning, curled around Ianto. The latter was fast asleep, but once again Jack found the act evading him, as too many thoughts invaded his mind.

For the last two months since the first 'Ghost Shifts', Jack had put Torchwood Three on high alert, but he'd gotten no sense out of Yvonne and the other heads at Torchwood One. While he had an inkling that Ianto's charm with some of the newer members would have been of more use in getting answers, he hadn't been about to force up old memories for Ianto in the process.

However, it appeared all the chatter of Torchwood One already had.

Abrupt movements from the form beside him jolted him upright. Ianto tossed unsettlingly in his sleep, quiet whimpers coming from him as Jack shook him awake urgently. Ianto's eyes snapped open as he awoke with a start, his breaths short and irregular. Jack could feel his heart pounding.

'It's okay.' Jack whispered as Ianto glanced apprehensively around the bunker, calming as he recognised his surroundings. 'You were having a nightmare.'

Ianto nodded slowly. "Sorry if I woke you."

"No need." Jack assured. "I was already awake."

"You need to get more sleep, Jack." Ianto shifted closer to Jack in response and they both settled back down.

"You know me. I don't need much sleep." Jack tried to pass off in his usual jovial manner, but as always Ianto wasn't convinced. "Too much on my mind." Jack added truthfully.

"You're trying your best." Ianto reassured. "You can't do much more with Hartman blocking you."

"I know, but somehow I have the feeling my best won't make much difference when this all goes to hell. And there's no doubt it will."

~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~

Ianto tried to avoid the 'ghosts' as much as he could during the shifts. So far, no 'ghosts' had appeared in the Hub, or even around the surrounding bay. Jack had theorized it had something to do with the Rift and for once Ianto could say he was grateful for its presence. Not only were they a constant reminder of a part of his life he'd almost put behind him, but he also couldn't read anything from them, just a broad sense of unending emptiness which unnerved him to no end.

He finished collecting the remnants of lunch, half listening as Tosh and Owen watched the latest midday shift occur over CCTV. However, rather than fading away after the usual time limit, the grey-like manifestations remained and Ianto felt a wave of dread overcome him. He dropped the black sack by the bin, approaching the workstation.

"It should be over by now." Owen voiced. "What's going on?"

"Tosh!" Jack came sprinting out his office urgently. "Baseline readings from London."

"The energy's centred at the Tower like usual." Tosh responded, having already started her readings. "But it's increasing. Going off the charts. Oh god-"

Ianto looked round at her cry, seeing her staring a multiple CCTV footages of what he recognised were the streets of London.

"What are they?"

"Cybermen!" Jack closed his eyes, but Ianto could read the panic flooding from him. "This is an invasion."

"They're everywhere." Tosh added. "Reported sightings from Scotland, Italy, Germany…but they definitely seem centred in London."

"The Tower?"

Tosh nodded severely. "We've lost the CCTV. All modes of communication are down."

"Get everything ready." Jack ordered. "We need to go now."

If Ianto had any doubt how serious the situation was, it was eradicated in that moment. Owen raced towards the medical bay for his bag, while Tosh and Suzie gathered the equipment and weapons they might need, piling for the SUV. Ianto grabbed his own suit jacket and personal weapon before collecting Jack's greatcoat.

"Ianto-" Jack started after taking the coat from him, and seeing him start to follow the others through to the garage. Ianto knew what he was about to say, but he wasn't going to stay behind, no matter where they were going.

"Don't even think about it, Jack." Ianto interrupted. "I'm coming with you."

~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~

No-one had spoken on the drive to London, the air tense and solemn. The silence was crushing, only broken by the increasingly grave reports that crackled through the radio. Jack gripped the steering wheel tightly, his eyes locked on the motorway ahead, to avoid catching the other's eyes, but his attempts were futile as he caught Ianto's gaze in the rear-view mirror, the latter portraying the same shock and horror that he himself was feeling. And while the others were harder to read without the underlying link with Ianto, he could only imagine they were feeling the same.

Halfway there, the reports came to a sudden halt, breaking through the stillness as Tosh flung up the lid of her laptop that was resting on her lap and began typing furiously. Jack's jaw clenched in anticipation as he waited.

"They've gone." Tosh whispered finally, almost in disbelief and so quietly Jack thought he'd misheard.

"What?"

"The Cybermen. They just vanished." Tosh explained further, looking up from the screen. "The battle's over."

Jack pushed down the small spark of relief that tried to bubble to the surface. The enemy might be gone, but there were still lives in danger. "What about the Tower?"

"Burning." Tosh described plenty in the single word, but continued as she glanced back the screen. "UNIT's already on scene. They say it's coming under control, but the place is in ruins. They've only found a handful of survivors so far, but they're still searching."

"Well, that's just shit."

Owen's voice echoed what everyone was thinking from the passenger seat, as Jack refocused on the road, his foot pressing ever so harder against the accelerator.

"Okay." Jack started as they clambered from the vehicle. He took a silent deep breath in preparation. Some days he hated being in charge, and this was the scenario he'd been dreading for the last few months, yet still he'd been unable to prevent it.

"Tosh, first job is to restore power and communications within and around the Tower. It is a high-tech building with a lot of security procedures so without power, the search and rescue teams will be unable to access certain areas. The data on the servers also needs securing and transferred to our systems. A lot of outsiders will soon be digging for answers, and the information can't get into the wrong hands. Suzie, same with the hard copies and artifacts in the archives – put as much as you can in the SUV and secure the rest for later."

The two women nodded, splitting off from the others until Jack called out again. "Oh, and Tosh." The smaller woman spun around again to face him curiously. "I'll try keep UNIT out your way. Anyone tries to bother you, tell them to deal with me." Jack added, ignoring the confused looks from Owen and Suzie, as Tosh smiled warmly before continuing onwards.

"Owen," the Captain continued. "You're on casualties and medical. UNIT will already have medics on site so find their base and coordinate with them. However, I'm not letting UNIT take charge here. This is a Torchwood matter, so get as much info as you can, and let me know before they do anything radical with any of the survivors."

"UNIT can get stuffed." Owen agreed. "What are you two doing?"

"We're going to try find out what the hell happened here, and see if we can find any other survivors." Jack said, sharing a glance with Ianto. "If Hartman and any of the administrators are still alive, they are going to get what's coming for them."

~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~

Ianto stood beside Jack at the entrance of the Tower. He dreaded returning to the building he'd spent so long trying to avoid, as well as seeing the carnage inside from the battle, but he knew many employees in Torchwood One were innocent compared to Hartman and the other leaders, and it was only right to do as much as he could to try and help.

"Stay close to me. If it gets to be too much, use my shields as well, you hear?" Jack ordered.

"Jack…" Ianto started. While he didn't want Jack focused on him the whole time, he knew the other was right. Too much input for an empath could be dangerous. He remembered how long it took last time to him to rebuild his shields.

"Non-negotiable." Jack interrupted, clearly adamant. "One case of psychic shock was enough for a lifetime."

"I was actually about to agree." Ianto said. "I know my limits, Jack. I'll be careful."

The pair picked their way through the ruins of the Tower, searching each room as they went. There was no doubt the rest of the building would have to be demolished afterwards; it wasn't safe to remain standing now the structure had destabilised. Most of the fire was already out, but they stumbled upon a few small flames, that Ianto subtly extinguished with his powers. Creating fire, he decided, was a lot easier than putting them out.

Ianto tried not to be disheartened at not finding any survivors on their way to the top of the tower. Tosh had rebooted the system, so they now had minimal power to the computers, and they hoped they'd get more of an idea what had occurred once they'd watched the CCTV. A lot of the data had been destroyed in the battle, the monitors filled with static, but it soon became clear Hartman had been messing with things that shouldn't have been touched, not that Ianto was surprised.

"Wait." Ianto cut in, and Jack paused the footage. "They're not Cybermen."

Jack scrolled back and froze at the image on the screen that Ianto had noticed. Ianto felt Jack tense with fear and anger. "No! I thought they were gone!"

Ianto placed a supporting hand on Jack's shoulder, his fear contagious and not just from reading it himself. "What are they?"

"Daleks!" Jack hissed. "They're the Doctor's worse enemy. They're almost impossible to defeat, but they're meant to be extinct."

"Sounds as if you have a history." Ianto replied, hesitantly, worried he was about to bring a haunting memory of Jack's to the surface. "With the Doctor, I'm guessing."

"You never forget your first death."

Jack didn't elaborate, and Ianto didn't ask him too. He already knew enough of Jack's first encounter with death, to understand the reason for Jack's distress.

"Cybermen and Daleks went to war against each other, and the Tower was caught in the crossfire." Jack declared. "All we can do is feel lucky it wasn't a hell of a lot worse and prevent this from ever happening again."

The two fell silent until their comms buzzed, and Owen's voice filled their ears.

"UNIT have requested your presence on sublevel 3." Owen proclaimed with professionalism, then his tone dropped slightly. "I think you'd better get down here, Jack."

~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~

"It's not like UNIT to give up control." Jack speculated, approaching Owen once they'd reached the right floor. "What do they want?"

"I think they'd rather pass the buck to someone else on this one." Owen straightened up from where he was slouched against a wall, expression serious as he explained. "The Cyber Conversion rooms were still in operation when the battle ended and the power cut. There's a dozen more survivors trapped, all half-converted but alive."

Jack had no answer. There was a brief flash of anger at UNIT's feats at dodging responsibility, but nothing else could be decided here.

"They're waiting for you in the final room." Owen continued, pushing away from the wall as if about to leave. "Once was enough for me. If you'd excuse me, I think I need to go throw up first."

After Owen had vanished, they made for the first plastic sheeting that marked the entrance. Jack felt Ianto freeze before the door, flashing a glance of concern in his direction that the latter easily picked up.

"I can feel the violence, but it's almost like an echo, like fear that's lingered." Ianto explained and Jack nodded, solemnly. This was what he'd wanted to spare his lover.

Each conversion room was hell as they passed through. The bodies had been removed, but the blood and the few half-converted unlucky enough to still be alive remained, secured in the vile contraptions. The smell lingered metallic and heavy in the air, and Ianto felt the bile rise in the back of his throat. Despite shielding heavily before entering each room, the overpowering sensation of pain battered his defences, the attack stronger than he'd experienced in a long while, and he couldn't help but stagger back. Jack grabbed his arm in support.

"Good?"

"Yeah," Ianto replied, unconvincingly. "All they're feeling is pain. Lots of it."

Jack nodded grimly. There was nothing really else he could say as they both tried to avoid the scraps of metal and puddles of blood as they went from chamber to chamber, but he glanced up abruptly at the sharp intake of breath from Ianto as the latter pushed aside the next plastic partition. Hurrying over, he stopped beside his lover staring at the next victim, his eyes showing a hint of recognition.

"You okay?" Jack hoped it wasn't someone who'd had had any part of Ianto's inhumane treatment during his captivity. So far, they'd been lucky that Ianto hadn't recognised any victims or been recognised by any survivors or UNIT officials. "He wasn't…"

"No." Ianto reassured quickly, not looking away despite the gruesome sight. "He was one of the only ones who treated me with the slightest bit of kindness. Dylan Matthews, I remember. One of his co-workers was angry, came storming into my cell to vent, but Matthews dragged him back out. Said I wasn't worth it."

Ianto didn't often let slip much about his imprisonment, and Jack had to quench back another bout of anger (it seemed to be a common situation today) at the thought of Ianto considering what Matthews had said 'kindness'.

"I can guess what you're thinking." Ianto spoke up again in defence, reading his anger. "It wasn't the first time, or the last that he'd stopped people from beating me. I could sense his unease, but I guess he couldn't let it show or he'd probably had been retconned."

Ianto continued to stare at the brutalised form for another few seconds, and Jack was briefly contemplating saying something else when Ianto straightened up, and continued forwards, onto the next room.

There were only a few more left, each one as horrific as the one before, but finally, they reached the last chamber where multiple UNIT officials of different ranks were gathered around the last victim.

"We should transport them to a UNIT basecamp." He heard General Sanchez state bluntly as they entered. "They're a valuable resource to learn from."

Colonel Mathis however was even more blunt in voicing the opposite. Jack got the feeling they'd been arguing on this for a while. "They're a threat waiting to happen. One we cannot afford. Bullet through the head is the least they deserve."

"Mathis is right. Apart from the bullet that is." Jack finally answered, announcing their presence to the room. Some started to open their mouths in protest when they recognised him, but he continued regardless. "Look around you. This is the outcome of messing with things you don't understand."

"And you do understand, do you?" Sanchez scorned, but Jack in fact did. While the Cyber Wars were over by his birth time, Cybermen having been declared extinct in the 40th Century (a fact Jack now knew was inaccurate when they'd returned in the 52nd Century), he'd fought in many battles against the dehumanized species as a Time Agent.

"More so than you." Jack retorted, then turned grave. "There's no cure. There never will be. Those who are converted stay that way. Right from the first implant."

The cyber race was notorious for converting humans by removing their emotions and Jack had known since Ianto had said he'd only sensed pain that they were long gone. The latter hadn't sensed any grief, any anger, or any fear, apart from that that had lingered in the air.

"You can't be…"

"The final casualty list is still being finalised, but it has been confirmed that Director Hartman and her deputies are dead." Another official interrupted, having been quiet so far. "Along with almost everyone else in the Tower. Captain Harkness is therefore the commanding Torchwood officer present, as we'd already established quite a while ago. His word goes."

Jack nodded towards him in gratitude. He would rather not have been left with a decision like this, but it would rather it him than one of the UNIT officials. "There's only one thing we can do, as much as it regrets me to do it." Jack ordered. "But this will be something for your medical teams not your soldiers. Each one of these are victims just like everyone else here today. They deserve for us to make it as painless as possible."

~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~

Hours later, the clean-up of the Tower was nowhere near finished, but the sun had long since set. The SUV was packed full of scavenged artifacts and files, yet he knew Suzie and Tosh had only managed to clear a dozen shelves of the archives out of the hundred that had survived the fire. The team was stretched to their limits, both physically and mentally. They needed rest before continuing and Jack had already booked them a hotel for the night.

The list of the dead was pages long as Owen passed it to Jack. There had been over eight hundred of them in the Torchwood Tower at the time of the attack, but now there was only 27 survivors. Half were confirmed dead, but the rest were simply listed as "missing, presumed dead". Those converted would now be lost to the void. The sheer waste of life due to the mere ignorance and stupidity of Yvonne and her cronies made him quietly furious. Part of him wondered if he'd hadn't severed ties completely all those years ago, if he'd found another way to protect Ianto, then this could have been something he could have prevented.

~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~

Ianto did not want to see the list. He didn't need to. He'd seen the list of survivors – only 27 - and he could tell just from looking around that everyone else was gone. However, Ianto could not miss the look on Jack's face from his lover or the waves of sudden grief that poured off the man as he scanned the list. Ianto moved to his side in an instant.

"Jack?"

Jack didn't respond, simply shoving the papers into Ianto's hands as if it burned. Focusing on the page, it didn't take long to realise what had made Jack pause. Midway down one of the pages was one name. One that stood out from the others as if it was written in bold.

Tyler, Rose

"He was here." Jack's tone sounded almost dead, and he looked up from the list to see the usual spark in his eyes, that was already diminished from the events of the day, now gone entirely.

"It might be someone else. It might not be her. It's…"

"It's her." Jack interrupted he attempts at reassurance, shaking his head. "Look at the name above."

Dejected, Ianto glanced back down. Sure enough, written on the line above Rose's name was another.

Tyler, Jacqueline

Ianto had only met Rose briefly during his short encounter with the younger Jack on the Tardis, more focused on preventing Margret - or rather Blon - from destroying the planet, but he'd heard many more stories of the young girl that had captured the Doctor's heart. One of Jack's extravagant stories, however, relayed the day he, Rose and the Doctor had surprised Rose's mother with a visit on her birthday. Rose's mother who Jack had referred to as Jackie.

"It's obvious." Jack continued. "I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier."

"What were they even doing here?"

"That's what I mean. I should have realised as soon as I saw the Daleks." Jack explained. "They're they Doctor's worst enemy. If they were here, he wouldn't have been far behind."

"I'm sorry." Ianto whispered.

"Don't be." Jack snapped, but Ianto knew that despite what he said, Jack himself was grasping at straws, as if saying it aloud made it true. "I don't believe it. She might have been here, but I don't believe she's dead. The Doctor wouldn't have let it happen."

Jack turned, stalking away into the distance, in the direction of the hotel. Ianto let him, giving him some time alone. There wasn't anything he could say.

Notes: Please review and thanks for the ones so far.

Next Up: Just some typical Janto moments…well as typical as you can get in Torchwood. Meanwhile, Suzie is scheming.