A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for your love and support! Please continue to love my story and leave reviews! These really, really help me continue writing and prevent writers' block! Also, I only own Iris, my OC and the changed plots. Otherwise, they all respectively belong to BBC and the wonderful writers of Doctor Who and Torchwood!
Chapter 34: Lost Souls
In a night club, music was playing loudly and people were dancing to each other. Iris was running around, looking for the stray Weevil, as she heard Jack behind her yell out,
"Stand back, everybody! Get back!"
A man angrily yelled out, "Hey! What do you think you're playing at?"
Donna laughed at that question through their coms, as Jack panted out, explaining,
"Chasing a Weevil. Tall thing, leather skin, sharp teeth. Terrible dress sense."
They all heard Owen groan at that through the coms this time, before a whack was heard when the man asked them with wide eyes,
"Who the heck are you?"
The four individuals surrounded the man questioning them as Iris stepped up with, "Iris Kim. This is Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood."
Gwen put hands on her hips, as she said, "Gwen Cooper. We catch aliens."
Ianto put an a hand on Iris' shoulder, as he said, "Ianto Jones. We need to catch this one before…"
And before he could even finish talking, they all heard screams in the distance. Iris and Ianto immediately started to run in the direction of the screams as Tosh instructed them where the Weevil was currently sighted on a security feed.
"If you look to your left, there is a fire exit."
Gwen saw Jack eye the man and rolled her eyes, pushing him as she exasperatedly yelled,
"Come on! No time for flirting."
Jack pushed through the crowd, trying to follow his boyfriend and girlfriend, as he said,
"Excuse us! Mind your backs! Come on! Coming through!"
Iris ran as quickly as she could, seeing the Weevil ahead of her, when she saw it tumble into the bay. She slowed down, as she watched, out of breath, when Ianto stopped beside her and put hands on his knees, trying to grab his breath. Both individuals watched the Weevil just float away, unable to do anything since it was so far away. Gwen caught up to them after a while, and asked,
"Where is it?"
Iris pointed to the Weevil, who was just floating down the bay, not really swimming, and she just watched in disbelief. That was when Jack walked over to them and asked curiously,
"Where's the Weevil?"
Gwen, Iris, and Ianto looked at each other as Gwen awkwardly pointed at the bay and said,
"It's er… it went into the bay."
Jack had a look of understanding before it turned into one of mild curiosity as he asked,
"Oh… can Weevils swim?"
Ianto sighed and said, "Apparently not. Anyone for coffee?"
Donna perked up and said through the coms, "I'll get it ready!"
That was when the trio heard Owen immediately yell out, "No! Donna Noble don't touch the machine! I know it will explode again because you want to build something out of it!"
The trio laughed as Iris said, "Uh… Donna, could you uh… maybe look something up for me on the internet?"
That distracted Donna enough from arguing with their medic, as she did what Iris requested for her. Ianto shook his head. Once Donna had showed up for work and attempted to learn how to make coffee, she had decided that maybe she could upgrade the coffee machine. Iris heavily blamed the Doctor for that one. His idiotic inventing must have come through the metacrisis regeneration. While Donna became their new archivist and secretary, Mickey had joined in the action to help lighten Jack's load with the work they shared with UNIT. He was temporarily staying at Torchwood Hub helping out before he was going to start working with the science section of UNIT with Kate.
Jack laughed in amusement, though Iris saw a tired glance in Jack's eyes as he said,
"Right, coffee, good idea. Then us four of Torchwood's going to Switzerland. The rest will remain here and make sure things are going alright. Owen, I'm leaving you in charge."
They heard Owen salute Jack through their coms and everyone prepared to get ready.
~~ ….. ~~
That night, Iris was at home with Ianto, who had helped her pack after he had finished his. Once they were done, they zipped up the suitcase, and decided to watch a tv show, putting something random on. Iris was sitting on the sofa, a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her, with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, as Ianto was in his comfort clothes, both just relaxing when someone knocked on the door.
Ianto put a small kiss on top of Iris' head, as he got up to get the door. When he opened it, Jack was outside with his own small bag of clothing with him. They shared a peck, which caused Iris to just smile and face the tv again.
Jack walked over and hugged Iris from the side, almost making her drop her cup. She playfully glared at him, but couldn't escape, as she was still buried within her own comforter. Jack took the moment to peck her on the lips, which dissolved her playful glare from her face as she smiled at him. Ianto watched before asking Jack,
"Coffee?"
Jack shook his head and said, "If we want to get some sleep in, that's not such a great idea."
Ianto nodded and then the three people watched television for a while before heading to bed altogether in one bed, where Iris was in the middle between Ianto and Jack, both men cuddling her. But it didn't take that long for the three to engage in more passionate activities, thanks to a certain Jack Harkness.
~~ ….. ~~
In the airplane, Iris was sitting next to Ianto when a female with an accented voice stated,
"Ladies and gentlemen, we should be arriving in Geneva in about 30 minutes."
Jack smirked at the people in front of them as he said,
"Did I ever tell you about the time I flew from Venus to Mars? You should have seen the flight crew. All those hands, all those pincers…"
Gwen rolled her eyes as she was looking on her tablet and commented, "Yes, thank you, Jack! Anyway, I found out a few things about this particle physics lab. Over 10,000 people work there from a 100 different countries."
Jack responded with, "Martha said people were disappearing."
Gwen's eyes widened in her classic frustrated look as she said,
"Well, I certainly couldn't find any official record of any accidents or people disappearing. Just a load of scientists all working on something called the LHC?"
Iris' eyes rose in curiosity. She had not been made aware of this scenario, and this case was unfamiliar to her. Ianto was holding onto her hand as Jack said,
"The Large Hadron Collider. A thing of beauty."
Gwen laughed at that while Jack's smile died down slightly, which did not go unnoticed by both Ianto and Iris as he said,
"Oh, I love what they're doing, pushing the boundaries of human knowledge."
Ianto asked in curiosity, "So what exactly are they trying to do with this collider thing?"
Iris answered that quickly with a look of enthusiasm in her eyes, "They're looking for the Higgs Particle."
Gwen looked at the other woman with confusion as she asked, "The what?"
Iris started to explain, "The fundamental particle of existence."
Jack added in, while pointing out the window, "Look out the window. See those clouds?"
Gwen nodded and Ianto did as well, and Jack asked both of them, "Well, what do they look like?"
Ianto immediately, jokingly answered, "Candy floss."
Iris then inputted, "They look solid, though, don't they? But they're actually not."
Gwen sighed as she said, "Yes, thank you both. We all know what clouds are made of."
Iris didn't stop though as she said,
"Well, imagine you had a huge digital camera, and you could zoom in, right into the clouds so you could see the individual raindrops, then zoom in further and you see that the molecules H2O that make of those raindrops."
Gwen nodded and Iris continued with,
"Then continue to zoom in further and we see what hydrogen is made of, one proton and one electron. We zoom into the proton, and that's where it gets interesting. At CERN, they've found a way to look at those particles. To the very building blocks of matter of the Universe… of everything."
Ianto muttered, "They've got a really big camera."
Jack shook his head, leaning in towards the group as he responded, "Not exactly. They've built the world's biggest particle collider. It goes through Switzerland and France, deep underground. It's in a circular tunnel, 27 km round. They're gonna send protons racing around it at the speed of light, smashing them into each other,"
With that, Jack made a motion of explosion with his two hands as he exclaimed, "And Boom!"
He then settled into his seat as he chuckled and said, "Kinda like the big bang."
Gwen sighed, leaning back into her own seat, frustration and confusion still there as she said,
"That's impressive. So why would they want to make anyone disappear?"
Jack shrugged as three of his teammates looked at him curiously. All he could say in an unnerved voice was,
"I don't know. Maybe those people found out something and had to be removed. This proton smashing isn't trivial stuff. Some people think it could open a gateway to a parallel dimension, or… create a black hole. Or even turn the world inside out."
Gwen asked incredulously, "What?"
He saw how worried Iris was looking, her bad habit of biting her fingernails taking form again, and he sighed and grabbed her hands as he said,
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't look so worried. It's only a theory. Everything is gonna be fine. And Martha's got us front row tickets."
Iris nodded at that seemingly less worried. But this seemed like one of the bigger cases, and this body of hers got more nervous when big events seemed to pan out that she did not personally recognize. Her two hearts were beating nervously as the plane started to land. Ianto took over and held onto her hand, rubbing the back of it to comfort her as much as he could.
Once the plane had landed, they took their suitcases and stepped off. Jack smirked and winked back at Ianto and Iris as he stepped out. Upon seeing their friend Martha, Jack yelled out,
"Get ready for the biggest hug of your life, Doctor Jones."
Iris ran over to her and hugged her tightly. Both women giggled and Martha had to rasp out,
"Iris- can't breathe!"
Iris let go of her with shock and blushed as she guiltily apologized, almost starting to ramble from her nerves. Martha shook her head in amusement as she said,
"Jack, Iris. It is so good to see you both. Gwen, Ianto, how are you?"
Gwen smiled and nodded as she politely said, "We're doing okay, thanks."
Ianto smiled brightly and hugged her as he responded, "Nice to see you, Martha. How have you been?"
Martha smiled tightly and said, "I've been okay, thanks. Working over here mostly."
Jack then looked at Martha as he smirked and clapped his hands, leading the conversation with, "So, tell us what's going on."
The five of them walked as Martha started to talk,
"Right. This mate of mine, Julia Swales, well, she worked here as a doctor, and a few weeks ago she noticed that people had been taken ill with symptoms. No-one could really understand. So because nobody here could do anything, the patients were sent to some specialist hospital across the border in France. Which all makes sense, except when Julia contacted the hospital, she found that they never arrived. They vanished, all 11 of them."
Jack hummed in interest as Martha continued,
"Julia was worried, and as soon as I got here with the rest of the UNIT medical team, she told me about it."
Jack muttered, "Clever Julia."
Martha grimaced and looked at the four of them straight in the eye after turning around, as she said,
"Clever Julia, who's now gone missing as well."
Gwen looked baffled as she asked, "Why didn't UNIT investigate?"
Martha sighed and looked stressed when she said,
"They did but couldn't find any evidence of anything wrong. And once Julia vanished, I knew I needed you guys. Two days ago, another worker fell ill. He's still in the sick bay. I wanted Iris to take a look at him."
Jack glanced at Iris and said, "And you can get us in there, without UNIT security guys being alerted?"
Martha shrugged, waving her hand as she dismissively said, "They're rushed off their feet. The Large Haldron Collider's being activated today, so they've got loads of dignitaries and ambassadors here and right now, there's a reception being held for them."
Jack sarcastically laughed as he yelled out, "Ho-ho-ho! A reception for the ambassadors. An ambassador's reception."
Iris elbowed him in his side, making him wince, only to come across her glaring eyes, making him apologize as Martha chuckled and said,
"Yes, Jack."
Ianto and Gwen were giggling in the back, seeing Jack cower at Iris' glare. They continued to walk, talking about lighter things when they came across a soldier as he asked,
"Security passes, please."
Martha smiled and said, "Here's mine, and this is Mr. Ianto Jones. You should have him on your list."
Iris raised an eyebrow at that while the Man took the security pass from Martha. After he studied his list and the security pass, he smiled and said, "Mr. Ianto Jones. Ah. The Ambassador for Wales?"
Ianto tried to keep a smile on his face and acted out, "Oh! Hello. That's me."
Iris wanted to facepalm at his acting, but withheld it when Martha added in, "And this is his wife, Iris, and their secretary Gwen."
Iris smiled and latched her arms to Ianto's arm, trying to make it more believable as Martha added on,
"And their bodyguard Mr. Harkness."
Jack saw Iris and Ianto's lips grow into a small smile, almost teasing him as the Man handed everyone their passes.
Ianto smiled warmly as he gave Iris her pass as he said,
"Thank you,"
The man nodded at that and Ianto looked towards Iris again as he said, "Darling? Shall we go in?"
Iris nodded and said in a flawless Welsh accent, "It would be a pleasure."
The man then handed both Gwen and Jack their passes as he said, "And here's one for each of you."
Jack rolled his eyes and snatched his while Gwen snickered at that as Jack muttered,
"Yeah, whatever."
Martha smirked at the group and then looked to Ianto as she said,
"Well, if you'd like to follow me, Ambassador? Oh, and before I forget, here's an entry pack. It's got a map and itinerary and stuff. We'd really hate for you to get lost down there."
Ianto smiled his normal, polite smile as he said,
"Mademoiselle, with these maps you are really spoiling us."
Iris raised an eyebrow at Ianto, who just pecked her on the cheek, making her blush and glance towards the man behind them in embarrassment. But her eyes widened at the sight of the man quickly looking away from her, having been caught looking at her.
Iris blushed even further when the lift opened, and Martha chuckled and just told the group,
"Just get in the lift."
When they all entered, Jack immediately stood next to Iris, and the lift doors closed as Martha stated,
"Going down."
Iris felt nervous as Jack and Ianto both held onto her hands. After a while everyone grew slightly uncomfortable at how far down the lift was going, as Gwen said,
"Oh… my ears just popped. How much further down is it?"
Martha gave her a pitying look as she said, "It's about a 100 meters altogether."
Ianto worriedly asked, "Will our Bluetooths work down there?"
Martha answered him with, "Should do. Give it a try now."
Jack immediately said, "Jack calling Iris, Gwen, Ianto?"
Everyone nodded and Iris just pecked Jack's lips as a response, making everyone groan, including Ianto.
As Iris settled back to holding Ianto's arm for their act, the lift stopped and Martha immediately rolled into a more serious tone as she said,
"We're there. Undercover, Jack, remember?"
Jack sighed and stood slightly in a more bodyguard way as he answered her, "Sure."
They all walked out, with Ianto and Iris behind Jack and Gwen behind them. Martha led them through the building as Martha explained,
"It's like an underground city down here. Research labs, offices… the control room's on this side, and that is the ATLAS."
Martha's voice continued to echo slightly as she said, "The biggest of the particle detectors."
Everyone couldn't hide their amazement at the size of the ATLAS and Gwen couldn't help but comment,
"The size of the London Eye."
The group continued to walk until they saw an opening as Martha told them, "And behind that, is the entrance to the tunnel."
Jack added in, "That's where the LHC is."
An older woman in a white researcher jacket came up to them and said politely,
"The Large Hadron Collider, that's quite correct. It's the tube that the proton beams will be fired through. Welcome. Professor Catriona Johnson, head of the LHC project. And you are?"
Jack smiled, almost flirtingly, causing the other Torchwood members present roll their eyes as he said,
"Jack Harkness."
Ianto quickly added in, "My bodyguard. Ianto Jones, Ambassador for Wales. This is my wife Iris and our secretary Gwen."
Ianto and Doctor Johnson shook hands as she responded,
"Well, it's – it's good to have you here."
Gwen commented, "This must be a very exciting day for you."
Johnson smiled and nodded, glad someone knew of her excitement as she said,
"Nothing could be more important. I've been working all my professional life towards this moment. Today we could unlock the secrets of dark matter. What we're about to do could change our understanding of the Universe."
Iris asked with mild curiosity, "How long until the collider's activated?"
The Doctor answered, "The countdown's already started. In fact, Doctor Jones, perhaps you'd like to take these guests to the viewing area."
Martha nodded and said, "Yes, of course."
With that the group watched the Doctor excuse herself and walk away from them. Martha smirked and said to Ianto,
"Ambassador, if you'd like to come with me."
Ianto smiled back tensely, as he thanked her with, "Thank you, Doctor Jones."
Martha rolled her eyes at his quip and fought off the urge to punch his arm as she said with amusement in a whispered tone,
"Right. Sick bay's down this corridor."
It did not take them long enough to reach another door, which Martha unlocked for them and closed behind them as well, making sure that she was playing her part. But they were quickly met with another person, who came up to them and said,
"Hello, Martha. I was wondering where you'd got to."
Martha tensely smiled and shook the person's hand as she said to them,
"I've been roped in to show visitors around. Ambassador, this is Doctor Oliver Harrington, head of UNIT's medical team, and my boss."
Iris swore she recognized the man from some paperwork as Ianto said,
"Looks like you've got some very impressive equipment down here."
The older man with grey hair nodded as he responded,
"Well, we're not exactly in an ordinary situation, cut off from the outside world in a little underground base."
Ianto smiled, as he tried to look dignified, but understanding while the man said,
"Well, I mean, it's quite an honor being here, there's not many get the chance to work alongside the world's brightest scientists."
Iris then added in, "Doctor Harrington, when they activate the LHC, could there be side effects? Anything regarding the health of the workers here?"
The Doctor looked at Iris a little suspiciously as he answered, "No, not at all, no, no. We've checked and double-checked everything, so no. Not expecting any problems at all. Today, you're more likely to injure yourself slipping on a vol-au-vent."
He laughed a little, and Iris hinted the nervousness in his voice as Gwen muttered under his breath, "That's reassuring."
Iris would have agreed with the woman out loud if she wasn't acting a little like an airheaded bride of an ambassador. She was hating the dress that Martha had told her to wear. It was a white lace top with a tight skirt of similar color. Iris wanted to tug the skirt down, not one for favoring skirts over anything else, but she resisted as Doctor Harrison said,
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm representing UNIT's medical team so I really should be getting along to the control room. I'm sure Doctor Jones will take good care of you."
With that, the group once again as another doctor walked away from them. Iris let out a sigh as she finally felt relief, immediately shifting uncomfortably in her heels. Just because she could run in them didn't mean that she liked them at all. As the door closed behind the Doctor, Jack commented,
"Handsome guy. Sad eyes though."
Martha nodded and said, "His wife died last year. Now he just works all the time. Guess he's blocking out the pain."
Iris immediately went deep into thought at that comment, but didn't say anything as Jack said,
"Okay, Martha Jones. Let's take a look at your patient."
Martha sighed, not liking that she had to lie to her boss, and led the group as she said, "Yeah, he's in intensive care… it's this way."
They all followed her to what seemed like a tiny medical center, and Iris immediately took a glance around the room. There were various high-tech medical instruments around them and she walked up to the patient, as Ianto asked,
"Who is he?"
Martha came up to them and said, "His name's Leon Foiret, a technician. He was working in the tunnel when… something happened. His Bluetooth was switched on, they heard him screaming."
Iris studied the man and quietly commented, "There are no obvious injuries. No attack marks, but it seems he is in a deep coma."
Martha nodded and said, "He won't respond to anything. Well, nothing we've got anyway."
Gwen then added, "Well, can't we try a Bekaran deep tissue scanner?"
Iris nodded and took the instrument from Gwen Cooper, making sure to use the tool properly. This was a moment where she desperately wished she had a sonic screwdriver like the Doctor. As she was using the scanner, Martha whistled and commented,
"That's brilliant."
Gwen chuckled as Martha continued with amazement,
"I've never seen an X-ray like it."
Iris smiled as she continued scanning and explained, "Owen and I were working on it and adapted it before the whole fiasco with the Weevils running all over Cardiff. We managed to finish it off after the run-in with the Daleks."
Martha nodded when Iris froze and frowned. She tried wrapping her brain around the readings, without success as Gwen looked over her shoulder and whispered confusedly,
"The readings don't make any sense."
Jack looked over and paused as he exclaimed unbelievably, "What the hell is that?"
The group looked down at the patient, and Gwen grimaced slightly as Ianto whispered,
"Look at his skin."
And interestingly, Iris and the others watched as the Leon's skin started to glow, making his skin translucent. Martha whispered in shock, "It's glowing."
Gwen's face turned slightly green as she commented, "You can see right through it."
Ianto looked away as well, stating, "That is disgusting."
Even Martha, who had become used to sights like this grimaced, as the skin glowed, making everything visible. She slightly gagged while Iris' brows furrowed, being the only one who noticed the man's breathing increase in speed.
She quickly looked at Martha as she said, "Everyone needs to stand back. Mr. Foiret, can you hear me?"
Martha joined in, looking at his vitals when the man's eyes opened as he started to speak, making Iris concerned as she heard him say in a voice that sounded like someone else was speaking through him,
"Your life is our life."
Martha was looking for things to stabilize the man as Iris continued to listen to him talk, ignoring others as he started to cry out,
"Please… don't take him for… don't take him…"
Martha quickly started to inject him with a sedative as she tried to calm the man down by saying,
"Leon, shh, shh, shh, shh… I'm giving you something for the pain. Shh, shh."
The man groaned before his eyes closed and his vitals stabilized. Gwen let out a sigh of relief as she said, "It looks like he's stable again."
Iris continued staring at the man, trying to discern something as Martha said, "I have never seen anything like this."
Ianto looked over at Iris, who then noticed, as he asked, "Episode?"
Iris shook her head, as she muttered out, "Do you think this is what's been happening to the missing people? Is he the only one showing this kind of symptom?"
Jack sighed as he grew frustrated as well, thinking, "Leon here was in the tunnel when he got sick, yeah? So was he exposed to something?"
Gwen asked curiously, "The collider?"
Iris stood up straight as she added in, "That's likely. I mean, we have to find out where other people were when they got sick. There has to be some connection between them."
Martha brought a clipboard to her as she said, "I've got a list of their names. Here."
Iris thanked her for the information and looked at the list with her teammates, as Gwen asked Martha,
"Is there a computer we can use, check the facilities, databases, that kind of thing?"
Martha hesitated, trying to think of a place where the Torchwood team could use a computer, as Iris looked up at the woman. Although she had brought a computer, she had left it behind to be left with her other things. Then, Martha state,
"Well, there's the main computer room. Down the corridor, third door on the right."
Gwen looked over at Ianto and then said, "Right, Ambassador, Mrs. Jones, you're with me. We're going hacking."
Ianto nodded as he said, "Yes, Ma'am."
Jack chuckled as he said, "Don't you just love it when she gets bossy?"
Everyone rolled their eyes at Jack's humor as the three people exited. Once the door closed, Jack's humor slid off his face as he said,
"Now, let's see if we can find out what's wrong with the angel Gabriel over here."
Meanwhile, Iris and the other Torchwood members snuck over to the main computer room, per Martha's instruction. Iris easily hacked into the computer, thanks to her own experience working with UNIT.
When she had gained access, Gwen stated,
"Okay, let's start with Martha's mate Julia."
Iris' fingers rapidly typed in the information for Julia as Ianto read from the screen, "Swales, Julia."
Gwen asked, "When did she fall ill?"
Iris answered, "Two days ago. Says she was transferred to a hospital in Evian-Les-Bains."
Gwen's brows furrowed as she asked, "Has she been in the tunnel where they found Leon?"
Ianto pointed to the screen, specifically to a paragraph as he answered, "She was the one that found him."
Gwen listed another name, "Janet Russo, disappeared a week ago."
Iris typed in her name, bringing her alongside Julia's file as she read,
"According to her work log, Janet was working on the quadruple magnets the day she collapsed. Doctor Harrington waved it off as a severe migraine, though this file states he diagnosed it as such."
Ianto read out loud, "It says here that those magnets are part of the collider in the tunnel."
Gwen then flipped the page as she listed another name, "Alan Nielson."
Ianto read the file out loud, "He was a maintenance worker, in the tunnel."
They continued reading through the files, Iris stating,
"Jacques Fournier was a coolant expert who collapsed after the final temperature adjustments were made."
Gwen interjected with realization, "In the tunnel. So all these people go into the tunnel perfectly normal and they come out complaining of migraines. But if Leon's anything to go by, then they actually…"
She looked over at Ianto and Iris, who both had a grim look on their faces as Ianto whispered out,
"Lit up like a Christmas tree."
Iris held back a giggle at his comment, but kept hacking into the files, trying to find answers as Gwen paced back and forth, asking,
"Okay, so something's happened in the tunnel, but how is it linked to the collider? It hasn't been activated yet."
Iris bit the side of her mouth as she muttered, "Hold on a sec, let me get in."
With that, a quick second passed as the screen brought up a separate file, and Ianto said,
"There was an injection test back in May, only for a few second but they went live."
All three tensed when they heard the doors slide open. But they all relaxed again as they heard Jack state, "And I wonder what they let through."
The doors slid closed as Martha and Jack entered, while Jack continued with,
"The collider may have only been activated for a few nanoseconds, but something got into the tunnel."
Iris processed this, still trying to think if she knew anything about this as Martha added,
"A creature that feeds on neutrons in the human body."
Iris' eyes widened at that as she wasn't sure how this could have happened while Jack sighed as he said,
"A few nanoseconds back in May were long enough to let one creature through. The full experiment today, who knows what's waiting to pay us a visit? I think it's time I had a word with Professor Johnson."
Gwen stopped him with, "Some of the missing people away from the base is medics, and from UNIT. We're talking about 12 people. They can't disappear without someone covering it up."
Jack muttered in deep though, "Someone in charge."
Iris sighed while Gwen held back her laughter while Martha interjected with,
"Someone who knows this base inside out."
Gwen nodded and responded with, "I know what I'd do. Why risk taking them out at all? I mean, you said it yourself, it's like a city here. Plenty of room to hide the bodies."
Iris was still in her seat as she immediately started typing as Ianto helped her, who stated,
"We'll bring up a satellite image of this place and compare it with the site plan you gave us, Martha."
When they finally pulled it up, Iris smiled smugly and stretched her hands, finally being able to rest her fingers, as she excitedly said,
"Here you go!"
Gwen immediately pinpointed something she was looking at, as she said,
"Look. There's a small building up on the surface. To the west of the main complex. It's not marked on the site plan."
Martha quickly stood up as she stated, "Julia could be in there. I'm gonna find out."
Jack patted Martha's shoulder as he said, "Ok, good luck. Iris, Ianto, I need to get to the control room. I know how we can neutralize the creature but we've got to locate it first, which means you going into the tunnel."
Iris nodded gravely, whilst Gwen answered, "Ok."
Ianto held onto Iris' hands as he answered, "On our way."
Jack sighed as he ruffled Iris' hair, making her pout with her puffing air into her cheeks once more, as he said, "Hope you're wearing your thermals."
Iris sighed, looking down at her skirt, which made Ianto shrug off his suit jacket for her. Once they entered, all four members of Torchwood started to shiver in the cold, Iris especially. Despite becoming a Time Lady, she wasn't that resistant to the cold. Even though Ianto and the rest of the Torchwood team had insisted that Gwen go in place of Iris, the Time Lady stubbornly insisted that she go since she was supposedly more resistant.
Iris was not sure if that had been true or not, but she really hoped so. As she was in the tunnel with Ianto, the man said,
"This is no job for the Ambassador for Wales."
Iris breathed, fog coming out from that as she talked through her communicator, "Ok, Jack, Gwen, we're in."
Both Ianto and Iris heard from their leader, "What can you see?"
Iris strained her eyes to look, but Ianto commented, "Not much. It's dark and cold."
Gwen incredulously asked, "Is Ianto moaning?"
Iris chirped up, "Affirmative."
Ianto rolled his eyes at that, not liking the cold, but smiled nonetheless at Iris' attempt to cheer everyone up, as Jack said,
"Ok. Get scanning. See if there's any trace of the creature. If you find it, call in immediately, and I'll tell you what you have to do. Don't engage it by yourselves."
Iris bit her lower lip in anxiety as Ianto groaned out, "Let's hope it doesn't want to engage us."
Jack chuckled at that as he wished them good luck with, "Good hunting."
Gwen added in, "Come back safely."
Iris would have mock-saluted her if they were by each other. But she ignored it as her dual hearts pumped blood quickly, as her body tried to radiate heat, when she spotted the bikes. Ianto seemed to have noticed where she was looking, and stated,
"It did say in the information pack that this is how the workers get around down here."
Iris sighed as she said, "Well, it wouldn't hurt to use them."
With that, she awkwardly got on the bike with her tight skirt, trying to make sure that she was able to stay modest enough without ripping it. Ianto looked around and commented,
"You look beautiful, don't worry."
Iris would have blushed if she wasn't already freezing. She sighed and said,
"Should we go in opposite directions?"
Ianto nodded and said, "And meet up in the middle."
Iris smiled slightly at him, trying to push down her nervousness as she started to bike away after having told him,
"I love you, you know?"
Ianto smiled warmly at her, feeling happy about her love for him. Meanwhile, Jack ran towards the control room to make sure that the accelerator wouldn't get turned on to ensure his teammates/lovers' safety.
Martha and Gwen, on the other hand, were communicating with both Iris and Ianto, checking in on how they were doing via screen and communicator. Iris was biking as she heard Martha call out to her,
"Iris?"
Iris breathlessly responded, "Martha? How is it up there?"
Martha sighed and said, "Raining. How are things down below?"
Iris continuously looked around as she said, "It's freezing, damp, and… well, what you would expect being underground. It's warmer in Cardiff, and that's saying something from me."
Martha laughed at that and then asked, "No trace of Jack's creature, then?"
Iris shook her head, though she couldn't see anyone nearby, as she answered, "Nope. How are you?"
Martha looked around as she said, "It's a bit of a trek, but I'm nearly there."
There was a slight silence within the communication before Martha stated,
"Iris, are you okay? You know, after the whole Davros thing, and especially the regeneration. I haven't been good with checking up on you."
Iris paused as she hesitated before responding with, "To be honest… I, well… I can't complain about anything that has happened, but I'm honestly terrified. Now I feel like I understand the Doctor more. If anything, I know things that others don't and I know that I will outlive others because of me being a Time Lady now. I understand the pain of outliving centuries of friends and lovers. And this makes me appreciate Ianto and Jack even more."
Martha felt a twinge in her heart at that moment. Now she knew three people who would have to watch her grow old, despite their longer lifespan, and she would leave them alone to deal with that pain. But she was also happy that both the 51st century old man and the Time Lord had found a common person to lean on.
But soon enough, Martha paused as she said, "Gwen? Iris? I think I've found the building."
Gwen joined the conversation with, "Ok, Good luck. Be careful Martha, alright?"
Martha let out a breath to steady her nerves as she said, "Yeah. Martha out."
With that, they all heard her talk to herself, when Iris heard Ianto call out for her,
"Iris? Gwen? Come in."
Gwen and Iris both responded, fearing he must have run in with the creature when Ianto exclaimed happily,
"My bike's got a bell!"
Iris smiled at his happiness as she heard him ring the bell. Iris had not noticed that whilst Gwenn sarcastically responded,
"I'm very pleased for you."
Iris ignored that as she commented, "I think it's getting colder. Is that just me?"
Ianto worriedly responded, "It's getting colder here as well. You see anything?"
Iris responded with, "No, I-"
But a slight metallic sound came from the communications device, and Iris immediately stopped, holding her breath in, as she whispered, "Ianto?"
Gwen tensed, stopping what she was doing as she joined in with, "What is it?"
Ianto whispered, "I think I've found something. Who's there?"
Iris' hearts dropped as she hurriedly turned her bike around and sped up her pedaling as she said, "Ianto, I'm on my way, don't engage!"
But it didn't seem like things were going to go their way as Iris heard a voice that did not belong to Ianto state,
"The dead. The dead. We're coming back."
Iris almost stopped pedaling as she was reminded of Doomsday. That urged her to quicken her pace as Ianto asked her and Gwen,
"You hear that?"
Gwen said, "Yeah. Oh God, what is it?"
Ianto hissed fearfully, "Iris, could you come here quickly as you can?"
And then the two women heard the Welsh man call out to the voice,
"Afternoon. So… you're the dead then, not an alien creature?"
The voice eerily responded with, "Help me, Please Ianto, It's Lisa. Hold me …"
Ianto sucked in a breath, his heart hurting as he cried out disbelievingly, "Lisa? No, you can't be Lisa. She's gone."
Iris panicked as she approached him, seeing him, as the voice responded with,
"Help me, Ianto."
Ianto choked up, as he bravely said, "Did I ever tell you, I don't actually believe in ghosts?"
The voice repeated their request with, "Help us. We're lost."
Ianto saw Iris as she hopped off her bike and ran to stand next to him as he asked to the source of the voice,
"Where are you?"
The voice responded with, "We're in the darkness. Help us, Ianto Jones, we're starving!"
Iris quickly grasped Ianto's hand and dragged them backwards, not liking how quickly downhill this was going and waited for Jack to do something, and quickly. She barely held herself in reality as she also heard a familiar female voice call out,
"Iris, help us."
But Iris shook her head as she mentally fought off the assault trying to intrude itself into her Time Lady mind.
Both individuals were stepping backwards when Jack's voice rang out from the communicators,
"Ianto? Iris? Can you both hear me?"
Ianto let out a shaky breath as he answered, "Yes, Jack?"
Jack worriedly asked, "You two ok?"
Iris warily looked up front as she said, "Er… well, not really."
Jack instantly frowned as he looked at the people around him and asked, "What's going on?"
Ianto muttered, "It's in my head, Jack. The alien. Talking to me! Saying it's Lisa for me and River Song for Iris."
Jack shook his head in denial as he gently said, "The dead stay dead, Ianto. They don't come back. It's just an alien, like the Weevils. Trust me."
To tell the truth, Jack was relieved that he wasn't in the tunnel. He had lost so many loves and friends that it would have caused a storm in his head.
Iris noticed Ianto letting go of her hand. She couldn't hear the voice anymore, but it seemed Ianto could as his eyes seemed to glaze slightly. Suddenly, Ianto whispered out,
"Stop it."
He started repeating those two words, yelling them out louder when he seemed to be unable to fight it any longer and screamed, "No!"
Iris hugged Ianto tightly as he turned to dig his face into the crook of her neck, shivering, from what seemed like heartache and confusion. Iris whispered to him,
"Ianto, listen to me. Listen! That's not Lisa and you know it. Fight it, Ianto! Look at me and listen! I'm here!"
Ianto shook his head in agony, as he choked out, "Lisa!"
Iris cupped his cheeks and made him look at her as she lovingly said, "No, it's me, Iris. Come on, hold on for me."
Ianto let tears slip down his face when Iris winced and heard the voice try to get to her again as they said,
"We'll be back for you, Iris, flower of the Doctor. So much death in your future, your past, and present."
Iris tried to ignore the voice as she tried to keep Ianto grounded and focused on her. But her hearts hurt when Ianto whispered,
"Iris, let me go."
Iris shook her head as she panicked and said, "No! I won't! Ianto, look at me!"
The man looked at her with despair, and Iris grit her teeth and said, "I am not letting them get you like the others."
And with that, Iris slammed her lips to Ianto's sending out waves of comfort and trying to ease his suffering via the Time Lord trick. She prayed and prayed for it to work, when Ianto seemed to breathe a little easier, but still with difficulty.
Iris took this as her opportunity and started to walk Ianto away from the tunnel, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she supported him. She grunted out,
"Come on, Ianto!"
The voices were reduced to a whisper now, as if something was protecting her, when she saw a figure in a red dress with blood-red lips. Iris recognized the figure instantly and ground her teeth harder as she ignored her and continued helping Ianto.
Iris angrily talked through her communicator,
"Jack! Gwen! Come in."
Jack hissed out, "Not a good time, Gwen, I've got company."
Iris looked at Ianto, who was starting to develop a very dull glow, causing Iris to struggle in her skirt to help the man she loved quickly whilst she said,
"It attacked us both, but Ianto's worse than me. He's starting to glow, and I know it's going to get worse. It's trying to get to me, but I don't know how long I can fend for both of us."
Jack froze at that and asked quickly, "Are you near an exit?"
Iris looked around and saw a door and she hoisted Ianto up again as she responded,
"Yeah… I… I can see it, we're nearly there."
Gwen then started to run quickly as she could as she said,
"I'll go to get you guys. Try to get out of that tunnel."
Iris didn't respond, but her teammates could hear her swear slightly as she tried her best to get themselves out of the situation. The voice once again tried to get to her as Iris heard,
"Jack doesn't care about the dead. Gwen will move on without much pain as well."
Iris felt anger flare at that as she shook her head once again and as she dragged Ianto, who was growing more limp by the minute. She saw the door get closer, as she huffed out,
"Ianto, look! We're nearly there, just a few more feet."
Ianto, humorlessly chuckled and said, "Everything we've seen… Torchwood, the wonder of the universe. And we're gonna die in a tunnel, in Switzerland."
Iris responded back, "What did you imagine, the Bahamas?"
At this point, Iris almost dropped Ianto, not being able to carry his full weight due to their height difference making it difficult. Iris put his arm back around her shoulders, half-tempted to just give him a poor piggy-back ride, when he shuttered and repeated,
"It's cold, so cold."
Iris sped up her pace, as she said,
"Ianto, listen to me. We're almost there, alright? Look, we're almost near the exit, and the control room is just there. Jack's waiting for us and we have so much more to do. Remember that plan to the beach we had been planning? We were gonna go get coffee afterwards."
Iris lost her grip, exhausted from dragging her boyfriend for such a long distance, and she barely managed to bring him back up, as she fearfully pleaded,
"Come on, please. Ianto, I can't carry you any further, please."
A few more steps, and Iris saw a man, recognizing him as Doctor Harrington, the man she had met earlier, and she called out to him urgently,
"Doctor Harrington!"
The man turned back to face her in shock as he asked her, "What are you doing here?"
Iris continued stepping towards him as she said, "Getting out of this tunnel as fast as I can. Just help me with him."
The Doctor seemed to hesitate before he nodded and said, "Yes… Yes, alright, come on."
With that, Doctor Harrington went to the other side of Ianto, helping to hold him up as both people took Ianto towards the exit. As they reached the door, Iris turned around in shock when she heard Gwen and Martha's voice ring out,
"Iris! Stop him! Stop Harrington!"
Iris whirled around to face the Doctor, and he immediately raised his hands as he guiltily said,
"I'm going back into the tunnel. Don't come after me. I… I'm sorry."
Iris looked down at Ianto, who was shivering still, and she hated the feeling of not having a gun on her, as she watched the man run away by the time Martha and Gwen arrived. Gwen knelt by Ianto, checking on him and Iris as Martha yelled out to Harrison,
"Wait, you'll die in there! Oliver, the doors are locking!"
Iris tugged Martha back to face her as she said,
"Martha, we need to get Ianto into the warmth now!"
The UNIT medic finally looked down to see how pale Ianto was, his skin slightly glowing, though still dull. Iris felt a headache come in, as she tried to withhold the voices from attacking Ianto further.
The three women managed to drag Ianto away and put him in the infirmary. After settling him in, Iris walked towards the control room, where she heard a man say,
"Tunnel lockdown sequence complete. It's sealed up. The collider is active… now."
Jack frustratedly yelled out, "Come on, come on! Professor, that switch there."
The older woman nodded and said, "Ok. Look, an anti-proton beam. We've created it."
Jack then talked through his communicator, "Gwen, tell me Iris and Ianto are clear of the tunnel."
He heard Martha respond to him via her own device as she said, "Jack, it's Martha. Gwen and I've got Iris and Ianto. They're safe, but Oliver's locked himself in the tunnel."
Iris sighed as she joined in with, "I couldn't' stop him, Jack."
The woman heard the conversation and looked guiltily down at the ground as she whispered, "The poor man. It's going to…"
Jack looked as the collider powered up and grimly said, "It's too late."
Then the man, who was helping Jack and Doctor Johnson out with the anti-proton beam stated,
"Professor, look. On the screen."
The woman's eyes widened as she said in an awed voice, "The Higgs particle. It's so beautiful."
Jack couldn't help but say, "And it's inside all of us." He laughed a little as he added,
"It's life. You see? Something good out of all this."
The woman then sighed as she worriedly asked, "Are you sure you've stopped those creature things coming through?"
Jack then added, "Yep. And with them gone, your angel coma patients should be returning to normal. Gwen? Iris? Are you there?"
Gwen nodded as she responded affirmative while Iris answered,
"Yeah. Remind me to never wear skirts ever again. And Ianto's stopped glowing. I think he's going to be alright."
Jack smiled at that, and said, "We'll come and get you."
Iris muttered a slight, "Thank God."
Everyone heard Gwen laugh at something and Doctor Johnson turned to Jack as she appreciatively thanked him.
As they left the base, Iris was carried by Jack in a piggyback ride, because she no longer wanted to wear her painful heels. Iris looked over at Ianto worriedly as she asked him,
"I dragged you all that way, and you don't remember?"
Ianto shook his head, blushing slightly as he said, "No. Can't remember a thing. But Iris?"
"Yeah?"
Ianto smiled and ruffled her hair, causing her to blow hair out of her face, as he said, "Thank you."
Iris smiled immediately, not bothering to fix her now messy hair as Martha walked over to them, smiled and said,
"Here they are, heroes of the hour."
Jack chuckled and asked, "Doctor Jones! How's your mate Julia!"
Martha smiled warmly, seeing how Iris stuck her tongue out at Gwen at something she had said as she answered,
"She's fine. You know what, they're all fine. Guess I just need to let HQ know about Oliver."
Ianto then quoted,
"The stream will cease to flow, the wind will cease to blow. The clouds will cease to fleet, the heart will cease to beat."
Iris raised an eyebrow that comically almost matched Jack's as he said,
"For all things must die. Never saw you as a Tennyson man, Ianto."
Ianto smugly shrugged as he could only say, "We all have hidden depths."
Jack shook his head as he adjusted Iris on his back, retorting,
"You 21st century humans with your science, beliefs and poetry and… oh yeah, you're pretty great."
Gwen asked him curiously,
"You say all these things. The human race has to be ready. What do you know, Jack?"
Jack mysteriously smiled, which Iris knew, as he said mysteriously,
"I know you're worth fighting for.
Apparently that did not satisfy either humans as Ianto responded with,
"No, not good enough. Why us? Why do they keep coming to us?"
Iris answered that one with,
"Because you're special. You never stop searching for answers. Somethings I don't think you know what the questions are, but you never stop searching."
Gwen asked, "Questions of life and death?"
Martha nodded and Jack answered,
"Somewhere out there in the chaos of darkness and light, of science and protons, of Gods and stars and death… somewhere there's an answer. And sometimes I think that just asking the question… is the answer. And sometimes I think I just… need a coffee. Come on, let's go home."
Iris lifted her legs slightly and pointed as she yelled out joyfully, "Onwards! Towards coffee!"
Ianto and Jack laughed at that, while Gwen rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. And when they had gone back to Torchwood Hub, they found Owen, Tosh, and Donna all breaking down into the story of how UNIT had to close off a road because the Doctor had decided to take a lovely trip via a bus. And as they all had coffee, while sharing stories of their respective cases, Iris could not help but feel a sense of dread as they got closer and closer to the Doctor's regeneration.