Torchwood: Divergence
Book One: Dychwelyd
Chapter 53
Halloween had been blessedly quiet at the Hub for once, the most exciting part of the day at work having been around 4:00 pm when Rhys had stopped by with Ebrill to show off the toddler's costume. The overstuffed black cat outfit, complete with ears on the hood and a long tail in the back, had won cheerful approval from the entire Torchwood team. Jack and Ianto had taken a couple of hours off to make their delayed climb to the top of the nearby Millennium Centre for city light viewing, but had enjoyed a very uneventful evening after that. Things had been so quiet in fact that all but the Hub residents had headed for home by 7:00 pm.
The three weeks since then however, had more than made up for the singular twenty-four hours of inactivity. Not quite as hectic as when the backlog had been trying to clear, but more surge prone than usual, so the team had been incredibly busy. That was why when Jack and Ianto had caught a break a little after midnight tonight, they'd routed the alert system to register remotely and made a run to Principality Stadium since there weren't any events taking place there at the moment.
They'd parked just inside the barriers along Wood Street near Millennium Walk a little southwest of the huge Cardiff emblazoned paver set into the walkway's oversized grid pattern, so they had a clear view of the Stadium's southwest corner. The security lights were plenty to see by and the Captain knew the overnight guards well enough that they'd killed the external CCTV and halted outdoor patrols for the next thirty minutes or so without questions after allowing the Torchwood pair access to the roof perimeter via the maintenance gantries. The two men now stood atop the high structure looking out over the Taff from a position about thirty feet away from the towering corner scaffolding, cold wind tugging at Jack's buttoned and belted great coat and making his partner shiver. Ianto wasn't wearing his Burberry or even his field jacket, having opted for just his black cable knit jumper alone to allow himself maximum freedom of movement.
"Right," Jones called over the rush of the wind. "Come put your arms around me, I'm freezing."
Harkness joined the younger man near the edge of the roof where he stood facing open air, stepped around in front of him to happily slip his arms around his waist and hold him close. His partner followed suit, trying to warm up. Once the eternal twenty-six-year-old wasn't shivering quite so hard, he shifted to whisper in his lover's ear.
"Turn around, take a breath, and trust me," Ianto urged, his wings manifesting in the darkness behind him with a brief gust of hot air.
Jack complied, felt Ianto's embrace tighten significantly before the Welshman stepped them both forward and hooked his heels around his Captain's ankles. Then they were falling from the top of the Stadium, the pavement rushing toward them. There was a sound like a sail unfurling, and their descent was smoothly halted. With the barely discernible hush of feathery wings, they rose for several heartbeats, glided out half way across the river then circled back over the Stadium to swing close enough for the American to touch the tip of the highest point of the scaffolding before slowly dropping down toward the Millennium Walk near where they'd parked then veering slightly to the left.
Ianto spilled air through his wings and brought them to a gentle landing atop the Cardiff paver, then released his Captain and neatly retracted the silver-grey appendages he'd been gifted with in Hell. He could see the older immortal practically vibrating with excitement, and couldn't help but smile. Jack turned to him, eyes bright, and expression euphoric. He stepped close, threw his arms around the Changeling and gave him an incredibly enthusiastic kiss.
"Good date then?" the Archivist panted with a grin when his partner finally pulled back.
"Best date ever," Jack laughed, shooing the once more shivering twenty-six-year-old toward the SUV a few metres away. "At least as far as the high-altitude kind go. Man... that was amazing."
"I might be convinced to do it again sometime," Ianto stated quietly, extremely pleased to have made the former Time Agent so happy. "Pre-dawn off the walls of the Castle before anyone's awake to see us. Naked off the roof of the St. David into the Bay under a full moon..."
"Ianto Jones!" Harkness exclaimed, feigning shock as he started up the big black Torchwood vehicle. "You..."
Just then his wrist strap started emitting the tone that indicated a Rift surge. In the passenger seat, Ianto pulled the laptop from its special housing in the glove box and accessed the system at the Hub.
"Average spike, single lifeform, no comparisons on file," the young Archivist reported evenly. "Oh... bit too close to home for comfort. It's registering in the storage area of the Berry Boats rental just down past Cadwaladers."
"Easy to get back to the Vaults though," the Captain shrugged, getting them on the road and heading for the base.
They decided to park the SUV in its normal place and come out through the TIC kiosk, Ianto monitoring the apparent visitor with his PDA. Whatever it was hadn't moved, so they picked the lock on the appropriate storage compartment and scanned the interior with their hand torches. In the far back corner, a small pile of damp seaweed stirred, and both men cautiously closed in on it. It didn't take long for them to realise that what they thought was a tangle of kelp was the alien creature.
"Grab that plastic tote," Jack advised, gesturing with his chin at a nearby clear container about the size of a box of copier paper. "Let's see if we can scoop it up and take it back to the Lab for analysis before we put it in the Vaults."
The Scieron Guardian unclipped the handles that locked the lid in place on the tub, pulled it off to empty out the few outdated insurance waivers inside and approached the twitching creature in the corner. Using the lid, he gently scooted the damp hummock into the tote then righted the container and snapped the lid on.
"Ouch," Jones hissed, shaking his right hand as he clipped the handles into place. "Those leaves or whatever they are have really sharp edges."
"Let's get Squishy here down to the Hub for scanning and testing, and we'll put some disinfectant on your hand," Harkness suggested.
They hauled the tote down to the base and scanned the alien inside it, waiting to see what Mainframe could come up with. Ianto washed, iodine doused and antiseptic cream coated the thin cut along the outside edge of his palm and wrist, then went to the Archives to see if he could find a more suitable habitat for the plant-like alien they'd captured. When he came back with a glass and metal unit that had its own air recycling system and could hold water if necessary, Jack was running through the initial results of the analysis. The young Changeling put about a finger's width of water from the pool around the fountain into the new container, then came to carefully tip the leafy looking creature into it, sealed the lid and started the air cycling. He sat it on the counter in the Autopsy Lab, and moved over to peer past his partner's shoulder, rubbing sweat from his forehead as his trip to and from the Archives made him feel somewhat overheated.
"Do we know what we're dealing with?" he queried quietly.
"Some sort of plant and animal hybrid," the Captain murmured with a slight frown. "Cellular structure and basic composition hint that it could be from the L-66 galaxy, which is on the far side of the Universe from here. The water's good, but I think we need to introduce a little helium into the habitat. If I'm reading this stuff correctly, it's okay with a moist Earth atmosphere, but would do better with an extra touch of helium in the mix."
"I'll check the inventory lists Lois updated with the last delivery, see if they ever brought the tank I ordered," Ianto volunteered, turning to head out of the medical bay and glancing at the re-homed alien. "Uh... Jack... I think I killed it."
"What?" the older man turned to follow his lover's gaze, saw that the creature had become something like a gelatinous grey-green blob about the size of a large grapefruit and sat unmoving in the water at the bottom of the container. "That can't be right..."
He started to approach the habitat, only to have the ball of goo slap a portion of itself against the glass, dozens of tiny, sharp-toothed mouths scrabbling against the container wall.
"Whoa," Harkness took a reflexive step back, then turned the computer toward him and looked at the readings once more. "Nope, not dead... that is its proper form. Nasty little critter."
"Still want the helium?" his companion asked uncertainly.
"I'm thinking not," Jack frowned. "It's feeling pretty lively just the way it is. I'll do another scan; see if the system has better luck now that it's not camouflaging its true nature."
"I'll get us a coffee then," Ianto nodded, heading up the stairs and across the Hub, rubbing at his forehead again as a sharp pain pulsed there for a moment.
The cut on his hand hurt, an escalating throb like there was still a blade of some sort slicing into his flesh. He looked at it and frowned. It was seeping blood now, the area around the wound slightly bruised and puffy. It likely needed another dousing with iodine when he went back to the Autopsy Lab, and it explained why he felt too warm. The Shadows in his cells were working to heal the alien inflicted injury and who knew what kind of potential infection. The twenty-six-year-old took the stairs into the kitchenette, a mild wave of dizziness making him grab the rail at the top of the risers. Trying not to make too much of it, he continued on to the coffee machine, pulled out two clean mugs... and suddenly found himself on his hands and knees with his head spinning and searing pain stabbing through his stomach, chest and throat, pulsing angrily behind his eyes. The cut on his hand throbbed ever harder, and the young Welshman silently cursed the creature they'd picked up. He managed to crawl to the stairs, drug himself upright using the hand rail and staggered down to the level of the workstations. But by then he was too dizzy, nauseated, and hurting too badly to do more than drop onto the last step and cling to the closest newel post.
"Jack..." Ianto called out breathlessly, finding his symptoms far too close to those he'd suffered in Thames House with the 456 and knowing he was in serious trouble.
Their wonderful night had just taken an incredibly unpleasant turn.
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AN: Yeah… left you with a cliff-hanger… sorry about that.
So, Book One only has a couple more chapters left.
I'm working on getting Book Two typed up, and will hopefully be able to start posting for Ianto's birthday in August.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM