Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad

Chapter 1

Turlough hit the Hub at 6:15 as usual, expecting to find the two in-residence team members roaming the base and the coffee made. Instead, the complex was still dark save for the glow of a few active monitors and the Rift Manipulator. The only coffee was in the reserve pot and obviously left from the evening before, and there was nothing to indicate that he wasn't completely alone. A little concerned, the redhead went about bringing up the normal lighting and activating his work station. The system showed that the last spike had occurred a short time before 12:45 am, at a location uncomfortably close to the Tourist Information Centre he'd just entered by after having left his car off for routine maintenance. There was nothing logged since… yet why else would Jack and Ianto not be in the Hub?

He started to phone Gwen, then remembered she'd told them all the day before that she'd be late this morning because of an important call about her father's latest heart attack. Which meant she likely wouldn't have any idea what was going on either. Should he try the Captain's mobile?

"And interrupt whatever they're up to?" the young alien murmured to himself with a smirk. "Not on a bet."

He brought up the file for the Chameleon Arch Sanctum, began going over the latest information he'd come across for destroying it. At 6:30 Lois called down from the kiosk to tell him that Martha was stopping by to see Johnson before hitting the Hub, hoping the woman was recovered enough to release from the rehab facility. Gwen showed up an hour and a half later, and nearly hit the roof when she discovered that no one knew where Torchwood's two senior members were even though the SUV was sitting in its normal spot in the secure underground car park.

Cooper did a base-wide bio-metric sweep, only to find that the pair was still in their room behind the office. Incredibly worried, she hurried to the bookcase door and knocked twice before simply opening it with a snatch of prayer that she didn't catch them in a compromising position again.

"Jack?" the former constable called urgently, noticing that the bed hadn't been made yet and that the shower was running in the ensuite.

The door to the bath area opened and a barefoot, damp haired Ianto stepped through wearing only his zipped but not buttoned trousers and looking very drawn. He closed the door behind him, giving the woman an apologetic look.

"Sorry, didn't realise it was so late," the young Welshman murmured, going to the wardrobe to fetch a heavy cotton shirt to put on. "Had a bit of a lie-in… rough night."

"Shagging rough or Rift surge rough?" Gwen prodded, obviously still worried and now a little bit annoyed as well.

"Venomous alien," Ianto stated quietly, seeming reluctant to talk about it. "We had to kill it and have UNIT come collect the remains."

"That's it?" Cooper asked blankly.

"I experienced my first death by poison," the twenty-six-year-old by the wardrobe confessed tightly, his gaze focused on the buttons he was slowly fastening from bottom to top.

A warm moist gust of air touched Gwen's face, and she turned to find Jack standing in the bathroom doorway in only a towel, dark hair dripping water, blue eyes strangely sad and tired.

"He died six times in a row," Harkness explained flatly. "From asphyxiation as the venom closed his throat and paralysed his lungs, at the same time it tried to breach all his veins and liquify his organs. I held him while he gasped and cried, felt his heartbeat stop each time. And even after the Scieron managed to finally neutralise the poison, there was tissue damage that took a while to repair. But he still helped me take care of the alien that hurt him, kept me from having a nervous breakdown, and got me to smile again. He needed some extra rest… so did I."

Gwen blinked at the American in open-mouthed shock, then looked over at where Ianto still stood near the wardrobe, his lost child gaze locked on his partner.

"I'll go put the coffee on, yeah?" he offered quietly, turning to grab a pair of socks from the in-wall dresser, snag his boots and usher a speechless Cooper out of the room ahead of him. "Should be ready in about ten minutes."

The immortal twenty-six-year-old closed the bookcase door behind him, paused in the shadows of the office to tuck his shirt into his trousers, straighten the waistband and fasten his belt. The woman who'd come hunting him and the Captain followed him out to the kitchenette stairs where he sat down long enough to get his footwear on, then continued up to the coffee machine.

"I haven't seen Jack look so exhausted and depressed in ages," Gwen whispered worriedly. "Not since…"

Her words trailed off, green eyes clouding when her friend cast her a guilty glance.

"Not since he left the Earth?" Ianto murmured, his voice uncharacteristically flat and hollow. "We both had flashbacks of our meeting with the 456 every time I died last night. And we both had nightmares about it after. It was a bad night. Whenever he relaxed, he'd end up sitting bolt upright, trying to make sure I was still beside him and breathing.

"More than once he got really upset, Gwen. Said he didn't understand why he could bring me back when Lisa crushed my windpipe, but not when the virus killed me. I kept telling him that he'd just revived himself that night here in the Hub, had life energy to spare… but that he was dying too at Thames House and there was nothing he could have done. It made him angry. He told me he wished that he could've just given his life to me then. Let me live even if it meant he stayed dead, because he'd already lived so long and I was too young to be lost in the Dark…"

The Archivist's voice died away with a wince of pain and he took a deep, shuddering breath. Gwen put an arm around his waist, gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, wishing she could do something to help him and Jack feel better. "Would you two rather just bunk in for the day? Or get away from the Hub all together for a span? We can manage."

"Let's see how the morning goes," Harkness suggested quietly from behind them. "Coffee?"

"Just finished," Ianto pronounced, turning to hand his lover his usual mug of strong, black brew.

The Captain accepted it, reached out to rest his free hand on the younger man's right cheek and lightly stroke the small scar there with his thumb.

"I know that look," he stated evenly. "Don't you dare feel guilty about last night."

"I made you miserable, Jack," Ianto protested sadly. "Dredged up the worst possible memories and encouraged you to destroy an unknown alien life form."

"You were just as miserable," the older man countered firmly. "And I was already thinking about euthanising Squishy before I found out it had poisoned you. That just sealed the deal. So let it go and we'll move on, yeah?"

Ianto nodded and the American leaned close to give him a small but heartfelt kiss on the lips. Then the man shifted to place a light kiss on Cooper's forehead as well.

"Thanks for coming to check on us, Mum," Jack smiled, winking at the former PC before heading back down toward the work stations.

"Sometimes I really am tempted to put that man over my knee," Gwen grumbled, blindly taking the cup her friend handed to her.

"Not too loud," the young Welshman warned quietly, giving the green-eyed brunette a small, knowing smile. "He'd take you up on it in a heartbeat and enjoy it far too much."

"Personal experience?" Gwen chuckled appreciatively, glad for the lightening of the mood.

"Receiving end," Ianto confessed with raised brows, heading down the stairs with a tray of steaming coffee cups.

Cooper stifled a laugh as she followed him to the work stations, glancing at the Changeling as he delivered a mug to Turlough and made for the maid door that was just opening. He handed the correct brew to Martha as she came in, then he disappeared toward the lift to Lois' post. His friend's gaze moved to where their leader stood at the mouth of the tunnel that led to the Boardroom and beyond, noted the way he watched the younger man's departing form. The Captain was wearing that soft, almost wistful expression Gwen had only seen a few times in the past. It only ever appeared when he was looking at Ianto, always had done even before the 456 catastrophe. She normally found it oddly sweet, but today it struck her as terribly sad.

Jack turned his head to look directly at her, gave her a reassuring nod, then moved over into his office to slide behind the desk and sip his coffee.

"Good news!" Martha called as she emerged from the Autopsy Lab after putting down her personal gear. "I released Johnson this morning. She's doing tonnes better, and hopefully she'll be up to coming back to work in a couple of weeks. At the rate she's going, she might even be able to pull some light missions by Christmas."

"That's wonderful!" Cooper cheered; glad the former SAS Commander hadn't been permanently disabled by her exposure to the Sontaran Proxy Vapour. "Well done, Doctor Jones!"

"I'd love to take the credit," Martha grinned with a shake of her head. "But most of her progress is due to the staff at the R and R facility and her own burning desire to recover."

"Don't be so modest," Jack called from the office doorway. "You figured out what medications would stop the neural damage and allow it to reverse itself. Without that, Rehab wouldn't have stood a chance. You did an awesome job. You're UNIT's Chief Medical Officer for a reason."

The young physician beamed, but the expression faded when the Rift alarm echoed through the Hub. Back to Torchwood business as usual.

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Welsh Bits:

Adferiad = Restoration

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AN: And we're back! Right on time for Ianto's birthday. Hope the wait wasn't too dreadful…

I started writing this in December of 2009, because I simply could not accept the horrific mistakes made in Children of Earth, especially the meaningless death of Ianto Jones. So, 'Torchwood: Divergence' was born. This is Book Two of Five. And as with Book One, whether the rest of the Books get posted will depend on how this one is received.

There are Doctor Who characters in this story (even a few bits with Eleven himself) but it is not a Cross-Over.

I am an American and have yet to visit Wales or anywhere else in the UK. I compared 4 sites for the Welsh, so I hope it's okay. I did as in-depth research as possible to get the settings and terminology correct, but there are limits to that and this has neither been Brit-picked nor checked by a Beta. So, anything not quite right… let's just put it down to this having to be Alternate Universe and call it a day. I realise that how I perceive some characters may not please everyone, but anyone who dislikes it is advised to go read something else or write their own. NO FLAMERS.

I will only be able to post once a week, usually on Saturday.

I hope those who read Book One enjoy this one as well.

Disclaimer: I make no profit from this story and own only the plot, and the main Aliens involved within it… a certain little dog and a few other creations… but all else is still the property of the BBC and He Who Shall Not Be Named (yeah, that's how I see him), I make no profit, and no copy-right infringement is intended.