Doctor Who: Infection
Chapter 40/TW2 - The Sad Goodbye
Disclaimer - I don't own nothing or nobody you know/recognize. Doctor Who is intellectual property of the BBC, afaik. MATURE CONTENT CHAPTER.
Characters: Gleeson!Doctor, Markham, River, Jack, OCs
The trio stumbled out of the pub, laughing. Jack barely held his two companions upright. "That's another one we closed, where to next, boys?"
Ianto shook his head, then immediately regretted it. "'m done in. Jusht point me to bad 'n' let me die," he slurred.
Rhys laughed at this. "My place! I think we've still got a few bottles left, yeah? The girls are out at Gwen's mum's for hen night, anyway," he mumbled. It made perfect sense to him, but gibberish to Jack. Rhys was the one who had decided to celebrate their impending fatherhoods since the girls were throwing a double baby shower. It didn't take much to convince Jack to come along, and the trio had lasted longer than Rhys' usual crew, who had departed for home an hour before.
"Your flat it is," Jack decided, struggling to keep them both somewhat upright as he steered them towards the Torchwood SUV. It wasn't long before he had the pair shoved in and parked in front of the Cooper-Williams flat. He glanced in the rearview to see the men had fallen asleep on each other. Getting drunk, or at least, as drunk as these two were, was one thing he missed when his body was constantly resetting itself. He was definitely feeling the alcohol as they exited the pub, but was now totally sober. Immortality was great for getting into fights and battles, but lousy for trying to relax and enjoy drinks with friends.
He opened Rhys' door and shook him awake. "You're home, do you have your keys?"
Rhys mumbled "fi'mor'min" then passed out again. Jack sighed and cautiously felt the man's jeans pockets. Luckily scoring the ridged metal on the nearer side. He slid his hand in to grab the keys when Rhys moaned and slung his arm over Jack's neck. The keys weren't the only thing Jack could feel in the pocket. He smirked to himself as he withdrew his prize, only to feel Rhys tug his neck forward when he tried to step back.
Jack simply grabbed the arm and used it as leverage to pull Rhys from the vehicle, nearly toppling over him onto the sidewalk. "Come on, big guy, you're going to have to help me get you upstairs," Jack urged, managing to kick the door closed and turn the two of them around at the same time.
He didn't notice slamming the door had awakened the other man. Ianto groggily looked around and saw the pair stumble into the building. He rubbed his eyes and knew he had to empty his bladder, fast. He stumbled after them. If Jack had noticed, he didn't say anything until Ianto bumped into them as he tried to find the right key to Rhys' door.
"Hey, I was just about to come back for you," Jack informed him.
Ianto's only reply was "firs'dibzloo. Hurr'yup."
Jack smirked as the key finally turned. He pulled Rhys out of the way and motioned for Ianto to enter. He stumbled forward as Jack called out to him the proper direction, following and lowering Rhys onto his couch. He was taken by surprise when Rhys suddenly grabbed his coat lapels and pulled him forward.
"I missed yeh," he hissed before kissing the immortal.
Jack refused to return the kiss, pushing the drunk man back with a hand on his chest that also served to push himself back upright. "Now is not the time," he warned, hearing Ianto's stream through the open bathroom door. Rhys struggled to sit up, but Jack grabbed his legs, and pulled his shoes off, keeping the other man off balance for another minute. Rhys tried to free his feet instinctively, but then changed gears and started undoing his pants.
"You better be headed to the head once Ianto finishes," Jack warned him, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. He leaned in closer, but out of reach. "I'm not joking, Rhys. I don't remember doing anything with you, so you'd do your best to forget it and concentrate on Gwen and your family."
Rhys fell back, defeated. Satisfied he wasn't going to pull anything else, especially in his current state, he turned to check on Ianto. He entered the bathroom to find the man leaning over the toilet with one hand holding himself up, and barely awake. "Let's get you to a bed, shall we?" Jack offered, politely ignoring the fact his former favorite plaything was still exposed. Ushering him past a pouting Rhys on the couch, Jack led him to the bedroom and laid him on the bed, before proceeding to remove his shoes and jacket, then gently tucking in an "old friend". He briefly considered "reuniting" with him, but decided not to take advantage of his friend. Ianto was asleep before his shoes were off. Jack spared a brief kiss to his forehead before returning to Rhys.
"I put Ianto in your bed. Are you going to join him or crash on your couch?"
The only reply was a throaty harrumph. Jack wasn't sure if it was a snore or grunt of indignation. "Right. Well, I'll come by to check on you in the morning. I'll be at the Hub if you need anything."
Another grunt-snort was his only reply. Jack double-checked he left Rhys' keys on the counter and locked the door behind him.
Rhys waited for several minutes, and may have even dozed off, he wasn't sure. He struggled to his feet, relieved his own bladder, then stumbled to his bed, stripping as he went. He ignored the other man in his bed as he crawled in naked, as was his wont.
He couldn't sleep. He couldn't get those memories of Jack out of his mind. Memories only he held, it seemed. Jack was adamant he had no memory of doing anything untoward with Rhys, in this or any other timeline. But Rhys did. He was constantly horned up over the memories. It ate him up that Jack rejected him, and that he could only satisfy Gwen by imagining she was Jack, now. She knew something was up, but overheard her on the phone saying it was probably just pregnancy sympathy anxiety. She had no clue.
He didn't even realize he was stroking himself while these thoughts ran through his mind once again. Ianto snorted and distracted him for a second. He glanced over. Ianto actually was handsome. No wonder Jack swayed him, as well. Maybe Rhys was meant to be with Jack, and the timeline everybody wants to remember was the false one? He would still be with Jack, if not for that.
Rhys sat up and looked down at his bedmate again. He had assumed Ianto was one of them 'twinks' and clean shaven as he was clean cut, but he could see more chest hair sticking out of the man's shirt collar now than he ever possessed. He was rubbing Ianto's chest before he knew it, pinching those nipples, getting soft moans in return.
Rhys dared to go further and undid the man's jeans, exposing a cotton clad lump that Jack had just tucked away with barely a second glance. Rhys wasn't about to let this moment go by without seeing his "former competition".
Ianto stirred from the activity, and soon found his shirt pulled over his head far enough it pinned his arms in place above his head. He felt his pants pulled down and a warm, wet vacuum on his manhood. He groaned in appreciation before he felt hands run up his torso and begin playing with his nipples...hands that were too large and thick to be Toshiko's. or even feminine. "Jack? Whathefukk?" he mumbled.
A hand clasped down on the shirt over his mouth. "Jack's not here, bitch," a familiar voice hissed. "Let's see why he likes you over me," he growled before returning to sucking him off.
"No! what? No!" he protested. It was to no avail.
Over the next few hours, but what felt like days, Ianto Jones was ravaged by the burly man he had come to know the last few months. Tosh had told him they had been friendly before, but of course, Ianto had never met this man before he was abducted and put in a cage with his "twin" by some madman in the alleged far future. And alien planet?
When Rhys Williams was finally done with him, Ianto felt so abused that he now understood what it meant to be raped. He was silently glad that some of the initial pain had been dulled by alcohol, but what good was that when some brute had overpowered you and used you as his sexual gratification?
Rhys finally collapsed next to him on the sheets soaked with sweat and other bodily fluids and promptly passed out. Ianto fought back tears, refusing to let himself cry again after Rhys had taken one of their belts to his backside the first time he begged the man to stop. Then there were the handcuffs. He had briefly wondered where Rhys had gotten them, before recalling Gwen used to be a police constable. When he finally heard the man snoring, he quietly slipped from the bed and into the shower, hoping to wash the shame away.
The water ran cold before he turned it off, still afraid that he might wake Rhys and be tortured once again. As he reached for a towel, he heard the front door slam. Ianto froze for several long minutes, afraid -no, terrified- Rhys would barge in and drag him back to the bed again. When he was sure he had heard nothing further, he slowly toweled what little water was left off and cautiously stepped out...into an empty apartment.
The bed was empty and there was no sign of Rhys Williams anywhere. Ianto quickly gathered his clothes, dressed and ran out, hailing a cab home. The cabbie started to make a "walk of shame" joke due to the hour, but stopped mid-sentence, glancing back to his passenger. Ianto never answered his inquiry if he was okay. The driver turned off his toll and drove Ianto to his destination in silence, offering a counseling card when he refused Ianto's money. Jones looked at it dumbfounded as the man drove away, getting another fare a block down. Ianto finally shoved the card in his pocket and walked up to the flat he shared with Tosh, locking the door behind him and crawling into bed, crying himself to sleep.
Jack was rifling through some paperwork when he heard someone prowling in the Hub. They started the coffee machine and Jack could smell it. A few minutes later, the smell got stronger. He smiled.
"I said I would stop by and bring you two coffee," he said without turning around. Another smell. Ianto's cologne. His mind raced with now-forbidden thoughts.
He heard three quick steps, then scalding water on the back of his head, followed quickly by something heavy before the blackness took him once more.
When he woke, Jack saw his office had been turned upside down. Someone had gone through everything, looking for something. His shirt was stained with brown and red. Coffee and blood. A metal bottomed coffee pot lay dented nearby, the glass top half broken.
Jack staggered to his feet, brushing off a few shards of glass. He grabbed his pistol and locked the doors before performing a full sweep of the Hub. He went to the security footage and cried when his assailant had been revealed.
He called Ianto to make sure he was safe. No answer. The phone tracking app showed him in his apartment for the last several hours. Curious? The women were all still at Gwen's parents' house. No need to worry them yet.
The remaining phone was off, last logged in at the owner's flat before Ianto had left it.
Jack went to check on Ianto first. There was no answer when he knocked, but that never stopped him before. Tosh had given him a spare emergency key before any of them had originally died. He let himself in and cautiously entered the residence. He found Ianto sleeping in his bed, his head barely visible, the rest hidden. No need to wake him just yet. Someone else needed to be dealt with first.
Whatever Rhys Williams had been looking for, he never found it, according to the security footage. Jack knew it was early, but texted Martha to let him know immediately if Rhys showed up. He balked at alerting Gwen, but guessed they wouldn't think too much of it.
Jack looked out the window to the streets below wondering where he could have gone. A passing police car gave him his first clue. It was running lights and sirens and heading for the local office. The same one where Gwen used to work. And PC Andy still did.
Jack made for the door, but something made him stop. He went to check on Ianto again and heard him moan in his sleep. A nightmare? Jack went to him and kissed his forehead again then turned to leave. It was then he spotted Ianto's wrist. It was red from being rubbed raw. It hadn't been like that earlier. Jack cautiously drew back the blanket and gasped in horror. There were bruises and welts still forming over the man's body.
Jack's face was grim as he covered his friend back up and left the apartment. He strode with purpose to Andy's station a few blocks away. It wasn't as bad as he feared.
The desk sergeant recognized Jack from a previous visit and didn't argue when he asked for Andy. She personally escorted Jack not to Andy's desk, but to the on-site first aid office. Andy had taken a beating. Another officer was being treated for a black eye and already had two fingers in braces. It wasn't hard to guess from whom.
"Where is he?" was all Jack said.
The Detective Sergeant started to protest Jack's entry, but the immortal already had his badge out, even as Andy waved him off. "It's alright, Dai. He's a friend."
"Not another one!"
"Relax," Jack assured him. "I'm just here for Rhys."
"Rhys Williams? That bastard's not going anywhere!" the sergeant declared. "I don't care who you are, or who he's married to, that man assaulted two of my men for no reason!"
"Does she know?"
Jack glanced to Andy. "Not yet. She's at her mother's. Say nothing until-"
"I already called Cooper," Dai informed the men. "She's on her way down."
Jack sighed. "I wish you hadn't done that."
"What's going on, Jack?" Andy inquired.
"You weren't the only one he...roughed up," Jack admitted.
"Gwen?"
Jack shook his head. "Me and...another member of my team."
"You don't look hurt?" Dai accused, taking note of the stains on his shirt.
Jack glanced to Andy. He wasn't aware of Jack's immortality, but he knew the man had his secrets. "I got better. Mind taking me to see him, now?"
"No," Dai warned.
"I won't ask again."
"Boys, please stop trying to be the bigger dick-" Andy interrupted, before adding "don't start" directed at Jack. He turned to his superior, "I'll take full responsibility if this one tries anything."
"I'll have your badge-" Dai warned.
"I'll give you a job," Jack retorted, staring down Dai.
"I'll kick both your asses," came a familiar female voice. The trio turned to see Gwen at the door. "What's going on? Where's my husband?"
"In a cell for two counts for assault against an officer of the law," Dai informed her before the other two could say anything.
Gwen glared at him, then the other three, taking note of Andy's and -was it Steve's?- injuries. "Anyone else?"
Andy glanced to Jack. "Yes," he replied.
She took that to mean at least Jack, possibly Ianto, if not others. She turned and stormed off into the building. Jack saw Martha standing outside. "I'm sorry, I tried to call you, but you didn't answer?"
Jack hadn't realized he missed her call, and waved her off as they followed Gwen to the detention area, Andy bringing up the rear. He opened the cell for Gwen.
"What do you have to say for yourself then?" she demanded.
Rhys looked up, wild eyed. "Can't stand up to me alone, you have to bring the bitch with you?" he accused.
Behind them, Martha and Andy traded astonished looks, neither sure which one he was calling names, then wisely decided to give the others their privacy.
"Why did you attack them?" she asked, as calmly as she could muster.
"He knows why."
"Tell me, Rhys. You owe me an explan-"
He sneered. "I don't owe you shit."
"Rhys," Jack warned. "You do owe her an explanation, and apologies to others."
"Apologize for what? Taking your boy toy? Yeh?"
Gwen and Jack stared at him in horror.
"You didn't even care I had him, did yeh?" he leered. "You left him for me in my own bed. I used him like the cheap whore he is."
"I-I don't believe you," Gwen gasped.
"I checked on him first, he was sleeping at home," Jack said. The man before him just admitted to more than he realized. He had spurned this man once again, then left him alone with an innocent friend. It was taking all his restraint not to treat this man the same way. "What's wrong, Rhys? What turned you into this?"
"You did."
"No. Something happened to turn you-" he started.
"You did," he repeated. "She spurned me, then you found me and made me your bitch. How many others have you had, Jack? How many others have you left like me?" he accused. "How many lives have you destroyed?"
"How long have you had these thoughts?" Jack asked.
"Since you recruited me," he replied. "Since you seduced me like so many others. Made me feel like I was your one and only. Then you broke my heart. Now I break yours."
"The other timeline," was all Jack said.
Gwen turned and walked away. "Tell Andy we're taking him. Now," Jack called after her.
Dai tried to protest once again, but Jack ignored him as Jack and Andy escorted a cuffed Rhys out of the station. They exited to see Toshiko pull up in the SUV Jack had left outside her flat when he stopped to check on Ianto. He was sitting in the passenger seat. Jack could see him try to remain stoic, but the fear was evident on his face when he saw Rhys.
"Gwen, go with Tosh. Martha, Andy, and I will get Rhys back to the Hub," he told her. Gwen didn't argue as Andy went for his cruiser. Andy and Martha sat up front while Jack sat in back with Rhys. "You know where we're going?" he asked Andy as he slid behind the wheel.
"Seriously? You have the worst secret headquarters in history," he teased, pulling out into traffic. "By the way, you serious about that job? I'm sure Dai will add theft of an official emergency vehicle to the list of my 'crimes' to fire me," he mused.
"Always room for one more," Jack said as he glanced back to see Tosh following. The whole ride spent waiting for Rhys to add his own hate filled commentary, which he thankfully kept silent until they had him in one of the holding cells in the Hub.
As they took him down, he instructed Martha to give Ianto a once over. She didn't question the order, and he didn't resist. Nor did he question how Jack knew he had been hurt.
Once Rhys had been locked up, Gwen turned to Jack. "How much retcon is this going to take?"
Jack was silent for too long a minute, she thought. "At least a day for you girls. Possibly longer for Ianto."
"and him?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "He never said anything more about being with me in that other timeline to you?"
"Just the basics. We had split in college, which seemed to be the major turning point for us," she told him. "After that, his life apparently didn't deter too far, other than us not being together. Then he met you when his lorry was hired to transport that alien meat. That's when I remember letting him in on what we really did here," she explained.
"I recall that part," he agreed. "At least, as far as our memories go. He told me we were together from that point on," he admitted. "I have no memory of it. Suzie was still alive and part of the team I woke up to, along with him. That was barely a few hours before we met up outside on the Plass, he explained. "You still remember what happened next?"
"Like I was waking up from a dream," she admitted. "Seeing the two of you is what woke me up from it, too," she agreed. "So we only woke up at that point, but he recalls years before that over our life together?"
"Our altered memories faded, but not his," he agreed. "He's tried to- I thought he was just flirting, but it's like he's obsessed with me?" She didn't respond. "I didn't say anything to you because I didn't want to upset you, but-"
"You should have," she finished.
He nodded. "I should have. I'm sorry."
"So what happens now?"
Jack shrugged. "My first choice would be to find a telepath, see what's really going on in that thick skull," he said. "Then we either do a deep cleanse, or-"
She instinctively hugged her belly. "I won't see the father of my children driven insane."
"Nor would I," he agreed.
"Who are you thinking of, telepath-wise, that is?"
"On this planet? Not anyone off the top of my head."
"and another planet?"
"Why does Will come to mind?" he asked. "But he's not available to us, so-?"
"That's the call, that's the game, and the pain stays the same," she murmured.
Jack glanced at her questioningly.
"Private joke," she said quietly, remembering the Roxette song playing on the radio the first time she had made love with her future husband. "It could have been worse," he had joked after, humming some AC/DC into her ear.
"Call someone," she finally said. "I want my husband back."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied and started to leave. "Are you coming?"
"In a minute," she replied, still in a staring contest with the madman her husband had become. Once Jack had left them alone, she stepped up to the glass. "I'll make this right. I'll make you right again." She put her hand up to the wall.
"Go fuck yourself, whore," he spat.
She steeled herself, then turned and left. Behind her, Rhys burst into a bone chilling laugh. She turned out the light as she left the hall.
She found the others in the med bay. Tosh was holding Ianto's hand as Martha applied some salve to the welts on his back and wrists. The bruises would have to heal on their own. He wouldn't make eye contact with anyone.
She walked down the ramp and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry he did this to you. I wish I could take it back."
He winced and nodded. She moved to hug him, but he flinched. She nodded understanding, and didn't press him further. She glanced to Jack, who nodded and motioned her to follow him back upstairs to his office. She saw the mess he had left behind, scattered papers, broken coffee pot, the room in complete disarray.
"It might take me a few hours to find my files," he apologized.
"Do you have a broom up here?" she offered. The pair slowly put some order back to the room, she cleaning up her husband's mess, he resorting his files. "What do you think he was looking for, anyway?" she finally asked.
Jack shrugged. "I don't keep much up here outside of current case files and-"
"and?"
"Retcon."
Two syllables that told them everything.
They were back in the cells staring down Rhys. "Why did you want it?"
"What were you going to do with it?"
"Why couldn't you talk to me?"
"If you're in trouble, we can talk this out," Jack offered. "It's still not too late."
Rhys laughed. "Sell it? You won't have a customer base, if the damned sods buying your product can't remember what they took or who the fuck they bought it from!"
"Then why did you want it?" she demanded.
"Why else? To forget!" he told them. "To forget all of this shite! No normal person lives like this, Gwen! You're never sure whether you're going to wake up the next day, or when! That's not right!"
"Rhys, I-" she started.
"No! Shut it! You don't even know who the real father of that baby is!" he accused. "Andy? Me? Some sort of alternate reality double? Bloody hell, Gwen, how do I know it wasn't Jack?!" he spat.
She was crying. His vision was blurred from his own tears.
"And what about me?" Jack asked quietly.
"You? You?! Fuck you, Harkness!" he yelled. "I can barely remember my life with Gwen, because I can't get you out of me fucking head!" He collapsed back on his cot, sobbing. "I can't get you out of my head, and I can't remember my life, anymore!" he cried. "I don't want it. I can't stand the sight of either of you, anymore!" he admitted.
"That's why you wanted the Retcon?"
Rhys was back at the wall in an instant. "Of course, it's why I wanted it! I wanted to forget you, you stupid fucking bastard! I wanted to forget all of this!" he told them. "You just use people and never think twice about how many you hurt, or get killed, or worse, do yeh?" he accused. "Immortal Jack, just keeps walking without caring how many he leaves in his wake! Some of us have to pick up the lives you destroy, some of us are the lives you destroyed."
Jack reached his hand out to the clear wall. Rhys jerked back as if Jack had punched him. "I'm sorry." It wasn't enough, but it was all he could offer the man at this moment. He turned and tried to pull Gwen away.
"No, I'm not leaving him," she said, taking a step closer. "I have one thing to ask, and you better tell me what I want to hear, or-" She stopped and shook her head, trying to shake the rest of that thought away. "Tell me honest."
"Fuck off," he snarled back at her.
"Potato."
Rhys froze, gritted his teeth, a quick glance at her belly, then turned his back and sat down.
"Tell me."
Rhys' shoulders shook from his crying.
"Rhys. Answer me."
He turned back to her. His heart breaking. "I can't be around her anymore. Around you. I can't."
"Rhys-"
"I don't want to remember. It's either this or-" He turned back away.
Jack laid his hand on Gwen. "Come on, let's give him time to settle down."
As they made their way back through the main room of the Hub, Martha called out. "Is he alright? Rhys, I mean. Should I go and check on him?"
Jack glanced to Gwen, who nodded. "Get the others and meet us in the conference room. Now, please," he told her.
Martha nodded and went back to the med bay for the other couple. A few minutes later, they were all sitting around the conference table.
"Here's the situation," he began. "Rhys somehow remembers more of his life from the alternate timeline than he does anything here," he explained. "That's why he attacked us. He's angry that his memory can't be trusted and-"
"He wants a full retcon," Gwen finished.
Jack nodded. "Ianto, Toshiko, are any of you having any memory problems? Things you know don't jibe with what you remember? Double memories of events? Anything out of the ordinary?" he asked.
"Aside from knowing we died?" Ianto inquired. "That I was your- as he called it, 'boy toy'? and I have no memory of anything since working at Torchwood 3 with Lisa and-"
Jack held up his hand. "Have I made any advances toward you, or made you feel uncomfortable in any way?"
Ianto thought a minute. "Not really, but-"
"Yes?"
"Tosh keeps making little slips, saying things that happened to you and me I have no memory of."
"I'm sorry," she replied. "I forget sometimes. It's not easy for me, either," she admitted.
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Martha inquired? "Do you know what effect Retcon will have on the babies?"
Jack hesitated. "Yes and no. Yes, that Retcon seems to be the only option to move past this. No, I don't know what effect it will have on the two of you and/or your babies."
"You're just going to wipe away our lives? Then what?" Ianto demanded.
"I'm not making you, I'm just giving you that option," Jack clarified. "Rhys seems to want to wipe away his whole adult life. I'm guessing you would want at least the last 24 hours? Ladies, you tell me how much you want to forget."
"And what about you, Jack?" Martha asked. "How much do you want to forget?"
He was silent.
"And what happens next?" Ianto asked. "Do you just leave us in some random hospital, our lives here just a footnote that we never remember? I still have my sister who thinks I'm dead. She knows about you lot. How will you explain it to her?" he pressed. "What about Rhys and Gwen? Do you make some flimsy excuse as to why he can't remember half his life, his wife or children?"
Tosh spoke up this time. "I remember that episode of Star Trek, one of the ones where they were caught in a time loop, that Commander Data had to keep the crew from remembering everything that caused the ship to blow up. Again. But it took them several tries to get it right, then blamed the whole loss of time on a different temporal anomaly," she explained, then looked to Jack. "Are you willing to risk Retconning years of our lives away and release us back into a world that would now be an unknown danger to us?"
"She's right," Gwen agreed. "Andy may have just lost his job helping us get Rhys out of police custody. Are we going to wipe his memory of Torchwood? His boss? Where does it stop?"
Jack sighed. "Again, this is your choice. Ianto, do you want me to tell your sister you're still alive because of some time slip anomaly? That's an option I was already considering as a failsafe, should you run into her. It's also mostly the truth," he explained. "The rest of you, again, you decide how much you want to forget. Or not. Only Rhys is being considered for a long term Retcon."
"There's no other option? Live with these memories, forget your life, or else?"
Jack nodded. "Yes, short of leaving Earth and starting over somewhere else? Yes," he said. "And that option would entail favors I may not be able to call on. Then we would have to get you lot reacquainted to living out there, which is not like running off with a certain Time Lord, I might add," he glanced to Martha. "This would be a permanent decision. I'm not forcing you to decide right here and now, but take some time to figure out what you want."
The others looked between themselves.
"What if we don't want to stay here?"
"Again, entirely up to you, but where would you go?"
"I'm sure I could probably go back to UNIT," Martha mused. "I might be able to pull some strings, get the rest of you on. I mean, if that's what you want? It's not all action and aliens there, either."
Jack nodded. "I'll call James. The rest of you-?" He paused, unsure what to say next. "No decisions right now. Go home and sleep on it. Give me your answers whenever you want. Yay or nay."
The group sat in silence for along minute. Finally, Ianto got up to leave. He paused by Jack. Harkness held his breath, waiting for an answer, a word. Anything. Ianto gave him a light pat on the shoulder and left the room. The others looked between the two men, then back down.
"I should go after him," Toshiko rose next and went after her lover and father of her child.
"I should try and call Mickey," Martha said, rising to leave. "And Mum."
Jack glanced to Gwen. She sat, working a cuticle on her ring finger. "I should go see how much Retcon we have on hand. At least for Rhys, that is," he said, rising to leave, himself.
"Thank you."
He gave her a curt nod before he left.
She eventually rose and went back down to see Rhys.
"So it's decided then?" he said calmly. "My execution?"
"We're not killing you."
"No, just erasing my life, because the memories I want are nothing but a dream, and I can't stand the ones I have," he told her. "My life was replaced, and you're killing the man I've become to get rid of him."
"I can remember for both of us."
"Can you? Can you really?"
"For you, for us, for our children? Yes."
"What if I don't?"
"Don't say that."
"I haven't felt anything for Anwen since we got back."
"Rhys-"
"I have to pretend you're Jack just to fuck you."
"-don't."
"I can't live like that. Neither should you."
She turned and left him alone again.
Jack had watched the interaction on the monitor in his office. He flipped it off, unable to tolerate the monster his friend had become. There was truth to his accusations, but Jack never meant to hurt anyone. Everyone who followed him had done so of their own free will. Right?
Right?
"Sir? I have some more paperwork for you to sign."
James Gloucester sighed. "Fine, bring them in," he waved at Belew.
"Message from our favorite Captain, Sir."
"Do I want to know?"
"He's sent us a request, possible personnel transfer?"
"Personnel transfer? Is Martha Jones coming back?"
"Among others?" he replied, glancing through the paperwork. "Looks to be the whole team? Cooper, her police friend Price, Sato, and both Jones'?"
Gloucester thought a moment. "What about Williams?"
Belew shook his head. "Doesn't appear so?"
"That's odd, Cooper but not Williams? I wonder what this is about then?"
"Shall I ring the Hub for you?"
James glanced to the clock. "Nah. Too late for me to get into their drama tonight. First thing in the morning, then?"
"Right-o, Sir," Belew replied, making a note of it. "Anything else before I leave?"
"Sod it, go home or whoever," James shrugged. "I'll see you-"
Both men noticed it at the same time. The air had changed, charged up, both could feel their hair standing on end. The lights began to flicker. Both men's computers, laptop and tablet, went dark.
Before either could move, a bolt of lightning threw Belew across the room. James could feel the metal arms of his chair tickling his hands as he started to stand.
"Where do you think you're going?" came a familiar voice.
Before him, the man he recognized as former Prime Minister Harold Saxon stood naked before him.
"What in the bloody hell?" James stammered, stumbling to his feet and keeping his desk between him and the madman on the other side. Did he just flicker like the lights?
"Come to daddy!" Saxon said, holding his arms wide. Electricity erupted from both hands to either side of Gloucester. A stray bolt set his desk chair's seat on fire.
"Get away from me, you freak!" James ordered. Where the hell were his men?
"I can't maintain this form for long, and I need you, James," Saxon grinned. "I will become you, body and soul, and you will call me Master!" he laughed.
The next bolt struck James center of his chest, stunning him. He felt his legs go out from under him, but the mad Cheshire grin crossed the room in the blink of an eye and held him from completely collapsing.
"Say goodnight, James!" Saxon said as he kissed Gloucester. James felt his entire body fill with electricity. It was the last thing he would experience.
Moments later, UNIT guards burst in. "Are you alright Director?" one man asked, helping Gloucester up, as another checked on Belew. "What happened in here?" He pulled the dazed man over to a chair that wasn't on fire, which a third guard was patting out before setting off the fire alarms and sprinklers.
"I-I have no idea?" he stammered. "One moment, I was talking to Belew, the next-?" He waved his arm at the chaos of the room. "This bloody hell?"
"It looks like there was some sort of electrical explosion, sir?" the man who tended to the office chair declared. The computer monitor had scorch marks, and Saxon's lightning had targeted the wiring in the walls. "We can probably still recover the hard drive-?" he started to say before he was interrupted.
"Well get someone in here to double check nothing else is going to electrocute us!" he demanded. "And help Belew down to the infirmary, make sure he's alright!"
The men snapped to attention, two of them carrying Belew's unconscious form away, while a third stepped outside to call maintenance. James dusted himself off, then glanced to a mirror he kept over a cabinet. He smiled at the angry face undoubtedly hurling epithets at the new owner of his body. "I should really see a Doctor, myself," he smirked. He turned to leave, but then saw the notes Belew had dropped. The Torchwood logo caught his eye. He picked up the paper and smiled again. "O delicious, capricious Captain of Fate, what have you given me, now?"
While the others had slept, Jack pulled a few strings with a slight assist from PC Andy to arrange Rhys "waking up from a coma" at the local hospital. Martha agreed to play his doctor, seeing as he would not remember her now. Nor any other member of the team aside from Gwen. Jack and Tosh would play her nurses.
Ianto stayed home. Tosh informed Jack he could not bring himself to face Rhys just yet. However, when they had Rhys sedated to move him, Ianto showed up unexpectedly.
"I thought you were sitting this one out?" Jack asked.
Ianto never took his eyes off the unconscious man. "What's the backstory you're giving him?"
"Car accident. Amnesia from a blow to the head," Martha replied.
"Without bruising? I can fix that."
"Ianto, no!" Jack stepped between him and the gurney.
"Let him."
Jack turned to see Gwen, grim faced. "It's only fair, and he deserves it for what he put us through."
Jack hesitated, then nodded, lowering the gurney down to the ground. Ianto pounced like a wild cat attacking it's prey. Jack had to wrestle him off, the others ignored the tears and cries of anguish from their friend as Jack pulled him away.
Leading Ianto back to the medbay, he washed the blood off his former lover's hands. "Feel better now?"
"No." There was no emotion behind his voice now.
Jack winced. "Stay here, we'll take care of him, then-" he paused, afraid what he knew must be done next. "-then we'll see to everything else." He started to leave.
"Jack?" The immortal stopped. "Was he ever like this before?"
"No. Well, he was a bit of a blowhard, but- No."
"What about us?"
Jack was silent a moment. "You chose Tosh."
"That's not what I asked."
"I know." He left the other man for what he feared would be the final time.
An hour later, Martha had tended Rhys' new wounds and had him hooked up to an IV and monitors. She nodded to Jack. He produced a bottle and syringe from his coat and, with a last glance to Gwen, injected the IV.
"We won't know for a while," Jack told them. "Part of the formula will keep him asleep, and with this dosage-?"
"How long?" Gwen asked, remembering the time she had dosed him if only to prevent his anger at her cheating confession.
"Probably not until tomorrow," he told her. "I'd suggest going home and getting some rest."
"I won't leave him. Not now."
"Fine, I'll bring you something to eat later," he nodded. "Tosh? Can I speak to you out in the hall?"
She followed him out, expecting her orders. "Go back to the Hub and take Ianto home. Nothing to do here but wait. I'll come check on you shortly, okay?"
She gave a reserved sigh, and nod.
Jack watched her exit, then departed by another door. He had other things to take care of, first.
Each of them would later receive a delivered meal dosed with Retcon.
They would hate him for it if they had any clue. He could only hope they would eventually forgive him.
He left without a word that night. The Hub was sealed, only a few people would have access, and they wouldn't know he was gone until it was too late. Each would receive enough compensation they would never need another job.
The guilt had been too much. One quick code into his vortex manipulator and he was back on his Chulak ship orbiting the far side of the Earth's moon. He checked his fuel reserves, then punched in random coordinates. When the fuel was spent, he went to the airlock and stepped out into the void.
The last thing he saw before the Darkness greeted him once again was a familiar blue box. He assumed it to be a random memory as the last of his synapses triggered before expiring. Then a familiar face flying toward him that was not the main occupant of that blue box, no matter how many faces he had worn in his long life. Now you find me, was his last thought.
Will Markham grabbed him as Jack's life slipped away he had hoped for the last time. "What do you think you're doing? The universe isn't done with you yet," came the man's voice in his head as the Darkness washed in. "-and neither am I."
The Doctor's family had come to assemble the cavalry, once more. Jack was torn between relief someone still cared and mourning what the cost would be this time as he rallied those close to the Time Lord. Those so-called Children of Time brought back for one last celebration.
The wedding of the time travelers went off without too much of a problem. Jack kept his emotions in check, watching for any clues his team recalled anything he had done the last time they had seen him, but gave no clue. Rhys seemed out of sorts, but he had only met a handful of people present before, and they remembered him more than he did them. Gwen was in full apology mode, explaining his "car accident". The notes he had left them explaining their plan seemed to have worked. They were still under the impression he had given the couples "maternity leave until further notice."
Jack did triple the work, between getting the Doctor dressed for his wedding, keeping an eye on his former team, and distracting the Doctor from a few "gate crashers" that he had yet to meet in his personal time line, causing River no end of amusement.
It was a good, but bittersweet end to Torchwood.
For Now.
4/4-6/16
RIP Miss Effie. as you can see by the time stamp, I wrote this well before her passing. #fuckcancer
