Torchwood: Divergence
Book One: Dychwelyd

Chapter 50

Jack took a deep breath, let it out with a whoosh and squarely looked the irritated Mrs. Davies in the eyes.

"When everything went to hell in London about two years ago, Ianto called you and told you what was really happening," he stated plainly, his expression neutral and his tone calm. "Our group went in and tried to stop the alien from taking ten-percent of the children of Earth, those the Governments around the globe offered up like pagan sacrifices, chosen from the lower and middle classes because they were 'less important' and the politicians weren't willing to turn over their own or fight for this planet's future. We were. I went to tell the alien 'no', and Ianto went with me in the hope we could stop it... that we could save the world."

"But that isn't how it went, is it?" the woman across the room pointed out sharply. "The soldiers still came to take the kids."

"Because we failed," Harkness nodded, his eyes slowly starting to show the devastation he'd felt at Thames House. "The alien wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and when we said that we and the parents of the world would fight to keep the children, it released a... a toxin into the air system of the building, triggering a bio-hazard lockdown. Nothing we did could stop its spread and everyone in the place at the time was sealed there, unable to escape. I... I was where I could get to the hazmat gear, I tried to get a suit to Ianto, but he'd already been exposed. People were dying all over the building, the toxin dropping them in their tracks. I got the mask on Ianto with clean oxygen, but he wasn't responding, went down as soon as we tried to move.

"I could feel him dying in my arms, tried to find a door or window I could breach to get him out of there and to a hospital, but it was no use. In the end it turned out that the toxin cleared fairly quickly, so our co-workers were able to come after us in NBC kit when the seals released, and the military whisked us away to a UNIT facility... two of only three survivors out of more than a hundred."

Ianto's hand had tightened over the older man's when he'd mentioned dying, his breathing indicating to the Captain that he was crying, and tears welled in the seated immortal's eyes as well.

"I was cleared after a day," Jack continued tightly. "But nothing they did seemed to help Ianto. They worked to decipher what the toxin was, did endless tests, and tried every treatment they could devise that might counter the alien substance. For the most part he was unconscious, needed a machine to breathe for him because the toxin had shut down his lungs, was covered in tubes and wires. More than once they lost him, his heart giving out from the strain on his system as the treatments became more experimental, more aggressive. But they managed to bring him back every time, get him semi-stable again. He was suffering, in terrible pain, his body unable to function on its own while they kept fighting the effects of what he'd been exposed to. If I could've traded places with him, I would've done it in a heartbeat... anything to save him.

"As it was, all I could do was spend as much time with him as they'd let me. The few periods when he was conscious, I could see it in his eyes... the fear, the confusion, the terrible suffering. It broke my heart, but I couldn't bear to let him go, kept praying that they'd find a cure and fix what was wrong. And it took nearly ten months, but they did finally find a way to purge the toxin from his entire body, started treating the damage it had done and getting him truly stabilized."

Harkness paused, taking a deep shuddering breath and rubbing tears from his eyes with his free hand.

"Ianto wasn't strong enough to be breathing on his own for another two months," he continued after a moment. "Still needed all sorts of feeding tubes, catheters, support devices and IVs to keep him going. He only started rehabilitation seven months ago; it took him that long to recover enough. And he still has problems related to the damage from that alien toxin.

"If he gets too excited or upset, it throws him into seizures. He has a hard time communicating verbally some days, periodic bouts of muscle weakness, severe fatigue. The doctors said those are all due to anoxic brain damage and may never go away. He also has recurring respiratory infections that cause bleeding in his bronchial tract and trachea, experiences periods of horrible depression and has terrible anxiety attacks, gets debilitating headaches, spikes high fevers, and suffers random episodes of extreme confusion. He'll never be the same man he was two years ago again."

"But why did you all say he was dead?" Rhiannon insisted, tears running down her face. "Bloody Torchwood, that's what you are. Your people came that day and told me he'd died trying to protect the kids. Why did she say that if it wasn't true? Why did the Government tell us we couldn't have his body for 'security reasons' instead of just telling us the truth? Why didn't someone let me know he was in Hospital?"

"He stopped breathing right after we first got him out of the MI5 building," the Captain explained quietly, his own eyes bright with unshed tears as he fought to control his irritation over the woman's stubborn refusal to accept what he was telling her. "At the facility they put him on full life support, but the doctors weren't expecting him to survive, much less recover beyond a vegetative state. I thought it would be kinder to have Gwen tell you up front that he'd died like all the others, spare you the suffering of losing him down the line, just protect his niece and nephew for him. Later, the Home Office and military stepped in and used National Security as an excuse not to produce a body, because he was still under treatment... still likely to die."

"But he's better, right?" the pink coat clad brunette in the chair insisted heatedly. "Why didn't anyone tell me? I'm his family; I have the right to know. He's my little brother, and I bloody well should have been told the truth no matter what."

"He may be your brother," Jack stated, his voice having gone cold and hard. "But he's my whole world. It's my fault he spent so long suffering and staring Death in the face. I will not risk losing him again. Yes, he's alive and recovering, but you saw what happened when you approached him out there. I don't know if he was happy to see you or scared of what you'd say, but it put him into seizures. He needs care that you can't even begin to give him, and you haven't heard about him in all this time because that's how he wanted it. He didn't ever want his family to see him the way he is now... just a frail shadow of the incredible young man he was and may never be again. He wanted you to remember him how he was, remember what he was willing to risk to protect you and this whole planet. I can still see him that way... can you? Could your children or your wise-cracking husband? All I can see in your eyes is horror and anger, so I'm thinking that's a 'no'."

Rhiannon stared at him open-mouthed, at a loss for words. This was Ianto's handsome boss, the man he'd admitted to having an affair with, the one he'd been so desperate to find after the big explosion near the Bay two years ago. She'd seen the love in her brother's eyes when he'd talked about the older man, and now she could see it in Captain Jack Harkness' as he looked from her to the shivering boy on the cot beside him. She'd always wanted Ianto to find someone to love who really loved him back, and both she and her husband had been so pleased for him when he'd confirmed the relationship, regardless of the initial shock that the other person was a man and Johnny's crude jokes. But she couldn't let go of the fact that she'd mourned her baby brother for two years and it had all been a lie.

"I know it's cruel, Mrs. Davies, and I'm sorry," Jack said at last, once more locking gazes with the woman. "But for his sake, it honestly would be best if you and your family went on believing that he's dead."

"I can't do that," Rhi shook her head, her tear-streaked face set and angry. "I won't do that. I don't care if you two fell in love and tried to hide it, or if you nearly got him killed and want him to yourself now because of that. And I'm tired of him finding excuses to ignore me. We're family and I won't just pretend he's dead."

"Here," Lois suddenly appeared with a glass of water and offered it to the distraught Welshwoman. "You seem awfully upset. Take a few deep breaths and have some water, you'll feel better. That lady doctor's back if you'd like to talk to her too."

Rhiannon wiped her eyes, drinking down the small glass of water in quick gulps, then meeting Jack's unhappy gaze once more.

"Ianto Jones is dead," the man pronounced slowly and clearly, though tears won free to slip unnoticed down his face. "Any time you think you see him, it's just your heart conjuring a ghost."

The woman opened her mouth to argue, but suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired and simply couldn't keep her eyes open. Her head dropped forward, Lois moving quickly to reclaim the glass and brace her up so she didn't fall from the chair. Plan B67 had been implemented... Rhiannon Davies wouldn't remember a thing.

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AN: I always felt Rhiannon was the stubborn type, and apt to kick up a fuss. So, Ianto's hope for a reunion went up in flames at the moment… but that doesn't mean it will never happen. At some point another opportunity is likely to present itself and hopefully his sister will be in a calmer state and able to accept the explanation given with a little more grace.

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM