TITLE: Beauty of a Broken Angel
PART ONE OF SERIES: The Five Elements (AU Verse)
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, because if I did Ianto would be immortal!
*Title of this story are lyrics from Warrior by Beth Crowley (There is an awesome Janto fanvid on YouTube to that song!)*
*In honour of Ianto Jones' 37th Birthday because he never died in our minds as everyone knows. (Note: In this verse, he would actually be 41 today)*
Chapter 1: Key to freedom
3rd January 2000
Everything had gone to hell.
It wouldn't matter what happened next, he knew that the image of Alex shooting himself in the head would stay with him for years to come. The whole place had been a bloodbath, and had taken days to clean-up, all while hindered by Yvonne's constant orders to essentially get his arse to London. He'd avoided her calls for as long as possible, but despite his procrastination he still found himself at Tower.
Alex had left Torchwood Three to him which Yvonne flatly refused to recognise. If he was honest the subject was warring in his own mind. Even as a Captain in the wars, there had always been a higher authority he could report to. Jack Harkness was a solider by heart. He took orders (even if he often didn't follow them), he never wanted to be in charge. The few times he'd been in charge before had never ended the way he'd planned, Lahore in 1909 being one example that sprung to mind.
However, it had been Alex Hopkin's last wish for him to 'give the place a purpose.' He hadn't believed Torchwood was ready for whatever he'd seen in Object One and Jack was inclined to agree. He didn't trust Torchwood One. They were too busy focusing on power. Taking over from Alex would give him a chance to rebuild Torchwood as he imagined it, a way that the Doctor would be proud of once he finally showed up. To prove he was bigger on the inside that The Doctor had wanted him to be.
Yvonne would be trouble though. Despite all the evidence, she believed he was involved in the bloodshed. He might not be sure whether Yvonne knew or even believed the story of his immortality but he knew Torchwood had been itching for an excuse to find out what made him tick for decades. Alex's murder-suicide could just be the excuse they'd been waiting for.
Jack shoved open the door to Yvonne office, not caring if he was interrupting anything.
"Ah. Captain Harkness. You're here."
"Against my better judgement. What do you want Hartman? It'd better be good otherwise leave me alone. If it didn't escape your notice I'm fairly busy and currently have an unguarded rift in Cardiff."
"Yes. That's what I wanted to discuss. Now pardon me being blunt but I don't believe for a second you had nothing to do with that event on Friday, supposed immortality or not. That being said, I can't prove that so I will have to move on to the next issue – the leadership of Torchwood Three."
Jack could have guessed the conversation word for word. "You saw the CCTV, Hopkins specifically said…"
Yvonne interrupted him her tone suggesting that she had already made her decision and really didn't want to explain herself. "I know what Hopkins allegedly said Captain, and even if I believed the whole CCTV, Hopkins technically wouldn't have been in the right mind when he appointed you so the statement holds no ground. You are an uncontracted agent only. I dread to think…"
"I know exactly why Alex wanted me in charge and not you." Jack snapped, stabbing his index finger on the desk to emphasise each syllable. "Right mind has nothing to do with it!"
"Even so, currently four of my top agents are getting settled in Torchwood Three's base and I expect you…"
"And I'll be sending them straight back here. I don't care what useless…"
Unfortunately, before he could continue insulting other employees, a member staff came sprinting into the office, abruptly interrupting the argument. "Get out!" Hartman yelled causing the man recoil at her anger.
"Sorry Ma'am, but it's an emergency. Subject One has escaped Ma'am."
"What! How?"
"The chain snapped away from the wall Ma'am and someone left the cell unlocked. He hasn't moved other than to eat in months, so we assumed…"
"Assuming can get people killed idiot. That thing is dangerous. Find him, and find out who left the bloody door unlocked and send them to me. I'll be with security."
"Yes Ma'am" The man stammered, chastised as he literally fled from the room. Yvonne sighed sounding almost exasperated at being disturbed, even for what sounded like a legitimate emergency. She stood up and headed for the door, before turning back to Jack as if remembering he was there.
"Sorry Captain. I'm afraid we'll have to leave this here, but this isn't over."
"I think it is!" Jack returned. "You better have your guys out of my base before I get back to Cardiff."
"I'd love to continue arguing but I'm afraid I have an urgent situation. We'll talk soon. I presume you can see yourself out."
Jack waited for a few seconds after Yvonne had left before following her out the office. He strode purposefully down the corridors of the Tower in the same direction the head had gone. It was surprising how easy it was to appear as if he was meant to be there as he passed the multiple Torchwood staff.
From the conversation he had just witnessed it was clear that one of their prisoners has escaped from the cells but what confused Jack was why there were no alarms blaring or mass panic in the halls. If this alien was a dangerous as Hartman had warned, the Tower should have been on lockdown. Then again, Jack wagered that Yvonne had no clue on security protocols, never mind being able to identify even a WMD from an alien toaster.
Knowing he couldn't follow in the lift or public staircases, Jack broke through the door to a side emergency staircase, freezing in alarm when he found himself face to face with a slim form standing in the gloom. He barely got a glimpse before he found himself flying backwards from a gust of wind that appeared from nowhere. He landed headfirst a few steps down, the world turning black.
~ * o ~ * o ~ T ~ o * ~ o * ~
Jack arose to consciousness, his mind temporarily disorientated but the lack of the usual feeling of being dragged over broken glass proved he'd only been knocked unconscious and not killed. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but he didn't expect whoever he'd seen to still be around as he struggled to his feet so was startled to spot the figure from before sitting hunched in the corner of the staircase head in his knees. He looked like an average human male but Jack knew from his past (just look at the Doctor himself) that looks could be deceiving, but alien or not he was filthy, dressed only in soiled and ripped trousers.
Edging forward, something black caught his eye from underneath the layers of dirt on his skin. Large black text had been printed on his forearm. Although upside down and a few letters unreadable, Jack clearly recognised the words: "SUBJECT ONE".
Following a disturbing gut instinct, Jack opened the cover on his VM happy for one brief second that only the teleport/time travel functions that were toast, meaning all scanning features were functioning correctly. He almost couldn't contain his fury when the scans came back 100% human.
He needed to get him out of here. He wasn't certain it was safe, he'd already been blown back once from an unknown source, but looking at motionless man in front of him, Jack knew he was willing to take the risk. He couldn't have been older than his early twenties, far too young to be suffering this much.
"Hey."
The man glanced up briefly catching the Captain eye, but quickly dropped his gaze again but it was long enough for Jack to catch a glance of a pair of startlingly blue eyes that held a clashing mix of fear and intrigue and in that moment Jack knew he wasn't leaving him here for Hartman and her henchman to find.
"What do you say we get out of here?"
Jack offered his hand, the man staring for a long while, seemingly hesitant to take it, but eventually he reached up, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet, moving slowly but following Jack obediently.
Surprisingly, Jack found it incredibly easy to smuggle his charge out of the Tower, using his VM to crash the CCTV, and into his SUV. They met no guards or resistance and Jack guessed Yvonne had them all searching another level, not expecting their prisoner to have gotten this far or to have help.
He drove back to Cardiff with hast, wanting to bring as much distance as possible between them and Torchwood One. Glancing frequently at the review mirror, he kept an eye on the man in the back who, ignoring the bench seat, had settled in the foot well, his head bowed submissively.
Note: Two Chapters in one day (Ianto's birthday must be a special day). Next Chapter will hopefully be posted in the next two days. I'm going out tomorrow but I'll see what I can do in the evening.
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