The team discuss what happened to Jack …
Who?
Chapter Three
"Owen, let's hear from you first." Gwen got the meeting started, sitting back in her chair with her coffee mug cradled in her hands.
"Okay, cutting to the chase, he's definitely Jack Harkness." Owen used the remote to bring up various slides and computer generated readings. "Blood, brain scan, the whole kit and caboodle prove he is Jack." He stopped and looked round at them.
"So why doesn't he know that?"
"Don't know for sure. Memory's a funny thing and can be affected by all sorts. In this case, it's a pretty sure bet it was the explosion. And before you ask, I have no idea when or if his memory will come back."
"Thanks for telling me so tactfully," said Jack dryly. There was moment's pause while the others looked round, embarrassed.
"What's the protocol on lost memories? Should we tell Jack anything or not?" asked Gwen, moving the discussion along.
"No harm in answering his questions, might trigger the whole lot coming back. He ought to be shown around too, familiar places may help," replied Owen.
"Good, thanks, we'll do that. Anything to help you, Jack." She smiled at her boss before turning to Toshiko. "Tosh, what do we have on the explosion?"
"I'll start at the beginning. There was an alert at five forty five this morning, medium spike. Jack was here, of course, and he went to investigate, seemingly on his own. From CCTV, I've tracked Jack to his arrival in Ely and to 43 Bishopston Road. It's covered by CCTV because there's been a lot of vandalism in recent years and the Neighbour Watch raised the funds," she explained. "He was there around six fifteen, parked the SUV round the corner in Penally Road – it's still there."
"Didn't think of that," remarked Gwen. "We'll have to go and get it."
Toshiko flicked the remote and showed grainy images of a residential street and a row of houses. The figure of Jack, wearing his greatcoat, was clear in the foreground. He stood for several minutes looking at the houses and taking readings on his wristband before concentrating on number 43.
"At six twenty nine," said Toshiko, talking over the images, "Jack walked round the house. He had moved to the back, out of sight of the camera, when four minutes later the house exploded." The screen showed a brilliant white light and then static. "The blast blew the camera's circuits so there's no more coverage." She turned the screen off and looked at her notes. "The police arrived ten minutes later with the fire brigade and ambulance. They put out the resulting fire, although from reports it seems it was a very concentrated blast. It certainly didn't reach as far as the next door houses. The bodies of Mary and James Ingalls and their daughter Sophie were recovered from the scene. James was a teacher at a local school where Mary also worked, She was currently on extended maternity leave at home with the baby."
"Any readings on the explosion?" asked Owen.
"Nothing definite, we need to get out there and check. From what we've got so far, I'd say it was alien."
Jack had listened attentively to Toshiko and watched the images of him - well, he supposed it was him – on the plasma screen. There were things he hadn't understood. Like how this petite woman had all this information at her fingertips. And the reference to an alert, which seemed to have been the cause of him being out there in the first place, had made no sense. These he had let go to be pursued later but he could not let the last one pass by without comment.
"Alien!? What are you talking about?" he demanded, looking round.
Toshiko looked first at him and then at Gwen and Owen. (Jack noted that Ianto seemed to be ignored and filed that away too.) "That's what we do, what Torchwood does. We fight aliens." Jack stared at her, open mouthed.
"It's true," added Gwen. "Torchwood is a secret organisation that monitors the Rift and …"
"Rift? What is this Rift?" asked Jack, now directing his stare at her.
"It's a Rift in space and time. Aliens from other worlds or sometimes just their possessions slip through it and end up here. We … deal with them." Explaining this to Jack was so strange. Gwen remembered when he had explained it to her, at a bar in the city after she had discovered Torchwood. Jack looked as disbelieving now as she had been then.
"Let me get this straight. Aliens, beings from other worlds, come to Cardiff and we 'deal' with them? How?" As strange as this was, Jack was piecing this new information together with the earlier flashback he had had, in the car, about spaceships and other worlds. Was it linked in some way? Did they have a spaceship and go to these other worlds – through this Rift perhaps?
"Any bloody way we can!" answered Owen.
"Peacefully, if we can," Gwen clarified. "We send them on their way or, if necessary, we lock them in the cells. The really dangerous ones … we kill."
"With your laser guns?" joked Jack.
"No, ordinary guns," replied Gwen patiently. "Like the one you've got in that holster." She nodded towards the holster on his hip.
Jack looked down, not having noticed it before. Curiously he opened the flap and saw the Webley inside. He didn't take it out, just looked at it for a moment and then closed the flap. He was armed and they had known it, had allowed him to carry a gun when they could have removed it. These people trusted him a lot more than he trusted them. That gave him a lot to think about. As for the stuff about aliens, that may or may not be true though they certainly believed it.
"So, I'm an alien hunter."
"That's right." Gwen turned her attention back to the meeting. "Owen, Tosh get out to Ely and examine the house. Check for alien activity and bring back the SUV. I'll check with the police and see what more they've got. Ianto, could you look after Jack? Show him around?" She smiled apologetically and was relieved to see him nod agreement. "Thanks, sweetheart."
Owen and Toshiko stood up and left quickly, bickering about whose car to take to Ely. Gwen looked at Jack. "We're going to find out what happened, Jack, and we'll get your memory back, don't worry. Ianto will show you the rest of the Hub, maybe something will be familiar" She smiled as she stood.
"One more thing. Did I cause the explosion?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," she answered honestly and left the room.
Jack sat back, going over all he had learnt. Every scrap of knowledge was precious and he reviewed it now, not sure how much of it he believed. He was Captain Jack Harkness, leader of a team of four people who monitored this Rift and caught aliens that dropped through it. They worked from this underground base – Hub, Gwen had called it – in Cardiff. He had memories of space travel and, yes, a doctor was involved in that somehow. Not this doctor, not Owen, some other doctor whose face he couldn't quite see. But he didn't think that had anything to do with the job, with Torchwood. The memories seemed separate and … long ago?
And another thing, he thought, forcing himself to face it; he may have caused an explosion that killed three people. He had not liked the way Gwen just accepted he might have been responsible, no shock or horror at the thought. So in addition to all the rest, he was also capable of … murder? Execution? What kind of man was he? He decided to shelve that question until he had more information.
What else did he know? He was handsome, no doubting that, and liked to flirt (with men as well as women) and that reminded him of Ianto, who was currently gathering the coffee mugs and tidying away stray papers.
"Ianto, what am I a captain of?" Jack asked, starting with a simple question.
"It's your RAF rank."
"Oh, so I fly airplanes." Another piece of the puzzle. Had he been an astronaut too? "How did I end up here, fighting aliens?"
"Long story and you've never told us all of it." Ianto was now standing with arms crossed looking at Jack. He was trying to be friendly but it was hard when the man who had only just mended Ianto's broken heart was breaking it again. "You want the tour?"
"Please." He jumped up and smiled broadly at the young man. There was still something bugging this guy, something seriously wrong between them and he meant to fix it. "What do you do here? I figure that Toshiko does the technical stuff and Owen is the doctor obviously, but no idea about you and Gwen." He relaxed and put his hand in his pockets, maintaining the smile despite the frown on Ianto's face.
"Gwen is your second in command. She liaises with the police and assesses information from them and other sources to see if we need to get involved. And she does research. She was a policewoman so is good at interviewing witnesses and victims. I look after the Hub."
"What does that mean?"
"I clean up and make coffee, order in food. And I feed the inmates in the cells." And the rest, he thought, but decided not to say. He did a lot of tasks the rest of the team knew nothing about and one of them had just sprung to mind. With Jack's memory gone, Ianto was the only one that knew about the facility on Flat Holm island. He'd have to check if anything needed to be done.
"Can I see?" asked Jack.
"See what?" Ianto had forgotten what he had last said, lost in other thoughts.
"The inmates in the cells. Show me an alien." Jack grinned to show he was not being serious.
"All right."
Ianto led Jack through the labyrinth of tunnels and emerged in the extensive archives. Jack stopped him and they spent some time talking about the records, Ianto even took out some of the harmless artefacts to show him. When Jack had had enough of that, the two men continued to the cells. There were few residents, only three Weevils and a Hoix but that was enough. Jack was fascinated and stood watching them for ages as Ianto prepared their food, bombarding the young man with questions about the creatures.
"I need to feed Myfanwy now," said Ianto.
"Who's she?" Jack's eyes were alight with unfeigned enthusiasm which Ianto found reassuringly familiar.
"Something a bit different." Ianto picked up a bucket of fish. "Come on." They walked back to the lower level of the Hub where Ianto looked up and whistled.
The Pteranodon swooped out of its nest and circled the upper reaches of the Hub. To Jack's stunned amazement, it dropped down and its circles grew smaller, focussed on him and Ianto. The Welshman took a fish and threw it into the air where the creature caught it, swallowing it whole. More fish followed until the bucket was empty. With a final cry, the Pteranodon circled once or twice and then retreated to its nest.
"Oh wow, that was great!" Jack was ecstatic. He beamed at Ianto who smiled back, amused at his boss's exuberant response. Without thinking, Jack flung his arms round Ianto and kissed him.
How will Ianto react? What have the others found out? Next chapter coming tomorrow.