"We're here to see John Tripp ma'am."
"Oh? And who are you?" Rhoda looked up from her paperwork at the front desk, visibly unimpressed. John hadn't had a visitor in months, but the money had continued trickling in and she didn't complain about that. Rhoda was heavy-set, gruff, and British, with a touch of blond at her roots.
"We're social care workers." Jack and Gwen held two identification cards out simultaneously. She barely glanced at them.
"Go ahead then. You might get something out of him today. He seems quite lucid."
"Well thanks," Jack looked down at her name tag, " Rhoda."
"Anytime, anytime." She dismissed them as she waved them through to the main room.
People in white coats with guards roamed the corridors. The place had the look and feeling of the same dingy gray and a general quality of aloof care.
"We're looking for John?" Jack called into the main room.
"I'm Napoleon! I shall conquer!" An older man with fuzzy white hair and a scraggly beard rose from the couch and pointed upward before falling back down to watch Tom and Jerry on the television.
"I wondered when someone would come. Too bad you aren't him. Don't blame him I suppose."
"Are you John?"
He sniffed the air. "Yes, and who are you? My, if I had known such a beautiful specimen were to come, I would have made myself more presentable. Perhaps asked for a cleaner garment."
"I am Captain Jack Harkness and this is my associate, Gwen Cooper."
"Well, Captain and ...friend, you may call me John. Now, I presume you've come about the killings?"
"How did you know?"
"You haven't a clue, even with all your advanced expertise, even with all that Torchwood can offer you?"
Gwen sat across from John while he looked down, staring into the eyes of his half-finished Care Bears puzzle. "How did you know where we were from?"
"I can smell them on you."
"I showered this morning."
"It's not that kind of smell Jack." His eyes flipped upwards from the puzzle. "May I call you Jack?"
"Of course."
"Well, Jack, I am not what you would call a normal person. You can guess this from my surroundings."
"You seem perfectly sane to me."
"Too bad I'm not. I'm not as crazy as they'd like to believe, but I know I'm not normal."
"What can you tell us about these killings?"
"Only that I'm not the one who committed these crimes. And I can't offer you leads, only some conjectures."
"Don't tell them anything." John's eyes flashes a dark orange that made Jack stand up straighter.
"John?"
"I'm sorry. John's no longer with you. I'm his less...approachable side. You may call me Darius. And might I say, John's not wrong about how stunning you are, Captain Jack Harkness. You want information, you'll have to do something for us."
"And what is that?"
"Get us out of here."
"I don't think we could." Jack grabbed Gwen's arm lightly.
"What would you tell us if we did?"
"Motive, plausibles for who he'd strike next."
"So, it's a person."
"Didn't say that, did I? You're Torchwood, not stupid."
"How do you know about us?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Yes." Gwen leaned in just briefly enough to hear Darius hiss in her ear.
"Well, so can I. The price of admission is getting me out here. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for my daily "scene". Must keep the lovely Rhoda on her toes."
"Get out!" John began to bellow as he turned over the table and Jack pulled Gwen out of the way in time. "It's time for the end, the end is coming!" He began to babble nonsense as the guards came and two burly black men shot him with a sedative. Rhoda came in moments later, hair disheveled, to ask Jack and Gwen to leave for the day.
"Please, John said groggily, forgive Darius. He's too shrewd for his own good. We'll try again some other time. I just hope there is time left. You must be close to the end of it or you wouldn't have made the connection. Please come back Jack. I do get...so...lonely."
"Well that was a complete waste of time!" Gwen threw her hands up into the air as they entered the Hub.
"I disagree."
"How'd it go with the crazy?"
"He's not crazy Owen! He's just playing everyone for a fool!"
"Oh, it's not a foolish thing Gwen. He knew about Torchwood. John knows more than he was allowed to tell us."
"How can you be so calm? Another person could die at any moment and the fate of that person rests in someone who's got a split personality?!"
"It's more than that Gwen." Jack went to change coats quickly. "I think we'd best go talk to this benefactor in London before we return to see John. Tosh, this time you come with me."
Tony was sniffing at his pasties lunch when Jack and Tosh found him. It was blustery cold, but Tony still had a Bible open on one side, highlighter in hand, and a pasty in the other. Jack sat down across from him on the cement patio furniture and coughed to get his attention.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Captain Jack Harkness and this is my associate Toshiko. We'd like to talk to you about John."
Tony's back stiffened. "What did he do now? Did he attack someone? Listen, this isn't my problem. I pay them money to make sure..."
"No, no. It's nothing like that."
"Well, than what can I do for you Captain?"
"We believe John holds information and insight into a recent spade of killings. And we think you can help us to get them."
"I can't control who you talk to. He thinks he has someone else with him."
"And you don't?"
Tony sighed and he collected himself before beginning. "John always thought of me as his best friend, so naturally I became the person who took care of him. A long time ago, we met in college and he was my devoted, loyal right hand. I was his best friend, there when demons attacked and to do Bible studies and to keep him in check for certain other things."
"You believe Darius is a demon?"
"Care to offer another explanation?"
Jack picked his words carefully, sensing a lot of hesitancy. "We thought if you came along, just maybe you could coax John out long enough to help us without Darius getting in the way."
"He just wouldn't get himself well. Kept talking about Darius as if he were a real creature. But after everything..." Tony just shook his head, seemingly shrugging in recognition of the problem.
"Can you tell us what you know?"
"John had a very rough life. Physical and verbal assaults. Even his step dad, whom he stayed with after his finances for college fell through. He's been warped by every negative influence you can find. One day, I suppose he just snapped. I so want to believe he didn't kill his step dad, but the man surely deserved it." Jack grimaced; completely understanding John's will to survive.
"You can't tell us everything, can you?"
"Some days I can't even tell myself."
"Come with us to visit him. You never know what can happen."