Torchwood Academy:
Higher Education
Episode 2
Survival of the Fittest
(Part 2)
by That Long-Haired Creepy Guy
Leon kept his hands raised, and his eyes on the man called Captain Jack Harkness.
There was a killer robot girl standing nearby holding up a laser blaster that extended out of her forearm. The young man his age named Wren also had him in his sights. The giant wasp from before had landed back on the ground, and morphed in a cloud of purple smoke back into the handsome young vicar from before.
The younger of the two women behind him was holding a sword now, of a similar make to the katana the lizard woman named Vastra wielded. The other, slightly older one, was still aiming her revolver at Leon's head. Leon noticed that her clothing seemed out of place, just like the captain's was. Each one was dressed as though they'd come from a different era. The older woman's clothing would not have looked out of place in an Indiana Jones film. The goggles she wore on top of her head made Leon think she might be some type of pilot.
Now that his brain was catching up to everything around him, the younger woman next to her was dressed like an old Victorian maid. The katana-wielding lizard woman's attire was out of place, also, different in style, but from the same era as the other swordwoman.
Of course, now was quite possibly the worst time for Leon to notice things like that. He was trapped behind four walls of solid stone inside the courtyard of a very ominous-looking mansion, and surrounded by creatures out of horror movies. Overall, Leon could not imagine a worse scenario for himself where he was more cosmically screwed.
Oh, and a pterodactyl was lurking somewhere high up overhead. Leon nearly slapped himself for forgetting that part.
Yet his eyes never left the captain for more than a second.
The hairy, sloping-forehead bloke with hands for feet was observing the scenario as though he found the whole thing hysterical. In fact, it looked like he was fighting not to laugh.
"Okay," the man called Captain Jack said, taking a couple of steps forward. "Mind telling me what you're doing here?"
Leon took a very deep breath, hoping it might help calm him down some. "I was looking for something," he said nervously.
"Oh yeah?" The one called Wren stared across the gap separating them. "Like what?"
"Answers," Leon replied plainly, figuring he had nothing to lose. "Ever since last night, when I woke up in the rain, it's like there are these blank spots in my mind."
Jack's eyes grew darker, but Leon kept going. "It's like whole chunks of my life aren't there anymore. Everything feels kind of vague, but no one seems to think its a big deal. I get chased through the streets because I caught those two lurking near the school basement, and suddenly, I'm sticking to walls."
Leon gave the robot girl and the one called Wren a nod for emphasis. The one called Wren frowned, then, as if struck by something odd.
"There's something different about you," he said. "Something different about your face."
"Right," Leon said. "And I also somehow got a different face this morning."
"Nothing there I would complain about," Jack complimented.
This made Leon blush.
"Not now, Captain," Vastra chided, giving him a look.
"I want to know what's happening to me," Leon insisted, looking back and forth at the different faces surrounding him. "I thought someone here might have an answer, so I followed you."
"On foot?" Ianto spoke up questioningly.
"I ran," Leon replied.
"We were riding in a custom-made SUV," Jack countered, the skepticism in his voice clear. "A normal human being couldn't keep up with anything like that."
Leon froze up at Jack's words, catching the hint in them. "It doesn't look like I'm normal," he worked out after a moment. "Not anymore."
"Or," Jack offered reluctantly, holding up his left wrist. "Not ever. I think a quick scan is in order."
"What?" Leon tried to back up, but the woman with the revolver was behind him in a flash, holding the gun into his spine. "Easy," he told her, as the sloping-forehead man frowned. "I just want to make sure I'm not going to get probed."
"Not right now," Jack said, glancing up at Leon while the strange-looking watch on the captain's wrist beeped. "Sometime later on, though..."
The one named Ianto frowned hard. "By who, exactly?"
Jack didn't answer. "I'm definitely picking up alien life readings," he said, lowering his arm to look Leon squarely in the face now. "What kind, though, is still a mystery. I think we may need to visit Tosh and see what she has to say."
"You never did answer my question," Ianto pointed out insistently.
"Later," Jack muttered out the corner of his mouth.
Leon, meanwhile, was starring wide-eyed at Jack. "There's an alien inside of me," he said slowly, growing more horrified by the second. "Oh god, this is going to be like that old film with Sigourney Weaver, isn't it? Something's going to come blowing out of my chest."
"Shall I stun him?" Lisa asked, speaking directly to Jack and Ianto.
"Maybe just a little," Jack recommended.
"Sir," Ianto protested.
"I said 'a little', didn't I?"
"Could you stun the two of them instead?" Wren wondered, rolling his eyes. "They're starting to do their 'old married couple' bit again."
Lisa turned back to Jack and Ianto. "I think that would be counter-productive," the female pilot woman behind Leon warned, though her voice was vaguely teasing.
"'Peace cannot be achieved through violence,'" the sloping-forehead man warned. "'It can only be achieved through understanding.' Ralph Waldo Emerson."
"Well spoken," the vicar complimented.
"Do I get a say in this?" Leon asked, looking at Wren now.
"No," Lisa replied flatly.
"Why not?" he demanded.
"Let us hear what the boy has to say," the vicar suggested. "What harm could come from it? It isn't like we haven't dealt with this problem before."
"And yet," Vastra countered warningly. "It continues to be a problem."
"Look," Leon tried, "I really did just want some answers."
"No one here is Sigourney Weaver," Jack began, sounding impatient. "Believe me, if they were, I would have found out about it by now. Nothing is going to explode out of your chest, as far as my readings can tell. And no, there isn't an alien inside of you."
"Ah," Leon said, looking relieved. "So, what's happening to me, then?"
"Nothing," replied Jack, wearing a severe expression again. "As far as I can tell, there are no abnormalities inside your body. No presence of another alien lifeform."
"Thank god."
"You're a perfectly healthy alien hybrid," Jack finished.
"Good."
Jack's words clicked in Leon's brain the moment he spoke. "Wait," he blurted out. "I am, what?"
"You're the half-alien hybrid that's been leaving sticky goop all over Cardiff for us to step in," Jack stated plainly.
"Given that he's a teenager, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised," Ianto threw in.
"Hey!" Wren spoke out, looking suitably embarrassed right alongside Leon.
"His reasoning has merit," Lisa pipped up in an even drier tone than usual. "I have seen your bedsheets."
Jack and Ianto both looked toward a humiliated Wren, then exchanged looks with one another. "Maybe we should continue this inside," Ianto offered.
"Just so long as you're making coffee," Jack told him, smiling.
Very slowly, Leon raised one finger to signal their attention. "Could the nice woman behind me take the revolver off my spine now?" he asked, glancing back toward her.
"Arms down," Jack ordered her. "But keep a close eye on him."
Jack searched Leon up and down for a moment before motioning him to follow. "Come on in," he said. "We'll give you the guided tour."
Leon stayed where he was as the rest of the motley crew moved toward the back doors of the mansion.
"Move," the woman behind him ordered, jabbing him in the back. "Or I'll shove something worse than a gun into your back."
Leon kept one eye on the sky the whole time he followed the group toward the heavy-looking set of double doors, just in case the pterodactyl came back for another go at him.
The back door led to a long corridor lined with hardwood floors, rich old paneling on the walls, and very little maneuvering room. Everyone wound up forming a line, following after the captain like some sort of oddball parade. The one called Captain Jack led them straight down the narrow hallway, past numerous rooms and several turn-offs. Leon tried to get a glimpse at what was down them, but the pilot woman coming up from behind would smack the back of his head each time he tried.
The hallway eventually spilled out into a grand entrance area belonging on the set of a historical period film. Around them were two sets of cascading stairs. Captain Jack had already come to a stop, facing the late-comers now with both arms crossed behind his back.
The others had spilled out around him, taking point on all sides. Leon realized they were keeping him caged on all sides in case he tried something, and the thought occurred to him that they must have done that sort of thing before.
"This is Torchwood Academy," Jack began.
Leon looked the extravagant room over. "How can it be a school if there are only two students?" he wondered.
"It's just a name Jack likes to use," Ianto informed, looking wryly at Jack. "Torchwood was originally an institute created to protect the British Empire from extra-terrestrial threats."
"Until a little over a year ago, when Torchwood One was destroyed during the Battle of Canary Wharf," Wren picked up, keeping the barrel in his robotic hand out. "Torchwood Two is run by some nutter, and Torchwood Four's disappeared for some reason."
"Who's telling this story?" Jack reprimanded in mock anger.
"Sorry, sir," Wren apologized, though he smirked as soon as Jack looked away.
Some of the others snickered. "To make a long story short," Jack said, watching Leon closely. "Cardiff is built over a rift in time and space. Things wash up here all the time, so Torchwood built a station here to handle things."
Jack's face darkened for a moment. "Some things happened," he went on, more slowly. "And I was left in charge. After the debacle at Torchwood One, I had the original Torchwood Institute dismantled and brought here to Cardiff. Most of the members here are either time-displaced victims of the Rift, or aliens who ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Leon looked around at the mix of faces. "So everyone here is an alien?"
"Not everyone," Vastra contradicted disdainfully.
"Madame Vastra is a Silurian," Jack explained, "a species that evolved alongside humanity, then retreated underground. She and her partner Jenny over there worked as private investigators during the late Victorian period, until the Rift got a little jumpy and coughed them up in the twenty-first century."
Leon looked back at the young woman in the maid outfit. "You're from the late eighteen-hundreds?"
Jenny nodded. "I'm afraid so, young sir."
"Gunther over there is a bit of a mystery," Jack went on, gesturing to the sloped-forehead man, who was currently hanging from the railing of the staircase on Leon's left. "We think he was a missing link. He showed up on the South Wales coast not long after Madame Vastra and Jenny arrived."
"'The world is a book, and those that do not travel read only a page,'" Gunther quoted cheerfully. "Saint Augustine."
Jack smirked. "He does that a lot."
"Gunther manages the Torchwood Archives," Ianto filled in, "when he isn't quoting literature at everyone."
"This is Ianto Jones," Jack added, nodding toward Ianto. "He used to work for Torchwood One before it was shut down. I believe you've already met Lisa Hallett and Wren Porter."
Leon hesitated, then nodded at the robot girl and her cyborg-handed friend. "Yo," Wren said, while the robot girl named Lisa remained stoic. "Don't mind her. She's always like that."
"This is Vicar Bray," Jack cut in quickly. Leon noticed that Ianto Jones was looking toward Wren Potter with a glowering expression.
"Vicar Bray is a Vespiform from the Silfrax galaxy. He wound up attracting the ire of some angry villagers, so Torchwood offered him asylum."
"It's a pleasure meeting you, young sir," Vicar Bray said, smiling at Leon.
"Behind you," Jack finished off, "is Diane Holmes. She used to be a pilot. Sometime during nineteen fifty-three, the Rift got jumpy and caused a vortex to appear right in the middle of her flight path. She was the only survivor."
Diane gave Leon a wink as she twirled her revolver expertly. "You could say she's our bus driver," Jack added mirthfully.
"There's also Novice Thomasina," Ianto broke in again. "She's our resident nurse. I think she's taking a cat nap right now, though, so best we don't disturb her. And Toshiko Sato, our computer expert."
Leon's eyes wandered over the entrance hall again. "And all of you live here," he said. "And this is a school for aliens and time travelers."
"Pretty much," Jack replied, rocking back and forth merrily.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for Leon to react. "Okay," he said calmly, keeping a straight face. "I've somehow become half-alien, and I'm in a school for aliens. Somehow, that actually sounds appropriate."
"Come with us," Jack said, motioning for Leon to follow as he moved toward one of the stairs. "Ianto, Wren, Lisa, you three are with me. The rest of you, back to work. We'll handle things from here."
The others followed after Jack at once. Leon lingered behind, afraid now of being alone with any of them. Jenny approached him from behind, however, and placed a reassuring hand on his arm.
"Go with him," she urged, whispering softly in his ear. "No harm will come to you here."
Their eyes met for a moment, and Leon nodded. Feeling apprehension rising up from his stomach like bile, he took off after the others.
"Ordinarily," Jack said, once he'd caught up. "We'd give you the full tour, but a few problems have come up, so this will have to be a quick march. Down this hall are the private rooms for everyone here."
"It's a co-ed system," Wren whispered to Leon eagerly, giving him a thumbs up sign.
Jack heard, and gave Wren a cheeky grin. "I like to keep things casual around here," he said. "The old Torchwood was a little too stiff for my tastes."
Jack was leading them passed a number of doors now. Leon tried to look into the handful that were open, but the rest of the group was moving too fast. This wasn't the sort of place Leon wanted to get lost in, so he picked up the pace.
"This is our trophy room," Jack said, leading them through an expansive, rectangular room sporting an entrance on each side.
The room was full of cabinets and shelves, trophy casings of all shapes and sizes, and several framed objects.
"This is where we keep mementos of some of our missions," the captain explained. "Occasionally, Torchwood is asked to step in and handle matters that are too severe for the military or police. What you see here are a few of the more significant items we brought back with us."
Leon caught sight of something in a display case as they were passing through. Two metallic objects that resembled flashlights were placed underneath a glass casing, their heads facing diagonally away from each other, almost like a pair of dueling knives. Leon wanted to get a closer look, but the others were already moving along ahead of him.
"Around the corner and further up," Jack said, leading them out of the trophy room and down a hall, "are the stairs that lead up to the headmaster's office."
"He likes to think he's funny," Ianto muttered.
"Hey, I'm hilarious," Jack retorted, as all five of them began climbing up the set of spiral steps up to the very top of the mansion.
"Ianto appreciates your sense of humor," Lisa said stiffly.
The air in the stairwell cooled considerably at that statement. Leon stared back and forth between the two, wondering what he'd missed. Before he could risk asking, they had reached the top. Captain Jack opened the door without so much as knocking, and strode in like he owned the place.
"Hello again, Tosh," Jack announced. "Did you miss me while I was out?"
Over in a corner, Leon spotted a young woman of Japanese descent sitting behind a curved desk where it looked like six or seven flatscreen computer monitors had been set up. Had she not been standing when they entered, Leon would have missed seeing her. Around the desk and hanging on the back wall behind her were row after row of postcards. It looked like she had a collection going on for whatever the reason.
"Leon Cameron," Jack said, as they approached the work station. "I'd like for you to meet Toshiko Sato, our resident computer genius."
"Tosh is responsible for analyzing samples and monitoring anything that goes on inside Torchwood Academy," Ianto explained quickly. "She's the reason why we knew you had entered the premises."
"She also looks cute in those glasses," Jack added.
Tosh blushed at the compliment. "Careful, sir," Ianto warned. "That's sexual harassment."
Tosh smiled as she saw Leon. "Captain Jack likes to think he's clever that way," Tosh said, speaking to Leon specifically. "So this is the young man who broke in earlier. I overheard the noise downstairs, and was worried Vastra might have tried to eat him."
"She almost did," Jack told her.
Leon looked from Jack over to Lisa, then to Wren. "He's joking, right?" Leon asked, almost pleadingly.
"No," Lisa said flatly.
"I take it you're giving him the guided tour," Tosh said, taking a seat behind her desk. "Was there something you wanted me to show him?"
"I'm sure he'd appreciate anything you'd be willing to show him," Jack replied, still teasing. "But it'll have to wait until later. I'd like for you to do a comprehensive scan of Leon Cameron. We're having a little trouble pinpointing his species. Care to help us with that?"
"Certainly," Tosh said.
Leon flinched as a column of light shot down from the ceiling, encasing him. "Don't be scared," Tosh reassured him gently while her fingers pecked furiously at the keyboard. "This won't hurt a bit."
"Yeah," Jack said. "It even tingles a little if you stand a certain way."
Jack gave Ianto a smirk at this statement, making Ianto stiffen. "I've completed the scan," Tosh informed, interrupting their flirting. "The DNA is that of an alien hybrid, Jack. Just like you suggested. Approximately half the protein material is a match for that of a human."
A complete digital figure of Leon's DNA appeared as a hologram in front of Tosh's desk. "The DNA also matches that of the sample you brought me," she added, enlarging the hologram for all of them.
"How could this have happened though?" Leon wondered.
"Well, there's the usual way, mate," Wren suggested jokingly.
"That's always the best way," Jack said.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Is there anything else, Tosh?" she asked, sounding annoyed by the duo.
"Yes," said Tosh. "With a complete copy of the DNA, the system was successful in identifying the alien half. As it turns out, I was wrong earlier. There is a match in the Archive."
"What?" Wren wondered. "How's that, then?"
"Half of the subject's DNA..."
"The subject has a name," Leon interrupted, growing very irritated now. "It's Leon Cameron."
"Right," said Tosh, giving Leon an apologetic look now. "Leon Cameron's DNA is a partial match with that of a C'thixithol parasite."
Captain Jack frowned. "Never heard of it," he said.
"My data records hold no information on that species, either," said Lisa.
Tosh decreased the window containing Leon's DNA strand, bringing a second one into full focus. Leon grimaced as the blue blob with pronged tendrils came into view. A hologram of the parasite appeared in mid-air as well next to the strand of DNA.
"According to this," Tosh said, reading from the computer screen. "C'thixithol parasites are rare shapeshifting, single-celled organisms from a solar system some three-hundred and fifty-two thousand light years away."
Tosh hit a few keys, dissolving both the parasite and DNA holograms to bring up a set of planets. "Out of the twenty-six planets that inhabit this system," she went on, "these lifeforms are only found on two. A being becomes infected when a C'thixithol parasite infiltrates a host by altering its single-cell structure to avoid detection. The parasite then secretes a bio-adhesive to stick to the host's cellular tissue."
"How would a human end up being part C'thixitholian," Ianto asked. "Or is it C'thixitholite?
"A human wouldn't," Tosh said. "At least, not according to my data. C'thixithol parasites do not spawn in a way that matches the human reproductive system. They undergo a form of cellular division every twenty-third planetary cycle."
"Sounds kind of boring," Jack retorted.
"So, what happened to me?" Leon pressed, ignoring Jack for the moment. "How did I end up being half- C'thixy... C'thixituu..."
" C'thixithol," Lisa told him.
"The DNA of a C'thixithol parasite would have a difficult time bonding with the human genome under ordinary circumstances," Tosh answered. "But given how in synch Leon Cameron's protein halves appear to be, it is my guess that he was artificially grown."
Jack's eyes lit up. "Of course," he said. "The breeding program at Tower Hamlet. They get students pregnant by drugging their food with substances that compel the teenagers to procreate, then remove the fertilized zygotes, and attach a C'thixithol parasite inside a contained environment."
Leon felt as though he had been struck by a sledgehammer in the gut. "Your hypothesis appears valid," Tosh said, bringing up a list of Tower Hamlet students, "if a bit rushed. Given the number of disappearances, and the number of times each batch of students were replaced, it stands to reason that the hybrids are being grown in a manner of weeks via some form of cellular enhancement process."
"Weeks?" Leon croaked out quietly.
"Why would their test subjects disappear?" Lisa asked, only mildly curious.
"Rejects," Jack replied, his voice growing cold. "Every project has its failures to account for. What we have here is a whole new race, and there are always false starts with that sort of thing."
Leon felt the blood rush from his face.
"Someone's playing God with alien technology," said Ianto. "Don't people ever get tired of doing that?"
"Apparently not," replied Jack, while Leon sank to his knees.
"It was all a lie," Leon whispered. "My life... but I remember things. I remember that I was from America. I remember..."
Leon felt his breathing grow ragged. The room was spinning now, and the voices from the room's other occupants were blending together. One of them might have said he name, but Leon couldn't be sure. A foul taste was filling his mouth. Leon felt his stomach heave, then bile rose up his throat, spilling out of his mouth onto the floor.
His stomach was empty in a manner of seconds. Someone grabbed his shoulders, but Leon swung wildly, knocking them away.
"It can't be," he gasped, blood rushing in his ears. "None of it was real. I was never born in America. I don't have parents."
His head pounded now with the throbbing rhythm of his racing heartbeat. "I've only been alive for a few weeks. Everything before that... why was it in my head? What else did they put in my head? How come I still can't remember?"
Somehow, he got up off the floor to his feet. Leon's whole body felt like it was vibrating. One minute, his clothes were stretched to their limit trying to fit around him. The next, they felt loose. The others were watching, looking horrified.
All but the robot girl.
"What's..." Leon began, as his hands darkened to the same shade as Wren's.
"Happening..." They were as big as Captain Jack's now.
"To..." The fingers shifted right in front of his eyes to a slender, more feminine style.
"Me!"
"Okay," he heard Ianto say, as his body shifted again. "That's not funny."
Stumbling backward, Leon saw in the reflection of Tosh's monitor that he was wearing Ianto Jones's face now. "Tosh," Jack said loudly, watching Leon as though he might attack at any moment. "Care to explain?"
Tosh was staring at Leon alarmed, but snapped out of her trance the minute Jack spoke. "My guess is that since he is part C'thixithol," Leon heard Tosh say, "he's inherited certain genetic traits, one of which appears to be the ability to shapeshift down to a cellular level."
Jack smiled thoughtfully as Leon felt his body shift yet again. "Interesting," he mused. "So what's happening now?"
Tosh punched in a few key commands, initiating another scan.
"Leon Cameron's heart rate, blood pressure, and synaptic impulses are very high at this time," she replied, while Leon took several deep breaths to calm himself, slowly melting back to his old body. "I suspect that he can't maintain a stable form while under such duress."
"Should I RetCon him?" Ianto asked Jack worriedly. "Just so he doesn't do anything to hurt himself, or one of us?"
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Jack replied. "My hunch is the RetCon was responsible for his program glitching."
"Right," Wren said, looking at Leon with some sympathy. "RetCon is tailored for human cells."
"His body may have tried to shift into something closer to human in the hopes of stopping the adverse reaction he was having," Lisa said. "But the result wiped his memory clean, except for a few random pieces."
"And then his brain tried to put together what little was left to make sense out of everything," finished Jack.
"I'm standing right here!" Leon screamed.
Everyone save Lisa flinched. "Apologies," Ianto said, while the others looked back and forth at each other.
"There was no need to shout," Lisa scolded.
Leon's eyes blazed as he settled on her nonchalant form. "The hell there isn't," Leon spat. "I just found out that everything I thought was true about me had been made up. I'm not a person. I'm just a lab rat someone cooked up as a joke."
Something flickered in her face for a split second. "I..." Leon gasped. "I've got to get out of here. I've got to..."
"Where do you think you'll go?" Jack asked him quickly. "By this point, they're probably aware that you left school grounds without permission. Chances are, they'll be looking for you."
"Well, I can't stay here!" Leon fired back.
"Actually," Ianto said in a very soothing tone. "You can."
Leon waited, thinking there was surely another shoe just waiting to drop. "What?" he finally asked, when no one made a sound.
"Torchwood Academy is a place for non-terrestrial beings like yourself," Jack reminded him, "as well as humans with unusual skills or abilities. You could stay here if you wanted."
Leon looked each of them square in the face.
"What?"
{} {} {} {} {}
"That's that, then, sir."
Ianto stood up off the floor with the squirt bottle of carpet cleaner in his hand. "The rug's clean at last," he told Jack, who was busy perched on the corner of his own desk set near the other end of the observatory, deep in thought.
"I had to use a mixture of soda water, vinegar, and baking soda to get the stain out."
Jack didn't answer.
"Apparently, Mr. Cameron's vomit shares the same adhesive property as the sample of bodily fluid you find," Ianto went on, well aware that he was being ignored.
"Yeah," Jack mused quietly to himself.
"The rug is clean now, though," Ianto finished, standing directly in front of Harkness now. "So, if there's nothing else, I'd like to strip naked, maybe go for a nude jog along the wharf, then go hunt down Tosh and ask if she felt like tossing me off."
Jack smiled, and looked Ianto directly in the eye. "Thank you, Ianto," Jack said meaningfully. "What would I do without you?"
"Replace me with an upright handi-vac from Saturn, I suppose," Ianto quipped.
Both men smiled at each other. "Before you go," said Jack, sliding down off the corner of his desk slowly. "There is one other thing I was hoping you'd be willing to take care of."
"What's that, sir?"
Ianto blanched as Jack reached out with one hand, grabbing him by his tie, and yanking him forward. The spray bottle and rag in Ianto's hands hit the floor as Jack threw him onto his back on top of his desk. Papers scattered as Jack leered down at him hungrily while stripping out of his long coat.
"Here, sir?" Ianto wondered, looking startled.
"Tosh will just have to wait her turn when she gets back from helping show Leon around," Jack ribbed, buttoning down his shirt. "You and I have some unfinished business to see to."
Ianto blushed as the memory of them in the classroom at Tower Hamlet came rushing back to him.
"The poor physics teacher," he said, as Jack's pants hit the floor. "I thought the woman was going to have heart palpitations."
"That's why I always have you carry the RetCon pen," Jack set, kicking his pants away as he stepped forward.
Against his will, a sigh escaped through Ianto's lips as he felt Jack's body glide over his own like butter on toast. Jack's hands laced through his, bringing Ianto's arms up over his head. The captain then raked his fingers down over the fabric of his suit, kneading at the muscles lurking underneath, before loosening his collar.
Soon, Ianto's shirt was lying wide open. The cool air of the office brushed over his nipples, making them harden. Ianto moaned into Jack's mouth as he felt Jack's thumbs brush over his chest in concentric circles.
Ianto tried to speak, but with Jack's mouth pressed so tightly against his, all that came out with a garbled mumble.
"What?" Jack whispered in his ear impatiently.
The tickling sensation it caused made Ianto bite down on his lower lip. "Tosh," he nodding toward the open door.
Jack looked toward the door, then grinned back down at Ianto mischievously. "Let her watch," Jack said, enjoying the look of embarrassment on Ianto's face. "Assuming she gets back in time. Who knows? She might actually learn something."
"That's a distressing thought," Ianto managed to get out before Jack's mouth came back down on his.
Ianto couldn't think after that, in spite of his best efforts. It was Jack's hands; they were everywhere at once, it felt like. The man's kisses left him breathless, yet aching on the inside for more. Ianto didn't try to stop him when Jack raised both his legs.
Ianto gripped the sides of the desk as Jack moved down. His breath came in quick gasps the whole time he felt Jack's tongue moving. It was torture, but Ianto never begged him to stop. He suspected Jack would have liked that, but it was beyond his ability to speak. The world went white, stars exploded in his mind, and he barely registered it when Jack crawled his way back up.
Jack braced both arms on either side of Ianto's head. "Open your eyes," he commanded, bending his head down until they were face to face.
Ianto's eyes flew open.
"Good boy," Jack praised, as he pushed his hips forward. "Just keep your eyes on me, Ianto."
Ianto hissed once as he felt Jack push through. "Jack," he cried out, as racing chills cascaded up and down his body.
"It's alright, Ianto," Jack whispered, moving in a slow, steady rhythm now. "It's alright."
Their bodies moved together like the ebb and flow of the ocean tide. Ianto released his grip on the desk and flung his arms around Jack's neck, dragging him down so that their mouths connected. Ianto lifted both legs and secured them around Jack's waist. The combined movement caused Jack to lunge forward, driving him deeper inside Ianto, who cried out around his boss's lips.
Sweat rained down off their bodies as they moved together, riding the wave of passion that left each man bereft of air. When Jack came, it was with a roar that filled the whole room. Ianto was right behind him, and sent his release splashing all over Jack's stomach and chest.
The top of the desk was slick with their combined sweat as Jack rolled off Ianto, sending more of his stuff falling to the floor.
"This is why I don't keep important stuff on my desk," Jack said, making Ianto laugh.
"I imagine it would get expensive after a while," he noted, which made Jack chuckle right along with him.
"Actually," said Jack, after a very brief reprieve of silence. "There was an incident with one of my superiors where a bomb was accidentally armed. He wasn't able to look his commanding officer in the eye for a year after that."
Ianto frowned. "Fascinating, sir."
Jack wasn't done giving Ianto a hard time. "I thought so," he teased.
Ianto's face burned bright red, but Jack hardly seemed fazed. Hopping down off the desk, Jack calmly reached down to retrieve his pants as Ianto watched. The sight was enough to make him blush an even deeper shade of red. Looking around, he searched the floor for his own clothes.
"Here," Jack said, picking Ianto's suit up off the floor. "There you go."
As Ianto accepted his clothes, the watch on Jack's wrist began beeping. "Duty calls," Jack said, giving Ianto a heated look as he let out a long sigh.
Ianto dressed quickly as Jack pressed a button on the vortex manipulator. "Yes, Tosh?" Jack asked. "We were just talking about you a moment ago."
Ianto cleared his throat stiffly and began buttoning his shirt back up. "Jack," Toshiko's voice said loudly in the room. "I just found Lisa inside the trophy room. She's alright, but it looks as though someone attacked her."
Ianto's eyes widened in alarm. "I'm going down there," he said, heading for the door despite not being fully dressed.
"Right behind you," Jack said, picking the rest of his clothes up off the floor. "Tosh, we'll be there in two clicks. Unless she's been badly damaged, don't move Lisa until I get there. Ianto is already on his way."
"I think she's alright," Tosh told him. "It looks like she's rebooting now."
"Keep your distance," he warned, bringing the coat up over his shoulders. "There's a chance her Cyberman programming could resurface. Try not to let Ianto get too close once he gets there. I'm heading out now."
Jack burst through the office door and took the spiral stairs two steps at a time.
"Alien tech from all over the galaxy," he grumbled. "Weapons of unimaginable power, and I still have to take the stairs."
Jack grunted as he reached the bottom. "There is something very wrong with that."
Ianto was already in the trophy room when Jack arrived. Tosh was trying to keep him back as Lisa slowly rose up off the floor. Tosh looked around, and despite still being far away, Jack could see the fear in her eyes. Seeing her distracted, Ianto brushed past her and moved to help Lisa up the rest of the way.
"She's fine," he insisted, almost accusingly. "She's was only out for a second."
Tosh looked at the approaching Jack apologetically. "It's fine," Ianto told her, before turning his attention to the now-rebooted Lisa. "Lisa, can you hear me?"
Lisa's artificial eyelids blinked. "I can hear you," she said softly. "All systems are functioning normal. No signs of Cyberman programming reassertion."
"I never asked you that," Ianto told her pointedly.
"I was aware of that," she replied. "But you were worried. There is a high probability that this is why Toshiko tried to restrain you."
The discomfort in the room was thick enough to breath in. "Right," Jack said, avoiding Ianto's gaze for the time being. "What happened?"
"I was attacked," Lisa said, "by Leon Cameron. I was showing him the rest of the Academy per your instructions. He professed a desire to see the trophy room more thoroughly, and began asking questions about the Smart Guns once we were here."
Everyone turned to where she was pointing. "He then tried to take them," she finished. "That was when I attempted to stop him."
Jack looked down at Lisa solemnly. "So much for our new student," he muttered. "I'm glad you weren't hurt."
"Your concern is unnecessary," she replied calmly.
"I only left for a moment," Tosh said, getting their attention. "Novice Thomasina sent me a message about dinner tonight, so I thought it would be alright if I left them alone for a minute."
"It was a reasonable assumption," Lisa said, taking Tosh's side. "It did not occur to either of us that Leon Cameron would be able to overpower me temporarily."
"Jack," Ianto said, getting his attention. "Those Smart Guns never worked. We framed them because you said they were calibrated to respond only to the cell structure of a certain alien species."
"I suspect our young friend already knows this," Jack told him, still watching Lisa closely. "Did you inform him of that before he stole them, Lisa?"
"Yes," Lisa answered.
"Lucky thing they weren't charged," Ianto mused.
Jack scowled. "As if I would leave dangerous weapons just lying around for anyone to come through and pick up at their leisure," he snapped.
"He knows where to find spare batteries," Lisa said. "He asked that question first."
"It's alright," Ianto insisted, touching Lisa's shoulder tenderly. "We'll take care of it."
Jack was already pressing a button on his vortex manipulator. "Tosh," he ordered. "I need you to do a comprehensive scan of everyone on the grounds. Find Leon Cameron for me."
Tosh was already leaving the room for the stairs up to the office she and Jack shared. A moment later, her voice came through on Jack's vortex manipulator. "The scan just completed," Tosh said. "There is no sign of Leon Cameron anywhere in the parameter."
"He's already left the school," Ianto said. "That was fast. Where do you suppose he's going, though?"
"Tosh, do a sweep of the city," Jack ordered into the vortex manipulator. "He's a brand-new lifeform. Locating him shouldn't be that difficult in a place full of mostly twenty-first century humans."
"I've already located him, Jack," Tosh replied. "He is headed in the direction of Tower Hamlet."
"He's armed," Ianto said, holding Lisa close. "And he's going back to school."
Ianto paused, then. "Why, though?" he wondered.
"Nothing good, I'd wager," Jack said, moving for the door. "Signal Wren and tell him to meet us in the hanger. I want Holmes prepping the bus for launch in ten. We're moving out."
Jack stopped at the library doors when he saw that Ianto hadn't left Lisa's side. "Tosh, get back down here and escort Lisa to Novice Thomasina so she can look her over," he said through the com link in his manipulator. "Then go back to your work station and keep tracking Cameron. Whenever he is, I want to know."
Jack looked over at Ianto, who hadn't moved. "Ianto, you're with me."
Ianto looked down into Lisa's face regretfully as Toshiko arrived. "Jones!" Jack barked. "With me, now!"
Tosh gave Ianto's hand a squeeze. "I'll look after her," she promised him, before gently pulling Lisa out of his grip. "Go."
It only took a few minutes for them to reach the hanger. Wren was already waiting, tapping his foot impatiently against the concrete floor. Not far away was the Torchwood 'bus', as Jack liked to call it. Diane Holmes was on board already, and had begun the launch sequence.
Everyone piled aboard the Chula warship and strapped themselves in. Wren took a seat opposite Jack and Ianto, who was avoiding Jack's eyes.
"We would like to remind our passengers that the Chula warship is a non-smoking vessel," Diane announced over the system. "Also, passengers are to remain seated at all times during the flight, and remember to fasten your safety harnesses."
"What's all this about, then?" Wren asked, as Diane started the engine. "Where's Lisa?"
"She's with Tosh," Jack said, earning him a brief look from Ianto. "Apparently, Mr. Cameron decided to swipe some Torchwood property and pay a visit to his old campus."
"So he's one of the bad guys?"
Jack gave Wren a half-shrug as the warship began rising up through the hanger bay, which opened up underneath Canary Wharf. "Maybe," he said. "Or he's decided to do something really stupid."
"Even more stupid than turning over Torchwood property to a group of unknowns that grew him inside of a giant test tube?" Ianto asked.
"He may be planning to go there and blow the place sky high in retaliation for creating him in the first place," Jack replied. "So, yes."
"Wait, he stole weapons?" Wren asked, leaning forward in his seat. "He's got guns now?"
"Smart Guns," Jack clarified. "The two that were under glass in the trophy room. And before you can ask, he also knew where to get batteries for them, which means this could get real ugly."
"What have we got to counter the problem?" Ianto asked, as the warship burst through the water's surface, its cloaking shield folding over the surface as water dripped back down into the Wharf.
"On me," Jack said, mentally checking his gear off. "I've got a Squareness Gun, a partially-functioning Vortex Manipulator, and a CMC Macrowave Blaster."
Ianto and Wren both frowned. "Squareness Gun?"
Jack whipped the gun out of his jacket pocket. "Squareness Gun," he said, showing it off to both of them. "I was able to reconstruct one with Tosh's help out of some old parts we found in that Cyklon wreck."
"So, it's a gun that fires squares?" Wren pressed, moving in for a closer look.
"No," Jack said, smacking Wren's hand away when he tried to touch it. "It's a gun that makes squares."
Jack sighed at Wren's bemused expression. "In walls and floors."
"That's very helpful," Ianto muttered, grabbing onto something as the ship turned sharply.
Jack rolled his eyes at Ianto's tone and fished something else out of his pocket. "Here," he said, passing it along into Ianto's hand. "This is for you. Something else I've had Tosh work on in her spare time. It's called a Sonic Pen."
"Sonic Pen?" Wren wondered.
"Great," Ianto said, trying hold on and look at his shiny new pen all at the same time, and failing miserably. "Another pen. Why do you keep insisting on giving me pens?"
"It's a sonic pen," Jack insisted.
"Of course," said Ianto, pocketing it. "Soon I'll have a whole collection of pens, and nothing to write with. When I need to borrow one from Tosh, she'll no doubt wonder what's wrong with any of mine, and I'll have to spend twenty minutes explaining each one to her."
Rather than being angry or offended, Jack laughed. "I love it when you get cheeky," he said. "It kind of reminds me of someone else I used to know."
"Oh, great." Ianto's face was positively sour now. "Another ex-boyfriend?"
"I wish," Jack mumbled out under his breath.
"Great," Wren said, sliding back into his seat. "That wasn't awkward at all. If neither of you minds me changing the subject, can we make it to the school before the Cameron alien does?"
"He managed to keep up with us on foot in the SUV," Jack reminded. "That's how he found the Academy. If he could do that, then catching him before he reaches Tower Hamlet may prove problematic."
"We're in a space ship," Wren pointed out.
"And he's an alien hybrid who can scale walls and keep up with motor land vehicles," Jack countered emphatically.
"Meaning it's possible he's already there," Ianto concluded.
The Torchwood bus glided to a stop above the Tower Hamlet School less than a minute later. Jack and the others peered out at the school grounds below. Over a dozen cop cars were gathered out front by the gates along with several fire trucks.
"I'd say he beat us here," Wren commented. "What's all this about, you think?"
"It looks like our boy might have caused a little bit of a stir," Jack said, still looking the place over. "Once we're on the ground, get behind me and do what I say."
"Same as always," Ianto said, moving into position. "Except I don't think I've ever been behind you before."
"Oh god," Wren grunted. "You two really need to watch what you say. Some of us are still technically minors, you know."
"If you boys are done flirting, I'm ready to beam you down," Diane said, smirking at their antics. "You'll land back behind the building out of sight from any prying eyes."
"Thank you, as always," Jack told her, as the teleportation sequence began to engage. "Monitor the situation from up here, and keep us posted of any new developments."
"Sure you don't need a spare gun?" Diane asked, holding up her revolver.
Jack answered her by patting Ianto on the back. "Already got one."
There was a second of displacement before their feet touched ground behind the school building.
"The basement should be straight ahead," Wren directed.
"Then let's move," Jack barked. "I need to know what it is we're up against. And we've got a hybrid with Smart Guns running around somewhere in the vicinity."
"And shouting will definitely help things," Ianto pointed out, as the three of them raced along the side of the building.
Just like Wren said, the basement doors were a little further along up ahead, down the flight of cement steps. Jack reached the steps first, and skid to a stop before the top one.
"Whoa, hold it," he said, holding Ianto and Wren back. "I'd say our boy has already been here."
The doors to the basement had been torn off. There were no singe marks, or fire suggesting an explosion.
"I knew he was agile," Jack marveled, surveying the damage, "but who knew he was this strong."
"Sir," Ianto said, frowning. "I think there's something wrong."
"I think he's right," Wren agreed, bringing up the holographic screen on his cybernetic hand. "Those doors look like they were torn open from the inside."
Jack looked again, and saw they were right. "So Leon Cameron didn't break in," he realized. "Something inside that basement broke out."
"And was in a bad mood," Wren added, "from the looks of things."
The noise of the police outside the gates grew louder. "I'm beginning to think the PC showed up before Leon ever got here," Jack said.
{} {} {} {} {}
There were bodies.
Everywhere Leon looked, there were bodies. Most of them, he recognized. It felt strange that he could remember so many faces despite only being alive for a couple of weeks. He was practically an infant, yet everywhere he turned, there was a corpse wearing a face that he remembered.
Yet none of their names came to mind. That should have mattered to him, but all Leon could think about was finding what was at the end of the hall.
He had smelled them the moment he arrived on campus. The cops had already showed up, so Leon had gone in through the back way. This time, the door had been locked. A swift kick had knocked it in off its hinges. Attacking the robot girl had been proof enough, but now Leon knew beyond a shadow of a doubt just how strong he was.
And yet, he was more afraid than ever. Here he was, super-strong and agile, armed with alien weaponry, but shaken to the core. He had smelled their scent in the hallways within a few steps of being inside the school. Automatically, Leon recognized them as the next generation. Evidently, there was still some of the programming left in his brain, and it knew the things for what they were.
His replacements.
Something grabbed his foot as he neared the hallway's end. The guns reacted to the spike in his adrenaline at once. Both flew up off the clips on his belt where he'd hooked them and into his hands. There was no button to push or switch to throw. Just like that, Leon was armed.
Then he saw who was clinging to his leg.
"Stacy," he breathed down at the blooded face looking up at him through a curtain of sticky red hair.
Stacy's mouth was moving, but no sound came out. Letting go of the Smart Guns, Leon felt them fly back to their clips on his belt as he knelt down.
"Stacy," he said, faster and more frantic now. "Stacy, can you hear me? What happened here while I was gone?"
Now that his mind had distinguished her from the other scattered bodies, Leon noticed she kept clutching at her stomach with her other hand, as if in pain. Her mouth moved again, and this time, he heard her mutter something faintly.
"Stacy," he said, leaning forward. "Please..."
This time, Leon heard her. "I'm carrying your child," she managed to gasp in his ear before collapsing back down onto the floor.
"She was carrying your child, at least."
Leon jerked back in shock. There was no notice that anyone had approached him, yet Nurse Gita stood inches from where Stacy laid, her body uncomfortably still now.
"Such a waste," Gita continued in a somewhat casual tone. "We waited for one of you to prove yourselves a fertile pair, and the unborn child is terminated because the new batch got a little unruly."
Leon stared into Nurse Gita's face and felt his blood boil. "Why?" he demanded, his voice much quieter than he'd expected it to be. "Why... just..."
Gita shrugged. "Who knows," she said calmly. "I was just assigned to be your caretaker. I don't understand the specifics. You'll have to talk to the man in charge about that."
Leon's breath was growing ragged now. Despite knowing better, he couldn't get his rage under control.
"Where is he, then?" It felt like his eyes were on fire. "Where can I find the 'man in charge'?"
Nurse Gita reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe. "I'm sure he would love to meet you," she said, kneeling down beside Stacy's body. "You are the last surviving member of your specific bloodline."
The Smart Gun flew into Leon's outstretched hand. "Get the fuck away from her," he ordered, keeping Gita's head in his sights. "Or I blow your brains out."
"Relax," she replied flippantly, placing the needle just above the surface of Stacy's skin. "It's only a sedative. There's nothing I can do for her at this point but ease her suffering."
Still, Leon didn't lower his gun. "If she could be saved, I would have done something already," Gita stated pointedly. "My orders were quite clear concerning any children your breed produced, as well as the parents of them. The fact that all our hard work has gone down the tubes is disheartening, to say the least."
The gun was heavy. It shouldn't have been, but Leon found himself unable to keep it elevated. Slowly, he lowered the Smart Gun, giving the nurse his silent consent to proceed. As the needle jabbed into Stacy's flesh, Leon felt a part of him die on the inside.
When Nurse Gita raised up, he didn't bother trying to hide his tears.
"What now?" he asked, choking on his words.
Nurse Gita sighed, before pulling out another syringe. "This," she said, and stabbed the needle into his chest.
Her movements were surprisingly quick. Caught off-guard by his sorrow and the quickness of the school nurse's attack, Leon could only stare down in shock as he felt the liquid held inside the syringe enter his bloodstream.
"Don't waste your time trying to alter your physiology to counter-act the poison," Gita told him, drawing the needle back out with practiced ease. "It is tailored to your unique bloodstream."
Pain boiled in Leon's blood as the strength in his legs left him. "And very fast acting," Gita noticed as Leon sank to the floor. "Evidently."
Leon stared daggers up at Nurse Gita while struggling to remain somewhat on his feet. "What was the point of that?" he demanded through grit teeth. "If I was more valuable as a breeder, why did you do that?"
"You were valuable with your compatible mates," she explained, watching as the strength left him completely now. "The new batch will never accept you as one of them. They've already proven themselves to be a violent bunch. That's something for the programmers to address."
Leon gasped, and fought to stay awake. He tried forming words, but even that was becoming too much. Nurse Gita turned away and walked off, leaving his rapidly dying body behind, without so much as a backward glance. Everything from curses to pleas for help came to Leon's mind, but none of them passed his lips. Taking one long, ragged breath, Leon craned his neck to where he could see Stacy's body. Their bodies weren't far apart, but it hurt too much to close the gap between them. Desperately, Leon fought to move one arm to touch her one last time.
His mate. They'd been grown to breed together, and she'd been carrying his child. Now they were both dying.
"Stacy," he heard himself whisper, to his own surprise. "I'm so sorry."
Leon had no idea how long he lay there. One moment, he felt light as a feather and was moving like a leaf in the wind. The next, he would be back on the hard tile floor amid a sea of bodies while hot glass pumped through his veins. It felt as though his spirit was trying to leave his body, but the body wasn't hearing of it.
For a moment, he thought he heard footsteps. It sounded like thunder in his ears, and Leon realized he must be hearing the faded beat of his own heart. Even weakened, it sounded like slow drum beats.
Captain Jack was there, looking down on him now with fear in his eyes. Leon felt his heart flutter in a different way over the idea that the intimidating man feared for him so. That thought gave him some small measure of peace as his body began giving up.
He was almost free now. Leon could feel his soul being let go.
A mouth came crashing down on his. A hand was cradling the back of his head, holding him up so that the one kissing him had a better angle. Leon's eyes flew open, and he smelled rather than saw that it was Jack kissing him. Pain entered him again, pain worse than what he'd felt before. It felt like life was being forced back into him, willing him back into his tired, poisoned body.
Their lips disconnected, and Leon found he could breath evenly again. Jack was still holding him up, and smiling now as their eyes connected.
"Welcome back," was all he said.