Chapter 3
In the last 2 weeks, Dr. Simon had come every night to make sure Gwen's perfusion was fine. She could not be left on her own – she needed sustenance and hydration. She had not moved since Jack had found her on the beach. Owen didn't require much attention; there was nothing to do for him. His body wasn't decomposing so whatever life force inhabited him was still strong.
The reality was that neither Gwen nor Owen had regained consciousness.
Ianto had locked the piece of rock away, after Jack had done preliminary testing, away from Tosh and his lover. The team had researched through CCTV and satellite imaging what had happened to their team-mates.
/\/\/\/\
Twelve days ago – The Hub, Conference Room
"Here is what I gathered and turned into a single video," said Tosh to Jack, Ianto and Rhys.
Gwen's husband had insisted on sticking around, staying by his wife's side, wanting to know what they knew and what they intended to do.
On the conference screen, they saw most of what had happened. Owen and Gwen taking the pedestrian path towards the coordinates, walking side by side. Gwen bending down to pick up the piece of rock. Men wearing jeans and hoods going after them. Owen taking the lead and heading towards the residences. Gwen waving at him, following behind. Owen jumping into the pool, while Gwen passed out on the beach. The men leaving with a huge piece of rock, enclosing it in a tight metal frame.
"So this rock, what's wrong with it?", wondered Rhys – for about the twentieth time.
Jack had trouble remaining calm, only Ianto's hand on his arm, kept him restrained.
"I told you before Rhys. There is no radiation. It didn't affect me. But there's something inexplicable in its composition. Martha Jones will send me special equipment and I'll get a better analysis."
"My Gwen now?"
"Dr. Simon will take care of her, you can be her nurse; she's better off here"
"Those men?"
"Rhys, you know as much as we do. Let us work now. Go sit with Gwen! Now!"
Ianto's hand was now rubbing Jack arm openly. Yet Jack shrugged him off.
"Rhys, get out of here. Go …"
Tosh got up and waving for Rhys to follow her, took him to the small kitchenette. "Make yourself useful Rhys. Make sandwiches and coffee for everyone and go sit with Gwen. We'll take care of everything, don't worry".
In the conference room, Jack was fidgeting. "What's this with your hand? I'm fine and in control; don't do this in front of the team anymore Jack."
"Jack, we're worried too. Tonight, you're going to sleep, I don't care if I need to drug you". There was something definite about Ianto's tone.
Jack looked at his partner, colleague, and employee up and down. "I love it when you play tough with me Ianto!" Jack smiled.
"Well if you're well enough to flirt, Jack, you'll be fine enough to eat. Rhys will bring us food soon. So what's your plan?" Tosh said as she sat back in her chair.
Jack, Ianto and Tosh ate as they reviewed all they knew. Tosh had a face recognition program running on one of the computers; they had an almost clear view of one the men. If the program could complete the man's face, they might find out who he was.
The computer alerted Tosh as Ianto was cleaning up the leftovers. The three of them rushed to her station.
"Edward Brian Fraser, accountant, 39 years old, married, 2 daughters. He's in the system for fiscal evasion." Tosh turned around. "What's an accountant doing running around after extra-terrestrial artefact?"
Ianto couldn't help himself: "Counting the ways to the stars?"
Jack smiled and nodded at his companion.
"Let's dig deeper into his background." Jack added, but Tosh was already on it and Ianto was logging into his own console.
Jack watched them work for a couple of minutes and then went up to his office.
/\/\/\
Ianto went up the stairs quietly and gave a tiny knock on the captain's door before entering.
"Seems there is another agency searching for and looking after the rift's residue".
"Are you surprised?" Jack got up and pulled three glasses out of the credenza behind him. "Tosh, coming to join us?"
He had screamed at Tosh over the door, pouring two fingers of whiskey into the three glasses.
"You obviously aren't?"
"Ah Tosh, here's for you. I think you need this." Jack handed her one of the glasses, getting Ianto to pick one as well.
"To the Front de Libération du Soleil Enchanté »
Ianto nearly choked on his drink, and Tosh simply looked at her boss with amazement.
"How? "She stammered.
"I've known of this group for a while now. I recognized Frazer when his face showed up on your screen; although he wasn't known as Fraser then." Jack took his own glass, lifting it to his lips, and drank his share in one gulp. "Sit down children, I'll tell you a story."
It took less than half-hour for Captain Jack Harkness to revisit the year 1996. Alex and he had met a Frenchman named Jasmin Bélanger during a wild chase for a rusty canister that had fallen into the bay. Weevils joined them, as their chase happened during a moonless night, in Mid-November. Their only blessing that night was the lack of rain. Jack had taken down two weevils, Alex was finishing off a third but there were still two of them, circling, groaning, and ready to attack when Bélanger had shown up with a stunner.
At first, they though he was a survivor of Torchwood One. But he wasn't.
As Jack got ready to dive into the dirty, cold, dark water of the bay, to gather those canisters, Bélanger jumped Alex. That was a mistake; he should have waited for Jack to be in the water. Alex was lithe and able to fend for himself. Soon, Jasmin Bélanger was tied down and Alex got him back to the Hub while Jack dove alone.
The canisters turned out to be nothing more than space junk. Bélanger turned out to be a member of this liberation front, fighting for a goal that left Alex's team quite speechless.
It took them a week of solid interrogation, but they finally got to the heart of the matter. The liberation front of the enchanted sun believed all the extra-terrestrial and inter-dimensional activities they began tracking in the late seventies was a sign that an old fashioned mythological vengeful god was coming to terminate all humans – except those that would help the faithful.
This group was funded by an eccentric multibillionaire and their means were no less impressive than what Torchwood had access to.
They had Bélanger imprisoned under a fiscal fraud. He had obviously been liberated.
"How large of an organization are we talking about Jack?" The ever logical and statistical Tosh asked.
"Torchwood One, if not bigger. With Bélanger's information, we managed to catch a cell. Not the core of it."
"How do we fight them?" Ianto was looking towards Gwen and Owen's bodies.
"I have a plan. Ianto, I'll promise I'll let you in on it, but you'll have to listen and do as I ask".