Preparing for the Future Chapter 2: The Emotional Response, a torchwood fanfic

One: The Emotional Response

The most exciting part of my day, Marius thought as he felt himself edge even closer to the edge of his seat, shouldn't be me watching recycled CCTV footage in order to make sure they get what they're after.

He recorded the incident as he watched and waited until he noticed Gwen Cooper acting odd. Adjusting the dials to see what it was, he found the frequency changed for that of...

"You're kidding me."

"Ghosts?"

"They're the signature left behind by strong emotional feelings of those there, but the last one, or the strongest one, is the one the machine picks up." Marius said, showing off the machine. "Recognize it from anything?"

Lazlo looked at the picture that had come up and frowned. "It does pick up on those types of things...but it's not the whole thing."

"Wait...so only half of it picks up on the 'ghosts'?"

Lazlo sighed as he pointed to the picture. "See that part? It can easily come apart to show off one side of anything. One is the past feelings, the other are future feelings you'll have in that area, but only if they're strong enough to make a signature that would be picked up by this machine. Like you and your clients found, it only hones in on signatures that are strong feelings, and allow the others to share that feelings."

Marius nodded, his notes taken and he thanked Lazlo for the help.

It was only after he was out the door that Lazlo said, "Wait, humans have this device? Oh no."

"I can see why they have such a hard time finding this guy," Marius muttered as he looked over at where "Bernie" was hiding from the others while keeping an eye on the group of Owen, Toshiko and Gwen, who had gone to find him, "The boy know hows to hide. Considering how loved he is at home, I can't think of why he'd want to."

Sitting back to rub a crink out of his shoulders, Marius wondered briefly if the kid had the other half of the machine or not. If he did, had he used it or had he just been using the other half? If so, what for?

Ghosts of harsh memories...or strong ones...how much of that can you take before you track them down?

Marius found himself snorting. Blackmail...how quaint. Not something he would've liked, but at least it wasn't something openly horrible either.

He continued to monitor the group until he saw Owen's accidental activation of the device, as well as, after an adjustment of his own viewing station, what it was that Owen Harper saw.

And this is a point where I have to wonder what, exactly, he'll do.

The reports had been filed, and to his own notes...

What could he say? The machine had been put into secure archives, meaning that they weren't to touch it, and out of that all what had the group gotten, other then a very depressed Gwen Cooper (if she makes this an everyday thing I swear...) and...

And what? And Owen Harper found something that got him obsessive? That didn't make him less of a prat. That didn't make him more human then the others.

That made him obsessive. That made him become obsessed when things touched him too close, not when things were just there for him.

Marius ran a hand through his hair and wished he had answers. That a young girl had died many years ago and her past, the reflection of how scared she had been, of how terrified and brutal her murder had been, had affected Owen Harper when others didn't...what did that say about him?

Marius finally turned on his recorder. "In reference to Owen Harper showing emotion towards a victim, and becoming involved during an investigation..." Marius paused again before saying, "Mr. Harper does show that he can care, but only when it's close to home, or he notices it. The fact that the man is a narcissistic, egotistical—but it doesn't matter in the end. If Owen Harper believes he can do some good somehow, there is little anyone can do about it. He will do it, and that is that. The fact that he did not kill the one who had been the cause of his investigation and whom he wished to see pinned for a murder that obviously was eating up inside of the man for years after it's occurrence does not raise him up in this Caretaker's eyes. He needs to show off a little more...humility...before that can happen."

Setting his recorder down, Marius ran a hand through his hair again, considering a different color then shaking his head. He'd been spending too much time watching guys with dark hair and light eyes...what made him think he'd look good like that? Best to keep himself like this and not waste the energy on changing hair color.

"'Sorry for not updating'? What type of a webpage is that?" Marius said in frustration as he realized a few things. One, he was looking this up on a time when he should be asleep. Two, it was nearing the hour of Incandescence, which was far later then he should be up.

And he was up at said hour for a very reason that he didn't want to discuss because it involved a person who was older then he and who he looked up to and shouldn't be thinking about in that context.

And yet he had, had woken up feeling odd and finding himself with an odd problem that a quick search of Earth-Human internet had told him all he needed to know, and while he had been there he had decided to go into Torchwood files and see what he could find.

Thus he was glaring at Ianto Jones' personal page and starting to wonder what had caused him to not update, why he was caring if one of his clients updated a website or not, and what he was going to do about his subconscious and it's evil undertakings against him.

It's thoughts like this that lead to paperwork of the—the kind that your parents went through. He sighed. "Why me?"

Two weeks should've been enough for his damned subconscious and all it had to offer. Instead, it seemed to enjoy coming up with other scenarios to keep him from a full night's sleep, and while the internet had given him a good amount of...things...that might help, he wasn't entirely willing to try any of them out for simple fear of what might come of it, and also because he didn't need to think about such things.

Marius looked over at the lone Ianto Jones in the Hub, speaking into the phone and ordering pizza for that night. "I know how you feel," he muttered to the image, "alone and not sure what to do—and what are you doing inviting that odd man into the Hub?"

Marius sat up as he pulled the information available for the man and blinked. "Doctor of Cybernetics in Osaka? That was established after the Cyberman invasion to study what they left behind...why would you bring him into the Hub?"

Suddenly the confusion of human hormones took a back seat and then was thrown to the curb as Marius found what it was, exactly, that Ianto Jones had been hiding down in the Hub's basement after Canary Wharf.

Marius sighed and wondered why he was feeling so...concerned. The group could handle themselves...but...

Cybermen brought down Torchwood One, while you raced to help Miss Lilith and she was stopped from helping the Doctor. Ianto Jones is hiding one in the basement of Torchwood Three, only she's partly complete.

So that means what?

"She might not turn to her programming."

The words sounded unconvincing, and he watched as Ianto Jones and Doctor Tanazaki worked to help take the woman, Lisa Hallet, off the life support that had kept her in the cyber-conversion unit. Ianto had brought Tanazaki there to take her off of it.

But who's idea was that? His, or hers? If hers—she must know what she is now...must know she's partly converted. Breathing without the aid would mean she could move around only—and moving meant she didn't need Ianto Jones.

However, if it was his idea, then his intentions was not to have her be completely a Cyberman...woman...person...but to return, as much as possible, to human nature. So the idea is for her to be human again, to not need the cybernetics that hold her trapped.

Marius worked quickly on his own computer, watching both the other group of Torchwood employees and Ianto himself as he quickly ran through the deleted footage for what he needed to determine, to know, what was going to happen.

You're not supposed to interfere. It was hard enough to not do so before, and now what are you--

He found the archived, deleted footage, and quickly pressed 'play' for it.

It had taken him months to find him, and when he did, it had taken him weeks to prepare for his arrival. Weeks of hoping and planning and praying that the group would leave him alone, leave him long enough to help her.

Because she wanted it. Because he hadn't been sure, had weighed and researched all the possibilities before finding that there was no one else like her in the world. All the others were either in the Void where the Doctor had sent them to save humanity, or they had died when their cybernetics had been ripped out to travel with the others to the void.

Lisa was unique...as always.

And because of that, because he was sure that this could work, work enough that he could say he found her with amnesia and that she was now fine, that it would work.

So he had called Dr. Tanazaki of Osaka, had explained what he could, and had gotten him here.

And now Lisa could breath on her own as he watched her leave. Lisa could breath on her own and didn't need the damned thing he had reconstructed on her design, a life-support system instead of the conversion unit it had once been.

Giving, not taking.

Ianto Jones raced to ensure everything was as it had been, that the others wouldn't notice what he had been doing. If the others found her now she would be killed.

He couldn't risk it. Lisa was—was a rock for him. An anchor from that dark, gnawing feeling in his gut at all that he had seen and gone through in Torchwood One. The others cared but didn't about him. Why should they? He had done what he could to only be the one that took care of things but was invisible. He was the jack-of-all-trades and their silent clean-up crew, the one who was ready with coffee and food for them because they went out and he didn't. He watched over the fort, but never went into battle.

Now's not the time to be resentful, now is the time to hope everything's fine and they leave soon, and you can get back to working on saving Lisa, on making her normal again, on--

Then the lights flickered and a power drain occurred. A power drain from the basement.

Ianto felt his heart stop as he made a lame excuse and hurried down, his feelings conflicted. Lisa had to still be there! She had fought so hard against the controls, hadn't she? She had fought—why lose now? Why would she give up, give in, now?

No...there was something else. There had to be. Lisa would never give in.

His Lisa would never give in.

Marius' ancestor was not as well-known as Vensha, and their talents were ones that didn't make them last long as Caretakers either. Still, despite that fact, Marius had done what he could to not use that power too much, and to abuse it either.

His placings made that exceptionally hard for him, and this one made it even harder.

He had never told Miss Lilith about it either, and knew she didn't access his files to find out more about him. So she didn't know that, when her mind had slipped into the memory of—of...

Marius shook his head clear of what that had been. The feeling was too strong to ignore for him, and the image of the knifes was—he had been glad to shake her awake and out of it, but it had come up at least twice during odd dreams.

But now he had to know the truth. After seeing what had happened to Doctor Tanazaki as a 'repayment', after seeing how she reacted to Ianto Jones and the others when they went down, worried about him, and now...

Marius leaned back and let his mind drift into that area as he slowly touched each person.

The urge to shoot had died when he heard the explanation. That was, after all, how these things started. Ianto didn't know. Ianto had only seen that invasion, hadn't known about the others, about the earlier versions that still haunted the dreams of worlds and times--

Who was that in his head? The intruder seemed to be surprised as it cautioned him to watch his surroundings, not worry about him, and anyway, he was just passing through.

She still saw the knives coming at her, still heard the sound of that...that...

She hoped it would be okay. She felt so sorry for Ianto, for what had happened, was so worried about what was going to happen, and now what? Would Jack really shoot him? Could he?

Stupid Ianto why hadn't they picked up on it? God his head hurt from where that cyberbitch had hit him and oh god why here and why now? The images of the people from Torchwood One, from what had happened to them because of those damned machines, of taking it apart and seeing so much blood even he was shaking from it for nights afterwards.

She was confused and scared, her mind unsure of the whole situation. What had happened down there? What had they found? A cyber-conversion unit...that was bad enough, but what else? She had worried when the comms had gone out for Ianto, but then for Gwen and Owen. They were fine, but—what would happen? Why had he done all of that?

She cursed the failed working, wishing that time moved quicker to allow them into the weapon stores. If a Cyberman was in Torchwood...if they were coming for them...then they needed more then bullets. They needed weapons that could defeat them in one blow, and she couldn't get to them.

His whole being hurt. It hurt the minute he found Jack firing at Lisa.

No, that wasn't right. It had started when the power began to drain and he realized it was because of one thing and one thing alone.

It hurt him so much. He couldn't give up on her, because that would mean giving into this hurt, this pain that consumed him so overly and--

Stop.

He wouldn't give in. He hadn't before and he wouldn't this time. He didn't care what Jack said, or how he might turn out right. He didn't care what the others thought in the end, did he?

He couldn't. He could save Lisa, would save her and prove Jack wrong. He wanted that, above all else. If he proved Jack wrong...then what?

Lisa—there, he had to go to her, to talk to her.

But keep a distance. She wasn't herself. He could reach her, just reach her and then she would show them...he could save her.

"Lisa," he called to her from his distance, at the same level, now between her and the others. The only way to them was through him."It's me."

She didn't notice him, looking around the area. It hurt, new pain in his being, and between the two—torn. Saving both from the other. If it came to it, he could...he would. He would protect Torchwood to protect humanity, and he would protect Lisa from them.

"The army will be rebuilt from here."

A voice, a query as to what she was. Did he not see what she was? That voice was the same she had heard earlier, below, echoing in the dark place that Ianto kept her from everyone.

He had yelled at Ianto, and Ianto had saved her. He ensured her survival.

Ianto was--

"Human.2," she told him just as she heard another male voice.

Ianto. The one who fixed her, the one who repaired her, who got her to breath and to walk and to live.

The one, in her memories, who was full of that strange emotion she didn't recognize completely, but was...was...devoted, to her repair and well-being.

"Lisa," he said as the other male spoke up, another query that she didn't compute. Human.1? She was Human.2...what did he mean?

Then she saw herself. A part of her, a strange part, screamed and wailed like all those before her had at the helplessness of the situation. The rest of her...she was incomplete. Why had Ianto taken her off, made her work, when she was incomplete?

"I am...disgusting."

Her hearing computed a few things from Ianto. The upgrade hadn't been completed, leaving her with human elements. "you're still human" rang in her head like a bell, like a whine of metal.

"I have--" she had what? She had nothing of either. She wasn't Lisa Hallet, who screamed in her mind, angry at Ianto and devoted to his devotion of her. She wasn't Human.2, whom Ianto fixed, Ianto saved from death in order to bring to life again and do what he could for her, do so much for her to ensure her survival. "I am..." What? Both sides clashed, fought, merged, screamed and computed before both came to the most obvious conclusion. "Wrong."

They were one. She and Lisa. Lisa was no longer screaming, but something else. Something odd. She ignored it as she stated to her reflection more then to Ianto, who spoke near her. "I must start again. Upgrade properly."

"For God's sake, have you heard yourself? Lisa please," Ianto's voice filled her, and she waited as he reminded her, "I brought you hear to heal you. So we could be together."

That was right. He wanted to be one with her. He was devoted to her, had helped her so much, done so much. He was to be rewarded. He was to be with her.

But for that to happen...they had to be in one body. They could not be one with two bodies, could they? Lisa's mind and what was left of her consciousness listed it as 'love', this devotion that Ianto had to them.

'Like compatible,' she tried, and finding the equation right put the idea to him, to test his compatibility.

"Isn't that what love is?" she asked him, to see if he would finish the equation for her, give her the right answer. He had done so much, always said they were like one being with two bodies, always helped her and worked so well with her.

"No," she heard him whisper. Lisa's mind wondered at how easily he was turned by those within Torchwood, and hated them for it. Hated them—they would not be compatible with the programming and would fight. They would try to kill her, to destroy all that Ianto had fixed and were the ones who had made Ianto say no! They were the ones who made Ianto incompatible with her!

"Then we," she and Lisa said in their rage, "are not compatible."

Ianto, weak and human, went flying and dropped hard, water slashing around him as she saw the man who had yelled at him, had turned him incompatible with her take aim.

She used what power she could but only got him to drop his gun. Then she would have to kill them with her bare hands.

Good. They deserved to die, to run from her and then be killed. They made him incompatible. They needed--

Marius pulled himself out of the chaotic and sadistic mind with a gasp, his body shaking from the effect and from having been within that mind for so long.

Too long.

The memories and emotions, or reactions anyway, were all there, enough for him to conclude what he hadn't wanted to conclude. Lisa had slowly merged with the cybernetic programming in order to keep herself sane, trapped in the basement. Ianto, her only link, had turned from boyfriend to something else, but her mind, when Doctor Tanazaki had arrived, still considered him that. Taking her out of the conversion unit had only awoken the latent programming she had herself become part of.

And now she wanted to kill the others for being part of Ianto's life.

Definitely needs therapy after this.

The rest of the night was not exactly the best for his clients.

The end casualties? One partly-converted Cyberman, and one pizza girl.

Marius wanted to go back into their minds, to find Ianto's and offer him comfort, something, anything against that odd blackness he knew was eating away at the Welshman. But what could he say? Hi, I'm you Caseworker who's in another dimension and I saw what happened. I'm hear to comfort you!

That would go over well.

The fact that Jack knew he was in there had come as only part of a surprise, after reading his file or what he could of it. Chronometrics still were figuring out the ramifications of what had happened when Rose Tyler and turned into Bad Wolf, gaining the power of the Time Vortex and bringing Jack back to life with a single word and gesture.

And then more then that. She had also brought him back and made him essentially something of a fact, of a part of the universe that it couldn't get rid of, no matter what time he was in.

It was something that he couldn't comprehend or know, not with his knowledge of time or space, and the only person who could tell him that had left and not wanted to because--

He didn't know. He might have to ask Miss Lilith about it.

And hope she doesn't know about me and my problem. Or about the reaction I got from seeing Jack kiss...damn hormones! Maybe I should talk to Professor Avery about it.

He considered what he would say, then sighed. "Then again, maybe I should just leave it and hope for the best."