Author's Note: Long time no update, but after leaving the Navy and attempting to get a job, I haven't been too inspired. Plus soon it's going to cross over with Saline Dreamer's story, and I'd rather keep up with her then stride ahead. This is mainly a filler episode though, meant to show off Tesni and her own problems. Enjoy!
Twenty-Five: Anger Management
Reworking the old cases was a wonder, and after a few days of it she realized this was what she liked about being a Caseworker, and why Ianto Jones would fit in so well, had he been born a Sidra. She was more then sure there was something in the young man's past that hinted at alien origins, but she wasn't up for looking it up then sharing him with anyone else.
Nor was she liking what had happened to Marius, or any of them.
Deciding that she didn't just need to rework the old files, but rewrite them as well, Tesni took out her notepad and paper and began.
--
Subject: THE RIFT
Location: Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, Earth
First Reported Activity: December 24, 1869
Current Status: Active (?)
The Rift is a line in space-time which travels through Cardiff, Wales. It is one of at least two Rifts within Earth, but currently is the most active. It was used during the late 19th century by the Gelth to travel to Earth after the destruction of their world by the Last Time War. The Gelth used a native of Cardiff, Gwnyth, to travel through the Rift. When their intentions turned from refugee to invader, the efforts of Charles Dickens, Rose Tyler, and the Doctor (9th Incarnation) stopped them mostly. The sacrifice of Gwnyth allowed for the Rift to close, though it still was active and 'bled' energy into the surrounding area, allowing items and beings of various worlds to come to Earth. The Rift itself remained unmonitored until over ten years later, when the Torchwood Institute discovered it and created Torchwood Three, who's purpose was to monitor the activity and beings coming from the Rift, and gain what they could from the beings.
The Rift touched a few planets and anchors to them, acting very much like it does on Earth: gives, and sometimes takes. To date, there is no formal record of all who have been taken due to 'negative Rift spikes'.
The Rift also was a holding group for Abaddon, the Son of the Beast, until he was released by Torchwood Three. Due to the manipulation of space/time by Bilus Manger, Avatar for Caretaker Compline, Abaddon began to destroy the world, only to be destroyed himself by 'overeating' the life-energy of Captain Jack Harkness. Because of the loss, the Rift has become even more unstable and is prone to acting up.
Currently, the Rift is showing little to no activity, which is beginning to worry Field Agent Marius and a few others who monitor the Rift. Other Caretakers along have also reported a decrease in activity, and at least one is looking into the phenomenon.
--
Subject: Torchwood Three, the Hub
Location: Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, Earth
First Reported Activity: Date Unknown, 1879/1880's
Current Status: Active
Current Members: Four (Three Humans, one Sidra)
Torchwood Three was founded after the Rift was noticed by the Torchwood Institute. The official job of Torchwood Three was to watch the Rift, as well as gain technology from it, and to destroy any 'phantasmagoria' (aliens) who posed a threat.
The first two documented employees of Torchwood Three are Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd, who established much of Torchwood Three's original layout, as well as 'actions' (documentation from that time suggests the two were lovers, or at least intimate).
The next 'candidate' was Captain Jack Harkness, though he signed on as a Freelance Agent. His main concern at the time was finding the Doctor (9th Incarnation or later) in order to discover why he couldn't die. Despite his dislike of their methods, he did and still does what he can to ensure that the 'alien' threat is looked into properly, though at times 'shoot first, ask later' is more appropriate.
The final member of the original group was Charles Gaskell, who had no relationship with anyone but probably had to take care of more messes then he'd care to mention.
Most of the group survived until the early 1900s, but most had to be changed out by 1918, when the Rift attempted to merge two points of time (2008 and 1918). Sadly, the trend continued, the only semi-permanent staff being Jack Harkness, who 'inherited' the group on December 31, 1999/January 1, 2000, after then-head Alex murdered the remaining group and shot himself.
Within four years, Jack Harkness had rebuilt the team with the help of Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, and Suzie Costello. He also cut off ties with Torchwood One, London, making Torchwood Three immune to the outpour of damaged survivors after the Battle of Canary Wharf, which destroyed Torchwood One and many of the old ways of doing things. The only exception to this was Ianto Jones, though his reasons for joining were not all they seemed.
After Ianto Jones, the breakdown and suicide of Suzie Costello, along with the recruitment of Gwen Cooper, created the team of Torchwood we know today.
--
Subject: Captain Jack Harkness
Age: Unverified
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Origin: Boeshane Pennisula, 51st Century
Prior Affiliations: Time Agency, the Doctor
Current Affiliation: Torchwood Three—Leader
Status: Active
Captain Jack Harkness is a pseudonym: his given name is unknown. He died during the Invasion of GameStation (Satellite Five) in the year 200,100, but was brought back to life by Bad Wolf, the merged being of Rose Tyler and the Time Vortex. Being left behind, he traveled to Earth but 'misplaced' his time, landing in 1869. Later learning he was immortal, Jack settled into Cardiff as was 'recruited' by Torchwood as a freelance operative. Between avoiding himself during his conman days of the Second World War on Earth, as well as waiting for the Doctor to appear and explain things to him, Jack slowly set himself up as a fixture in Torchwood. After the murder/suicide at the start of the millennium, Jack worked alone until beginning to search for others, finding them in odd places but taking them all in and rebuilding Torchwood to defend as well as study. His major revisions of Torchwood Three included relocating all Humans taken by the Rift and returned to Cardiff onto a secluded island, where they could not only attempt to recover but be taken care of as opposed to earlier, where they were locked in the Vaults and 'forgotten'.
Jack Harkness has an ongoing relationship with Ianto Jones, a member of Torchwood Three. He also has a few 'scorned lovers', such as John Hart, wandering around. Due to the appearance and violent nature of his biological brother, Grey, Jack was forced to put him into a cryofreeze, though he may never be able to awaken him, and doing so would greatly endanger many others besides Torchwood.
--
Subject: Toshiko Sato
Age: mid-20s
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Origin: London, England, United Kingdom
Prior Affiliations: Ministry of Defense—secretary
Current Affiliations: Torchwood Three—technical expert, support
Status: Inactive (Deceased)
Subject: Owen Harper
Age: late-20s
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Origin: England, United Kingdom
Prior Affiliations: medical facilities—doctor
Current Affiliations: Torchwood Three—medical expert
Status: Inactive (Deceased—Living Dead/Former Vessel of Death—body destroyed by high nuclear radiation)
Tesni frowned at the reports. While she wanted to write up more on the two, she had hardly had time to meet Toshiko, only stopping long enough to help her down to the medical bay and later appearing as they all mourned her, the group not ready to lose Marius either. With nothing to say about two of the older operatives, she would only have to update their status and ensure that Marius' older reports were there as well.
Tesni sighed, leaning back and wondering if she should leave to visit with someone, or report to Lilith about Marius and his father.
No...Lilith had her own troubles, from what Tesni knew, and with Junior now running the show, as far as near-Field Agents went, she decided the best thing might be to not mention it to them unless it came up. If she had heard right, Yvenda might end up throwing something out, and rumor-mills would fly. If anything, one of the two would get the e-mail with her storming into Chronometrics and dragging Marius'--well, the man who CLAIMED to be Marius' father—out in order to fix the damage he'd done. The idea of no Ianto Jones or Marius in any reality scared her in ways she had never been scared before, and she didn't want to think about it.
With renewed vigor, Tesni set her sights on refiling, updating, and working on the backlog of files from an overworked Caretaker and from Compline's days, because Elders knew there was a lot.
--
"Seriously, Dad, where did she go?"
"My light, you know I'd love to tell you, but..."
"Don't make me have to ask the mail delivery group."
A chuckle from the other side of the line. "Alright then, my light, here you go."
Tesni wrote down the address, thanking her father for his help before hanging up and sighing.
That anger she had against so many things hadn't gone away, and cleaning up, rearranging, and even pursuing legal actions against Marius' family had not helped her out. Granted, she had been able to get a restraining order against them, as well as ensure that the wandering Tyr and stuck Marius would never be bothered by them EVER, but that didn't help her.
A few days ago, reports on a Weevil hunt revealed that, despite the ease of the hunt Marius had nearly been mauled, coming out of it with a minor scrape, and unluckily Gwen, Jack and Ianto were starting to feel the effects of losing their two members with no activity to distract them. Marius himself was still trying to recover from what happened, as was Ianto, which meant that the Welshman was even more prone to a breakdown, even with Jack attempting to help.
Of course, with JACK near a breakdown too...that was like throwing oil on a fat fire. Gwen wasn't helping, but then again she had her own problems, ones which Rhys was trying to hold together. He was doing alright, but Tesni wasn't sure how much longer it would be only him that helped out Gwen, or at least was needed.
So her frustration at everything that Mextli had allowed to happen, as well as what she realized would happen if it wasn't taken care of, caused her to look up the one person who might be of some help.
--
It was...normal.
Tesni didn't know if she was surprised by that fact or by the fact that she should've seen it coming. Lilith had left shortly after her divorce to the Doctor and her rescue of Marius because she wanted some semblance of normal for the very abnormal child she would have. Tesni had yet to have the pleasure of meeting the freelance agent called Junior, and she felt sorely left out about it, wishing she could. Office gossip (and a second cousin in Legal) had told Tesni that Lilith remarried once, but that proved to be problematic as well.
Leave it to Juanita to make another man's life a living hell for that. Tesni wondered if Lilith and her family ever realized exactly how far her own family was going to make them...okay, sadly, the family was having more fun making trouble for those who made trouble for the Time Lord Office and all connected then they were at their jobs, but all of it traced back to "they made Tesni happy, what else can we do but repay them for the rest of eternity?"
Shaking her head and rearranging the bag of groceries she held, Tesni strode up and knocked on the door, unsure as to who she would meet up with or even if she would be invited in. She'd heard stories about Lilith's daughters as well, and while she would like to meet them as well, she was more then sure she'd rather meet Junior and Lilith instead.
Her knock was answered with what appeared to be confusion, the door only cracked open briefly before it opened fully, revealing a slightly older version of her friend from school.
"Tesni! Long time no see! Come in, come in! What'd you bring?"
"Food. Not fruit, if it helps. I still don't get why my dad sent that basket to your dad, or signed you up for that club or whatever."
Lilith smiled as Tesni put the bag on the table, looking around and, seeing no sign of children, asked, "Are the two already at school?"
"Yeah, both going off to be Caseworkers like Mom and Granddad." Lilith motioned to a clutter-free chair before saying, "I heard you pulled some interesting medieval on someone's ass."
Tesni found herself blushing at that. "Twice, actually. Which one did you hear about?"
"Dad mentioned you against a table during that Sontaran invasion, and then I got an e-mail from one of your...relatives. So that was Marius' dad?"
"Was being the operative word. I've had a busy week, unlike Torchwood. I even rewrote a lot of the reports, but..." Tesni sighed and came to the point of her meeting, "Lilith, what do I do about being...angry?"
"Angry? Aren't you asking the wrong person about this?"
"I don't think so."
"You did hear about what happened to me last time I got angry?"
Tesni frowned and considered. "You messed around with another Client, then back-stabbed him to save your then-husband, went into exile, came out and was sentenced to--."
Lilith held up her hand, shaking her own head in amusement. "You need to learn how to condense that."
"You acted like a scorned wife, which you were, and then redeemed yourself. It shouldn't have resulted in such a harsh punishment, but given that you weren't exactly popular, and you were blamed for how Marius was acting, politics caught up with you."
"Gee, thanks," Lilith muttered, "I think you and Marius are the only two that see that."
Tesni nodded. "We're biased, of course, because we're your friends. Never mind my whole family, who wants to hug you, but will settle for hugging Junior. How is he, by the way? Adjusting well?"
"Somewhat. Anyway, we were here because you want to deal with your anger? About what, may I ask? And please, don't go into full detail. I don't want to go down and beat up Jack."
"Rather you didn't too," Tesni said, "he has enough on his mind. Basics of it was I found out that Marius' dad had done something wrong. Remember how Ianto and he were well-connected? It turned out that if we didn't fix it, the two would merge and cease to exist."
There was a long pause of silence as Lilith blinked, looking over at the former Enforcer.
"What part of 'don't want to go down and beat up Jack' didn't you understand?"
"He helped to pull them apart. They're fine. It's the dad I'd have hurt."
Lilith nodded, her eyes turned dark as she did. "I might have to watch that video of you arresting him again. I never thought anyone would have the balls to do that."
"It helps that I have at least three cousins who work there," Tesni said with a shrug. "They're mildly spread out. One or two are asking if you want trouble for your--."
"I can deal with it, thanks." Lilith paused at that, obviously thinking about the situation. "You don't happen to like Marius, do you?" The question caught Tesni off guard, and blinked at Lilith, feeling herself turn red as she said, "Well, I mean...he's...well...he's nice enough but...I mean...Lilith, I'm your same age too, that'd be cradle robbing wouldn't it? I like him, he's a good Field Agent and...all...but...not like like. STOP LAUGHING!"
Lilith chuckled a little more, obviously entertained by Tesni's attempt at explaining. "It's okay, Tes, I thought he had his appeals. Granted, he wasn't skinny or yummy like the Doctor...though the Master was a close second in that. I will tell you he kisses quite nicely."
"LILITH! You didn't!"
Lilith's grin was still there, despite a minor fade in her eyes. "I didn't, nope. The one that got away, Marius was, but that might've been a good thing at that point. On the upside, that body of his WAS well-endowed...at least what I felt of it--."
Tesni felt herself grow even redder at what Lilith was saying. "That isn't helping!"
"I did see him naked, though, but it was under--." Lilith stopped as she saw Tesni look away, her face now beet red and causing her friend to say, "Okay, I'm sorry. But it might help if you tell him how you feel."
"I feel angry about what happened to him, and that it was allowed to happen. I'm angry at what his cousin did and allowed to happen, and I want some help, not...not...smut!"
"What can I say?" Lilith asked, going over to get her friend a glass of juice as she got out some tea, "I'm going through a slump. And with three kids around the house at one time or another, it's not like I'm getting much help..."
Tesni found herself nodding in agreement, remembering her own family and how it was up to the kids to try and help her mom, though that didn't always work out that way. On top of that, the idea of telling Marius that she wanted nothing more then to obliterate all threats to him and Torchwood, ensuring that Gwen and Rhys could have kids, and Jack and Ianto could...do...whatever they did...made her finally give in to temptation and ask her question.
"Does it really...help?"
"What?"
"Does sex help? I mean...for any of the issues?"
Lilith looked at her, considering the question as the pot came to boil and she put in the bag before answering. "It makes complications out of some, and works out others. I can honestly say that sex hasn't always helped, but it's something, at least." Lilith gave a small laugh as she poured out her tea. "To tell you the truth, I think you should ask Jack or Ianto about it."
Tesni frowned. "Why?"
"They have sex." A pause, "Correction. They have lots of sex. I've heard one of my aunt's techs found a few files of them going at it. The stuff took off quicker then your video did."
"It did?"
"You didn't see it?"
"No." Tesni frowned, "I was kinda busy at home."
Lilith nodded, remembering that before being a Caretaker, Tesni had gotten some rather harsh assignments as an Enforcer, which nearly destroyed her. Probably why her family was all for not only ensuring Junior got the treatment he deserved, but also sent her father and her fruit.
Lilith finally let out a long sigh and then nodded. "Then that's it. You should go and talk with them. They'll help set you straight on the sex thing. If not, they'll set you bi."
"What?"
"It's a failed joke, and if Jack goes out of his way to show you what it means, you might have to watch out. Avery's got most of their sessions when they're in the Hub. Try late night when no one else is on watch, they're usually there."
Tesni nodded, going over to pull out the grouping of groceries before saying, "I have a few hours. Pasta or chef's salad?"
--
The Hub was quiet, the lights dimmed so that all there was to allow her to navigate was the glow of the water tower, the computer monitors, and a few emergency lights that seemed to always be on. It felt odd, being back in the Hub after a few days ago she had come in and nearly been unprofessional.
Or was she? Lilith had told Tesni over lunch that many Caretakers and Field Agents developed feelings for one another, usually ending with a child. It allowed certain families to stay attached to one planet or species for generations, much like hers had stayed with Enforcement and other jobs in the like before she went off to the unclaimed area of Torchwood Three.
A sound, and the sudden movement of something up above, made Tesni look over. It wasn't the pterodactyl, so it might be Jack. After all, he was scheduled for duty tonight.
Heading up, Tesni frowned as she noticed a blue shirt tossed over the side of a railing, while next to it, set with almost perfect care, was a tailored jacket. Ahead were a few more articles of clothing, all leading to a somewhat secluded area of the Hub. Unsure what to expect, Tesni crept quietly up, looking around the corner and blinking at what she saw before tilting her head to try and get a better view and idea of what, exactly, was going on.
She knew kissing, and could classify what Jack was doing as that. She didn't understand why he wasn't using Ianto's mouth, but that seemed preoccupied to, as he was trying to tilt his head to kiss Jack's head, face, and whatever he could reach. At one point he let out a gasp, and having been trained as an Enforcer she knew it wasn't a gasp of pain so she didn't go up to find out why Jack would want to hurt someone so nice as Ianto. That was the moment Ianto moved his own hand, grasping something that Tesni had never really seen before and appeared to be...
Tesni suddenly remembered one important thing, and that was her Human sex ed that she had gotten a quick course on before taking an assignment on Earth, so as to not get anything wrong when making a Human body. She picked female, being inclined to do so, and hadn't paid much attention to the male sex organ.
But the fact that it was now being worked so well by Ianto Jones' hands made her forget, for a minute, why she was here. She felt blood rushing to all parts of her body and had to hold in a gasp as she saw Jack move Ianto's hands away and then kneel, sucking on... Ianto leaned forward, holding the wall as he gasped again, muttering things in Welsh that were curses sounding more like prayers and Jack, barely out of view, making loud sounds, like it was a treat.
Oh Elders this was too much! Tesni wanted to move but couldn't before she heard Ianto let out something like a yell, and then saw Jack looking over at her, licking a strange white substance off his lips and leering, as if inviting her down for a taste.
Blood rushed to her cheeks in a sudden panic as she disappeared in a flash of gold.
--
"WHAT?" Ianto felt himself turn red with embarrassment. "But...why?"
"Last I checked, the only reason Marius acts the way he does is because of us," Jack said, stroking Ianto's back. After seeing Tesni turn red and disappear, a few things came up in Jack's mind about that race, or at least what he thought of it. "He is still a virgin, only with me to have as a Hub. That must've been some shock, few times around."
Ianto cuddled closer but sighed. "I don't understand why she was here, though."
"Dunno. Maybe she'll get over it and come back?"
"Get over what?" the female voice caused the two to look up, seeing Tesni looking down at them from the opening.
"The, uh, sex you saw."
"That wasn't sex."
Ianto and Jack frowned before Jack said, "Well, you saw a type of sex, but it was leading up to sex."
"I saw a video. That wasn't sex."
"Video?" Ianto asked, a little confused.
"Christmas, last year, mistletoe, tinsel, and wrapping paper. The bow was a nice touch, by the way." Ianto turned even more red as Jack seemed to beam with pride. He'd been particularly creative that Christmas, he remembered. He then frowned at another thought before an echo of Avery's words came back.
CCTV footage is never fully deleted.
"erm...how many videos do you have?"
"I only got the one. My third cousin in Archives says he has the full collection, but he's lied before. I had a question."
"If this is about a threesome, then yes."
"It's not, and I'll ask what that is later." Ianto looked up at her and sighed as he realized she wasn't joking. Exactly how deprived was this race?
"Ask away," Jack said, sitting up and not trying to cover anything as he did.
"Does sex help with...anger...issues?"
Both men looked over at her, Ianto blinking owlishly while Jack considered then said, "It helps a little, but it does depend. Why?"
Tesni moved to make herself more comfortable before saying, "I've been...angry...at some things lately, and nothing's worked to stop it. Lilith mentioned sex, and...well...we don't have casual sex."
Jack looked hurt as Ianto asked, "Why not?"
"We take it seriously. Sex is a special moment, to be done with one that you are willing to go through the paperwork of Marriage, or at least joint-statement on your monthly income, with. Lilith's the first one in a few millennium to have sex outside of marriage."
"which is probably why we're so popular," Jack muttered before Ianto sat up as well, though he made sure the sheet covered him partly.
"Tesni, you need to find something that helps you deal with anger. Everyone has their own way of doing it, and you just...need to channel it elsewhere."
Tesni considered this as Jack said, "Though if you want to know what a threesome is to see if sex does channel it well--."
"No Jack," the two voices almost made Jack wonder if Marius hadn't somehow gotten into here as well...
Jack smiled at Ianto. "Come on! We can play Naked Hide-and-Seek."
"You cheat," Ianto said as Tesni finally spoke up.
"Thanks for the offer, but...I need to go back. I'll figure something out." She smiled at them before disappearing again.
"spoilsport."
"I don't like to share is all, sir." Kiss, "and besides," kiss, "if I share, I'll get jealous."
More kisses. "Jealous? What do you do when you're jealous?"
"Punishment."
"OHHHH?"
"Goodnight Jack."
".........Ianto?" No reply. "I didn't mean it." Light snoring. "Damn it, Ianto!"
--
It was maybe a week later and all she could find was imagination. It didn't help, but writing down what she would do to Weevils and various other nasty things helped her not to think about anger, or Jack and Ianto, or even Marius.
At least, until she found the picture of him after he was brought into the Hub for the first time. Anger and another, unidentified feeling crept in, and she sighed.
"Someone hates me."