Chad walked through the main room of the DiMera Mansion. He walked over to Stefano's old study, where he found André sitting at the chess board.
"There you are," he said.
André looked up. "Perceptive today, aren't you?"
"Where've you been?" asked Chad.
"Here," André replied. "The entire time."
"The entire time?" Chad didn't believe him.
André nodded. "What is it that I can do for you, little brother?"
"Believe me," Chad began, "I'm not coming to you because I wanted to enjoy your company. I have questions."
André smirked. "Such as?"
"I've heard noises. Peculiar noises."
"Are you sure it isn't your excuse for a brain rattling around in that empty head of yours?" smiled André.
"These noises," continued Chad, ignoring André comment, "have been coming from the basement. I've been hearing them for the last few days now."
André chuckled and stood up. "Noises from the basement? Is that really the best you can do?". He shook his head. "Come now, Chad. This mansion is old. Decades old. All houses have their little creaks, their little 'strange noises', as you call it. It's nothing unusual, surely you must know this."
"It didn't sound like normal house settling noises," Chad said, indignantly. "I know what it sounds like when a house settles, and this isn't it. This was a hissing noise. Like gas coming out of a tube. That's not the only one, though. There have been several others. Mechanical noises. Machines powering up. And voices. Not just yours, but that of a German man."
André gave Chad a pitying look. "My dear Chad," he said, "I am a cultured man. I enjoy German cinema, that is the voices you've heard. And these noises you insist on bringing up, these are nothing unusual. Hissing, mechanical noises, all of them can be explained by household appliances. The air conditioning, the water softener. I'll tell Harold to have that washing machine fixed, as even I will admit it is making a great deal of noise."
"That's not it," said Chad. "Not at all. These don't sound like a washer and dryer, or a...a fan or the air conditioning."
"Then what is it that they sound like?" André asked innocently.
"I don't know!" exclaimed Chad. "That's just it. For all I know, it could be a cloning machine or something. Anything's possible here. I don't know what is going on in this house."
"Perhaps it's best that you don't," replied André. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have no more time for your wildly fanciful imagination. Cloning machines, indeed."
André turned to leave, but Chad stopped in.
"And that's another thing," Chad began again. "You go missing for hours on end. You're gone at meal times. You're barely here. A few months ago, I couldn't get rid of you, but now you're almost never around. What exactly is it that you do all the time?"
André gave Chad a look.
"Since when do I answer to you," whispered André. "You've spent years living an entirely different life. Then, you finally learn that you're a DiMera and suddenly it all changes? Please, Chad. You've made it quite clear that you've no genuine interest in this family. Don't start pretending now. Father and I have done everything to convince you that la famiglia is what is most important, but you only have your mind on that insipid romance with the sickeningly sweet Abigail Deveraux. And now, you come to me and demand answers about my work. I am the only one keeping our family name alive!"
Chad took a step back. He began to realize he was going too far. He had heard rumors that André could be a loose cannon, but hadn't expected this amount of anger. The worst part was, that André seemed fairly calm while saying all of this. He barely even raised his voice.
"Get out of my way, Chad," he finished. "I have business to attend to. Family business."
André pushed his way past Chad and walked out. Chad went over to the door he walked into. He had never noticed that particular door there before. He didn't dare go down there at the moment, though, or he would risk André's wrath.
Everything was all distorted around JJ. He couldn't see where they were exactly; he felt dizzy and like he was surrounded by nothing. He heard Gwen's voice but it was from far away and he couldn't make out what she was saying.
All of a sudden he had a memory flash, of the cop taking him out of the room, sneering at him that he was coming with him. He remembered being afraid, terribly afraid… he began to feel that all over again.
He heard a roaring in his ears, like a cold wind, and he knew he was supposed to listen, that he was being told what to do and if he didn't obey there'd be hell to pay, but he couldn't hear, didn't know what was being asked of him.
He began to sob, feeling embarrassed and frightened. What was wrong with him? He was never weak and he didn't let anyone push him around, ever. He would fight to the death rather than submit to someone else's will.
He suddenly remembered the cops holding their guns on him. You should have let them shoot you, the voice in his head said. You are too weak and too worthless to live.
Then he heard Gwen's voice, low at first, then louder. He couldn't understand what she was saying. Then he realized she was singing, singing in some language he didn't understand, but it sounded like a lullaby.
Don't trust her, the voice in his head said, and he felt a twinge in his back as a reminder of what would happen to him if he disobeyed. But he didn't care. Gwen was the closest thing to Paige he could ever get now, not that he thought of her that way. His thoughts were all scrambled up and he didn't know how to explain to himself what he meant. All he knew was he didn't care if he got punished for it, he wasn't gonna push away the friendship of the only person in his new world that loved him half as much as Paige had.
He opened his eyes, groaning softly, knowing he would pay for his defiance later, when he was alone, and telling himself he didn't care. Gwen said, "You made it, then. No, don't try to sit up yet. Take a moment to get your bearings. Time jumping can scramble you all up."
"I heard…" JJ said weakly, wanting to tell her that he'd heard the other voice in his head again and he knew for sure that it wasn't his own voice, but he felt a sudden, sharp pain across his back again.
Not another word, he thought, No, that wasn't him. It was whoever was trying to control him.
JJ groaned. "I wanna be free," he said, his voice shaking.
"Soon," Gwen said, misunderstanding what he was trying to tell her. "Let's check you out, make sure there's no ill effects from the teleportation, yeah?"
JJ nodded. Gwen smiled at him sympathetically and he tried to smile back, but his mind was moving quickly. He had to find a way to tolerate the pain next time it came. He had to be free to say and do what he wanted. He couldn't keep on listening to this freaking voice in his head.
Martha came over to him. "Lie still, okay? We need to check you out before we can let you come upstairs with us. We teleported into the tomb area by the cells so that no-one will know we're here til we're ready."
"My back hurts," JJ mumbled, hoping that would scare away whoever it was who kept hurting him. Martha nodded and ran the scanner over him. "His dark matter is fluctuating and there's some anomalies in his brain wave function. I'll tell Jack to make sure we raid the vaults for the proper technology before we meet the others. Stay here with Gwen, JJ. You need to rest a minute."
Meanwhile, upstairs in the main Hub, Owen said, "You know what we should do, long as Jack's not here?"
"Go through all these alien sightings logged in the computer system overnight so that he can be impressed with a job well done when he returns?" Tosh asked.
"Boring," Owen said. "Though you have a point. I was going to suggest we make a game of it. I've set up a virtual basketball simulator and - "
"That's a good use of resources," Tosh commented.
"You're no fun. Where's Ianto with our coffee anyway?"
Ianto had headed down to the vault to inventory some items for Jack. Jack was especially interested in how alien technology could be used to enhance sex, and Ianto was happy to oblige. While he was out, he could make a list for them to go over later.
He was shocked to find Jack in the vaults with a young woman. Jack was doing an inventory of his own, taking out all the immobilization devices and examining them. Ianto sneaked up closer, ignoring the pang of jealousy shooting through him. He'd known Jack liked the ladies as well as the gents, and everything in between for that matter. What business did he have getting tied up in knots over it?
"Are you sure these are strong enough?" Martha asked him.
"There's no guarantees when it comes to the Black Guardian. But these are supposed to be able to immobilize the Hythanian Nestor, the strongest monster in the universe. Surely they can handle one Earth-born boy should he fall too far into the control of the dark matter he's been infected with. These are only to be used in case of absolute emergency, if we become aware that our visitor is being directed to cause immediate harm to himself or to us. My working theory is that once immobilized, the Black Guardian will be forced to talk to us directly and we can then find out what he wants with the boy and take it from there."
Ianto cleared his throat. "Jack. I thought you were gone on a three day expedition. I didn't think it would be in the vaults."
"Right. You never know when you're going to need a portable immobilizer. The more prepared you are the better. Though I have to admit I prefer to travel light."
"Coffee?" Martha interrupted, taking a thermos out of her sack. "I know that's usually your line but I thought we'd relieve you of the burden for a day."
Ianto looked puzzled. "And you are?"
"Martha Jones," Martha said. "A colleague of Owen's." She handed the thermos to Ianto.
"Thanks." Ianto sniffed it. It smelled like caramel, his favorite. He sipped the coffee. Martha said, softly, as he drank, "There's nothing unusual about us being here. We've been here all along after all, you just met us here to see if you could lend a hand with our dark matter problem."
Ianto blinked. The ret-con was taking effect. "You'll have to excuse me," he said. "I need to bring some of this excellent coffee to the others." He left.
When Ianto came upstairs, Tosh and Owen were still arguing. He poured the coffee from the thermos into two cups and brought one to each of them.
"It's about time," Owen said.
"Owen needs to keep his strength up. He has very important work to do," Tosh added.
Owen sipped his coffee. Then he said, "What am I wasting time up here for? Surely Jack wants me to run tests on the boy even if he hasn't said so. Besides, dark matter infection could be the pinnacle of my career here at Torchwood." He jumped up and ran off.
"What's he on about?" Tosh asked.
Ianto smiled at her, blankly. "You mean you don't remember?" he asked. "You really must be sleep-deprived. Don't you recall Jack - "
Tosh put her coffee down. "I'd better take the rest of this down to the lab. Owen surely needs me to enhance the computers to assist in his search for a cure for dark matter."
"All right," Martha said. "One down, two to go. As soon as he delivers that coffee, we'll have 72 hours to rid JJ of the Black Guardian before my newly improved Ret-con recipe wears off." She glanced at Jack. "I hope this works. I didn't want to say anything, but those abnormalities I found in JJ's brain waves after the time jump…" She swallowed hard. "The Black Guardian isn't just trying to fill him with dark matter. He's trying to change his brain chemistry. There was definite evidence of post-hypnotic suggestion."
"Suggestion to do what?"
Martha shook her head. "Perhaps Owen can find out. But I suspect that the Black Guardian is going to make a move soon, and it's going to involve forcing our young visitor to do something he won't be able to live with once his free will is restored."