Guilt
Chapter Six
"What?!"
Jack couldn't restrain the exclamation at Ianto's revelation that his girlfriend, the girlfriend he wanted Torchwood to save, had been converted.
"Your girlfriend is a Cyberman and you were going to bring her into the Hub?" he cried incredulously, jumping to his feet. "Are you insane? Or are you just trying to get us all killed?"
A vague glimmer in the back of his mind suggested that he may be overreacting a little, but he didn't care. He knew exactly how much of a threat the Cybermen posed and he couldn't let that happen.
He opened his mouth to continue his tirade, but Ianto cut him off before he could utter a single word. "She's not a Cyberman," he stated forcefully, getting to his own feet, mirroring Jack's stance perfectly. "She's still Lisa. I know she is."
"Ianto, if she's been converted…"
"But she hasn't, not properly," Ianto insisted. "The process was never completed."
Jack was confused. What he remembered about the 'upgrade' process wouldn't allow for survival at an incomplete stage.
His confusion must have shown in his expression, as Ianto's next words offered an explanation. " It happened near the end of the Canary Wharf battle. The Cybermen needed more soldiers, and fast. They started upgrading whole bodies, instead of just transplanting brains."
"The machines must have switched off when the Cybermen and Daleks disappeared. Lisa was only part way through the process. I dragged her out." Ianto's expression was beseeching as he stared at Jack. "I've done what I can, but please, please, you have to help me help her."
Jack sank back into his seat, exhaling slowly as he considered how to continue. "And if I don't - if I can't - what then?"
Ianto's face crumpled slightly as he too sat back down. "I don't know."
Jack leant back in his chair, observing the young man staring at his hands opposite him. Inside, Jack was conflicted. Ianto had clearly experienced more than any normal person his age should have to, and he hated the thought of adding to that. But, on the other hand, could he really risk the possibility of restarting the Cyber-invasion from right there in the Hub?
He could see that Ianto truly believed that Lisa's conversion had been stopped early enough that she would not pose a risk. But it was also painfully clear that Ianto loved Lisa very much, and Jack knew from experience that love that strong could be blinding.
It was a very real possibility that Ianto, after all the hardships he had endured to keep Lisa alive, was seeing what he wanted to see.
Jack was also aware that even if he agreed to try, there were no guarantees that anything could really be done. They had a lot of advanced technology in the archives, and the combined skills of his team were remarkable. But reversing Cyber-technology was a world away from anything they had done before.
If he agreed to help, he might have to face the task of telling Ianto that - even with Torchwood's resources - nothing could be done.
He knew that facing up to that would break Ianto's heart just as surely as an outright refusal.
Closing his eyes, he made a decision. "Ianto…"