Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hope you don't all want to kill me after this... –hides in corner- ...I'll make it up to you all later! Sorry if this chapter comes out a bit stilted – I've a touch of writers' block on anything except my novel at the moment... :-(
Kymii, I'm afraid I couldn't reply to your review as it wasn't signed, but I hope this chapter explains a little for you! You are completely right – I'm delighted that you picked up on it. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. I mean, honestly – do you really believe that I would be able to come up with such a wonderful thing?
Gwen hesitated, about to swing herself over the side of the boat. What if Jack got angrier?
Martha cleared her throat impatiently. "Come on, then," she urged. "No point hanging around out here."
Gwen nodded, and clambered over the rail, Martha swiftly following suit.
The lights in the cabin were dimmed, which didn't really surprise Gwen all that much. Jack wouldn't want bright lights at the moment.
She carefully slid back the hatch and peered into the cabin. The first thing she noticed was that Ianto's body was no longer where it had been when she left – had Jack moved it into their cabin, or something? The second thing that caught her attention was the large, blue police-box, crammed in in front of the door to Gwen and Toshiko's cabin.
She heard Martha breathe a sigh of relief when the other woman spotted the box. Gwen frowned. What was a police-box doing here, and, more importantly, how the hell did it get in the cabin in the first place?
"Good that Donna managed to drag the Doctor here," Martha murmured.
"What?" Gwen asked, still perplexed.
Martha shook her head. "I called the Doctor, to try and get him to come."
"Wait – that's the TARDIS?"
Martha shot Gwen a suspicious look. "Hasn't Jack told you guys about the Doctor?"
Gwen shrugged. "Of course. I just didn't immediately think..."
Martha nodded, and called in a soft voice, "Doctor?"
The door of the box swung open and a lanky man with scruffy brown hair and large brown eyes looked out. He grinned when he saw Martha. "Martha Jones! Nice to see you again."
"I just wish it wasn't in such circumstances," Martha said heavily, with a sigh.
The Doctor frowned. "Circumstances?"
"Honestly, Doctor – Ianto being dead? Ring any bells?" Martha climbed down into the crowded cabin, ducking to avoid cracking her head on the hatch.
The Doctor nodded emphatically. "Yes, yes – but he's not any more!"
"What?" Martha asked at exactly the same time that Gwen did.
The Doctor shrugged and sniffed. "To cut a long story short - Jack stole the TARDIS, went off somewhere, came back knowing what to do and brought Ianto back from the Psychic Realm."
"The Psychic Realm?" Gwen echoed. "What's that?"
"Exactly what it says on the label – a realm that exists solely in the unconsciousness. Where the mind exists when it's dead, if you like." The Doctor grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet. "Brilliant, isn't it?"
Martha shook her head. "OK. Where are they now? I'll need to give Ianto a full physical examination."
"Oh, I think that Ewen did that already."
"Owen," Gwen said.
"Sorry?"
"His name's Owen. Not Ewen," she said.
"I said that – why would I call Owen Ewen? Ewen doesn't even sound that much like Owen – well, maybe a bit." The Doctor frowned and pulled a face. "Well... a lot. But that doesn't mean that I did call him Owen. Ewen. Owen-Ewen. That medic bloke."
Martha rolled her eyes at the Doctor's babbling. "Where are they now, anyway? I'd like to double-check."
The Doctor nodded at the door to Jack and Ianto's cabin. "They're sleeping. Both were exhausted."
"Right." Martha squeezed past the TARDIS, trying not to knock stuff off the work-surface as she went.
"Where are Owen and Tosh?" Gwen asked, noticing for the first time that they were absent.
The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS fully and plonked himself down by the table. "You must be Gwen – Toshiko mentioned that you might be returning. They said something about going to explain to a friend that you guys wouldn't be coming to dinner. Or something along those lines." He swung his feet up onto the table-top. Gwen noticed that he was wearing red converses.
Gwen nodded and sat down awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
The quiet in the room was stifling. It felt as if somebody had sprayed a can of deodorant over-enthusiastically all around, clogging up the air and prickling at her nose.
The Doctor seemed oblivious to the odd atmosphere. He had his hands behind his head and was humming to himself.
Gwen swallowed. "So, uh, have you known Jack long?"
The Doctor pulled a face. "Depends whose time-line you're talking about."
"Sorry?"
The Doctor sat up properly and stared intently at Gwen, his brown eyes glowing with intelligence. "How much has Jack told you about his past?"
Gwen flushed. "A bit," she said, not wanting to admit that she knew only bits and pieces – barely anything. "Y'know, about having been a Time Agent. And that he's immortal."
The Doctor grinned suddenly and disarmingly. "I met Jack in the 1940's. Then I took him all over the universe, throughout time and space, and, when he died on the Game Station in the 2002nd Century, I left him behind." He paused, eyes darknening with pain. "He then jumped to the 19th Century, and followed me to the end of the universe and beyond.
"For Jack, he's known me for over a hundred years. For me, I've known him for about four years." He shook his head. "I've known him all over time and space, so I guess you could – in a way – say that I've always known Jack." The Doctor finished and sat back again. "That answer your question?"
Gwen nodded, unsure about what to say. She had the nagging suspicion that she had just had the opportunity to find out more about Jack and fumbled it.
Silence descended again.
-T-
"You seem to be fine..." Martha said slowly, eying her scanner doubtfully.
Ianto was perched on the edge of the bed, long legs dangling and hair ruffled. "I told you so. A little stiff, but fine."
Martha nodded at Jack, who was still fast asleep and dead to the world. "I need to check him over next," she said.
Ianto nodded and leant back to kiss Jack gently. "Jack, you need to wake up now."
Jack's eyes didn't open.
Ianto rolled his eyes and poked Jack in the side. "Jack. Martha needs to check you over."
Still no response.
Ianto frowned, cerulean-blue eyes worried. "He doesn't normally take this long to wake up."
Martha climbed onto the bed next to Ianto and peered at Jack, peeling back an eyelid to check his eyes. "He's unconscious," she said in confusion.
"How?"
Martha sat back on her heels and stared at Jack's greyed face. "Jack brought you back to life, right?"
"Yes..."
"And he did that using the power of his mind?"
"I guess... how does that—" He broke off, eyes widening. "Shit."
"Exactly. I think that you might be draining him," Martha said. "I'm sorry, Ianto."
Ianto had turned away from her. He touched his fingertips to Jack's lips briefly, before looking up at Martha with hope burning in his eyes. "But he can't die," he pointed out with forced optimism. "So Jack'll be fine."
Martha shook her head slowly. "I don't think it's that simple, Ianto. I'm really sorry."
Ianto shook his head. "No – we just have to wait for him to wake up. That's all." He sat down, cross-legged by Jack's side, and pulled Jack's head into his lap so that he was cradling his lover. He smiled up reassuringly at Martha, and she saw the little lost boy that he was at heart slipping through the cracks fracturing Ianto's demeanour. "He likes to have someone with him when he wakes up," he explained matter-of-factly. "It's what I usually do. We just wait, then Jack will wake up and it will all be fine."
Martha felt her heart swell with pity for the young Welshman. "I'll go and get the Doctor," she said gently, slipping off the bed and leaving the cabin, only pausing to look back at Ianto, who was murmuring softly to Jack in welsh, patiently waiting for the captain to return to him.
Um... yeah. I hope you aren't too mad – please don't kill me... –cowers away- It'll all be right in the end!
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