Chapter Fifty
Sorry about the long wait – exams and detentions crept up on me without warning and I've been unfortunate enough to have writer's block big time. :-(
This chapter is dedicated to WickedTorchwoodFan, who has reviewed nearly all the chapters in depth and is always lovely to talk to. (From now on I'm going to do a dedication each chapter – about ten left, folks!)
Hope this makes up for the wait!
Disclaimer: Well, what d'you think? Of course I don't own Torchwood!
The Doctor frowned at the metal helmet, his long, nimble fingers darting skilfully to hook it up to Toshiko's computer.
"Are you sure that this is going to work?" Tosh asked, her eyes watching him anxiously.
"Nope!" The Doctor grinned. "But that makes it even more fun, don't you think?"
Owen folded his arms, his expression doubtful and untrusting. "What if it goes wrong? We haven't got fixed co-ordinates – just setting it to hone in on Jack might not be enough."
"But it's all we've got," the Doctor said grimly, "and I've got to give it a shot."
"How are you going to get them back, though?" Toshiko asked. "Just getting into Jack's mind might not be enough."
The Doctor paused. "Well, as far as the TARDIS can tell, these aliens are a hive race – they connect minds," he said. "So if I can get into Jack's mind, then he and Ianto will be connected and I can get to Ianto, too."
"Is there anything else we can do?" Tosh asked, biting her lip. "Programs we can run, information we can find?"
"Nope. Sorry." The Doctor gave one last yank on one of the wires and stood back. "There we go. I need you to press the 'enter' key when I say." He waited for her to nod before continuing, "I can then, hopefully, get into Jack's mind and drag him out."
"So, one last time," Owen said carefully, "you're going to basically get a mind-hold on Jack, who in turn has a hold on Ianto, so that when you get dragged out, they will too."
"That's about it, yeah," the Doctor agreed. "But they'll be in the Channel Islands, not here." He hesitated. "If they're both alive, that is."
"The hospital said that Ianto had a couple of months," Toshiko said hopefully. "He should be fine."
"A couple of months with the medication," Owen pointed out, crossing his arms. "Ianto hasn't had the medication for nearly four weeks."
"All the same..." she trailed off, shrugging. "I'm just not giving up on them, that's all."
The Doctor reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "That's it," he said encouragingly. "Never give up – every cloud has a silver lining, as they say." Owen looked disbelieving, but the Doctor quickly picked up the helmet and sat down in a chair. "Well, then," he said with a mock-salute. "Let's get to work."
-T-
Ianto and Jack were leaning against the railings overlooking the Bay. To Jack, it felt odd to know that the Hub wasn't just a few feet beneath them, underneath the water tower, but he didn't voice as much to Ianto. He's been through enough recently.
"So how d'you think's the best way out?" Ianto asked after a few minutes of companionable silence. "I was wondering if dying—"
"Forget it," Jack said, his stomach clenching. "It's too much of a risk."
Ianto opened his mouth to argue, then nodded and kept quiet. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes as striking as if an artist had taken a brush and purple paint to his face; his jay-feather blue eyes were blood-shot and irritated. Jack felt the familiar surge of protectiveness in his gut, but fought it down – Ianto wouldn't appreciate it if he told him to go and have a lie-down.
"Jack!"
Jack whirled around to see the Doctor racing across the Plass towards them. "Doctor?"
The Doctor skidded to a halt a couple of metres away and stared at Ianto in delight. "Ianto Jones! Good to see that you're still in the land of the living."
"What d'you mean?" Ianto asked, frowning. "We've only been away a couple of days, at the most."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh, that's smart..." he said admiringly. "Time's running slower for you."
Jack didn't like the sound of that. "How long has it been for you?"
The Doctor grimaced. "Three weeks, four days," he admitted, "and about six hours."
"What about Ianto's medication?" Jack asked, fear clawing at his gut.
"The hospital are going to be out of their minds," Ianto observed. "Sister Kate probably thinks you abducted me."
"All taken care of," the Doctor said easily. "Toshiko fixed it up so it looks like you had an emergency transfer to St Helen's in Cardiff."
"What about Rhi?"
"Who?"
"Rhiannon Evans, my sister," Ianto said, a hand flying to his hair as it always did when he was worrying. "What've you told her?"
The Doctor stared at him, bewildered. "I wasn't aware that you had a sister," he said. "I guess Toshiko must have fixed something up." He shrugged. "Anyway, I need to get you two out of here."
"You can get us out?" Jack asked, unconsciously shifting closer to Ianto. For that matter, how did you get in?"
"I'll explain later," the Doctor said, waving dismissively. "For now, all you need to know is that the aliens are a hive-mind—"
"There were lots of brains in a tank," Ianto interrupted. "Are they the aliens, too?"
"What d'you mean?"
"There were lots of brains in a tank that attacked us," Ianto said. "And there were the fish-people."
The Doctor frowned. "Oh. That's..." He shrugged and sniffed. "That's no problem. As soon as we're out, I'll nip over in the TARDIS to bail you out."
Ianto raised an eyebrow. Jack guessed he was thinking along the same lines as Jack. "Doctor, much as that sounds like a good idea, you aren't the most reliable of people," Jack began, trying to sound diplomatic and, by the looks on their faces, failing miserably. Sod it. "What I'm trying to say is that it might be better for us to just manage by ourselves," he said.
The Doctor's face was a picture. "I'm perfectly reliable!" he spluttered.
"Three weeks late, remember? Rose was a year late?" Jack shook his head. "We'll be fine."
The Doctor looked a bit like a toddler who's had his favourite toy taken away from him. "But—"
"Can we save this all for later?" Ianto said. If Jack didn't know him better, he would have thought that the Welshman sounded testy. "As it is, we're wasting time and I don't have that long."
"Oh. Yeah. Right, sorry," the Doctor said. "We all need to hold hands and hopefully Tosh will work her magic."
"When will—?" Ianto began to ask, but then they were being pulled up, away from the Bay, away from this world and out into... light.
-T-
The first thing that Ianto was aware of when he opened his eyes was the blinding grin of Captain Jack Harkness.
"You okay?" Jack asked.
Ianto struggled to sit up, and realised that he was lying in a pool of water. "It worked, then?"
"Yup." Jack was still grinning. "Even better, there's no sign of the aliens."
"Oh my God," a weak voice said from behind them. They spun around, Ianto staggering to his feet, to see green-eyed Ianto staring about the stark white room in horror. "Where am I? What just happened?"
Shit. This wasn't looking good, Ianto decided. "This is the real world," he finally settled on saying.
Green-eyed Ianto looked... green. "So you were speaking the truth," he said faintly.
Ianto spared a glance at Jack, who had a very odd expression on his face.
"I think this proves the debate as to whether he's real or not," Jack said, his voice sounding strangled.
"But it doesn't explain why he's here," Ianto retorted.
Jack blinked, surprised. "He's you, that's why. It locked onto him, too."
"That's useful," Ianto said dryly. "One way of getting the paperwork done quicker."
Jack smiled. "I can think of some other—"
"No, Jack," both Iantos said in synch.
Jack pulled a face. "It wouldn't even be a threesome – not really."
"Believe me, it would be," G-Ianto said.
"Even I have my limits," Ianto added, then frowned. "Or should that be 'we'?"
"Don't bother confusing yourself," G-Ianto advised. "Already been there, done that."
"And got the t-shirt?" Ianto said, amused.
"Quite a horrible colour," G-Ianto said, face carefully deadpan. "Would much rather have a nice tie."
"Owen's gonna love this," Jack commented. "Double the sarcasm."
G-Ianto grinned, then suddenly looked upset. "Does this mean that all my memories are false?" he asked quietly. "Was my entire life a lie?"
Neither of the other two replied. Then Ianto said, "It was real. To you, it was real."
"But I'm just a copy," G-Ianto said quietly.
"You're not a copy," Jack said heatedly. "You look different, for a start—"
"Just my eyes."
"—and you don't like coffee—"
"That's hardly a difference." G-Ianto looked down, at the rippling puddle on the floor.
"Believe me, it is," Ianto said seriously.
"You've got different memories, too," Jack added forcefully. "You're a different person."
"A special person," Ianto pressed.
"'I think, therefore I am' ring any bells?" Jack asked.
G-Ianto nodded.
"Do you feel like a normal person?" Ianto unconsciously echoed Gwen's words to Beth, the sleeper agent. G-Ianto nodded. Ianto smiled. "Then you are."
There came the sound of splashing from up the corridor.
"Sorry to break this up, guys, but we really need to get out of here," Jack said. "I think the house-owner's coming home."
*ominous music* There we go – chapter fifty complete! :-) I can't believe that this was only intended to be a short, 20-chapter thing when I started it!
Hugs and chocolate to all of you – and good luck with exams!
Remember, reviews make me a happy writer, and that makes me a productive writer... ;-)