Author's Notes: I am sorry for the delay in updating this. Within a week of posting chapter 19 I became very ill and was diagnosed with cancer. I've had surgery and am on the mend. It just took longer than I thought it would to recover enough to write. Again my apologies for the delay.
Ianto stood in the center of the corridor, staring at the cell door, wondering what to do next. If he did what the Doctor wanted he would be arming the cell, making it so with a single command from his mobile or computer the cell would be transformed in to a blast furnace, instantly raising the temperature inside to over 3000 degrees centigrade, more than enough to turn anything inside it to ash. It's what he should be doing, but he wasn't. "Why?" he asked himself. Jack, was the ready answer. Jack would never forgive him if anything happened to his friend, the alien whom Ianto suspected was more important to Jack than he was.
Though the cell door window glass was thick and warped he could still assess the alien's condition. It was quiet now. Its eyes closed. Its face pale, with a light coating of sweat. The breathing was the important part, slow and shallow. It didn't look like it was in any condition to fight him, it might even be unconscious. He ought to be able to move it to the infirmary. Medical restraints should be adequate and more comfortable. Ianto chewed on his lower lip as he considered his options. Then shook his head, there were no options. He had to move the Doctor to the infirmary. Jack would understand if the Doctor was there, he would never understand the Doctor being in this cell.
Decision made, he acted quickly and opened the cell door. With a practiced stride that produced no noise he approached the alien. He crouched down next to it, preparing to pick it up when suddenly it moved, seizing his wrist with a bone crunching grip. Its smile too taut, too wide, eyes narrowed and beady, giving the face an unnatural feral appearance. Ianto realized it wasn't the Doctor he was facing, but the creature that was inside him.
Frantically he tried to pull free, but found himself frozen, unable to move. The alien pulled itself up to a sitting position, facing him, its toothy smile being becoming even broader. Ianto felt a darkness blanketing him as his vision faded. Then, just as he felt he was lost, he could see again and his body was his own. He was face to face with the alien now. That face, no longer smiling and feral, but desperate, with eyes wide. It was the Doctor, back in control.
"Get… out… you fool!" the Doctor gasped before clutching his head and screaming.
Ianto need no further encouragement. He jumped up and ran out of the cell, slamming the door shut and locking it. He quickly lifted the safety cover and slammed the button that armed the cell with the heel of his hand, bruising it in the process. The cell was now fully operational. A look back inside showed the Doctor was in desperate straits. His breaths were deep and deliberate as he lay curled up on the floor, eyes shut tight as his hands still clutched his head, finger tips pressing into the top of it as if they were trying to gain purchase to rip open his skull.
As Ianto looked on, the Doctor took in a huge breath, his hands falling from his head as he rolled over onto his back. Slowly the Doctor let out the breath, his face and body relaxed and was still, too still. Ianto was loath to enter the cell again, so he waited hoping for a sign of life from the Time Lord. He was about to give up, prepare to tell Jack his friend had perished when he saw the barest rise of the Doctor's chest. The breathing was slow and shallow but definite.
Relieved, Ianto stepped away from the door and checked his mobile for Jack's status. The SUV was already parked in its usual spot and a code informed him Jack was bringing two guests, further bad news. He hurried to the Torchwood main entrance, trying to figure out how he was going to explain to the Torchwood leader what had happened.
Jack at that moment was furious with himself, his stupid tweaking of Frank's nose at the pub was now costing him. With that advanced warning, the MI5 agent had been more than prepared for Jack's arrival. The ambassador had been heavily sedated, making any chance of the Doctor interviewing him that evening unlikely. That was just a minor annoyance. Jack doubted they would be able to get to the bottom of the murder that night anyway. It was MI5's insistence on a two man prisoner escort that was causing him heartburn.
He should have anticipated that requirement and picked up Gwen on the way. Even then the requirement wouldn't have been so bad, if he'd been able to have a say in who the other escort would be. He'd seen a couple of good-looking agents he wouldn't have minded chatting up during the trip and try to recruit away from MI5. But no such luck, it was Frank he was stuck with, and he was sure his motive for being the second escort wasn't the safe transportation of ambassador as yet again the old man tripped, with Frank doing nothing to help but watch.
"Look, can't you at least hold him up on your side?" complained Jack as the prisoner lurched hard against him, causing him to stagger and put a foot down in a deep puddle he had been trying to avoid.
"Oh, you're doing fine," observed Frank cheerily. "I need to keep an eye out, make sure no one recognizes him."
"No, fear of that, this getup you've got him in not even his own mother would recognize him," declared Jack, referring to the water proof tweed fedora and oversized oil skin raincoat the old man was wearing. The rain made a drumming sound on the coat that reminded Jack of being out on bivouac during the First World War. The greasy industrial smell that emanated from it reinforced that effect. Jack had his arm around the ambassador's waist, trying to make sure he had a grip on the man and not just the coat. A frigid stream of rain water was now running off the brim of the fedora onto back of Jack's hand, making it ache from the cold.
"Come on, can you stand up for a bit so I can get a better hold on you?" the captain asked of his charge. There was no answer and he didn't expect one. That face that had seemed so confident and self-assured, now was blank, eyes unfocused, staring at nothing. The wrinkles that had made the ambassador appear distinguished and wise now just made him look old and worn out. To Jack it seemed as if he was escorting an empty husk. Despite the lack of response, he shifted his grip, giving his hand some relief.
"There, that's better now, not too much further," Jack said encouragingly to his mute audience. He was beginning to feel sorry for him, looking so frail. "Stop that," he silently admonished himself. "The Doctor will be giving him plenty of sympathy." His job was to remember this frail old man might very well be a murderer and to remain on the alert, protect the Doctor, who seemed at this time to be especially vulnerable. If it had been up to Jack he would have let MI5 keep the ambassador not let him near his friend. But though the Doctor had tried to hide it, Jack had heard the desperation in his voice when he had asked if he could interview the accused official. No, the head of Torchwood was sure there was more to the Doctor's request than just getting to the bottom of the murder. Maybe this man here was the key to what was wrong with the Doctor.
The ambassador stumbled again, jarring Jack out his thoughts. "Why did you have to dope him up so much?" Jack griped to Frank.
"It was necessary," stated Frank. "He went into an absolute panic when we told him he was being transferred to Torchwood for the Doctor to interrogate. He was about to do injury to himself. We almost had to put him into a straight jacket."
"You could have tried telling him the Doctor is on his side and wants to help him."
Frank snorted. "Right, I wasn't born yesterday and neither was he. That alien friend of yours is definitely up to something, and I doubt it is to help his accuser."
Jack just shook his head, glad that they were finally at the Torchwood entrance and he could rid himself of the MI5 pest.
"Aren't you going to open the door?"
"No, can't at this entrance. Ianto should be here in a moment," lied Jack, not wanting Frank to even see how the lock worked.
"What you can't even get into your own base?" laughed Frank. "No wonder you have agents dropping like flies."
Jack's response to that jib was aborted when Ianto opened the door. "You can leave now," Jack told Frank coldly. "Ianto will take over for you."
"No, I think I'll stay awhile," replied Frank as he stepped around Ianto, "at least until the sedative wears off. I don't want you claiming he died in your custody because we overdosed him."
Jack shot Ianto a lethal look, surprised and upset the Welshman had failed to stop Frank's entrance into the Hub. To his credit Ianto took the initiative and immediately relieved Jack of the ambassador, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the wet coat as he removed it from the swaying official. Disgusted, he hung it on a rack behind the reception counter, along with the dripping fedora. He quickly lunged to catch the old man whose knees had started to buckle. "Is he sick?" he asked.
Jack shook his head. "No, he's just heavily sedated. I could understand them giving him something to calm him down a bit, but this is overkill. I think they are just trying to interfere with our investigation."
"Now, now. Would we do that?" asked Frank innocently. "We've been the very picture of cooperation."
"Yeah, cooperation," said Jack. "You won't even tell me what you gave him. It would be helpful if we could give him the antidote."
"You have your trade secrets, we have ours."
"Come on, let's get him settled in," Jack told Ianto. "Then we can tell the Doctor he's going to have to wait till the morning to talk to him."
Ianto swallowed nervously at that last statement but said nothing as he helped the ambassador into the main part of the hub. Jack wondered what was going on to cause that reaction. He glanced over at Frank who appeared to have noticed anything amiss, but after being outfoxed by him this afternoon Jack wasn't assuming anything.
As he entered the hub he saw a red light was flashing on the wall above the entrance to the holding area. The sterilization cell was armed. He forced himself to stay calm. Not give Frank any other hints that something was amiss. This latest piece of information combined with Ianto being nervous at the mention of the Doctor was not good. He needed to get Frank out of the way so he could investigate what was going on.
"Why don't you go with Ianto and see if the ambassador's accommodations meet with your approval?" Jack suggested amiably.
Frank's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he scratched his chin while he looked around at the center of Torchwood operations. "No, no need for that. I'll check on him later. I'd like you to give me a tour of this place. Show me what measures you have for the surveillance of your prisoners. As short staffed as you are, I need to make sure you are up to the job."
Jack ignored the needling and decided to comply with the Frank's request. "Sure," he replied lightheartedly. "We can watch the cells from any one of the workstations. Come into my office. It's easiest to show you there."
He showed Frank to his office. "You can have a seat here and watch on that screen on the wall,"Jack explained, pulling out a chair for Frank before taking his seat behind the desk. He punched in a few commands and a view of the ambassador's cell came up on the screen on the wall in addition to the one on his desk.
Ianto was preparing the man for bed. "A good call on his part," Jack thought. "Let him sleep it off." Given the state of the man he decided to have Gwen spend the night watch here. She could reassure the old man everything was fine if he came out of it in the middle of the night. Probably better than he could and she would stop Frank from feeding his fear. It meant he would be spending the night on the Doctor's couch. He didn't mind. He'd rather be the one watching over the Doctor anyway.
"See nice hi res surveillance and…" explained Jack as he made a few mouse clicks causing several numbers appeared in red at the bottom of the screen, "we can even do basic medical monitoring from here."
"Only one view of the cell?" observed Frank. "That gives you some huge blind spots. I may have to…"
"You don't have to do anything," replied Jack trying to keep a hold of his temper. "See?" He made a few quick mouse clicks and the views from eight different cameras sprung up onto the screen. "All the views you could want, even under the bed and the corridor outside the cell."
Frank twisted his mouth as he scowled the screen. "Okay, so you have the video covered. What about the audio?"
"On and recording," said Jack as he performed another mouse click and the sounds of the cell became audible. "We can also set it so there is an alarm if the sound goes over a set level. And there are motion detectors to let us know if there is too much activity in the room or not enough."
"Is the door alarmed?"
Jack bit back the sarcastic reply that sprung to his mind, well aware Frank was trying to get a rise out of him. "Yes, both the door and the entrance to the cell block itself. In fact every Torchwood member has a mobile device that allows them to look up the status of each of the cells."
Frank raised an eyebrow at that last statement and Jack feared he had said too much. He was right. "I'll be needing one of those while the ambassador is here," the MI5 agent stated.
"No, you won't. The ambassador is in our custody, not yours. It's only out of professional courtesy that I'm allowing you to stay here until what you gave him wears off." Jack hesitated for an instant before continuing. "That and your group may very well have messed up the dosage, since you won't tell us what it is, it will be your job to sort him out if they did."
Frank smiled. "Well, since I am going to be here a while, care to direct me to the mess hall?"
Jack waved his hand in the general direction of the coffee mess visible through the window of his office. "You can get some tea or coffee over there. There might be a few left over biscuits if you're hungry. Ianto can order you some take away when he gets back here."
Frank looked like he was about to protest but instead scowled and turned to leave the office.
"Oh, and clean up after yourself," Jack called out to him. The captain smiled when he got no response.
Free of the pest for the moment, Jack decided to check out what was in the sterilization cell. He quickly brought up the surveillance feeds for the cell. His mouth went dry when he saw what was on the screen. The Doctor lying in the middle of the cell, curled up on his side. If he was reading the medical feeds correctly his friend was in distress. His hearts beating too rapidly, his breathing too quick and shallow. He jumped up to go to him, only to run straight into Frank who was staring at the monitor on the wall. The monitor that Jack, in his haste to find out what was going on, had forgotten to turn off.
"So, looks like someone in your organization understands how dangerous he is." Frank pushed over to Jack's keyboard. Showing his earlier ignorance of the monitoring system had been a ruse as he punched up the details on the cell. "Ah, very nice," he almost purred as he used the mouse to circle a blinking icon. "Just a single click, the menace is fried and the ambassador can go home."
Before he even realized he was going to do it Jack delivered an uppercut to Frank's jaw, closing it with an audible clack, dropping him where he stood. The captain tried to disarm the cell and found he couldn't from his computer. An upgrade they had never made. He ran towards the door of the office, wanting to get his friend out of there as quickly as possible, but Ianto blocked the office doorway.
"Clean up that mess," growled Jack indicating the fallen member of MI5 as he started to shoulder past Ianto. "I'll deal with you later."
Ianto grabbed the captain's arm, preventing him from going any further. "No Jack, you can't. He said not to let you near him."
"What do you mean he said not to let me near him? What did you do to him?" Jack's emotions warred with his training. He wanted to get to the Doctor, but he needed intel to make sure he was executing the right course of action. Right now he wasn't sure Ianto was the best source of that intel, but he had no other choice.
"I didn't do anything. There's something wrong with him. He was scared, Jack, really scared."
"What happened? Why is he in that cell?" barked Jack, losing his patience with the Welshman.
"I don't know what happened," Ianto replied keeping his voice calm but unable to hide the desperation he felt. "He was fine and then he was doubled over in pain. He…"
"If he was in pain, he should be in the infirmary," interrupted Jack. "He's sick, not dangerous."
"I tried to take him there, he wouldn't go. He insisted he be put in a holding cell. He said he wasn't sick, he was invaded and I believe him. There's something inside him. I knew you wouldn't like the cell he was in. I thought he was unconscious and tried to move him. He grabbed my wrist, only it wasn't him. I could feel it inside me. I couldn't move. Then it was gone. I was free and he told me to leave. He saved me Jack."
"And you repay him by arming the cell? What were you thinking?" A groan interrupted any response Ianto might have had. Jack turned to see Frank getting up from the floor rubbing his jaw.
"What'd you do that for?" Frank asked. "I was only having a bit of a joke."
"It's not a joke where the safety of our consultant is concerned. You're under arrest. Ianto, put him in a cell. I'll deal with him later."
"I'm what? What's the charge?" protested Frank.
"Interfering with the course of an investigation. Endangering the life of a Torchwood employee. Give me time and I'll add a few more to the list." Jack pulled out his gun and pointed it at the MI5 agent. "Now are you going to go quietly or do I need to use this?"
On Jack's order Ianto had moved next to Frank. "Sir, he's carrying a few items that I would advise we remove before he's put in a cell."
"Do it," said Jack motioning with his gun for Frank to raise his hands.
"You're not going to get away with this," Frank threatened as he folded his hands on top of his head. "You're going to be in more trouble than you can imagine."
Jack smiled. "I appreciate your concern. Get him out of here Ianto. If he gives you any trouble, put him in with the weevils."
"Yes sir," replied Ianto as he hustled the MI5 agent out of the office. Jack admired his technique. His boy had been practicing. Frank didn't stand a chance against him. His thoughts sobered when he saw the Doctor on the screen. He wanted to go to him but he couldn't risk it, not until he knew more. He pulled up the video record for the holding area corridor, quickly finding the segment that showed Ianto and the Doctor entering it.
The record confirmed what Ianto had told him. It also showed the Doctor in pain and truly frightened, telling Ianto to flash the cell if there was any sign of his regenerating. Jack bit his lip at that. Whatever it was that had infected the Doctor, regeneration wouldn't cure it. He wondered if even flashing the cell would destroy whatever was possessing the Doctor.
He looked up to see Ianto standing in front of him a worried look on his face, like a dog expecting to get a beating. "I checked the video. Don't worry. You did the right thing. This J-12, do you have any idea what he meant by it?"
"No sir, I don't."
"It's important. Most likely it's a designation for a star or a planet. Possibly where this thing inside him originated from. Check all the records, everything from both Torchwood and UNIT. Whatever you can find J-12, 12-J anything close to it all, check it all out."
"Yes sir, what if we don't find anything? Will we..?"
"No, we won't. He has faith that we can figure this out. I'm not going to let him down. Now get to work. We don't have any time to waste."
Jack watched Ianto leave for his work station. He then turned his attention to the screen. The Doctor was lying on his back now, his eyes staring upward at nothing. His mouth was open as his chest heaved, each breath looking like a battle he was about to lose. "Come on Doctor, hang in there," Jack pleaded quietly to the image on the screen. "I promise you, we are going to figure this out."