Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 51
It had taken several days to finally settle matters with Johnson, all the stolen data, materials, and gadgets she'd had now safely back with the rightful agencies, and her entire life bundled into a couple of bays at the Torchwood storage facility in Splott. Even what she'd left at her last military base and everything from her "house of horrors" outside London had been put there, with UNIT's thanks for sparing them the trouble. A particularly disturbing find had been a file of photos of the Rift Manipulator and notations regarding its power supply and usage. The good news on that according to Turlough, was that she'd guessed wrong about the source of power and missed taking pictures of some crucial features. And since he'd admitted it was very like the Vortex engine of a TARDIS and that he'd done the repairs for UNIT, he'd obviously know.
The former SAS Commander's ultimate fate had yet to be decided, but it was sounding pretty grim as the other agencies went through everything she'd planned to hand over to the Americans at her new job, and took a closer look at her actions over the past ten years. The group in the United States was currently the subject of a UN investigation, for hiring a foreign operative without performing a proper background check and neglecting to contact her superiors for clearance since they were an allied nation and she still had an 'active' status. Torchwood's involvement appeared to be over, and they hoped it stayed that way.
So, it was back to business as usual at the Hub, though they were down another team member for a while. Gwen's father had experienced his most serious heart attack to date two days before his scheduled appointment with his Cardiologist, and was now in the Critical Care Unit of Rookwood Hospital north of the City Centre. Mrs. Cooper was staying with her daughter's family in Penarth and her husband's prognosis wasn't looking promising. So, Gwen was taking some leave to be with her parents, just in case.
That left the bulk of the alien chasing and tech hunting to Jack and Ianto, with timely assistance from Turlough and Martha when needed, as the Rift geared back up into its normal rhythm. No one was complaining however, the whole team trying to do what they could to support the former constable and her family in these difficult times.
One thing that could make Cooper smile even now, was the memory of New Year's Eve at the Hub. She'd played the requisite five hands of strip poker with Jack and Ianto, and laughed too hard to be embarrassed as despite the older man's wild shuffling and mad dealing, they'd both lost to their younger companion. At the end, she'd been down to her bra and panties, Harkness only in his white rabbit dotted boxers, and their resident Changeling minus nothing more than the boots he'd taken off before the game had started. They'd had coffee and brownie bites, talked about good times in the past, and finally toasted the New Year with a bit of brandy. For all her trepidation about the promised card game, she'd had a fantastic time and was now very glad she'd done it.
Still, when the hospital had called late the night of the 5th to inform the family that Geraint had taken a sharp turn for the worse, it had been hard to bring little Ebrill to say goodbye to her grandfather. It was now nearly 5:00 am of the 6th, Gwen and her mother still sitting in the Critical Care room listening to the hiss of oxygen and ticking of the wall clock. Mr. Cooper had a DNR on file, and had asked the staff early on to shut off the sound of the EKG because the often-irregular beeping was driving them all mad. So, they were simply staying by his bedside and hoping for a miracle.
Gwen was semi-dozing; glad Rhys had taken the baby home. Yes, she would have loved to have him here with her for support, but Eb was far too young to see death yet. Suddenly her right jeans' pocket vibrated and she roused to pull her mobile out, knowing she really shouldn't there in the hospital room but too much in the habit of answering it not to.
"Hello…" she murmured sleepily.
[Gwen,] Ianto's voice on the other end of the line sounded rather shaky and she immediately worried that something had happened to Jack. [The Scieron just told me they see your father passing the Door… are you with him? Do you need help with your mother?]
Cooper's gaze snapped to the nearby machinery just as both highly irregular readings went to steady flatlines.
"Oh, God…" she whispered, feeling strangely numb. "I… We're here with him… I'll… I'll call if I need help, yeah? Rhys took the baby home… will you tell him for me?"
[I'll call him,] Ianto promised. [Whatever we can do, just let us know, okay?]
"Sure," Gwen breathed, hearing hurrying steps coming down the hall toward the room. "Thanks for the call."
Then she shut off the phone and pocketed it again, rising to go wake her mother where the aging blond had her head on the mattress near the spot where she was holding her husband's hand.
"Mam," the former PC called tightly, gently shaking the older woman's shoulder. "Mam… he's gone."
Mary Cooper opened her eyes and slowly sat up, tears slipping down her face as she gently stroked Geraint's motionless hand with her thumb.
"I know," she whispered as one of the nurses came rushing in through the door. "He said goodbye to me in my dreams just now. Oh, Gwen… he's so proud of you and so happy you made things work with Rhys. He'll miss seeing Ebrill grow up, but he's glad we won't be sick, or tired, or swallowing a hand full of pills twice a day anymore. He says he'll wait for me… but what do I do till then?"
Gwen put her arms around her mother and held her close, as the nurse sadly shook her head and began turning off all the equipment in the room.
"I suppose we should go back to the waiting room," Mrs. Cooper sighed shakily. "Let me give him one kiss goodbye, then we'll let the young lady here do what she must."
She stood, leaned close over the bed and placed a solid kiss on her husband's still warm lips. Then she took her daughter's waiting hand, slowly heading for the door that was now being held by the doctor who'd been by the room several times earlier in the night. They went to sit together on the small settee in the empty waiting room, only silence between them for several minutes.
"How am I going to cope without the silly old sod?" Mary whispered, finally starting to cry in earnest.
"Don't worry, Mam," Gwen comforted, managing not to break down in tears herself by remembering how stubborn and strong Ianto had been for Jack when he'd had his meltdown a couple of weeks before. "It'll all come right in time, I promise."
The former constable concentrated on soothing her mother, was happy to see Rhys arrive to help about thirty minute later, so she could sign the necessary paperwork to be able to have the funeral home come for her father's body once they opened at 8:00 am. Then they took Mary home with them. And it wasn't until they were nearly there, that Cooper thought to ask about Ebrill.
"Rhys…" Gwen prodded with a slight frown. "Where's the baby?"
"I was sort of caught out when Ianto called," her husband explained. "He said they could watch her for a bit, so I took her by on my way to the Hospital. I'll go fetch her once your mam's settled."
"They didn't have to do that," Cooper murmured, surprised by the arrangement. "They're likely busy with work."
"He said it was no problem," Williams reassured, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. "That regular duties could wait a while. Promised to keep her bedded down in the Boardroom."
"The nurse gave Mam a sedative," his wife pointed out, stroking the older woman's hair where her head was pillowed in her lap. "Once we've got her into bed, I'll go pick up Eb. I want to thank them while I'm still feeling kind of numb. Because once reality sinks in…"
"You'll be needing one of the little pills the doctor sent home with me for the both of you," Rhys nodded. "If you go but end up too upset to drive, have one of the boys bring you home and I'll worry about the car later, yeah?"
"He knew, Rhys," Gwen stated flatly. "Ianto called me at the Hospital, told me the Scieron could see my father passing into the Dark. And when I looked at the monitor, I saw his vital signs skipping about before they went flat."
"That explains it then," her husband sighed, shaking his head. "He was kind of shaky on the phone, but was wearing that clench-jawed 'everything's fine' smile when I dropped Eb by. That's got to be rough, knowing when a friend or the like's passing away."
"He won't let on though," Cooper murmured with a sad smile. "When I go to get the baby, he'll be solid as a rock for me. Nothing but quiet and comforting, trying to help however he can, even if it comes to him playing chauffeur for me. Then when he's alone with Jack again, he'll go to pieces because he feels so badly for my loss and can't help but remember what it was like when his own father died, and still gets hit so hard by strong emotion right now. Ianto has resources of strength and emotional control I never imagined. He hides his feelings even more than Jack does… what a pair."
The rest of the drive passed in silence, and soon they had Mrs. Cooper tucked into the tiny guestroom of their house in Penarth. Rhys sent Gwen off to the Hub with a kiss, confident that she'd come back safe with their daughter, even if Torchwood had to bring them.
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AN: Another truth about Ianto being a Scieron Guardian has been revealed with the sad event they all knew was coming. The next few days will incredibly hard on them all it seems…
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM