A/N: My goal was to write a story that includes the whole team, while still concentrating mainly on the relationship between Jack an Ianto. So if you are looking for your Janto fix, please give it a try. :)
I got inspired for this by a small part of American Horror Story: Coven. I'm still stunned how a small idea turned into 25 chapters. The title was inspired by a German Metal band called Ancient Curse. No relation to the story itself.
In the early morning hours, the courtyard of the old monastery was shrouded in mist as the sun crept slowly over the roofs of the aged buildings.
The former place of worship appeared abandoned, buried beneath layers of silence. Nevertheless, the courtyard seemed well-kept, and low hedges lined the gravel paths. A statue on a stone plinth rose in the middle of the open space. Two figures in flowing robes, closely embraced with horrified expressions on their faces, as if frozen in a moment of pure agony.
White mist flowed leisurely around the statue, spreading a hint of enchantment. A robed figure emerged from the cloister surrounding the courtyard and slowly approached the statue. The mysterious gestalt stopped in front of the entwined pair and knelt. They remained motionless with their head bowed for what seemed like an eternity, chanting a toneless prayer in an old, long-forgotten language.
"Blessed be the brother and sister of the shadows. It will not be long before the glorious return is complete, and the kingdom surrenders to your power!"
After the prayer concluded, the figure rose and stepped closer, kissing the hands of each of the carved stone figures. With one final bow, they faded back into the shadows of the monastery.
The street was clogged with police cars and ambulances, and the area was swarming with people in uniform. Blue lights flashed across the house walls. The perimeter was widely cordoned off, and officers carried equipment into one of the apartment buildings.
The estate was a nice residential area just a few kilometres outside Cardiff city centre. It was mostly made up of terraced houses, with a few blocks of flats in between.
It was a day like any other, with typical British weather, strong winds and a constant downpour. The low-hanging dark clouds matched the mood of PC Andy Davidson, who was standing on the pavement in front of the building. He tried to come to terms with what he'd just seen.
He had helped secure the current crime scene but had excused himself for a short break. The term "crime scene" sounded so detached and technical. In reality, it felt like a slaughterhouse upstairs; blood splattered everywhere. The emotional rage that must have reigned there was almost palpable and weighed heavily on his soul. He desperately needed to get some fresh air.
A mother brutally murdered her husband and suffocated her children before jumping from the balcony. She had died just a few feet away from where Andy was standing.
The process of questioning the neighbours had already begun, but there was little information so far. Everyone described the mother as a quiet woman who was very protective of her children. Little was known about the husband except that he often worked late. The whole building was in a state of shock. You never knew what happened inside the walls of a flat, even if it's the neighbour you see every day in the hallway.
Domestic violence had been on the rise in recent weeks. So far, there had been no discernible pattern, except that everything has occurred within families or close-knit friend circles.
While this appeared to be a typical, albeit gruesome, crime scene, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there was more to it.
The force was obliged to call in Torchwood on any unusual case. The problem was that nobody liked having a case taken away from them, so it was standard procedure to ignore anything unusual for as long as possible.
But this was the fifth crime scene of this kind in seven days, and they had no leads. How long would his superiors wait before calling in the cavalry? The cases were too similar to be coincidental.
Andy straightened his jacket and adjusted his cap, bracing himself for the courage to speak up.
"Detective Harrison? May I speak with you for a moment?" he finally said to the big man in a suit, who stood not far away from him at the van with the command centre inside.
Detective Harrison looked up from his notes, clearly irritated by the interruption from one of the PCs on the scene.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Well, sir, with the extreme violence of this murder, I was thinking...," Andy began.
Harrison sighed, his irritation turning into annoyance. "You were thinking?"
"Yes, sir," Andy hastily continued. "Maybe we should call Torchwood and have them look into it? Maybe this is something they should know about."
Andy hadn't even finished the sentence when he realised how pointless his suggestion had been.
The detective's face darkened as he said, "This is a murder-suicide. Yes, it was gruel, but nothing out of the ordinary. The department is capable of handling this."
"Yes, I understand, but maybe Gwen Cooper could at least take a look…," Andy tried again.
"My case, my decision. Maybe you should go back inside and do your job, PC…" The man examined the name tag on Andy's jacket.
"Andy Davidson, sir," he said politely.
"Sure, whatever. Just get out of my sight," the older man grunted and turned away, barking orders to the police officers securing the area where the suicide victim had hit the street after jumping from the sixth floor.
Andy stared after him, contemplating what to do. He was used to grumpy superiors, but it bothered him when higher-ranking officers didn't take him seriously.
Even for a larger city like Cardiff, there had been an unusual spike in extreme violence. Cardiff had changed a lot in recent years. Or perhaps even longer, but he'd only begun to notice when Gwen Cooper quit her job to join Torchwood.
Torchwood. Everyone knew about this nebulous organisation, but no one knew what they did. At least not really. Gwen had been unusually tight-lipped about it, so he was pretty pleased to have figured out some things by himself.
In his opinion, Torchwood was a kind of X-Files without the FBI or something like Supernatural CSI Cardiff. When strange things happened, they always showed up.
Was this crime scene strange enough? Maybe not on the surface, but deep down, Andy knew something was wrong. And usually, he could rely on his gut instinct.
He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial.
"Have a good flight, and don't come back anytime soon!" shouted Jack Harkness as the spaceship rose into the clouds. The saucer ascended to the bright light of the rift and vanished.
Gwen Cooper stood a few feet away from him, pulling her leather jacket tighter around her. It was a cold and rainy day. She didn't mind the weather in general, but after standing around in the grasslands for hours, trying to please their visitors, she was freezing. She couldn't wait to get back into the car and drive back to the city.
"Do you think they'll comply with our request to give us a heads-up before their next visit?" Ianto Jones asked sceptically as he packed the equipment into the boot of their black SUV.
"Not a chance. They come and go as they please. Been like that for the last hundred years," Jack sighed as he lowered his gaze from the sky and turned towards the young man. As the wind picked up, his coat flapped around his legs.
"Do they really have the ability to destroy the planet if we don't comply?" Gwen wondered. The threat was one thing, but the execution was quite another.
Jack looked at her and considered the question.
"No idea, but Torchwood has always taken the possibility seriously, and I don't want to be the one trying our luck," he said. "Not over shortbread and Earl Grey."
"They should really send a shopping list before arrival. It would make organising everything a lot easier," Ianto sighed.
The Xintii had arrived this morning. They were a spacefaring species capable of bending the rift to their will. They also fancied a variety of British foods and beverages. Ianto didn't mind last-minute shopping, but it had been quite a challenge out here in the valleys and in the middle of nowhere.
"Everything worked out just fine, didn't it?" Jack shrugged.
"I had to drive the whole way back to Cardiff and only returned five minutes before the deadline! It was pure luck that I didn't get stuck in traffic," said Ianto, visibly annoyed.
"I never had any doubts. Ianto Jones, always on time," Jack grinned, dismissing the young Welshman's discontent. He tapped on his earpiece. "Tosh? We're done here, heading back to the hub in a few minutes."
"I monitored their departure with our long-range scans. It looks like they entered the rift and it closed itself afterwards. Everything is back to normal. I'm going to start writing my mission debrief," Jack heard his IT expert say through the small communication device.
"If you like, you can write mine too when you're done," Jack joked.
"Absolutely not. I am going home when I'm done. It's already past six o'clock, Jack," Toshiko Sato reminded him.
It had been a long day for all of them.
Jack laughed. "It was worth a shot. See you tomorrow, Toshiko. Oh, and tell Owen to go home as well."
Their medic tended to lose track of time when he was in the middle of a forensic investigation. Jack had stopped counting the number of times he had run into him after midnight, which was especially inconvenient when Jack and Ianto wanted to spend the night alone at the hub.
Jack was just about to finish the conversation when Gwen's phone rang.
She raised an eyebrow at the caller ID but picked up immediately, signalling to Jack and Ianto that she would be back in a minute. Gwen turned around and walked away.
"Andy! Now that's a surprise! How are you?" Gwen said cheerily. She hadn't talked to her former colleague in a while. She was glad they stayed in touch after she had left the force, but her long workdays at Torchwood made it difficult to keep up friendships in general.
"Hi, Gwen! I'm fine. I guess. Anyway, I was wondering, if you have time to meet. I need to show you something," Andy's voice sounded urgent.
Gwen quickly realised that this was not a social invitation.
"Meet? Of course! When?" she asked.
"Right now."
"Right now? I'm in the valleys and we're about to drive back," she explained.
"Oh. Okay, then drive back. I'm at a crime scene; I'll text you the address," Andy wasn't about to be turned down.
Gwen let out a sigh. "Okay, send me the text. I'll be there as soon as I can."
She ended the call and saw Jack and Ianto sitting in the SUV, waiting for her.
"No rest for the wicked. I need a lift, guys," Gwen said as she climbed into the back seat.