Torchwood: Divergence
Book Three: Rheoleiddiad

Chapter 2

The morning after the break-in, Ianto had rung the Williams' landline, knowing if anyone answered it would be Rhys. He'd explained the incident from the night before, reassured the man that both Ebrill and Mrs. Cooper were just fine, that Andy and UNIT had done a thorough clean up and he simply wanted them to be aware when the older woman mentioned it later. He'd also enquired about Gwen, sad to hear she was still in a pretty bad state and was refusing to get out of bed. So, he'd told Rhys to call if there was anything at all they could do to help, and gotten on with the day.

Two full days had passed after that, the Rift rather quiet because of the Scieron portal that had opened at the Hub when things had gone wrong for the Changeling. They'd heard from Rhys at least once a day, the man growing increasingly concerned as his wife continued to be severely depressed and unwilling to stir from bed for anything but trips to the loo. The baby was still at Mrs. Cooper's because of this, and Williams was having to run Harwood's by proxy over the phone and computer so he could stay at the house. Nothing he'd tried had made any difference with Gwen's shutdown state, nor had Martha making a house call to be sure the woman was taking the medications she'd sent home for her.

After another two days without change, Rhys had practically been in tears when he'd called Jack's mobile, desperate to break through the silent brooding of his spouse. So, today Torchwood had stepped in as soon as Ianto and Turlough had returned from a 6:30 am Rift alert in Grangetown. The redhead and Lois were picking Rhys up and taking him down to Mrs. Cooper's for a day with the baby, and to see if there were any house or garden chores needing tended to. Jack, Ianto, and Martha were tackling the bigger problem of trying to get Gwen to snap out of the state she was in, and actually deal with the issue instead of shutting out the world.

Martha had tried first without result, so Harkness had made an effort as his partner had performed a compulsive cleaning of the house. When an hour had produced little more than a few tears and sullen glances, the Captain had conceded defeat and gone to tag Ianto.

"I was so tempted to just reach out and shake her," the American growled as his Archivist prepared to face their ailing co-worker. "Anything to get a real, honest reaction. Rhys gave her all the meds… so why is she still like this? I never pegged her as a quitter, but that's exactly what she's doing. And seeing her like this…"

"I'll give it a go," Ianto offered uncomfortably, well able to tell how much the situation was upsetting his lover. "My sister and I had to deal with our mother under circumstances like this when Dad died. Just a warning… I will be locking the door and it could get loud."

"If it works, we'll get over it," Martha stated seriously. "Because if it doesn't, I'm afraid the only thing left to try is a round in Providence Park."

Ianto nodded with a slight wince at the mention of the facility, received an encouraging pat on the back from their leader as he headed upstairs. He unconsciously straightened his grey field jacket and tie before knocking twice on the bedroom door and walking inside. He didn't look at the woman in the bed, instead he turned to lock the door then strode across to yank open the curtains over the windows and flood the room with morning light. When he finally came over to sit on the edge of the bed, his friend had her hands covering her face to block the unexpected illumination. The young Welshman simply reached over and forcibly pulled her hands down, keeping a firm grip on them.

"Gwen, look at me," Ianto demanded evenly. "You're doing exactly what you accused Jack of. You're running from the bad things that've happened to you recently, instead of facing them. That has to stop."

The raven-haired woman tried to pull her wrists from the young Welshman's grasp, but he held her fast.

"I said look at me," the Changeling snapped, his uncharacteristically sharp tone making the former PC obey in spite of herself. "You lost your dad and you lost a baby you didn't even know existed or planned to have. But it's not the end of the bloody world. At least you were there with your dad at the end, you both knew the other cared. And better to lose the baby now if it was wrong, rather than face who knows what kind of disabilities or a still-birth later. It hurts, I know. But it's a pain you have to learn to live with. You still have a husband, daughter, and mother who need you. They need you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and be glad for what you've got. Your mother is raising your little girl alone and doing a fine job even though she's missing the man she loved for more than forty years. Rhys is struggling to keep Harwood's running and sodding babysit you at the same time. Jack's worried sick, constantly talks about how hard it is to see you like this, worries you'll never recover. The team needs you too, but Torchwood's the least of your problems. Your family is falling apart, because you're acting like a spoiled child."

The blank stare Cooper had been giving him had turned to a venomous glare as he spoke, and her hands had curled into tightly clenched fists.

"You…" she growled angrily. "You and those damned alien Shadows… You've turned my whole life upside down and for what? So that you can span the ages with Jack?"

"Yes," Ianto answered flatly, holding her unfriendly gaze without flinching, even though her words hurt.

"And the rest of us have to suffer for it," Gwen accused bitterly. "You both only give a damn about each other, no matter how anyone else feels… rub it in our faces that you're forever and we're nothing. It's not bad enough that we have to watch the two of you get mangled and die, you have to go and play messenger for Death with the rest of us. It's so easy for you, because you bloody come back."

"Easy?" the young Guardian holding her wrists whispered tightly. "You think what I went through in Hell after Thames House was easy? That dying and being dragged back into life is easy? Or having to tell a friend that a loved one has passed into that Dark is easy?"

Otherworldly voices hissed in the twenty-six-year-old's mind and Scieron light bloomed in his eyes before he could protest.

*Understand,* one of them breathed coldly as Cooper's mind was filled with terrifying visions and her body suddenly screamed with pain.

Fire, carved stone, heavy chains, hot knives, scalding blood, and agony seemed to be her whole world for ages, her throat raw from screaming. Intense, almost ruthless training filled the gaps between rounds under the knife, the only constants being pain, fear, and a desperate longing for the one she loved. Then she was suddenly at Harwood's, Ebrill in her arms, a dangerous creature lashing out and her only choice was to sheath the back on her left forearm as heavily as possible with her sword, slide it between her body and the baby then turn away. Agony flared as a solid object slammed into her back, crushing ribs, piercing her heart, and punching all the way through into her inner arm to strike bone before being torn free. Each breath burned as blood sprayed over the child she held; every retreating step was a struggle but at least the fifteen-month-old was safe. There was guilt and grief with the pain, fear as the Dark took her away from Jack. She gasped her way out of the airless Void, confused and dizzy, that painful longing met with a familiar touch. Then she was hearing the Shadows whisper that Geraint Cooper was passing Death's Door, felt fear and worry as she hurriedly tried to reach her friend, the crushing weight of guilt that came with sharing the news, old grief over her own father's death clawing at her. She tried so hard to be strong, but everything compounded her misery until it disappeared into the terrifying, breathless panic of a seizure. Now she was blind and bleeding to death, an electric shock the only mercy left. But there was utter exhaustion waiting when she returned to life, blocking the next seizure when an argument made the Shadows whisper again and drowned her in worry and paralysing guilt.

Gwen gasped and tried to break free from the hands holding her, tears streaming down her face as the red glow slowly faded from in front of her.

*What our cysgod has endured has all been for love,* the Other worldly voice whispered in her mind. *And not just for the love of his annwyl. But for the love of his family, his friends, and his world. His only wish is to help, not harm… to protect. And he suffers for it, as do all who care for others more than themselves. Be mindful of that when next your anger or selfish desires flare.*

Cooper was completely hysterical by now, horrified by what the Scieron had made her experience, and utterly appalled that her friend had borne all of it and more with barely a whisper of complaint. She could hear him calling her name, apologising for what she'd been shown, trying to get her to focus on him again. Then suddenly she wasn't in her bed anymore, she was being hauled bodily onto cold tile, into an enclosed space where icy water poured over her, pyjamas and all. The one-time constable sputtered and spat, but the world actually came back into clear focus after a few seconds. Shivering, she fumbled for the shower control and turned the water off, slowly pulled open the waterproof curtain.

Ianto stood there waiting with an unfurled bath sheet, his expression apologetic and his eyes sad. He wrapped the big towel around her shoulders, hesitantly met her gaze, obviously uncertain of her current demeanour. Gwen huddled in the swath of warm, thick terry for a minute, then reached up to lay one hand against the young Welshman's cheek, noticing he now had a split in his lower lip and a bruise from that point down along his chin and jaw.

"I'm sorry I blamed you," she murmured earnestly. "And that you had to deal with me going off the deep end… but did you really have to douse me?"

"There are two sure cures for hysteria," Ianto stated quietly. "A sharp slap or a dose of cold water. I thought you'd prefer the latter… plus I didn't fancy getting bashed if I went for Plan A. Plan B did enough damage, thank you."

"Where's Rhys?" Cooper asked as she nodded her understanding.

"At your Mother's with the baby," her friend reassured. "Jack and Martha are downstairs if you need anything."

"A hot shower and a kick in the pants," Gwen breathed, giving the twenty-six-year-old a tired smile. "Coffee'd be nice too."

"Well, I'll leave you to your proper shower then," the T3 Archivist half-smiled, though his blue-grey eyes were still dark and troubled. "Shout if you need something. I'll have a coffee ready for you whenever you're done."

He started out the bathroom door, then paused to meet his co-worker's gaze once more.

"You can blame me if you want," Ianto offered solemnly. "Exposure to the emissions from that alien crystal and its scout device that the Cult had, is probably what made your pregnancy start to go wrong in the first place. I'm sorry I didn't shut it all down sooner."

Then he closed the door and left her to her bath.

"Shit," Gwen moaned, moving to sit on the closed toilet lid in its little door-fronted niche.

She'd gotten a tiny snapshot of what the young Scieron Guardian had gone through since his death at Thames House in London, knew he'd put up and dealt with so much more. But he'd still managed to bring her back to her senses, gotten hit in the face for his trouble, and was now absolving her any guilt in the matter by taking the blame on himself. As soon as she'd had a shower and felt human again, she was determined to fix that.

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AN: The things Ianto will do for his friends…

Internet isn't 100% yet... sorry...

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM