Torchwood: Divergence
Book Three: Rheoleiddiad

Chapter 17

Jack was waiting to recapture his young lover's hand the instant he trotted down the risers from the kitchenette, and they headed toward the office together. Once inside their room, Ianto's cheerful façade faded, and he moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside his overnight bag.

"Shit," the young Welshman hissed, hanging his head and clenching both hands into fists to hide that they were shaking. "I've been trying so hard to get over that damn dream. But the first time she gets near me, it crawls back out of its box like some sodding poisonous snake."

"Many believe that's what nightmares really started out as, you know," Harkness stated evenly, coming over to sit with the younger man and put an arm around his shoulders. "The Manussan Empire was once a proud humanoid race who destroyed themselves by trying to remove and contain all the dark aspects of their own nature… hatred, greed, anger, lust, violence. Those negative things and tonnes of others eventually manifested physically as giant, intelligent serpents that preyed on the terror and pain of their creators until they nearly died out. Then they moved on to other races. In the end, enough of their victims banded together and forced the Sumaran survivors who'd helped create them to take action. An elder discovered how to trap them in a great circle of mirrors. The truth of their own evil was the only thing they couldn't fight. But the Manussan elder knew that the 'Mara' wouldn't let themselves be completely destroyed. They abandoned their physical bodies and sought refuge in the 'Dark places of the Inside'… the mind. Now, when sentient races have really bad dreams, many swear it's because they've been touched by the Manussan Mara and the snakes are feeding on their fears. I wouldn't be overly surprised to learn that the Faeries here on Earth are somehow related, maybe even the originating species of Mara before they adopted the snake form."

There was silence for a moment as Ianto nodded, then frowned and shook his head.

"That honestly didn't help, Jack," he breathed shakily, trying to smile. "I'll just be looking for great bloody snakes in my nightmares now."

"Sorry," the Captain chuckled, giving the Changeling a squeeze. "Come on. Let me help you unpack and you can tell me about your five-day jaunt."

"Not much to unpack really," the younger immortal shrugged, rising to open the leather duffle bag and extract a few things. "I dropped the majority of my clothes by the Cleaners', so it's mostly just my gun and clips, phone and PDA chargers, and a laundry bag of socks and pants. Though I do have these."

He handed his companion two keys, one silver and the other brass, sitting back down on the mattress with a nervous smile.

"Okay…" the undying American began slowly, staring at the items. "You already gave me the car keys, so what are these for?"

"Well, I've been thinking for some time that it would be nice to have someplace to go away from the Hub when we want to," Ianto explained quietly. "If we need a break from work, or a place to think in private for a while, or want to be alone without any possibility of interruptions. A true 'safe haven' like you said."

"Yeah," the older man nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"So, I contacted Mrs. Fairfield," Ianto stated simply. "She's an Estate Agent who used to leave flyers at the kiosk all the time. She helped me find a nice flat not too far from here, and got things in order for a more far-flung property that I had arranged the purchase of for Torchwood-London under my name, supposedly a 'safe house' for their operatives when they had to come to Wales. They did some serious work on it in late 2005 when it was first acquired, but never actually used it.

"The silver key is to Unit B over on Eleanor Place off Dudley, a few blocks southwest of the Millennium Centre. It's a two storey, full service flat, so we can pretty much just come and go as we please. Decent view out the back side, nice full kitchen, loo, big bath, huge master suite. The brass key is for a large Victorian style house a fair distance north and east of Cardiff off the A4043 on the edge of Abersychan. It's well kept by an elderly caretaker who lives close by, tucked into some of the woods over that way and has a good chunk of private property attached to it. Sort of a weekend retreat if you like. It was originally an old farmhouse; three bedroom, two bath, big kitchen, mudroom with washer and dryer, fully finished basement and attic, detached garage that doubles as a tool shed, working wood or coal burning fireplace in the sitting room, and the majority of the first floor has been turned into the master suite that has its own fireplace as well. Both properties have appliances and basic furnishings, and seemed like places you'd be comfortable in, so I hope they're okay. Oh, the house is free and clear with the rates and caretaker's wages still being pulled from the voluminous Torchwood One coffers automatically, and I paid for a one-year lease on the flat with the 'not till you're twenty-one' account my Taid set up for me when I was born, since I noticed it hadn't been merged with the others."

"Ianto…" Jack breathed, blinking in surprise. "I don't know what to say."

"I know this is something couples normally do together," the young Welshman murmured, sounding uncertain and somewhat guilty. "But we just don't tend to have the time, and I really wanted it to be a special surprise. There's still time to cancel the lease without penalties though, and I can always tell Mrs. Fairfield to rent the house so it's at least being useful."

"No, no, no," Harkness insisted. "I think it's great. I just never expected to own a home that was actually for me and my partner at this point in my life. Especially after Jackson Leaves. I've always just had investment properties or used them as safe houses. But you're right about having someplace away from the Hub that we can still call ours. This room is better than I had for a long time, but it does have its drawbacks. And I've been trying to find ways for us to get away from work once in a while anyhow. This makes it tonnes easier, and you obviously put a lot of thought and care into it. Plus, you wrangled a really slick car into the bargain. How good is that? Talk about killer souvenirs."

Ianto smiled, relieved that his partner actually seemed pleased after all. Then he found out just how pleased, when Jack pocketed the keys and pulled him close for a breath stealing kiss. And as if on cue, there was a knock on the door casing and a carefully cleared throat.

"I hate to be the one to interrupt," Gwen called quietly. "But Lois needs to know what you want for lunch… besides each other, that is."

"Talk about a case in point," the Captain chuckled as he reluctantly drew away from his lover. "Be there in a sec."

He'd clearly felt all the younger immortal's muscles tense at the sound of their co-worker's voice, wanted to give him a minute to relax before they ventured out into the Hub. Cooper turned to disappear back through the office, and Ianto took a deep breath that he let our very slowly.

"Sorry," the young Guardian murmured, his blue-grey eyes mirroring guilt and frustration.

"Not a problem," Jack insisted, leaning in for another quick kiss before rising and offering his partner a hand up off the mattress. "Let's go order lunch and just take things as they come, yeah?"

Ianto nodded, pausing to delve into the duffle bag again. He pulled out a small metal disc with the old RAF symbol like the buttons on both of their greatcoats engraved on one side, attached to a split ring by three small but sturdy links of chain. The item was offered to the older immortal with a tiny smile.

"You even got me a keyring," Harkness grinned, accepting the item before capturing the other man's hand and lacing their fingers together. "I say we go take a look at both places next time there's a decent lull in Rift activity. See if there's anything we want to add or replace as far as the furnishings and stuff goes. We can always pull your things our of storage too. There'll be plenty of room for it all now between the two homes."

They headed out through the office, to be met by a coat clad Habiba.

"Do you want your usual, Captain?" she smiled, making a shorthand note on a piece of paper when the man nodded. "Ianto?"

"Shaved turkey breast and Swiss on multi-grain," the twenty-six-year-old decided quickly. "Light on the stoneground mustard, no veg, crisps but no pickle."

"Got it," Lois nodded, heading for the main door. "Be back shortly!"

"Okay, so obviously you have your own set of keys," Jack said conversationally, drawing his partner toward the kitchenette where the smell of fresh coffee was coming from. "Car too?"

"Just an emergency back-up set to keep in the room here," Ianto said with a shake of his head. "I figured we could just keep the main set on the peg beside the SUV fob in the office. Not like we'd mistake one for the other, and that way we both have access when we need them."

"Makes sense," the American shrugged, pulling out the two loose keys he'd been given and carefully threading them onto the keychain's split ring. "If I got RAF, what did you get?"

The suit clad Changeling nearby finished dispensing two cups of coffee, then paused to fish in his trouser pocket and produce his own keys. He turned them over to his lover as he garnished and gratefully sipped his longed-for brew, let the man examine the disc at the end of the chain. It was engraved with a receding, honeycombed letter T… the centre of the Torchwood Institute's current logo.

"You had these custom etched?" Harkness asked, handing the keyring back in exchange for his own cup of barely sugared black coffee. "And didn't get a thousand questions?"

"I just pulled up the images I wanted on my PDA, edited out any wording and sent them to the locksmith's computer," Ianto explained as they exited the kitchenette, sipping his drink with a smile. "They're three millimetre high-carbon density stainless steel, diamond and laser etched to ensure the pattern doesn't wear. And I told him the images had sentimental meanings, so he didn't pry."

The Captain shook his head with a grin. Could this day get any better?

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AN: Yep… Ianto was a very busy boy on his leave.

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