Torchwood: Divergence
Book Three: Rheoleiddiad
Chapter 32
Jack didn't know how long he'd sat concentrating on the subject of truly making things right with Ianto before he heard the cog-wheel door rotate open with its usual klaxons blaring. Then he heard Lois' voice call out to everyone in general.
"Lunch is here!" Habiba called cheerfully, before lowering her voice to speak to their returning team member. "I've already got the table set in the Boardroom. Water, juice, and beer in the middle of the table, spoons for the veg, and all the usual condiments. Why don't I take this in, you go find Jack. He headed for the office earlier, so he may not have heard me shout if he's past the bookcase."
There was the crinkling sound of a large paper bag trading hands, then familiar soft footsteps coming up the three risers into the office. Harkness rose and waited behind the desk as his partner entered the room, glad the see the younger immortal wasn't quite as pale as he had been when he left.
"Toss me the keys, I'll hang them up," he offered, catching the fob as it came his way. "Ditch your coat and let's go eat."
"Martha's giving me side-eyed looks," Ianto breathed as he placed his greatcoat on the tree near the older man's and straightened his dark grey field jacket. "I'm figuring they required a full disclosure of the morning's events, so lunch should be a joy."
"They got the basics and have been told to leave it alone," Jack reassured, coming around the desk to offer the young Welshman his right hand. "Martha's starting tests at Gwen's request to see if her recent behaviour has a physical trigger. They know about your arm, but won't ask any questions. If it hurts, you can favour it all you want and not hear a peep. So, try to relax and enjoy the meal, yeah?"
Ianto nodded, slipping his left hand into the one the American held out to him and taking a couple of slow deep breaths. They exited the office together and headed for the Boardroom, found the rest of the team already there and waiting. The Captain took his preferred seat at the far end of the table facing the door, his partner settling into the chair at his left hand and the meal began.
For several minutes there was only the sound of contented chewing in the room, then Ianto quietly asked the young black woman to his left for the bottle of malt vinegar.
"Mr. Grayce was in for another go earlier," Lois smiled as she passed the requested condiment. "Had a bunch of ghastly posters for the Spring Chorale he wanted me to plaster the walls out front with. I told him they were much too fine to get torn to bits by the wind and rain off the Bay, and that I thought the glass cases fronting the Arts Council Building were far better suited. But I'd be sure to send every tourist who comes in over that way to see them."
"Well played," Ianto nodded, managing a smile for her though he wasn't anywhere near as cheered by the news as he'd normally be, or even interested in eating for that matter. "I suppose he thought you'd be easier to bully in person since you've fairly well dominated every phone conversation. How'd he take your polite invitation to piss off this round?"
"Oh, he was very pleased with my cheerful lies about the hideous artwork," his protégé chuckled. "Thanked me for the 'sensible display suggestion' and offer to steer people toward them, then strutted back out the door. The man is an insufferable wind bag. If he's married, I pity his wife."
"Her name is Constance," Ianto stated quietly. "Married twenty-two years last November 12th, and she spends the majority of her time abroad with one or the other of several charity organizations she sponsors. No children, just two extremely spoiled, criminally overweight Yorkshire Terriers at all times, always called Trixie and Teddy and most often in Mrs. Grayce's company. The current pair are Trixie the Fourth, and Teddy the Fifth."
"Ianto has always taken great pride in knowing every detail about anyone we deal with on a regular basis," Jack explained when their receptionist blinked with open-mouthed shock at his partner. "He even did full background and credit checks on anyone the SUV used to get parked next to. Probably knew more about them and their families than half their blood relatives."
"You're such an overachiever," Martha teased the young Changeling across the table.
"It's a tedious and often thankless job, but someone has to do it," he shrugged, though his eyes didn't reflect the playful tone of his voice. "Rumour has it that your husband's back in Germany yet again. Any progress on that project? Or is it still pretty much dead in the water and making him want to go back to straight R and D management, never to accept an advisory board position again?"
"Some of them have nicknamed it the 'Hindenburg'," the team medic groaned. "They just can't seem to plough through the ever-deepening bureaucratic bog. So, even though they've got things basically ready to fly, the project's still losing steam and could go down in flames at any time. But when they asked him to come back for another meeting, he said he'd give it one more go. We're not expecting much though."
"What's he working on?" Gwen asked as she munched on her meal.
"Technically, it's super Classified," Martha hedged. "Extremely hush-hush. But Turlough's done consult work on it, Jack already knows if it's a go or a bust but isn't talking, and I don't think I want to know how Ianto found out all the tiny details he's come up with. Let's just say that it's an important first step in the people of Earth making a stable colony on Mars and traveling far beyond."
"Toshiko wasn't the only computer savvy, hacker-capable operative on my payroll," Harkness chuckled with a wicked grin. "She may have been faster at it, but Ianto's much more thorough and a whole lot sneakier. They never even know he's there."
"So, Tosh wasn't actually breaking into multiple systems at once like it seemed," Cooper frowned, looking over at the young Guardian directly across the table from her. "You were helping her all along."
"Who do you think hacked your home computer and shut you down when Jack Retconned you that first visit?" the twenty-six-year-old asked with a wintry little smile. "Everyone else left the Hub the same time you and Jack did… everyone that is but the cleaning crew. I tidied the base, checked on Lisa, fed the Weevils, and then did exactly what I'd been told to from the moment we spotted you casing the place. I found your home system by back-tracking an e-mail through the Precinct's servers, forged an administrative access as soon as you turned it on, took over, made sure you lost anything about us you may have had time to type and turned off your computer so the deleted files would dump from the memory entirely."
"You little rat," the former PC laughed, genuinely surprised. "All this time I was so sure Tosh did that."
"He's good at his job," the Captain shrugged, worried by the younger man's obvious lack of interest in his lunch.
For his part, Ianto was still feeling incredibly out of sorts. He continued to be anxious, depressed, almost afraid… and had no clear idea why. Yes, he'd been upset about what happened at the café first thing, but this hadn't kicked in until here at the Hub not long before Gwen had barged into the office and he'd walked out. What was causing it, and why wasn't it going away?
"I saw a quick flash on the news earlier," Turlough stated into the silence. "The City Council member we all love to hate may have finally made a mistake he can't slither out of. Apparently he was driving while extremely pissed this morning in Newport, hit about eight primary school children as well as the crossing matron when he ignored a traffic signal. Claimed he was leaving 'a function' near the Somerton school, swears he didn't see the signal or them. There's no word on any of the kids so far, but the woman with them was dead at the scene and the outlook for several of the children is grim."
Ianto's heartbeat suddenly accelerated and he knew he'd gone dead white as he shakily rose from the table to head for the door.
"Won't be a moment," he breathed, a terrible feeling of impending doom setting over him and threatening to strangle him completely, his left arm throbbing as he clenched both hands into white-knuckled fists, his Shadows beginning to faintly whisper to him.
Instantly concerned, Jack watched his lover start out the door, saw him stumble as red light bloomed in his eyes and he bolted from the room in the direction of the Hub.
"What's wrong?" Gwen asked automatically as the Captain gained his feet to pursue the Changeling.
"No clue," Harkness frowned. "But I intend to find out."
He'd only just made it to the doorway, when they all heard their absent friend cry out, the single heartbroken word of desperate denial alarming the entire team. Everyone made for the work area in their leader's wake as he rushed down the corridor, and over to where his partner was sitting knees to chest near the vertically barred gateway to the big main door with his arms wrapped tight around both legs, rocking slightly in obvious pain and sobbing uncontrollably. Whatever was going on wasn't just bad… it was devastating.
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AN: Ianto's rough patch is about to get so much worse…
Sorry for another late post. RL is taking a toll, and I'm having trouble keeping up with things right now. Thank you again for your patience.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM