Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 21
They'd loaded the last bin and managed to get the fleet of twenty, eighteen metre long, full security cargo containers aboard the Valliant II along with all personnel involved and climbed to a safe altitude, a scant two minutes before the Torchwood Glasgow facility had gone up in a ball of fire that could easily have been mistaken for a small nuclear blast. Destruction protocol would have sent alien ordinance generated fire hot enough to vaporize diamonds surging through every corridor and crevice of the place before the weapon itself detonated fully. And the crater it had left had made it obvious that the lower levels had all collapsed in the explosion, and anything that hadn't been removed was now ashes or crushed beyond any hope of recognition or reclamation. UNIT fire crews had extinguished the blaze with several large versions of the Tolkath device T3 had in its possession, and had left a team to do repeated scans to ensure nothing underground flared up. The surrounding area had been left as safe as they could make it.
Luckily, the Commander of the Valliant II had already informed Whitehall and the military leaders of the world that they were "detonating a recently discovered bunker of highly unstable World War II ordinance", so no questions had been asked, and the few surrounding buildings on the far edge of the city that may be impacted had been evacuated for potential total loss under that same "Ianto Jones Special" fabricated explanation. Fortunately, the fact that the old bank façade for Torchwood Two had been cleared out and the connecting tunnel fully braced and filled with carbon fibre laced concrete five years before when Archie's increasing paranoia had encouraged him to move the base's access point to a private residence outside of Glasgow proper, had at least meant that part of the town hadn't been subjected to the Firestorm protocol as well. Only a select few of UNIT High Command and the Crown had been informed of the truth of the matter, and all were very much in favour of letting Torchwood handle its own affairs. Still, the loan of the Valliant and nearly forty red caps had been the only reason they'd managed the operation by the deadline.
Archie's body had been logged and interred in the Morgue like most operatives, his possessions stored since they'd all been at the T2 facility as he'd been living in the cottage he'd moved the base access to, and the Plynthian cuff had been remanded to the Safe in the office. All the cargo containers had been transported to a secure storage yard near the Cardiff docks that was under UNIT guard, the special locks on their doors able to be opened only by Jack or Ianto because they were keyed to their retinal scans. So, the materials from Torchwood Two were safe until they could be housed in the proper places among the Cardiff Archives. Torchwood House was in full disaster Lockdown and would remain that way until Ianto, as the last Archivist of the Institute, went in person to override things on-site. The preparations for the work at T3 were underway and putting even more strain on the team, all of whom were already exhausted from the high-speed pack and load they'd had to perform in Scotland.
Martha was currently working on the body from the construction site in an attempt to wrap up that investigation, and was keeping an eye on the Rift monitor as well. Turlough was struggling to integrate the salvaged server blades from T2 into the base's own vast system, sometimes pulling Ianto to help him. That left Jack, Gwen and Lois to condense the boxes and other odd containers in the Archives, and open unused areas in the lower levels. Ianto worked with them when he wasn't assisting their Time expert with the computers, and would likely be redoing everything regardless when they started bringing in the Glasgow materials. So far they'd been making slow but steady progress, however lack of sleep and the long hours were beginning to take their toll by mid-morning of the second day of the rework.
[Ianto] Turlough's voice called over the young brunette's earcomm. [I'm having a serious power surge issue trying to get this one blade in place. I need you to do a manual power reduction for me, so I don't fry it or the rest of the system.]
"I'm up on top of the shelving fielding boxes for Gwen and Lois," the Welshman replied, handing down an awkward container even as he spoke and having to grab the top of the ladder Gwen was on to keep it from falling as she tried to juggle the oddly weighted box. "Can it wait?"
[Not without risking Tosh's security programmes trying to lock up the servers for who knows how long] the distant redhead insisted. [I have to get this thing connected withing the next twelve minutes or everything will shut down. So, I really need you down at the power hub on the double.]
"Bloody brilliant," Ianto breathed, moving over to stand at the very edge of the shelving and connecting to their leader's Bluetooth even as he silently cursed the man for refusing to hunt up the scissor-lift he knew they had but was now mysteriously missing. "Jack, Turlough needs me for an emergency. Why don't you three try to get another of the empty catacombs open and airing while I'm gone?"
[Tell Turlough he'll have to make do till we finish that unit you're up on] Harkness replied from somewhere out of sight in the rows of shelves. [We've only got a few things left up there from last count. Twenty odd minutes won't kill him.]
"No, but it will shut down the computers and may put the base into Lockdown again," his partner explained, moving another bin to where the girls could reach it nonetheless. "Honestly, Jack, I need to go help him now. I'll be back as soon as I can to finish this up, and…"
[Just go] the Captain interrupted sharply. [Help him with the damn computers, the rest of us will finish this without you. Really crappy timing for a crisis in the Pit.]
"Jack…" Ianto began, intending to apologise, but the older man obviously wasn't interested.
[I said go] the American snapped, apparently heading for where the ladders were stationed. [You're wasting everybody's time just standing around up there whining. Lois, hit the top shelf, you can hand things down to Gwen and I since Ianto has other things to do.]
[Nine minutes, Ianto] Turlough's voice warned in the twenty-six-year-old's ear. [Power's still way too high.]
"On my way," he replied tightly as Habiba clamoured up onto the shelving nearby, hurt by his partner's sharp words but trying not to show it. "Lois, if they're too heavy leave them. Be really careful at the edge, yeah?"
Then instead of bothering with the ladder his protégé had just vacated, the young Guardian sprinted to the far end of the shelf toward the exit and simply stepped off, his wings briefly manifesting to slow the ten-metre drop.
"Ianto?!"
There was a mix of surprise, anger and concern in Jack's voice when he called the Archivist's name, obviously startled as well as irritated by his unorthodox, barely wing-assisted descent. But Ianto didn't pause or even look back, just hit the floor hard and took off running, hoping his Changeling speed would get him down to the generators in time.
Back in the Archives, Lois was struggling to field items to Gwen and Jack once the American had hurried up the second ladder, the overhead lights dimming somewhat as they worked. She'd just handed off a long, strangely weighted bin that the other two were fighting to balance between them, when Turlough's voice came across the earcomms.
[Everybody freeze where you are, I need to cut the lights for a minute to get this blade in] the redhead warned. [Ianto doesn't have the power backed off quite enough.]
"No, wait!" Harkness shouted, but it was too late.
The room went pitch black, Lois instinctively scrambling back from the edge of the shelving even as the pair on the ladders swore loudly.
"I'm off balance," Cooper hissed urgently, the sound of metal scraping on metal becoming audible. "Jack! My ladder's slipping!"
"Try to hang on to the shelving," the Captain urged tightly. "Let go of the bin if you have to. I'll manage."
"I can't get a grip," Gwen blurted, then shrieked when metal squealed just before there was a terrible clattering crash as a strong gust of hot wind hit the shelving and the lights came back on.
"Gwen?!" Jack and Lois both called for the raven-haired woman, the immortal of the two awkwardly trying to scramble down the ladder still holding one handle of the heavy Archive bin and struggling not to drop it.
"She's okay…" Ianto panted from the top of the shelving not far from where Habiba crouched at its edge, a very rattled Cooper sitting by his feet and nursing a visibly bruised wrist. "Lois… why don't you help her down the ladder there, yeah?"
Then the twenty-six-year-old walked a few paces away to step off the metal plating once more, only one wing slowing his descent this time, the other obviously damaged. He limped away from the landing, retracted his wings with a grimace of pain as he moved to help his partner with the box he was juggling, activated his comms and turned to leave again.
"Turlough, are we back on line?" Ianto breathed, wiping his left palm on the rolled back cuff of the opposite shirt sleeve and leaving a heavy smear of blood behind on the pale russet coloured fabric.
[For now] the team's tech specialist confirmed. [That was really close though. If you'd been at the power controls sooner, we probably could've avoided the blackout.]
"Sorry…" the Welshman replied shakily, trying to slow his breathing. "I can move pretty fast if I push it, but I can't be two places at once. Do you still need me, or are you okay on your own again?"
[I'm good] Turlough reassured. [Thanks for the assist.]
"It's what I'm here for…" the young Changeling sighed, trying to get back out into the open area of the corridor as he felt his muscles tensing more and more.
"Ianto?"
Harkness came up behind his partner, his expression dark and his tone clipped.
"What the hell just happened?" the older immortal demanded, trying to rub some circulation back into the hand he'd been holding the Archive bin with and clearly favouring his recently regenerated fingers.
"Not… just now… please…" Ianto panted, his vision going dark at the edges. "I…"
He didn't get any farther, his air cutting off in strained gasps as his knees buckled and he slid down the nearest wall to half sit, half sprawl in the corridor. Suddenly there was a hand supporting his head, strong arms easing him into a less awkward position as the seizure hit, then nothing but ink-dark silence.
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AN: Yeah… that rough road is here to stay for a span.
The site it not letting me reply to reviews at the moment, so I apologise for not responding as I usually would. I'll try to do that once the site lets me.
I hope you all had a wonderful Yule/Christmas/Winter's Deep, and enjoy the impending celebration of the New Year. May 2025 bring nothing but good things to you and yours.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM
