Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 32
Time to get back to work.
The pair proceeded down into the Autopsy area to pull out the first body and get the shock paddles fully charged. Jack sprayed a bit of water in the corpse's right palm to mimic the rain from earlier, while Ianto went to hunt up some spare heavy gauge electrical wire from the store room. The young Welshman stripped off the plastic insulation, then carefully positioned the exposed lengths of copper across the dead man's right hand to match if he'd been groping for the light switch. Finally, he had his partner step back and used the defibrillator on the trailing ends of the twisted copper strands. Sparks flew, the corpse flopped atop the exam table, and Ianto yelped as he caught a small but jolting arc from the massive discharge into the created circuit.
"Ianto?" Harkness called worriedly, quickly shutting down the unit the paddles were connected to.
"Never doing that again," the Changeling stated tightly, taking a deep breath and blowing it out very slowly as he shook both tingling hands and waited for his heart to stop racing. "Did it work?"
"Let's run a scan," his partner shrugged, relieved the younger man hadn't come to any real harm. "Burns on the palm look good though."
A quick check showed all the right organ damage to fit a death by electrocution, with the added benefit of the alien parasite filaments in the corpse's brain having been burned away. So, they got the body of Evan Myles into a standard black vinyl bag and back into the cooler for the next day. Their Jane Doe was then placed on a quickly plastic sheeted exam table, the heavy containment curtain pulled completely around the area, and various tools set out for the unpleasant task ahead. Ianto found Jack a footed, hooded hazmat jumpsuit and full-face guard, helped him get suited up and gloved. When the Captain stepped inside the curtained area, his lover departed the Autopsy Lab to go find a suitable tool bin or other container for the mess the older man was about to make of the unknown woman's body.
Ianto took his time locating the appropriate item in the oldest of the base's store rooms, inserted a heavy-duty black bin liner, and placed Denise Rotham's rifled purse in the bottom before rolling the big metal box to the lift. Once he made it back to the Hub, he put her driver's license back into the dishevelled clutch, removed all the cash as though it had been spent, and put aside the bank cards to plant in Myles' pocket. All the while, he was trying to ignore the horrific squelching sounds coming from the medical bay.
"Jack?" the young Welshman called uncertainly after a few more minutes. "Are you ready for the tool bin?"
"Yeah," Harkness replied, his voice muffled by the face shield he wore and the heavy, frosted vinyl curtain he was behind. "Roll it down, then run for it. I'll stow the remains; you go set up the laptop in the Boardroom and I'll shout when I'm ready to clean up. We can save the shower for bedtime."
Ianto pushed the big metal box along the medical area's observation deck and down the ramp, guided it over to the place where the heavily blood-spattered containment curtain could be opened. He took a deep breath, then peeled back the proper are and shoved the container inside.
"Thanks," the Captain called evenly, drawing the wheeled bin farther into the gore washed circle he was working in. "Now scoot. You can come wield the hose once I've got all the pieces of our fake Denise Rotham properly packed."
"Gives me time to get my gag reflex under control," his Archivist stated tightly, careful not to look at the exam table before resealed the curtain and turned to exit the Lab, stripping off his surgical gloves as he went. "Think I'll find something new for tonight's entertainment… surprise you for a change."
"Just steer clear of horror films, yeah?" Jack advised, his words followed by a sliding thump and a splatter. "Yuck… I think I've had more than enough 'Hostel' exposure for quite some time to come."
"Seconded," Ianto agreed readily, jogging up the stairs and escaping out into the Hub. "Be back shortly."
He went to prepare the Boardroom for their evening wind-down, got the big insulated carafe filled with coffee, placed it and their cups on a tray along with sugar packets, cream sachets, and a spoon. Finally, he added a couple bottles of water as well as a small box of chocolate digestives and a packet of rosemary-black pepper crisps. Once that was settled on the table in the Boardroom, he fetched a towel from the main bathroom then returned to the medical bay.
"All done?" the young Guardian called from the observation deck; glad he couldn't see past the crimson stained containment curtain.
"Finally…" Harkness replied with an audible gag.
"Just close the tool bin and stay still for a moment," the twenty-six-year-old nearby advised, moving to access a control panel at the bottom of the ramp. "Make sure the floor drain isn't covered, then stand with your arms out from your sides."
"It's clear," the Captain reassured, sounding somewhat uncertain. "And I'm playing religious statue."
"Okay… here's a new trick UNIT installed," Ianto stated, pushing a button that drew the big light fixture up close to the ceiling, then another than extended several two-inch pipes from that area to a point about a foot past the top of the curtain. "Once this starts, count to fifteen, then close your eyes and remove the face shield. Oh, and it's likely to be rather chilly."
The next button engaged the flow to the pipes, a strong spray of water jetting from the array to douse everything inside the containment zone. A surprised shout from the American beneath the downpour proved the cold-water theory, and though his partner felt badly for it he couldn't help but smile at the litany of shocked expletives shortly after that followed the clatter of the face shield onto the exam table's surface. As soon as all traces of gore were gone from the curtain, the younger immortal shut down the spray and got the light back into correct position. Then he went to pull open the hanging vinyl and face the hazmat suited man within.
"Just strip off the suit and leave it over the table," Ianto urged, offering his lover the towel he'd brought. "This can all drip-dry overnight. Sorry about the cold shower, but it seemed best to hose the lot rather than have any of the mess tracked out into the base."
"Good idea," Harkness nodded, his teeth chattering as he dried his face, pushed back the hood and peeled off the footed hazmat suit. "At least these things are waterproof. That's a really smart set up, but I'm gonna need some major cuddling and a lot of coffee to warm me up."
"Here to assist," the younger man offered sympathetically, putting his arms around the Captain as he stepped out of the curtained area. "Coffee's waiting in the Boardroom."
Jack made a please sound and snuggled close to his beloved Archivist, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth as well as the ever-present scent of the Changeling's cologne. When he stopped shivering, he eased back enough to give the Welshman a quick kiss, then swatted him playfully on the rear.
"Next time I suggest mangling a corpse for a cover story, hit me," Harkness stated with a grimace. "I think I just gave myself some pretty nasty nightmares doing that. I'm so sorry I made you do that kind of thing all this time."
"Duly noted," Ianto nodded, not in any way inclined to argue.
"Let's go relax while the Rift's quiet," the Captain half-smiled, aiming them both toward the stairs. "What's my surprise tonight?"
"Found series two of 'Black Adder'," Ianto smiled with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "And a one-off series called 'Jekyll' that sounded interesting… thought we could check it later."
"Ah… planning ahead," Jack chuckled, following his companion into the Boardroom so they could claim their chairs just inside the door. "And you even got snacks. Do I have the best Hero Support ever, or what?"
"Anything for my Captain Cardiff," Ianto stated solemnly, but his eyes were dancing.
The pair settled with fresh coffee and a serious need for some sharp-witted fun. Because the ugliness they'd undertaken tonight would have to be faced again in the morning, once Martha arrived to generate the proper reports. Until then, they intended to put it from their minds and relax while the Rift let them.
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AN: Remember those "unpleasant methods" I mentioned…
The site is still karked. Sorry… please keep trying.
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