Chapter Text
Disclaimer: Captain Jack Harkness, Dr. Owen Harper, Suzie Costello, Toshiko Sato, Alice and Steven Carter, and Esther Drummond do not belong to me ... they belong to Russell T. Davies, the BBC, and Starz Studios. Anyone else whom you don't recognize belongs to me.
Cardiff, Wales
Early 2008
"Jack, we have a problem."
Hearing that was never a good start to your day. For that matter, neither was waking up to a cold bed and no one to cuddle with (but why stop with just cuddling). Still, Captain Jack Harkness adjusted his braces on his shoulders, draped his greatcoat over one arm, and left his office to join his second in command, Suzie Costello, who was staring at something on the computer. In front of her, Toshiko Sato's fingers danced lightly across the keyboard and Jack inquired, "All right, my lovely ladies, what seems to be the problem and how can I fix it?" Suzie looked over her shoulder at him, rolled her eyes, and returned her attention to the screen in front of Tosh.
The young tech replied, her eyes never leaving the screen in front of her, "I've got three urban explorers heading into the sewers ... no, make that four." Urban explorers in the sewers? Oh, that couldn't end well. Especially if they chose one of the sewers favored by a family of Weevils ... but that, no doubt, was why they informed Jack. Tosh continued, "I've lost track of them, but from what I can tell, they were heading into one of the sewers that the Weevils prefer." Damn. Definitely not good. After what happened earlier in the month, with three uni students meeting a very grisly fate at the hands of Weevils while carrying out a dare, Jack preferred to be pro-active.
"All right, I'm on my way. Have Owen and Ianto meet me there," Jack replied, shrugging into his greatcoat. The doctor and administrator were returning from their monthly visit to Flat Holm. Jack's hand closed around the bottle of Retcon that he kept in the pocket of his greatcoat. He hoped he would have need of the dosage, hoped he would have survivors at the end. The captain made his way to the Torchwood SUV. In spite of himself, his daughter Alice talked him into removing the Torchwood name from the side of the SUV. Leave the red lights and sirens, Dad, she told him, but this is supposed to be a secret organization, not an open secret. Torchwood had been an open secret for years, but he acceded to his daughter's wishes.
As Tosh directed him toward the tunnel in question, Jack was torn between admiring the guts of the urban explorers and being exasperated by that same courage. They weren't breaking any laws, but they were taking their lives into their own hands, and complicating Jack's life. Then again, they were human beings, and Jack was accustomed to people making it harder for him to protect them. Even worse, their insatiable curiosity was on par with Jack's, and that drove their explorations. People like these urban explorers were the reason humanity reached the stars ... assuming they lived that long
At the mouth of the tunnel, he found Ianto and Owen, both geared up. Ianto noticed the once-over Jack gave him, the immortal noting the suit that the young man was wearing this morning, and Ianto rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. Well, what did he expect? Ianto was up and dressed before Jack even woke up this morning! However, the captain said only, "According to Tosh, there are four urban explorers who decided to explore a tunnel that a family of Weevils use as their home. Tosh, do you have an ID on any of our intrepid explorers as of yet?" His voice was laced with a combination of exasperation and irony. Not unlike the expressions he saw on Ianto and Owen's faces ... although, he also saw longing in Owen's eyes. Before the loss of his Katie, the young couple was part of an urban explorer group in London. Jack told him on more than one occasion that he could pick it up again, but the doctor shook his head, saying that part of his life was over. Jack thought it was a mistake to let that go, but Owen was stubborn, and liable to be contrary if Jack pushed too much.
"Only one, Jack ... I ran our facial recognition software, and then matched it up against other CCTV across the UK. I found a match ... a recent arrival at Heathrow. One of our urban explorers is a young American woman named ‘Esther Drummond.' She arrived from Washington DC on Wednesday afternoon. I'm trying to find more information about her," Tosh replied. Jack bit back a curse. Things just got far more complicated. He really didn't want to make a call to the Crown because a group of urban explorers decided to take a newbie (who was a foreign national) into the tunnels. It wasn't an international incident, but that still wouldn't be a pleasant conversation to have.
Owen rolled his eyes once he relayed this information to the other two men, muttering under his breath about ‘bloody Yanks.' Ianto observed, "True enough, Owen ... but I would imagine the other explorers are from the UK or Cardiff, since they're the guides." Owen responded with a glower that troubled Ianto not at all. Nor did the doctor's muttered imprecations about ‘smart-arse tea-boys.' The young Welshman merely smiled as the trio entered the tunnel. His smile grew more ... interesting when he caught Jack's eye. Later, Jack promised himself, later.
Naturally, once they cleared the mouth of the tunnel, a scream echoed around them. It was decidedly masculine in tone, but there was a second scream several minutes later ... and that definitely belonged to a woman. Owen swore, Ianto's eyes narrowed, and Jack withdrew his Webley as the three men headed in the direction of the screams ... because, oh yes, there were more screams after those first two. Some were pained screams, while others were of terror. There were times when Jack really hated being right!
TWTWTWTWTWTW
On a scale of one to ten, this ranked a fifteen in ‘incredibly stupid things I've done.' And unfortunately, ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time' wouldn't make her any less dead ... a possibility that grew ever more likely with each passing moment. Twenty-two year old Esther Drummond was pressed against the wall of the tunnel, watching in horror as ... something ... tore apart the men and woman she was quickly becoming friends with.
She'd arrived in the United Kingdom three days earlier, exhausted but excited. Since her graduation from college back in May, Esther had been working and saving up for this trip. It was what kept her going insane when dealing with rude (read: abusive) customers, ignorant co-workers, and a sister who was even more fragile after her husband walked out on her and their two daughters. Esther took on the additional responsibility of taking care of her nieces, legally changing their last name to ‘Drummond,' since Sarah didn't want anything to do with her ex-husband, and making sure Sarah got out of bed each morning.
The other thing that helped keep Esther sane during the last several months was her urban exploring group. When she told the head of the group about her upcoming trip to the UK, the older woman tracked down a list of urbex groups in the cities she would be visiting. Unbeknownst to Esther, the group leader emailed her itinerary and information to the Cardiff group, since she planned to start in Cardiff and work her way north ... and it was they who met her at Heathrow. Evidently, they were told to take care of her while she was in the UK, and that included meeting her in the baggage claim of Heathrow and seeing her to her hotel. Early this morning, a knock at her room woke her up and Esther opened the door to find her new friends awaiting her and dressed for exploring. They chose this set of tunnels to ease Esther into urbex in the United Kingdom, during the daylight hours ... and now, they were dead.
The last victim was thrown to one side, and the ... thing ... stared at Esther. The girl raised her chin, trying oh so hard not to cry. A man's voice said (in an American accent), "Now, I know she looks good enough to eat, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that." The thing growled at him, and the man added soothingly, "Let her come to me, and I'll make sure that this set of tunnels is closed off. They didn't know you were here. Just let the girl come to me, we'll take the bodies of her friends, and they won't bother you again."
Amazingly enough, the thing (which was dressed in coveralls) backed away, and the man said, his voice very gentle, "I need you to edge over to me very, very slowly. No sudden moves, I don't want the Weevil startled." Weevil? Is that what this was called? And why was it dressed in coveralls, of all things? However, she would worry about that later. For now, Esther began slowly, oh so slowly, edging away from the Weevil, never taking her eyes from it. And for the rest of her life, Esther would wonder what startled it. She couldn't remember doing anything different, but one moment, she was moving slowly and carefully in the direction of the man's voice ... and the next, the Weevil growled, lunging for her.
Things happened incredibly fast after that. The man grasped her hand, pulling her to safety behind him. And then the Weevil was upon him. Esther screamed as someone (or something) else grabbed her, and a decidedly human voice whispered, "Shhh!" Esther's scream froze in her throat, and somewhat louder, the man added, "OI! Tea-boy, now!" There was a soft ‘pop' to her right, and the Weevil dropped. And so did the man who initially rescued Esther. She was turned around and came face to face with a young man ... maybe ten years older than herself, with a thin face and dark hair. He said softly, "Miss Drummond, I know you're scared, but you've done great so far. Can you stay with our boss while we load up the Weevil?"
Esther bobbed her head, dazed, and the man smiled, adding, "Good girl. Let's go, Tea-boy." The American girl dropped to her knees, for the first time seeing the face of the man who sacrificed his life to save her. He looked to be in his late thirties or very, very early forties ... dark-haired ... dressed in dark trousers, a light blue shirt, and suspenders. Something Esther would have found curious under ordinary circumstances, but right now, right at this moment, she was too devastated, too shocked, forced too far out of her comfort zone.
She lifted his head into her lap, stroking his hair tenderly and whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wish I could make things right again." But she couldn't, could she? A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder, and she looked up to see a second young man ... even younger than the one who finished pulling her to safety. She blinked away tears and said hoarsely, "I'm so sorry about your friend. I swear we didn't know that these tunnels had ... these Weevils living in them." He smiled at her gently, before handing her a thermos, which she accepted distractedly.
"We know, Miss Drummond. Just stay with Jack ... here's some coffee to warm you up, and we'll be back shortly," the young man replied. The strange part was, he seemed to be waiting for her to drink it, as he stood in front of her patiently. Numbly, Esther tipped the thermos to her lips ... and stopped, swallowing hard. Perhaps it was her jangled nerves ... or maybe it was the memory of her college roommate, weeping in her arms after she realized she'd been raped at a party where someone slipped a date rape drug into her drink. The men rescued her from the Weevil, there was no reason for them to hurt her ... but she didn't know them.
And so, she smiled at him, saying, "Very good coffee ... thank you." He smiled back quietly, and turned to help the other man. While they were struggling with the Weevil's body, Esther dumped the coffee onto the ground, well away from the dead body of her rescuer. And then, a moment later, she received the third shock of the night (day ... whatever) when her rescuer suddenly took a deep breath and bolted upright from her lap. To her eternal mortification, Esther actually squeaked and rolled away, allowing the man's head to drop onto the ground.
The man (he was dead and now he was alive and how was that possible?) smiled at her despite that, saying, "Captain Jack Harkness ... pleased to meet you." Esther stared at him in shock, and Captain Jack Harkness looked over her shoulder, adding, "Ianto, Owen ... have you taken care of this lovely young lady?" A significant look passed between the men, and Esther's blood ran cold when she realized that her instincts were right. There was something in the coffee. Her mind started to race, trying to figure out what she should do now
"They did ... the coffee was excellent. But ... how did you know my name?" Esther gabbed, and winced when she heard how over-eager she sounded. But none of the men looked suspicious. Either that, or ... No. No, she had to calm down. It was hard though. She was twenty-two years old, in a country not her own, the group she was with were all dead at the hands of a Weevil (and she still didn't know what that was), and she just saw a man who was dead come back to life. She thought, a bit hysterically, that she was allowed to behave out of character. Or something like that.
"We have access to that information," was the rather unsatisfactory response. Esther pursed her lips, but accepted the captain's hand as she rose to her feet. He continued, "That's Owen ... sorry, Dr. Owen Harper ... and Ianto Jones. As you can tell, he looks great in a suit." Ianto rolled his eyes, but smiled softly at Captain Harkness, and Esther quietly said good-bye to any hopes she might have briefly entertained. It was a pity, too, because Captain Harkness was right. Ianto Jones did look good in a suit. And then she kicked herself for being so stupid, since the chances were good they planned to drug her.
"I'm Esther Drummond ... but you already knew that. It's nice to meet you all ... thank you for saving my life. What ... what was that? I know you called it a Weevil, but what is it? It looks like an animal, but it's dressed like a man," Esther blurted out. She didn't give the three men a chance to answer her, continuing, "Why did it attack us? Did we do something ... I don't remember anyone making a threatening move?" And that question continued to haunt her. Why? What did they do? How could they have prevented this from happening? What did she tell their families ... did they even have families?
"You were in its home ... and that was threat enough," Captain Harkness replied, and Esther blinked back tears. She had only to think of an incident when she was ten years old ... on the morning of her tenth birthday in fact ... when there was an intruder into their home. Her father met that person with a loaded gun, standing protectively between him and his two daughters. Oh God. They hadn't meant any harm, and now three people were dead! Esther closed her eyes, trying very hard not to vomit as she thought about the morning's events. Captain Harkness continued, "As to what they are, where they're from ... we're not sure. And it won't matter for much longer." Esther shuddered. Yeah, she could imagine.
But it was at that point that the other two men began carrying the bodies of her former compatriots out of the tunnel, one by one. Captain Harkness stepped in front of her, but Esther's eyes followed the procession anyhow. For the first time, she saw what was done to her fellow explorers, and her already stressed nerves snapped. In the last thirty minutes, she'd seen them torn to pieces, nearly died herself, watched a dead man come back to life, and her mind decided, ‘I've had enough, thank you very much, that's it!' Thus, her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted dead away in the arms of Captain Jack Harkness.
TWTWTWTWTW
He hated going to Flat Holm. Oh, Owen didn't enjoy it ... none of them did, really. But Ianto hated it with a white-hot passion. Not just because it was a reminder of the effect the Rift had on ordinary people who were just going about their business ... not just because of the family members who would never know what happened to these poor souls ... and not even just because Flat Holm wasn't a nice place. No, what he hated most was the knowledge that Jack carried this burden alone for so many years. It was imperfect, it was flawed, but it was still miles ahead of their fate before he took over.
He hated Flat Holm. But he was also fiercely proud of his captain for creating that place. Ianto Jones was an archivist in London before its fall. He knew about Torchwood Cardiff, he knew about Torchwood's past, and he knew things could have been far worse for the denizens of Flat Holm. He already requisitioned a few hundred gallons of paint, because at the very least, the facility could use a touch-up. He hated Flat Holm and what it stood for, but he couldn't hate Jack. No matter how he felt in those horrific hours and days after Lisa's final death, he couldn't hate Jack. He wanted to ... and he believed that he did, but the ones he hated most were himself and the Cybermen. Maybe Yvonne Hartman as well. But, just as was the case with Flat Holm, Jack was cleaning up the mess that someone else made.
And that was true now, as Jack carried the unconscious girl to the SUV ... looking quite heroic as he did so. Ianto saw the strain in his eyes, the lines of pain around his mouth, and knew that he wasn't quite recovered from his most recent death. Not that it would stop Jack any time soon. Ianto wanted to be angry with the urban explorers, he wanted to be angry with the blonde girl, but in the end ... it was a waste of time. And they all had work to do. Jack would take the girl back to her hotel, while Ianto and Owen took the dead bodies and the unconscious Weevil back to the Hub. There, they would concoct a story for the three dead urban explorers and Owen would deal with the Weevil.
Once Jack returned to the Hub, with Esther Drummond safely back in her hotel and the last few hours of her memory missing, Ianto would take care of him. Oh, Jack would tease him about leaving him so early this morning ... it was rare when Ianto awoke before Jack did, especially since Jack slept very little. Ianto still wasn't sure if that was a feature of Jack's immortality ... or if the nightmares prevented him from sleeping properly.
When Ianto and Owen returned to the Hub, it was to find Jack already there, flirting outrageously with both Suzie and Tosh. Suzie rolled her eyes, offering Ianto a rueful smile, while Tosh beamed. Eventually, however, he returned to his office and only the slight slump to his shoulders demonstrated his exhaustion, frustration and grief. Ianto quietly followed him, closing the door behind him as he asked softly, "Coffee, sir?" Jack smiled up at him, the smile never quite reaching his eyes as he glanced down at his paperwork.
"That would be very welcome. You had a vial of your own in your pocket ... Retcon, I mean," Jack observed and Ianto nodded. Yes, he'd taken to carrying a vial of Retcon in case it was necessary and Jack was ... unable to administer the dose. The captain went on, "How did you find things at Flat Holm ... what do they need that they don't already have?" Ianto winced. He always worried about Jack, but when the other man was this focused on work, rather than on flirting or making innuendos, he was even more worried.
Even so, he knew that Jack wouldn't welcome Ianto fretting over him, so he replied, "For now, things are fine. Owen and I worked out the logistics of air filtration when they are ready to paint and making sure that no one got sick, whether it was the staff or the residents. It'll be fine. Everything will be fine, Jack." He was offered a half-smile in return, and Ianto tried to choose between offering comfort and returning when he had coffee. A small grimace as Jack shifted his attention to another side of his desk decided him, and Ianto rounded the desk. He put his hands on Jack's shoulders, murmuring, "Lean back, that can wait a few minutes."
It was telling to him that Jack simply leaned back, sighing quietly as Ianto began to massage the tense muscles, occasionally uttering a small gasp or groan when Ianto hit a particularly sore knot. The young man kissed the top of Jack's head as he continued the massage, and Jack began to talk. Rarely did he speak about his past ... given what he'd seen of it so far, he really couldn't blame him. And he wasn't talking about his past now, either, saying instead, "I know you hate going to Flat Holm ... it isn't exactly one of my favorite places to be, either ... but thank you for taking care of that today for me."
"If it makes your job easier, I'm happy to do it, sir. And for all of Owen's complaints, he does feel the same. There are worse things to be doing," Ianto replied softly, shifting his hands to the nape of Jack's neck. And he would know, as he'd done far worse things while working for Torchwood. They'd all done far worse working for Torchwood, including the man seated before him. Especially the man seated before him. The cords of muscle were even tighter under his fingers, and Ianto kneaded away the tension. He continued, still in that soft voice, "We'll brief you later about what story we came up for the urban explorers ... at least we were able to save one." Jack made a noise that was neither a moan or a groan or a grunt, but somehow, it was all three the same time, and again, Ianto kissed his hair.
"She'll still have the survivor guilt to deal with, but at least she'll be alive to have survivor guilt. Oh, she won't remember the events, but always in the back of her mind, she'll think about how that could have been her. If nothing else, she'll think, ‘I could have been with them and died as well.' But it's still better than dying like that ... still better than having those memories ... still better than all of the alternatives," Jack replied, and then tipped his head back for a kiss. Ianto obliged, pressing his lips to Jack's, to the corners of his mouth, both cheeks, and his forehead. He stopped the massage to wrap his arms around Jack from behind, closing his eyes.
He didn't tell Jack that they were lucky to save even one (something Jack had to remind him of, on occasion). He didn't tell him that Esther Drummond was a strong girl and she would be fine. He didn't even tell him that he couldn't save everyone. He didn't say any of those things, because Ianto didn't believe in wasting his breath on things Jack already knew. Instead, he simply held Jack, because that was probably what helped most. Not pretty words, but actions.
At last, Ianto pulled back and murmured, "I'll go get you that coffee, sir. And if you need me, I'll be in the archives. Whoever was in there last left an unholy mess." Jack actually laughed aloud at that ... especially since he and Ianto were the last ones in there, and they weren't working. It was one of those rare moments when Ianto was able to get the drop on Jack, and he was still extremely pleased with himself for that. Ianto grinned and kissed Jack's forehead, adding, "I'll come back up in an hour to place the order for food, assuming Alice doesn't bring us something herself."
He was rewarded with a smile and a soft ‘thank you,' and Ianto took leave of his captain. Suzie, Owen and Tosh were all in need of coffee as well, which he saw to before returning to the Archives. As he told Jack, they left it in shambles, but Ianto couldn't be too terribly annoyed. Oh, he supposed he could have, but since he was the aggressor (this time), it would have been horribly hypocritical. He couldn't help lying ... that was in the job description, regardless of the job, with Torchwood ... but he tried to avoid being a hypocrite. It took him very little time to actually straighten up the Archives ... the remainder of the time was spent ensuring that everything was in its proper place.
At half eleven, he returned to the main part of the Hub. Alice hadn't arrived yet ... and then Ianto remembered that she was with Steven's class today. Of course. Shaking his head at his own forgetfulness, Ianto began getting orders from his teammates for lunch, before placing said order and retreating to the Information Centre. There were brochures that needed to be replaced, and he made mental notes for that, as well as checking the stock on the other brochures. There were few tourists today ... mostly people who'd gotten turned around, and needed an assist in the right direction, something Ianto was happy to provide.
Aside from delivering lunch, Ianto didn't get back down into the Hub until around three that afternoon. Jack was on a call with UNIT; Suzie was updating their weapons database; Tosh was fine-tuning a new program she'd been working on; and he wasn't even sure he wanted to know what Owen was doing. Of course, he'd find out soon enough. He always did, and always took great delight in teasing the doctor when he learned what he needed to know. Not that Owen just sat back and took it. Oh no, Owen always had something to say, even if it was to harass Ianto about his relationship (such as it was) with Jack.
Thus, he was in the main section of their underground lair (oh, he knew it was actually a base, but ‘lair' sounded better), when Tosh called, "Jack, you should come see this." Ianto didn't bother looking up from his own task (namely, the requisition forms), so he didn't see Suzie rising to her feet and going to Tosh's workstation. He was only vaguely aware of the second in command muttering, ‘you have got to be kidding me.' There was the sound of boots on the ladder and Jack asking Tosh what she had. Their tech said only, "Take a look, Jack." That did break into Ianto's concentration, and he raised his head to say something ... only to notice the dumb-founded look on Jack's face.
"She ... didn't," Jack said, staring at Tosh's monitor. By now extremely curious about whatever triggered such a response in his teammates, Ianto rose to his feet and walked over to Tosh's workstation to join the others. And when he did, he could only stare in horror. Jack asked, his mind following the exact same path as Ianto's, "Tosh, is that the same tunnel, the same sewers?" Ianto was trying desperately to figure out how this was possible. Maybe ...
"Exact same. It may not be an issue ... the press release gave the location of the attack, as well as the names and ages of the dead, so she may have decided to investigate personally," Tosh replied. That was a possibility. Ianto hoped with every fiber of his being that was the case. Because there at the mouth of the tunnel where her friends died that morning, was Esther Drummond. Oh, her long blonde hair was mostly hidden by the baseball cap she was wearing, but it was most definitely her ... returning to the scene of the crime.
TBC