Fic: The Sea After a Storm (60/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 60
Rating: R
Warnings: Nothing really, just didn't feel like changing the rating
Spoilers: Season Two thru Adam (2x05)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Catherine Tregenna for situations and dialogue borrowed from Adam. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which they decide "what to do about Adam"…
Notes: Thanks again to everyone who's reading and commenting! Real Life kept me away from Fic Life last week again. *sigh* You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend thraceadams for all the help and support and the super quick beta; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Sixty
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Ianto's mental anguish, caused by Adam's attack, is relieved by Jack's faith in him…
"Now," Jack says. "What are we going to do about Adam?"
Ianto shakes his head, too shattered to be of any help. Jack gives him a tight squeeze and then lets him go, stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest. Ianto watches in silence as Jack ponders their options.
"Blood!" Jack finally says excitedly and runs for the med bay.
Ianto follows, confused and curious about Jack's inspiration but he only makes it as far as the top of the stairs. He collapses, leaning against the wall as Jack rummages around in the cold storage.
"Where's Adam's blood sample?" Jack yells angrily when he doesn't find it amongst the employee vials.
Ianto turns and looks over his shoulder at Owen's workstation. He gathers his strength and pulls himself off the floor, forcing himself to call up Adam's personnel file. "Everything's in order here," he says when he feels Jack come up behind him.
"When was it last updated?" Jack asks.
"Uh…" Ianto calls up the information and his blood runs cold. "Twenty-four hours ago."
Jack takes a deep breath, but before he can say anything the lights in the Hub come on and the cog door rolls back.
Without speaking or even thinking about it, Jack and Ianto both cover what they'd been doing. Ianto wipes the screen and stands up, putting his hands in his pockets to hide their shaking. Jack picks up a book and is calmly flipping through it when Owen appears, barely visible behind a huge arrangement of flowers.
Owen is just as startled by their presence as they are by his entrance. After a shared, silent look, all three of them scatter to various parts of the Hub. Ianto hurries up the stairs to the catwalk, needing a moment alone to process what's happened to him. The rest of the team filters in over the next few minutes, starting the day like any other.
He leans on the railing, ignoring the chatter as Owen talks to Tosh about whatever he'd done to warrant apology flowers. Ianto takes a deep breath and lets it out, trying to rid his mind of the lingering images of his murder spree. Somehow, seeing Jack's proof that the memories are fake, that they were forced on him by Adam has made them less real. Now they feel more like a bad film that he wants to forget rather than something that has actually happened. He steels himself to be ready for whatever plan Jack has concocted, rolling down his sleeves and tidying himself up as he walks back down to the main floor.
He skirts the cluster of Tosh, Gwen, Owen and Adam who are doing some kind of group hug, swallowing his disgust at the idea of Adam touching any of his friends. Ianto meets Jack's eyes across the Hub and sees the same expression on his Captain's face.
His hope of passing by unnoticed is crushed when Adam breaks off from the group, calling out to Ianto. For a second, Ianto ignores him and keeps walking, but then he screws up his courage and makes himself turn and face his assailant.
"Hey, Ianto, come here." Adam strips off his jacket and reaches for Ianto, concern written all over his face. "You all right, mate?"
Ianto jerks his arm back, not letting Adam touch him. Adam's expression hardens at the motion, his eyes going cold and flat.
"Listen, I could murder a coffee," Adam says cruelly. His slight emphasis on the word 'murder' makes Ianto's fists clench, but he holds himself in check, waiting for Jack to make his move.
He doesn't have to wait long.
The sound of Jack’s Webley cocking seems to echo through the Hub, making them all turn.
"Talk to me, Adam, if that's even your name," Jack says, his gun resting on the back of Adam's skull.
Adam spins his chair, looking at Jack with amusement written across his face. "What?" he asks with a laugh.
"What are you doing, Jack?" Gwen asks, a nervous giggle not helping to cover her confusion.
Ianto stands by, watching the others as Jack explains, ready to back Jack's play, whatever it turns out to be.
"He's not who you think he is," Jack says. "He's been feeding himself into our memories by touch."
Tosh looks just as confused as Gwen. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"He didn't exist until two days ago," Jack explains.
Adam huffs out another laugh and looks to the rest of the team for support. "Can somebody tell me what's going on here, please?"
"Jack," Owen says in his best calm-the-crazy-patient voice. "We've known him for years. He's part of the team."
"No!" Jack shakes his head, his gun never wavering. "He just made you think that."
"Come on, Jack," Adam says, reaching for him.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Jack warns. "You don't get to me like that."
Adam tries again. "Jack, you know me. You recruited me three years ago."
"All I know is when I think of my team, I see you there but I don't feel anything for you - no pride, no warmth. You, the one who I can confide in, the one who unburied the dead."
Unburied the dead? Ianto thinks, suddenly confused as well. Before he can ask, Gwen speaks up.
"Jack, maybe you've just forgotten him, like I did with Rhys, yeah?"
"Oh, I should've spotted it then," Jack says. "That wasn't stress, that was him. By making us think we know him, he disturbs our real memories."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Adam sounds so sincere that Ianto feels his conviction waver.
But Jack's certainty doesn't falter in the slightest. "I'm taking him to the vaults," he snarls, grabbing Adam by his shirt and hauling him out of the chair.
"Jack! This is ridiculous!" Adam yells as Jack shoves him towards the stairs.
"No!" Jack shouts, cutting off Adam's protestations.
"NO!" Jack's cry is echoed by Tosh a second later as she draws her sidearm and aims it at Jack.
"Tosh!" The Hub is full of shouting as Tosh swings the gun around wildly, pointing it at everyone in the room except Adam.
"Tosh, that's not gonna help," Owen says.
"Toshiko," Jack says calmly after everyone quiets down. "I'm just going to lock him up."
There's a pause and then Tosh says, "Let him go." The words are forced, as if she can't quite believe what she's doing.
"I'm not going to harm him," Jack promises.
Ianto slowly moves up behind Tosh, waiting for his chance as she focuses on Jack.
Tosh is almost in tears. "Why should I believe you?"
Owen tries again. "Tosh… Tosh, we can talk about this."
The gun wavers in Toshiko's hand, shifting dangerously between Owen and Jack until Tosh steadies it once more.
"Drop the gun, Jack," she demands.
Ianto takes his chance and lunges, grabbing the gun. Tosh fights back, against him as well as Owen and Gwen who join in the fray. Dimly, Ianto hears Jack shouting at Adam, but he can't make out the words as he struggles with Tosh. He gets the gun out of her hand and passes it to Gwen, who falls back, keeping the gun away from all of them.
"Get off me!" Tosh yells, pushing both Owen and Ianto away from her. She watches helplessly as Jack marches Adam down the stairs. "No! Adam!" she screams. A second later she makes a break to follow them, but Ianto gets in her way.
"No, Tosh, leave it!" he yells.
Tosh shoves at Ianto, kicking and flailing like a wild thing as he grabs her arms and forces her back. "Let me go! Adam! Adam!" Eventually she realises it's useless and stops fighting. When Ianto loosens his grip on her, she slaps him with a blow that rockets his head around, leaving him with the taste of blood in his mouth.
Everyone freezes, Gwen's gasp the only sound in the Hub for a long moment. Even Tosh seems shocked by her action. Ianto slowly turns his head back to lock gazes with Tosh. His hand flashes out and wraps around her upper arm in an iron grip. Before she can protest, Ianto drags her over to the nearest workstation and calls up the internal CCTV footage of Adam's attack on him with a few deft keystrokes.
"Watch!" Ianto orders.
Anything Tosh has planned to say dies on her lips as the image of Adam slamming Ianto into the wall appears on the screen. Owen and Gwen move closer to see and, as soon as Ianto is sure she won't bolt, he let's go of Tosh's arm and steps back. He flinches at the sight of himself on the monitor - screaming and cowering under Adam's assault. He moves even further back, unconsciously guarding the stairs to the vaults as he tries to get away from the playback.
He feels Jack's hand on his shoulder before he hears him approach. He slumps into Jack's touch, prompting the Captain to slide his hand across Ianto's shoulders, pulling him close in a half-embrace.
"You showed them?" Jack asks quietly, nodding towards the rest of the team still huddled around the monitor.
"They need to see what he is," Ianto whispers. He's startled when Jack presses a soft kiss to his temple.
"My brave Ianto," Jack murmurs.
Before Ianto can react to this unfamiliar endearment or the kiss, Jack leaves his side and hurries to the rest of the team, shutting off the CCTV playback in the middle of an agonized scream from Ianto.
"Boardroom," he says quietly to the team, ignoring the stricken look on Tosh's face and the slight shade of green that Owen had turned. "We're going to fix this, I promise."
TBC in Chapter Sixty-One
.
This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/104081.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Rating: R
Warnings: Nothing really, just didn't feel like changing the rating
Spoilers: Season Two thru Adam (2x05)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Catherine Tregenna for situations and dialogue borrowed from Adam. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which they decide "what to do about Adam"…
Notes: Thanks again to everyone who's reading and commenting! Real Life kept me away from Fic Life last week again. *sigh* You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend thraceadams for all the help and support and the super quick beta; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Sixty
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Ianto's mental anguish, caused by Adam's attack, is relieved by Jack's faith in him…
"Now," Jack says. "What are we going to do about Adam?"
Ianto shakes his head, too shattered to be of any help. Jack gives him a tight squeeze and then lets him go, stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest. Ianto watches in silence as Jack ponders their options.
"Blood!" Jack finally says excitedly and runs for the med bay.
Ianto follows, confused and curious about Jack's inspiration but he only makes it as far as the top of the stairs. He collapses, leaning against the wall as Jack rummages around in the cold storage.
"Where's Adam's blood sample?" Jack yells angrily when he doesn't find it amongst the employee vials.
Ianto turns and looks over his shoulder at Owen's workstation. He gathers his strength and pulls himself off the floor, forcing himself to call up Adam's personnel file. "Everything's in order here," he says when he feels Jack come up behind him.
"When was it last updated?" Jack asks.
"Uh…" Ianto calls up the information and his blood runs cold. "Twenty-four hours ago."
Jack takes a deep breath, but before he can say anything the lights in the Hub come on and the cog door rolls back.
Without speaking or even thinking about it, Jack and Ianto both cover what they'd been doing. Ianto wipes the screen and stands up, putting his hands in his pockets to hide their shaking. Jack picks up a book and is calmly flipping through it when Owen appears, barely visible behind a huge arrangement of flowers.
Owen is just as startled by their presence as they are by his entrance. After a shared, silent look, all three of them scatter to various parts of the Hub. Ianto hurries up the stairs to the catwalk, needing a moment alone to process what's happened to him. The rest of the team filters in over the next few minutes, starting the day like any other.
He leans on the railing, ignoring the chatter as Owen talks to Tosh about whatever he'd done to warrant apology flowers. Ianto takes a deep breath and lets it out, trying to rid his mind of the lingering images of his murder spree. Somehow, seeing Jack's proof that the memories are fake, that they were forced on him by Adam has made them less real. Now they feel more like a bad film that he wants to forget rather than something that has actually happened. He steels himself to be ready for whatever plan Jack has concocted, rolling down his sleeves and tidying himself up as he walks back down to the main floor.
He skirts the cluster of Tosh, Gwen, Owen and Adam who are doing some kind of group hug, swallowing his disgust at the idea of Adam touching any of his friends. Ianto meets Jack's eyes across the Hub and sees the same expression on his Captain's face.
His hope of passing by unnoticed is crushed when Adam breaks off from the group, calling out to Ianto. For a second, Ianto ignores him and keeps walking, but then he screws up his courage and makes himself turn and face his assailant.
"Hey, Ianto, come here." Adam strips off his jacket and reaches for Ianto, concern written all over his face. "You all right, mate?"
Ianto jerks his arm back, not letting Adam touch him. Adam's expression hardens at the motion, his eyes going cold and flat.
"Listen, I could murder a coffee," Adam says cruelly. His slight emphasis on the word 'murder' makes Ianto's fists clench, but he holds himself in check, waiting for Jack to make his move.
He doesn't have to wait long.
The sound of Jack’s Webley cocking seems to echo through the Hub, making them all turn.
"Talk to me, Adam, if that's even your name," Jack says, his gun resting on the back of Adam's skull.
Adam spins his chair, looking at Jack with amusement written across his face. "What?" he asks with a laugh.
"What are you doing, Jack?" Gwen asks, a nervous giggle not helping to cover her confusion.
Ianto stands by, watching the others as Jack explains, ready to back Jack's play, whatever it turns out to be.
"He's not who you think he is," Jack says. "He's been feeding himself into our memories by touch."
Tosh looks just as confused as Gwen. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"He didn't exist until two days ago," Jack explains.
Adam huffs out another laugh and looks to the rest of the team for support. "Can somebody tell me what's going on here, please?"
"Jack," Owen says in his best calm-the-crazy-patient voice. "We've known him for years. He's part of the team."
"No!" Jack shakes his head, his gun never wavering. "He just made you think that."
"Come on, Jack," Adam says, reaching for him.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Jack warns. "You don't get to me like that."
Adam tries again. "Jack, you know me. You recruited me three years ago."
"All I know is when I think of my team, I see you there but I don't feel anything for you - no pride, no warmth. You, the one who I can confide in, the one who unburied the dead."
Unburied the dead? Ianto thinks, suddenly confused as well. Before he can ask, Gwen speaks up.
"Jack, maybe you've just forgotten him, like I did with Rhys, yeah?"
"Oh, I should've spotted it then," Jack says. "That wasn't stress, that was him. By making us think we know him, he disturbs our real memories."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Adam sounds so sincere that Ianto feels his conviction waver.
But Jack's certainty doesn't falter in the slightest. "I'm taking him to the vaults," he snarls, grabbing Adam by his shirt and hauling him out of the chair.
"Jack! This is ridiculous!" Adam yells as Jack shoves him towards the stairs.
"No!" Jack shouts, cutting off Adam's protestations.
"NO!" Jack's cry is echoed by Tosh a second later as she draws her sidearm and aims it at Jack.
"Tosh!" The Hub is full of shouting as Tosh swings the gun around wildly, pointing it at everyone in the room except Adam.
"Tosh, that's not gonna help," Owen says.
"Toshiko," Jack says calmly after everyone quiets down. "I'm just going to lock him up."
There's a pause and then Tosh says, "Let him go." The words are forced, as if she can't quite believe what she's doing.
"I'm not going to harm him," Jack promises.
Ianto slowly moves up behind Tosh, waiting for his chance as she focuses on Jack.
Tosh is almost in tears. "Why should I believe you?"
Owen tries again. "Tosh… Tosh, we can talk about this."
The gun wavers in Toshiko's hand, shifting dangerously between Owen and Jack until Tosh steadies it once more.
"Drop the gun, Jack," she demands.
Ianto takes his chance and lunges, grabbing the gun. Tosh fights back, against him as well as Owen and Gwen who join in the fray. Dimly, Ianto hears Jack shouting at Adam, but he can't make out the words as he struggles with Tosh. He gets the gun out of her hand and passes it to Gwen, who falls back, keeping the gun away from all of them.
"Get off me!" Tosh yells, pushing both Owen and Ianto away from her. She watches helplessly as Jack marches Adam down the stairs. "No! Adam!" she screams. A second later she makes a break to follow them, but Ianto gets in her way.
"No, Tosh, leave it!" he yells.
Tosh shoves at Ianto, kicking and flailing like a wild thing as he grabs her arms and forces her back. "Let me go! Adam! Adam!" Eventually she realises it's useless and stops fighting. When Ianto loosens his grip on her, she slaps him with a blow that rockets his head around, leaving him with the taste of blood in his mouth.
Everyone freezes, Gwen's gasp the only sound in the Hub for a long moment. Even Tosh seems shocked by her action. Ianto slowly turns his head back to lock gazes with Tosh. His hand flashes out and wraps around her upper arm in an iron grip. Before she can protest, Ianto drags her over to the nearest workstation and calls up the internal CCTV footage of Adam's attack on him with a few deft keystrokes.
"Watch!" Ianto orders.
Anything Tosh has planned to say dies on her lips as the image of Adam slamming Ianto into the wall appears on the screen. Owen and Gwen move closer to see and, as soon as Ianto is sure she won't bolt, he let's go of Tosh's arm and steps back. He flinches at the sight of himself on the monitor - screaming and cowering under Adam's assault. He moves even further back, unconsciously guarding the stairs to the vaults as he tries to get away from the playback.
He feels Jack's hand on his shoulder before he hears him approach. He slumps into Jack's touch, prompting the Captain to slide his hand across Ianto's shoulders, pulling him close in a half-embrace.
"You showed them?" Jack asks quietly, nodding towards the rest of the team still huddled around the monitor.
"They need to see what he is," Ianto whispers. He's startled when Jack presses a soft kiss to his temple.
"My brave Ianto," Jack murmurs.
Before Ianto can react to this unfamiliar endearment or the kiss, Jack leaves his side and hurries to the rest of the team, shutting off the CCTV playback in the middle of an agonized scream from Ianto.
"Boardroom," he says quietly to the team, ignoring the stricken look on Tosh's face and the slight shade of green that Owen had turned. "We're going to fix this, I promise."
TBC in Chapter Sixty-One
.
This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/104081.html. Please comment there using OpenID.