Fic: The Sea After a Storm (77/?)
Apr. 13th, 2015 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
buttononthetopTitle: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 77
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just Zombie!Owen ;-)
Spoilers: Season Two thru Dead Man Walking (2x07)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood, Doctor Who and all their wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Matt Jones for situations and dialogue borrowed from Dead Man Walking. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which the team starts to look into the glove...something Jack probably should have thought of earlier...
Notes: Gah! One post and I'm already off schedule. I suck. 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 beta work; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Seventy-Seven
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Owen's resurrection didn't quite go according to plan...
Ianto stomped down to the archives after running a search on the resurrection glove. For good measure, he widened the search to include any items used in resurrection, just for comparison. He had a substantial list of reports to pull and he hoped that by the time he'd found them all, he'd be over his fit of pique at Jack. He shoved open the first door a little too emphatically, kicking up a cloud of dust. He cursed himself and Jack – and glove, while he was at it – waiting for the dust to settle a bit before heading into the small room.
He found the box of files he needed and started riffling through the pages, looking for the items he'd marked in the database. His mind wandered back to Jack almost immediately. Why did he use the glove? Ianto thought as his hands worked almost independently of his brain, finding the files, ticking them off his list, finding the next box, and then doing the same thing all over again.
The bit about the morgue code was a lie. It wasn't even a good lie. Did he know the glove was going to do something like this? Why is he acting like this is all Owen's fault somehow? Round and round he went, gathering files, thinking about Jack's bizarre actions, moving on to a new room of archives to look for more files, wondering what Jack had been thinking.
He had quite a pile when he finally came back upstairs. He hadn't found anything that he thought would be helpful, but he'd learned to give Jack too much rather than too little data. Generally, the Captain would groan dramatically, start in on a large stack of files and lose interest quickly, asking Ianto for the salient points. After grabbing himself a much needed cup of coffee, Ianto settled at his workstation with the files, reading through everything Torchwood had on resurrectional artefacts.
He dropped the pen he was using to make notes when Martha suddenly screamed from the medbay.
"Jack! Help! I need help! Now!"
Jack was out of his office and halfway down the stairs to the medbay when Martha stopped yelling. Tosh and Ianto shared a look and then ran to see what was happening. Gwen, who had been sitting on the floor on the upper walkway was the last to join them at the railing above the medbay. Owen was clinging to Jack; it almost looked as if he were crying. Martha was standing close by, patting Owen on the back helplessly.
"This way," Jack finally said softly, leading Owen up the stairs. As they passed the rest of the team, Jack said, "Boardroom in five minutes."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ianto was the last to arrive. He took his seat quickly as Jack asked Owen to fill everyone in on what he'd experienced in the medbay.
"One minute I was... I was just there, talking to Martha then it... it was like I... fell, I guess. Yeah, it was like I fell and landed somewhere... else. It was dark, I couldn't see anything but... but I could hear something... someone there with me. They were... whispering. I couldn't make anything out. I called for Martha and then I... sort of... came to, I guess. I don't know."
"Martha?" Jack asked.
Martha shook her head. "Owen didn't go anywhere and didn't say my name, he didn't say anything really. It was like he had a seizure and I think I know why. Owen's body's undergoing some kind of transformation. His cells aren't decaying, they're changing."
"Into what?"
"An energy I can't identify, but it's growing, all the time. He's about 40% something else."
"I don't feel any different," Owen protested.
"We need to find out where this energy's coming from."
"Presumably it's the same place as the glove," Tosh offered. "Which, judging from its atomic makeup, isn't anywhere local."
Ianto shuffled the file on the original glove to the top of the small stack of folders he'd brought to the meeting. Before he could offer anything from the archives, however, Gwen spoke up.
"Owen said he went somewhere when he collapsed. Could the energy and the glove come from the same dark place?"
"What are we talking about? Another dimension?" Jack proposed. "Parallel universe?""
Owen waved his hand. "Yes, guys, I'm still here."
Jack fell silent for a moment. "Sorry," he said softly. "Okay, you said there was something in the darkness, waiting for you."
"Yeah, I felt it, I didn't see it."
"Where do you think you went?"
Owen shook his head in defeat. "Don't know." He closed his eyes, clearly miserable.
There was a long silence, broken by Martha.
"Well, I've given Owen a monitor that's connected to the computers. It's keeping track of the total percentage of the energy that is... taking over his body."
"That wrist thing?" Gwen asked.
Martha nodded and then inclined her head to the monitor nearest her. "We'll be able keep an eye on the levels. Hopefully we'll figure something out before it gets critical."
"What happens then?" Owen's voice was barely audible.
"I don't know," Martha admitted.
"Well, then," Jack said, standing up. "We've still got some work to do."
They all filed back up to the Hub in silence.
Ianto was heading for his workstation when Jack called out to him.
"Ianto, check our internal system readings for any dimensional anomalies in the last hour."
"Will do." He caught up with Jack, handing him the resurrection research. "So you're thinking the alternate dimension theory may hold?" he asked quietly.
Jack shrugged. "I suppose anything is possible. We should check every angle."
"Jack, why did you use the glove?" Ianto asked impulsively, reaching out to lay his hand on Jack's arm.
Jack shook him off, which stung more than Ianto wanted to admit. "Not now, Ianto," he muttered.
Ianto stiffened. "Of course, sir." He walked over to his workstation and began the search Jack had asked for.
He didn't have any luck finding a dimensional, temporal, spatial, or any other kind of anomaly in the Hub over the last twenty-four hours. He kept at it, though, preferring to bang his head against this particular brick wall rather than face Jack's stonewalling again.
He had just begun to review CCTV footage from all the cameras in the Hub, when Jack and Martha burst out of Jack's office, calling for Owen. Jack tried the comms as well as his usual shouting, with no luck.
"He said he needed the loo," Tosh explained when Owen didn't immediately appear.
"Owen's digestive system has shut down. He can't eat or drink, so he certainly doesn't need to pee," Martha scoffed.
Ianto sighed and grabbed Jack's coat, knowing for certain the next steps would include a search party.
Jack turned to Ianto and slipped into his coat without a pause, giving Ianto a quick, tight smile of thanks.
"He's not answering," he said worriedly.
Gwen had pulled up the internal CCTV. "Well, he's not in the Hub," she confirmed.
"You mean he's out there?" Martha's question had more than a little accusation laced into her tone.
"It's Owen," Jack said, exasperated. "It's not like he's dangerous."
"You sure about that?"
"Meaning?"
Ianto stepped forward, ready to get in between Martha and Jack who were snarling at each other like territorial dogs. Jack saw him move and took the hint, turning around and heading for the door.
Martha wasn't as wise. "You had the power to bring people back to life and you never told UNIT. Why?"
Jack turned to look at Martha. "They would've wanted to use it."
Ianto winced. That argument would have carried a lot more weight if you hadn't just used it, he thought.
"I'm on your side, Jack," Martha said, in more conciliatory tones. "But Owen's just had a surge of energy that we can't begin to understand. The cells in his body are being transformed into something else. He's about 50% human."
Ianto was suddenly hit by a wave a memory so strong, he felt physically ill. He barely heard the rest of what Martha was saying over the rushing in his ears. The girl you loved is gone. There is no cure, there never will be. Those who are converted stay that way.
"I'll find him."
Jack's words shook Ianto out of his reverie. He glanced around but everyone was focussed on Jack and didn't seem to have noticed his lapse. He gave Martha a shaky smile when she turned around with a huff to face the Torchwood team after Jack had gone. Gwen and Toshiko gave her less of a response than that, both of them turning back to their workstations without a word to her.
"I'm only trying to prepare you," Martha started to say but, clearly, no one was interested.
Ianto made it back to his workstation and practically fell into his chair, memories of blood and steel and a girl he had loved assaulting him again. Lisa, he thought, burying his face in his hands. How long? How long since she's even crossed my mind? He reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, digging for the photograph buried in the back. He unfolded it carefully, noting that the crease in the centre divided him from Lisa as surely as fate had. He studied her face, her smile, he could almost hear her laugh as she made bunny ears over his head when Jamie had snapped the photo.
Lisa. I'm sorry.
Ianto cleared his throat and folded the picture. He slid it back in his wallet, trying to put away his memories as neatly, and got back to work.
TBC...
.
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just Zombie!Owen ;-)
Spoilers: Season Two thru Dead Man Walking (2x07)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood, Doctor Who and all their wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Matt Jones for situations and dialogue borrowed from Dead Man Walking. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which the team starts to look into the glove...something Jack probably should have thought of earlier...
Notes: Gah! One post and I'm already off schedule. I suck. 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 beta work; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Seventy-Seven
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Owen's resurrection didn't quite go according to plan...
Ianto stomped down to the archives after running a search on the resurrection glove. For good measure, he widened the search to include any items used in resurrection, just for comparison. He had a substantial list of reports to pull and he hoped that by the time he'd found them all, he'd be over his fit of pique at Jack. He shoved open the first door a little too emphatically, kicking up a cloud of dust. He cursed himself and Jack – and glove, while he was at it – waiting for the dust to settle a bit before heading into the small room.
He found the box of files he needed and started riffling through the pages, looking for the items he'd marked in the database. His mind wandered back to Jack almost immediately. Why did he use the glove? Ianto thought as his hands worked almost independently of his brain, finding the files, ticking them off his list, finding the next box, and then doing the same thing all over again.
The bit about the morgue code was a lie. It wasn't even a good lie. Did he know the glove was going to do something like this? Why is he acting like this is all Owen's fault somehow? Round and round he went, gathering files, thinking about Jack's bizarre actions, moving on to a new room of archives to look for more files, wondering what Jack had been thinking.
He had quite a pile when he finally came back upstairs. He hadn't found anything that he thought would be helpful, but he'd learned to give Jack too much rather than too little data. Generally, the Captain would groan dramatically, start in on a large stack of files and lose interest quickly, asking Ianto for the salient points. After grabbing himself a much needed cup of coffee, Ianto settled at his workstation with the files, reading through everything Torchwood had on resurrectional artefacts.
He dropped the pen he was using to make notes when Martha suddenly screamed from the medbay.
"Jack! Help! I need help! Now!"
Jack was out of his office and halfway down the stairs to the medbay when Martha stopped yelling. Tosh and Ianto shared a look and then ran to see what was happening. Gwen, who had been sitting on the floor on the upper walkway was the last to join them at the railing above the medbay. Owen was clinging to Jack; it almost looked as if he were crying. Martha was standing close by, patting Owen on the back helplessly.
"This way," Jack finally said softly, leading Owen up the stairs. As they passed the rest of the team, Jack said, "Boardroom in five minutes."
Ianto was the last to arrive. He took his seat quickly as Jack asked Owen to fill everyone in on what he'd experienced in the medbay.
"One minute I was... I was just there, talking to Martha then it... it was like I... fell, I guess. Yeah, it was like I fell and landed somewhere... else. It was dark, I couldn't see anything but... but I could hear something... someone there with me. They were... whispering. I couldn't make anything out. I called for Martha and then I... sort of... came to, I guess. I don't know."
"Martha?" Jack asked.
Martha shook her head. "Owen didn't go anywhere and didn't say my name, he didn't say anything really. It was like he had a seizure and I think I know why. Owen's body's undergoing some kind of transformation. His cells aren't decaying, they're changing."
"Into what?"
"An energy I can't identify, but it's growing, all the time. He's about 40% something else."
"I don't feel any different," Owen protested.
"We need to find out where this energy's coming from."
"Presumably it's the same place as the glove," Tosh offered. "Which, judging from its atomic makeup, isn't anywhere local."
Ianto shuffled the file on the original glove to the top of the small stack of folders he'd brought to the meeting. Before he could offer anything from the archives, however, Gwen spoke up.
"Owen said he went somewhere when he collapsed. Could the energy and the glove come from the same dark place?"
"What are we talking about? Another dimension?" Jack proposed. "Parallel universe?""
Owen waved his hand. "Yes, guys, I'm still here."
Jack fell silent for a moment. "Sorry," he said softly. "Okay, you said there was something in the darkness, waiting for you."
"Yeah, I felt it, I didn't see it."
"Where do you think you went?"
Owen shook his head in defeat. "Don't know." He closed his eyes, clearly miserable.
There was a long silence, broken by Martha.
"Well, I've given Owen a monitor that's connected to the computers. It's keeping track of the total percentage of the energy that is... taking over his body."
"That wrist thing?" Gwen asked.
Martha nodded and then inclined her head to the monitor nearest her. "We'll be able keep an eye on the levels. Hopefully we'll figure something out before it gets critical."
"What happens then?" Owen's voice was barely audible.
"I don't know," Martha admitted.
"Well, then," Jack said, standing up. "We've still got some work to do."
They all filed back up to the Hub in silence.
Ianto was heading for his workstation when Jack called out to him.
"Ianto, check our internal system readings for any dimensional anomalies in the last hour."
"Will do." He caught up with Jack, handing him the resurrection research. "So you're thinking the alternate dimension theory may hold?" he asked quietly.
Jack shrugged. "I suppose anything is possible. We should check every angle."
"Jack, why did you use the glove?" Ianto asked impulsively, reaching out to lay his hand on Jack's arm.
Jack shook him off, which stung more than Ianto wanted to admit. "Not now, Ianto," he muttered.
Ianto stiffened. "Of course, sir." He walked over to his workstation and began the search Jack had asked for.
He didn't have any luck finding a dimensional, temporal, spatial, or any other kind of anomaly in the Hub over the last twenty-four hours. He kept at it, though, preferring to bang his head against this particular brick wall rather than face Jack's stonewalling again.
He had just begun to review CCTV footage from all the cameras in the Hub, when Jack and Martha burst out of Jack's office, calling for Owen. Jack tried the comms as well as his usual shouting, with no luck.
"He said he needed the loo," Tosh explained when Owen didn't immediately appear.
"Owen's digestive system has shut down. He can't eat or drink, so he certainly doesn't need to pee," Martha scoffed.
Ianto sighed and grabbed Jack's coat, knowing for certain the next steps would include a search party.
Jack turned to Ianto and slipped into his coat without a pause, giving Ianto a quick, tight smile of thanks.
"He's not answering," he said worriedly.
Gwen had pulled up the internal CCTV. "Well, he's not in the Hub," she confirmed.
"You mean he's out there?" Martha's question had more than a little accusation laced into her tone.
"It's Owen," Jack said, exasperated. "It's not like he's dangerous."
"You sure about that?"
"Meaning?"
Ianto stepped forward, ready to get in between Martha and Jack who were snarling at each other like territorial dogs. Jack saw him move and took the hint, turning around and heading for the door.
Martha wasn't as wise. "You had the power to bring people back to life and you never told UNIT. Why?"
Jack turned to look at Martha. "They would've wanted to use it."
Ianto winced. That argument would have carried a lot more weight if you hadn't just used it, he thought.
"I'm on your side, Jack," Martha said, in more conciliatory tones. "But Owen's just had a surge of energy that we can't begin to understand. The cells in his body are being transformed into something else. He's about 50% human."
Ianto was suddenly hit by a wave a memory so strong, he felt physically ill. He barely heard the rest of what Martha was saying over the rushing in his ears. The girl you loved is gone. There is no cure, there never will be. Those who are converted stay that way.
"I'll find him."
Jack's words shook Ianto out of his reverie. He glanced around but everyone was focussed on Jack and didn't seem to have noticed his lapse. He gave Martha a shaky smile when she turned around with a huff to face the Torchwood team after Jack had gone. Gwen and Toshiko gave her less of a response than that, both of them turning back to their workstations without a word to her.
"I'm only trying to prepare you," Martha started to say but, clearly, no one was interested.
Ianto made it back to his workstation and practically fell into his chair, memories of blood and steel and a girl he had loved assaulting him again. Lisa, he thought, burying his face in his hands. How long? How long since she's even crossed my mind? He reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, digging for the photograph buried in the back. He unfolded it carefully, noting that the crease in the centre divided him from Lisa as surely as fate had. He studied her face, her smile, he could almost hear her laugh as she made bunny ears over his head when Jamie had snapped the photo.
Lisa. I'm sorry.
Ianto cleared his throat and folded the picture. He slid it back in his wallet, trying to put away his memories as neatly, and got back to work.
TBC...
.
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Date: 2015-04-14 05:20 am (UTC)Also...OWEN HAD A FITBIT before they were even made LOL