Chapter Text
When Jack had been called to the hospital he wondered if his ex partner had finally reached a point where the alcohol had just replaced his blood and it had sent him to A&E. It had not. As he walked into the hospital room he found John hooked up to an IV, bruising covering one side of his face and a deep gash was neatly stitched up over his right eyebrow. His left arm was held in a sling. According to the nurse he’d been found unconscious in the street, beaten and bloodied with no form of identification or anything else for that matter. The police suspected he’d been mugged. When he’d woken up he’d insisted they call a man called Jack and had given them a number, one he only just remembered.
“So, what happened?” Jack asked, closing the door behind him.
John opened his unbruised eye. “Nice to see you too. Someone didn’t like losing a bet and they decided they were going to take everything I had. Snake eyed bastard.”
“So you called me.”
“They took everything. Weapons and my vortex manipulator included. I’m trapped here and twenty first century painkillers are shit.”
“They’d work just fine if you didn’t have a resistance to almost all the substances they use in this time.”
“I have the worst hangover so not even your baby blues can stop me from wanting to punch you right now.”
He chuckled. “Ok, ok. I’ll help you get your vortex manipulator back.”
“And the rest?”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Just get me out of here before they try and feed me their sorry excuse for food again.” He sat up and carefully swung his legs off the bed. “It’s worse than boot camp rations.”
“It’s hospital food. It’s not going to be good. Where are your clothes?”
“Ask the nurse. I’ve only been conscious for a few hours.”
“So, who’s betting this is all another con?” Asked Owen, rocking back in his chair.
Gwen nodded. “Of course it is. That or there’s someone even more kill crazy than he is.”
“Or he got himself drunk enough to walk into a road or something.”
“Either way if Jack’s bringing him back here, what are we going to do?”
“Lock him in a cell?” Ianto suggested, placing a box of donuts down on the coffee table.
Owen moved to grab one before all the chocolate ones had gone. “With Tex.”
“Don’t tempt me. If I give him three hours there’ll be nothing left.”
“Maybe he’s learned his lesson.” Tosh reached over and took her own donut. “It did sound like he was in a state.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Hearing two sets of footsteps they looked to the door that led up from the garage to see Jack walk in followed by John, still sporting his red jacket but minus his shirt. The blood stains had been a bit much for walking around in the open according to Jack and in reply the shirt had been removed and thrown in the nearest bin. It hadn’t exactly been easy getting his jacket on so he wasn’t wrestling himself into a shirt just to take it off again. He’d thought it was a brilliant idea until he’d walked out into the autumn air that bit at his exposed skin. Just another in a list of regrets he’d collected since arriving back on Earth. Right under not shooting that fang faced arsehole in the head the second they met. But that would have broken his six month no kill record and he wasn’t going to let a tosser like that break it.
“Miss me?” He grinned, receiving dead silence and glares in reply. “Look, I get it. I wasn’t the best guest last time I was here but this time it isn’t my fault.”
Jack glanced at him. “That’s to be determined. You still need to explain exactly what happened.”
“Can I have those painkillers first? My head is killing me.”
“Fine. Owen, could you? Otherwise all we’re going to get is complaints.”
Owen gave a sceptical nod and walked off to retrieve some of the Torchwood grade painkillers. As much as he’d love to give John a punch for himself, he didn’t look in great shape so the doctor decided to offer a little mercy. Ianto had followed in the bare bones show of goodwill and went to grab a tee shirt from the supply cupboard. They have a whole host of clothing spare for those who’d been dropped into the twenty first century with nothing. It was very basic but it was something. As soon as John was a little warmer and the throbbing pain in his head had subsided he finally got around to explaining what had happened.
“I heard about this high stakes card game. The prize was meant to be worth a fortune but the organiser was keeping what it actually was hush hush. I thought, why not? I walk into a back room where there’s two of your typical gambler types, haven't won a game in years, a guy the size of a tank, but he didn’t look like there was much going on behind the eyes, a woman who looked way out of her depth and the organiser. He had golden eyes, like a snake, and fangs to match. He was bad news, I could feel it, but as I was the only one in the room armed I wasn’t worried about it. Everything started out just fine. I didn’t even have to cheat. One of the gamblers broke down after the third round, rambling on about how he’d lost everything or something. The usual. The snake just looked at him and he started to choke, foaming at the mouth, trying to crawl away. He made it to the door and the snake let him go, laughing the whole time. I mean I’m twisted, but that was a bit much. The big guy was next to drop out, but not before trying to choke the snake out. He ended up on the floor too. Looked like he’d been poisoned. I think the snake would have killed him if the girl hadn’t begged for his life. She folded and helped the poor bastard out. So there was just me, the other gambler and the snake left. I decided if I lost the next hand I was walking out of there and not looking back. But I didn’t. Lucky me. The gambler dropped out and made a run for it. The snake was cackling the whole time. He collected the cards and finished his drink before putting a case on the table. He opened it to show this orb made of pure gold with a jewelled eye in the centre. I couldn’t leave it behind after that. Then… Then I remember it feeling like my lungs were on fire, bugs crawling under my skin. I could barely feel my legs as the snake walked over. He kicked me in the head and then… Nothing. Lights out. Woke up in the hospital.” He looked legitimately shaken by the experience.
Jack crossed his arms. “So, this snake has your vortex manipulator.”
“He’s got everything. And I mean everything.”
“Where exactly?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
“I’m sorry, is my concussion an issue for you?”
After a long silence Jack looked up. “There’s one way we could bring your memory back. Or at least get some details from whatever’s left.”
“No!” Gwen and Ianto snapped in unison.
He raised his hands, trying to calm the sudden outburst. “Woah there. I’m not going to leave her alone with him.”
“They’re right. That’s a bad idea.” Owen agreed, that bad feeling rising in his stomach.
Ianto walked past and pulled Jack by the arm, just out of earshot. “Every mind Melody reads leaves things behind. You can’t ask her to do that.”
“She’s been in a lot worse and she’s got out just fine.”
“Fine? You call her being paranoid all of last month fine?!”
“That wasn’t because of the dalek.”
“No, it was the minds of all those people who died. Just a second and it imprinted.” He glanced over his shoulder and John waved with his good hand, winking.
“Ianto, I promise I’ll keep what she comes into contact with controlled. You know I wouldn’t even consider it if it wasn’t necessary. A vortex manipulator in the wrong hands could cause irreparable damage across time.”
He sighed. “Fine… Just explain to her what she’s getting herself into first. In fact, let me explain, you keep an eye on him.”
“Yes sir.” Jack said, trying to keep a straight face.
“So, you want me to just dig up what happened? I can do that.” Mel smiled, just happy to be included after being stuck chatting to a lovely woman who had a habit of repeating herself more than ten times before changing the subject and repeating the process. She was nice, but it was hard to keep looking interested. Plus the signs of dementia always hit harder when you could hear the misfires and slow degradation in the brain. That was just Thursday mornings for you. Lonely people looking for anyone to talk to, hidden in a place where anyone barely noticed, that looked as partially forgotten as they had been. Ianto had been doing the same for years. He didn’t move to open the door right away.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
He was so clearly uncomfortable that it would make anyone a little nervous. “Be careful. John’s dangerous, unstable… Jack can try and keep him on a short tether, but there’s always a chance of him thinking up some con and he won’t even blink before turning against us.”
“Don’t worry. I can handle this.” She grabbed a sketchbook and pencil case then opened the door. Down in the hub the air had a tenseness to it, like the moments leading up to a typical horror jump scare. The man she didn’t recognise looked like he’d been hit by a car and honestly didn’t look like much of a threat. Looks could be deceiving, she knew that, but this man was working with the use of only one arm and no depth perception. The strangest thing for her was that she couldn’t hear his thoughts. Like Jack he was silent, completely blocking her out. He studied her for a fraction of a second but he’d gathered all the information he needed to. John had been good at that back in the day. From the way she held herself he knew that she was a generally anxious person, but the way she looked at everyone like a puppy would to a new owner said she would do anything to be useful, needed. She dressed to mirror Ianto, so he guessed that was who was her direct superior and the one she most wanted to fit in with. Her fringe hanging over her eyes in a way that had to be annoying was hiding something. He wasn’t sure of what but he knew that eye contact would be unwise. Not that he planned to fight her but physically she looked to be a pushover. It all begged the question, why was she here?
“Mel, this is John. I’m hoping you can dig up a few details about what happened to him.” Jack smiled, trying to act casually.
She nodded. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Why do I feel like I’m missing something here? You’re the master of interrogation so how’s bringing in the fun size version of eye candy over there going to help?” John said, looking between them awkwardly as a pain in his neck twinged.
Jack gave him a withering look. “She’s a telepath. Just think about what happened and she’ll put the pieces together.”
“Her?”
“Yes.”
“Ok.” He side eyed her.
She pulled over a chair and sat, placing her sketchbook on her lap looking completely calm. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
“Go ahead. It’s not going to be that easy-” As the final syllable left his lips he felt the mental barrier melt away as if it was made of wet tissue paper hung up in a storm. Flashes of memory from the card game drifting up and leaving again just as quickly. The face of the snake stayed the longest as he heard the sound of pencil being softly scraped across paper. He didn’t know how long his mind was swimming but he did know that his recollection of events had been a little off. He couldn’t be blamed for that after the head trauma but it was still a surprise. Everything had been correct until the snake opened the box. At first it did look like a pure golden orb with a jewel encrusted eye, but when he picked it up he realised it was much too light. It was a fake. His temper had flared and he’d smashed the thing on the table, sending chunks of plastic across the surface. The snake had laughed, finding his reaction very entertaining. It had grinned at him and told him that he’d been set up and he could walk out alive if he handed over everything he was carrying. He’d told them they’d have to kill him and that’s when the pain had started. The large guy had returned, obviously in on it, and began the beat down. The moment before he lost consciousness he heard the snake hiss that he should come and find them. See how much he could burn on the way. He snapped from the memory to see the woman in front of him sketching the face of the snake.
“How are you feeling?” She asked, not looking up from her drawing.
He blinked his good eye and tried to get his bearings. “I’m… Conscious?”
“That’s a good start. Try not to move yet, you might fall over.”
“The hell did you do to me?”
“Your mental defences are directly linked to your level of consciousness. Once I got past them you spaced out.”
“That should have taken hours!”
“It took me three minutes to get in and thirty two to compile the information.”
He pulled himself away from his confusion and reassessed her. Her pose was more relaxed, her fingers moving precisely across the page as she smoothed the shading of the image. She wasn’t looking for approval anymore, in fact if it was given he doubted she’d even acknowledge it. It was as if she was a different person and it made him on edge. Even so, he saw Gwen standing just behind her, watching him like a hawk. What did they think he was going to do? Headbutt her? He was reckless and vicious but he wasn’t stupid. Melody held up the picture to confirm it was correct.
