Captain Jack and Captain Jack [for slayers_desire]

[fractured_agent]

It's been a few months since the team got their first lessons in psychic shielding, and once again, the Hub is open to April's expertise. Though he knows they're having guests, Jack doesn't push anyone to clean up the clutter so it looks better. The Hub is still a work space, and a chaotically changing one at that. They're all used to it by now, and Jack knows April won't mind.

Ianto is manning the tourist information office upstairs, as usual, and he knows that April is coming.

Comments

[slayers_desire]

"For the next while, I want you to concentrate on using your concern to build stronger mental shields. You care about others... fuel your mental shielding with your natural instincts."

[fractured_agent]

Puzzling instructions, but Gwen is up to the challenge. "I'll try," she says with a nod.

[slayers_desire]

"You will do fine Gwen. You have a strong heart," said April.

[fractured_agent]

"Do you want me to try now, or are you ready for Ianto?"

[slayers_desire]

"You need a little more time to practice centering yourself, but you did well for today. Send in Ianto."

[fractured_agent]

"All right. Thank you, April." Gwen smiles at her, then goes to get the next 'student.'

Ianto is calm and collected, with no sign of his earlier terseness that he showed towards Owen. Nor does he feel particularly bothered by having to shoot him. His shields are pretty solid, allowing only surface readings, as he's recalled his earlier training and built on it.

[slayers_desire]

"I sense that you are handling your mental shields well, Ianto."

[fractured_agent]

"I've been practicing, ma'am," Ianto replies.

[slayers_desire]

April is not sure how to test Ianto, he shows very little of himself. "Tell me about your argument with Owen."

[fractured_agent]

"Rule number one of Torchwood Three is you don't mess with the Rift," Ianto says, quoting one of the first things Jack told him when he was hired. "The Rift manipulator is only to be used in the most dire of circumstances, and only when we have every single number needed to calculate. I wanted Gwen to keep looking, but Owen didn't care. He said he's tired of being in awe of the Rift." His tone makes it clear what he thinks of that opinion. You can be tired of being in awe of tornadoes too but it won't stop them from destroying everything.

[slayers_desire]

"Were you aware that he wanted to open the Rift for another reason?"

[fractured_agent]

"Yes. That was the other half of the argument." Ianto has a little bit of sympathy for Owen, but not a lot. "Before Christmas, a group of people came through the Rift from 1953. Unlike this time, we had no way to send them back. Owen became involved with one of them, a woman named Diane. After a few days she decided to take her chances with the Rift and flew into it. He's been rather... obsessed with getting her back."

[slayers_desire]

"It might not be possible to get her back..." April knows how pointless a situation like this can be. Even Jack himself faced it, since he was unable to do anything to help the real Captian Harkness.

[fractured_agent]

"It is almost certainly impossible. And opening the Rift without any sort of guidance to get her back is foolishness." That's why Ianto has no regrets about what he chose to do. "He needs to accept that she's gone, and she left of her own accord. His desperation might have doomed us all."

[slayers_desire]

"What would you have done, if someone you cared about was stuck in the Rift?"

[fractured_agent]

There's a crack in his shields then. Though nothing serious has happened between them, Ianto is attracted to Jack, despite their rough history. So in a very real way, today he encountered that exact scenario. "I would follow my training, and not open the Rift unless I had all the tools I needed." He's very relieved that Jack made it back safely, and a very small part of him is glad that Owen made that call. But he still believes it was the wrong decision.

[slayers_desire]

Jack is a lucky man. Having so many who love him.

"Perhaps someone took advantage of Owen's desires... it happens. Someone could do the same to you."

Especially if Jack's fate lies in whatever lies in the Rift.

[fractured_agent]

He has no doubt that's possible. "It's happened before."

[slayers_desire]

"Tell me about it." It is the only way she can help him to be stronger in the future.

[fractured_agent]

Ianto draws his shields tighter reflexively as he thinks about it, keeping his inner self private to protect himself. But he does answer her question. "Do you know what a Cyberman is?"

[slayers_desire]

"I know of Cyborgs. But I am not sure if they mean the same thing..."

[fractured_agent]

"They call themselves 'Human 2.0.' They took people and 'upgraded' them by putting their brains into robot bodies." Ianto's voice is rock-steady as he speaks, though his inner thoughts are entirely the opposite. If he showed his emotions outwardly right now, he would be shaking with remembered trauma. "They caused the fall of Torchwood One. Most of the staff was upgraded."

[slayers_desire]

"Definitely different..."

April can't imagine Cyborg doing something like what Ianto described. Or the newly de-virused Iniative Cyborgs.

"Did you lose someone to the 'upgrades'?"

[fractured_agent]

"My girlfriend. Lisa Hallett. They'd only upgraded her halfway when the Cybermen were stopped. I tried to take care of her... thought she was still in there." He's not doing as good a job at keeping the emotions out of his voice now. "She used my trust to try to start again here."

[slayers_desire]

April gently places a hand on Ianto's shoulder. She knows he is a private person, but still wants to show her support.

"That must have been hard."