Title: The Hour of the Wolf (2/10)

Author: Emma

Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Torchwood Three team and their offspring

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?

Spoilers: None. This takes place in my Homecoming AU, four years or so after The Eye of Neith.

Summary: Something is happening in St. Catherine’s Glen, and whatever it is will change the Cooper-Williams family forever…

            Jack rubbed his injured knuckles.

            “But they’re good,” he whined. “Can’t I have just one little taste?”

            Ianto laughed. “Give it up, Mrs. Bolton. He’ll hound you until you do.”

            Their housekeeper brandished the wooden spoon she had used on Jack’s hand.

            “I’ll have you know I’ve kept dozens of children away from the pudding bowl in my time, Mr. Ianto.”  She tried giving Jack a stern look, but then relented with a sigh. “Very well, then. One piece each, then out of my kitchen until our guests arrive.”

            The two men retreated from Mrs. Bolton’s domain, each carrying a piping-hot chocolate meringue.

            “Never fails,” Jack chuckled. “She’s the softest touch that ever lived.”

            “And you are still a con man.” Ianto bit into the meringue and moaned with pleasure. “Good job.”

            “Thank you, Mr. Jones.” Jack landed a kiss in the vicinity of Ianto’s mouth and proceeded to lick the crumbs from his lips. “You know, hiring that woman was one of my better ideas.”

            “No argument from me.” Ianto grabbed Jack’s collar and pulled him closer. “Now kiss me properly.”

            “My pleasure.” Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto’s waist and leaned in to comply with his lover’s demand. “I…. dammit.”

            The sound of the doorbell had broken the spell. Jack sighed. “Five quid it’s Rhys and Gwen.”

            Ianto slapped Jack’s arse lightly. “Behave. Go open the door. I’ll get some drinks.”

            Jack grumbled all the way. Pulling open the door, he glared at his second in command. “I was just about to kiss Ianto.”

            “Poor baby.” Gwen patted his cheek. “Me, I got thoroughly kissed this morning. And this afternoon.”

            “And other things, too, I’ll bet, with the house empty of kids.”

            “Yeah, Grandma Francine and Aunt Tish really come in handy, don’t they?”

            Gwen smirked at her boss as she moved past him. Rhys was a bit more circumspect, but his grin told Jack everything he needed to know. As Jack started to follow them, the doorbell rang again. When he opened the door, he found the rest of his team standing there.

            “Hey, guys. You car pool or something?”

            “Actually, we did.” Doctor Tom Milligan answered. “John and Andy wanted to try out the new Land Rover.”

            “Suddenly I am not having a very good day,” Jack said ominously. “What part of Jack gets to try out the toys first did we miss?”

            “Cranky, Jack?” Martha kissed his cheek. “Tell you what, you and Ianto can join us this weekend. Tom wants to put his new baby through its paces.”

            “It’s a deal. Maybe.” He backpedalled. “I’ll have to ask Ianto.”

            “Wise at last.” Martha tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow and pulled him along. “Come on, let’s get a glass of wine and relax. In fact, let’s get more than relaxed. All the little birds are away from the nest. I can pass out in your guest room.”

            Gwen walked up to them carrying a tall frosty glass. ‘Martha, you’ve got to try this. Mrs. Bolton has been surfing the web again. She found this great cocktail. Here, have a sip.”

            Martha obliged. “Wow.  That packs a kick. What’s it called?”

            “Sex with the Captain.” One look at Jack’s face and Gwen dissolved in giggles. “No, really. She showed me the web page.”

            Jack put one arm around each woman. “Well, come on, ladies. Let’s give Sex with the Captain a try.”

            “Oi!” Rhys said. “That’s my wife you’re talking to.”

            “I know. I was at the wedding, remember?”

            “And we’re about the only ones who do!”

            “You know, all through my wedding day I was expecting the roof to cave in.” Tom said. “My happiest moment was when we got on the plane to the Bahamas and absolutely nothing had happened.”

            “If I remember correctly,” Ianto said, “the Judoon landed outside Abergavenny two hours later and all hell broke loose.”

            “Yes, but we didn’t even find out about it until we got back!”

            Jack sat back, glass in hand – it was actually a decent cocktail, although a bit too sweet for his taste – and watched his small family tease and joke with each other. It still amazed him that these people had battered down his protective walls, refusing to take no for an answer. Now, he couldn’t image his life without them. He had even come to terms with the knowledge that they would die and leave him behind; now there were nephews and nieces to take care of, whole generations for him to protect.

            And Ianto… In the four years since Neith had placed a TARDIS around his wrist, Ianto had been undergoing a massive transformation that didn’t show any signs of slowing. Martha had been the first one to notice it. Ianto had broken his wrist clambering around the ruins at Caerleon. Three days later it was almost completely healed. Martha had put Ianto through a complete set of tests, and the results had been so startling that she had called in the Doctor. He had been so spooked that he had thrown every test the TARDIS could come up with at Ianto, who submitted only because Jack insisted.

            Ianto’s body was mutating; the word the Doctor had used was optimizing. Every organ, every cell, was being fine-tuned. Cell growth and replacement had speeded up and balanced until a sort of perfect self-renewal had been achieved. Physically, Ianto hadn’t aged a day in four years. Strangest of all, Ianto’s brain was growing, virtual tracks being laid over and between the layers of his neural network, which was also being reconnected and retooled.

            “It’s like his mind is growing in six dimensions,” the Doctor remarked to Jack. “I think we’re seeing the birth of a new species of Time Lord, Jack. Or something like it, or maybe not. By the way, whatever is happening, both TARDIS are unbearably smug about it.”

            On being asked, the TARDIS only said that the changes were essential. They got quite cranky if pressed for more information.

            ‘Hey,” Ianto’s voice dragged Jack out of his reverie. “You ok?”

            He took Ianto’s hand and tangled their fingers together. “All good.”

            On the other side of the room, Martha stared at the screen of her mobile then pressed the “answer” button. “Addie? Is anything wrong?”

            She listened for a while, then started to sputter a reply, but was obviously cut off. After it happened a couple of more times, she shrugged. “All right, young lady, but we will have a talk about this at some point, you hear me?”

            She placed the phone on the coffee table in front of Jack and waved everyone around. “Go ahead, Addie.”

            “Uncle Jack?” Adeola Milligan-Jones had a rich contralto voice and managed to sound eerily like her grandmother. “I think there’s a problem up in Scotland.”

            Gwen and Rhys looked worried.

            “Addie? Gwen and Rhys are right here. Is this the kind of problem Yan and Pryce would want their parents to know about?”

            Gwen started to speak but was silenced by a touch from Rhys.

            “It’s nothing like that, Uncle Jack. This is Torchwood kind of trouble.”

            “Addie…”

            “Look, Uncle Jack, sorry to drop it on you like this, but we know who you are and what you do. What everyone does, ok? We’ve known for a long time. We can go into the nasty details later.” As the gobsmacked adults absorbed the information, she continued. “I got a call from the guys. The guide Mr. Conway hired took them to St. Catherine’s Glen. They’re staying at the monastery there. I googled it and it’s legitimate, a retreat center and b&b deal, but…”

            “Addie, nothing legitimate ever came out of St. Catherine’s Glen.” Jack’s shift from ‘Uncle Jack’ to ‘Captain Jack Harkness’ was obvious to everyone. “What did they say?”

            “That’s just it. It’s what they weren’t saying, or the way they were saying it.” Suddenly she sounded very young and uncertain. “Remember when we were kids and used to talk in code to drive you all nuts? It was like that. They kept calling me ‘sister Dahlia.’ All I can think of is the time I went to the dance club with Dahlia Stevens and came back after midnight and I was in deep shit with Mom and Dad for months. And Yan asked me if our neighbour Mrs. Legras had gotten over the trouble with her dog. Madame Legras de St. Germain is the name of the roses we helped grandma plant last year, Uncle Jack. And the only Rose we know who’s ever been in trouble with a dog…”

            “Thanks, Addie. You did good.” Jack stood up. “Gwen, Rhys, go home and pack some hiking clothes. Ianto and I will be by to pick you up in an hour. John, find out about the new inhabitants of St. Catherine’s Glen and why the hell Torchwood hasn’t heard about it until now.  Martha, get a hold of UNIT. We need a helicopter and a hell of a lot of information. Mrs. Bolton, I’m sorry, but…”

            “Not to worry, Captain. I’ll put together some things you can eat on the run. As for the rest of you, you can eat at the office just as well as here.”

            She bustled off to the kitchen as Jack and Ianto headed to the bedroom to pack.

            “I don’t understand anything,” Tom Milligan said resignedly. “As usual.”

            “Neither do I,” said Andy in an identical tone.

            Martha waited until the door had closed behind Gwen and Rhys, then turned to the three men still in the room. “That’s ok, guys. I’ll tell you the story of Rose Tyler and the werewolf on the way to the Hub.”