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

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…

Author’s note: Mags the werewolf appears in the Classic Doctor Who story The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (7th doctor and Ace). Nothing is known about Mags other than she originates in the planet Vulpana, so I took it upon myself to create some background.

Part one is here ; Part two is here; Part three is here; Part four is here; Part five is here; Part six is here ; Part seven is here ; Part eight is here ; Part nine is here 

 

            Ianto poured some of Archie’s best and handed to glass to Jane. “Here. You look like you need it.”

 

            “I need… I don’t know what I need.  All my life I’ve worked for the coming of the Wolf. I had this vision of an intergalactic power leading his followers to greatness. Instead I got a shy young woman that wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She tossed back the scotch and held out the glass for more. “If she’s a haemavore I’m the faerie queen.”

 

            “You’re not anywhere ugly enough,” Jack said, “and she isn’t. She’s a Vulpani.”

 

            After a brief discussion they had agreed to let Jane and the werewolf into the library under heavy guard. Pryce’s attacker turned out to be a slender, dark-haired woman named Mags, with a soft voice and a calm disposition. It turned out that Mags had met the Doctor while performing in a circus; by her description her Doctor was an early incarnation of the ones Jack had known. Ianto and TARDIS had examined her and discovered that she had been dosed with a potion similar to the one used on Merry, but in her case it was meant to trigger all her feral instincts.

 

            “I’ve never heard of the Vulpani,” Jane said.

 

            “I’m not surprised. They seldom leave their planet. Most of their contact with the space-going civilizations is through an annual fair held during the month of the year when the light of all three of their moons is occluded by their twin planet. The Vulpani are brilliant pharmacists and perfumers and their products are much in demand. Wars have been fought over Vulpani perfume.”

 

            “But she turns into a werewolf, just like a haemavore,” Jane said. “Are you telling me they aren’t related?”

 

            “No, they are probably related. Literally. One of the oldest Vulpani creation stories describes a battle between their Gods and off world demons that could inhabit Vulpani bodies. The demons were cast out but cursed the Vulpani to change form at the full of the moons.”

 

            “So the Vulpani are the survivors of a war between their ancestors and haemavores,” Ianto said. “But that means Mags is useless to the Brethren. She’s not a host, so she can’t pass on the infection.”

 

            “So Pryce will be ok, then,” Gwen said happily. “All we have to do is get him to hospital.”

 

            “No.” Mags sweet voice was full of sadness. “The reason we stay away from others is that we can pass on the madness.”

 

            “What do you mean?” Gwen grabbed the girl’s shoulders and shook her. “What madness?”

 

            “Gwen, let go!”  Jack pushed his way between the women. “Mag’s as much a victim as Pryce.”

 

            “It’s fine, Captain, “the werewolf said. “You will need to know so you can take measures to protect the boy and yourselves.”

 

            She sank to the floor next to Pryce and stroked his hair gently, tears running down her face. “My people evolved in an ecosystem full of large predators. Our primary defense mechanism was a chemical compound that produced temporary disruptions in our attacker’s nervous system. After the War of Gods and Demons we found that the compound had mutated into an irreversible poison. If you are lucky, it paralyzes your brain and your body shuts down instantly.  If you are not, it drives you slowly insane.”

 

            The finality of the softly-spoken words chilled everyone to the core. Ianto instinctively reached into his TARDIS link, hoping to find something that would help. Unaccountably, for the first time since their association, the ancient Teacher seemed reluctant to answer. Flashes of memory were instantly suppressed; his pleas were met with the mental equivalent of a slammed door.

 

            *Why are you doing this?* Once more he received no answer. *Fine. I will ask the Doctor to help me remove you from my wrist. He is not too certain that our existence is a good thing. I’ll bet he sighs with relief when I ask.*

 

            *They all died.* TARDIS’s grief was almost unbearable. *They could not assimilate us, and they died.*

 

            *Show me.* The terrible images almost made Ianto retch. *How could they?*

 

            *They were looking for a way to make TARDIS completely subservient. In any case, there are no Potentialities available for the boy.*

 

            *But he doesn’t need one! What he needs is something that will eliminate the poison and correct the structural damage.* Ianto projected a series of images back to the TARDIS. *Would this work?*

 

            The old Teacher seemed actually startled. * It might work if we do it very quickly.*

 

            That was all Ianto needed to hear. He grabbed Jack’s arm and towed him to where Gwen and Rhys were standing, holding each other.

 

            “Gwen. Gwenie! Listen. We might be able to do something for Pryce.” The wild hope in her eyes made him feel panicky. “It’s not much of a chance. But…”

 

            “What?” Jack cut through his babbling.

 

            “Remember that book you told me about?  One of those abandoned lines of research involved implanting immature TARDIS structures into Time Lords’ brains and linking them both to the TARDIS coral. The Time Lord brains couldn’t handle the overload, and they died. But Jack… during the experiment they noticed that the coral optimized the Time Lords’ bodies automatically…”

 

            Jack hugged him. "And TARDIS thinks there's a chance?"

            “The coral? That thing on Jack’s desk?” Gwen asked unbelievingly. “How can it help?”

 

            “We implant a small piece of it into Pryce’s body. If the coral is assimilated, it will assume Pryce’s body is part of itself and start trying to correct its structural flaws. Right now, Pryce’s biggest flaws are his wound and the poison.” Ianto took her hand. “Gwen, Rhys, I won’t lie to you. We’re going into this blind. Even if the implant saves him, nobody has ever carried a piece of TARDIS coral inside them before. Even TARDIS cannot predict what will happen.”

 

            “Do it.” Rhys said. “He will die either way, right? Better this way than going slowly insane.”

 

            “They’re coming.” Mags jumped up, sniffing the air. “The mad ones are coming.”

 

            “Good.” Jack’s smile held a great deal of mirthless anticipation. “I’ve been looking forward to this. Gwen? Rhys? I’m sorry to have to ask, but we are out of time…”

 

            “Mom? Dad? Do it. Pryce would think it’s fun.”Yan hefted the rifle.”Uncle Jack, where do you want me?”

 

            Jack raised an eyebrow at Gwen, who nodded. “You’re in charge of Merry and Don, kiddo. Gwen…”

 

            “I’m over here with Ianto. He can’t do surgery and fight at the same time, can he?”

 

            Jack kissed her forehead lightly. “Rhys, with me. You still have that nine-iron?”

 

            “Oh, yeah.”

 

            “Mags,” Jack said something none of the others understood, but that had the werewolf giggling and Ianto rolling his eyes. “Jane, you’re with Mags. Make sure she’s safe.”

 

            He waited until everyone was in position and then ambled to the door. As he passed Ianto, now crouched at Pryce’s side, their fingers touched briefly.

 

            *Ready, cariad?*

 

            *Always, my captain.*

 

            Somewhere in the house, a bell started tolling. Jack waited a few minutes then rapped sharply on the door. “Will you stop that racket? Do you think we are stupid enough not to know you’re out there?”

 

            The bell fell silent. Now they could hear urgent whispering and shuffling in the corridor beyond; obviously there was an argument going on, and it seemed to be escalating rapidly. The whispers became shouts of no! and look out! as a gun fired three times in quick succession.

 

            “Ah, the joys of participatory democracy,” Jack drawled. “So, Mr. Booth, shall we talk?”

 

            “We have nowt to talk about. Open the door.”

 

            “Do it, Jack,” Jane said from behind him, “or I will kill the werewolf.”

 

            Jack turned slowly. Jane was holding Mags with one arm around the throat. The Torchwood agent held a small but lethal looking gun pressed against the girl’s temple. Wordlessly, Jack reached behind his back and drew the bolt.

 

            “Now, step away from the door.” She waited until Jack had moved, then shouted. “Booth, come in!”

 

            The door slammed back against the wall. A tall, ginger man marched in, followed by two monks. He looked Jack up and down contemptuously. “So this is the fabled Captain Harkness. Not such a bright man, I ken, letting himself be trapped by a mere girl,”

 

            “Doesn’t think much of you, does he, Jane?” Jack grinned cheekily at her. “Care to rethink your position, ‘girl’? We make much better allies.”

 

            The blow sent him sprawling against the desk. Booth threw himself after him, punching and kicking wildly. Jack twisted away, his leg swinging up to connect with Booth’s kidneys.

 

            “Now!”

 

            The gun in Jane’s hand was jerked away by an invisible force as Mags threw herself backwards, smashing them both against the wall. The two monks, caught by surprise, tried to jump in only to be dropped unconscious by two hard blows from a golf club swung efficiently by Rhys. Gwen handcuffed the two together and left them where they lay, then handcuffed Booth to the leg of the heavy desk.

 

            Jack stood over a dazed Jane. “Game over.”

 

            She stumbled to her feet. “You knew. How did you know? How did you do it? I didn’t see you give them any instructions!”

 

            “I didn’t need to. This is my team. We have been together for twenty-five years. They know exactly what I would do and how I would do it. All I had to do was tell Mags to wait for my signal. How about you and Booth, Jane? I don’t think you have much interest in the Kingdom of the Wolf.”

 

            She shrugged. “I was reading some of the Monastery Archives and I found out how to control a haemavore. Can you imagine it, Jack? All that power at my disposal. Why the hell should I serve an alien when I could make him give me everything I wanted?”

 

            “So that’s why your little boy-toy eliminated the competition out there. You weren’t about to become a foot soldier in a werewolf army. Too bad you didn’t have a better partner. He moved too soon, Jane. Killing your allies is done only after you’re sure you won’t need them again. ”

 

            “What about your nephew? You wasted time with this little battle, Captain,” she said viciously. “Your boy’s going to die.”

 

            “Actually, implanting a TARDIS coral is a rather easy procedure.” Ianto stood up, stretching luxuriously. “No tools needed. The coral takes care of it itself.” He smiled at Gwen and Rhys. “His body seems to be accepting the implant. We'll have to watch him for a few days, but I think he will be ok.”

 

            “But she said,” Jane pointed at Gwen, who had rushed to her son’s side, “that it was on Jack’s desk!”

 

            Ianto raised his hand and pointed at a lovely Dresden shepherdess on one of the side tables. It vanished, only to reappear on his palm a couple of seconds later.

 

            “What the hell are you?”

 

            “Look carefully, Jane. You are looking at a new species of human. Or of Time Lord. We’re not quite sure yet.” He smiled grimly. “Not that you’re going to remember him. Or any of this.”

 

            ‘”Retcon, Captain?”

 

            “Probably back to the cradle. You played for power and you lost. Time to pay the piper.” The sound of a helicopter’s rotor filled the room. “That’s the rest of the team. I didn’t have to give them any instructions, either. Right about now UNIT is rounding up the host families and all the monks left in the monastery or the glen. It’s what I would do.”

 

            He held his hand out to Mags. “Come on. We’ll call the Doc and have him come pick you up. It’ll be old home week at the Hub. Ianto, will Pryce be able to travel?”

 

            “Sure.”

 

            “All right, then. “ Jack looked around. “I’ve never been very fond of Torchwood House. Let’s get our present and future team out of here.”

 

            “Three of them.” Rhys said mournfully. “I’m going to have to deal with three of them.”

 

            “You think you have problems now, Dad?” Yan said cheekily. “Pryce and I just want to work for Torchwood. Toshi wants to be a Companion!”