Title: Necessary Ends, Part Two of Four

Author: Emma

Characters: Canonical Torchwood Three members… sort of.

Rating: Some chapters definitely not safe for work.

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?

Summary: An old, old friend helps Jack and Ianto in a quest to defeat an angry wraith…

Author’s Note: For those of you counting, this is They Keep Killing Suzie

Author’s Note: Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste their death but once. Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, It seems to me the most strange that men should fear; Seeing that Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Author’s Note:Coracles
Author’s Note: Laighin and Muman were Irish kingdoms Laighin is roughly Leinster and Muman had its capital at Cashel. In this Ireland, there was no English invasion, so the areas retained their historical names. Ireland is a confederation of kingdoms in the Celtic style. Of course, as in the modern style, most of the kings have only constitutional powers.
Author's Note: A long time ago I read an obscure legend that said that if a friendly supernatural being offered you an apple, you should eat it core and all. In this case, the Island itself gives Ianto an apple, so Jack reminds him. I'm looking for a cite, but... You can consider that I made it up!

Part One is here

            The shrill sound of the comm alarm jolted Jack out of sleep. He stumbled upstairs and found Ianto already dressed and at work. He glanced at the old-fashioned station clock on the wall. It was a few minutes before five.

            “You shouldn’t be here.”

            Ianto shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. I can’t these days, unless…”

            He looked away. Jack didn’t need him to complete the sentence to know exactly what Ianto had been about to say: unless I’m near you. He felt the same way.

            Ianto opened the comm line. “Yes, Andy.”

            “Ianto, I need to talk to Jack, right now.”

            Jack felt a jolt of premonition. “I’m here, Andy.”

            “I’m at Gwen’s. Neighbours called the police a couple of hours ago. When the constables got here they found Rhys on the floor covered in blood. Thank God one of them recognized the names and called me.” Andy hesitated. “Jack, we can’t find Gwen.”

            Jack felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. He should have expected it; Suzie was not someone to let moss grow. “Did they leave a message behind?”

            “Not they. The message says if you don’t find her, she’s mine. Jack, what’s going on?”

            “I’ll tell you when you get here.” He closed the call. “Ianto…”

            “I’ll contact Toshiko and Owen, sir. Owen to hospital to see Rhys?”

            “Yes. Call Kathy too. And make some coffee.” He looked down at himself. “I’ll go get dressed.”

            “Good idea, sir. Hard to appear commanding in pyjama bottoms.”

            “Cheeky.” Jack cupped Ianto’s jaw and stroked his thumb over the young man’s lips. "Gorgeous, too. Ow!”

            He removed his hand hastily and examined the impression of Ianto’s teeth on the pad of his thumb. “And violent!”

            “Never call a man gorgeous. Sir.”

            “I’ll keep that in mind.”

            He showered and dressed and was back upstairs by the time Toshiko, Andy, and Kathy arrived. Ianto handed him his mug.

            “Owen called from hospital. They’ve managed to stabilize Rhys, but they’re going to keep him in an artificial coma to give his body and mind a chance to heal. Owen says it’s still touch and go.”

            “Kathy picked me up on her way in,” Andy said. “She told me about Suzie. I called Portcawl. Turns out they had been trying to reach me for a week. Suzie’s grave was opened and the body taken. Someone in the department seems to have forgotten to pass on the message. After this is over,” he said in a very bland voice, “I’m going to take steps.”

            “So we can’t use her remains for a summons,” Toshiko said.

            “No,” Kathy confirmed. “And yesterday after I left here I contacted all the Bishop’s Sensitives in Wales, Laighin, and Muman. Everyone reports feelings of dread, but no sense of cause or direction.”

            “So we have nothing,” Toshiko said.

            “We have something,” Jack answered her. “Or rather, someone.”

            “Bollocks to that!” Andy spat out. “You can’t be thinking…”

            “Andy.” Jack’s soft voice stopped Andy in his tracks. “If anyone knows where Gwen is, he does.”

            “Jack?” Kathy asked.

            Jack smiled. “Kathy, have you ever wondered why the Hub was built in this exact location?”

            “I’ve wondered.” She answered, clearly puzzled by the question.  “It would have been so much easier to stay anonymous in one of the big mansions or an industrial park.”

            “I’m going to show you the reason why. Owen knows because I needed help when I went to get Caledfwlch. Andy has suspected for a while, haven’t you, Andy? Come with me.”

            He led them down the corridor that led to Archives. As with all the corridors in the Hub, it was lined with subway tiles, with square tiles bearing the Torchwood logo inset at regular intervals. About half-way to the Archives door, he stopped and turned to face one of the square tiles. If you looked carefully, you noticed that the logo on this one was not stamped, but carved. Jack put his hand on it. There was a soft hum, and the wall slid aside to show a staircase leading downwards.

            “Be careful where you step. It’s a little damp down here.”

            They followed him down the stairs. There were sconces lining the wall. They turned on as they passed, giving them a view of the steps. There was a cool sweet breeze blowing from somewhere; it ruffled their hair and revived their spirits. They could hear water moving below.

            “Stairs end here. I’m going to take four steps. Stay behind me.”

            As Jack moved, lights came on overhead. They illuminated a natural cavern, its walls streaked with quartz that shimmered, sending reflections everywhere until the lighting resembled a slightly cloudy day in the open air. A short slope down from where they stood, water lapped at the sand of a beach. A large coracle, its upper part decorated with dragons, sat right at the water line. Beyond that, they could see an island, its slopes lined with laden apple trees, and crowned with a long, high mound.

            “Is that what I think it is?” Kathy choked out.

            “Ynys Afalau, the Isle of Apples, where the High King sleeps. That’s why the Hub sits where it does, Kathy. We are its first and last line of defence.” Jack extended his hand, waving it, and they could see the rippling of spirit wards. “It’s also one of three natural entrances to the Other World in all of Wales.”

            He turned to face them. “If ever the Hub is breached, this entrance goes into automatic lockdown. If the Rift is opened, mainframe is programmed to override all authorizations and lock it permanently until myself or… one other… can open it again.” He looked at all of them in turn. “There’s one more thing. All of you are now keyed to the door. I’ll try to return as fast as I can, but if I don’t, this will be your responsibility.”

            He started down towards the beach, but was pushed back by a high wind that came out of nowhere. He tried again, and it happened again.

            “Jack,” Andy said, “you’re trying to ignore it. Don’t. It won’t let you. And don’t look at me like that. You know how it works.”

            Jack turned to Ianto. “You’re going to have to come with me.”

            “I know,” the young man said. “I was just waiting for you to stop arguing with the inevitable. I am geis-bound to you, and you are going into battle. You can’t leave me behind.”

            Jack started down to the beach for a third time, Ianto close behind. The spirit wards parted and let them through. Moving as if they had been practising, they pushed the coracle out into the surf and clambered in.

            “The easiest way is to let the current take us past the island, then paddle for the shore. There should be a road. I don’t exactly know whether it’s a long or a short one these days, but it’ll get us where we’re going.”

            Ianto nodded. The current was fast, too fast for a natural current under those conditions, and the coracle moved quickly. They passed very close to the island, and then the current swerved around its far end, under a small overhang. As they were swept under it a single apple dropped on Ianto’s lap.

            “Eat it.” Jack ordered. “Core and all.”

            Ianto nodded. “Yes, sir. I know my legends.”

            He munched as Jack paddled. The lake narrowed to a ribbon of water moving rapidly between two high cliffs, then widened again. Ianto could smell salt air now. Jack aimed the coracle towards the farthest shore, where a crack between the cliffs formed a natural beach. Ianto finished eating – even licking his fingers to get the juice – then grabbed the other paddle and went to work.

            It was much easier than he was expecting, and, from the look on Jack’s face, he was also a bit confused. They beached the coracle and walked up the beach and through the crack on the cliff. On the other side, Ianto could see a dirt track that led to a small traditional slate cottage in the distance.

            “If this is a quest, sir, I would say that it’s been too easy by half.”

            Jack laughed. “Come on, Ianto. I guess he wants to see us.”

            Ianto did not bother to ask who. They set off along the track, and in ten minutes they were standing outside the cottage’s garden gate. A tall, lanky man with brown hair and a goofy grin was waiting by the front door.

            “Hello, Captain. It’s been a long time.”

            “Hello, Doctor. Indeed it has.”