Title: The Queen's Magicians: Past Grief (2/4)
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: Jack is back, but trouble arrives in the form of one of his oldest enemies

Author's Note: the title comes from A Winter's Tale, Act 3 Scene 2: What's gone and what's past help Should be past grief.

Author's Note: For the purpose of this fic, Gorsedd Circle is an actual Neolithic structure

Author's Note: Sine Sindearg is one of the sons of Mannanan mac Lir. Therefore John is related to Lugh and Cuchulainn, the hero of the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

Author's Note: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa http://www.esotericarchives.com/agrippa/agrippa1.htm. He was a far nicer man than I make him out to be!

Part One is here

Jack ran down the gravel path. Ahead, the great bluestones of the Gorsedd Circle, illuminated only by the castle's security lights, seemed to hover in midair like ghosts. Inside the circle, the Achlesyddion Oaks were a dark mass. Their ancient voices whispered inside his head, welcoming him into their company. What happened to me, Doctor? What am I now?

He stopped at the edge of the circle and looked around. He knew John wouldn't have entered. Even John Hart would not have dared flout the power of oak and stone, not here, where they were almost as old as the earth itself.

“Hello, Jack.”

Jack turned and watched John emerge from the shadows. His former lover wore his usual costume of riding breeches, skin-tight undershirt, and boots, but this time it was topped by some sort of Napoleonic era officer's coat. It looked authentic. So did the sword he carried over his shoulder. Jack didn't think he wanted to know how John had gotten his hands on either one of them.

“John. What are you doing in Cardiff?”

John kept walking until he was pressed close. They stared at each other for a moment, and then John reached up and their lips met. Jack had known John would do it, and he had allowed it, curious to know whether the kiss would bring passion or revulsion; instead there was a sad acceptance and a memory of fire. He felt John's hand on his neck and he stepped back.

“So it's true,” Hart said. “You've been haltered and blinkered.”

“What do you want from me, John?”

“I need your help.”

“You need to go. I don't want you in my territory.”

“Time was you couldn't get enough of me in your territory.” Suddenly he whipped around, pointing into the darkness beyond the edge of the meadow. “Come on out. We're all friends here.”

Jack watched in resigned amusement as his team emerged from the trees. He really should have known. “John...”

“Ashamed to introduce me?”

Jack shook his head. “Everyone, this is John Hart. Former lover, former friend, former Prince of the house of Sine Sindearg.” He did not miss the sudden rage that flashed in John's eyes at that last part. “John, from the left, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Gwen Cooper, and Ianto Jones.”

“Pretty little friends you have, Jack. A pretty little team. No blondes, though. You really need a blonde.”

Jack could not stop himself from smiling at the memory the image invoked. John always could make him smile, even in the most inappropriate circumstances. And half the time that was the whole trouble. “What do you want, John?”

“I told you. Help. You remember Micaela de Rosalban?”

Jack winced. Micaela had been a fellow student at the University of Salamanca, a strange, withdrawn, brilliant girl. One day she had just disappeared, and the University faculty had discouraged any questions. Rumour had it she had gone very far down the Dark Paths. “Yeah.”

“She called me three weeks ago. Sounded terrified and exhilarated at the same time. Quite insane, actually.” He shrugged. “I finally managed to drag out of her that she was in hospital in Dublin. She pleaded with me to go see her, so I did.”

'Why? The two of you never got along.”

“Maybe that's why. It was odd. Of all people to call, why me? But she was insistent and you know me, I'm probably related to cats. Anyway, to cut this short, when I got there I was told she was dying. She had made her confession and received last rites in the Catholic church. It turned out talking to me was part of the penance her priest had imposed on her. Well, not me, necessarily. Just someone who would do something for her after she died.”

“And that was?”

“It seems the rumours were true, Jack. She had apprenticed herself to...” John cut off what he was going to say and started again. “Her master had found the hiding place of the Agrippa grimoire.”

Jack felt as if thousands of tiny cold feet had scampered up and down his spine. “John, that's not funny.”

“Do I look like I'm laughing?” John retorted angrily. “Turns out it was the one thing that terrified Micaela out of her wits. She broke her geas and ran. Of course it killed her, but she didn't care. She said it was the one thing of power she wouldn't trade her soul for.”

“Where is it?” Jack whispered harshy.

“That's the thing.” John reached into his pocket and took out a small scroll tied with what looked like braided hair. “The one who stole it in the first place didn't want it found, but didn't want it completely lost either. He hid it, then split the directions for finding it into three different documents and hid those, and then wrote the information for locating the directions in this scroll. The only thing I can figure out is that the instructions are hidden here, in Cardiff. The rest... I've run into a wall.”

Jack studied him for a few minutes. “We need to go to the Hub.” He tossed the SUV's keys to Ianto and grinned as his lover caught them easily. “You go ahead. John and I won't be far behind.”

He watched them leave and then turned to John. “Now. What aren't you telling me?”

“You were always a suspicious bastard.” John's cockiness withered until Jack's steady stare. “All right, all right. I tried to find it first. Agrippa's own grimoire? Bloody hell. But since I haven't been what you can call a success at codebreaking, well, better in your hands than in somebody else's. We both know several somebody elses who really should not get their hands on this.”

“Agreed.” He waited in silence until he heard Ianto confirm their arrival in the Hub and then offered John his hand. “All right, let's go.”

John grinned, cocky again. “You trust me?”

“Only as far as I can throw you. But you need me for now, so I'm betting I'm safe.”

John grasped his hand, interlacing the fingers as if they were still lovers. Jack kept his muscles relaxed, knowing that any reaction on his part gave John an advantage. The great stones and the oaks blurred and in a few seconds he was standing in the Plas, near the fountain. John looked around curiously.

“So where is this Hub you were taking about?”

Jack yanked him on to the slab. “Hang on.”

As the slab started moving downwards, Hart smirked at him. “You live in a sculpture. Could you be any more pretentious?” He peered downwards. “It's roomy, I'll give you that. Your taste in interior design hasn't got any better, though. What is this, sewer chic?”

The slab came to a stop slightly above its usual place. Jack hopped off and waited until Ianto joined him, holding a silver tray in his hands. They exchanged a small smile, then Jack turned back to John. “Weapons, please.”

Hart placed the sword on the tray Ianto offered him, followed with a pistol and a death's head pendant, then held out his empty hands.

“Blooded athame in a sheath strapped to his leg, and several Truth coins in the inner pocket of the jacket,” Gwen called out from her perch near the greenhouse.

Hart made a face and produced the items. “That's a nice little trick. I thought she was a medium?”

Jack smirked but didn't answer. “Ianto, Owen, would you take our guest to the conference room and make him comfortable? Ianto, coffee if it's possible, please? I've been dreaming of your coffee for... a very long time. John, the scroll. Tosh, scan it into Mainframe and start working. Gwen, with me.”

He walked upstairs to his office, knowing she was following him. As he entered, he looked around. Everything was exactly where he had left it. Shedding his coat, he sighed with pleasure.

“Jack, why me and not Ianto?”

He laughed. “My Gwen, direct to the point as usual. You should ask why am I afraid to talk to Ianto.” He slid into his chair. “How long was I gone, Gwen?”

“Five months, three weeks, and two days,” she answered promptly.

“Better than I thought. It was much longer for me. Felt like it anyway.” He made a show of looking through the papers on the desk so he wouldn't have to meet her eyes. “I don't know how he feels anymore. I don't...”

Gwen slapped her hand down on top of the pile. “What the hell does that mean? He loves you, Jack. More than that, he believes in you. There were days when the only thing that kept us going was Ianto's belief that you loved us and you would come back to us. What makes you think he would have given up on the two of you?” Jack looked up at her and she must have seen the sudden relief and hope in his eyes because she chuckled. “Git.”

“Yeah.” Suddenly something caught his attention and he grabbed her hand. “Whoah. That ring is on the wrong finger.”

“No, it's on the right one. Rhys and I got married two months ago. Civil ceremony, and don't worry, the other one is planned for Equinox eve. Both our mothers have got the bit in their teeth. They have bonded with Mother Katherine and I think it's going to end up being six hours long, what with Pagan and Christian and Goddess knows what else.” She walked around the desk, pulled him to his feet, and hugged him. “But it's nice to know you'll be here for it.”

He swallowed to keep from crying. “It'll be wonderful.” He took a deep breath and tried to regain his balance. “So, Gwen, if you needed a refresher on the use of condoms...”

She slapped his shoulder and he just managed to stop himself moaning in agony. “Oi, more respect! No, it's that... you remember the little girl Rhys found in the park?”

“The Tuatha girl?”

“We've sent messages to all the courts and nobody is claiming her. Owen and Tosh did some tests and they say she's part human, which is probably part of the trouble, but nobody is even claiming the rest of the bodies. King Gwyn gave them a proper burial but he can't afford to foster the baby.”

“Too many political implications if she turns out to be well connected.”

Gwen nodded. “Exactly. And Rhys did promise to take care of her, at least that's what he says and I believe him, though I think it was just love at first sight. So we're in the process of adopting her and of course it's easier when it's a married couple, so we decided to go through the legalities just in case.” Her face was alight with happiness. “We've named her Aine. Aine Toshiko.”

Jack squeezed her hand. “I'm happy for you. Both of you.”

“Jack, Gwen, please come to the conference room” Even over the comm Tosh sounded as if she were going to start giggling any second. “I think I've found us some answers.”