Title: The Queen's Magicians: Past Grief (3/4)
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: Gwenllian was the daughter of Prince Llywelyn the Last. As her father had no male heirs, she was first in line to her father's throne. When she was just a few months old her father was killed and she was imprisoned for life in a monastery on the orders of Edward I. In “my” history, Llywelyn and Edward, after years of inconclusive fighting, betrothed their children. After their deaths, the Kingdoms of England and Gwynnedd descended to Edward II and his wife, Gwenllian, Queen of England and Princess of Wales.

Part One is here: Part Two is here

Jack and Gwen entered the conference room to find Tosh and Owen grinning like Cheshire cats and John leaning back on his chair, looking relaxed and completely at home. It would have fooled anyone, but Jack knew that tight-around-the-eyes look from long experience: someone had slapped John down and he was trying hard to give the impression the verbal blow hadn't landed in a sensitive place. Since he knew which one of his team had the acerbic wit to match John word for word, he looked around for Ianto.

“Ianto?”

“I'm right here, sir.” Ianto entered the room from the kitchenette. “Just making some coffee and setting out something to eat.”

He put the tray down on the table and started to pass mugs around. He made it a point to linger over Jack's coffee, handing it over with a soft caress to Jack's palm.

“All right, all right, Eye-Candy, I get the point,” John said. “Can we get down to business? I don't want to be in Cardiff any longer than I have to. ”

Eye-Candy? Jack mouthed at Ianto and got a shrug in return, plus a soft snicker from Gwen, who had noticed the interaction.

“Well? How long will it take to get the information?” John said impatiently.

“Not long at all.” Tosh looked up from her laptop. “Not much for maths, are you?”

“No, not really,” John admitted. “They interfere with my visualizations for some reason.”

“I thought so.” Tosh pressed a key and a map of Cardiff was displayed on the large screen built into the glass wall. “They are coordinates. The first one is for this building,” a small image with an arrow pointing to a place on Bute Street appeared superimposed on the map. “Ninety-Seven Bute Street. Grade II building. Currently used by the Household and Shipping Bank. The second is for this place,” the image of a cemetery appeared opposite the first one, arrow pointed to St. Mary's Church in Llandaff. “And the last is here.” A large dock area with a restored complex of buildings and modern container facilities appeared, slightly lower than the other two. “Queen Gwellian's Docks.”

“Those are very large places to search,” Owen remarked.

“Not really.” Tosh put three small square devices on the table. “These are energy scanners. The original document Mr. Hart brought us has a very definite energy signature. I'm going on the assumption that the original owner was going to use it as a magnet of sorts. We can do the same. I've preprogrammed these. Just aim and sweep. It will do this,” she pressed a button and three soft pings were heard. “The closest you are to it, the louder it will do it.”

“You are a genius,” John said, beaming at her. “Too bad you've fallen into such bad company. All right. We can divide into three teams, go looking, and then meet back here. Jack...”

“I don't think so,” Gwen said firmly. “Jack and Ianto to the building, Tosh and Owen to the cemetery, and you and me to the docks.”

John turned to the head of the table. “Jack...”

Jack shrugged. “It seems she's the boss. Besides, neither you nor I could operate that scanner properly. The moment we touched it our own energy would burn it out.”

John scowled. “Fine, then. We should get going.” He strode off without looking back.

“Gwen,” Jack said, “three rules. One - don't believe anything he says. Two - always keep him in front of you. And three - under no circumstances let him kiss you.”

“As if I would!”

“Has he gotten to the no-kissing rule yet?” John's voice sounded smug. “He only invented that because he wants me all to himself.”

Gwen shook her head. “Ego, much?”

She grabbed one of the scanners and hurried off after him. Tosh and Owen followed. Jack smiled uncertainly at Ianto and made a small gesture towards the scanner. Ianto picked it up. He studied Jack for a long moment, then pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them in his direction.

“You drive.”

It was a very short drive through deserted streets. Jack reveled in the freedom of the wind rushing past his face, and he laughed for the sheer pleasure of it. He found a parking space a short distance away from the back door of the building and they jogged the rest of the way. It felt right to Jack, as nothing, nothing, had in the last year, to be running down a Cardiff street with Ianto at his side.

The building's locks were almost comically easy to dispose of. As Ianto swept the scanner in a circle around the small mail receiving room, it immediately started emitting beeps that became stronger as they moved towards the spiral stairs leading to the upper floors. They climbed the stairs, bypassing the first floor as the beeping tended to fade away the moment they ventured into the cubicle forest that took up most of the area.

“Secretarial pool,” Ianto murmured. “Let's go up.”

In the second floor the beeping was louder and they started to search the walls for possible hidden spaces.

“The sound is louder as I reach this area here.” Ianto said, pointing towards one of the windows. “So it's somewhere on the frame or...” he opened the window and pointed the scanner upwards, “on the roof.”

“How are you, Ianto?” Jack blurted out. Really clever opening, Jack.

“All the better for having you back, sir.”

“Can we maybe drop the sir? It makes me feel you're angry at me. Which you have a right to be, but... While I was away, I was thinking... Maybe we could, when this is all done... Dinner? A movie?”

Ianto turned to stare at him in astonishment. “Are… you asking me out on a date?”

Jack found himself shaking. “Interested?”

“You twypsyn.”

Ianto stalked over to where Jack was standing and pulled him into a tight hug that turned into a hungry passionate devouring of each other's mouths. Jack felt Ianto's tongue stroke his and nearly whimpered as he sucked on it. He traced Ianto's body through his clothes, almost as if to reassure himself that Ianto was there, real, and that he, Jack, was real, and not a figment of the imagination of some mad God. He pushed his face against Ianto's neck and clung to him, shaking, while his lover made soft shushing noises and kneaded his back.

“You're going to have to tell me what put you in this state, cariad. And then I'm going to find it and shoot it.”

Jack laughed. “Oh, Ianto.” He wiped the tears from his face. “Right. We need to find this thing. Then we'll crawl into bed and talk for hours. Days, if you want.”

“Jack, why are we helping him?”

“If he's telling the truth, we need to get that damned book, and I use the word literally, under lock and key. And the sooner we find it, the sooner he leaves. He's a reminder of my past. I want him gone.”

Ianto pressed a brief kiss to his temple. “Then you go to the roof and start there. You're good on roofs,” he said, teasing. “I'll finish here and then join you.”

“All right.” Jack headed for the stairs. “Ianto, about that date... I was serious.”

“Good. I'll hold you to it.”

Jack climbed the stairs, whistling. Ianto still wanted him, still loved him. Nothing was more important than that, even the grimoire. Even... what had happened to him.

The roof was typical of a renovated Victorian, with modern air-conditioning and heating equipment side by side with leaded skylights. Jack looked around. There were things John didn't know about him, abilities he had kept secret even during the time they had been lovers. He realized with a start that he had kept nothing back from Ianto, and the realization made him laugh. He was going to have to get Gwen and Tosh to go shopping with him. Women had better taste in rings than men did.

Business first, Jack my man. He closed his eyes and searched using only his Sight. It didn't take long to locate it. On the corners of the building, the architect had decided on ornamental spouts resembling eagles' heads with open beaks. One of them glowed red to his inner Eye.

He negotiated the maze of equipment and reached the corner with only one stubbed toe, which he considered a win for the good guys. Reaching into the bird's beak, he rooted around until he found a small lever. He pulled it. A feather on the back of the eagle's neck moved out of the way. Tightly wedged inside was a copper cylinder. He dug it out.

“That's as far as it goes, Jack. Give it to me.”

He turned slowly to face John, who stood a few feet away, holding a gun. “What did you do with Gwen?”

“Don't worry. She's fine. Well, she'll be fine if you find her in time.”

“Pray we find her, John.”

“Why are you always so concerned with these ephemerals?” John nearly snarled. “They're a blip in time for people like us!”

“This particular ephemeral,” Jack said with a vicious grin, “is the goddaughter of the sister of King Gwynn ap Nudd. He's rather taken with her himself, after she helped save Cardiff from Abbadon.”

John sighed. “How do you find them, Jack? Still, I'll be gone before they even know I was here.” He held out his hand. “May I?”

Jack tossed him the cylinder. “I will know, John.”

“Yeah. I was afraid of that. Sorry, Jack.”

He aimed the gun, but before he could pull the trigger, Ianto appeared at his side, knocking the gun away. He stepped back and his body began to turn transparent. “So it's true what they say about your Eye-Candy. Well done, Jack.”

He faded out completely. Ianto turned to Jack, eyes wide open. “What is he?”

“He's a psychic morpher. He can travel between dimensions. Probably a gift of his sidhe mother.” Jack was fumbling with his phone. “Owen? John has done something to Gwen. We need to find her.”