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blucougar.livejournal.com posting in antigwenallies Apr. 29th, 2014 10:10 pm)Title: Adaption
Chapter Five: First Meeting
Author: blucougar57
Summary: A new rift victim proves to be a revelation to the Torchwood team, and then some.
Rating: T
Warnings: Moderate Angst. Well, moderate for me.
Chapter Five
Jason was well into his second bowl of Cawl, no longer caring whether he gave lie to the teasing accusations of his friends that he was something of a garbage guts. As far as he was concerned, he was the proverbial growing teenager and he put his body through a greater level of physical exertion than most others of his age group. Yes, he ate more than his friends, but those calories were all burned up by the constant ‘go, go, go’ lifestyle that he led and, subsequently, never showed an ounce of fat for the amount of food he put away.
And damn, were the girls ever jealous as hell over that.
He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see Helen letting two men into the dining room. Though no formal introductions had yet been made, Jason knew immediately that this was Captain Jack Harkness and the off-sider that Helen had mentioned would be coming out to see him. Part of him was mildly amused at the apparent speed with which they’d arrived, but then it occurred to Jason that Helen had probably alerted them when she’d left him to have his bath.
He started to stand up to greet them properly – his mother had, if nothing else, raised her son to show the proper respect where it was due – but the one whom he assumed to be the Captain motioned for him to stay seated.
“Don’t get up. Keep eating. You don’t want it to get cold.”
“Cold Cawl,” Ianto muttered with a shudder. “Not an appetising thought.”
“Captain Harkness and Mr Jones?” Jason queried as he settled back into his seat. The man in the Army greatcoat grinned back at his companion.
“Mr Jones. I like this kid already. He not only acknowledged your presence, he also knows enough to show you a bit of respect.”
Jason blinked a little.
“Excuse me, Captain?”
“Sorry,” Jack answered, pulling a chair around so that he could sit facing Jason. “Ianto has a tendency to fade into the background, and people tend not to notice him as a result.”
“Oh,” Jason murmured. “Well, my mom taught me to be polite and respectful to everyone, even if they don’t deserve it. I can’t say I’m always successful, but I try.”
“Good to know,” Jack murmured. “Now, I’m going to ask a few questions. Just some fairly straight-forward questions to start with. All right?”
“Okay,” Jason answered. “Let me have ’em”
Jack nodded to Ianto, who seated himself almost primly at the table and looked carefully at a small, handheld PDA before speaking.
“What’s your full name?”
“Jason Lee Scott.”
“And where do you live, Jason?”
“Angel Grove, California,” he answered. “I’ve never lived anywhere else.”
Jack and Ianto exchanged the briefest of glances, and Jack nodded for Ianto to continue on. The questions were mundane enough to start with, but seemed to be heading towards the big one of what had actually happened to him, before Ianto unexpectedly stopped and put away the PDA device. Jason paused, looking between the two men in puzzlement.
“Is something wrong?” he wondered. Jack shook his head.
“No. We just don’t want you to think we’re just here to interrogate you, because we’re not.”
“Then why the twenty questions…?” Jason asked, only to realise even as he spoke. “Oh… You were checking to see if my brain is firing on all thrusters.”
Jack smiled wryly.
“I’ve never heard it put quite like that before, but effectively yes. That’s what it was all about. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure,” Jason said with a half shrug. “My dad is a shrink. I know the tricks of the trade. So, now that you’ve decided that I’m more or less of sound mind, what happens now? Will you be able to call my folks? I know they’d be willing to pay for the cost of an airfare for me, and I really do need to get home.”
Again, Jack and Ianto exchanged glances.
“We’ll get to that soon,” Jack assured him. “Firstly, though… Jason, do you have any idea at all how you got here?”
At that, Jason fell silent. He wanted to tell them the truth, but how to do it without revealing himself as a Power Ranger? In the end, he settled on a half-truth.
“I was in the park with my friends. There was a fight going on and we tried to avoid it but as we were getting out of the way, this… thing opened up overhead. It was like… like looking up into a vortex. It was all black and swirling and I could feel it pulling at me, even with my feet planted firmly on the ground. It was pretty much the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Ironically, Jason reflected, that was not strictly true. Thanks to Rita’s idiocy, he’d had plenty of experiences that were far odder than this. It was, however, the first time where Jason did truly feel cut off from his friends. It was a sensation that he did not like, not one little bit.
“And you were in that warehouse when you woke up?” Ianto queried.
“Yeah,” Jason confirmed. “Did you find me?”
“We did,” Jack said. “We… get alerts for that sort of thing.”
To the interest of both Jack and Ianto, Jason didn’t so much as blink at Jack’s carefully chosen words. Either he wasn’t comprehending the bigger picture, or he was and it didn’t register as strange to him. Whichever it was, it piqued the Torchwood pair’s interest.
“Well, thanks,” Jason told them. “I do really appreciate it. Believe me, I know I could have landed somewhere a lot less friendly.”
Again, Jack and Ianto exchanged looks. Neither of them missed the suggestion in Jason’s words, and it made them both wonder exactly where Jason had expected to end up. Jack couldn’t help but feel that they were dancing around the real issues at hand and, making a snap judgement, he decided it was time to get to the point.
“Jason, we work for an agency called Torchwood.”
Jason frowned a little.
“Torchwood? I’ve never heard of that. What do you do? Although… if I had to guess, I’d say you probably deal with things that most people don’t even know exist. Am I right?”
“As long as you don’t start making references to Men in Black,” Ianto said dryly, and Jason chuckled.
“No, I won’t, I promise. I am right, though, aren’t I?”
“More or less,” Jack agreed. Jason stirred the spoon slowly in the remaining Cawl as his still slightly fragmented mind began to piece things together.
“Which means the way I arrived here was not a natural occurrence… or at least, it wasn’t something that happens very often.”
“You came here through something that we call the Rift,” Jack explained. “It runs through this city like a giant, invisible fissure. It’s effectively a crack in the space-time continuum, and it has a tendency to pull things from other places and dump them here. Sometimes it brings people, sometimes it’s advanced technology, sometimes it’s just harmless debris. This time, it was you.”
“So what I thought was some sort of porthole or wormhole…?”
“That’s one method the Rift uses,” Jack confirmed. “The thing is, Jason, it doesn’t just pluck people from around the planet and deposit them here.”
“It takes them from anywhere in time and space,” Jason guessed. “That’s what you meant about there being a crack in the space-time continuum. You get people and things being brought here not just from everywhere, but also from everywhen.”
Jack smiled gently, all the while quietly bracing for the inevitable break down when Jason realised he would never be able to go home.
“Exactly. That isn’t all, though. It also has the ability to pluck people from parallel worlds.”
As they watched, the bit of colour that had found its way back into Jason’s face vanished as the implications of Jack’s words sank in.
“Are you telling me that that’s where I’ve come from? A parallel world? How can you know that for sure?”
“We ran a DNA test to try and determine your identity,” Ianto explained. “There were no matches in any database anywhere. Secondly, there is no Angel Grove, California, in this world.”
Jason tried to swallow, only to find his throat was impossibly dry all of a sudden.
“It doesn’t exist? Not at all?”
“The only town in existence in this world called Angel Grove is located in north-eastern Australia,” Ianto said gently.
Jason pushed the bowl away from him, suddenly starting to feel a little green around the gills.
“No one’s going to blame you if you feel sick,” Jack told him quietly, “but I think Helen would appreciate it if you could at least make it to the bathroom before you throw up.”
“I’ll be okay,” Jason mumbled, drawing in long breaths in an effort to settle his stomach. He was wishing fervently that he hadn’t accepted a second bowl of Cawl. He didn’t think he was going to throw up but it didn’t change the fact that his stomach was now churning unpleasantly. Wrapping his arms gingerly around his stomach, he raised his eyes to meet two sympathetic gazes.
“We don’t have to continue right now, if you aren’t up to it,” Ianto told him kindly. “We want to help you, not make the situation worse for you.”
“Please, just tell me one thing,” Jason asked. “Is there any chance that I’ll be able to get home?”
“I won’t say it’s impossible,” Jack said. “I know from experience that nothing is impossible. However, it is extremely unlikely.”
“How come you can’t send me back through the Rift? Does it only open randomly, or something?”
“It’s always there, and always active,” Jack answered, “but we have no control over it. Yes, we could open it up and send you through it, but we’d have no control over where you’d end up. You might get lucky and wind up back home in your own world but it’s more likely that you could end up on a strange planet or time, and equally as likely that the natives wouldn’t be friendly towards humans. I’m sorry, Jason. We just have no way of helping you to get home.”
Jason shut his eyes against the sudden threat of tears. He felt overwhelmed with the ramifications of what had happened to him.
Nearly eighteen months ago, when he and his friends had first agreed to continue on as Power Rangers, they’d had a long talk amongst themselves about the potential risks that they faced. Needless to say, getting killed had been one of the major issues up for discussion, and it had been unanimously agreed that there was a very real risk of that happening. As ludicrous as everything had seemed – an arch villain called Rita Repulsa? Really? – They couldn’t escape the hard truth that what they were doing was dangerous.
Even with powers, protective suits and their Zords, they were still placing themselves in danger every time they went into a battle. Then there had been the reluctant acknowledgement that Rita already knew their identities, and that there was a risk that she might target them individually.
That fear had been realised early on, and they had had some close calls. Jason’s closest calls had both come whilst he’d been trapped in the Dimension of Darkness, first with Goldar and then with Tommy. He’d barely avoided being skewered by Goldar when Tommy arrived to take over. Then, Tommy’s sword had just nicked him in the chest in the split second before his friends had managed to teleport him to safety.
When that whole sorry saga had finally been done with, Jason remembered falling seriously ill, to the point where his parents had wanted to hospitalise him out of fear for his wellbeing. He’d begged them not to, insisting it was just food poisoning, and that he’d be fine. He was fine, but the cause of his illness had been as far removed from food poisoning as was possible. To this day, the only ones who knew the real reason behind his illness were Zordon, Alpha and Billy.
For all his geekiness, Billy was incredibly observant and only he noticed the inflamed, painful-looking scratch in the centre of Jason’s chest. Only he put two and two together, and realised the truth, and only he realised that Jason had been poisoned by Tommy’s sword.
Jason had recovered, but he’d never forgotten it and had often used the memories to remind himself not to go rushing headlong into danger. Regardless of how powerful his Ranger suit made him feel, he was not invincible and could still get hurt.
Never, though, in his worst nightmares had he envisaged a scenario where he would be separated from his family and friends, from everything he was familiar with, and confronted with the possibility that he might never see any of them again. He’d thought being killed was the worst that could happen. Maybe, just maybe, he was about to find out that he’d been dreadfully wrong, and it frightened him more than he’d ever imagined possible.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked quietly. When Jason looked at him with helpless incredulity, Jack offered a conciliatory smile. “Sorry. I know, it’s a stupid thing to ask. You’re not okay, but… will you be okay?”
Jason shuddered as he contemplated that. As much as he would have liked to have said no, he couldn’t. He’d been raised to be strong by his parents, and not to fold at adversary.
“I will be,” he conceded in a hollow tone. “I mean… what choice do I have? And no, giving up is not a choice I can accept.”
“You’re a brave kid,” Jack praised him. “I admire your determination.”
“What’s going to happen to me?” Jason asked heavily. “I am just a kid, ultimately. I mean, I’m sixteen… I’ll be seventeen in a few months, but I won’t be a legal adult for nearly eighteen months. What’s going to happen to me?”
“We’ll get that sorted out,” Jack promised him. “I guarantee, we won’t just dump you on the streets and forget about you. You’re Torchwood’s responsibility, and we take that very seriously. Whatever happens, we’ll make sure you’re well provided for. That’s something you really don’t have to worry about. Okay?”
Jason nodded, silently willing his stomach to settle. It seemed to be working – mind over matter, combined with the firm reassurances from the Captain and Mr Jones.
“What about here and now?” he asked, feeling just a fraction steadier. “I assume there’s some sort of procedure that needs to be followed?”
“More or less,” Ianto agreed. “You’ll see the facility doctor tomorrow and he’ll make sure there are no lingering physical issues from your trip through the Rift. You’ll be observed for the next few days by Helen and the other staff members, and then a psychologist will be called in to work with you, and eventually give us an assessment of you, and your mental health. When he deems you’re mentally fit enough, we’ll look at releasing you from Flat Holm and take you back to the mainland. Until then, you’ll need to stay here. Sorry, it’s not the most desirable of accommodation…”
“It’s a safe zone,” Jason interjected. “A place where I don’t have to be afraid. A place where I know I’m protected. Right now, that sounds pretty damn good to me.”
Jack smiled briefly at Ianto before returning his attention to Jason.
“I think we’re just about done here for this evening. You’ve just about hit breaking point and you need rest before we bombard you with anything more. How about it? Ready to turn in?”
“I think so,” Jason agreed. Little though he liked being told it was time for bed – his mother hadn’t shown him that indignity since he was eight – Jason knew his body needed the time to recover. He was physically and mentally exhausted, and he knew that it showed.
“C’mon,” Jack murmured, gently urging Jason to his feet. “Let’s get you to your room. There’ll be plenty of time to continue this tomorrow. That’s the way.”
Gradually, Jack and Ianto guided Jason back to his room and by the time they finally got there, they were almost carrying the boy between them. It was no surprise to either man that Jason was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.
“He’s coping well so far,” Ianto mused. “Maybe he will be one of the lucky few to be able to cope with it all and adapt to a new life, like Emma did.”
“I hope so,” Jack sighed. “I’m tired of losing Rift victims, Ianto. It spits them out so badly damaged that most of them never recover. This place is always going to be needed, and I hate it.”
Ianto laid a hand lightly on Jack’s shoulder, with just enough pressure to remind Jack that he was there with him.
“If Jason can appreciate it after just a few hours, then I imagine the other residents do, as well. You’ve done a really good thing here, Jack. Don’t beat yourself up. We may not be able to stop the Rift from taking people and sending them back damaged, but we can support them with this facility. If it wasn’t for this place, most of these people would either end up in Providence Park, where the staff simply wouldn’t understand their needs, or being dissected by UNIT. God only knows what would happen to someone like Jonah.”
“Thanks, Ianto,” Jack said in appreciation. “I just wish this place wasn’t necessary at all.”
“So do I, but it is and we will keep doing the best we can, because that is all we can do. Fair enough?”
Jack smiled, then, weary but genuine.
“Fair enough.”
“One thing, though, Jack,” Ianto said tentatively as they headed towards the room which had been set aside for them. Jack had decided not to head back to the mainland that evening, considering they would have to be back on Flat Holm the following morning. “What about these?”
Jack glanced down at the objects that Ianto was holding. They were items that had come through the Rift with Jason, one of which had stumped even Toshiko. While the technical genius had determined that there was nothing immediately dangerous about the objects, in so far as they weren’t irradiated in any way, nor did they have any idea what the objects were meant to do.
They were of a consensus that one of the items was meant to be a communicator of some sort. Jack had admitted to being impressed, given the thing looked like it had been cobbled together out of scrap material, and that the technical know-how was highly advanced for the time. The other, though? It was an enigma that even Jack was at a loss to identify.
The second item that had come through the Rift with Jason was a shield of some description. The metal it was made of was not of Earth, and Jack had admitted that he didn’t know what it was. All their tests could determine was that it appeared to be impervious to physical damage. In the centre circle of the shield was a golden coin, embossed with the image of a Tyrannosaur.
That had struck Ianto as odd, and he had voiced his confusion to Jack. What was a coin with the image of an ancient Earth dinosaur doing embedded in a shield that was clearly not of human or Earth design?
It was, Jack conceded, just one more question they would have to ask Jason.
Most curious was the wording on the shield. It was English, although Jack had suggested that perhaps the shield was encrypted with the power to make the writing appear in whatever language was spoken by whoever possessed it.
“Is that even possible?” Ianto had asked incredulously, to which Jack had grinned.
“Ianto Jones, I would have thought that by now, you’d know that nothing is impossible.”
To which Ianto had conceded with a brusque nod to hide his embarrassment. Jack was right, of course. When you worked for Torchwood, lesson number one was that nothing was ever beyond the realms of possibility. Even so, Ianto was still curious about the shield, and hoped that Jason would be able to answer their questions adequately the next morning. Until then, they had no choice but to wait.
* * * * *
to be continued....
Chapter Five: First Meeting
Author: blucougar57
Summary: A new rift victim proves to be a revelation to the Torchwood team, and then some.
Rating: T
Warnings: Moderate Angst. Well, moderate for me.
Jason was well into his second bowl of Cawl, no longer caring whether he gave lie to the teasing accusations of his friends that he was something of a garbage guts. As far as he was concerned, he was the proverbial growing teenager and he put his body through a greater level of physical exertion than most others of his age group. Yes, he ate more than his friends, but those calories were all burned up by the constant ‘go, go, go’ lifestyle that he led and, subsequently, never showed an ounce of fat for the amount of food he put away.
And damn, were the girls ever jealous as hell over that.
He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see Helen letting two men into the dining room. Though no formal introductions had yet been made, Jason knew immediately that this was Captain Jack Harkness and the off-sider that Helen had mentioned would be coming out to see him. Part of him was mildly amused at the apparent speed with which they’d arrived, but then it occurred to Jason that Helen had probably alerted them when she’d left him to have his bath.
He started to stand up to greet them properly – his mother had, if nothing else, raised her son to show the proper respect where it was due – but the one whom he assumed to be the Captain motioned for him to stay seated.
“Don’t get up. Keep eating. You don’t want it to get cold.”
“Cold Cawl,” Ianto muttered with a shudder. “Not an appetising thought.”
“Captain Harkness and Mr Jones?” Jason queried as he settled back into his seat. The man in the Army greatcoat grinned back at his companion.
“Mr Jones. I like this kid already. He not only acknowledged your presence, he also knows enough to show you a bit of respect.”
Jason blinked a little.
“Excuse me, Captain?”
“Sorry,” Jack answered, pulling a chair around so that he could sit facing Jason. “Ianto has a tendency to fade into the background, and people tend not to notice him as a result.”
“Oh,” Jason murmured. “Well, my mom taught me to be polite and respectful to everyone, even if they don’t deserve it. I can’t say I’m always successful, but I try.”
“Good to know,” Jack murmured. “Now, I’m going to ask a few questions. Just some fairly straight-forward questions to start with. All right?”
“Okay,” Jason answered. “Let me have ’em”
Jack nodded to Ianto, who seated himself almost primly at the table and looked carefully at a small, handheld PDA before speaking.
“What’s your full name?”
“Jason Lee Scott.”
“And where do you live, Jason?”
“Angel Grove, California,” he answered. “I’ve never lived anywhere else.”
Jack and Ianto exchanged the briefest of glances, and Jack nodded for Ianto to continue on. The questions were mundane enough to start with, but seemed to be heading towards the big one of what had actually happened to him, before Ianto unexpectedly stopped and put away the PDA device. Jason paused, looking between the two men in puzzlement.
“Is something wrong?” he wondered. Jack shook his head.
“No. We just don’t want you to think we’re just here to interrogate you, because we’re not.”
“Then why the twenty questions…?” Jason asked, only to realise even as he spoke. “Oh… You were checking to see if my brain is firing on all thrusters.”
Jack smiled wryly.
“I’ve never heard it put quite like that before, but effectively yes. That’s what it was all about. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure,” Jason said with a half shrug. “My dad is a shrink. I know the tricks of the trade. So, now that you’ve decided that I’m more or less of sound mind, what happens now? Will you be able to call my folks? I know they’d be willing to pay for the cost of an airfare for me, and I really do need to get home.”
Again, Jack and Ianto exchanged glances.
“We’ll get to that soon,” Jack assured him. “Firstly, though… Jason, do you have any idea at all how you got here?”
At that, Jason fell silent. He wanted to tell them the truth, but how to do it without revealing himself as a Power Ranger? In the end, he settled on a half-truth.
“I was in the park with my friends. There was a fight going on and we tried to avoid it but as we were getting out of the way, this… thing opened up overhead. It was like… like looking up into a vortex. It was all black and swirling and I could feel it pulling at me, even with my feet planted firmly on the ground. It was pretty much the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Ironically, Jason reflected, that was not strictly true. Thanks to Rita’s idiocy, he’d had plenty of experiences that were far odder than this. It was, however, the first time where Jason did truly feel cut off from his friends. It was a sensation that he did not like, not one little bit.
“And you were in that warehouse when you woke up?” Ianto queried.
“Yeah,” Jason confirmed. “Did you find me?”
“We did,” Jack said. “We… get alerts for that sort of thing.”
To the interest of both Jack and Ianto, Jason didn’t so much as blink at Jack’s carefully chosen words. Either he wasn’t comprehending the bigger picture, or he was and it didn’t register as strange to him. Whichever it was, it piqued the Torchwood pair’s interest.
“Well, thanks,” Jason told them. “I do really appreciate it. Believe me, I know I could have landed somewhere a lot less friendly.”
Again, Jack and Ianto exchanged looks. Neither of them missed the suggestion in Jason’s words, and it made them both wonder exactly where Jason had expected to end up. Jack couldn’t help but feel that they were dancing around the real issues at hand and, making a snap judgement, he decided it was time to get to the point.
“Jason, we work for an agency called Torchwood.”
Jason frowned a little.
“Torchwood? I’ve never heard of that. What do you do? Although… if I had to guess, I’d say you probably deal with things that most people don’t even know exist. Am I right?”
“As long as you don’t start making references to Men in Black,” Ianto said dryly, and Jason chuckled.
“No, I won’t, I promise. I am right, though, aren’t I?”
“More or less,” Jack agreed. Jason stirred the spoon slowly in the remaining Cawl as his still slightly fragmented mind began to piece things together.
“Which means the way I arrived here was not a natural occurrence… or at least, it wasn’t something that happens very often.”
“You came here through something that we call the Rift,” Jack explained. “It runs through this city like a giant, invisible fissure. It’s effectively a crack in the space-time continuum, and it has a tendency to pull things from other places and dump them here. Sometimes it brings people, sometimes it’s advanced technology, sometimes it’s just harmless debris. This time, it was you.”
“So what I thought was some sort of porthole or wormhole…?”
“That’s one method the Rift uses,” Jack confirmed. “The thing is, Jason, it doesn’t just pluck people from around the planet and deposit them here.”
“It takes them from anywhere in time and space,” Jason guessed. “That’s what you meant about there being a crack in the space-time continuum. You get people and things being brought here not just from everywhere, but also from everywhen.”
Jack smiled gently, all the while quietly bracing for the inevitable break down when Jason realised he would never be able to go home.
“Exactly. That isn’t all, though. It also has the ability to pluck people from parallel worlds.”
As they watched, the bit of colour that had found its way back into Jason’s face vanished as the implications of Jack’s words sank in.
“Are you telling me that that’s where I’ve come from? A parallel world? How can you know that for sure?”
“We ran a DNA test to try and determine your identity,” Ianto explained. “There were no matches in any database anywhere. Secondly, there is no Angel Grove, California, in this world.”
Jason tried to swallow, only to find his throat was impossibly dry all of a sudden.
“It doesn’t exist? Not at all?”
“The only town in existence in this world called Angel Grove is located in north-eastern Australia,” Ianto said gently.
Jason pushed the bowl away from him, suddenly starting to feel a little green around the gills.
“No one’s going to blame you if you feel sick,” Jack told him quietly, “but I think Helen would appreciate it if you could at least make it to the bathroom before you throw up.”
“I’ll be okay,” Jason mumbled, drawing in long breaths in an effort to settle his stomach. He was wishing fervently that he hadn’t accepted a second bowl of Cawl. He didn’t think he was going to throw up but it didn’t change the fact that his stomach was now churning unpleasantly. Wrapping his arms gingerly around his stomach, he raised his eyes to meet two sympathetic gazes.
“We don’t have to continue right now, if you aren’t up to it,” Ianto told him kindly. “We want to help you, not make the situation worse for you.”
“Please, just tell me one thing,” Jason asked. “Is there any chance that I’ll be able to get home?”
“I won’t say it’s impossible,” Jack said. “I know from experience that nothing is impossible. However, it is extremely unlikely.”
“How come you can’t send me back through the Rift? Does it only open randomly, or something?”
“It’s always there, and always active,” Jack answered, “but we have no control over it. Yes, we could open it up and send you through it, but we’d have no control over where you’d end up. You might get lucky and wind up back home in your own world but it’s more likely that you could end up on a strange planet or time, and equally as likely that the natives wouldn’t be friendly towards humans. I’m sorry, Jason. We just have no way of helping you to get home.”
Jason shut his eyes against the sudden threat of tears. He felt overwhelmed with the ramifications of what had happened to him.
Nearly eighteen months ago, when he and his friends had first agreed to continue on as Power Rangers, they’d had a long talk amongst themselves about the potential risks that they faced. Needless to say, getting killed had been one of the major issues up for discussion, and it had been unanimously agreed that there was a very real risk of that happening. As ludicrous as everything had seemed – an arch villain called Rita Repulsa? Really? – They couldn’t escape the hard truth that what they were doing was dangerous.
Even with powers, protective suits and their Zords, they were still placing themselves in danger every time they went into a battle. Then there had been the reluctant acknowledgement that Rita already knew their identities, and that there was a risk that she might target them individually.
That fear had been realised early on, and they had had some close calls. Jason’s closest calls had both come whilst he’d been trapped in the Dimension of Darkness, first with Goldar and then with Tommy. He’d barely avoided being skewered by Goldar when Tommy arrived to take over. Then, Tommy’s sword had just nicked him in the chest in the split second before his friends had managed to teleport him to safety.
When that whole sorry saga had finally been done with, Jason remembered falling seriously ill, to the point where his parents had wanted to hospitalise him out of fear for his wellbeing. He’d begged them not to, insisting it was just food poisoning, and that he’d be fine. He was fine, but the cause of his illness had been as far removed from food poisoning as was possible. To this day, the only ones who knew the real reason behind his illness were Zordon, Alpha and Billy.
For all his geekiness, Billy was incredibly observant and only he noticed the inflamed, painful-looking scratch in the centre of Jason’s chest. Only he put two and two together, and realised the truth, and only he realised that Jason had been poisoned by Tommy’s sword.
Jason had recovered, but he’d never forgotten it and had often used the memories to remind himself not to go rushing headlong into danger. Regardless of how powerful his Ranger suit made him feel, he was not invincible and could still get hurt.
Never, though, in his worst nightmares had he envisaged a scenario where he would be separated from his family and friends, from everything he was familiar with, and confronted with the possibility that he might never see any of them again. He’d thought being killed was the worst that could happen. Maybe, just maybe, he was about to find out that he’d been dreadfully wrong, and it frightened him more than he’d ever imagined possible.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked quietly. When Jason looked at him with helpless incredulity, Jack offered a conciliatory smile. “Sorry. I know, it’s a stupid thing to ask. You’re not okay, but… will you be okay?”
Jason shuddered as he contemplated that. As much as he would have liked to have said no, he couldn’t. He’d been raised to be strong by his parents, and not to fold at adversary.
“I will be,” he conceded in a hollow tone. “I mean… what choice do I have? And no, giving up is not a choice I can accept.”
“You’re a brave kid,” Jack praised him. “I admire your determination.”
“What’s going to happen to me?” Jason asked heavily. “I am just a kid, ultimately. I mean, I’m sixteen… I’ll be seventeen in a few months, but I won’t be a legal adult for nearly eighteen months. What’s going to happen to me?”
“We’ll get that sorted out,” Jack promised him. “I guarantee, we won’t just dump you on the streets and forget about you. You’re Torchwood’s responsibility, and we take that very seriously. Whatever happens, we’ll make sure you’re well provided for. That’s something you really don’t have to worry about. Okay?”
Jason nodded, silently willing his stomach to settle. It seemed to be working – mind over matter, combined with the firm reassurances from the Captain and Mr Jones.
“What about here and now?” he asked, feeling just a fraction steadier. “I assume there’s some sort of procedure that needs to be followed?”
“More or less,” Ianto agreed. “You’ll see the facility doctor tomorrow and he’ll make sure there are no lingering physical issues from your trip through the Rift. You’ll be observed for the next few days by Helen and the other staff members, and then a psychologist will be called in to work with you, and eventually give us an assessment of you, and your mental health. When he deems you’re mentally fit enough, we’ll look at releasing you from Flat Holm and take you back to the mainland. Until then, you’ll need to stay here. Sorry, it’s not the most desirable of accommodation…”
“It’s a safe zone,” Jason interjected. “A place where I don’t have to be afraid. A place where I know I’m protected. Right now, that sounds pretty damn good to me.”
Jack smiled briefly at Ianto before returning his attention to Jason.
“I think we’re just about done here for this evening. You’ve just about hit breaking point and you need rest before we bombard you with anything more. How about it? Ready to turn in?”
“I think so,” Jason agreed. Little though he liked being told it was time for bed – his mother hadn’t shown him that indignity since he was eight – Jason knew his body needed the time to recover. He was physically and mentally exhausted, and he knew that it showed.
“C’mon,” Jack murmured, gently urging Jason to his feet. “Let’s get you to your room. There’ll be plenty of time to continue this tomorrow. That’s the way.”
Gradually, Jack and Ianto guided Jason back to his room and by the time they finally got there, they were almost carrying the boy between them. It was no surprise to either man that Jason was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.
“He’s coping well so far,” Ianto mused. “Maybe he will be one of the lucky few to be able to cope with it all and adapt to a new life, like Emma did.”
“I hope so,” Jack sighed. “I’m tired of losing Rift victims, Ianto. It spits them out so badly damaged that most of them never recover. This place is always going to be needed, and I hate it.”
Ianto laid a hand lightly on Jack’s shoulder, with just enough pressure to remind Jack that he was there with him.
“If Jason can appreciate it after just a few hours, then I imagine the other residents do, as well. You’ve done a really good thing here, Jack. Don’t beat yourself up. We may not be able to stop the Rift from taking people and sending them back damaged, but we can support them with this facility. If it wasn’t for this place, most of these people would either end up in Providence Park, where the staff simply wouldn’t understand their needs, or being dissected by UNIT. God only knows what would happen to someone like Jonah.”
“Thanks, Ianto,” Jack said in appreciation. “I just wish this place wasn’t necessary at all.”
“So do I, but it is and we will keep doing the best we can, because that is all we can do. Fair enough?”
Jack smiled, then, weary but genuine.
“Fair enough.”
“One thing, though, Jack,” Ianto said tentatively as they headed towards the room which had been set aside for them. Jack had decided not to head back to the mainland that evening, considering they would have to be back on Flat Holm the following morning. “What about these?”
Jack glanced down at the objects that Ianto was holding. They were items that had come through the Rift with Jason, one of which had stumped even Toshiko. While the technical genius had determined that there was nothing immediately dangerous about the objects, in so far as they weren’t irradiated in any way, nor did they have any idea what the objects were meant to do.
They were of a consensus that one of the items was meant to be a communicator of some sort. Jack had admitted to being impressed, given the thing looked like it had been cobbled together out of scrap material, and that the technical know-how was highly advanced for the time. The other, though? It was an enigma that even Jack was at a loss to identify.
The second item that had come through the Rift with Jason was a shield of some description. The metal it was made of was not of Earth, and Jack had admitted that he didn’t know what it was. All their tests could determine was that it appeared to be impervious to physical damage. In the centre circle of the shield was a golden coin, embossed with the image of a Tyrannosaur.
That had struck Ianto as odd, and he had voiced his confusion to Jack. What was a coin with the image of an ancient Earth dinosaur doing embedded in a shield that was clearly not of human or Earth design?
It was, Jack conceded, just one more question they would have to ask Jason.
Most curious was the wording on the shield. It was English, although Jack had suggested that perhaps the shield was encrypted with the power to make the writing appear in whatever language was spoken by whoever possessed it.
“Is that even possible?” Ianto had asked incredulously, to which Jack had grinned.
“Ianto Jones, I would have thought that by now, you’d know that nothing is impossible.”
To which Ianto had conceded with a brusque nod to hide his embarrassment. Jack was right, of course. When you worked for Torchwood, lesson number one was that nothing was ever beyond the realms of possibility. Even so, Ianto was still curious about the shield, and hoped that Jason would be able to answer their questions adequately the next morning. Until then, they had no choice but to wait.
to be continued....
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Great chapter. Thanks!
More soon please.
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And I also find myself wondering just what Gwen is going to do to mess things up...
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Ah, Gwen... We'll see more of her in the next chapter.
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Yes, he's coping all right initially, but we'll see...