Part 59 - Truth & Consequences 2

[soledad_writes]

THE ADVENTURES OF A CONSULTING TIME LORD
by Soledad
INTERLUDE #1


Author’s note: Yes, now we switch to Torchwood territory again. Spoilers for CoE all along the next couple of chapters.The mind-probe is from the 2nd season Torchwood episode “Sleepers”. I broke this chapter in two parts because otherwise it would have been unproportionally longer than the other ones.

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PART 59 – TRUTH & CONSEQUENCES, 2

Ianto sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. The interrogation took more out of him than even Martha and Mickey would have guessed. He wasn’t a cruel person by his very nature and acting so mercilessly had been hard on him.

“Switch off the probe,” he said to Mickey, who hurried to obey.

The cage-like headpiece went dark. Mickey unplugged it, removed it and put it back into the box with several other pieces of the equipment.

“Who is Moriarty?” he then asked.

Ianto shrugged. “I have no idea; not yet anyway.”

“Well, he won’t be able to tell you more,” Martha said, consulting the screen – actually some sort of alien scanner – with a frown.

“Is he dead?” Ianto asked without remorse. Martha shook her head.

“No; physically he’s all right. Must have the constitution of a rhinoceros, really. But the probe destroyed a great deal of his memory engrams. Irreparably.”

“Meaning?” Ianto stepped up behind her to take a look at the readings for himself.

Martha shrugged. “Well, he’ll be able to take care of himself if that’s what you mean. Reading and writing abilities appear unharmed, too. But all the personal memories are gone. He probably won’t be able to remember his own name.”

“Excellent,” Ianto said. “That spares us the Retcon and guarantees a safe outcome. We’ll have him brought back to his little cottage, let him keep the fake name he’s been using in the last two years and fake an accident to explain the memory loss.”

“You think that’s gonna work?” Martha asked doubtfully.

Ianto nodded. “Of course. Such things happen all the time – at least according to the stupid TV shows people are so fond of. Nobody will ask any questions. What?” he asked as the other two kept staring at him in mild shock.

“I’m not sure I like the person you’ve become, Ianto,” Martha said slowly, and Mickey nodded.

“Dying can do that to a man,” Ianto replied dryly. “Besides, I’m not doing this for myself.”

“Oh, so you’re doing it for Jack?” Martha asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “And you think he’ll approve?”

“He’ll at least understand my reasons,” Ianto said. “But I’m not doing this for him, either. I’m doing this cos the man, this Moriarty character, he’s still out somewhere, and we can’t afford him doing anything like what he did during the 456 crisis again.”

That was, of course, very true. So true that Martha and Mickey couldn’t really argue. But this bitter truth didn’t make them any more comfortable with the consequences of their actions, and it disturbed them greatly that Ianto didn’t seem to be bothered by the outcome at all.

~TBC~

Comments

[sammydragoncat]

They really shouldn't assume what bothers Ianto and the fact that weather Ianto likes something or not he has the strength of character to do what he has to - I think trying to save Lisa proves that.

And yes Jack would approve of doing what needs to be done so that something like that never happens again.

[soledad_writes]

I tend to believe that Jack is a lot more ruthless than most people would give him credit for - all that forced "longing" for the Teflon Tart made him look like a soft idiot, but we know he's not like that, really. So yes, I think he would approve of Ianto having dealt with Dekker and forced the necessary information out of him, no matter the consequences.