The Spirits Within 4/21 + epilogue

[madbottoms]

The Spirits Within

 

Chapter: 4/21 + epilogue

Author: Madbottoms

Beta: blackcat1000

Art: Madbottoms (some original artwork from the movie used and manipulated)

Prompt: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Characters: Jack, Ianto Owen, Tosh, Rhys, John Hart, the Doctor

Rating: PG

Warnings: Character death

Spoilers: Only if you’ve never seen Torchwood of Final Fantasy

Notes: See chapter 1 for notes and disclaimer.

Chapter 4

 

Ianto walked beside the Doctor in silence as they headed toward the science labs through the well-lit corridors. The plant in its protective stasis-field container bounced lightly on his hip as he moved, reminding him at every step how close he had come to causing the death of the man he loved. He knew his mission was worth risking lives, but he had never intended to risk Jack’s life, only his own.

 

“Are you alright?” the Doctor asked as they went through the security checkpoint, turned a corner of one hallway, and started down a long, almost empty one. This area was the secure science area, his home for the last few months. Very few scientists had access. He was one of the lucky ones, if he considered having an alien spirit trapped inside him lucky.

 

“The military impounded my ship,” Ianto said, not wanting to tell him about how he was feeling at the moment, or any of his thoughts about Jack. The Doctor had enough on his mind without his emotional problems too.

 

The Doctor just nodded. They both knew that having the military impound his ship was a minor thing. They would have it back shortly. But Ianto was thankful that he did not push the question.

 

A few moments later they turned into a brightly lit lab full of the latest, high-tech computers. The two of them had been spending most of their time in this lab, working to find a solution to the alien invaders that they were sure would save the Earth.

 

Martha, the Doctor’s aide and right-hand, looked up from a work area and smiled as they arrived. She was young, ebony-skinned and freakishly smart. More than once she had helped with the brainstorming of ideas between Ianto and the Doctor. She had been the doctor’s aide for years now, and had no desire to move to any other post. One might think she had a crush on the enigmatic scientist.

 

“Good to see you’re alright,” Martha said to Ianto.

 

“Thanks,” Ianto said, unhooking the plant container form his belt.

 

“You got it?” she asked, her eyes brightening at the sight of the plant.

 

“Yep, got it,” Ianto said, holding it up. ‘Now, to check if it’s the right one.’

 

“Forward me the Phantom data,” the Doctor said to Martha, “and everything regarding the five spirits we’ve collected so far.”

 

“Yes, Doctor,” Martha said, quickly moving back to his computer.

 

“Spirits?” Ianto asked, laughing as he put the plant carefully on the lab table under the large sensor. “I thought we weren’t supposed to use the ‘S’ word.”

 

“Don’t get smart with me,” the Doctor said and shook his head.

 

Over the main lab table the holographic image of the five spirits they had already collected came into being as Martha transferred the data from what they called the spirit holding tank. The spirits swirled and twisted around each other, forming an incomplete picture. There were still empty, black space in the flowing image, but to Ianto, it was beautiful.

 

“Now let’s see if that plant does the trick.” The Doctor scanned the small plant Ianto had risked so much to get. It wasn’t easy to extract a living entity’s spirit, but it could be done.

 

As he watched, the holographic image of the plant’s spirit formed above it, then, carefully, the Doctor moved the image closer to the others.

 

The plant’s spirit joined the other five, filling part of the black spaces exactly, flowing with the other spirits as if it had always been there. The moving mass seemed brighter and stronger with the new spirit added.

 

Ianto knew that the image in the air was the opposite of a Phantom spirit image. Almost, that is. Now, with the addition of the spirit from the plant, it was much closer.

 

“It’s a match!’” Ianto shouted. “We’ve found it.”

 

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed, smiling at Ianto. “The sixth spirit.”

 

“Beautiful,” Martha said, moving to stand next to Ianto.

 

Ianto stared at the sixth spirits as they formed a larger, far more complex image. He couldn’t believe how fantastic it was. With each added spirit, the whole seemed to grow, gaining far more than was added.

 

”It was worth it,” Ianto said to himself, not taking his eyes off the spirits. He wanted, almost needed to make himself believe that even if he had lost Jack, this would have been worth it. But thanks to whatever power, he didn’t have to.

 

“I suppose it was worth it,” the Doctor agreed, “but you know your little stunt today broke nearly every protocol?’

 

“O-oh, lecture time,” Martha said, smirking at Ianto before moving back across the room to her station.

 

Ianto shrugged and pointed to the little plant whose spirit now mingled with the others. “How long do you think this would have survived outside the barrier?”

 

He watched the Doctor as he finished his work with the sixth spirit, saying nothing. He had had to go in that way. The moment they had spotted the sign that this spirit was there, in old London, he had known he had no other choice. He just hadn’t planned on Jack risking his life to help him.

 

The Doctor finished with his work and turned to him, his face serious, as if he needed to say something very important. He had seen that look only a few times before.

 

“Ianto, you know there are elements in the Council and UNIT are just waiting for an excuse to shut us down.”

 

“Yeah I know,” Ianto started, not letting him go on, “But twenty years ago, who discovered this energy in the Phantoms? You, that’s who.”

 

The Doctor shook his head. “The past. Today is …”

 

“You also proved that the same life force existed in humans and every life-form, and thus made it possible to harness that energy for ovo-pacs, scanners, even the barrier that protects us,” Ianto continued, cutting the Doctor off.

 

The Doctor didn’t respond.

 

“Don’t you think the Council knows all that?” Ianto went on, making sure he got his point. “They trust you, and we’re so close to solving this entire mess.”

 

“We still need this part and that part…” the Doctor said, pointing to the two remaining black areas in the spinning hologram of the six spirits.

 

“Exactly,” Ianto said. “Just two more pieces and we’ll have solved the puzzle.”

 

“And we need to be free to find those pieces.” The Doctor moved over toward his desk, tucked against a wall.

 

“You don’t think they’re going to give us that freedom?’ Ianto asked. He couldn’t believe that the Council would be so stupid as to stop them now. Not when they were so close. Not after everything the Doctor had done for humanity so far.

 

“I have my doubts, Ianto.” the Doctor unlocked the top draw of his desk and rummaged around in the back for a moment. “I want to show you something.”

 

He held up a small, blue leather-bound book. It was clearly old and very well used. He tossed it to Ianto, then shut the desk drawer.

 

The book felt heavy in his hand. And yet soft and often handled. “What’s this then?”

 

“Read.”

 

He opened the book to the first page. It was covered in the Doctor’s neat flowing handwriting. ‘The Journal of Impossible Dreams’ was the title. He turned the page and started reading.

 

“All life is born of the Vortex, and each life has a spirit. Each new spirit is housed by a physical body.”

 

Ianto looked up at him. This looked like old notes of his. Why did he want him to read it now? And why about the idea that Earth was a mighty spirit called Vortex? “Doctor?”

 

“Go on.”

 

He looked at the intense seriousness in his eyes, then nodded and went back to reading. “Through their experiences on Earth, each spirit matures and grows. When the physical body dies, the mature spirit, enriched by its life on Earth, returns to the Vortex, bringing with it its experiences, enabling it to live and grow.”

 

“It’s my old diary,” the Doctor said. “I wrote that so very many years ago, when I was just starting out.”

 

He took the book gently back from him, looked at it lovingly for a moment, then turned and tossed it into the small lab incinerator used to burn old experiments.

 

“Doctor!” Ianto cried. “Don’t!”

 

It was too late. The sound of burning and the green light appearing on the face of the small machine confirmed that the book had been destroyed.

 

The Doctor faced Ianto, his face very calm and stern. “Remember your history, Ianto? Remember what they did to Galileo?”

 

Ianto nodded. “They wouldn’t do that to you.”

 

“They would,” The Doctor said. “They threw Galileo in jail because he said the Earth was not the centre of the universe. It could happen to us as well. Our ideas are very unpopular.”

 

“I know that,” Ianto said, still feeling stunned that he had destroyed his old notes.

 

“Good, I’m glad you do,” the Doctor said. He pointed to his head. “Keep everything up here. Destroy any notes or records you have that might be used against you.”

 

He stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded. Things were getting worse. Faster than he had expected, if the Doctor was taking these kinds of precautions.

 

“I’ll do it now,” he said, turning toward his office.

 

“Good. And then come back here and we’ll add the sixth spirit into the vest.”

 

Ianto touched his vest that encased his entire upper body under his clothes. It wasn’t really a vest, more like a body wrap. A very high-tech one, that kept the alien infestation encased inside him, not allowing it to take him over. With each new spirit, his defensive vest got a little stronger. When they found the last spirit, it would take the phantom out of him, neutralise it.

 

“It will only take me a little while,” he said.

 

“Just make sure you don’t miss anything,” the Doctor said, tossing more notes into the incinerator. “And stay away from your friend, the captain.”

 

Ianto stopped and turned back to the Doctor. “What?”

 

He smiled. “He saves your life, you save his. I was young once. One thing leads to another, you know. Lots of dancing ensues.”

 

Ianto shook his head, stunned that the Doctor knew about him and Jack. They had kept their relationship very, very quiet. He glanced back at the swirling image of the six spirits, then back at his mentor and friend. “Doctor, there is a war going on.”

 

“I’m aware if that, Ianto.”

 

He looked at him, his gaze cold as he could make it. “No one is young anymore.”

 

With that, he turned and headed for his office to destroy years’ worth of work. If doing that meant surviving and finding the answers to saving Earth, then he would do it. And do it gladly.

 

*~*

 

The dream that night started off the same as every time before.

 

The hot sun and a massive moon shone through a thick, dusty sky, at levels too bright for comfort. Ianto was standing in a barren wasteland that was clearly scarred from a massive battle. Under his feet seemed to be a lake, yet he remained on the surface, his own image reflected back at him as he was standing on a mirror. Around him the rest of the land was bone-dry and very dusty.

 

That was the same, the feelings were the same, the images exact. He had been here a hundred times before.

 

He was waiting for something. He had no idea what.

 

Yet he waited.

 

Then over the horizon, a light started to outshine the sun and moon.

 

Again, the same as always. He knew something was coming. He could sense it, feel it in the shaking surface under him.

 

The air around him rumbled louder and louder, the dust, swirling like a breeze was kicking it up. Yet he could feel no wind against his face, no movement of his hair.

 

Something big was coming.

 

Huge.

 

Every time, every dream it happened. He felt it exactly the same way each dream, but now this dream felt more real. All he could do was wait, facing whatever it was, wanting to turn and run, yet not doing so.

 

The air swirled again, and this time the dust seemed to choke him. The surface under his feet shook as the horizon got even brighter.

 

The unknown came closer.

 

And closer.

 

Then, at that point he had awoken the last time, he did not.

 

The dream progressed.

 

The dream changed.

 

Over the horizon an army of thousands of screaming aliens swarmed toward him. Somehow he knew they were Phantoms, yet they didn’t look like the energy Phantoms he was familiar with. These were real aliens, in shiny armour, carrying weapons.

 

They were two-legged and came on like a wind from the centre of hell.

 

 

Ianto stood his ground as the ground trembled.

 

Then another rumbling was added to the first.

 

The very air around him seemed as if it might shake into nothingness. He turned to see a second alien army hurtling itself toward the first army.

 

This army was also in metallic armour but they were shaped differently, with different looking weapons.

 

He wasn’t the point of attack.

 

They were attacking each other. Not him.

 

He knew, without understanding how he knew, that he was standing in the middle of a battle in the war that had destroyed this alien place.

 

The screaming grew and grew, as if a thousand birds had combined with a thousand human children in terror, creating a noise that cut through him like knives. He held his head, trying to block out the sound, but the noise only increased as the two approaching forces swarmed closer and closer, surrounding him.

 

Then, just as the two are about to collide in battle, Ianto woke up.

 

Beside his bed the alarm was buzzing gently. His entire body was shaking and he was covered in sweat. It felt as if he had run a hundred miles.

 

He lay there, trying to catch his breath, his eyes open for fear that closing them again might send him back into the dream. But the images were still with him, as real as if he had actually been there. There was no forgetting them.

 

But the real question was, what do they mean?

 

Could they actually be two different armies of Phantoms? The idea made him shudder. What about all the other types of Phantoms that now roamed the Earth? Where did they fit in?

 

And why now did the dream finally show him this battle? Was it the extra spirit in his vest the reason? That was the only change since the day before. Could the addition of more spirits be taking him closer to the Phantoms instead of the other direction? Clearly his dreams were becoming more real-feeling, and happening more often with each additional spirit in his shield.

 

That thought made him shudder even more but he couldn’t let that kind of thinking stop him. He had work to do.

 

A lot of work.

 

There were two more spirits to find.

 

He rolled over and flipped off the alarm, then headed off to clean up. The Doctor wanted him beside him in the Council meeting in one hour. And he needed to tell him about his dream first. Maybe he would understand it.

 

He hoped so because he sure didn’t.

Comments

[hatorl (from livejournal.com)]

Commenting 3 chapters at once...
I love how you write their relationship. There is love, passion, tension, hate, well, not real hate; they repress their own feelings but, at the end, they can't deny their love.

And about the plot, you got me in. Ianto will be able to save himself and earth? and they are being persecuted!

I bet the Doctor's warning about being close to Jack will be obsolete...

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Cheers mate.

Ianto's pretty smart, I reckon he may just be able to.