Ptorchwood Ptales & Ptimely Pthoughts

“You know I still really miss him,” Jack said. 

The Doctor looked over at Jack, and saw that even after 3 years, thinking about Ianto was still painful for Jack.

“If you could do one thing over, what would it be?”

 
Jack didn’t hesitate. “I wouldn’t have made him face the enemy without a plan. I would have called you, or Martha or UNIT. I don’t even know why I didn’t. I feel like I wasn’t anything like normal myself during that week”.
  

‘Like an out-of-body experience?”
 

 “More like an out-of-universe experience,” Jack replied. 
  

Looking up at The Doctor with pleading eyes, Jack asked the question that he’d asked so many times before. “Isn’t there anyway, we can change what happened? Wibbley-wobbley time and all that.”
  

The Doctor sadly explained once again that you couldn’t cross your own time-lines. “But what about the Valiant, we changed that didn’t we?” The Doctor sighed. “You know that was different. I’m so sorry Jack but Ianto is gone. You are just going to have to accept that.” He tried to say it gently, and reached out to put a comforting hand on Jack’s shoulder.
 

 Jack shrugged away from him, tears filling his eyes. “It’s really not fair; he was gone before I ever really got to know him. At least Tosh and Owen got to achieve something and die with dignity, knowing they had saved the world.” Tears began to stream down Jack’s face and The Doctor could see that he was becoming increasingly distressed. More distressed than he had ever been in the last three years. “Ianto’s death was so untimely, so meaningless; gods, he died like a dog! He trusted me like a faithful dog, and I kicked him, and he died.”
 

 Jack was nearing hysteria. The Doctor watched him and wondered whether his behavior could be due to some type of delayed PTSD. “Jack, I’m sure he knew what he meant to you."
 

“No, he didn’t."  Jack sank to his knees, sobbing so hard he could barely breathe. “I don’t know what happened, I was barely civil to him the few weeks before he died, and then as he lay dying and I held him in my arms, I couldn’t even tell him that I loved him. I really am a Monster. I couldn’t even give a little comfort to a dying man, my best friend, my…. I swear, I feel like there were dark forces controlling me, all of us really.”
 

 The Doctor didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean by that?”
 

 “Well, first there was my behavior, and then Gwen acting like she was Joan of Arc. You know she’s brave and headstrong, but this Savior of the Earth Gwen just seemed so out of character for her. And I even heard PC Andy belittling Ianto, after he died. Did you know, he had a crush on Ianto, even asked him out once? What possibly could have possessed all of us to just let Ianto die like he was nothing?” Jack had stopped crying but still sat on the floor, staring off into space.
 

 The Doctor pondered this question. He had some ideas, but he wondered if it would make any difference in the long run. Ianto wasn’t coming back. “I wonder….. Individual people often experience periods of time when they don’t feel like themselves, but it’s rare to hear of a whole group of people acting out of character. Hmmm….could be mass hysteria, or maybe some behavior altering virus.”
 

 “It wasn’t hysteria or an illness….it was more like we were being manipulated. Like puppets on a string or toys for someone to play with. And they broke Ianto.”
 

 The Doctors eyes lit up. “That’s it. They broke Ianto. I’m sure I know the cause, now.”
  

Jack stood up and wiped his face on the back of his sleeve. “What! Tell me, I have to know.”
 

 “Now Jack, I have to warn you that knowing the reason isn’t going to change the outcome.”
 

 Jack told the Doctor that he didn’t care. Anything that could explain his behavior, everyone’s behavior would give him a little peace. Maybe he wasn’t totally responsible for the utter disaster of the 456.

The Doctor motioned Jack over to a small table and they both sat down. This was going to be hard. Even after all his travels, there were universal truths that Jack just didn’t know yet and beings so insidiously evil that The Doctor was at a loss to explain them to the Captain.
 

“Ok, Jack.” The Doctor took a deep breath and decided to tell Jack the whole truth as he knew it. “There are a group of beings that exist in the universe that live only for their own gain.”
 

“Well that’s not so unusual.”
 

“Yes, but while these beings aren’t usually deadly, they have deluded themselves to believe that they are all powerful and can control the destiny of the world. They can’t you know, and really they know it too. And the self-knowledge that they are merely mortal makes them cruel and petty. They delight in having people hurt each other, they twist people’s thinking so that they make mistakes, they’ve even been known to control the actions of small groups of people for limited periods of time. Their favorite pleasure is to leave some people untouched and let them watch helplessly as their friends and loved-ones become unrecognizable to them..
 

 And the worst part…. is that they are completely amoral. When confronted with their deeds, they’ll deny they did anything, or try to blame others. If cornered, they’ll indignantly claim that they really didn’t cause any harm, that the observers should just get over it, or that the people didn’t matter in the first place. In a way, they are very much like children. Naughty, pentulant, unrepentant children. They take what they want to further their own egos and agendas and don’t care about the wreckage they leave behind. ”
  

“By the way", The Doctor quearied, " do you remember, any peculiar smells during that week?”
  

Jack smiled for the first time. “Well, there was that incident with Rhy’s baked beans. It was terrible. The smell….”
  

The Doctor jumped slamming his fist on table. “That confirms it. Anytime you smell a foul gaseous stink, you can be sure its them.”

Jack looked up at The Doctor with hopeful eyes. “You mean I’m not responsible.”
 

 The Doctor pondered this question for a moment, “Well you did the actions, but it was completely out of your control. So, I’d say that your actual accountability is minimal.”
 

 Jack stood up and sighed, ”I know it won’t bring Ianto back, but I do feel better hearing you say that.”

“I don’t know if I should tell you this, but you can also take comfort that Ianto is alive and well in many parallel universes. You can’t go be with him, but I can assure you that he is happy in most of them, sometimes with you, sometimes with others, but happy none the less.”

The Doctor motioned Jack to move with him over to a small screen. ‘I was waiting for the right moment to show you this, and I think this is probably a good time.” He tapped on the monitor and images began to pass by.

“I don’t believe it,” whispered Jack.

Pictures flashed by him.  Ianto with Jack looking the same as they did three years ago, next a gray haired Ianto and an unchanged Jack.  Ianto and Lisa – she hadn’t been converted into a cyberwoman after all! The pictures continued on.  Jack had to laugh when a somewhat thinner Ianto (with a beard carrying a guitar, no less) appeared. Ianto with a variety of other men and women, clearly these were lovers and friends from his many times lines Then, Ianto and Gwen (Ianto looked like he'd rather be holding hands with a Weavil), Ianto and Owen (Jack just shook his head at that) and then a final picture that made Jack groan. There was an Ianto in a UNIT uniform complete with a red beret.

Jack laughed “he’s a colonel, a full colonel!  If I could choose another universe, that would be the one I’d go to!”

The Doctor frowned.

“I know I can’t, but I wish……”

“No you can’t,” The Doctor replied, “but you can look at these images anytime you want. I know its not much….”

“No, its perfect, just perfect. I may have lost my Ianto, but now I can see all of Ianto’s true potential. That’s really what I wanted for him. He was so extraordinary. I just wanted him to be able to grow comfortable with himself and be happy.”

The Doctor sighed. “I’m so relieved to hear that. Three years of moping…I really thought I was going to have to leave you off on a rehab planet if you grieved much longer."

The two men began to walk away from the main room, discussing what planet they might next visit. “There’s a galactic fair on Kryzanthia, year 3512, we could visit,” suggested the Doctor. "Or there’s…what is it Jack?”

“I just want to know, do the creatures who destroyed my Ianto have a name?”

The Doctor replied, “they have a variety of sub-groups but the species is known as the Creatorians. The sub-groups have names that are impossible to pronounce but actually describe their occupations. Translating them to Standard, they include Writers, Directors, Producers, Financiers, and Marketers. Their planet is a miserable place to live, filled with miserable people, only caring that someone else is more miserable than they are. ”

Jack nodded. “I think I have heard of them. Don’t they also include a sub group called BBC1.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, “Oh no, Jack, the BBC1 are a completely different species. Just as twisted and evil, but even more ruthless and uncaring.” They often use the Creatorians to achieve their goals, but they really are two different things entirely. If the Creatorians are like evil children, the BBC1 are like the 456. Nothing stops them from getting what they want.”

Jack laughed. “This is all making so much sense now.”