Ianto didn't die. The Doctor helped Jack stop the 456. Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness just got married. How can anything go wrong? Revisit the gang at the Hub, along with Martha and Mickey as well as two new characters, Rabbi Aliyah Teelbalum (an...
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Chapter Six
The Hub conference room was crowded with people and puzzle pieces without their picture box. Everyone had returned, chatting at one another and sharing their pieces but getting nowhere while they waited for Jack. When he did come in, he looked like someone who hadn't had a good night. "I thought he didn't need to sleep much?" whispered Rhys to Gwen. She nodded while Martha mouthed the words "What's wrong with him?" to Aliyah. Aliyah smiled knowingly but shook her head. "Let it go," she mouthed.
But it was Mickey who let the cat out the bag, "Where's Ianto? I'd murder for a brew about now!" When Jack gave him a severe look, Mickey sank in the chair and looked at Martha as if to say, "What did I do?"
"We'll start . . ." Jack started to say as Ianto quickly entered the room, dragging in the outside cold with him. "Thanks for joining us," Jack snarled. Ianto didn't look at him but placed the carriers with its Starbucks' coffee cups on the table. Jack's eyes followed him as he put each cup in front of the team members then Jack's on the counter a distance from where Jack was standing. Ianto had obviously purchased them from the shop a block away for they were quite hot but, for obvious reasons, they might as well have been iced tea from the corner convenience store.
Jack dismissed the slight and took on the demeanor of Nick Charles initiating the denouement. "Let's lay out what we got and see how the pieces fit." Ianto picked up a tablet connected to the room's 3D presentation screen, then sat in a chair in the corner, away from the round table and began to take notes.
Jack ignored that too. "Mickey, Martha? What do you have?"
Martha was busy giving Jack an I know it is your fault look so Mickey started, "The contact in San Bernardino offered up some very curious evidence." He produced pictures of the creature, both before and after typical forensic gutting – all equally hideous. Jack examined the photos briefly then casually passed them on to the others. Mickey continued, "They found this in the apartment of those terrorists. There were at least three but this one was the best preserved. The rest were in pieces, likely shot up accidently during the raid."
"The local constabulary recorded their presence?" asked Jack.
"Nothing in the reports," answered Mickey.
"I checked with U.N.I.T. but they've not seen anything like it," Martha interjected. "I did some preliminary dissection but reckoned I'd take advantage of Ianto's new "Owen Harper Memorial Forensics Laboratory" to run some DNA tests. There is something familiar about this creature."
Rhys winced at both sets of pictures, "Damn, a white worm with shark teeth! Like something at the bottom of the ocean you see on one of those nature shows."
"More like a parasite, I'd say, but I'll know more after I've finished my tests."
Jack said pensively, "Don't be surprised if you find some modified DNA, likely cross-breeding. Our Paris contact mentioned Internet chatter mentioning modified DNA but they hadn't finished decryption yet. Good work!" Ianto entered a picture of the creature with "DNA modification?" as its title into the program. It showed up on the holoscreen, like the other key points he would record, as its own jigsaw puzzle piece. Jack was not going to tell Ianto how impressive this was.
