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crossoverficTitle: Time Out in Washington (11/18)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fides
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Mulder/Krycek (mostly UST), Mark/Nicholas discussed but whether there is any truth behind the suggestion is open to the reader's interpretation
Fandom: X-Files/Torchwood/Dr Who/The State Within
Rating: NC-17 overall (most parts PG/PG-13, only one part is NC-17 and that part can be skipped with minimum confusion if you want to read the plot but are put off by the idea of graphic sex)
Warnings: Spoilers for The State Within. Some violence and fantasy sexual violence
Disclaimer: None of the recognisable characters are mine, Santa has been really falling down on his job recently, but belong to their respective right holders
Sequal to 1. Plus Ça Change, 2. Hobson's Choice
Prequel to Interlunation
Previous Parts: Part 1 - Prologue -:- Part 2 - Sir Mark -:- Part 3 - Jack -:- Part 4 - Azzam -:- Part 5 - Mulder -:- Part 6 - Skinner -:- Part 7 - Scully -:- Part 8 - George -:- Part 9 - Alex and Fox -:- Part 10 - Doctor
Summary: Finding out Jack's secret in the worst possible way (Hobson's Choice), Alex takes a break from Torchwood Three while he comes to terms with events and his anger towards Jack. To give him the time he needs, Jack arranges a secondment for Alex at the British Embassy in Washington working with the secret service to counter threats to the Ambassador's family. But with Mulder around things don't go to plan and Alex discovers that aliens aren't that easy to leave behind.
Notes: I know that the timelines don't quite fit so I decided to fudge things a little because it was too tempting to compare Torchwood and the Consortium. This story is set concurrent with the early part of X-Files season 6, during the second half of Torchwood season 1, during the time of the 12th Doctor (Doctor Who) and about a year after the events in The State Within. In depth (or indeed any) knowledge of the included fandoms isn't required so please don't let them put you off. Thanks tomoth2fic for the beta. Any and all remaining mistakes are own.
"So why are we here again?" Dan asked as the Doctor whirled a brightly coloured knob with one hand and pumped a level with another. Alex continued hanging on to the closest stationary object as the room skidded to a shuddering stop but looked across at where Dan and Mina were clinging to their own design features. What was it about aliens that they could invent interstellar spacecraft but still hadn't managed the humble seat belt?
"Eight year old girl went missing November 27, 1973," Alex recited the facts easily from memory; the problem was there weren't very many of them. "No one knows what happened to her. She was taken from her house while her parents were out. The only witness was her twelve year old brother who could not give a clear account of what happened. He was actually a suspect for a while but in the end the police just gave up looking. Her brother never did though."
"That's horrible," Mina breathed.
Alex looked away. He couldn't disagree, it was horrible, but in comparison to some of the other things he had seen in his life it didn't seem like much. He cared, although that was probably stretching the term, because it was Mulder's obsession and maybe it was the one answer that Alex could give him. Probably repeatedly. Call Alex mercenary, but verifiable information about what happened to Mulder's little sister was about the one thing, short of a gift-wrapped, real life alien, which could get Alex back into Mulder's good books. He had one trip - he was going to use it wisely.
The Doctor frowned at the readout. "I don't know what's with her at the moment." He patted the console familiarly. "I think one of her calibrators must be off."
After that landing, Alex wasn't too sure all his own parts were in the right places either.
"Which means?" he asked.
"We're a few days early; not a problem," the Doctor assured him blithely. "I'm sure we can keep out of trouble for a few days."
Mina snickered, covering her mouth to smother the sound when the Doctor turned to look at her. Alex was beginning to think that trusting the Doctor's reassurance about returning him immediately after they left might have not have been one of his wisest moves but, really, he had known that at the time. It wasn't like he could do anything useful at the hospital.
As soon as the Doctor turned back to the console Alex looked at her questioningly.
She shrugged. "Keeping out of trouble hasn't been one of our strong points," she admitted. "Precision isn't exactly one either. Last trip, we were actually supposed to be visiting Washington, the planet, which is located in the Diaptomine Cluster... Still, it's never dull."
That was practically an epitaph.
Mina must have seen the look on his face. "We'll get you back to your friend in the hospital," she promised. "I'll see if he needs a hand with the circuits while we're here. I'm getting quite good with the sonic-soldering now."
There was something deeply disconcerting about being reassured by a wide-eyed teenager who honestly believed what she was saying. Disconcerting became scary when it was one who helped out on the most advanced piece of technology that Alex had ever seen as if it was her second year electrical-engineering project. Still, Alex guessed, a circuit was a circuit whether it was it was attached to a time machine or a toaster. It was probably one of those things that it was best not to think about. Especially not when they had the 1970s incarnation of "The Vineyard" to explore.
The day was initially spent sightseeing and wandering around the offensively suburban neighbourhoods trying to find somewhere that could supply the Doctor with the nearest that twentieth century earth could come to whatever part he was after. Alex had been glad to swap his clearly anachronistic suit for something more suitable, even if the tan trousers, matching leather jacket and black roll neck were not entirely to his taste. Not that it had done much good. Walking around the island, Alex wasn't sure who was attracting more attention, the Doctor, who had insisted that the rest of them change but refused to wear anything other than the idiosyncratic outfit that was his standard day-wear, or the polyester and velour ensemble that Dan had not only enthusiastically chosen but had topped off with a large, wool cardigan. It was an outfit put together by someone who had heard of the 70s from the history books, and of taste, but didn't quite understand how it was all supposed to fit together. He supposed that the Doctor's breeches could be mistaken for glam, although Alex wasn't entirely sure when the movement started, but the frock coat and cravat weren't due for a comeback for at least a decade, and then only in New Romantics videos.
He put distance between himself and them when he could; with what was about to happen the last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves as a group of strangers. That and just because knowing none of the people in this time wanted to kill him, yet, didn't stop the itch between his shoulder blades. How he had become involved with a group the majority of whom had no idea of the concept of basic discretion he wasn't sure. Mina, at least, had kept to the basics; bellbottom jeans, a knit halter neck and a fitted jacket. Even Alex had to acknowledge that she looked the part as they wandered along the Gay Head Cliffs.
Still, it was a relief to change the easily visible trousers and coat for black biker leathers and slip out of the TARDIS that evening for a solo exploration. Comfortable was as much about state of mind as the fit of the cloth and he could just about convince himself that the outfit said 'Tom of Finland' rather than 'Village People'. Since, in 1973, the one didn't exist and the other had yet to become a name that a well-brought up community like Chilmark would admit to knowing, he figured he shouldn't run into any problems he didn't create himself. He looked like a thug, but 'thug' was a look he was at home in, it was something he knew how to do and how to be, and that didn't change in thirty years or thirty centuries. As the clothes had been left for him on his bed with a key he assumed he had tacit permission to undertake a little reconnaissance. It was either that or the oddest come-on he'd experienced for a while.
Finding the Mulder family residence was simple; they'd passed the road a few times on their earlier walkabout so identifying the specific house wasn't difficult. Alex had had to memorise vast parts of Mulder's biography and that had included his childhood. It was a nice property in a nice neighbourhood, but what else was to be expected from an up and coming member of the Consortium? Alex had been doing quite nicely for himself as well, until they tried to blow him up. He watched the house for a few hours, the lights shifting from one room to the next like spotlights on a stage, highlighting the actors as they moved from one mark to the next and said their lines. The great drama of family life, being played out behind closed doors but revealed to his clandestine scrutiny. Like the rats he had once told Mulder he had learned to live with he huddled in concealment until the last bright flicker in the study made its way up the stairs to the bathroom and was finally snuffed out. Given who he worked for, it was laughably easy to break into William Mulder's house. Some things never changed.
The next day followed a similar pattern with Alex spending the evening surveilling while the others tinkered with the TARDIS. He didn't bother sneaking out, just waved them all good bye as he left. By then knew where the hiding places were, where he could watch and listen without being seen. The temptation was there in the back of his head to just kill Mulder Senior - it would happen after all, he had made it happen, and this would just be bringing the forgone conclusion to a quicker and easier end. Unfortunately, Torchwood and Jack had taught him too well; messing with the time stream, especially one which crossed your own, was dangerous. Alex couldn't kill William Mulder because he needed to be alive so that Alex could shoot him in the future. They both just had to suffer the consequences of that. Plus the Doctor would be pissed.
He wished he had some of the equipment he normally used but even without it he managed to get close enough to spy into the study. Other than avoiding them, he had no interest in the rest of the household. At least, not until Fox was much older. He had caught a glimpse or two of the boy that his Fox had been and it had been a disturbing experience. Not so much the fact that he had had carnal knowledge of someone who was at that time twelve years old, although that was something of an unpleasant thought, but that very occasionally he could see the adult man in a mannerism or gesture the boy made.
Even without his paraphernalia, Alex was in position to hear the call when it came. Whether it was luck, serendipity or the pay-off for good work on his part Alex didn't question, knowing it was probably a combination of all three.
"...And if the test doesn't reveal anything?... These are my children, not one of your experiments. You can't just dispose of them. People will notice..." William Mulder's voice sounded enough like his son's would when grown to give Alex pause. Maybe it was just the angry tones as much as the shared accent that made them similar. "I understand what's at stake but... Fine. You're right - I don't want to know the details.... Tomorrow?... I'll make sure we are both out and the children are alone. Do what you need to... You're sure that there'll be a reaction to the artefact?... And then what? You take them away from us anyway... Of course she has become attached; what did you expect? The sooner the cloning experiments start yielding results and we stop having to rely on women to... No, I can talk to my own wife!... I'll make her understand. Don't worry, you can look elsewhere for your weak link..."
Alex kept listening until William Mulder hung up the phone. Remaining still and quiet until all the lights went out, until all that there was was the comforting darkness of the night and, so far away, the necklace of stars around the moon's pale face, a reflection of his own. It was sometime before he realised he was shaking and longer before he was able to stop.
How many times had he committed minor atrocities to prevent, or at least mitigate, the major ones? Had watched and done nothing rather than acting because acting prematurely could be worse than not acting at all? He had known going into this that all he could do was observe and learn, information to be traded in later when it had become premium. He just hadn't expected it to be so difficult just because it was Mulder and his sister.
"Damn it," Alex whispered.
Maybe he should just leave. Return to the TARDIS and have the Doctor take him home. What had he been thinking? That they would experiment on their wives but not their children just because other Consortium spawn like Jeffrey had been brought up ignorant? A stupid delusion because every experiment needed a control. He had never believed that the Consortium had taken Samantha to a little farm in the country where she could run and play and have her own pony. He wasn't a bright-eyed idealist like Mulder who would believe in the tooth fairy or Santa if it suited his purposes. Hell, Mulder probably had a folder on both of them filed away between a delusion and two partial truths.
Alex walked back to the TARDIS in a slight haze, half hoping that someone would try and mug him, and more than slightly tempted to return by the scenic route to make that eventuality more likely. If there were any rougher areas allowed on the island. It wasn't Samantha's death, as such, that bothered him; he had always assumed that she had died at the hands of either the Consortium or the Aliens. The problem, he realised, was that he had bought into Mulder's story that she had been taken away. He had been expecting to identify the abductor, or at least create a little bit of photographic evidence which he could 'find' later and pass on to Mulder. After that his part was done, although naturally he would be there to help Mulder track down the grave and offer comfort. Having to watch as both children were tested, even knowing what the eventual outcome would be, was not something he had expected.
He let himself into the TARDIS, still smouldering.
"Alex?" Dan's accent that Alex was a thousand years too young to have placed was laced with concern, "are you all right?"
He didn't bother looking up. "They're going to experiment on her." He frowned. "Them," he corrected.
"Let me get the others." Dan was gone before Alex could tell him not to bother.
Alex didn't know what Dan was still doing up; reading most likely. Luck just didn't seem to be going his way that evening; not that he deserved the universe cutting him a break. Still, he'd have preferred to slip back in unnoticed and spend the night trying to decide if he had a strategy that didn't involve getting out of Dodge and finding an ice planet that was big enough for the amount of vodka he was planning to drink. As it was he could see that he was going to have a 'do you want to talk about it' conversation in his immediate future.
Mina arrived first; baggy university student society t-shirt that was almost certainly a free giveaway and soft, flannel trousers that suggested if she hadn't been in bed she had been on her way. One look at Alex and she said nothing, just turned around and went back out. Alex could hear her in the room that they used as a lounge and pseudo-kitchen, the rattle of crockery making it clear what she was doing. The TARDIS had a machine that could produce anything given a sample but apparently some previous companion had decided that there was something therapeutic about making hot drinks in traditional mugs and so there were facilities for that as well. Alex wandered through to join her, sinking into one of the chairs and scrubbing his hands through his hair.
A cup of tea appeared in front of him and he took it. He'd always thought of tea as a British thing, at least until he'd arrived at Torchwood Three and discovered their coffee addiction. Mina had laughed when he had told her that. She'd informed him seriously that he should visit the Middle East and he had decided not to mention that he had, but not as a tourist. On a number of occasions. And India, and China, and Russia. There was still something about Britain and tea; that and people who beat them at sport seemed to be the legacy of the once great empire.
The others arrived before the tea was so much as cool enough to sip. The Doctor was wearing a plaid dressing gown that Sherlock Holmes would have been envious of, assuming that the great detective had been hitting the opium particularly hard. Alex blinked twice, opened his mouth and shut it again. It was almost enough to put the whole 'Samantha being killed in front of Fox' mess in perspective.
"Alex?" the Doctor asked.
Alex looked at him slightly blankly. It was so easy to see the maniac who pinballed from one disaster to the next, the eternal explorer who was always looking for the next puzzle and next adventure. There wasn't eternity in his eyes but there were centuries, star-birth and star-death, one-way mirrors through which a spinning-top mind looked out at the world, needing constant simulation or risking instability. The slim lips almost danced with the words that came from them, at times a quickstep at others a waltz but always in motion. Even when they paused for a beat, poised and posed, they still spoke with a silent voice. It was a hard face to look into.
"I overheard a conversation between Mulder Senior and one of his colleagues," as if he didn't know who, "about tomorrow night. They have an artifact; they're sending it with an agent to see if the children react to it. If they don't react in the way expected..." he let his voice fade off, allowing them to fill in the blank themselves.
"You think the artefact is alien?" the Doctor pressed. "That it might be dangerous?"
It made sense. Alex nodded. "Got to be. Alien or something hybrid they have put together. If I was back in Cardiff then I might be able to tell you more," he said glumly. "I know Tosh was collecting information together on the aliens but I don't know what she found."
Alex slowly realised that both Mina and Dan were staring at the Doctor who had started grinning.
"Why didn't you say so?"
"Am I missing something here?" Alex asked.
"Oh, I love it when he does this," Mina confided, eyes wide and happy. "Alex, give him your phone."
With a suspicious look at all of them, Alex went to fetch his phone from his suit. There had been no point in carrying it around with him. His service provider was good, but didn't extend to the early 70s.
"Nice," the Doctor said appreciatively when Alex returned and handed it to him. Alex tried to follow what he was doing as he slipped the back off and made some sort of alteration with his silver gadget. Whatever he was doing had Mina practically vibrating in her seat. He wondered what her life had been like before the Doctor swept her away on this magic carpet ride. She had probably been one of those people who everyone said should get out more. He thought about where they were; it would be hard to get out further than this.
"There we go," the Doctor said, passing the phone back, "Universal Roaming. Any time, any place... as long as you know the right area code. How's that for a talk plan?"
"What's..?" Alex began.
"It defaults to your time and planet of residency," Mina told him, smiling. "Just enter the number."
"Don't forget you're calling international," Dan added helpfully.
Alex stared at the mobile in disbelief. Tosh was going to have a field day when she saw it; he considered keeping the information to himself. It was always good to have an ace up his sleeve, or in this case in his jacket pocket. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Jack's name and pressed the button to call.
"It'll only work in the vicinity of the Tardis," the Doctor warned.
Alex waved the restriction away, focussed on the beeps as the number dialled. A few seconds of silence in which Alex was sure it wasn't going to work and then the trill as it rang. Five rings and another pause. Alex forced himself to wait patiently; after all he had no idea what time it would be in Cardiff. Jack could be asleep or chasing Weevils or any one of a hundred other things that meant he couldn't come to the phone immediately. He could be dead. Alex wondered how he would show up on the missed call list and whether it was possible for Jack to call him back. Two more rings and the line picked up. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hello," a surprisingly Welsh voice greeted.
"Ianto?" Alex asked confused, "I thought I called Jack."
"Ah, his phone is on divert at the moment. He's a bit tied up. Did you need him specifically?"
A figure of speech, Alex told himself, it's just a figure of speech.
"I needed some information. I was hoping he might have it."
"Can I help?"
"Probably," Alex acknowledged. "It's about Mulder..."
He could hear Ianto's in-drawn breath and waited for the accusations.
"Is he having a bad reaction to the retcon?" Ianto sounded professionally concerned.
"No, nothing like that. I stumbled across some information that suggests that the Consortium has some artefact, probably alien, that they're planning to expose him to." Alex rolled his eyes at his own dissembling but he could hardly tell Ianto he was back in 1973.
"You want to know what the reaction is likely to be?"
"And whether it could be dangerous to others," Alex confirmed, "only I have no idea what type of artefact it might be."
The line went quiet, only the soft ebb and swell of Ianto's breathing letting Alex know that the other man was still there.
"Can you give us thirty minutes?" Ianto said at last. "I need to call the others back in. It sounds like we'll need Owen and Tosh on this."
"Thanks, Ianto," Alex would have agreed to a lot more than that. Thirty minutes didn't seem too much to ask in return for information when he had all night, or thirty years depending on how you looked at things. He took a risk. "Sorry I called so late."
"Don't worry," Ianto assured him, "we had a quiet day so Jack let everyone off early. I think Gwen and Tosh mentioned something about getting Tosh something to wear for her grandfather's birthday so they shouldn't have gone far. Do you know how to call directly into the conference room?"
Alex recited the number.
Ianto chuckled. "I swear Owen had that written on the back of his hand for weeks and he still couldn't remember it. He phoned it once when drunk, thinking it was the number of the girl he had met the night before. And on that note, I better go and roust him out of whatever bar he's in. Talk to you in thirty."
"Thirty," Alex agreed. He wondered if Ianto had got his stopwatch out and was counting down each second. He smiled slightly at the thought.
Pressing the disconnect button he found everyone looking at him expectantly.
"I have to call them back in half an hour," he told them. "If anyone can work it out it will be them."
Mina took a deep breath, "Well then... More tea?"
Next Part...
Author:
fidesPairing: Jack/Ianto, Mulder/Krycek (mostly UST), Mark/Nicholas discussed but whether there is any truth behind the suggestion is open to the reader's interpretation
Fandom: X-Files/Torchwood/Dr Who/The State Within
Rating: NC-17 overall (most parts PG/PG-13, only one part is NC-17 and that part can be skipped with minimum confusion if you want to read the plot but are put off by the idea of graphic sex)
Warnings: Spoilers for The State Within. Some violence and fantasy sexual violence
Disclaimer: None of the recognisable characters are mine, Santa has been really falling down on his job recently, but belong to their respective right holders
Sequal to 1. Plus Ça Change, 2. Hobson's Choice
Prequel to Interlunation
Previous Parts: Part 1 - Prologue -:- Part 2 - Sir Mark -:- Part 3 - Jack -:- Part 4 - Azzam -:- Part 5 - Mulder -:- Part 6 - Skinner -:- Part 7 - Scully -:- Part 8 - George -:- Part 9 - Alex and Fox -:- Part 10 - Doctor
Summary: Finding out Jack's secret in the worst possible way (Hobson's Choice), Alex takes a break from Torchwood Three while he comes to terms with events and his anger towards Jack. To give him the time he needs, Jack arranges a secondment for Alex at the British Embassy in Washington working with the secret service to counter threats to the Ambassador's family. But with Mulder around things don't go to plan and Alex discovers that aliens aren't that easy to leave behind.
Notes: I know that the timelines don't quite fit so I decided to fudge things a little because it was too tempting to compare Torchwood and the Consortium. This story is set concurrent with the early part of X-Files season 6, during the second half of Torchwood season 1, during the time of the 12th Doctor (Doctor Who) and about a year after the events in The State Within. In depth (or indeed any) knowledge of the included fandoms isn't required so please don't let them put you off. Thanks to
moth2fic for the beta. Any and all remaining mistakes are own."So why are we here again?" Dan asked as the Doctor whirled a brightly coloured knob with one hand and pumped a level with another. Alex continued hanging on to the closest stationary object as the room skidded to a shuddering stop but looked across at where Dan and Mina were clinging to their own design features. What was it about aliens that they could invent interstellar spacecraft but still hadn't managed the humble seat belt?
"Eight year old girl went missing November 27, 1973," Alex recited the facts easily from memory; the problem was there weren't very many of them. "No one knows what happened to her. She was taken from her house while her parents were out. The only witness was her twelve year old brother who could not give a clear account of what happened. He was actually a suspect for a while but in the end the police just gave up looking. Her brother never did though."
"That's horrible," Mina breathed.
Alex looked away. He couldn't disagree, it was horrible, but in comparison to some of the other things he had seen in his life it didn't seem like much. He cared, although that was probably stretching the term, because it was Mulder's obsession and maybe it was the one answer that Alex could give him. Probably repeatedly. Call Alex mercenary, but verifiable information about what happened to Mulder's little sister was about the one thing, short of a gift-wrapped, real life alien, which could get Alex back into Mulder's good books. He had one trip - he was going to use it wisely.
The Doctor frowned at the readout. "I don't know what's with her at the moment." He patted the console familiarly. "I think one of her calibrators must be off."
After that landing, Alex wasn't too sure all his own parts were in the right places either.
"Which means?" he asked.
"We're a few days early; not a problem," the Doctor assured him blithely. "I'm sure we can keep out of trouble for a few days."
Mina snickered, covering her mouth to smother the sound when the Doctor turned to look at her. Alex was beginning to think that trusting the Doctor's reassurance about returning him immediately after they left might have not have been one of his wisest moves but, really, he had known that at the time. It wasn't like he could do anything useful at the hospital.
As soon as the Doctor turned back to the console Alex looked at her questioningly.
She shrugged. "Keeping out of trouble hasn't been one of our strong points," she admitted. "Precision isn't exactly one either. Last trip, we were actually supposed to be visiting Washington, the planet, which is located in the Diaptomine Cluster... Still, it's never dull."
That was practically an epitaph.
Mina must have seen the look on his face. "We'll get you back to your friend in the hospital," she promised. "I'll see if he needs a hand with the circuits while we're here. I'm getting quite good with the sonic-soldering now."
There was something deeply disconcerting about being reassured by a wide-eyed teenager who honestly believed what she was saying. Disconcerting became scary when it was one who helped out on the most advanced piece of technology that Alex had ever seen as if it was her second year electrical-engineering project. Still, Alex guessed, a circuit was a circuit whether it was it was attached to a time machine or a toaster. It was probably one of those things that it was best not to think about. Especially not when they had the 1970s incarnation of "The Vineyard" to explore.
The day was initially spent sightseeing and wandering around the offensively suburban neighbourhoods trying to find somewhere that could supply the Doctor with the nearest that twentieth century earth could come to whatever part he was after. Alex had been glad to swap his clearly anachronistic suit for something more suitable, even if the tan trousers, matching leather jacket and black roll neck were not entirely to his taste. Not that it had done much good. Walking around the island, Alex wasn't sure who was attracting more attention, the Doctor, who had insisted that the rest of them change but refused to wear anything other than the idiosyncratic outfit that was his standard day-wear, or the polyester and velour ensemble that Dan had not only enthusiastically chosen but had topped off with a large, wool cardigan. It was an outfit put together by someone who had heard of the 70s from the history books, and of taste, but didn't quite understand how it was all supposed to fit together. He supposed that the Doctor's breeches could be mistaken for glam, although Alex wasn't entirely sure when the movement started, but the frock coat and cravat weren't due for a comeback for at least a decade, and then only in New Romantics videos.
He put distance between himself and them when he could; with what was about to happen the last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves as a group of strangers. That and just because knowing none of the people in this time wanted to kill him, yet, didn't stop the itch between his shoulder blades. How he had become involved with a group the majority of whom had no idea of the concept of basic discretion he wasn't sure. Mina, at least, had kept to the basics; bellbottom jeans, a knit halter neck and a fitted jacket. Even Alex had to acknowledge that she looked the part as they wandered along the Gay Head Cliffs.
Still, it was a relief to change the easily visible trousers and coat for black biker leathers and slip out of the TARDIS that evening for a solo exploration. Comfortable was as much about state of mind as the fit of the cloth and he could just about convince himself that the outfit said 'Tom of Finland' rather than 'Village People'. Since, in 1973, the one didn't exist and the other had yet to become a name that a well-brought up community like Chilmark would admit to knowing, he figured he shouldn't run into any problems he didn't create himself. He looked like a thug, but 'thug' was a look he was at home in, it was something he knew how to do and how to be, and that didn't change in thirty years or thirty centuries. As the clothes had been left for him on his bed with a key he assumed he had tacit permission to undertake a little reconnaissance. It was either that or the oddest come-on he'd experienced for a while.
Finding the Mulder family residence was simple; they'd passed the road a few times on their earlier walkabout so identifying the specific house wasn't difficult. Alex had had to memorise vast parts of Mulder's biography and that had included his childhood. It was a nice property in a nice neighbourhood, but what else was to be expected from an up and coming member of the Consortium? Alex had been doing quite nicely for himself as well, until they tried to blow him up. He watched the house for a few hours, the lights shifting from one room to the next like spotlights on a stage, highlighting the actors as they moved from one mark to the next and said their lines. The great drama of family life, being played out behind closed doors but revealed to his clandestine scrutiny. Like the rats he had once told Mulder he had learned to live with he huddled in concealment until the last bright flicker in the study made its way up the stairs to the bathroom and was finally snuffed out. Given who he worked for, it was laughably easy to break into William Mulder's house. Some things never changed.
The next day followed a similar pattern with Alex spending the evening surveilling while the others tinkered with the TARDIS. He didn't bother sneaking out, just waved them all good bye as he left. By then knew where the hiding places were, where he could watch and listen without being seen. The temptation was there in the back of his head to just kill Mulder Senior - it would happen after all, he had made it happen, and this would just be bringing the forgone conclusion to a quicker and easier end. Unfortunately, Torchwood and Jack had taught him too well; messing with the time stream, especially one which crossed your own, was dangerous. Alex couldn't kill William Mulder because he needed to be alive so that Alex could shoot him in the future. They both just had to suffer the consequences of that. Plus the Doctor would be pissed.
He wished he had some of the equipment he normally used but even without it he managed to get close enough to spy into the study. Other than avoiding them, he had no interest in the rest of the household. At least, not until Fox was much older. He had caught a glimpse or two of the boy that his Fox had been and it had been a disturbing experience. Not so much the fact that he had had carnal knowledge of someone who was at that time twelve years old, although that was something of an unpleasant thought, but that very occasionally he could see the adult man in a mannerism or gesture the boy made.
Even without his paraphernalia, Alex was in position to hear the call when it came. Whether it was luck, serendipity or the pay-off for good work on his part Alex didn't question, knowing it was probably a combination of all three.
"...And if the test doesn't reveal anything?... These are my children, not one of your experiments. You can't just dispose of them. People will notice..." William Mulder's voice sounded enough like his son's would when grown to give Alex pause. Maybe it was just the angry tones as much as the shared accent that made them similar. "I understand what's at stake but... Fine. You're right - I don't want to know the details.... Tomorrow?... I'll make sure we are both out and the children are alone. Do what you need to... You're sure that there'll be a reaction to the artefact?... And then what? You take them away from us anyway... Of course she has become attached; what did you expect? The sooner the cloning experiments start yielding results and we stop having to rely on women to... No, I can talk to my own wife!... I'll make her understand. Don't worry, you can look elsewhere for your weak link..."
Alex kept listening until William Mulder hung up the phone. Remaining still and quiet until all the lights went out, until all that there was was the comforting darkness of the night and, so far away, the necklace of stars around the moon's pale face, a reflection of his own. It was sometime before he realised he was shaking and longer before he was able to stop.
How many times had he committed minor atrocities to prevent, or at least mitigate, the major ones? Had watched and done nothing rather than acting because acting prematurely could be worse than not acting at all? He had known going into this that all he could do was observe and learn, information to be traded in later when it had become premium. He just hadn't expected it to be so difficult just because it was Mulder and his sister.
"Damn it," Alex whispered.
Maybe he should just leave. Return to the TARDIS and have the Doctor take him home. What had he been thinking? That they would experiment on their wives but not their children just because other Consortium spawn like Jeffrey had been brought up ignorant? A stupid delusion because every experiment needed a control. He had never believed that the Consortium had taken Samantha to a little farm in the country where she could run and play and have her own pony. He wasn't a bright-eyed idealist like Mulder who would believe in the tooth fairy or Santa if it suited his purposes. Hell, Mulder probably had a folder on both of them filed away between a delusion and two partial truths.
Alex walked back to the TARDIS in a slight haze, half hoping that someone would try and mug him, and more than slightly tempted to return by the scenic route to make that eventuality more likely. If there were any rougher areas allowed on the island. It wasn't Samantha's death, as such, that bothered him; he had always assumed that she had died at the hands of either the Consortium or the Aliens. The problem, he realised, was that he had bought into Mulder's story that she had been taken away. He had been expecting to identify the abductor, or at least create a little bit of photographic evidence which he could 'find' later and pass on to Mulder. After that his part was done, although naturally he would be there to help Mulder track down the grave and offer comfort. Having to watch as both children were tested, even knowing what the eventual outcome would be, was not something he had expected.
He let himself into the TARDIS, still smouldering.
"Alex?" Dan's accent that Alex was a thousand years too young to have placed was laced with concern, "are you all right?"
He didn't bother looking up. "They're going to experiment on her." He frowned. "Them," he corrected.
"Let me get the others." Dan was gone before Alex could tell him not to bother.
Alex didn't know what Dan was still doing up; reading most likely. Luck just didn't seem to be going his way that evening; not that he deserved the universe cutting him a break. Still, he'd have preferred to slip back in unnoticed and spend the night trying to decide if he had a strategy that didn't involve getting out of Dodge and finding an ice planet that was big enough for the amount of vodka he was planning to drink. As it was he could see that he was going to have a 'do you want to talk about it' conversation in his immediate future.
Mina arrived first; baggy university student society t-shirt that was almost certainly a free giveaway and soft, flannel trousers that suggested if she hadn't been in bed she had been on her way. One look at Alex and she said nothing, just turned around and went back out. Alex could hear her in the room that they used as a lounge and pseudo-kitchen, the rattle of crockery making it clear what she was doing. The TARDIS had a machine that could produce anything given a sample but apparently some previous companion had decided that there was something therapeutic about making hot drinks in traditional mugs and so there were facilities for that as well. Alex wandered through to join her, sinking into one of the chairs and scrubbing his hands through his hair.
A cup of tea appeared in front of him and he took it. He'd always thought of tea as a British thing, at least until he'd arrived at Torchwood Three and discovered their coffee addiction. Mina had laughed when he had told her that. She'd informed him seriously that he should visit the Middle East and he had decided not to mention that he had, but not as a tourist. On a number of occasions. And India, and China, and Russia. There was still something about Britain and tea; that and people who beat them at sport seemed to be the legacy of the once great empire.
The others arrived before the tea was so much as cool enough to sip. The Doctor was wearing a plaid dressing gown that Sherlock Holmes would have been envious of, assuming that the great detective had been hitting the opium particularly hard. Alex blinked twice, opened his mouth and shut it again. It was almost enough to put the whole 'Samantha being killed in front of Fox' mess in perspective.
"Alex?" the Doctor asked.
Alex looked at him slightly blankly. It was so easy to see the maniac who pinballed from one disaster to the next, the eternal explorer who was always looking for the next puzzle and next adventure. There wasn't eternity in his eyes but there were centuries, star-birth and star-death, one-way mirrors through which a spinning-top mind looked out at the world, needing constant simulation or risking instability. The slim lips almost danced with the words that came from them, at times a quickstep at others a waltz but always in motion. Even when they paused for a beat, poised and posed, they still spoke with a silent voice. It was a hard face to look into.
"I overheard a conversation between Mulder Senior and one of his colleagues," as if he didn't know who, "about tomorrow night. They have an artifact; they're sending it with an agent to see if the children react to it. If they don't react in the way expected..." he let his voice fade off, allowing them to fill in the blank themselves.
"You think the artefact is alien?" the Doctor pressed. "That it might be dangerous?"
It made sense. Alex nodded. "Got to be. Alien or something hybrid they have put together. If I was back in Cardiff then I might be able to tell you more," he said glumly. "I know Tosh was collecting information together on the aliens but I don't know what she found."
Alex slowly realised that both Mina and Dan were staring at the Doctor who had started grinning.
"Why didn't you say so?"
"Am I missing something here?" Alex asked.
"Oh, I love it when he does this," Mina confided, eyes wide and happy. "Alex, give him your phone."
With a suspicious look at all of them, Alex went to fetch his phone from his suit. There had been no point in carrying it around with him. His service provider was good, but didn't extend to the early 70s.
"Nice," the Doctor said appreciatively when Alex returned and handed it to him. Alex tried to follow what he was doing as he slipped the back off and made some sort of alteration with his silver gadget. Whatever he was doing had Mina practically vibrating in her seat. He wondered what her life had been like before the Doctor swept her away on this magic carpet ride. She had probably been one of those people who everyone said should get out more. He thought about where they were; it would be hard to get out further than this.
"There we go," the Doctor said, passing the phone back, "Universal Roaming. Any time, any place... as long as you know the right area code. How's that for a talk plan?"
"What's..?" Alex began.
"It defaults to your time and planet of residency," Mina told him, smiling. "Just enter the number."
"Don't forget you're calling international," Dan added helpfully.
Alex stared at the mobile in disbelief. Tosh was going to have a field day when she saw it; he considered keeping the information to himself. It was always good to have an ace up his sleeve, or in this case in his jacket pocket. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Jack's name and pressed the button to call.
"It'll only work in the vicinity of the Tardis," the Doctor warned.
Alex waved the restriction away, focussed on the beeps as the number dialled. A few seconds of silence in which Alex was sure it wasn't going to work and then the trill as it rang. Five rings and another pause. Alex forced himself to wait patiently; after all he had no idea what time it would be in Cardiff. Jack could be asleep or chasing Weevils or any one of a hundred other things that meant he couldn't come to the phone immediately. He could be dead. Alex wondered how he would show up on the missed call list and whether it was possible for Jack to call him back. Two more rings and the line picked up. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hello," a surprisingly Welsh voice greeted.
"Ianto?" Alex asked confused, "I thought I called Jack."
"Ah, his phone is on divert at the moment. He's a bit tied up. Did you need him specifically?"
A figure of speech, Alex told himself, it's just a figure of speech.
"I needed some information. I was hoping he might have it."
"Can I help?"
"Probably," Alex acknowledged. "It's about Mulder..."
He could hear Ianto's in-drawn breath and waited for the accusations.
"Is he having a bad reaction to the retcon?" Ianto sounded professionally concerned.
"No, nothing like that. I stumbled across some information that suggests that the Consortium has some artefact, probably alien, that they're planning to expose him to." Alex rolled his eyes at his own dissembling but he could hardly tell Ianto he was back in 1973.
"You want to know what the reaction is likely to be?"
"And whether it could be dangerous to others," Alex confirmed, "only I have no idea what type of artefact it might be."
The line went quiet, only the soft ebb and swell of Ianto's breathing letting Alex know that the other man was still there.
"Can you give us thirty minutes?" Ianto said at last. "I need to call the others back in. It sounds like we'll need Owen and Tosh on this."
"Thanks, Ianto," Alex would have agreed to a lot more than that. Thirty minutes didn't seem too much to ask in return for information when he had all night, or thirty years depending on how you looked at things. He took a risk. "Sorry I called so late."
"Don't worry," Ianto assured him, "we had a quiet day so Jack let everyone off early. I think Gwen and Tosh mentioned something about getting Tosh something to wear for her grandfather's birthday so they shouldn't have gone far. Do you know how to call directly into the conference room?"
Alex recited the number.
Ianto chuckled. "I swear Owen had that written on the back of his hand for weeks and he still couldn't remember it. He phoned it once when drunk, thinking it was the number of the girl he had met the night before. And on that note, I better go and roust him out of whatever bar he's in. Talk to you in thirty."
"Thirty," Alex agreed. He wondered if Ianto had got his stopwatch out and was counting down each second. He smiled slightly at the thought.
Pressing the disconnect button he found everyone looking at him expectantly.
"I have to call them back in half an hour," he told them. "If anyone can work it out it will be them."
Mina took a deep breath, "Well then... More tea?"
Next Part...
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