Ianto / Torchwood / X-Files / Teen
Title: Abduction. Author: Lopaka Tanu Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or X-Files. Characters: Ianto Words: 2075 Prompt: Torchwood crossover with X-Files. Fandom: Torchwood/X-Files Pairing: None. Rating: Adult Warnings: Language, Violence. Summary: Mulder and a stranger find themselves in a hostile situation. Author's Note: Painful to read. ______________________________________ 1998 - Alberta, Canada.
There were dozens of reasons why he should not have been out in the middle of a field on a frozen January night. What mattered was the one very excellent reason he was supposed to be there. Hunkered down in his parka and snow boots, Agent Mulder watched the sky through ski goggles. Brilliant starlight filtered through the atmosphere giving it a twinkling effect.
As he exhaled, he watched the great plume of moisture drift off in to the atmosphere to where it dissipated. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which let the heat escape, making it colder. If not for the ski mask and scarf, his face would have long ago suffered frostbite.
Blinking kept his eyes from glazing over from the cold. When he opened them for the hundredth time that hour, something had changed. He watched carefully, trying to figure out what it was.
It happened again.
Tracking it with his eyes, he found the lone star that moved. It was coming closer, he could tell from the increase in size. As it started to glow red, the star winked out. That meant it was moving faster than it should have been for a meteor.
Standing up, his heart started to pump faster from the excitement. They were coming! He closed his eyes again as the cold became too much. When he opened them, the stars were gone. Mulder froze in place.
A brilliant light surrounded him, flowing down from above. He could see the particles drift from the ship, floating around him, and he was warm. Calm overcame him, easing his heart beat and breathing. Mulder suddenly could no longer recall what he was supposed to be doing.
Pushing back the hood of his parka, he pulled off his goggles. The ski mask and scarf joined them at his feet. He started to unzip his parka when a presence drew his attention. Reluctantly, he dragged his attention from the beauty of the ship to directly in front of him.
Coming from the shadows on the edge of the light, five figures were moving. As they stepped in to the brilliance, the particles around him stilled as if holding their breath. He wanted to reassure them, both the particles and the figures, that it was okay. So, he smiled.
The lead figure gestured to the light source.
A second figure raised his hands, a cylinder clutched between them.
Before Mulder could realize what was happening, the light suddenly changed. From the golden bright to a dark green, it slammed in to the figures.
The leader was pounded flat, as were three of the remaining four. The final member, still holding the cylinder, started to rise from the ground. His arms pin wheeled as he lost his balance. The cylinder crashed to the ground as he went ever higher.
Mulder could see the panic on his soft features, and wanted to reassure him. This was meant to be, it would all turn out all right. Reaching out as they drew nearer the light, he was close enough to catch the man's hand in his own. He clutched it tight, bringing the other man to him as they entered the light.
"Oh, please god, someone save me!"
"I'm here with you, don't worry." Then the light was gone, and Mulder screamed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Razor sharp, the needles penetrated his spine. Screaming, he tried to arch away from him. The metal clamps around his body held him fast to the table. Suction began in the needles and he could feel something draining from his body through them. A piercing ache started at the back of his head and spread through out his skull.
Twin tubes attached themselves somewhere south of his waist. A metal clamp tightened around his left testicle. He could feel it squeezing, then suddenly needles were piercing through it. His scream echoed in the hollow chamber.
Three gray figures appeared on the edges of his field of vision. They were guiding long metal coils that hung from the ceiling. One came closer, enough that he could make out the slender body and large black eyes. The face, he knew, would haunt his night mares for the rest of his life.
Screaming to his left drew his attention from the hellish figures. A man was bound similarly to him atop another metal table. The slender beings were already using tubes on him. He arched as far as the metal clamps would allow, a high pitched keening coming from him. One of the beings was running a tube up between his legs and he screamed again.
Mulder, he remembered his name, he was Mulder. Mulder felt a cool, dry hand grab his chin. His head was jerked to look straight up. A brilliant light illuminated him and the table he was strapped to. Long tubes came down from above, one, the being who held his face, was manipulating it.
A high metallic whirring started and Mulder's eyes darted down the length of the tube. On the end, a metal drill bit was spinning. Two inches long, it was needle thin. He tried to shake his head as it came towards his face, but the being was too strong. The last thing he remembered was the feel of it's tip pressed against his temple, then merciful blank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a heaviness on his chest. Mulder couldn't understand what the source was, only that he needed to remove it for his own comfort. Reaching up, he tried to push it off, but found the person resistant. He opened his eyes to find the man laying half atop him blinking awake. There was something familiar about him, but his mind refused to supply the answer why.
They stared at each other for several seconds, not daring to move. A wind blew the man's hair from his face. No, not a man, a teen. Mulder recognized the softness around his facial features that meant he wasn't quite done growing. He found himself tracing the teen's cheek with his thumb.
Not that the teen seemed to mind. In fact, he was leaning in to Mulder's touch.
With a greater effort than he thought necessary, Mulder forced himself to stop. He glanced about himself to take stock in where they were. It was obviously evening from the low level of light, but the heat was still in the grass beneath him. A cool breeze blew over, sending a chill through them.
They were in a field, he could see flat land surrounded by trees for quite a distance. His limited sight revealed nothing considered civilized and he was curious. He tried to remember how they could have ended up there. A scream chased him from his memories and he shivered for a different reason than the cold.
So, instead, he decided to focus on the present. Looking back to the teen, he found the man half sleep, but still watching him. "Hi. My name's Mulder, what's yours?"
"Ianto Jones," came the reply in a sleepy voice. Ianto opened his mouth wider this time to yawn.
"What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?" Mulder had to tap him on the shoulder twice to keep his attention.
When he could focus, Ianto frowned at having been woken. He didn't feel the least bit unusual over having woken naked in a field with a stranger. "I don't know. There's nothing important to remember. Let's just sleep here."
"Focus, Ianto. What can you recall?" He wanted to feel frustration at the other's lack of mental drive, but Mulder was feeling rather lethargic himself. It didn't make sense, the world around them was growing colder, he should have been more alert.
Ianto made a noise of protest, but sighed his reluctant acquiescence. Closing his eyes, he mumbled to himself before opening them again. "There were other people. We were watching...something, something happened, it didn't go right." Then he winced. "Pain. There was so much pain. I don't want to remember any more."
"All right, Ianto." Mulder ran a hand through the younger man's hair, letting him rest his head on his chest. Closing his own eyes, Mulder yawned. The wind picked up, harsh when compared to what it had been. Grass beat at them, but neither stirred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When next he awoke, Mulder was dressed in a hospital gown. There was the soft beat of a heart monitor in the distance, that became more prominent as he became self aware. Scratchy hospital blankets covered him to his chest, and he could feel them under his hands. Confused, he glanced about for someone who should have been there.
The one chair in the private hospital room was occupied by a complete stranger. It was a man who was busy reading a magazine that looked suspiciously like it would have arrived in the mail wrapped in a brown paper.
Mulder knew those well.
When he noticed Mulder stirring, he closed it and set it on the bedside table. "Morning! Sleep well?"
Mulder felt the man's gaze travel him, and knew the man wasn't assessing his threat or health. "I can't remember. How did I get here?"
"Not sure. Report says some hikers found you in the middle of a field, naked as the day you were born." The stranger pursed his lips as if he were about to whistle, then stopped. "Can't say as I would have minded coming across that."
Mulder snorted. The man had been checking him out. "Who are you? Where's Agent Scully?"
"Who I am isn't important. As for your partner, she'll be here soon. You've got a lotta catching up to do." Tilting his head to side a little, he winked at Mulder. "Now that I know you're alive, awake, and can remember your name, well, your partner's name, I will be leaving. It's a shame I couldn't have stayed longer, you look friendly. Very friendly." Another wink, and he headed for the door, his great coat billowing around him.
"What about Ianto?" The question was out before Mulder could think about it. Which was odd, because he didn't know a Ianto, nor could he remember why an Ianto would have been important to him.
The man stopped at the door, his hand on the knob. His fingers drummed against it for a minute before he snorted. Turning the handle, he was out of the room as if he hadn't ever been there.
A short time later, while Mulder was puzzling over who or what an Ianto was, the door opened. The woman who walked through was both at once familiar and a stranger. Her hair was long, passed her shoulders long, and her glasses were new. Mulder had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "How long was I gone?"
Stopping in the entrance, Scully took in Mulder's appearance with a blank face. When she was certain he was real, she took two cautious steps forwards. She took a breath to steady herself. "Ten years." Coming up to his bedside, she reached out to run her finger tips through his bangs, arranging them back. "God, you are really here."
"I think so, but I might be a figment of my own imagination." At her sob, the smile he had been trying for slipped from his face completely. Taking her hand in his own, he brought it to his lips. He kissed the palm, before resting it over his heart. "I'm real, Scully."
Pushing up her glasses, she discreetly wiped something from under her eyes away. "I guess this means I'll have to return the insurance money." She started gasping more from pain than laughter. "You're a son of a bitch, Mulder. I have wanted to hate you so much over these years, but you couldn't even give me that. What happened?"
"I don't know." It pained him to even try to recall. Feeling his head start to hurt, he focused once more on her. "All I can remember are screams. Someone was screaming, he was in a lot of pain." His vision blurred and Mulder was surprised to find tears running down his face. "They," his teeth grit, fighting off a wave of nausea as his vision started to spot, "hurt me."
Scully clutched his face between his hands. "Don't fight it, Mulder, it will come back in time. All that matters is that you are here now. You're alive."