In Absentia, Chapter 2

[tigerstriped86.livejournal.com]

Title: In Absentia, Chapter 2
Author: tigerstriped86 
Fandom/Pairing: TW Trippverse, John/Toby, Martha/Archie (coworkers)
Rating: PGish-really about as tame as the SJA get.

Prompt 111: Antikythera (y'know, the most famous place in Greece, right?  ;)
Summary: John and Toby find Archie after John is taken by a mysterious illness.  But what in the devil is Martha doing at Torchwood Two?  And what's all this heir talk?
Disclaimer: TW and all it's spin-offs and subsidaries are not mine.  None of the characters (except for John Tripp) belong to me.  Tobias was actually a character on Oz I never owned either.  

Personal note: Next week on Tuesday I leave for Seattle.  It's a new, scary, shiny sort of life.  I'm going to seek out a library as fast as humanly possible unless a computer becomes available.  I'm not abandoning TTM and I hate the thought that there will might be the possibility of weeks without me.  Hopefully I'm not going anywheres.  But I just wanted to let ya'all know.

Full story: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4448559/2/In_Absentia

Wind seemed to whip through time and space as Toby drove. Inside his calm exterior was a frantic man drawn over the edge by things he could not contain. How has this all happened? Toby racked his brain with desperation as low moaning tried to contain itself on the seat across from him.

John tried watching out the window at first, but it hurt far too much. Invisible lights glared and moved past at frenzying speeds. He was dizzy, shaking with pain and fever. He could hear them singing in his mind, pressing against his thoughts, his presence, his sanity. They were only children, after all. They couldn't know they were slowly killing him.

Toby muttered something under his breath that sounded like nothing in this country. He was sick of the chases and sick of the supernatural. At a moments notice, it had stolen the wisdom and breath of his loved one. It was disease, this searching sickness. After this was all over they were going to disappear. No more ghost hunts. No more Torchwood. And while he had no control over it, he'd make sure they were at a place where absolutely no psychic activity occurred. He'd make sure of it if it killed him. Which it might. Chris almost had. And he'd only been human.

“Doctor! Need the Doctor!” John gasped in a moment of extreme clarity. Although, honestly, he couldn't recall the Doctor he was specifically regarding.

“I'm driving as fast as I can. Just hold on!” Tobias frantically swung his head in varying directions, trying to will somewhere to appear. Somewhere he could get some sort of help. Vague farm houses passed by in the distance, shrouded by the night.

A light in the distance. He could see the hamlet further ahead, probably the ending of the road. The town had no sign across its name, surely wasn't any bigger than a few cobblestone buildings. Tobias exhaled with relief at the sight of the bed and breakfast sign flapping in the wind. He watched lights come on as he screeched to a virtual halt.

He had mere seconds to examine the door before it opened abruptly to a portly woman with disheveled red hair. Her husband, a stout man with dark hair, came flying down the stairs. John was clutched to Toby's chest and sweating, despite the cold and windy night. The woman made an assessment quickly.

“Bring him in. We'll have him set on the table for now while we look at him.”

Toby paced in the softly-lit living room. The place was cozy and the ceilings hung low. Gaelic curios laid about, placed with care to seem like it wasn't so. A bit of knitting sat over a chair's arm next to a fire. The smell of homemade brandy stewed from a pot. The woman came bustling through once, ignoring all questions, and took a steaming ladle of brandy with her towards the kitchen.

The man exited from the kitchen and addressed Toby. “Your brother is not well. Seems as though his travel pills had an adverse affect. Was he allergic?”

“We've never had a problem with allergies.” Toby cracked the bone in his thumb nervously. He hadn't bothered with the truth about his relationship with John. They were brothers, lovers, whatever was really necessary. They were all the other had these days.

“My wife, Charlotte, gave the boy some brandy and we've got some cool water in a basin. We'll figure rates in the morning for staying. You're the only two we have right now. Would you be waiting with him?”

“I would. Thank you for your abrupt hospitality. It means a lot.”

“Don't worry about it, son. You're both young and we've had our fun days. Now we get to live vicariously through our guests.” The wife appeared from nowhere and clutched her husband's arm.

“I've left some bread for him and for you. It's cold, but it will fill you up and keep you energized. We'll call the doctor in the morning.”

“He'll be alright?” Toby stood tensely, waiting to go check on John.

“Your brother is quite young. There's no reason he shouldn't be able to fight.” The couple began their journey upstairs. Toby thought quickly.

“Please, one more question?” He blurted it out before they had a chance to make excuses. John had always been soldiering through emergencies. Toby felt he owed it to ask. “Do you know of anyone named Archie coming through here? He's a friend of ours we were supposed to meet.”

“What did you say?” Charlotte walked backwards one stair and slowly moved to Tobias.

“I asked if you knew Archie.”

“Archie? Doesn't he have a family name?”

“John would know.”

“Your brother's not in much of a state for carousing. And if you don't mind me saying, he's been lucky enough for one night.”

“I know. But it would mean a great deal to John.”

“Ah. We'll ask around town. It's a small town, but someone will know if he's been through here. Mark my words. The strangest people begin to show.”

“Thank you. And I apologize again for the intrusion.”

“God is watching out for all of us, young man.” The couple drifted back upstairs and Toby thought about how strange a phrase that was to utter. He moved to John, sprawled out on the table. For a moment, Toby contemplated crossing himself. There was something strange hinted at in the air.

He reached for the cool wash cloth and John hissed as the water hit his head. A fever crawled across John's skin and Toby could feel the heat seeping through to his arm where he was cradling the head of his lover. He hummed low, a trick he had learned to help himself through the nightmares of prison. John needed rest and Toby needed him to rest.

He almost didn't hear the knock on the window. But there was a strange, short man standing outside. His hair was cut short on the sides, but the top bowed and twisted in the wind. It was a light, rustic sort of red turned slightly grey with age. His clothing reminded Toby of a drifter. But there was a gleam in his eye that Toby couldn't ignore. A slight cooling breeze came through the window as he opened it and a couple of copper pans tinkled about the place.

The man held a strange beeping device with a glowing green tip. “You'd be the boys looking for me all over the country?”

“Archie.” He nodded.

“What's wrong with your companion?”

Toby turned towards John and then back again. “I don't know. He was fine until we got to the castle. Then something happened. We've been searching for you, just come from a confrontation with Torchwood Three.”

“Ai? Did you get under Jack's skin?”

“He has a problem with John's method.”

“Well, the Chain signal wouldn't be going off without a reason. Let's get your friend to Martha.”

“Your base isn't underground, is it?”

“What's your name, son?”

“Tobias.”

“Well, Tobias. I'm an old man and my base is definitely above ground, thanks much.”

“Is it far?”

“Just beyond the other side of that hill. Now less talking and more passing of your friend through the window.” Toby begrudged the old man and together, they carried John across the night in a stretcher. Archie's base for Torchwood Two was nothing more than a converted barn from the outside. As far as camouflage went, it was immaculate and fit right into the area. You wouldn't notice it unless you turned left and squint. As the wind was beginning to rage around them, it took two men to slide the door away so the stretcher could be carried inside.

The place inside wasn't much different. In fact, it was of a slight disappointment to Toby. He expected clean surfaces, the inside of a spaceship, maybe even a pet brontosaurus or something. He wasn't sure. But an actual barn as the housing of the second Torchwood base? He wasn't that impressed. Further, he didn't wish to subject John to the diseases he was sure were leaping around in that hay.

“Bring him over.” Toby was reluctant as Archie beckoned.

“Are you sure it's safe?”

“This is Torchwood Two, Tobias. Nothing is as its expected to be. This is the safest place in the whole of the Atlantic islands. Archie pulled on a rope with a bucket attached to the edge of it. A panel of red wood slid away from the rest of the wall, revealing a state of the art medical closet. A heavy cot sprang forth, seeming to hover away from the shelves lined with equipment and small monitors. Archie chuckled as Toby's eyes struggled with what he saw. “Must not have spent very much time with Jack if that impresses you. Now, to your friend.”

Archie turned over a silver cuff on his wrist and spoke into it. “Martha, there's a couple of young men in need of your assistance.”

A panel across from the cot flew open, hay settling in the aftermath around the door. She was a striking young African woman with a glint of sadness to her eyes. “Where are they?” She turned where Archie pointed and Martha helped Toby load John onto the cot.

“Sorry, but I'll need you to back up a bit.” Martha worked deftly and Tobias let his question about her qualifications settle gently back into his gut.

Archie whispered in his ear. “We'd best go out on the veranda. Take heart. She the best lass with medicine in the world.”

“Could I have your name, please?” Martha looked down at John, who was blankly looking beyond her. He was neither moaning, sweating, nor moving at this point.

“His name is John. Can I stay with him?”

“No, not at the moment. I promise he'll be safe. And you are?”

“Tobias. I'm his...”

“Companion.” Toby turned to Archie and tilted his eyebrow. “It's rather obvious, isn't it? It's okay, lad, we don't judge here. See to much to judge. Come. Ianto left me a bit of his famous brew in his last care package and we'll try it out as we wait.”

“Archie?” Martha was bent over John with a small flashlight, checking his pupils. “Why bring him in?”

“The chain went wild when he entered town.”

Martha nearly dropped her flashlight on John's face. She lit up. “Is it true then, Archie?”

“Is what true?” Toby barked out in exasperation.

Archie shook his head. “I'm not sure. He doesn't look like Antikythera's Heir. Not according to the sculpture.”

“But the chain just won't go off for any reason, would it?”

“No, Martha. Afraid not. The boy, John, sorry, is a mystery.”

“He's affected by spirits, if that helps. That's the best explanation I could give you here and now.”

“Let's talk on the veranda a bit more.”

“How does a barn have a veranda?”

“Well, it's quite simple m'boy. You barter with an Arkian for about a year and a half and he'll give you a perception bubble cloaking device. Jack has one out of sheer luck attached to a lift in the Torchwood Three Hub. And, well, look at the veranda we have!”

Archie put his arm out, but Toby was concentrated on him alone. “What about this heir business?”

“It's a silly legend. But it's a temporary task of mine. Antikythera is the rumored opening spot to the Atlantis portal. Their was an archaeological dig where they found what they thought was a calculator, but turns out is an alien power source. The heir runs the source. He could raise the lost island again.”

“What does that have to do with John?”

“Maybe nothing. But the Chain wouldn't go off for no reason. The heir and the chain are linked. Your lover is more than he appears.”

“Just like everything else in Torchwood,” Toby sighed.

Archie smiled. “Now you're beginning to understand, lad.”