Ianto couldn’t quiet control his breathing as he saw his older brother standing in front of him just a few feet away. His brother that was lying dead less than half an hour ago. He couldn’t quiet believe it, but at the same time this was Torchwood and he could believe it only too well.

Ianto fought the overwhelming feeling to burst into tears of joy. He couldn’t stop the odd tear rolling down his cheek, but he didn’t care if he looked like an emotional mess right now.

The young archivist ran over to his brother and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. “Ethan, you’re alive. I can’t believe it. You’re alive.”

Ethan didn’t know why Ianto was saying that, but he slowly raised his arms and hugged his younger brother back. The only thing in this entire situation that Ethan could make sense of was Ianto.

“Jack,” whispered Owen. “What’s going on?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

Ianto cried into Ethan’s shoulder. “Ianto, what’s going on? What’s happened to me?”

Ianto took a step back from his brother and said. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re okay.”

“And why wouldn’t I be okay?” Asked Ethan.

“Don’t you remember anything?”

Ethan thought for a moment. “That last thing I remember was locking up the pizza place for a friend and then… oh God. There was this man in a mask, he attacked me.” Ethan looked down at the blood on his shirt. “Oh God, Ianto. I tried to defend myself. Please tell me this is not his blood. What did I do?”

“No, Ethan, relax, you didn’t do anything.”

“But all the blood… it’s not mine. There’s not a scratch on me,” argued Ethan.

“I’ll explain everything later. I’m just so pleased you’re okay.”

Jack and Owen watched from the other end of the room. “Owen, what ever was in the rock has brought Ethan back. It went into Ianto too. Go and check Ianto’s blood sample, if there’s something in him that can affect him I need to know.”

Owen nodded and dashed back off to the medical room.

“Ethan,” said Jack as he walked over to the confused man. “Welcome to Torchwood.”

“What’s Torchwood?”

“This,” said Jack as he gestured around him. “We’re an organisation that defends the Earth from alien invasion and we look after the temporal space rift that runs through Cardiff.”

Ethan turned to look at Ianto. “Is he having a laugh?”

Ianto shook his head. “He’s telling the truth.”

Ianto had given Ethan a clean set of clothes out of his locker to change into, made him a cup of coffee and sat next to him in the boardroom as Jack, Gwen and Tosh were ready to question him.

“Now Ethan,” started Jack. “This is going to be quite a bit for you to take in, but we need to know how you’re sitting here.”

“I must have been knocked unconscious,” said Ethan.

Jack shook his head. “I’m so sorry. But you died.”

Ianto turned and glared at Jack. “Did you have to put it so bluntly?”

“Well how else am I supposed to tell someone that they’ve come back from the dead?”

Ianto turned to look at his brother. “What Jack means is that when you were attacked, you lost a lot of blood. Your heart stopped. We thought you were dead, but then you woke up.”

“So how did that happen?” Asked Jack.

Ethan looked down at himself. “If I lost a lot of blood, where did I lose it from? I don’t understand.”

Ianto sighed. “There was a meteor shower. You got infected by the rocks and something in them healed your skin. We need to know if you felt anything? If you feel different now? If there’s something in your blood we need to know so that it doesn’t harm you.”

Ethan thought for a moment and then looked up at his younger brother. “You work for a secret government alien thing?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Asked Ethan.

“I couldn’t. It’s top secret.”

Ethan shook his head. “I’m not happy about this, Ianto. I’m not happy at all. You came into the room carrying a gun!”

Jack spoke up before the two brothers could break into an argument. “Look, Ethan, what ever is in you is in Ianto too. I’m thinking you got a bigger dosage but you could both be in danger. I need to know what you remember.”

“I remember standing in the street fighting with a man in a mask…”

Jack interrupted him. “An alien. A weevil.”

“… And then I remember waking up here.”

“And how do you feel?” Asked Gwen.

“How would you feel?” Retorted Ethan.

Tosh was taking notes, Owen was listening via a hands free com.

“Ethan,” came Owen’s voice from the black speakerphone in the middle of the table. “Can you feel your heart beating faster? Slower? Are you wide awake? Tired? Itchy skin maybe? Anything you can feel, tell me?”

“Owen can you give Ethan the once over?” Asked Jack.

“Yep, as soon as I’ve finished testing Ianto’s blood.”

Ethan was lost in thought. He could feel every one of those things Owen mentioned, but he wasn’t sure if it was just because Owen mentioned it. “My neck is itchy, and my head.”

“That’ll be from where the wounds healed,” said Owen. “Ianto, what about you?”

Ianto subconsciously scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I guess it’s a little itchy. I don’t feel tired though, I feel wide awake.”

“Me too,” said Ethan.

“That’s weird,” said Gwen. “A bump to the head and you feel wide awake?”

“Yeah, and I don’t know about anyone else, but when I come back from being dead, I don’t feel energetic. Anything else?” Asked the Captain.

Ianto and Ethan sat in silence.

“Maybe it’s nothing to worry about,” said Gwen.

“Yeah, because alien liquids in the blood stream are mostly harmless,” said Jack. “Can you feel anything else?”

“I feel like I’m anxious about something,” said Ethan. “Like I’m worried something’s coming and I have to stop it. I don’t know what it is though.”

“Could that be because he’s nervous about his surroundings right now?” Asked Tosh.

Jack went to speak but Ethan shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I can feel it in my stomach. Like a gut instinct. It’s worry, like I need to stop something from happening.”

“The war is coming,” said Ianto as he stared into the distance.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“What did you say?” Asked Jack.

Ianto snapped out of his gazing and turned to look at Jack. “Nothing, just… nothing.”

“You just said the war is coming. Ianto, what war?” Demanded Jack.

Ianto looked scared. “I don’t know. I don’t know why I said that. It just came out of my mouth.”

“Oh shit, Jack, you better get here quick. Bring Ianto and Ethan,” said Owen urgently over the comms. 








Comments are always appreciated.