Title: Through Time And Space: Chapter 3 – Explorations Part 2
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, OFC, mentions Jack
Rating: PG-13 for some swearing.
Word Count: 4225
Spoilers: CoE, House of the Dead
Content Notes: Brief mention of temporary character death.
Summary: Ianto explores his TARDIS and gets a few surprises along the way.
Written For: Challenge #95: Exploration.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: This is the second of two chapters written for this challenge.

Chapter 2



Since he was going to be living on board for the foreseeable future, Ianto thought it important to learn his way around his TARDIS. He didn’t want to have to keep asking her for directions all the time; that would make him appear lazy. Drawing a deep breath, he pushed open the door and strode out of the wardrobe, trying for an air of calm confidence. Exploring was something he knew how to do; after all, he’d explored and memorised every passageway and room in the Hub when he’d been looking for a safe place to hide Lisa. That had been an interesting experience despite the circumstances, but this was going to be a real adventure. He could feel excitement bubbling up inside him at the prospect and knew he was probably grinning like a loon.

“Right, let’s see what else you have on board!” It was all he could do not to rub his hands together in glee!

The short passageway leading to the wardrobe was devoid of doors, so he made his way back to the last junction. The most sensible course of action would be to head back to the control room by the same route he’d used to get here, checking out what was in the rooms he’d passed earlier. Sensible, yes, but not as much fun as the alternative. He turned in the opposite direction; if he did manage to get lost, he knew the TARDIS would guide him back again.


Wandering along a multitude of meandering corridors and down two more flights of stairs, he quickly realised that unlike the interior of the Hub, the layout of the TARDIS was completely random. The corridors twisted and turned every which way, often going in directions that probably shouldn’t even have been possible; was that the result of his own confused state of mind when she’d been growing herself using images drawn from his memory? It was certainly going to make learning his way around rather complicated.

Ianto gradually realised he hadn’t passed any doors at all in some time, not since long before he’d arrived at what seemed to be the lowest level, but he could feel a slight vibration through the tiled floors so there was obviously something down here. Turning a final corner, he found himself in a short passageway, blocked at the end by what was most likely this level’s only door. Made of riveted metal, it looked solid and heavy, like a bulkhead door on a submarine.

“Is that where your, um, engine is?”

“That is where my power core resides, yes.”

“Is it safe to look?”

“It will do you no harm. My systems are powered by the time vortex.”

“The same stuff that’s in me?”

“Indeed, though I require far more vortex energy than you could provide.” The TARDIS sounded amused.

Ianto looked thoughtful.

“The only other TARDIS I know about has to recharge periodically using Rift energy, but the only Rift I’m aware of is closed now.”

“I believe my systems are more efficient; I am, after all, a more recent model. I have evolved TARDIS technology considerably. Unlike earlier models, I am able to recharge whenever I am within the vortex travelling from one place or time to another.”

Ianto couldn’t help chuckling at the TARDIS’s smug tone.

“Oh, if we run into the Doctor, he’s going to be soooo envious!”

“The Doctor is a Time Lord.” It wasn’t a question, but Ianto answered anyway.

“Yes. The only one left.”

“Yes.” It was barely a whisper in his mind, tinged with regret and sorrow. Ianto understood. If the Time Lords were almost all gone, then so were their TARDISes. He couldn’t imagine how it must feel to be almost the last of your kind.

Running his hand sympathetically along the nearest wall, he walked up to what he decided to call the engine room door and peered through the thick glass observation window that was now set into it. Inside, surrounded by complicated organic technology, a column of blue and gold energy swirled restlessly, seeming to travel both upwards and downwards at the same time. It was hypnotically beautiful. Dragging his gaze away from it after staring for several minutes, Ianto leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

“This means I must be directly below the control room here, right? The energy flows straight up and through the Time Rotor there.”

“That is correct!” The TARDIS sounded pleased that he’d figured it out.

“So this is the central point, your heart.”

“Yes, the exact centre at my lowest point. All rooms on this level house the systems required for life support, power, recycling, navigation and propulsion. Most are walled off, existing in a near vacuum. There are double reinforced walls around all sensitive areas.”

Ianto nodded, taking in the information.

“I’m not likely to need to enter any of those areas anyway, I shouldn’t think.”

“It is unlikely. The majority of my systems are autonomic; those that are not are under my direct control. Rather like you heart and lungs work without any conscious thought, while in order to walk, you must make a decision to do so. You are, in effect, inside my body.”

That was a slightly bizarre thought. He’d known TARDISes were living beings, but until now it hadn’t really registered that he was wandering around someone’s insides.

“Weird.”

“Not really. I designed myself to be a suitable accommodation for you.”

“From images you found in my mind.”

“Yes.”

“I’m starting to regret studying the works of Escher when I was at Uni,” he chuckled. “Some of your interior layout is rather unusual, to say the least.”

“Do you like it? I found it very interesting. I was unable to truly replicate the ideas, at least not without making detours into several other dimensions, which would have been impractical, but I was able to create a quite effective illusion in a few places.”

“I think it’s bloody marvellous!” Ianto grinned.

Heading back towards the stairs, he continued to trail one hand along her wall as he walked.

“To get here, I came down two flights from where the wardrobe is, but there was no exit from the staircase on the level above this.”

“That is correct. The compartments housing my systems have ceilings almost twice as high as you will find on the other levels.”

“So the wardrobe is on your lowest habitable level. What else is there? No! Don’t tell me. I think I’d prefer to find out for myself. It’ll help me learn my way around.”

Ianto broke into a jog as the stairs came into sight, bounding up them three at a time. As interesting as the engine room had been, it wasn’t really ‘his’ part of the TARDIS. Now that he’d got his bearings, the rest of his extraordinary new home beckoned. He couldn’t wait to discover what other wonders it contained!

OoOoO

Back up on what he’d decided to call the wardrobe level, he wended his way back through twisting, winding, doorless corridors to the short passage that led to the wardrobe itself.

“How come there aren’t any doors back there?” he asked, gesturing back the way he’d come.

“I couldn’t find anywhere to put rooms,” the TARDIS explained apologetically. “The corridors got in the way.”

“Ah. Yes, I can see how that might happen. They’re great corridors though, ideal for jogging. Uphill, downhill, lots of turns for variety; they’ll give me a thorough workout.”

Somehow he got the distinct impression that the TARDIS was pleased that he approved of her layout.

Following the corridor in the opposite direction to the one he’d just been exploring, he checked out the two passages he’d passed earlier. The first led to what seemed to be an empty storage cupboard, lined with shelves.

“Always good to have somewhere to put things out of the way. I’m sure we’ll pick up all sorts of fascinating things on our travels.”

Leaving the small room, he made his way back to the main corridor and down the third passage. This one opened into a brightly lit area with pale cream walls and a smooth, hardwearing fake wood floor. Everywhere he looked there was gleaming new gym equipment; rowing and cycling machines, weight benches, a couple of treadmills, aerobics equipment, dumbbells… A punching bag hung from a sturdy low beam in one corner and exercise mats lay rolled up by the walls. There was even a vaulting horse, a set of parallel bars and a set of those ring things hanging from the ceiling… He’d seen them when he’d watched bits of the last Olympics in between Rift alerts; what were they called? Oh, of course: rings. Ianto rolled his eyes. Fancy forgetting that! Whoever named the events and equipment obviously didn’t have much imagination. He shook his head, gazing around in wonder.

“Bloody hell! I could train for the next Olympics in here!” He glanced down at himself appraisingly. “Not too shabby. Guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep in shape though. Never know what kind of trouble we might run into. You know, I haven’t seen a set-up even close to this since London. Never found anything this swanky in Cardiff, except for the more exclusive clubs that wouldn’t have wanted me as a member anyway. I’ll get myself kitted out later and try some of these out.” Working for Torchwood Three hadn’t left a lot of time for the kind of regular exercise regime he’d had back in London; he sort of missed it, even though he’d hated it with a passion at the time. Torchwood One staff had been expected to adhere to strict fitness levels, even those who only worked in admin. That had been the end of his smoking habit; Hartman had made it clear that she didn’t approve of employees smoking, though some of the braver souls had clung to their nicotine addictions.

Exploring further, Ianto discovered a small squash court, changing rooms, sonic showers, and to his surprise, a sauna. That would be bliss. The only thing better than steam for soothing aches and pains would be a hot tub. Maybe he’d ask the TARDIS later if he could have one of those too, if that wouldn’t be considered too greedy.

Back out in the main corridor one more, Ianto made his way to the next short passageway. Stepping through the door at the end, he found a small, tiled room, with an even smaller shallow pool in the middle. It was maybe a foot deep and filled with clear water, which felt pleasantly warm when he dipped his hand into it.

During his wandering, he’d gradually begun to realise that he could feel the TARDIS in his mind as a constant, unobtrusive presence; it felt a bit odd having someone else in his head with him, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Now he discovered that if he concentrated, he could sort of sense what she was feeling. Right now, she was decidedly embarrassed.

“As I mentioned before, we exited the no-place before I could achieve optimum dimensions,” she informed him apologetically. “It was necessary to concentrate on vital systems first, then the control room and living quarters. The less essential rooms were left until last, and are therefore at varying stages of growth.”

If she could have blushed, Ianto was sure she would have. He hazarded a guess.

“Swimming pool?”

“Yes. I am sorry.”

“Don’t be; it’s cute, like a little paddling pool. It’ll be beautiful when it’s fully grown.” He looked around at the mosaic-tiled walls, where a frieze depicted colourful fish gliding amongst streamers of seaweed. “You have a wonderful eye for detail.” He hesitated for a moment then gave in to curiosity. “If you don’t mind my asking, how do you grow?” It was a question he’d been meaning to ask for a while.

“It is not a particularly complicated process. Matter exists even in the vacuum of space. I can absorb stray particles, atoms and molecules, and manipulate them to grow whatever is required, but in space that takes a great deal of time. Growth will be faster when raw materials are more plentiful.”

“Like when you’re on a planet?”

“Yes. Then I will be able to absorb particles from the air around me and from the earth beneath me. Small, unwanted asteroids would be even better; they could be disintegrated and their component molecules absorbed, thereby allowing growth at a much faster rate.”

“Well, we should look into finding you an asteroid soon then.”

“That would be appreciated,” the TARDIS replied warmly.

OoOoO

The next floor up turned out to be the main residential level. Opening the first door he came to, Ianto discovered a fully equipped modern kitchen, complete with refrigerator, freezer, cooker, microwave, dishwasher, lots of storage space and even a state-of-the-art coffee machine. A quick check of the cupboards revealed them to be well stocked with everything he might need, from dishes and cutlery to staple foodstuffs, including a good range of premium coffee beans. The temptation was too much, so he paused to make himself a much-needed drink. Sipping slowly from his steaming mug, he examined the food storage cabinets while the TARDIS explained that all foodstuffs were stored in stasis to prevent them from spoiling. On opening a food cupboard, its stasis field would turn off briefly so that he could remove whatever he needed. Closing the door would turn it on again.

“Clever! Could have used something like that back in Cardiff,” Ianto commented wryly. “Sometimes I didn’t get home for a week or more, and by then the milk would be off and the bread covered in mould. At times it seemed like I threw out more than I ate.”

Leaving the kitchen a few minutes later, re-filled coffee mug in hand, Ianto continued along the wide, carpeted corridor to the next door, which opened into a small and delightfully cosy room. The floor was polished wood and dark oak shelves full of books lined the walls, while a comfortable couch and several easy chairs surrounded a wide fireplace. A few low tables, several luxurious rugs and discreetly placed reading lamps completed the furnishings. Once more, the TARDIS seemed vaguely ashamed, though Ianto couldn’t imagine why.

“I fear it is rather small for a library.”

Oh. Of course.

“Well, perhaps, but I like it; it’s the perfect size for a study or den. I always wanted a room like this, where I could just sit and read, listen to quiet music and relax. A full-size library would be nice too, when it’s practical to build one, but let’s keep this room as it is, okay? I think I’ll probably end up spending quite a lot of time here.” He settled into one of the big, comfortable chairs, feeling it mould itself to his body, and put his feet up on a conveniently placed footstool, feeling more at home than he had in a long while. He could definitely get used to this.

When he’d finished his coffee, he returned the mug to the kitchen, rinsing it and popping it into the dishwasher. There would no doubt be more dishes to wash later, after dinner. He wasn’t really sure what time it was, but taking the moment he’d been dumped unceremoniously on the control room floor as ‘morning’, he thought it was probably somewhere around mid afternoon by now. That meant he’d missed lunch, though he didn’t really feel hungry yet; eating could wait until later, there was no rush. Satisfied that the kitchen was clean and tidy, he returned to his explorations.

Most of the other rooms on this level, while complete, remained empty. They weren’t needed since Ianto was the only person on board, so aside from forming them, the TARDIS had more or less ignored them. There were, however, a couple of comfortably furnished bedrooms, each with its own en suite bathroom, and it was while he was still trying to decide which he would choose as his own room that he got his biggest surprise.

Rounding the next corner, he found himself in a strangely familiar corridor leading to a plain wooden door. Turning the handle slowly, he pushed the door open and stepped into a suite of rooms that brought a lump to his throat and tears to his eyes; they were an exact replica of his old apartment in Cardiff, right down to the lumpy sofa, the battered coffee table and the photograph of himself and Jack in its simple black frame which sat on a shelf to the right of the TV. Picking it up, he ran his fingers lightly over Jack’s face, missing his Captain so much in that moment that he thought his heart might break in two.

“You are sad.” The TARDIS sounded as sad as he felt.

“Yeah. I miss Jack. He spent so much time at my place that in the end we were practically living together. This place just won’t feel the same without him.”

“I am sorry. It seems I have made a grievous error. I had thought these rooms would please you, they were so clear in your memory.”

“No, they do please me. They’re a reminder of something, someone, I’ve lost and hope to find again.” He held up the photo as if showing it to the TARDIS. “This is Jack, my… well, my lover I guess. He didn’t really go in for labels. The last time I saw him was just before I got blown up closing the Rift. He told me he loved me.” Ianto wiped away a few stray tears. “I don’t know where he is now, but after everything that happened, I somehow doubt he would have stayed on earth. With the Rift closed, he wouldn’t really have any reason to.” He set the photograph back on its shelf. “I’m going to find him. I don’t know how yet, but I will, with your help. Even if it takes a thousand years I’ll find him, and then the three of us will travel together. I hope. He’s like me, immortal. Although, he was immortal first so I suppose it’s more accurate to say I’m like him now.”

Leaving the replica of his old home, he closed the door carefully behind him. It was somewhere he could retreat to whenever he wanted to feel close to Jack, but until he tracked down his lover, he intended to sleep in one of the other rooms.

Back at the stairs, he headed up to the level where the control room was situated; he’d have a quick look around and familiarise himself with the layout up there, then decide what to do next.

The doors he’d passed on his way to the wardrobe opened into more empty rooms, except for the one closest to the control room, which was a sort of locker room. Along with various equipment lockers containing spacesuits and other things that might prove useful when exploring hostile environments, there were bathroom facilities, sonic showers, a disposal unit, tools and a first aid kit. Very handy!

Two more passageways led off the control room. The one in the middle was the longest, stretching further than seemed possible, and had only one door down the far end, which opened into rather disconcerting nothingness. According to the TARDIS, that was where she planned to put the gardens when she had the time and sufficient raw materials to create them. From the look of it there was ample room for something quite extensive, although it was a bit hard to judge the extent of nothing.

The right-hand passageway proved to be similar to the left-hand one, except that instead of forking, it ended in a set of double doors. Ianto pushed them open, stepping into the room beyond as the lights came on, and stared in horror at the monstrosity that stood in the centre of the room. Backing hurriedly out again, he tripped on his own feet and sat down hard on the floor of the corridor as the doors swung closed, hiding the nightmarish vision from view.

“What the hell is that?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“It is the medical bay. Is something wrong?” The TARDIS sounded confused and concerned.

“Sorry. Flashbacks to something I’d just as soon forget,” Ianto explained. “It’s disturbingly similar to a cyber-conversion unit.”

“Oh dear. Forgive me; I thought you would prefer something familiar, but perhaps I should have checked my data banks. I will remodel it as soon as possible. I am familiar with a number of different styles, perhaps later I could show you visual representations and you could choose one that will not cause you distress.”

“Yeah, that would be good. Thank you. Perhaps you could dismantle that thing for now?” Ianto waved vaguely towards the doors. “I don’t really need it, being immortal,” and that really shouldn't be so easy to say. “We can add a med bay later, if we pick up any passengers.”

“That is a practical solution.” The TARDIS was silent for a few minutes, then just as Ianto decided that his legs had stopped shaking enough that he could probably stand up without them giving way, she spoke again. “The equipment has been reabsorbed.”

The doors before him swung open of their own accord, revealing a large room with clean white walls and a smooth black floor, cabinets and sinks around the walls, and nothing else. The centre of the floor where the medical unit had stood was now completely empty. Ianto breathed a sigh of relief; he felt a lot better just seeing for himself that it was gone. Conversion units still featured prominently in his nightmares.

“Thanks, that’s much better.” He scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off, not that he needed to; the floor was spotless, but the action was automatic, borne of long habit. “Okay, just a few more rooms, and hopefully no more nasty surprises…” He turned back towards the control room, glancing briefly into a series of empty rooms along what was now the right hand wall of the passageway.

As before, the room closest to the control room was the only one in use. This one turned out to be a kitchen, about half the size of the one on the level below, but equally well equipped, just on a smaller scale. Making himself a soothing cup of tea, Ianto stepped back into the control room and settled himself on one of the sofas that were dotted around the wall.

For the first time, he really paid attention to the layout and what he saw made him chuckle. It looked like an amalgam of every coffee shop he’d ever frequented, with added hints of the Torchwood Hub, but arranged to comfortably fit the control room’s octagonal shape. Where he was sitting, the floors were waxed wood, the walls a neutral shade like milky coffee, with lamp sconces dotted about between the framed pictures that broke up the plain expanse, adding a homely touch. There were even a couple of computers for the use of ‘customers’.

The central area of the room around the control consol and time rotor was a raised platform, reminiscent of the Hub’s catwalks, but surrounded by gleaming brass railings instead of the cold iron ones he and Jack had leant against so often. The air smelled of coffee and looking around carefully, Ianto finally spotted the small coffee station set in a niche in the opposite wall.

When he’d first arrived, he’d been too concerned about his state of undress to properly appreciate his surroundings, but now that he didn’t have anything to distract him, he could see that the TARDIS had done an excellent job of creating a control room that suited him perfectly. It was better than anything he could have dreamed up for himself and he relished the sense of belonging that it gave him.

Leaning back on the sofa, Ianto let his mind wander. What seemed like a lifetime ago now, Jack had told him one night as they lay in bed that someday he’d take him out among the stars, show him the wonders of the universe. Ianto hadn’t really believed him, had figured it was just idle pillow talk, but he’d daydreamed about it nonetheless, wondering what it might be like, where they would go and how they would get there. He’d always figured that if it did ever happen, then he and Jack would be travelling with the Doctor. He’d never once imagined that he might be facing the greatest adventure of his life alone. But he wasn’t alone, was he? Not really, not even inside his own head. He had his TARDIS; a combination of mobile home and travelling companion, able to take him anywhere and anywhen imaginable. The thought was both exciting and terrifying, and he took a moment to consider how much his life had changed since he’d died; and really, the adventure had barely even begun yet.

Draining his cup and setting it on the low table in front of him which, he noticed, had coasters actually set into the surface, Ianto rose to his feet and made his way up the nearest set of steps to stand at the console.

“Okay, why don’t we find out where we are?”


Chapter 4