magicom | Infiltrator - Part Seven. (Reply)

Title: Infiltrator - Part Seven
Author: magicom
Rating: Maybe PG at the worst.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of its characters. No money being made.
Paring/Characters: Jack, Ianto, (Jack/Ianto), Gwen, Doctor Rupesh Patanjali, Johnson (well, off-screen).
Spoilers: Takes into consideration all of S1, S2 and Day One of CoE.
Summary: As a whole: He's a doctor... they need a doctor. What if the 456 fuckery didn't happen and Torchwood actually did recruit Rupesh, who was trying to get the gig to spy on them for Johnson, as discussed in Day One? This part: Rupesh gets to see the inside of the archive.
Warnings: None to speak of.
Notes: Takes place starting just before and during CoE: Day One and goes AU from there onwards.

By the time Rupesh had been at Torchwood for just over a month, Johnson was pressing him for more details in her terse replies to every report submission; she wanted photos, more inventory of what they had in their base, more intelligence on the three people who worked there: anything and everything. Mostly things he couldn’t risk getting yet. She didn’t seem to understand the need to build trust with Harkness before Rupesh would be able to do… well, anything truly useful.

One afternoon, Rupesh was compiling his report on a particularly gruesome post-mortem when – following the standard procedure of cross-referencing all results against Torchwood’s database – he discovered that a body had been found with the exact same wounds fifty years prior. Fifty years to the day. His heart practically skipped a beat as he read the file. There was evidence from the old case locked up in the archive. Torchwood had never satisfactorily been able to determine what had killed the man and no trace of a creature capable of making the fatal wounds was ever found.

Rupesh took a deep breath and finished his report, including the information about the old case that he’d taken from the computer file. He put it together neatly and brought it up to Harkness’ office.

He rapped on the frame of Harkness’ open door before stepping inside. Harkness was sat at his desk pouring over some paperwork, but looked up at the knock.

“Rupesh,” the captain said by way of greeting, and his tone was amicable enough. “Something I can help you with?”

Rupesh held up the file. “The body: the cause of death is identical to a fifty year old case.”

That seemed to catch the captain’s interest and he leaned forward to take the file, flipping through it.

“The wounds are exactly the same shape and dimensions and were made to the same parts of the body,” Rupesh pointed out. “They were definitely made by the same weapon and probably the same perpetrator.”

Harkness nodded. “I’m familiar with the case,” he mused, still glancing through Rupesh’s report.

He probably bloody remembers it, Rupesh thought. “I’d like access to the archives,” he added aloud.

Harkness looked up from the file to Rupesh’s face. “Why’s that?” he asked mildly.

“The computer file said that there was additional evidence down there,” Rupesh told him in what he hoped was a convincingly casual tone. “I’d like to see it. Maybe fresh eyes and fifty years of perspective will help crack this thing wide open.”

Harkness closed the file. “Okay. Go ask Ianto to take you down there. He’ll know exactly where to find what you’re looking for.”

He handed the report back to Rupesh and looked at him with an expression that suggested he was wondering why Rupesh was still standing around when he’d just been dismissed.

“Right,” Rupesh said and hoped his disappointment wasn’t evident in his tone or on his face. “I’ll ask him. Thanks.”

Harkness gave him a perfunctory smile and went back to his work.

Rupesh didn’t know what he’d expected. He was sure he hadn’t thought he’d simply be given unrestricted and unsupervised access to the entire Torchwood archive, though perhaps he’d hoped he would. This job couldn’t be easy for once, could it?

Maybe once he saw how entry to the sealed room worked (and he was aware it was always locked – he’d ventured down there and checked out the door once or twice with the excuse ready, if he’d been caught, that he’d gotten lost in the labyrinth of the sublevels) and saw what was inside and how it was organized with Jones’ supervision, he could find out if Johnson had any technology that would allow him to bypass the security mechanism and he could make his way inside alone at some later date.

Rupesh, still clutching his file folder, found Jones in the conference room. He seemed to be piecing something together on the large computer screen at the front of the room. Rupesh didn’t see why he couldn’t do what he was doing at his own workstation, but maybe Jones just liked the peace and quiet.

Jones heard him come in. He gave Rupesh a questioning gaze over his shoulder.

Rupesh held the file out. “I need evidence from an old case from the archive,” he explained. “Captain Harkness said you’d take me down to get it.”

Jones’ gaze became scrutinizing for just a moment, then he took the file and perused it briefly.

“Fifty years ago,” Jones said thoughtfully, tucking the folder under his arm. “No problem.”

Rupesh didn’t know why how long ago the case was would be the deciding factor as to why it might be a problem, but he just gave Jones what he hoped was an encouraging smile and stepped aside so the archivist could precede him into the corridor.

Jones led him to the archive door and keyed in a code, his body blocking Rupesh’s view of the keypad, which was a shame, really. If he’d been able to use Jones’ code to get in… well, nobody would find it suspicious if there was a record of Jones entering the archive. Rupesh paused in that thought. Unless, he realized, it was Jones that found the record for some reason and knew he’d been elsewhere at the time. No, Rupesh decided, it would be better if there was no record of anyone entering the archive at all when he snuck in. He made a mental note to put that on his wishlist for when he was talking to Johnson.

The air inside the archive was cooler and crisper than the air in the rest of the Hub. It was obviously climate controlled and there was probably some kind of air purification system in there too.

Rupesh looked around. There were massive shelves and cabinets in tidy rows on both sides of the main aisle that went on for as far as the eye could see. The room was absolutely massive.

Jones consulted Rupesh’s file one more time, then walked purposefully down the main aisle for a stretch before taking a turn down one of the rows of shelves. Rupesh followed him. Their journey took them on a winding walk deep into the archive and Rupesh wasn’t sure he’d have been able to find his way out again on his own. Finally Jones opened a heavy drawer and removed a large metal box, which he handed to Rupesh, along with the file the medic had originally given him.

“Your evidence,” Jones declared then slipped past to lead Rupesh back towards the door.

Rupesh thought about trying to remember the way to where they’d just been, but if he was going to sneak around the archive on his own, he didn’t have any reason to go there in particular. The area hadn’t contained anything that looked interesting. He’d have to find out how the archive was organized and how to get into a manifest of everything it contained so he’d know where to look for the kind of items and information that Johnson wanted to know about.

“How long have you been in charge of the archive?” he asked conversationally as they walked.

Jones glanced at him. “Couple of years,” he answered vaguely.

“It’s bigger than I was expecting,” Rupesh told him, soldiering on, though trying to make conversation with Jones always seemed like a slog. “It must be a lot of work.”

“You have no idea,” Jones replied.

Rupesh wondered what the hell that meant, but he wasn’t falling into the trap of asking. “I bet,” he remarked mildly. “It must have one hell of a catalogue.”

Jones just shrugged.

Rupesh considered shutting up, but it was his workplace, damn it! Asking questions was normal.

“Do you keep everything we find down here?” he asked.

Jones glanced at him again. “Most of it.”

Rupesh frowned. “Most of it?” he echoed. “What do you mean?”

“The majority of it,” Jones clarified, being frustratingly literal and clearly on purpose.

“And the rest?”

“Is kept elsewhere.”

“I see,” Rupesh replied flatly.

“Good,” Jones told him, opening the archive door and holding it so the doctor could pass through.

“Thanks,” Rupesh told him, shifting the weight of the bulky box in his hands.

Jones nodded, pulling the door shut behind them. He headed back towards the conference room, leaving Rupesh standing in the corridor.