"Just considering my options. Sam will be angry with me over this, but apparently it never matters what I do or don't do anyway because of how much he hates me, so why would it matter?" Childish, perhaps, but he was feeling very slighted. He stepped out of the cell and next to Ianto. "Lead the way, Ianto. Up the stairs, right? I want access to all files, so take me to whatever computer offers that."
He loosened his shoulders and yawned lazily, then decided to continue their little gab session. "I assume you don't know Sam well. No one ever does. Only me." He didn't doubt that for a moment. "But you know of him. I bet you've talked about him too, with Jack and the others. So... Tell me if he has been dating. I'm curious."
Ianto led the way up the stairs, a horrible feeling of dread in his stomach. "I don't know if he's dating right now. He was with a girl before but I don't know how long for. They broke up, that's all I know. He doesn't talk about himself. The only ex he talks about is you and we only learned that recently."
Sam didn't talk much about Barty, all they knew was that he was in a long term relationship and unable to escape Barty during it. "He goes out a lot to do things, might have a girlfriend. He doesn't like sharing stuff."
"Well, that's a big load of bollocks then, isn't it? He's clearly not over me." Barty did feel slighted - and not just a little - but he didn't want Ianto to think he was too much of a clingy loser, so he tried to play it off a little. He was frowning, however. Fuck that. Stupid Sam.
"Tell me about Bill then. What did you do to my Bill, you lot?" His Bill. Take that, Sam. He breathed out as they reached the top of the stairs, following Ianto still. "Don't be so tense, by the way. I'm not allowed to hurt you."
"You're in my head, it hurts. I don't want it." Ianto pointed out but despite his protest, his body relaxed as he came out and walked over to the computer, wasting no time to put his passcode into the computer. "Jack interrogated him and used some leverage he had on the boy, he got a little overwhelmed and let some details slip so we could find out where you were. It was nothing too bad, some use of his criminal records and some childhood info. Jack called them pressure points."
He entered his password into the admin system and started to look around for the current case files. "He got quite upset, he punched Sam when he was trying to help him get to London and ran off. I didn't-- We didn't do anything bad. We just did have we had to do to get the answers we needed."
"Pressure points, yeah. That's how he got Sam to work for you too." Easy enough to figure that one out. "Making great use of an innocent boy, just because you want to get at me. Do you think that's not anything bad either? Tell me, do you think whoever you work for wants me for any good reason?"
Barty laughed and waited for Ianto to open the files he needed, then he sat down by the computer. "Turn around, Ianto, I don't need you watching me. Makes me nervous."
He looked through the files, absently talking as he did so. "If you think me in your head right now hurts, I could really do a lot more. So many ideas to put into your little mind."
"I believe Jack will always do things for the greater good. He has to make hard decisions, it's not his fault. He knows where he has to end up." So no, he wasn't going to relent to Jack being a bad person. Jack was complicated but good, it was just that people didn't understand him.
He turned around and looked off at nothing, wondering if he could reach for his phone. He slowly moved his hand into his pocket and tried to pull free his phone slowly.
"I assure you, I don't want to know what any of them are."
Barty glanced back for just a moment. This was, obviously, far from the first person he had kept under his control like that. "Put your phone down on the desk and stay away from it."
He tsked, shaking his head as he looked back at the computer screen again. "Kids these days. You are all just addicted to your phones, aren't you? No more funny business, Ianto. You will be a good boy for me. Feel free to run with your interpretation of what that means."
Barty's intent, anyway. That should cover his bases. "Can you imagine having my powers? Tell me what you would do with them."
He set his phone aside with a longing glance, only just managing to get Jack's number up before he had to put his phone down. He put his hands loosely by his side, not sure what being a good boy meant but he took it to mean 'don't disobey' so he avoided touching the phone or playing with anything that could get him into trouble.
"I can't imagine it. No one ever does anything I ask." If they did, the place would be much cleaner and everyone would keep a comprehensive log of work activities. "I wouldn't want to use them, it's too much power." He couldn't think off the top of his head what he would do. Who he would command. "Might make Owen clean his desk but otherwise, no. I think it's too much."
"It's not about wanting, Ianto. You don't understand." Of course not, how could he? "Sure, I can do that. Make someone punch themselves in the face for a laugh. Make someone smile at me. Get Sam to not be tense for just one bloody minute, that miserable sod." What a stubborn bastard. Whatever.
"But they didn't have enough with that. They enhanced it, didn't they? It's my intent. It's all around me. I can't stop it. I can't control that. That's what Sam says, that I'm not a person. Just a mess he wants to clean up. Just a monster he wants to slay, because he's a hero."
He swirled around in his seat and looked at Ianto. "I love him. I really, truly love him. You believe me, right? Tell me."
"I believe you." He didn't. It was clear he didn't, the effort it took to speak those words and the way his eye twitched made it clear that he was just saying it, just fighting the impulse and failing. He had seen Sam in the aftermath of seeing Barty again and he doubted it could be love if one side felt like that. He was sure that Barty was obsessed but in love? He wasn't so sure if he could love.
"I'm sorry they made it worse but maybe we can make it better. We could reduce what they did to you and it might help. You just have to do some tests."
Then maybe he could be someone who could live in the world without danger.
"Don't fucking lie to me!" Fuck, but he was pissing him off. "I told you to tell me, I didn't tell you to... Ah, right. Good boy." Did good boys lie? Sam never did. But he supposed not everyone's idea of a good boy was Sam Tyler. Made some amount of sense. Barty sighed and he tried and force himself to calm down again. "You are a government organisation. Ianto, don't be so naive. No government would ever want me to be less. They just want me to work for them."
It was fairly obvious. "Anyway. Thank you. I think I got what I need out of you." Even if he'd pissed him off and made him hurt more. Mixed bag, honestly.
"It's not a lie, I'm not lying." That was what Sam had been pushing for and Jack... Jack wouldn't do anything that bad, would he? He wanted to neutralise Barty, he had to assume that meant nuking his powers. There was no way to use Barty, he was impossible to control. Wasn't it better to fix than keep. Either way, he looked at Barty, clearly uneasy.
"You said you would go back to your cell. You promised." Just a little hope he had that maybe this would all end nice and easy. Yes, it was unfortunate and Barty had looked through the files but no one had been hurt. As far as this could have gone, not the worst? Even if Jack might yell at him.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll go back." Barty rolled his eyes and got up, but then he hesitated. He paused. "Have you ever killed someone, Ianto? You were so worried I'd hurt you. So, tell me. Who have you hurt? Who's been scared of you?"
Pressure points, huh? He could pay that back in kind. No one hurt someone under his protection and got away with it.
"Yes. I did. Once. It wasn't-- I didn't do it on purpose." He had been trying to save his girlfriend, he hadn't meant to hurt anyone. It was an accident. And then there was Jack. He killed Jack before but did that even count? Was it cruel to not let it count. "I hurt Jack. He hurt me. I tried to kill him. And of course, Jack knows. He forgave me." And it didn't matter if he forgave himself, that was between himself and his conscience.
"Why are you asking?" It was to get under his skin, wasn't it? "What are you after? Dirt? Because Jack knows everything." So there, that little plan failed. Ianto had to smile, a small victory.
"Do you forgive yourself?" He wondered. Sam never did that. Sam was always too harsh on himself. Sam was too harsh on the whole world, honestly. But that wasn't important right now. "Did you know that I can make you forget things? I'm good at that. Sometimes they never remember again. I can also make you remember things. Make you remember things that never happened."
Barty leaned forward, wondering how far he'd go here. But then he thought of Jakobus. Of his brother, of the boy with the wide eyes that looked frightened so often. The one they might be trying to track now, even though he should be kept out of all of this. "Remember the little boy you held down. The one who was locked up and who only wanted to be happy with his mommy and his daddy. And you held him down to experiment on him. Remember that. Remember how scared he was. He screamed. He just wanted to be loved. Remember how you didn't care."
"No... No, that's not-- I didn't. Why would I do that?" Ianto fought against it because it didn't make sense to him. It was there now, like a clear image in his head, but he had never hurt a child in his life. Not once. He knew that, he knew it as a fact, so why was this so clear in his head. "Don't put stuff in my head..."
He never forgave himself, of course he didn't, there was no way. He didn't even like upsetting Bill and now this. He closed his eyes and tried to push it away from his mind. "Why would I lock up a boy?"
"Because he was useful, of course." Barty said it calmly as he watched Ianto. It was interesting to see him care this much. "You remember how you told him lies to ply him. Made false promises. Or, worse, sometimes you'd give him a treat, just so he'd pathetically hope for more. A bit of affection. A toy. Books, he always loved books. You remember, of course, you didn't care about him. You just needed him to be a good little puppet. Do what you want."
He could see Jakobus now as clearly as always. Always that little boy in his mind. Bloody nose and wide eyes, waiting to be saved. "You remember looking at him crying and trembling in fear and thinking that it's working. When you made him listen to the other's screams and he just begged for it to stop."
Ianto put his hands over his ears and desperately tried to block it out. He didn't want to do that, why would he do that? It was so cruel. He was just a boy. And he didn't even remember his face or his name. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, no, you're lying! I don't do that! I've always just -- no." And despite his protests, it felt real, it felt like guilt that had always been crushing down upon him and he didn't know why he'd do it.
"Please, don't make me--" Remember? Believe? He wasn't sure. "I can't." He was just a boy. Why would he do that to be a boy?
"Weak little boy. So often had a nosebleed. All he wanted was to be protected and you turned it against him. You turned him into your tool. And you never, ever cared!"
Barty yelled the last word and then he got up and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to go lock myself in, Ianto. Why don't you sit quietly somewhere and think about what you've done until Jack Harkness comes back, hm?"
A little boy with a nose bleed. A weak boy. That he tormented in such a cruel way just to use him. Use him for what, he didn't even know. It was a strange memory, very hazy, like it was there but it wasn't and it wasn't real, he knew it wasn't real, but it felt so real. It felt like he'd done it.
He watched Barty leave and he had to wonder - was that little boy in his head real?
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He loosened his shoulders and yawned lazily, then decided to continue their little gab session. "I assume you don't know Sam well. No one ever does. Only me." He didn't doubt that for a moment. "But you know of him. I bet you've talked about him too, with Jack and the others. So... Tell me if he has been dating. I'm curious."
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Sam didn't talk much about Barty, all they knew was that he was in a long term relationship and unable to escape Barty during it. "He goes out a lot to do things, might have a girlfriend. He doesn't like sharing stuff."
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"Tell me about Bill then. What did you do to my Bill, you lot?" His Bill. Take that, Sam. He breathed out as they reached the top of the stairs, following Ianto still. "Don't be so tense, by the way. I'm not allowed to hurt you."
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He entered his password into the admin system and started to look around for the current case files. "He got quite upset, he punched Sam when he was trying to help him get to London and ran off. I didn't-- We didn't do anything bad. We just did have we had to do to get the answers we needed."
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Barty laughed and waited for Ianto to open the files he needed, then he sat down by the computer. "Turn around, Ianto, I don't need you watching me. Makes me nervous."
He looked through the files, absently talking as he did so. "If you think me in your head right now hurts, I could really do a lot more. So many ideas to put into your little mind."
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He turned around and looked off at nothing, wondering if he could reach for his phone. He slowly moved his hand into his pocket and tried to pull free his phone slowly.
"I assure you, I don't want to know what any of them are."
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He tsked, shaking his head as he looked back at the computer screen again. "Kids these days. You are all just addicted to your phones, aren't you? No more funny business, Ianto. You will be a good boy for me. Feel free to run with your interpretation of what that means."
Barty's intent, anyway. That should cover his bases. "Can you imagine having my powers? Tell me what you would do with them."
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"I can't imagine it. No one ever does anything I ask." If they did, the place would be much cleaner and everyone would keep a comprehensive log of work activities. "I wouldn't want to use them, it's too much power." He couldn't think off the top of his head what he would do. Who he would command. "Might make Owen clean his desk but otherwise, no. I think it's too much."
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"But they didn't have enough with that. They enhanced it, didn't they? It's my intent. It's all around me. I can't stop it. I can't control that. That's what Sam says, that I'm not a person. Just a mess he wants to clean up. Just a monster he wants to slay, because he's a hero."
He swirled around in his seat and looked at Ianto. "I love him. I really, truly love him. You believe me, right? Tell me."
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"I'm sorry they made it worse but maybe we can make it better. We could reduce what they did to you and it might help. You just have to do some tests."
Then maybe he could be someone who could live in the world without danger.
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It was fairly obvious. "Anyway. Thank you. I think I got what I need out of you." Even if he'd pissed him off and made him hurt more. Mixed bag, honestly.
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"You said you would go back to your cell. You promised." Just a little hope he had that maybe this would all end nice and easy. Yes, it was unfortunate and Barty had looked through the files but no one had been hurt. As far as this could have gone, not the worst? Even if Jack might yell at him.
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Pressure points, huh? He could pay that back in kind. No one hurt someone under his protection and got away with it.
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"Why are you asking?" It was to get under his skin, wasn't it? "What are you after? Dirt? Because Jack knows everything." So there, that little plan failed. Ianto had to smile, a small victory.
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Barty leaned forward, wondering how far he'd go here. But then he thought of Jakobus. Of his brother, of the boy with the wide eyes that looked frightened so often. The one they might be trying to track now, even though he should be kept out of all of this. "Remember the little boy you held down. The one who was locked up and who only wanted to be happy with his mommy and his daddy. And you held him down to experiment on him. Remember that. Remember how scared he was. He screamed. He just wanted to be loved. Remember how you didn't care."
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He never forgave himself, of course he didn't, there was no way. He didn't even like upsetting Bill and now this. He closed his eyes and tried to push it away from his mind. "Why would I lock up a boy?"
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He could see Jakobus now as clearly as always. Always that little boy in his mind. Bloody nose and wide eyes, waiting to be saved. "You remember looking at him crying and trembling in fear and thinking that it's working. When you made him listen to the other's screams and he just begged for it to stop."
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"Please, don't make me--" Remember? Believe? He wasn't sure. "I can't." He was just a boy. Why would he do that to be a boy?
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Barty yelled the last word and then he got up and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to go lock myself in, Ianto. Why don't you sit quietly somewhere and think about what you've done until Jack Harkness comes back, hm?"
There, that seemed lenient enough.
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A little boy with a nose bleed. A weak boy. That he tormented in such a cruel way just to use him. Use him for what, he didn't even know. It was a strange memory, very hazy, like it was there but it wasn't and it wasn't real, he knew it wasn't real, but it felt so real. It felt like he'd done it.
He watched Barty leave and he had to wonder - was that little boy in his head real?