m_findlow

Title: Elixir of life (Part one)
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Rhys, OCs
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 11,973 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Inspired by Challenge 158 - Egg at fan_flashworks
Summary: A missing antique holds the key to one of life's greatest secrets

Torchwood didn't get a lot of phone calls. Not on their so called "office" line anyway. There were the occasional calls from the Home Office and UNIT, complaining about this or that, but often those went to straight through to Jack's direct line, and if too many came through, the number mysteriously had a habit of changing overnight. It paid to have a good relationship with British Telecom.

When the phone rang, Ianto politely answered, just as he always did. A minute later he was awkwardly standing on the threshold of Jack's office, knocking hesitantly.

'What is it?'

'Er, there's a phone call for you.'

'Who is it?'

Ianto cleared his throat awkwardly. 'Henry Parker.'

That did take Jack by surprise.

Two hours later, the three of them had turned up at the large Parker residence and had been lead inside. Old Henry Parker seemed to have made a somewhat miraculous recovery since his heart attack six months ago. Despite Owen being unable to assist him, Jack and Martha had quickly come to his aid, providing the necessary support until the ambulance could arrive to take him away. Parker was a stubborn one, that was for sure, refusing to die just yet.

Now he was shuffling about on an old wooden cane, far from the sad, bedridden individual they'd met that night so many months ago. He looked positively spritely by comparison.

'I'd offer you tea but that wretched woman is off sick again,' he muttered, referring to his house maid. 'Blasted woman is worse than me.'

'I'm sure we can sort that out for you, Mr Parker,' Gwen replied helpfully, but looking at Ianto, who took the hint and quietly left the room in search of the kitchen.

'Well, sit down then,' he barked. Do you think I invited you around because I'm lonely?'

Jack and Gwen tentatively perched on the stiff leather lounge opposite his tall backed armchair in the grand sitting room. The walls were a mass of old Victorian style artwork, busts of marble and stone, ceramics, and no doubt, more than a few items that were not of the terrestrial kind. Despite the warm colour of the rich mahogany walls and floor, the room was unnaturally cold and none of them had removed their coats.

'Why did you ask us here, Mr Parker?' Jack asked, leaning forward with his arms rested on his knees.

Henry sniffed. 'You didn't bring the Japanese girl,' he stated. 'You're not a patch on her, my dear,' he said unapologetically.

Jack looked away and Henry picked up on the expression. He also caught Gwen looking at the floor, also not meeting his gaze.

'Gone then, is she? And the doctor, what was his name, Owen?'

Their silence seemed to answer for them.

'Hmph.'

Ianto returned with a tea laden tray at that moment and broke the awkward silence, for which they were both immensely grateful. The deaths had been hard on all of them.

'Mr Parker,' Jack said emphatically, ignoring the cup in his hand. 'Why are we here?'

'You're here because I want my egg back. And don't think I won't be having you all searched before you leave. God only knows what you might try and pocket whilst you're here. Find anything interesting in the kitchen, young man?' he asked, glaring at Ianto.

'Biscuits past their sell by?' he replied, quirking an eyebrow.

Henry paused for a moment, before barking out a sharp laugh.

'Ha! Blasted woman.'

'Mr Parker,' Gwen interrupted. 'Are you suggesting we've taken something?'

'Don't be ridiculous,' he said, his hands a little shaky around the tea cup. 'I want you find the person who did and bring it back.'

'An egg, you say?' Jack asked, looking skeptical, and suddenly concerned there might be something in the tea. Henry Parker was a known eccentric after all. He nudged Ianto next to him and nodded down at the teacup. He received a frown in return as Ianto raised it to his lips and drank, answering the unspoken question.

'Faberge,' Henry said. 'Quite lovely. And now I want it back.'

Jack leaned back, crossing his arms. 'Isn't this a matter for the police? We don't do lost property.'

'You think I'd waste my time with those incompetent fools? I want it back before I'm dead and buried.'

'Perhaps you could tell us more about this egg,' Gwen suggested, giving Jack the eye. He'd been moody and impatient all week. Henry Parker wasn't just about to open the door and let them inside his house when they'd had to break in the first time. There was clearly more to this story, and Henry would tell it in his own good sweet time, but he'd make them work for it first.

Henry put his cup down on the side table and stared at them. 'It might have been made for the Tsars, but it's no ordinary ostrich egg. It seems to have some rather unusual properties. Not quite what I expected when I bought it.'

'What kind of properties?' Gwen asked, her interest piqued.

'You don't think I'm hobbling around here because I'm taking an aspirin a day, do you?'

'It's giving off some kind of radiation?'

'Radiation, alien spores, who the hell knows. But since it's keeping me fighting fit, I'd rather like it back. I didn't need a cane three days ago, and now look at me.'

Jack looked at Ianto who had pulled out his PDA to consult his files on the Parker collection, which was regularly monitored and updated.

'It wasn't on our inventory?' Jack asked, curious as to how an egg could possibly be responsible for the recovery of an old man. He knew there were plenty of modern and alien healing devices, but an egg?

Ianto looked awkwardly back. 'We disregarded it as a regular Earth collectable,' he replied sheepishly. 'Some of the Faberge eggs were never found. We just assumed this was one of the missing ones.'

'It is,' Henry confirmed. 'Why do you think there are no more Tsars, eh? They lost it during the war and it was their undoing. If they'd managed to hold on to it, they might have become the great Russian empire they always dreamed of being, instead of the political pain in the backside of every major country on the planet.'

'Do we have a photo of it?' Jack asked Ianto.

'Yup,' he said, handing his PDA over to Jack so that he could get a better look at the large midnight blue antique.

'Blasted Torchwood. Nosy buggers who can't mind their own business, aren't you?' Parker huffed, miffed that their records of his collection were more extensive than he'd thought.

He handed the device back. 'How did you come to find it?' Jack asked.

'Oh, you think you have the market cornered on tracking down alien artifacts? Not everything turns up on eBay, you know. Yes, I know you check there regularly. Amateurs,' he scoffed. 'Like I said, I didn't even know it was alien at first.'

Now it was Gwen's turn to look annoyed. It wasn't a glamorous job, but it did turn up the occasional oddment now and again. Not everyone was as sophisticated as Henry Parker, and most were just out to make a quick buck, not worried about exactly what it was they were selling. Some idiot somewhere was bound to want it, whatever it was. If not, it would end up in the bargain bin section, where Torchwood would snaffle it up for less than a tenner.

'Okay, so let's skip over the part about where you got it from. We'll deal with that later.' Jack gave him a firm look that said the matter was guaranteed. 'When did it go missing?'

'Wednesday night.'

'Three days ago.'

'Genius,' Henry muttered. 'Lucky he's your leader with brains like that.'

'What about your security?' Gwen asked. 'Surely they must have set off some kind of alarm or been caught on CCTV.'

'Nothing. They did a darn sight better job than you lot did, blundering in and trying to knock out my generator.'

'And where was it being kept?'

'In my private vault.'

'So how did you know it was missing?'

He gave them a somewhat embarrassed look. 'Fell out of bed didn't I?' he said, trying to regain a bit of pride about the matter. 'Nearly broke a hip in the process. Began to wonder why my back was aching again. Rheumatism was practically cleared up within a few days of acquiring the egg.'

'Can you show us the vault?'

He sighed loudly. 'I knew we'd get around to that.' He leaned heavily on his cane as he struggled up from the armchair. Gwen made over to him to help him, but he brushed her off.

'I'm not dead yet. You can have it all when I'm gone, and not before.' Gwen backed away awkwardly, whilst Jack and Ianto merely exchanged glances, letting their host lead them on.

Henry lead them down the vast long carpeted halls, yet more paintings, sideboards and vases. Ianto got the distinct impression that the pictures were watching them as they passed through the halls. Finally, Henry stopped in front of a tall tapestry and pulled it back, leaning his cane on a nearby side table and unveiling the wall safe hidden behind.

Jack resisted the desire to roll his eyes. It was just so cliché. He pretended to look away as Parker entered the combination on the keypad to unlock it. As he opened the small chamber, Jack bristled at the sight of a handful of items tucked away in its depths that he was visibly unhappy about Parker having. Instead he let out a long frustrated breath and let Gwen step forward to scan the space, watching her careful expression as she clocked the items within, holding up her PDA to scan the inside of the safe.

'No residual radiation markers, nor any trace of anything that shouldn't be here.'

She pushed the door almost all the way shut and scanned the outside of the safe. Jack grabbed for Parker's hand and held it up by the wrist, letting Gwen scan that too. He wanted a set of Parker's fingerprints for their file.

'Ruffian,' Parker muttered, pulling it away, massaging it.

'No prints other than his,' Gwen declared, having cross referenced both scans of the door and his hand.

'What about security?' Ianto enquired. 'You said there was nothing on CCTV. Could one of them have doctored the tapes?'

'The entire system is automatic, meaning no one can tamper with it. The tapes aren't even here. I have a local private firm back up everything.'

'We're going to want access to those tapes,' Jack confirmed.

'Yes, yes,' he waved away Jack's impatience, passing him a business card. 'They're expecting your call.' Jack gave the card a cursory glance before handing it to Ianto, who dutifully slipped it into his breast pocket.

'Okay, since our primary concern it what this egg is and who might have it, I suggest you let us get to work.' Jack didn't wait for an invitation to see himself out, letting the others trail sheepishly behind him.

'I want it back, you hear,' Parker demanded in a husky tone, which sounded less spritely than before. 'I might even be willing to do you a trade.'

'We'll see,' Jack replied tersely.

As they marched out across the gravel driveway to the SUV, Gwen jogged up to join Jack's long purposeful strides.

'You don't suppose that thing really was keeping him alive, do you?'

He stopped and spun back to look at her, catching her off guard. 'Do you?' he countered.

'He does seem better,' she conceded.

'But not as good as when we first arrived?' Ianto added, reaching for the passenger door.

'Could be a coincidence, I suppose,' she added, thoughtfully.

'Let's not take any chances,' Jack ordered, sliding into the driver's seat. 'Old he may be. Crazy he's not.'

Despite disliking taking orders from someone else, Jack was intrigued. They hadn't had a properly interesting case for weeks, and the wheels of the SUV spun in the gravel as he turned out of Parker's long driveway, eager to start puzzling out this new mystery.

Continues in part two...