Ianto's Birthday by a_silver_story | 01
Title: Ianto's Birthday
Chapter Complete 1/6
Author a_silver_story
Genre: Alternate Universe, 'Fix it'.
Rating: NC-17 overall
Warnings: Sex, swearing
Summary: A re-edit of a section of my IM series so that it stands alone as its own fic. Jack fires Ianto in an attempt to keep him safe, Ianto has no idea where their relationship is really at and Gwen rolls her eyes a lot at the silliness of boys. All the while, Jack is being buffeted about through time, not quite realising that if he doesn't do something about it soon, existence itself will completely and utterly unravel. Cue hard decisions, a visit from a Doctor and some impromptu babysitting.
Disclaimer: If I owned anything in this, I'd be a rich rich rich bitch. However, I am not a rich rich rich bitch so you may all, therefore, assume I own nothing. Which I don't. It all belongs RTD and the BBC, in case any of you didn't know. Now pass the retcon ...
It had been, everything taken into account, a rather trying day by Ianto's standards. Not only had he not had quite enough coffee to pull him all the way through it, he'd gotten himself a bit shot as well. He only counted it as 'a bit' shot, since it was only his calf muscle that had suffered and the injury was in no way life threatening - not like when Jack got 'a lot' shot and dropped down dead.
Jack had an uncomfortable air about him for the rest of the day, guilt settling in and that paranoia about losing his best friends always being his fault rising to the surface. He admitted to Ianto that every time he closed his eyes, he could see the events of that day unfolding in his mind's eye, but Ianto just rolled his own eyes and sighed.
It was only a routine Blowfish - this one had decided to go for a motorbike - easily subdued and brought in if not intoxicated; probably about to get shot if it was. This one had led them to a multi-storey car park, busy with people arriving to leave their cars and head for work. The Blowfish had, and quite intentionally, caused a scene.
Jack had gone in first, Webley drawn as Gwen skirted around the back of the crowd and Ianto used his best commanding voice to tell the members of the public to stay calm. Hearing the authority in his tones, the Blowfish had turned on him.
"Ianto Jones ..." it snarled, and Jack decided to wonder on how it knew Ianto's name when they were in a more secure environment. "... little coffee boy … What are you doing out so early? Aren't you supposed to be hidden underground so that only your boss can look at you? Because he does look. He never stops looking ...."
Ianto didn't react, simply raising his handgun a little higher and quirking an eyebrow. The Blowfish turned to Jack.
"Long way from home,” it commented. "Still ... that doesn't stop you trying to make a new one ..."
People screamed as the Blowfish suddenly withdrew a gun, pointing it straight between Ianto's eyes.
"... with him? Or with the green-eyed girl? Or neither?" it taunted.
"What do you want?" Jack snapped, very aware that one pull of the trigger meant his world could fall apart again. Ianto didn't even look afraid, and Jack was proud of him for that. His eyes rolled as the gun had been turned on him, but beyond that he showed no concern for the imminent death pointed straight at his head. Dammit, thought Jack. Gotta get closer to Ianto ...
"Heroin. Or I kill the boy," the Blowfish demanded.
"I don't have any on me, shockingly," Jack scathed, edging a little to the side, trying to get within touching distance of Ianto.
"Then I'll just keep hold of him until you get me some," the Blowfish replied, taking a step forward. Jack took the distraction of the Blowfish moving and Ianto flicking the safety off his gun to get a little closer to him. He could reach out and grab him now, if needed.
"Yeah ... and what if I can't get hold of any? It's not exactly an over-the-counter drug."
The Blowfish raised the gun and fired a shot into the air by way of reply.
"Right ..." Jack pondered. "Well ..." he said, raising his Webley, "The way I see it is-"
BANG
Both Gwen and Jack had shot it.
They'd seen the Blowfish's finger twitch and they'd both shot it dead.
The members of the public who had fallen silent were now screaming, and Ianto was rushing over to the body, pulling it backwards a little and making sure it was definitely dead. He gave Jack a nod, the two of them calm in the ocean of chaos that was 'Frightened Members of Public'.
Rising to his feet, Ianto went about clearing the crowd and calling Gwen to bring the gurney from the SUV. Jack began to pat down the body in search of weapons and ID. By chance he glanced up, and saw the little red dot on the back of Ianto's head.
He didn't even know he could move so fast. Before he even realized he'd got to his feet, he was on the ground again with Ianto beneath him, pinned to the cold concrete and grazing his front. A bullet ricocheted off a nearby car, and the crowd started screaming and running. Jack stared frantically around, trying to search out a possible gunman while keeping as much of Ianto's body covered by his as possible. Ianto was indignant, however, trying to push him off.
"Keep down!" Jack hissed, spotting the scraped paint of the car where the bullet had bounced off it and judging the direction of the sniper from that. He kept himself firmly between Ianto and where the gunman might be. He saw a flurry of movement, and heard a silencer.
Again his speed was surprising to him, and he shoved a nearly-upright Ianto out of the way, his stomach knotting when he heard his vocal chords tighten in a harsh scream of pain. Jack shot blindly, releasing his remaining rounds until he heard the dull thud of a body hitting the ground. He threw himself down by Ianto, saying a silent prayer of thanks to whatever may or may not be listening that Ianto had only been shot in the leg.
A creak of wheels behind him alerted him to Gwen's arrival with the gurney, and he sat by Ianto and soothed him as she asked her questions and offered empathy of her own. Ianto insisted he was fine, applying hard pressure to his wound and trying not to whimper. Jack helped Gwen get the two bodies haphazardly onto the gurney, noticing the second sniper had also been a Blowfish. He would dwell on that later.
As Gwen wheeled the bodies away, Jack lifted Ianto as best he could, supporting him on his injured side and getting him to the medical bay as quickly as he could drive. He would worry about Sniper Blowfish and their Reasons later. Once in the Hub, Jack injected Ianto with as many painkillers as he could, until he was certain he couldn't feel any discomfort.
Jack watched Ianto working, and he shuddered to think what he might have lost that morning. He'd spent the day cleaning most of the mess on autopilot, snapping at Gwen and being generally moody. He couldn't look at Ianto, feeling too guilty for reasons he didn't want know. Pausing in the doorway to his office, he took a moment to observe him studiously typing up his report at Toshiko's old workstation.
What if he hadn't looked up at that moment? What if Ianto was in the morgue, rather than quickly and efficiently getting his paperwork done and thinking about home? What if Jack had never gotten the chance to see him smile, or hear him laugh, or hold him tight ever again? Jack began running over some options in his head.
Ianto was right - Jack had been taking things slow because he had all the time in the world. Ianto might not make it through tomorrow.
Turning back into his office, Jack knew he'd made his decision.
The only problem would be convincing Ianto it was be the right one ....
| Next Part | Torchwood Index/Masterlist |
Chapter Complete 1/6
Author a_silver_story
Genre: Alternate Universe, 'Fix it'.
Rating: NC-17 overall
Warnings: Sex, swearing
Summary: A re-edit of a section of my IM series so that it stands alone as its own fic. Jack fires Ianto in an attempt to keep him safe, Ianto has no idea where their relationship is really at and Gwen rolls her eyes a lot at the silliness of boys. All the while, Jack is being buffeted about through time, not quite realising that if he doesn't do something about it soon, existence itself will completely and utterly unravel. Cue hard decisions, a visit from a Doctor and some impromptu babysitting.
Disclaimer: If I owned anything in this, I'd be a rich rich rich bitch. However, I am not a rich rich rich bitch so you may all, therefore, assume I own nothing. Which I don't. It all belongs RTD and the BBC, in case any of you didn't know. Now pass the retcon ...
It had been, everything taken into account, a rather trying day by Ianto's standards. Not only had he not had quite enough coffee to pull him all the way through it, he'd gotten himself a bit shot as well. He only counted it as 'a bit' shot, since it was only his calf muscle that had suffered and the injury was in no way life threatening - not like when Jack got 'a lot' shot and dropped down dead.
Jack had an uncomfortable air about him for the rest of the day, guilt settling in and that paranoia about losing his best friends always being his fault rising to the surface. He admitted to Ianto that every time he closed his eyes, he could see the events of that day unfolding in his mind's eye, but Ianto just rolled his own eyes and sighed.
It was only a routine Blowfish - this one had decided to go for a motorbike - easily subdued and brought in if not intoxicated; probably about to get shot if it was. This one had led them to a multi-storey car park, busy with people arriving to leave their cars and head for work. The Blowfish had, and quite intentionally, caused a scene.
Jack had gone in first, Webley drawn as Gwen skirted around the back of the crowd and Ianto used his best commanding voice to tell the members of the public to stay calm. Hearing the authority in his tones, the Blowfish had turned on him.
"Ianto Jones ..." it snarled, and Jack decided to wonder on how it knew Ianto's name when they were in a more secure environment. "... little coffee boy … What are you doing out so early? Aren't you supposed to be hidden underground so that only your boss can look at you? Because he does look. He never stops looking ...."
Ianto didn't react, simply raising his handgun a little higher and quirking an eyebrow. The Blowfish turned to Jack.
"Long way from home,” it commented. "Still ... that doesn't stop you trying to make a new one ..."
People screamed as the Blowfish suddenly withdrew a gun, pointing it straight between Ianto's eyes.
"... with him? Or with the green-eyed girl? Or neither?" it taunted.
"What do you want?" Jack snapped, very aware that one pull of the trigger meant his world could fall apart again. Ianto didn't even look afraid, and Jack was proud of him for that. His eyes rolled as the gun had been turned on him, but beyond that he showed no concern for the imminent death pointed straight at his head. Dammit, thought Jack. Gotta get closer to Ianto ...
"Heroin. Or I kill the boy," the Blowfish demanded.
"I don't have any on me, shockingly," Jack scathed, edging a little to the side, trying to get within touching distance of Ianto.
"Then I'll just keep hold of him until you get me some," the Blowfish replied, taking a step forward. Jack took the distraction of the Blowfish moving and Ianto flicking the safety off his gun to get a little closer to him. He could reach out and grab him now, if needed.
"Yeah ... and what if I can't get hold of any? It's not exactly an over-the-counter drug."
The Blowfish raised the gun and fired a shot into the air by way of reply.
"Right ..." Jack pondered. "Well ..." he said, raising his Webley, "The way I see it is-"
BANG
Both Gwen and Jack had shot it.
They'd seen the Blowfish's finger twitch and they'd both shot it dead.
The members of the public who had fallen silent were now screaming, and Ianto was rushing over to the body, pulling it backwards a little and making sure it was definitely dead. He gave Jack a nod, the two of them calm in the ocean of chaos that was 'Frightened Members of Public'.
Rising to his feet, Ianto went about clearing the crowd and calling Gwen to bring the gurney from the SUV. Jack began to pat down the body in search of weapons and ID. By chance he glanced up, and saw the little red dot on the back of Ianto's head.
He didn't even know he could move so fast. Before he even realized he'd got to his feet, he was on the ground again with Ianto beneath him, pinned to the cold concrete and grazing his front. A bullet ricocheted off a nearby car, and the crowd started screaming and running. Jack stared frantically around, trying to search out a possible gunman while keeping as much of Ianto's body covered by his as possible. Ianto was indignant, however, trying to push him off.
"Keep down!" Jack hissed, spotting the scraped paint of the car where the bullet had bounced off it and judging the direction of the sniper from that. He kept himself firmly between Ianto and where the gunman might be. He saw a flurry of movement, and heard a silencer.
Again his speed was surprising to him, and he shoved a nearly-upright Ianto out of the way, his stomach knotting when he heard his vocal chords tighten in a harsh scream of pain. Jack shot blindly, releasing his remaining rounds until he heard the dull thud of a body hitting the ground. He threw himself down by Ianto, saying a silent prayer of thanks to whatever may or may not be listening that Ianto had only been shot in the leg.
A creak of wheels behind him alerted him to Gwen's arrival with the gurney, and he sat by Ianto and soothed him as she asked her questions and offered empathy of her own. Ianto insisted he was fine, applying hard pressure to his wound and trying not to whimper. Jack helped Gwen get the two bodies haphazardly onto the gurney, noticing the second sniper had also been a Blowfish. He would dwell on that later.
As Gwen wheeled the bodies away, Jack lifted Ianto as best he could, supporting him on his injured side and getting him to the medical bay as quickly as he could drive. He would worry about Sniper Blowfish and their Reasons later. Once in the Hub, Jack injected Ianto with as many painkillers as he could, until he was certain he couldn't feel any discomfort.
Jack watched Ianto working, and he shuddered to think what he might have lost that morning. He'd spent the day cleaning most of the mess on autopilot, snapping at Gwen and being generally moody. He couldn't look at Ianto, feeling too guilty for reasons he didn't want know. Pausing in the doorway to his office, he took a moment to observe him studiously typing up his report at Toshiko's old workstation.
What if he hadn't looked up at that moment? What if Ianto was in the morgue, rather than quickly and efficiently getting his paperwork done and thinking about home? What if Jack had never gotten the chance to see him smile, or hear him laugh, or hold him tight ever again? Jack began running over some options in his head.
Ianto was right - Jack had been taking things slow because he had all the time in the world. Ianto might not make it through tomorrow.
Turning back into his office, Jack knew he'd made his decision.
The only problem would be convincing Ianto it was be the right one ....
| Next Part | Torchwood Index/Masterlist |