Silver'verse: 06 | One Step Forward
Title: Silver'verse
Chapter: 06 | One Step Forward
Author: a_silver_story
Genre Alternate Universe, Fluff, a bit domestic, adventure
Rating: G - NC-17
Warnings: SPOILERS FOR COE! DON'T READ!
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.
Summary: Post CoE (begins 3010). Interactive Fiction: the readers have the ultimate say how the next chapter will continue via a poll at the end of each one. (Please remember that as a writer, I can do an RTD, ignore you all and piss off in a totally different direction ... but I wouldn't do that. Not really :p)
FIRST PART of SILVER'VERSE | The Ballad of Ianto Jones: Keeping Promises
FIRST PART of THIS FIC | Starting Over
PREVIOUS | Torchwood Index/Masterlist
06 |
Silver'verse 6
Jack checked the weapon as he ran blindly through the ship, shooting whomever he met in the leg, hip or knee as he fought his way to the bridge. Button was just behind him, brandishing a jet-powered fire extinguisher that he seemed to very much enjoy firing at male genitalia. Jack figured that all ships were set out pretty much the same - the boiler and storage rooms at the back and bottom of the ship, the bridge at the front and top. He decided that using the lifts was too dangerous - the levitation fields around the pod could be switched off and the pod allowed to drop and smash with them inside it, or it could be used as a cell until they ran out of oxygen.
Emergency stairs it was, then. Seventeen floors of them.
He couldn't get the image of Ianto bound to that chair out of his head, even if he showed no fear or unease at the situation. If they figured out that Ianto was cybernized, they might think him completely droid. And if they thought him completely droid, they'd feel no remorse in causing him pain, using his oh-so-human body and then pulling him to bits for spare parts until they found his very, very human brain.
Jack hurtled up the stairs, changing tactics and throwing people down the middle of the stairwell as they charged for him and Button, both of them panting as they worked against the pseudo-gravity to get up the endless flights of steps. There was a shout and yell of anger from above, and a bunch of crewmen came hurtling down the stairs, guns drawn and aimed straight at Jack's chest. At the last moment he ducked, throwing himself down and the gang of armed men tripped and tumbled over themselves in a flurry of cracks and screams as bones broke, crunched and scraped together. Button had to pick his way through the groaning bodies that Jack left in his wake, sending high-pressure jets of chemicals at a few of them for good measure.
Exhausted - and only half way up the stairs - Button collapsed into an alcove, panting and sweating, pulling his collar looser and watching as Jack effortlessly continued upwards. His stomach rumbled loudly and he moaned and whined to himself, wondering why he hadn't had more to eat on the Ambassador ship (even if he had stuffed his face). Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Mrs. Cooper. "There's gotta be an easier way to get up there!" he managed to say through laboured breaths and in slight desperation.
"I could switch the gravity off for a couple of minutes ..." she pondered. "... the change in mechanics could cause a couple of gases with recreational qualities to be produced ... but you'd be up there in no time."
"Do that!" Button demanded, instantly springing to his feet to find some panelling where he could connect her to the mainframe. He found a loose wall tile near the floor and pulled it back, yanking out a tangle of wires and finding the ones Mrs. Cooper would need to infiltrate the system.
Jack was still charging upwards, running on adrenalin, hoping Ianto was either sitting very still or at the least holding his own against the bridge crew men. He still had nine more flights of stairs to go, and his legs were beginning to feel the strain. The PlasmaBullet gun was running out of ammo, and he was very aware of the fact he hadn't run into anyone for a few floors. He realized they were probably all waiting for him at the top. His stomach lurched suddenly as his feet left the floor, and an ominous feeling of weightlessness took hold. For some reason, he found it incredibly funny, and a light fog settling over his brain told him he'd been somehow intoxicated. He grabbed a nearby girder, staring around in shock, wondering what the hell was going. "Button!" he yelled, turning behind him and realizing he was alone. He was about to panic and start fretting that Button had been captured without him noticing, when a young Welshman in a black suit and a very snarky handheld computer floated by his left ear, clearly high as a kite.
"C'mon Jack! It's like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!"
"Oi!" He grabbed Button's ankle and pulled him close, keeping a firm grip around his waist. "We don't know why they switched the gravity off - it could be dangerous just floating into their waiting arms ... and I think - hahahaha - I think we might be drugged."
"We turned the gravity off." replied Button, pointing at Mrs. Cooper. "There was no way I was climbing this many stairs ... and flying is quicker."
"It's not flying ..." grumbled Jack. "It's being trapped in an anti-gravity environment ... with style."
Nevertheless, he pushed Button upwards into the air and used the girder to push himself up. Button let out an almost childish scream of delight, using the nearby walls to somersault his way up a bit higher. Jack laughed with him, his light-headedness distracting him as he began doing some rather gymnastic mid-air back flips. They stilled themselves on the walls opposite each other, pushing off and flying towards one another pulling karate poses and making "Hai-yaaaaaaaaaah! Hoo-warrrrrr!" noises, meeting in the middle and catching each other's hands, the momentum making them spin and laugh hysterically.
"Are you two just ... simple or something?" said a disapproving voice from Button's pocket.
"A'right Coopy?" he laughed, pulling the little console out of his pocket.
"You're supposed to be saving Ianto!" she chastised.
"Yeah!" agreed a deep, familiar and very annoyed voice above them. "You're supposed to be saving Ianto!"
They looked up sheepishly to see a very annoyed Ianto Jones leaning down over the topmost rail, a gun held to the Assassin's head while he fought to keep himself still, clinging to the railing and using his strength to stop his captive from floating away. Sullenly, Jack and Button pushed their way up the walls until they reached them, Button getting himself to a panel, pulling it back and connecting Mrs. Cooper. They all hit the ground with a painful thud - apart from Ianto, who had anticipated what the reintroduction of gravity would imply. Jack had to fight the urge to throw his arms around him, very much aware that he was in trouble and that Ianto had probably had to just fight his way out of restraints, out of the bridge and take a hostage while he and Button had had a senseless relapse to childhood.
"This man's name is Chace Williams." Ianto began. "He's an assassin - but in return for his life, he's going to be very kind and navigate us to the Senate HQ. Ain't that right, Chace?"
Chace grunted.
"Of course that's right." agreed Ianto. "I'm always right. Now, tell what men of yours are left to get back to their quarters and stay there until called."
Chace groaned, and Jack toed him with his boot, the sharp pain forcing him to comply. He touched a comm unit in his badge and gave a weak order in compliance with Ianto's demands, before being dragged to his feet by the very angry looking cyborg and dragged down a corridor. Jack and Button followed, still feeling guilty, and realized the corridor opened out onto the bridge. Jack glanced around, being reminded of the fact that Ianto was older and very different in some respects than the young man he remembered. Ianto would never have killed a thousand years ago like he had today - he would, however, have tided the bodies up just as neatly.
Jack decided not to ask how Ianto had learnt to kill with his bare hands, and decided it was just his cyborg strength coming into play. He couldn't be properly used to how strong he was just yet, decided Jack. Most of these deaths were probably accidents - Ianto had lashed out in self defence and accidentally broke a neck ... or ripped off a limb. Jack shuddered. Part of him was glad he hadn't actually seen Ianto do this.
Button glanced at the neatly stacked bodies in the corner, but said nothing. He definitely seemed more wary of Ianto, though.
"Authorize the coordinates." Ianto was commanding, and Chace Williams complied without question, his eyes darting to his fallen colleagues, to Ianto and then to the console. He pressed a few buttons under Ianto's watchful eye. A screen flashed confirming the coordinates and authorization, and the engines began to rumble. "How long until we get to the Senate?" Ianto asked.
Chace shuddered, nursing a swelling lip. "An hour at most." he croaked.
Ianto nodded, then holstered the gun, keeping Chace Williams in his line of sight, and went to sit in the Captain's chair. "What's wrong with you two?" he snapped at Jack and Button.
"Button got us high!" whined Jack, stumbling a little as he tried to make his feet get to Ianto.
"The release of chemicals involved with keeping the pseudo-gravity working got them high." corrected Mrs. Cooper. "I did warn them, but apparently the laziest way to get up stairs was the priority."
Ianto arched an eyebrow, opening a compartment in the command chair and pulling out packs of ammunition, tossing them around and listening to the now humiliated and broken Chace Williams weeping on the floor. "J-J-Jura will kill me if you won't ..." he sobbed, applying pressure to nasty-looking gash in his calf. Ianto rolled his eyes and crossed over to him, grabbing a medical kit as he went. Williams shied away from him a little, but Ianto either didn't notice or plainly didn't care. He examined the contents of the kit, injected something into the wound and neutralized the acidic plasma burning through the flesh, easing the pain with some anaesthetic.
He stood and turned to find that Jack had taken over the command chair in his absence, rolling his eyes as his high lover pretended to be having a conversation with Mr. Spock. Ianto scowled when he realized that the role of Mr. Spock had been taken by Button.
"He doesn't even know who Spock is." grumbled Ianto. "Woo he's seen a remake - big deal. He probably thinks that Spock gets off with Uhura and a Tribble is a kind of biscuity snack."
"Ohhh stop grouching!" laughed Jack. "You can be Bones. Kirk and Bones were sooooo doing it."
Ianto rolled his eyes. "You're trapped in remakes." he sighed, but wandered over to stand by Jack anyway. He perched on the arm of the chair as Jack pressed a couple of buttons, plunging them in darkness. Chace Williams shrieked and cursed, and Jack giggled - actually giggled - before turning the lights back on. "Stop that." growled Ianto.
Button was sat at a console, Mrs. Cooper balanced on it and wired up again. Ianto opened his mouth to ask what he was doing, when the darkness hit again. "Jack!"
Jack's laugh echoed through the room, before the lights came back on again. Button threw him a death glare. "Tryna work over here, Kirk!"
"Received and understood, Mr. Spock!"
The lights went out again.
Then on again.
Then off.
On.
Off.
On.
Ianto grabbed Jack's wrist so hard he was worried for a moment he might have broken it. "Out of the chair. You can sit on the floor with Chace in the naughty corner." he scolded.
Jack growled and shook his wrist free, grabbing Ianto and pulling him onto his lap. He was winded with the weight of him, forgetting that he wasn't human and was much heavier than he looked. Ianto scrambled off him as quick as he could, trying not to be angry - he was only being affectionate - but Jack really was getting on his cyber-nerves. "Corner. With Chace. Now." he commanded. Jack sullenly went and sat next to Chace on the floor.
"Demanding isn't he?" he said conversationally.
"I wouldn't cross 'im." groaned Chace.
The tremor in his voice sobered Jack a little, but decided not to ask what had happened on the bridge. Ianto decreed no one should sit in the Command Chair, and began dragging bodies and body parts out of the room. He hesitated and cocked his head as if listening.
"Do you hear that?" he asked.
"What?" asked Button irritably.
"The engines ... they changed pitch. Mrs. Cooper?"
"Scanning now." she replied. There was a small beep. "Someone's hacked a fuel cable down below. I'm redirecting to the emergency supply before we all go kaboom."
Ianto stood in the middle of the bridge, and he and Jack and Button and Chace listened hard. The pitch of the engines dropped a little to more of a hum, and Ianto seemed satisfied. He turned to Chace with a questioning eyebrow.
"Nothing to do with me!" he said frantically. "I swear ... please ... please no ...."
"Gawwd." sighed Jack. "You used to be so frightening."
"I still would be if you hadn't sent your robot on me!" Chace retorted. "What is he? Some kind of dom sex toy?"
Jack curled his fingers around Chace's neck. "Do continue?"
"What have I got left to lose? You're gonna kill me, or Jura is. I may as well go out with a gob on me!"
"Leave him, Jack." called Ianto lazily, dragging another body out of the room.
"He called you a robot!" growled Jack.
"I mostly am." pointed out Ianto.
"You're ... you're human! You're cyborg!"
"Leave. Him. Jack." Ianto reiterated. Jack's grip relinquished and Chace sighed a sigh of relief. "Come with me a moment, Jack." Ianto called, stepping out of the doorway into the corridor - thankfully not the one that was now piled with bodies. Jack heaved himself to his feet and Ianto offered his hand. "Keep an eye on Williams, Button. Don't be afraid to shoot him if he tries to move."
Button nodded without looking away from whatever he was doing on the console or breaking conversation with Mrs. Cooper.
"What's up?" Jack asked.
"What .. what happened in there ...." Ianto said quietly. "I ... I didn't mean to ... they were just ... leering at me and I went ... insane."
Jack said nothing, but pulled him close and kissed him, locking his arms around him. "Just ... don't get kidnapped again, okay?" he whispered, touching their foreheads together.
"Okay." replied Ianto, giving a small laugh. He froze again. "The engines ... they've done it again ..."
Jack felt lonely as Ianto slipped away from him and back onto the bridge asking for a status report from Mrs. Cooper.
"Scanning!" she told him, huffily. "Ah ... the secondary fuel tank has been disengaged and ... jettisoned into space ... we're back on the old fuel line."
"Who could have had authorization to jettiso- oh." Ianto spun around, seeing Williams slumped over a console, lifeless. By his feet was a vial, and Ianto didn't need to be a genius to realize the vial had been filled with poison. "Great. Possible escape before this ship explodes, perhaps?"
"One escape pod, activate it from the command chair and then run."
Button was already on his feet, and Jack had entered to hear the last few sentences of the conversation. "Right, Button - get to the pod. Ianto and I will-"
"You need Mrs. Cooper to override the system." cut in Button. "And then you need someone who actually understands the system to work the override."
Jack bit his lip. "Ianto?"
"We'll hold the doors." said Ianto. "C'mon, Jack."
"You'd better get there in time!" Jack ordered Button.
"Yessir!" Button saluted him, but turned away so fast Jack couldn't quite read his expression.
"No silly heroics. Both me and Ianto can survive this ship exploding."
"Received and understood." replied Button, but he was busy pulling out wires in the command chair and didn't turn around. Jack felt his stomach knot with worry as he turned away from the young man. Jack and Ianto jogged to the pod as the door to it slid open, and a smooth female voice oozed out over the tannoy: "Three minutes and thirty seconds to complete destruction." she schmoozed.
"Thought you might appreciate that!" Button's voice chirped after her.
The pod was tiny, and Jack and Ianto had to stand very close to each other as they sidled to their seats. Ianto hesitated before fastening his harness. "I should stand between the airlock door - the ship won't leave if the door isn't shut." Before Jack could protest, Ianto was on his feet.
"C'mon c'mon c'mon Button!" he was chanting under his breath. Ianto could hear the shrieks and yells of the remaining crew scrabbling over each other to try and get up the stairs - they would have to start from the bottom, and there was only allowance for ten people at the most on the escape pod.
"One minute and thirty seconds to complete destruction." the computer announced, just as Button was rounding the corner, relief written on his face when he saw Ianto waiting for him. With a final burst of energy, he forced himself to sprint flat out, slipping past Ianto into the pod.
"Pod too heavy to jettison. Passengers are reminded that there is a weight limit for the engines on this escape pod."
Button paled, and so did Jack. The Captain sprang to his feet.
"No, Jack." gasped Ianto, stepping backwards out of the pod. Jack followed him, gripping his waist tightly and burying his head in his neck.
"We can survive this together ... I can't leave you ..."
Ianto ran soothing hands up and down Jack's back, shushing him. "It's okay, my love. I'll find you again."
"No!" Jack cried hoarsely.
"I'm sorry-"
"NO!"
"You're going to hate me ..."
Ianto grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him hard, waiting for him to give himself over to the embrace before shoving him roughly through the air lock and into the pod, landing on his back with a loud thud. Ianto punched the emergency launch button and the door instantly slid shut amongst Jack's roar of pain, and Ianto could hear him pounding on the door trying to get out.
"Thirty seconds to complete destruction."
Trying not to hear the words, Ianto walked a little down the hall and to one of the few windows the ship seemed to have. He could see the escape pod vibrating as it prepared to launch, and didn't pity Button the task of calming a very hysterical Jack down. Jack must have felt his gaze, as at that moment he froze and turned. In one movement he was by the window of the pod, hands pressed against the glass and anguish written on his face.
Ianto pressed his hand to the glass, not entirely sure why, and the pod shuddered violently before propelling so fast it was nothing more than a miniscule dot.
The entire ship lurched, and Ianto closed his eyes. The stench of burning hit him first, then the heat, and then the force of the explosion tearing through the ship.
He wondered if he'd ever regain consciousness, never mind see his Jack again.
FIN
Hmmmm .... so people ... PICK YOUR OPTION ...
Last week's vote:
Option 1: 06%
Option 2: 21%
Option 3: 70%
Total 96 votes.
Can't be bothered screencapping - is that bad of me?
Next Part | Previous Part | Torchwood Index | Request a Convo/Prose Fic
Chapter: 06 | One Step Forward
Author: a_silver_story
Genre Alternate Universe, Fluff, a bit domestic, adventure
Rating: G - NC-17
Warnings: SPOILERS FOR COE! DON'T READ!
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.
Summary: Post CoE (begins 3010). Interactive Fiction: the readers have the ultimate say how the next chapter will continue via a poll at the end of each one. (Please remember that as a writer, I can do an RTD, ignore you all and piss off in a totally different direction ... but I wouldn't do that. Not really :p)
FIRST PART of SILVER'VERSE | The Ballad of Ianto Jones: Keeping Promises
FIRST PART of THIS FIC | Starting Over
PREVIOUS | Torchwood Index/Masterlist
06 |
Silver'verse 6
Jack checked the weapon as he ran blindly through the ship, shooting whomever he met in the leg, hip or knee as he fought his way to the bridge. Button was just behind him, brandishing a jet-powered fire extinguisher that he seemed to very much enjoy firing at male genitalia. Jack figured that all ships were set out pretty much the same - the boiler and storage rooms at the back and bottom of the ship, the bridge at the front and top. He decided that using the lifts was too dangerous - the levitation fields around the pod could be switched off and the pod allowed to drop and smash with them inside it, or it could be used as a cell until they ran out of oxygen.
Emergency stairs it was, then. Seventeen floors of them.
He couldn't get the image of Ianto bound to that chair out of his head, even if he showed no fear or unease at the situation. If they figured out that Ianto was cybernized, they might think him completely droid. And if they thought him completely droid, they'd feel no remorse in causing him pain, using his oh-so-human body and then pulling him to bits for spare parts until they found his very, very human brain.
Jack hurtled up the stairs, changing tactics and throwing people down the middle of the stairwell as they charged for him and Button, both of them panting as they worked against the pseudo-gravity to get up the endless flights of steps. There was a shout and yell of anger from above, and a bunch of crewmen came hurtling down the stairs, guns drawn and aimed straight at Jack's chest. At the last moment he ducked, throwing himself down and the gang of armed men tripped and tumbled over themselves in a flurry of cracks and screams as bones broke, crunched and scraped together. Button had to pick his way through the groaning bodies that Jack left in his wake, sending high-pressure jets of chemicals at a few of them for good measure.
Exhausted - and only half way up the stairs - Button collapsed into an alcove, panting and sweating, pulling his collar looser and watching as Jack effortlessly continued upwards. His stomach rumbled loudly and he moaned and whined to himself, wondering why he hadn't had more to eat on the Ambassador ship (even if he had stuffed his face). Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Mrs. Cooper. "There's gotta be an easier way to get up there!" he managed to say through laboured breaths and in slight desperation.
"I could switch the gravity off for a couple of minutes ..." she pondered. "... the change in mechanics could cause a couple of gases with recreational qualities to be produced ... but you'd be up there in no time."
"Do that!" Button demanded, instantly springing to his feet to find some panelling where he could connect her to the mainframe. He found a loose wall tile near the floor and pulled it back, yanking out a tangle of wires and finding the ones Mrs. Cooper would need to infiltrate the system.
Jack was still charging upwards, running on adrenalin, hoping Ianto was either sitting very still or at the least holding his own against the bridge crew men. He still had nine more flights of stairs to go, and his legs were beginning to feel the strain. The PlasmaBullet gun was running out of ammo, and he was very aware of the fact he hadn't run into anyone for a few floors. He realized they were probably all waiting for him at the top. His stomach lurched suddenly as his feet left the floor, and an ominous feeling of weightlessness took hold. For some reason, he found it incredibly funny, and a light fog settling over his brain told him he'd been somehow intoxicated. He grabbed a nearby girder, staring around in shock, wondering what the hell was going. "Button!" he yelled, turning behind him and realizing he was alone. He was about to panic and start fretting that Button had been captured without him noticing, when a young Welshman in a black suit and a very snarky handheld computer floated by his left ear, clearly high as a kite.
"C'mon Jack! It's like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!"
"Oi!" He grabbed Button's ankle and pulled him close, keeping a firm grip around his waist. "We don't know why they switched the gravity off - it could be dangerous just floating into their waiting arms ... and I think - hahahaha - I think we might be drugged."
"We turned the gravity off." replied Button, pointing at Mrs. Cooper. "There was no way I was climbing this many stairs ... and flying is quicker."
"It's not flying ..." grumbled Jack. "It's being trapped in an anti-gravity environment ... with style."
Nevertheless, he pushed Button upwards into the air and used the girder to push himself up. Button let out an almost childish scream of delight, using the nearby walls to somersault his way up a bit higher. Jack laughed with him, his light-headedness distracting him as he began doing some rather gymnastic mid-air back flips. They stilled themselves on the walls opposite each other, pushing off and flying towards one another pulling karate poses and making "Hai-yaaaaaaaaaah! Hoo-warrrrrr!" noises, meeting in the middle and catching each other's hands, the momentum making them spin and laugh hysterically.
"Are you two just ... simple or something?" said a disapproving voice from Button's pocket.
"A'right Coopy?" he laughed, pulling the little console out of his pocket.
"You're supposed to be saving Ianto!" she chastised.
"Yeah!" agreed a deep, familiar and very annoyed voice above them. "You're supposed to be saving Ianto!"
They looked up sheepishly to see a very annoyed Ianto Jones leaning down over the topmost rail, a gun held to the Assassin's head while he fought to keep himself still, clinging to the railing and using his strength to stop his captive from floating away. Sullenly, Jack and Button pushed their way up the walls until they reached them, Button getting himself to a panel, pulling it back and connecting Mrs. Cooper. They all hit the ground with a painful thud - apart from Ianto, who had anticipated what the reintroduction of gravity would imply. Jack had to fight the urge to throw his arms around him, very much aware that he was in trouble and that Ianto had probably had to just fight his way out of restraints, out of the bridge and take a hostage while he and Button had had a senseless relapse to childhood.
"This man's name is Chace Williams." Ianto began. "He's an assassin - but in return for his life, he's going to be very kind and navigate us to the Senate HQ. Ain't that right, Chace?"
Chace grunted.
"Of course that's right." agreed Ianto. "I'm always right. Now, tell what men of yours are left to get back to their quarters and stay there until called."
Chace groaned, and Jack toed him with his boot, the sharp pain forcing him to comply. He touched a comm unit in his badge and gave a weak order in compliance with Ianto's demands, before being dragged to his feet by the very angry looking cyborg and dragged down a corridor. Jack and Button followed, still feeling guilty, and realized the corridor opened out onto the bridge. Jack glanced around, being reminded of the fact that Ianto was older and very different in some respects than the young man he remembered. Ianto would never have killed a thousand years ago like he had today - he would, however, have tided the bodies up just as neatly.
Jack decided not to ask how Ianto had learnt to kill with his bare hands, and decided it was just his cyborg strength coming into play. He couldn't be properly used to how strong he was just yet, decided Jack. Most of these deaths were probably accidents - Ianto had lashed out in self defence and accidentally broke a neck ... or ripped off a limb. Jack shuddered. Part of him was glad he hadn't actually seen Ianto do this.
Button glanced at the neatly stacked bodies in the corner, but said nothing. He definitely seemed more wary of Ianto, though.
"Authorize the coordinates." Ianto was commanding, and Chace Williams complied without question, his eyes darting to his fallen colleagues, to Ianto and then to the console. He pressed a few buttons under Ianto's watchful eye. A screen flashed confirming the coordinates and authorization, and the engines began to rumble. "How long until we get to the Senate?" Ianto asked.
Chace shuddered, nursing a swelling lip. "An hour at most." he croaked.
Ianto nodded, then holstered the gun, keeping Chace Williams in his line of sight, and went to sit in the Captain's chair. "What's wrong with you two?" he snapped at Jack and Button.
"Button got us high!" whined Jack, stumbling a little as he tried to make his feet get to Ianto.
"The release of chemicals involved with keeping the pseudo-gravity working got them high." corrected Mrs. Cooper. "I did warn them, but apparently the laziest way to get up stairs was the priority."
Ianto arched an eyebrow, opening a compartment in the command chair and pulling out packs of ammunition, tossing them around and listening to the now humiliated and broken Chace Williams weeping on the floor. "J-J-Jura will kill me if you won't ..." he sobbed, applying pressure to nasty-looking gash in his calf. Ianto rolled his eyes and crossed over to him, grabbing a medical kit as he went. Williams shied away from him a little, but Ianto either didn't notice or plainly didn't care. He examined the contents of the kit, injected something into the wound and neutralized the acidic plasma burning through the flesh, easing the pain with some anaesthetic.
He stood and turned to find that Jack had taken over the command chair in his absence, rolling his eyes as his high lover pretended to be having a conversation with Mr. Spock. Ianto scowled when he realized that the role of Mr. Spock had been taken by Button.
"He doesn't even know who Spock is." grumbled Ianto. "Woo he's seen a remake - big deal. He probably thinks that Spock gets off with Uhura and a Tribble is a kind of biscuity snack."
"Ohhh stop grouching!" laughed Jack. "You can be Bones. Kirk and Bones were sooooo doing it."
Ianto rolled his eyes. "You're trapped in remakes." he sighed, but wandered over to stand by Jack anyway. He perched on the arm of the chair as Jack pressed a couple of buttons, plunging them in darkness. Chace Williams shrieked and cursed, and Jack giggled - actually giggled - before turning the lights back on. "Stop that." growled Ianto.
Button was sat at a console, Mrs. Cooper balanced on it and wired up again. Ianto opened his mouth to ask what he was doing, when the darkness hit again. "Jack!"
Jack's laugh echoed through the room, before the lights came back on again. Button threw him a death glare. "Tryna work over here, Kirk!"
"Received and understood, Mr. Spock!"
The lights went out again.
Then on again.
Then off.
On.
Off.
On.
Ianto grabbed Jack's wrist so hard he was worried for a moment he might have broken it. "Out of the chair. You can sit on the floor with Chace in the naughty corner." he scolded.
Jack growled and shook his wrist free, grabbing Ianto and pulling him onto his lap. He was winded with the weight of him, forgetting that he wasn't human and was much heavier than he looked. Ianto scrambled off him as quick as he could, trying not to be angry - he was only being affectionate - but Jack really was getting on his cyber-nerves. "Corner. With Chace. Now." he commanded. Jack sullenly went and sat next to Chace on the floor.
"Demanding isn't he?" he said conversationally.
"I wouldn't cross 'im." groaned Chace.
The tremor in his voice sobered Jack a little, but decided not to ask what had happened on the bridge. Ianto decreed no one should sit in the Command Chair, and began dragging bodies and body parts out of the room. He hesitated and cocked his head as if listening.
"Do you hear that?" he asked.
"What?" asked Button irritably.
"The engines ... they changed pitch. Mrs. Cooper?"
"Scanning now." she replied. There was a small beep. "Someone's hacked a fuel cable down below. I'm redirecting to the emergency supply before we all go kaboom."
Ianto stood in the middle of the bridge, and he and Jack and Button and Chace listened hard. The pitch of the engines dropped a little to more of a hum, and Ianto seemed satisfied. He turned to Chace with a questioning eyebrow.
"Nothing to do with me!" he said frantically. "I swear ... please ... please no ...."
"Gawwd." sighed Jack. "You used to be so frightening."
"I still would be if you hadn't sent your robot on me!" Chace retorted. "What is he? Some kind of dom sex toy?"
Jack curled his fingers around Chace's neck. "Do continue?"
"What have I got left to lose? You're gonna kill me, or Jura is. I may as well go out with a gob on me!"
"Leave him, Jack." called Ianto lazily, dragging another body out of the room.
"He called you a robot!" growled Jack.
"I mostly am." pointed out Ianto.
"You're ... you're human! You're cyborg!"
"Leave. Him. Jack." Ianto reiterated. Jack's grip relinquished and Chace sighed a sigh of relief. "Come with me a moment, Jack." Ianto called, stepping out of the doorway into the corridor - thankfully not the one that was now piled with bodies. Jack heaved himself to his feet and Ianto offered his hand. "Keep an eye on Williams, Button. Don't be afraid to shoot him if he tries to move."
Button nodded without looking away from whatever he was doing on the console or breaking conversation with Mrs. Cooper.
"What's up?" Jack asked.
"What .. what happened in there ...." Ianto said quietly. "I ... I didn't mean to ... they were just ... leering at me and I went ... insane."
Jack said nothing, but pulled him close and kissed him, locking his arms around him. "Just ... don't get kidnapped again, okay?" he whispered, touching their foreheads together.
"Okay." replied Ianto, giving a small laugh. He froze again. "The engines ... they've done it again ..."
Jack felt lonely as Ianto slipped away from him and back onto the bridge asking for a status report from Mrs. Cooper.
"Scanning!" she told him, huffily. "Ah ... the secondary fuel tank has been disengaged and ... jettisoned into space ... we're back on the old fuel line."
"Who could have had authorization to jettiso- oh." Ianto spun around, seeing Williams slumped over a console, lifeless. By his feet was a vial, and Ianto didn't need to be a genius to realize the vial had been filled with poison. "Great. Possible escape before this ship explodes, perhaps?"
"One escape pod, activate it from the command chair and then run."
Button was already on his feet, and Jack had entered to hear the last few sentences of the conversation. "Right, Button - get to the pod. Ianto and I will-"
"You need Mrs. Cooper to override the system." cut in Button. "And then you need someone who actually understands the system to work the override."
Jack bit his lip. "Ianto?"
"We'll hold the doors." said Ianto. "C'mon, Jack."
"You'd better get there in time!" Jack ordered Button.
"Yessir!" Button saluted him, but turned away so fast Jack couldn't quite read his expression.
"No silly heroics. Both me and Ianto can survive this ship exploding."
"Received and understood." replied Button, but he was busy pulling out wires in the command chair and didn't turn around. Jack felt his stomach knot with worry as he turned away from the young man. Jack and Ianto jogged to the pod as the door to it slid open, and a smooth female voice oozed out over the tannoy: "Three minutes and thirty seconds to complete destruction." she schmoozed.
"Thought you might appreciate that!" Button's voice chirped after her.
The pod was tiny, and Jack and Ianto had to stand very close to each other as they sidled to their seats. Ianto hesitated before fastening his harness. "I should stand between the airlock door - the ship won't leave if the door isn't shut." Before Jack could protest, Ianto was on his feet.
"C'mon c'mon c'mon Button!" he was chanting under his breath. Ianto could hear the shrieks and yells of the remaining crew scrabbling over each other to try and get up the stairs - they would have to start from the bottom, and there was only allowance for ten people at the most on the escape pod.
"One minute and thirty seconds to complete destruction." the computer announced, just as Button was rounding the corner, relief written on his face when he saw Ianto waiting for him. With a final burst of energy, he forced himself to sprint flat out, slipping past Ianto into the pod.
"Pod too heavy to jettison. Passengers are reminded that there is a weight limit for the engines on this escape pod."
Button paled, and so did Jack. The Captain sprang to his feet.
"No, Jack." gasped Ianto, stepping backwards out of the pod. Jack followed him, gripping his waist tightly and burying his head in his neck.
"We can survive this together ... I can't leave you ..."
Ianto ran soothing hands up and down Jack's back, shushing him. "It's okay, my love. I'll find you again."
"No!" Jack cried hoarsely.
"I'm sorry-"
"NO!"
"You're going to hate me ..."
Ianto grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him hard, waiting for him to give himself over to the embrace before shoving him roughly through the air lock and into the pod, landing on his back with a loud thud. Ianto punched the emergency launch button and the door instantly slid shut amongst Jack's roar of pain, and Ianto could hear him pounding on the door trying to get out.
"Thirty seconds to complete destruction."
Trying not to hear the words, Ianto walked a little down the hall and to one of the few windows the ship seemed to have. He could see the escape pod vibrating as it prepared to launch, and didn't pity Button the task of calming a very hysterical Jack down. Jack must have felt his gaze, as at that moment he froze and turned. In one movement he was by the window of the pod, hands pressed against the glass and anguish written on his face.
Ianto pressed his hand to the glass, not entirely sure why, and the pod shuddered violently before propelling so fast it was nothing more than a miniscule dot.
The entire ship lurched, and Ianto closed his eyes. The stench of burning hit him first, then the heat, and then the force of the explosion tearing through the ship.
He wondered if he'd ever regain consciousness, never mind see his Jack again.
FIN
Hmmmm .... so people ... PICK YOUR OPTION ...
Last week's vote:
Option 1: 06%
Option 2: 21%
Option 3: 70%
Total 96 votes.
Can't be bothered screencapping - is that bad of me?
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