My own "Fix-It"
Ok. I still haven't and will never see COE. So this is most likely very AU. Still I've read enough of the reviews and saw a picture of Jack holding his grandson to get an idea. Then this vision of the TARDIS came to me and I had to write this. Please forgive me if the beginning does not quite conform to the scene in the show. I tried to keep it vague but it might be slightly confusing.
Still I hope it is enjoyed by those who read. This is not meant to be a good story or my best written story. It is merely the kind to get the vision out of my head.
Title: Alternate
Rating: PG?
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Warning: Um... not the greatest written story? To easy a fix-it? AU! AU!
Summary: Never should have been the way it was...
It was the moment. The 456 were coming. There was only one answer, one moment. No time to choose another... no thought as to the morality to choose any of them.
Jack stared at his grandson. The boy looked back, confused and fearful but trusting... oh so trusting.... his grandson...
"I'm sorry." He didn't know if it spoke it or thought it. Ianto was dead. His soul was crushed... and now... this. He could almost hear his daughter's screams... begging... his child... his grandchild...
Jack squeezed his eyes shut. No. Children were precious... where he came from they were valuable... hope of the future. What the hell what he doing? He couldn't... no...
A sound began... Jack surged forward as Steven began to gasp then cry. No. There had to be another way... but even as he approached he was thrown to the floor, nearly electrocuted. Around him UNIT soldiers suddenly aimed their weapons at him. Jack ignored them as the child cried again... he had to...
Then another sound... a whisper of a sound... whisper becoming a grinding and knocking... Steven's cries were swallowed as an old, familiar police box surrounded him. A moment later the TARDIS was fully materialized.
There was that moment of silence, when surprise caused one to have to realign perception. There was an order and UNIT soldiers began to shoot at the police box.
Then a moment later the shooting stopped, the soldiers lay on the floor. Jack looked around. Not dead... unconscious. The TARDIS, as expected, was unmarked. Jack slowly got to his feet, wondering what to do next. The 456 were coming.... were going to take the children... all the children they wanted... they...
"Dad! What's happening!" Jack turned to see his daughter run towards him, her face a terrible mixture of terror and anger.
Sound... much like the sound of the UNIT's device began to fill the spaces around them. Frequency. The frequency was being sent... but Steven...
"Steven!" Alice moved towards the TARDIS and began to pound on the door, pulling on the handle, screaming for her son. Jack came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"It's all right," he assured. The Doctor was here. The Doctor had come. But Steven...
"Let me go!" She fought his hold. "You bastard! You've killed him! You've killed my son!"
As suddenly as the sound, the frequency, began, it ended. Jack kept hold of his daughter but said nothing more. It was true... he had killed his grandson. He had allowed Ianto to die when he could have kept him safe. He had--
The TARDIS door opened. The Doctor's head popped out. Serious. Dark and serious. Jack hadn't seen that expression since the Time Lord had been restored on the Valliant, since he had held the Master in his arms...
"Where's my son!" Alice cried out, still fighting. "Who the hell are you!"
The Time Lord's eyes focused on her then flicked to Jack. His expression softened as his attention returned to Alice. "I'm the Doctor," he said quietly as he opened the door wider. "Your son is safe." His hand gestured within. "Go ahead. There's a door on the other side. Your son is there."
Alice stilled. "You're Jack's Doctor?"
The Doctor tilted his head, his lips twitched upward. "Go see your son," he answered. "I'll explain later." His eyes rested on Jack. "You can let go," he told him.
Let go. Jack automatically obeyed, released his daughter. Alice stepped forward and gazed at the Doctor then at the lighted interior behind him.
"Go ahead," the Time Lord encouraged.
Alice nodded but just before she entered she swiftly turned and slapped Jack in the face then continued into the TARDIS.
Jack made no move to react to the slap. He deserved it. Deserved much more. He faced the Doctor. "I--"
"Hush." The Doctor's voice was very quiet, very gentle. "It's all right." He glanced back at the TARDIS. "You never told me... you had a child."
"I was so used to hiding her, protecting her." Jack swallowed, his mind still reeling. The Doctor was here. The 456... "The children, Doctor. They--"
"The creatures are dealt with," the Doctor said simply as he combed fingers through his hair, suddenly deflated. "They... don't know how they did it... they sent a ripple into the Vortex. I tried to get here but wound up... in the future.... few days from now."
There was pain and tragedy in his tone. Jack opened his mouth though he didn't know what to say or ask. But the Doctor held up his hand in a command to remain silent.
"It's all right, Jack. I can't tell you everything but I can tell you that having children when you have them is all right. And grandchildren." He smiled. "She looks like you, has your spirit. So does Steven."
Steven. Jack's eyes burned, his vision blurred. "I've killed him!"
"No... not this time. You were never meant to."
A flash nearby made them both turn. A thin ghostly woman stood, her expression calm but deadly serious. Her eyes touched the Doctor. "Seems we are in your debt again, Doctor."
The Time Lord shook his head. "Call it mutual assistance. You have significant terrorists in your custody and I have--" His hand landed on Jack's shoulder. "We both have salvaged something very precious. Don't you think?"
Jack shivered as the woman's strange eyes fell on him. For a single moment his mind perceived shock then raised mental shields. "You did not say..." She stopped. "You should have said."
"Well..." The Doctor shrugged. "Needed to be as it was. Surely you understand."
Annoyance wafted over the ghostly woman's otherwise austere features. Jack almost smiled in a moment of complete understanding. Then the woman gave the Time Lord a brief nod of respect. "The Shadow Proclamation thanks you, Doctor. We owe a debt." Her eyes moved once more to Jack. "We shall know each other again."
And she was gone. Jack stared at the space, thoughts and emotions whirling against each other. What the hell was going on? The Shadow Proclamation... how...
"I can't tell you, Jack," the Doctor said as if reading his thoughts. "Just trust me. The creatures you know as the 456 won't be back. In fact they won't be back anywhere."
Back. Gone. "Steven." He looked at the TARDIS, at the light flooding into the area as some of the Doctor's words penetrated. "Steven's alive?"
The Doctor smiled. "Quite. Little bit ruffled... the process had started. But all sorted now. TARDIS loves him by the way."
Steven. Jack wanted to run into the TARDIS, grab the little boy he nearly murdered and hug him close but held his place. Alice was in there. He had nearly sacrificed his grandson... would have if not for...
"It's all right, Jack. You did what had to do... I understand. I'm sure Alice will in time."
Jack shook his head. "She... she's never understood." He gave a wry grin. "Bad enough dad was from the future and couldn't die... she doesn't even know..." He sighed. "I let her believe the woman I left her with was her mother."
"Ah." The Doctor held out a hand. "Come on. Need to show you."
Feeling out of kilter, his sense of reality challenged, Jack simply took the Doctor's hand, felt a gentle tingle filter through his body. Energy. The Doctor was sharing his energy... finding and soothing the hurt. "I'm sorry."
"No need." The Doctor stepped closer, the finger of his other hand briefly caressed Jack's cheek. "It's all right. All of it." He tugged Jack's hand. "Come on."
Feelings of welcome... of home.... surrounded Jack as he entered the TARDIS. Some concern followed as if sensing the terror within Jack, the grief just settling within his soul, his loss of Ianto the day before. Ianto...
The Doctor opened the door. Instead of the corridor he expected there was Medbay.
"Uncle Jack!"
Steven sat on a bed, his clothes replaced by a simple cotton shift. His eyes glowed as he spotted Jack and he began to jump off the bed, held back by Alice before he could complete the move. "Mum..."
"No." Alice was resolute. Jack itched to touch the boy but respected his daughter's command.
"I understand, Alice," the Doctor said as he stepped forward. "But it's done. Jack did the only thing he could have done. But none of it should have happened. All sorted now."
"Easily said, Doctor." Alice put her arms around her child. "But my fath... Jack made his choice. It would have happened."
The Doctor sighed. "Your trust has been broken. But I promise it will mend." He glanced towards the boy. "Let Jack see him."
There was a moment of stasis then Alice closed her eyes and a small sob escaped her. "All right." She let him go.
The tears began to flow as Jack enveloped Steven in his arms. "God... I'm so sorry." He kissed his grandson's hair. "So sorry."
"It's okay... Uncle Jack." Steven held him close. "The Doctor told me you were trying to help."
Jack could do nothing but hold on, his heart breaking over and over. He had meant to do it. After Ianto's death he knew he had to do it. And Steven was the only one he had time to use...
"All done, Jack." The Doctor's hand was on his head. Again the mental soothing. "All safe. Steven?"
"Doctor?" Steven struggled to raise his head from Jack's embrace.
"Why don't you keep your mother company for a bit. Have something to talk to Jack about. All right?"
"Okay. Uncle Jack?"
Jack sniffled but drew back. He touched his grandson everywhere, his face... his hair... his neck. All warm and solid. "I'll come back. Okay?" He glanced up at Alice. It was her decision.
His daughter's expression was slightly less challenging. But still the fear... the anger... remained. "For now."
Jack nodded then let his grandson go with a kiss on his forehead. "What do you need to tell me?" he asked as he followed the Time Lord out.
"So much shouldn't have happened, Jack," the Doctor said as he led him down a corridor then a turn. "I'm so sorry I was almost too late."
"Steven's alive." Ianto was dead. But his grandson lived.
"Here." The Doctor stopped in front of a door. Jack immediate recognized it.
"My room." He stared at the Time Lord. "What-"
"Go in," the Doctor commanded. "Go on."
Puzzled Jack obeyed. The room was dim but looked much as he left it, just after the Valliant. After the Doctor had burned the Master on a pyre he had brought the Time Lord here... made love to him in an attempt to heal. Was the Doctor trying to return the favor? If so... "Doctor, I can't... I--"
"No, Jack. One more thing I was able to do but you need to complete the process because you have the energy." The Doctor gestured. "Look.'
His bed. Jack looked then frowned. There was a shadow lying there. Jack's heart pounded through his throat as he recognized the still figure. "Ianto." He took two steps towards the bed. His lover lay on the bed, covered by a sheet, his body preserved but deadly still. "Doctor, what--"
"The virus is short lived," the Doctor began quietly. "Never would have made it to the larger population. Never meant to... would have destroyed their source of merchandise," he said in disgust. "When they forced me into the future I saw the result, Jack. You were... broken... gone. They saw you as a threat to their trade and broke you so they could return again and again."
"But he's still dead!" Jack yelled, as he turned on the Time Lord. What was going on? Why would he do this macabre thing? Punishment? "What are you--"
The Doctor closed the space between them. His hand cupped Jack's cheek. In the mental link they shared some of the shock and anger was drawn back. "Listen carefully, Jack," he commanded, still caressing. "Because they had disturbed the timeline I was able to interfere. I went back and got him just after... you left. His life signs had not completely left him so I put in stasis and found an antidote. It's worked but he just needs a little jump start."
Hardly believing Jack faced him. "Jump start?"
The Doctor's expression was full of gentle joy. "He needs a little Vortex energy... just a little." He leaned forward and gave Jack a quick kiss. "Inside you, Jack. Just a kiss."
Kiss. For a moment memories of darkness... of blood... of a Cyberwoman strayed across his mind. Ianto lay still on the floor, unmoving. Nearly gone.
"Go to him, Jack. He's waiting."
Then he understood even as part of him still felt this was all a cruel dream. He had already begun to think it was time to leave. Over a century of living in Torchwood had given him some valuable alien contacts and a communication device. He needed to find his Manipulator. But then he'd be gone...
"Jack."
Calm. Gentle. Powerful. Jack stared at the Doctor then turned his attention back to the bed, to Ianto Jones. So young... so brave.... so...
"Sleeping Beauty, Jack," the Doctor prompted as his touch ended and the other man drew back. "Don't be afraid, Jack. Go to him."
Sleeping Beauty. Jack forced himself to move. Within his body that odd energy he had lived with nearly two centuries... nearly two thousand years... began to gather. It was something he learned he could share by accident, during World War I. But he also discovered the limitations. It was merely a boost, a stopgap. It didn't always work and never when the injuries were mortal.
Yet Ianto was different. After being thrown across the HUB he lay unmoving, his neck, Jack sensed, broken. Dying. But in spite of his anger, his sense that this young man had betrayed him, he also felt a strange spark. Somehow he needed this man in his life. With that understanding he had given Ianto what he could, surprised when more of the energy left him and entered the dying man. Moments later Ianto gasped, his eyes opened. He had been healed, made whole...
A gentle brush on the back of his head brought Jack attention back to the present. Jack found himself sitting on the bed. "Kiss him, Jack."
Kiss. Jack suppressed a sob. Without a word he gathered Ianto into his arms. He had expected a cold, stiff body. But instead Ianto was pliable, coolly warm. Waiting. A spark. As Jack leaned forward then began the kiss. His last he believed even as the energy left him to fill the body he held. It was too hard to believe, too hard to have faith... even in the Doctor... for this.
Around him there was silence. Even the TARDIS' constant hum was absent as if waiting, hoping.
Then... moments later... there was a gasp and Ianto's eyes opened...
Okay... that's it.... out of my system... not a great story but an expression. Hope it was enjoyed by those who read.... thank you!!!