Love Will Tear Us Apart
Title: Love Will Tear Us Apart (17/21)
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Owen suggested, hints of Ianto/Tosh.
Rating: NC17
Summary: Why leaving Owen alone with alien tech is a supremely bad idea...
Spoilers: Probably past end of series 1. To be safe.
Warnings: Slightly cracky, slash, language.
Author's Notes: Uh...alien tech made us do it. *nods* We're totally innocent. *snerk* Feedback will be loved and adored. Flamers will be fed to Myfanwy.
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen
The day had been entirely too fucking long and much too fucking difficult for Jack. His own emotions going through a shredder and then having to pretend that everything was fine did that to a man.
He groaned and lay back on his bed, remembering a time when he wouldn't have been able to lie here alone, Ianto would have insisted on coming with him in case he needed anything and lying with him while he slowly let his fugue die out.
Ianto had been doing one last circuit of the Hub, sniffing and mrowring at everything in sight, checking everything was ok before heading, tentatively, through to Jack’s office. He wasn’t sure if he would be welcome, like this. Wasn’t sure if he would have a place in Jack’s arms. And while the desire for anything sexual with the other man was utterly gone, he ached to feel Jack’s hands sliding over him, arms around him.
He padded over to the entrance to Jack’s quarters, paused for a moment, then leapt down the hole, landing silently on the floor, perfectly poised on his new limbs. He still ached, a little, but it was fading now as his body grew used to new ways of movement.
Carefully, he approached Jack’s bed, soft chuff of greeting as he nudged Jack’s hand with his nose. The hand disappeared over the edge of the bed, and Ianto took that as invitation more than withdrawal, leaping up onto the bed and sprawling out against Jack’s side. He laid his head on Jack’s stomach, looking up at him soulfully.
Jack chuckled and gave in, petting Ianto and scratching him behind his ears. "Even as a bloody cat you look gorgeous." Jack muttered, wrapping an arm around the soft and very very warm body. He sighed and let his head fall back on his pillows as he felt Ianto's head rest on his chest, nuzzling against him softly.
"I know, I love you too Yan."
Purring his approval, Ianto nuzzled Jack softly, paws pressing against Jack’s chest, dragging his paws down Jack’s shirt, as if trying to pull it off.
“Want feel you.” He murmured haltingly, hoarsely. He nipped at one of the buttons with sharp teeth, wanting to feel warm skin pressed against his fur. “Miss your hugs.” It had only been a day, but Ianto was nearly trembling, letting himself fall apart, just a little, now they were alone. He had to try and be strong, for Jack, but he couldn’t, not quite the same way as he did around Tosh, and Owen, and Gwen.
Hiding the trembling with a loud purr that shook his body just the same, Ianto nuzzled at Jack, warm weight of his tail resting across Jack’s waist.
Jack started when he felt Ianto's paws tearing at the buttons of his shirt, his nose pushing at the braces as if trying to get them off. "Easy, easy Ianto..." Jack mumbled, giving in and shedding his shirt and undershirt to crawl back on the bed and wrap his arms rather awkwardly around the rather large cat.
"How bad is it to say that this is not the strangest position and or creature I've ever been in my bed?" Jack said, trying to lighten the mood as he felt Ianto's tail wrap around his waist like it would during sex. "Oh, Yan..." He sighed softly, kissing the top of his head sadly.
Ianto lay half-on top of Jack, paws resting on his chest, chin between them as he looked up at Jack. He closed his eyes at the soft kiss, purring dying down, just a little. He couldn’t offer any reassurance, anything to take away the sorrow in Jack’s eyes. All he could do was lie there, warm against Jack’s side, trying to hold on to what little of himself he had left.
“Hub safe.” He murmured softly, opening one eye to look at Jack. “Myfanwy sleeping.” He found it easier to talk in these odd, contracted sentences - hated it, with every fibre of his being, but he was less likely to forget what he was trying to say.
"Mmm," Jack was reasonably distracted by the warmth radiating from Ianto's furry body. "And Ianto warm." Jack traced his fingers idly behind his ears, humming softly and just letting his thoughts wander as he scratched the warm fur.
"You are unbelievably warm this way..." He said, just to have a bit of conversation going. "If you insist on sleeping up here, I may not need to use a blanket anymore..."
Ianto laughed softly, pressing more tightly against Jack’s side. “Useful me.” He purred throatily, eyes sliding half shut as Jack’s fingers scratched just perfectly behind his ears. “Feels nice. Love your hands.” He sighed softly, paws still against Jack’s chest. Reaching up, he gently patted Jack’s face with his paw, wishing he could hold on to Jack, properly.
Jack actually laughed, watching and feeling Ianto struggle to comfort Jack with normal human movements that seemed so awkward coming from a cat. "Oh, I love you Yan." He murmured, smiling despite his sadness as he moved to kiss in between Ianto's eyes, softly rubbing at that very soft bit of fur there.
From above them, Jack's weevil alarm went off, alerting them that somewhere one of the foul things had gotten loose. Jack groaned and rolled away from Ianto and towards his dresser, grabbing a shirt and his cell phone and immediately dialing for Owen.
Ianto ‘mrow’ed happily as Jack kissed and petted him, the sound dissolving into a growl of discontent as Jack’s alarm went off. He slinked off the bed, watching Jack move around the room, quickly and efficiently dressing. Ianto leapt up into Jack’s office, automatically moving to the coatstand to grab Jack’s coat for him. Ah.
Sitting, he frowned for a moment, before carefully standing up on his hind legs, grasping the coat in his teeth at the collar, and dragging it off the coatstand. He sat at the entrance to Jack’s quarters, waiting patiently with the coat hanging from his mouth.
Jack finished buttoning his shirt and thumbed off the call button on his phone, having gotten just Owen's answer phone instead of the man himself. "Can not bloody go after the damn things on my own. Tell him he's going to be on call but he doesn't even answer his fucking phone..." Jack grumbled, stopping when he saw Ianto sitting patiently by the hole in the floor, his coat in his mouth and his tail curled around him.
Jack tentatively took his coat and looked Ianto over, reaching a hand out to feel the muscles and strength beneath the layers of fur. Jack slowly pulled his coat on and grabbed the keys to the SUV before jerking his head, "Come on Yan, let's go catch some weevils."
Ianto growled his approval, bounding past Jack towards the garage. He was eager to get out into the fresh air, to see just what his new body could do. He followed Jack towards the SUV, leaping up into the front seat, sitting primly in the front passenger seat, tail curled around the front of his paws.
“Owen busy?” He asked, somehow managing to get across the disdain in his voice, even managing a hint of an arched eyebrow under that black fur.
"Owen shagging some bird and not answering his phone so leaving his boss to perhaps handle a very dangerous predator alone and get possibly killed." Jack replied, sliding into the drivers seat and smoothly exiting the garage. "The fact that said boss dying isn't the end of the world, or even the boss' life is irrelevant."
Jack turned to grin at the rather panther like animal next to him. "But then, I'm sure you can take on quite a bit of danger like this, yeah?" Jack followed the roads that the navigation system told him was necessary to find the weevil. He quickly threw the car into park when the system beeped to let him know they were there. "Come on!"
Ianto leapt from the car, somehow seeming more threatening than he had appeared at the Hub. He prowled down the alleyway beside Jack, eyes narrowed as he sniffed the air. Rubbish rotting, stench of beer, homeless man from a few hours ago…ah, there.
“Left.” He murmured quietly, nodding towards an alleyway just off to the side. “Weevil.” He could smell the creature, the stench of it making him wrinkle his nose. He looked up at Jack, waiting for his orders.
Jack nodded and reached for the weevil spray that had only ever really worked for Ianto anyways. "You stay back..." Jack murmured softly, hearing Ianto pause as he walked forward, the spray out in front and his other hand reaching for his gun just in case.
The weevil crouched down, hissing and growling at Jack as he approached. "Come on now, we need to get you someplace else pally." The weevil didn't seem to like Jack and he liked the spray even less, roaring and knocking Jack back and into the brick wall when he got sprayed with the stuff.
Ianto didn’t like just sitting back, but Jack knew what he was doing, knew how to handle himself.
Only not, apparently. Ianto saw red when the Weevil slammed Jack into the wall, growling loudly as Jack slid down, clearly unconscious. Crouching down, Ianto sprang, loud roar breaking free as he pounced on the Weevil. He tore at the creature with claws and teeth, not satisfied when the Weevil’s frantic screeches died into silence, only stopping when he had ripped its throat out, body reduced to little more than a bloody pulp.
Jack groaned, trying to clear his head when he heard a loud roar followed by a weaker, almost squeak. There were snarls and growls and the tearing of flesh and then just the clatter of feet on the pavement. Slowly, Jack stood up, gripping his head and surveying the scene. Ianto stood, looking for the first time since his transformation like he could do some serious damage, with blood on his fur and dripping from his fangs.
Further down the alley, Owen and Gwen panted, having apparently just gotten there and just a few moments too late. "Right so, no one attacks Jack for fear of retribution from Super Kitty, got it."
Ianto turned, snarling at Owen. He turned his head, spitting onto the pavement, tongue hanging out in disgust. Weevils tasted utterly foul. He padded over to Jack, nuzzling at his hand, wanting to check that he was ok. He pulled back, though, realising he’d left a smear of blood across the back of Jack’s hand.
“Sorry.” He growled, licking his whiskers clean with a grimace. “Taste bad.” He gestured towards the Weevil with a dismissive flick of his head.
Jack let out a sarcastic chuckle as he stretched his back and reached to the back of his head to check if he was bleeding. "Owen, if you could..." Jack gestured to the mangled corpse of the weevil and glared when Owen shot him a disgusted look.
"I think he might have knocked more than the wind out of me with that throw..." He muttered, stretching again and looking thankfully down at Ianto. "Thanks, Yan." He smiled and headed towards the SUV as Owen finished burning the corpse and anything that could prove that it was not of Earth. "Come on, I'll need you to come back to the Hub with me to deal with those ashes..." Owen clambored in, quickly followed by Gwen, Owen glared when Ianto jumped into the passenger seat, but still, said nothing.
Ianto merely glared back, sticking his nose up in the air a little. He wasn’t any happier than Owen about the fact that he stank of Weevil and blood, but there wasn’t much he could do. Maybe if Owen hadn’t been too busy fucking Gwen, they might have been able to avoid it.
He started licking himself, mewling in disgust at the taste, but knowing it was the only way he was going to get clean.
Jack looked over at Ianto and frowned, "You're going to need a bath Ianto, there's no way around it." Jack knew without Ianto even having to open his mouth to say anything, nor Jack even needing to look at him, that Ianto supremely disapproved of this plan.
"Ianto..." He murmured softly as they pulled into the base, Jack throwing the car in park. "Owen, get rid of those ashes and then come find me in the third level cells, Ianto come with me and Gwen," Jack paused to look at her a moment before giving her a sheepish look. "Do you mind taking care of the SUV?" Jack jumped out and headed into the base, Ianto lumbering after him.
Ianto glared. And proceeded to ignore Jack. A bath? Nope. Definitely not happening. He followed Jack obediently, though, looking warily at him. The only thing keeping him from pouting was the fact that Gwen had to clean the SUV. One job he definitely didn’t miss.
“No bath.” He growled quietly, padding along by Jack’s side. “No like.”
Jack led Ianto into one of the decontamination cells, there was a sort of hot tub that had bacterial water, perfect for relaxing in and making sure all of the unnecessary alien material was no long on you (the hot tub had been Jack's own design). But in the shape he was, it was doubtful Jack would be able to get him into the tub.
"Right then." Jack took of his shoes and socks and rolled up his sleeves and turned to grab a hose and a bucket of water right as Owen arrived. "I don't care if you don't like them Ianto, I won't have you turning into half-weevil or god knows what else because you didn't like getting wet." Jack nodded and Owen slipped a collar and a rope to a post and tied Ianto down.
"I'm sorry Yan," Jack murmured before turning the water on.
Ianto was so busy paying attention to Jack and The Hose that he realised too late what Owen was up to. Yowling, he lunged at the smaller man, who hurriedly jumped back out of reach of the water and Ianto’s claws.
Hissing and spitting at both of them, Ianto glared through the spray of water, wriggling as he tried to get free, eventually giving up and curling up into a ball against the tiles, trying to cover as much of himself as he could. Eventually, the evil spray of cold water stopped. Ianto lifted his head, ears drooping, looking laughable but for the expression of utter hatred in his eyes. He was shivering, sneezing softly as he sat up, shaking himself vigorously, splattering both Owen and Jack with water.
Jack just sighed and reached out to help Ianto dry off, trying to offer a bit of an apology for what he felt was necessary. Ianto just hissed and took off for the Hub, ears and tail sagging under the weight of the water.
Jack sighed and dropped the towel, his body heaving as he turned to take care of the leftover mess. "Jack, do you..." Owen began, looking entirely too uncomfortable and not sure what he should be saying exactly. Jack just shook his head and waved Owen on, "No, I got it. Go get Gwen and take her home." Owen nodded and left Jack to his mess.
It took longer than he had thought to clean up the decontamination cells and then to check over the SUV and fix whatever Gwen had not known to do, so it was at least two hours later when he slowly climbed up the steps to his office and began work on the paperwork that still sat at his desk to be done.
Ianto had found a nice spot on top of one of the boilers in the basement, warm enough that he dried off, though he was more than a little fluffy. Not that he knew that, because he couldn’t actually see himself. Once he was warm again, he slinked into the Hub’s main area, carefully avoiding Jack’s room other than to cast a glare in his general direction, and heading up to his ledge, up near Myfanwy’s nest. He curled up on the ledge, licking his paws carefully, trying to flatten the fluffed-up fur a little. He gave up eventually, curling up with his tail over his nose, eyes half shut. He wasn’t going down to see Jack. Evil man.
Jack rubbed at the bridge of his nose before slowly walking over to the small kitchenette and making himself some coffee for a late night. It was something he missed, though not something he would probably mention to Ianto, the amazing coffee at all hours of the day. Realizing that neither he nor Ianto had had anything to eat since that morning, Jack searched through the refrigerator for left overs while he let the coffee brew.
Feeling that pizza might be easier on himself than Ianto, Jack heated up a bit of peking duck and a bit of chicken and arranged it on a plate for Ianto. He knew the man was in the hub, sulking and not wanting to come out and see him and Jack understood. "I left some food out if you want it Ianto... It's in the kitchen." Jack said to the empty air, hands in his pockets as he returned to get his own food and head back to the office.
A dark shape flowed smoothly down the Hub wall, movements almost like liquid as he jumped from one invisible ledge to the next. He slunk across to the kitchenette, wolfing down the cooked meat that Jack had left out for him. His ears slowly perked up a little, the food going some way to an apology. But still. Water wasn’t exactly his best friend. It had been Weevil blood, that was all. Hadn’t ever hurt him as a human, why would it do anything now?
He sneezed gently, licking the plate clean with a quiet ‘mrowr’ of happiness.
Jack stood in the doorway to his office, leaning against the door jam and watching Ianto finish eating. "I'm sorry for the bath." He said softly, knowing that Ianto would hear him and not wanting to frighten him off. "Just, okay a bit over protective of you. One bit of alien tech already did something to you, don't want anything else happening."
He took a sip of his scotch and shrugged. "Besides, who knows, maybe weevil blood is toxic to cats?"
Ianto sneezed again, carefully licking his whiskers as he turned, looking at Jack for a moment before giving in. He had meant well, after all.
“Sorry for angry.” He murmured, padding over to Jack, nuzzling at his hand apologetically. “Don’t like water.” He licked Jack’s hand, nipping gently at his fingers as the other man took far too long to start petting him.
“Working?” He looked past Jack at his desk, the lamp on, pen laid down on top of a pile of folders.
"It's fine." Jack answered, letting his hand slowly move to scratch at the spot behind Ianto's ears and smiling at the resounding purr that he received for it. "It's nothing really important, actually it's the balance books you used to work on." He said with a bit of a chuckle. "I've had to take them back over again and am re-familiarizing myself with your unique bit of mathematics."
Jack looked at the desk and then down to Ianto and it wasn't too difficult of a decision to make. "Come on, a bit of sleep will probably do us both some good." Jack watched as Ianto jumped down into his room as if it were the easiest thing and went to turn off the computers and the lights before heading down as well.
Ianto made a dismissive noise. His maths was faultless, it was Jack’s that was…damn it, he couldn’t think of the word. Padding past Jack, he jumped down into Jack’s quarters, curling up on the foot of Jack’s bed. He wasn’t feeling quite so needy tonight, but if Jack wanted to hold him, he wanted to be there for him. He was starting to get used to being a cat, now - it was something he’d have to, if he was going to stay like this.
Jack shed his braces and his shirt, flopping onto his bed and pulling a rather slinky-like Ianto closer to him. "I said you were warm, and I'm feeling like I may need a bit of that tonight..." He muttered, feeling a bit more sane with Ianto's weighing him down and grounding him, even if it was a different sort of Ianto.
He slowly scratched at Ianto's neck, his hands running into the leather collar that Owen had put on him and he hadn't had time to take off before Ianto had run away. "Here let me get that." His hands worked at the buckles to get them undone.
Ianto tried to help Jack get his collar off, tilting his head forward as he settled stretched out against Jack’s side. Once the collar was set aside, he snuggled close, purring gently as he licked Jack’s cheek, settling down with his head on the other man’s shoulder.
“You ok?” He murmured, looking at him carefully. “Talk Jack.” He couldn’t hold a conversation, couldn’t properly ask how Jack felt; but he wanted to know. Wanted to make sure he was ok.
"Well, I'm getting used to having my lover in bed with me and meaning that really means nothing more than him just lying next to me to be a blanket." Jack mumbled, throwing an arm over his eyes before turning to look at Ianto and reaching his hand out.
"I'm getting by Ianto. It's hard, I won't lie but, at least your here and I can talk to you." Jack murmured, his hand moving to scratch the side of Ianto's face. Even if it might have just been easier to have had you die then have you go through this, Jack thought. He kept that thought to himself, not wanting to burden Ianto with his rather morbid thoughts.
"And you Ianto, how are you doing? How much longer will I still be able to talk with you?"
Ianto purred softly, nuzzling against Jack’s palm.
“Fine.” He murmured, eyes slipping half-closed as he pressed closer. “Don’t know how…” He frowned, a little. “Harder to think.” He sighed, ears drooping a little, head bowed.
“Still like Jack voice.” He loved hearing Jack speak; even though he had to concentrate to understand what his lover was saying now, he could still pick up so much from the way things were said, the emotion in his words. And Jack’s voice, despite his fear and sadness, was still lovely to listen to.
"Yeah," Jack sighed and gave Ianto a small smile as he continued to pet him. The positions they were in were not unfamiliar to them, Ianto pillowed on Jack's chest as they slept the night away in the hub.
The black fur, however, was a bit of a change.
Sighing and giving in to his urge, Jack leaned over and nuzzled Ianto, nipping fondly at an ear. "Jack still like Ianto too."
Ianto let out a soft noise of approval, paws on Jack’s shoulders as he pressed closer, nuzzling at Jack’s neck, burying his nose in the soft hair behind Jack’s ear.
“Miss hug you.” He murmured, frustrated at the way his paws worked, unable to cling to Jack the way he wanted to, wrap his arms around his lover and hold him. Before his transformation, he hadn’t often given in to that urge, but in the earlier stages, he’d thought nothing of crawling into Jack’s lap, nuzzling him and holding on to him tightly.
Jack sighed and relaxed back on the bed, Ianto going with him until his head was pressed in the spot between Jack's neck and his shoulder. Jack tried to concentrate, not on how weird it was to be doing this with what was basically a panther, but that deep down, the consciousness was still all Ianto.
Jack let an arm go around the large body, fingers idly playing in soft fur as the two of them just laid in bed. Together at least.
On to Chapter Eighteen
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Owen suggested, hints of Ianto/Tosh.
Rating: NC17
Summary: Why leaving Owen alone with alien tech is a supremely bad idea...
Spoilers: Probably past end of series 1. To be safe.
Warnings: Slightly cracky, slash, language.
Author's Notes: Uh...alien tech made us do it. *nods* We're totally innocent. *snerk* Feedback will be loved and adored. Flamers will be fed to Myfanwy.
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen
The day had been entirely too fucking long and much too fucking difficult for Jack. His own emotions going through a shredder and then having to pretend that everything was fine did that to a man.
He groaned and lay back on his bed, remembering a time when he wouldn't have been able to lie here alone, Ianto would have insisted on coming with him in case he needed anything and lying with him while he slowly let his fugue die out.
Ianto had been doing one last circuit of the Hub, sniffing and mrowring at everything in sight, checking everything was ok before heading, tentatively, through to Jack’s office. He wasn’t sure if he would be welcome, like this. Wasn’t sure if he would have a place in Jack’s arms. And while the desire for anything sexual with the other man was utterly gone, he ached to feel Jack’s hands sliding over him, arms around him.
He padded over to the entrance to Jack’s quarters, paused for a moment, then leapt down the hole, landing silently on the floor, perfectly poised on his new limbs. He still ached, a little, but it was fading now as his body grew used to new ways of movement.
Carefully, he approached Jack’s bed, soft chuff of greeting as he nudged Jack’s hand with his nose. The hand disappeared over the edge of the bed, and Ianto took that as invitation more than withdrawal, leaping up onto the bed and sprawling out against Jack’s side. He laid his head on Jack’s stomach, looking up at him soulfully.
Jack chuckled and gave in, petting Ianto and scratching him behind his ears. "Even as a bloody cat you look gorgeous." Jack muttered, wrapping an arm around the soft and very very warm body. He sighed and let his head fall back on his pillows as he felt Ianto's head rest on his chest, nuzzling against him softly.
"I know, I love you too Yan."
Purring his approval, Ianto nuzzled Jack softly, paws pressing against Jack’s chest, dragging his paws down Jack’s shirt, as if trying to pull it off.
“Want feel you.” He murmured haltingly, hoarsely. He nipped at one of the buttons with sharp teeth, wanting to feel warm skin pressed against his fur. “Miss your hugs.” It had only been a day, but Ianto was nearly trembling, letting himself fall apart, just a little, now they were alone. He had to try and be strong, for Jack, but he couldn’t, not quite the same way as he did around Tosh, and Owen, and Gwen.
Hiding the trembling with a loud purr that shook his body just the same, Ianto nuzzled at Jack, warm weight of his tail resting across Jack’s waist.
Jack started when he felt Ianto's paws tearing at the buttons of his shirt, his nose pushing at the braces as if trying to get them off. "Easy, easy Ianto..." Jack mumbled, giving in and shedding his shirt and undershirt to crawl back on the bed and wrap his arms rather awkwardly around the rather large cat.
"How bad is it to say that this is not the strangest position and or creature I've ever been in my bed?" Jack said, trying to lighten the mood as he felt Ianto's tail wrap around his waist like it would during sex. "Oh, Yan..." He sighed softly, kissing the top of his head sadly.
Ianto lay half-on top of Jack, paws resting on his chest, chin between them as he looked up at Jack. He closed his eyes at the soft kiss, purring dying down, just a little. He couldn’t offer any reassurance, anything to take away the sorrow in Jack’s eyes. All he could do was lie there, warm against Jack’s side, trying to hold on to what little of himself he had left.
“Hub safe.” He murmured softly, opening one eye to look at Jack. “Myfanwy sleeping.” He found it easier to talk in these odd, contracted sentences - hated it, with every fibre of his being, but he was less likely to forget what he was trying to say.
"Mmm," Jack was reasonably distracted by the warmth radiating from Ianto's furry body. "And Ianto warm." Jack traced his fingers idly behind his ears, humming softly and just letting his thoughts wander as he scratched the warm fur.
"You are unbelievably warm this way..." He said, just to have a bit of conversation going. "If you insist on sleeping up here, I may not need to use a blanket anymore..."
Ianto laughed softly, pressing more tightly against Jack’s side. “Useful me.” He purred throatily, eyes sliding half shut as Jack’s fingers scratched just perfectly behind his ears. “Feels nice. Love your hands.” He sighed softly, paws still against Jack’s chest. Reaching up, he gently patted Jack’s face with his paw, wishing he could hold on to Jack, properly.
Jack actually laughed, watching and feeling Ianto struggle to comfort Jack with normal human movements that seemed so awkward coming from a cat. "Oh, I love you Yan." He murmured, smiling despite his sadness as he moved to kiss in between Ianto's eyes, softly rubbing at that very soft bit of fur there.
From above them, Jack's weevil alarm went off, alerting them that somewhere one of the foul things had gotten loose. Jack groaned and rolled away from Ianto and towards his dresser, grabbing a shirt and his cell phone and immediately dialing for Owen.
Ianto ‘mrow’ed happily as Jack kissed and petted him, the sound dissolving into a growl of discontent as Jack’s alarm went off. He slinked off the bed, watching Jack move around the room, quickly and efficiently dressing. Ianto leapt up into Jack’s office, automatically moving to the coatstand to grab Jack’s coat for him. Ah.
Sitting, he frowned for a moment, before carefully standing up on his hind legs, grasping the coat in his teeth at the collar, and dragging it off the coatstand. He sat at the entrance to Jack’s quarters, waiting patiently with the coat hanging from his mouth.
Jack finished buttoning his shirt and thumbed off the call button on his phone, having gotten just Owen's answer phone instead of the man himself. "Can not bloody go after the damn things on my own. Tell him he's going to be on call but he doesn't even answer his fucking phone..." Jack grumbled, stopping when he saw Ianto sitting patiently by the hole in the floor, his coat in his mouth and his tail curled around him.
Jack tentatively took his coat and looked Ianto over, reaching a hand out to feel the muscles and strength beneath the layers of fur. Jack slowly pulled his coat on and grabbed the keys to the SUV before jerking his head, "Come on Yan, let's go catch some weevils."
Ianto growled his approval, bounding past Jack towards the garage. He was eager to get out into the fresh air, to see just what his new body could do. He followed Jack towards the SUV, leaping up into the front seat, sitting primly in the front passenger seat, tail curled around the front of his paws.
“Owen busy?” He asked, somehow managing to get across the disdain in his voice, even managing a hint of an arched eyebrow under that black fur.
"Owen shagging some bird and not answering his phone so leaving his boss to perhaps handle a very dangerous predator alone and get possibly killed." Jack replied, sliding into the drivers seat and smoothly exiting the garage. "The fact that said boss dying isn't the end of the world, or even the boss' life is irrelevant."
Jack turned to grin at the rather panther like animal next to him. "But then, I'm sure you can take on quite a bit of danger like this, yeah?" Jack followed the roads that the navigation system told him was necessary to find the weevil. He quickly threw the car into park when the system beeped to let him know they were there. "Come on!"
Ianto leapt from the car, somehow seeming more threatening than he had appeared at the Hub. He prowled down the alleyway beside Jack, eyes narrowed as he sniffed the air. Rubbish rotting, stench of beer, homeless man from a few hours ago…ah, there.
“Left.” He murmured quietly, nodding towards an alleyway just off to the side. “Weevil.” He could smell the creature, the stench of it making him wrinkle his nose. He looked up at Jack, waiting for his orders.
Jack nodded and reached for the weevil spray that had only ever really worked for Ianto anyways. "You stay back..." Jack murmured softly, hearing Ianto pause as he walked forward, the spray out in front and his other hand reaching for his gun just in case.
The weevil crouched down, hissing and growling at Jack as he approached. "Come on now, we need to get you someplace else pally." The weevil didn't seem to like Jack and he liked the spray even less, roaring and knocking Jack back and into the brick wall when he got sprayed with the stuff.
Ianto didn’t like just sitting back, but Jack knew what he was doing, knew how to handle himself.
Only not, apparently. Ianto saw red when the Weevil slammed Jack into the wall, growling loudly as Jack slid down, clearly unconscious. Crouching down, Ianto sprang, loud roar breaking free as he pounced on the Weevil. He tore at the creature with claws and teeth, not satisfied when the Weevil’s frantic screeches died into silence, only stopping when he had ripped its throat out, body reduced to little more than a bloody pulp.
Jack groaned, trying to clear his head when he heard a loud roar followed by a weaker, almost squeak. There were snarls and growls and the tearing of flesh and then just the clatter of feet on the pavement. Slowly, Jack stood up, gripping his head and surveying the scene. Ianto stood, looking for the first time since his transformation like he could do some serious damage, with blood on his fur and dripping from his fangs.
Further down the alley, Owen and Gwen panted, having apparently just gotten there and just a few moments too late. "Right so, no one attacks Jack for fear of retribution from Super Kitty, got it."
Ianto turned, snarling at Owen. He turned his head, spitting onto the pavement, tongue hanging out in disgust. Weevils tasted utterly foul. He padded over to Jack, nuzzling at his hand, wanting to check that he was ok. He pulled back, though, realising he’d left a smear of blood across the back of Jack’s hand.
“Sorry.” He growled, licking his whiskers clean with a grimace. “Taste bad.” He gestured towards the Weevil with a dismissive flick of his head.
Jack let out a sarcastic chuckle as he stretched his back and reached to the back of his head to check if he was bleeding. "Owen, if you could..." Jack gestured to the mangled corpse of the weevil and glared when Owen shot him a disgusted look.
"I think he might have knocked more than the wind out of me with that throw..." He muttered, stretching again and looking thankfully down at Ianto. "Thanks, Yan." He smiled and headed towards the SUV as Owen finished burning the corpse and anything that could prove that it was not of Earth. "Come on, I'll need you to come back to the Hub with me to deal with those ashes..." Owen clambored in, quickly followed by Gwen, Owen glared when Ianto jumped into the passenger seat, but still, said nothing.
Ianto merely glared back, sticking his nose up in the air a little. He wasn’t any happier than Owen about the fact that he stank of Weevil and blood, but there wasn’t much he could do. Maybe if Owen hadn’t been too busy fucking Gwen, they might have been able to avoid it.
He started licking himself, mewling in disgust at the taste, but knowing it was the only way he was going to get clean.
Jack looked over at Ianto and frowned, "You're going to need a bath Ianto, there's no way around it." Jack knew without Ianto even having to open his mouth to say anything, nor Jack even needing to look at him, that Ianto supremely disapproved of this plan.
"Ianto..." He murmured softly as they pulled into the base, Jack throwing the car in park. "Owen, get rid of those ashes and then come find me in the third level cells, Ianto come with me and Gwen," Jack paused to look at her a moment before giving her a sheepish look. "Do you mind taking care of the SUV?" Jack jumped out and headed into the base, Ianto lumbering after him.
Ianto glared. And proceeded to ignore Jack. A bath? Nope. Definitely not happening. He followed Jack obediently, though, looking warily at him. The only thing keeping him from pouting was the fact that Gwen had to clean the SUV. One job he definitely didn’t miss.
“No bath.” He growled quietly, padding along by Jack’s side. “No like.”
Jack led Ianto into one of the decontamination cells, there was a sort of hot tub that had bacterial water, perfect for relaxing in and making sure all of the unnecessary alien material was no long on you (the hot tub had been Jack's own design). But in the shape he was, it was doubtful Jack would be able to get him into the tub.
"Right then." Jack took of his shoes and socks and rolled up his sleeves and turned to grab a hose and a bucket of water right as Owen arrived. "I don't care if you don't like them Ianto, I won't have you turning into half-weevil or god knows what else because you didn't like getting wet." Jack nodded and Owen slipped a collar and a rope to a post and tied Ianto down.
"I'm sorry Yan," Jack murmured before turning the water on.
Ianto was so busy paying attention to Jack and The Hose that he realised too late what Owen was up to. Yowling, he lunged at the smaller man, who hurriedly jumped back out of reach of the water and Ianto’s claws.
Hissing and spitting at both of them, Ianto glared through the spray of water, wriggling as he tried to get free, eventually giving up and curling up into a ball against the tiles, trying to cover as much of himself as he could. Eventually, the evil spray of cold water stopped. Ianto lifted his head, ears drooping, looking laughable but for the expression of utter hatred in his eyes. He was shivering, sneezing softly as he sat up, shaking himself vigorously, splattering both Owen and Jack with water.
Jack just sighed and reached out to help Ianto dry off, trying to offer a bit of an apology for what he felt was necessary. Ianto just hissed and took off for the Hub, ears and tail sagging under the weight of the water.
Jack sighed and dropped the towel, his body heaving as he turned to take care of the leftover mess. "Jack, do you..." Owen began, looking entirely too uncomfortable and not sure what he should be saying exactly. Jack just shook his head and waved Owen on, "No, I got it. Go get Gwen and take her home." Owen nodded and left Jack to his mess.
It took longer than he had thought to clean up the decontamination cells and then to check over the SUV and fix whatever Gwen had not known to do, so it was at least two hours later when he slowly climbed up the steps to his office and began work on the paperwork that still sat at his desk to be done.
Ianto had found a nice spot on top of one of the boilers in the basement, warm enough that he dried off, though he was more than a little fluffy. Not that he knew that, because he couldn’t actually see himself. Once he was warm again, he slinked into the Hub’s main area, carefully avoiding Jack’s room other than to cast a glare in his general direction, and heading up to his ledge, up near Myfanwy’s nest. He curled up on the ledge, licking his paws carefully, trying to flatten the fluffed-up fur a little. He gave up eventually, curling up with his tail over his nose, eyes half shut. He wasn’t going down to see Jack. Evil man.
Jack rubbed at the bridge of his nose before slowly walking over to the small kitchenette and making himself some coffee for a late night. It was something he missed, though not something he would probably mention to Ianto, the amazing coffee at all hours of the day. Realizing that neither he nor Ianto had had anything to eat since that morning, Jack searched through the refrigerator for left overs while he let the coffee brew.
Feeling that pizza might be easier on himself than Ianto, Jack heated up a bit of peking duck and a bit of chicken and arranged it on a plate for Ianto. He knew the man was in the hub, sulking and not wanting to come out and see him and Jack understood. "I left some food out if you want it Ianto... It's in the kitchen." Jack said to the empty air, hands in his pockets as he returned to get his own food and head back to the office.
A dark shape flowed smoothly down the Hub wall, movements almost like liquid as he jumped from one invisible ledge to the next. He slunk across to the kitchenette, wolfing down the cooked meat that Jack had left out for him. His ears slowly perked up a little, the food going some way to an apology. But still. Water wasn’t exactly his best friend. It had been Weevil blood, that was all. Hadn’t ever hurt him as a human, why would it do anything now?
He sneezed gently, licking the plate clean with a quiet ‘mrowr’ of happiness.
Jack stood in the doorway to his office, leaning against the door jam and watching Ianto finish eating. "I'm sorry for the bath." He said softly, knowing that Ianto would hear him and not wanting to frighten him off. "Just, okay a bit over protective of you. One bit of alien tech already did something to you, don't want anything else happening."
He took a sip of his scotch and shrugged. "Besides, who knows, maybe weevil blood is toxic to cats?"
Ianto sneezed again, carefully licking his whiskers as he turned, looking at Jack for a moment before giving in. He had meant well, after all.
“Sorry for angry.” He murmured, padding over to Jack, nuzzling at his hand apologetically. “Don’t like water.” He licked Jack’s hand, nipping gently at his fingers as the other man took far too long to start petting him.
“Working?” He looked past Jack at his desk, the lamp on, pen laid down on top of a pile of folders.
"It's fine." Jack answered, letting his hand slowly move to scratch at the spot behind Ianto's ears and smiling at the resounding purr that he received for it. "It's nothing really important, actually it's the balance books you used to work on." He said with a bit of a chuckle. "I've had to take them back over again and am re-familiarizing myself with your unique bit of mathematics."
Jack looked at the desk and then down to Ianto and it wasn't too difficult of a decision to make. "Come on, a bit of sleep will probably do us both some good." Jack watched as Ianto jumped down into his room as if it were the easiest thing and went to turn off the computers and the lights before heading down as well.
Ianto made a dismissive noise. His maths was faultless, it was Jack’s that was…damn it, he couldn’t think of the word. Padding past Jack, he jumped down into Jack’s quarters, curling up on the foot of Jack’s bed. He wasn’t feeling quite so needy tonight, but if Jack wanted to hold him, he wanted to be there for him. He was starting to get used to being a cat, now - it was something he’d have to, if he was going to stay like this.
Jack shed his braces and his shirt, flopping onto his bed and pulling a rather slinky-like Ianto closer to him. "I said you were warm, and I'm feeling like I may need a bit of that tonight..." He muttered, feeling a bit more sane with Ianto's weighing him down and grounding him, even if it was a different sort of Ianto.
He slowly scratched at Ianto's neck, his hands running into the leather collar that Owen had put on him and he hadn't had time to take off before Ianto had run away. "Here let me get that." His hands worked at the buckles to get them undone.
Ianto tried to help Jack get his collar off, tilting his head forward as he settled stretched out against Jack’s side. Once the collar was set aside, he snuggled close, purring gently as he licked Jack’s cheek, settling down with his head on the other man’s shoulder.
“You ok?” He murmured, looking at him carefully. “Talk Jack.” He couldn’t hold a conversation, couldn’t properly ask how Jack felt; but he wanted to know. Wanted to make sure he was ok.
"Well, I'm getting used to having my lover in bed with me and meaning that really means nothing more than him just lying next to me to be a blanket." Jack mumbled, throwing an arm over his eyes before turning to look at Ianto and reaching his hand out.
"I'm getting by Ianto. It's hard, I won't lie but, at least your here and I can talk to you." Jack murmured, his hand moving to scratch the side of Ianto's face. Even if it might have just been easier to have had you die then have you go through this, Jack thought. He kept that thought to himself, not wanting to burden Ianto with his rather morbid thoughts.
"And you Ianto, how are you doing? How much longer will I still be able to talk with you?"
Ianto purred softly, nuzzling against Jack’s palm.
“Fine.” He murmured, eyes slipping half-closed as he pressed closer. “Don’t know how…” He frowned, a little. “Harder to think.” He sighed, ears drooping a little, head bowed.
“Still like Jack voice.” He loved hearing Jack speak; even though he had to concentrate to understand what his lover was saying now, he could still pick up so much from the way things were said, the emotion in his words. And Jack’s voice, despite his fear and sadness, was still lovely to listen to.
"Yeah," Jack sighed and gave Ianto a small smile as he continued to pet him. The positions they were in were not unfamiliar to them, Ianto pillowed on Jack's chest as they slept the night away in the hub.
The black fur, however, was a bit of a change.
Sighing and giving in to his urge, Jack leaned over and nuzzled Ianto, nipping fondly at an ear. "Jack still like Ianto too."
Ianto let out a soft noise of approval, paws on Jack’s shoulders as he pressed closer, nuzzling at Jack’s neck, burying his nose in the soft hair behind Jack’s ear.
“Miss hug you.” He murmured, frustrated at the way his paws worked, unable to cling to Jack the way he wanted to, wrap his arms around his lover and hold him. Before his transformation, he hadn’t often given in to that urge, but in the earlier stages, he’d thought nothing of crawling into Jack’s lap, nuzzling him and holding on to him tightly.
Jack sighed and relaxed back on the bed, Ianto going with him until his head was pressed in the spot between Jack's neck and his shoulder. Jack tried to concentrate, not on how weird it was to be doing this with what was basically a panther, but that deep down, the consciousness was still all Ianto.
Jack let an arm go around the large body, fingers idly playing in soft fur as the two of them just laid in bed. Together at least.
On to Chapter Eighteen