Fic: The Soundtrack to a Relationship - Part 10
Another wonderful banner by liten_sam!
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they just inhabit my dreams.
A/N - This is part 10 of an 11 chapter story about Jack and Ianto's relationship inspired by several songs I've heard over the past few days. The songs that inspired the individual chapters are listed just before the chapter begins and will also be listed in the "Music" area below the entry. Please, if you spot any mistakes and/or improvements, let me know (happy/"well done" comments appreciated too!). Thanks & I hope you enjoy the story!
PS - This is a short, but very intense chapter. The final is on it's way soon!
Read Part 1 here...
Read Part 2 here...
Read Part 3 here....
Read Part 4 here....
Read Part 5 here...
Read Part 6 here....
Read Part 7 here...
Read Part 8 here...
Read Part 9 here...
Song: Close My Eyes Forever by Ozzy Osbourne & Lita Ford
Jack's brokenhearted sobs drowned out the beginning of the last song on the CD....
"Baby, I get so scared inside and I don't really understand
Is it love that's on my mind or is it fantasy?
Heaven, is in the palm of my hand and it's waiting here for you..."
His tear filled eyes could barely read the last few lines on the page in front of him.....
Thank you, Jack, for today. It made it easier for me to say goodbye. I'm so sorry, my love, but I can't live like this anymore. I just have nothing left inside of me. I've been in so much pain for so long, loving you and not knowing if you loved me too. Desperate for any little sign or crumb of affection. You helped me through so much over the past couple of years, but you can't help me with this.
Goodbye, My Love, goodbye.
Ianto
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Jack woke up to an empty bed. He tasted tears on his lips and wondered why he'd been crying.
"Ianto?" his voice echoed through the empty flat. He swung his legs out of the bed and stood up, walking through the apartment, desperate to find the man he loved. There was no one there.
He dressed quickly and ran to the Hub. The tourist office was open, so maybe Ianto had just left for work without waking him up. As the huge rolling door opened, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted out. He closed his eyes in relief. Ianto was here. Of course, so was the rest of the team. Not the place he'd wanted to declare his love, but he couldn't wait another minute.
"Tosh, have you seen Ianto?" He asked, bypassing his office.
"Hmmm? Yeah, he was here a little while ago. I'm not sure where he is now, though. Check with Owen."
Striding hurriedly over to the autopsy area, Jack saw Owen working on dissecting another dead weevil.
"Owen, have you seen Ianto?"
"Yeah, he was here a few minutes ago. Said he was checking supplies for an order or something. Why? Didn't you two come in together this morning?"
Ignoring the doctor's nosy question, Jack continued looking for the young Welshman. Half an hour later, there was still no sign of him. Jack was almost panicking. Going back to Tosh's workstation, he asked her to check the CCTV video.
"Wish I could, Jack, but we've been having problems with it all morning. It's almost like someone's planted a virus or something in the feed, but the only one besides me that would know how to do that would be....Ianto." Her suddenly frightened eyes looked into Jack's, seeing the panic.
"Oh God, we have to find him. Owen, Gwen, come over here please!" Jack called the other two. "We need to find Ianto, right now. You all know that he's been acting strange lately. I thought, yesterday, that we'd gotten past it, but now I'm not so sure. It appears that he found a way to disable the internal cameras, so we can't track him. We'll have to search every part of this building for him. Owen, you said he was checking supplies, what exactly was he looking at?" Jack was starting to be afraid that something was very, very wrong and not liking where his thoughts were straying.
Tosh and Gwen set off to start looking through the Hub while Jack and Owen made their way to the medical bay.
"This is the cabinet he was looking through, Jack. It's where I keep all the narcotics....shit." Owen looked over at Jack, "You don't think...." his voice trailed off at the anguish on the captain's face.
"Is anything missing?" Jack's voice was strained.
Owen checked the inventory log, closing his eyes when he saw what was missing.
"Jack, the bottle of morphine is gone. So is one of the syringes." Jack's face went white, the pain in his eyes so intense that Owen had to turn away.
"Find him."
They searched for an hour, the archives, the cells, the locker room, even Myfanwy's lair...there was no sign of Ianto anywhere.
"Jack...." Gwen said haltingly, "have you checked your sleeping area?"
Jack didn't say anything, just turned and ran to his office, throwing open the entrance to his private place and stumbling down the ladder. The rest of the team was hot on his heels.
Ianto was lying on the bed, turned on his side with his hands curled underneath his cheek. Jack approached him quietly, hoping that his love was only asleep. He reached out and stroked the soft cheek gently, recoiling at the coldness. His eyes noted the empty bottle on the small table and the used syringe on the floor. Owen brushed past him and checked for a pulse. Slowly, he looked up and shook his head. There were twin sobs from Tosh and Gwen as they realized that their friend was dead. Owen closed his eyes in sorrow.
Jack sank to his knees beside the bed, gathering the lifeless body into his arms. Deep, wracking sobs worked their way up his throat as he gently kissed the closed eyelids.
In between sobs, the team heard Jack murmmering the same words over and over again. "Too late, too late, too late..."
"Too late for what, Jack?" Gwen asked softly.
Tear drenched blue eyes looked up and said, "To tell him I loved him. Oh God, how much I loved him." He buried his face in the curve of Ianto's neck and gave himself up to the grief.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The last song was ending....
"If I close my eyes forever
Would it all remain unchanged?
If I close my eyes forever
would it all remain the same? (Oh yeah)
Close your eyes...
Close your eyes...
You gotta close your eyes for me.........."
Jack was sobbing, heartbroken, into the Doctor's shoulder. "It's all my fault," he sobbed. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. If I'd just been braver...." His words trailed off into an anguished wail. "It's not supposed to be like this!" He shouted.
tbc
Final Chapter here....