Title: Poisonous Breath Day Five Prompt #23 Table A
Title: Poisonous Breath
Author: Caz251
Prompt #: #23 - Air
Prompt table: A
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating: PG
Character/Pairing: Jack/Ianto, 456
Word count: 271
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood, it belongs to the BBC, unfortunately.
Summary: Jack’s thoughts on air and what the 456 have taken from him.
The air he thought to himself as he struggled not to breathe hoping that if he could hold out his lover could as well, but all the while knowing it was a futile attempt, the poison in the air already having infiltrated both their bodies. He holds his lover as he breathes his last breath, the air that should sustain him, killing him, robbing them both of life. He kisses him, praying to all the deities that he doesn’t and has never believed in to save the man in his arms, trying to force his life force through the kiss , to keep him with him, but he’s gone. He holds him as he himself succumbs to the poison in the air, dying like his lover, but knowing he’ll come back to a world without him.
When he comes back to life in a body bag he exhales quietly, but does not want to breathe in again, the air itself is spoilt for him now. After having spent so long buried underground air was something that he had vowed never to take for granted again, enjoying as much time as he could outside in the fresh air with his lover. Now he doesn’t have either, the 456 having ruined everything, having taken Ianto from him, and turned the air sour, it will never again be fresh to him, but bitter and hurtful, with the memories of the 456 flowing towards him each time he takes a breath. It would be better not to breathe he concludes in his head, knowing that in death he has a short respite from the memories.