[fic] Kiss of Life [Torchwood][for kirke_novak]
written for a request made by: kirke_novak
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing/characters: Jack/Ianto
Warnings/notes: pre-series, and while Ianto does get hurt, and Jack does make it all better, the comforting-part still got fairly screwed up. Also, I'm a wuss.
"Are you okay?" Jack asks, and it's the silliest thing he's ever asked Ianto, sillier even than 'are you sure about this?' (when they were both already naked and after Ianto's practically dragged Jack home with him) because, really, does Ianto *look* like he's okay?
Big hole in his chest, lots of blood, suit completely ruined - how the hell can any of that mean he's 'okay'? Has Jack lost his mind, that he's asking Ianto stupid questions like that?
"I believe so, sir," Ianto says. He manages nothing louder than a hoarse whisper, and he's lying down, but Jack's kneeling next to him and leaning over, looking more scared than Ianto's ever seen him (you'd think Jack was the one with the hole in his chest) and, apparently, hearing him perfectly.
"Liar," Jack says. He might be crying - Ianto's not sure, and he wouldn't dare presume that a humble ex-Torchwood One secretary such as himself means enough to the near-legendary Captain Jack Harkness to warrant any tears. "I could - no. Damn."
"Your ability to revivify people by kissing them seems limited to those very recently deceased," Ianto says. He's not supposed to know about that, but Jack's not half as good at keeping secrets as he thinks he is. Nor is Jack as good at finding out other people's secrets as he thinks he is - Jack still believes Lisa is nothing more than the dead lover Ianto lost in the ruins of Torchwood One, a woman from Ianto's past. "Unless you plan to shoot me, sir, I don't believe you can help me."
Jack makes an odd sound, then says: "I could never shoot you."
Ianto doesn't quite believe that, but it seems pointless to argue. He might die here, or Owen might arrive here in time to patch him up somehow, get him stabilized enough to rush him back to the Hub. There's a fairly advanced sickbay there, brand-new and never used.
"You told me I wasn't to put myself in danger," Ianto points out. He knows Lisa would never harm him, but to many people, conversing with a Cyberwoman on a daily basis would sound extremely dangerous.
"Did I ever tell you I love you?" Jack says.
Ianto thinks it best not to answer that question. Jack obviously believes Ianto isn't going to live through the next five minutes - he wouldn't be suddenly deciding he's in love with Ianto otherwise. If it had been anyone else, Ianto would be thinking about Lisa, about how to make sure she gets the help she needs, but there's just Jack, and declarations of love aside, Jack will never allow Lisa to live if he finds out about her existence. It's got nothing to do with jealousy - Ianto could have dealt with that - and everything with the kind of person Jack is.
"Oh *shit*!" Suzie's arrival saves Ianto the need to reply, or listen to more of Jack's ramblings. The fear's far less obvious in her expression - mostly, Suzie looks pissed off. She practically shoves Jack out of the way, tearing apart Ianto's shirt to expose his chest (it'd be funnier, that, the idea of Suzie ripping off his clothes if he hadn't been feeling so bloody cold). "Tell Owen to get his butt over here."
For a moment, Ianto thinks Jack might actually do it. Suzie has a way about her, something in her tone that makes people do as she tells them, and half the time, it seems to work on Jack as well as on the rest of them.
The moment passes, and Jack hasn't moved. Suzie swears under her breath and hurries off again, yelling for Owen. Jack crawls back into his former position at Ianto's side - he could have walked, risen and knelt down again, but instead, he stays low, like he's hurt as badly as Ianto.
"You're wrong, you know," Jack says. "I can't bring back the dead."
Not quite the topic of discussion Ianto would have picked to talk about on his deathbed, but at least it's better than talking about love, and whether or not there's any of that between him and Jack. Ianto's fairly sure Jack only loves those he can't have - like the Doctor, and Rose Tyler, who are nowhere on Earth that Ianto knows of, and thus as far out of Jack's reach as they'd have been if they'd died in a dirty alley, with a chest-wound that won't seem to stop bleeding.
"That's good to hear, sir," Ianto says. The dead are best left dead, he feels. It's the natural order of things, and while Ianto feels he's letting Lisa down by dying, he wouldn't want to owe Jack his life.
"All right, move aside, the doctor's here." Owen lacks the balls to shove Jack aside the way Suzie did, but Jack moves aside on his own, murmuring something too low for Ianto to hear, although he thinks he can make a fair guess. "Bloody hell. What did you do, jump right in front of him?"
"Her," Jack corrects him. He's risen and beating the dust off his trousers. "Suzie, please tell me we got her contained."
"Contained and sedated," Suzie replies. Her eyes are slightly confused as they meet Ianto's, but if she's noticed the sudden change in Jack's attitude, she knows better than to comment. "How is he?"
Owen enjoys being the (near) center of attention, Ianto can tell. Most of the time, these kinds of missions are all about Jack - Jack tracking down the Weevil, Jack yelling instructions to the rest of them over the com, Jack demanding Tosh to get a move on getting that information and ultimately, of course, Jack facing off against the Weevil one on one, ordering the rest of them to stay out of it.
Ianto honestly can't imagine how Jack can still believe they don't know about his not-so-little (and so-not-secret) secret, unless he expects them all to assume the leader of their team is simply suicidal.
"For a man who's had a bloody Weevil trying to rip his heart out, he's bloody lucky," Owen tells Suzie. "Tosh, can you be a dear and get the SUV over here?"
"The SUV's remote-control-function is only for emergencies," Jack says.
Owen and Suzie both ignore him. Tosh, apparently, does the same, since barely half a minute later, the four of them are back on their way to the Hub.
x
Everything looks different on the CCTV - when Jack cradles Ianto's crumpled body, it looks like something out of a TV-series. There's no sound, no special effects, no nothing. There don't need to be any; Owen knows a bloody miracle when he sees one, and so do Suzie and Tosh.
They look at the tape until Owen' TV-screen turns black, after the SUV has left.
"I think I almost feel sorry for him," Suzie says.
"I think I feel sorry for both of them," Tosh says.
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to know either," Owen says.
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing/characters: Jack/Ianto
Warnings/notes: pre-series, and while Ianto does get hurt, and Jack does make it all better, the comforting-part still got fairly screwed up. Also, I'm a wuss.
"Are you okay?" Jack asks, and it's the silliest thing he's ever asked Ianto, sillier even than 'are you sure about this?' (when they were both already naked and after Ianto's practically dragged Jack home with him) because, really, does Ianto *look* like he's okay?
Big hole in his chest, lots of blood, suit completely ruined - how the hell can any of that mean he's 'okay'? Has Jack lost his mind, that he's asking Ianto stupid questions like that?
"I believe so, sir," Ianto says. He manages nothing louder than a hoarse whisper, and he's lying down, but Jack's kneeling next to him and leaning over, looking more scared than Ianto's ever seen him (you'd think Jack was the one with the hole in his chest) and, apparently, hearing him perfectly.
"Liar," Jack says. He might be crying - Ianto's not sure, and he wouldn't dare presume that a humble ex-Torchwood One secretary such as himself means enough to the near-legendary Captain Jack Harkness to warrant any tears. "I could - no. Damn."
"Your ability to revivify people by kissing them seems limited to those very recently deceased," Ianto says. He's not supposed to know about that, but Jack's not half as good at keeping secrets as he thinks he is. Nor is Jack as good at finding out other people's secrets as he thinks he is - Jack still believes Lisa is nothing more than the dead lover Ianto lost in the ruins of Torchwood One, a woman from Ianto's past. "Unless you plan to shoot me, sir, I don't believe you can help me."
Jack makes an odd sound, then says: "I could never shoot you."
Ianto doesn't quite believe that, but it seems pointless to argue. He might die here, or Owen might arrive here in time to patch him up somehow, get him stabilized enough to rush him back to the Hub. There's a fairly advanced sickbay there, brand-new and never used.
"You told me I wasn't to put myself in danger," Ianto points out. He knows Lisa would never harm him, but to many people, conversing with a Cyberwoman on a daily basis would sound extremely dangerous.
"Did I ever tell you I love you?" Jack says.
Ianto thinks it best not to answer that question. Jack obviously believes Ianto isn't going to live through the next five minutes - he wouldn't be suddenly deciding he's in love with Ianto otherwise. If it had been anyone else, Ianto would be thinking about Lisa, about how to make sure she gets the help she needs, but there's just Jack, and declarations of love aside, Jack will never allow Lisa to live if he finds out about her existence. It's got nothing to do with jealousy - Ianto could have dealt with that - and everything with the kind of person Jack is.
"Oh *shit*!" Suzie's arrival saves Ianto the need to reply, or listen to more of Jack's ramblings. The fear's far less obvious in her expression - mostly, Suzie looks pissed off. She practically shoves Jack out of the way, tearing apart Ianto's shirt to expose his chest (it'd be funnier, that, the idea of Suzie ripping off his clothes if he hadn't been feeling so bloody cold). "Tell Owen to get his butt over here."
For a moment, Ianto thinks Jack might actually do it. Suzie has a way about her, something in her tone that makes people do as she tells them, and half the time, it seems to work on Jack as well as on the rest of them.
The moment passes, and Jack hasn't moved. Suzie swears under her breath and hurries off again, yelling for Owen. Jack crawls back into his former position at Ianto's side - he could have walked, risen and knelt down again, but instead, he stays low, like he's hurt as badly as Ianto.
"You're wrong, you know," Jack says. "I can't bring back the dead."
Not quite the topic of discussion Ianto would have picked to talk about on his deathbed, but at least it's better than talking about love, and whether or not there's any of that between him and Jack. Ianto's fairly sure Jack only loves those he can't have - like the Doctor, and Rose Tyler, who are nowhere on Earth that Ianto knows of, and thus as far out of Jack's reach as they'd have been if they'd died in a dirty alley, with a chest-wound that won't seem to stop bleeding.
"That's good to hear, sir," Ianto says. The dead are best left dead, he feels. It's the natural order of things, and while Ianto feels he's letting Lisa down by dying, he wouldn't want to owe Jack his life.
"All right, move aside, the doctor's here." Owen lacks the balls to shove Jack aside the way Suzie did, but Jack moves aside on his own, murmuring something too low for Ianto to hear, although he thinks he can make a fair guess. "Bloody hell. What did you do, jump right in front of him?"
"Her," Jack corrects him. He's risen and beating the dust off his trousers. "Suzie, please tell me we got her contained."
"Contained and sedated," Suzie replies. Her eyes are slightly confused as they meet Ianto's, but if she's noticed the sudden change in Jack's attitude, she knows better than to comment. "How is he?"
Owen enjoys being the (near) center of attention, Ianto can tell. Most of the time, these kinds of missions are all about Jack - Jack tracking down the Weevil, Jack yelling instructions to the rest of them over the com, Jack demanding Tosh to get a move on getting that information and ultimately, of course, Jack facing off against the Weevil one on one, ordering the rest of them to stay out of it.
Ianto honestly can't imagine how Jack can still believe they don't know about his not-so-little (and so-not-secret) secret, unless he expects them all to assume the leader of their team is simply suicidal.
"For a man who's had a bloody Weevil trying to rip his heart out, he's bloody lucky," Owen tells Suzie. "Tosh, can you be a dear and get the SUV over here?"
"The SUV's remote-control-function is only for emergencies," Jack says.
Owen and Suzie both ignore him. Tosh, apparently, does the same, since barely half a minute later, the four of them are back on their way to the Hub.
x
Everything looks different on the CCTV - when Jack cradles Ianto's crumpled body, it looks like something out of a TV-series. There's no sound, no special effects, no nothing. There don't need to be any; Owen knows a bloody miracle when he sees one, and so do Suzie and Tosh.
They look at the tape until Owen' TV-screen turns black, after the SUV has left.
"I think I almost feel sorry for him," Suzie says.
"I think I feel sorry for both of them," Tosh says.
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to know either," Owen says.