They Come in Pairs - 4/?
Jack/Ianto
NC-17
set between 1x08 and 1x13
Sorry for such a short chapter, just one scene, but I've been much busier than I expected. I'll try to write more over Christmas.
They Come in Pairs - Chapter 4
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"I moved the glove," Jack stated after disconnecting his headset. He turned his attention back to Ianto, predictably finding the man halfway out the hatch to his room. "You want to come back down here before you fall down and break my leg?"
Ianto paused in his escape. "How long until the sedative takes effect?"
"About two minutes, give or take."
With a sigh, Ianto dropped back down the ladder and turned to face Jack. "And then what?"
Jack didn't really have an answer to that.
"Then what happens?" Ianto persisted. "What's your plan? Did you even think about it before using that thing? You don't think it will kill you, but do you know that? Did this one come with an instruction manual that I'm not aware of? Did something convince you that this isn't a completely terrible idea?"
"What would you have had me do?" Jack argued back. "Let you die?"
"Yes!" Ianto shouted at Jack, fully serious. "After what that thing did to Suzie, and Gwen... What could have possibly possessed you to use it on me?"
"I thought that--"
"Did you?" Ianto interrupted. "Did you think about it? That bullet was supposed to have killed you, not me, so you decided to switch it back? Well, Sir, you're under no obligation to follow through with--"
"Alright, no, I didn't think, I just reacted!" he replied, interrupting to throw Ianto's own words back at him. "But what's your plan? Shoot the glove and drop dead? Because yeah, that's a great fucking plan!"
Ianto just stared angrily at him.
"So you want to die now, that it?" Jack demanded.
Ianto shook his head in obvious frustration. "It already happened! It's not like it was on my to-do list for today. Buy milk, get killed, pick up the dry-cleaning... But it happened. I died, Jack. I died. You can't just undo something like that. I wish you could, but..."
"But I have." Jack placed his hand on Ianto's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "You know, you were handling this much better earlier."
"Well, that was before some arsehole decided to retcon me!" Two minutes wasn't quite enough time to process the whole ominous resurrection thing.
Jack paced the several steps the confined room permitted before spinning back to face Ianto again. "I'm not doing this because I feel obligated! I care about you, damn it. I thought it would be better if you didn't remember, better for you to not know. That decision, I did think about."
"You care about me?" Ianto casually picked up his cup and took a slow sip as he waited for Jack to elaborate.
"Yes, I..." Jack sputtered over what to say, not normally one to be lost for words, but this wasn't exactly a normal situation. He'd watched too many people die, lost everyone that mattered, everybody who meant something, and he wasn't strong enough to keep doing that. Not today. Not Ianto. "I brought you back from the dead, for Christ's sake! That wasn't obligation, it was selfish. I won't lose you. I need you. I need you here, every day, making coffee and making this job, this life, bearable. I need you alive and not in some drawer in the wall." He needed to not be responsible for getting Ianto killed.
Then Ianto had his hands fisted in Jack's shirt and was pressing their lips together before Jack knew how to react. Instinct and desire won out over the incredibly bad timing, and Jack found himself kissing back, moving his hand automatically to Ianto's neck and pulling him closer. He responded to the firm and insistent pressure of Ianto's lips and parted his own to allow the kiss to deepen.
And got a mouthful of coffee.
Instantly pulling back, Jack spit the coffee onto the floor. He spit several more times, making certain not to swallow. How had he not seen that coming from the second Ianto had picked up that damn cup? He glared at Ianto who was glaring just as fiercely back.
"Don't like the taste of your own medicine?" And Jack could swear Ianto practically smirked. "Or maybe just not the taste of your own coffee."
"Just what was that supposed to accomplish?" Jack demanded. He knew, however, feeling betrayed and seeing it mirrored back at him in Ianto's eyes.
Ianto shrugged. "Level ground."
Wiping his lips with his hand, Jack replied, "Okay, I get it, you're pissed. I'm sorry."
"You don't and you're not."
This time, it was Jack who shrugged. He almost immediately regretted it, but he still felt the sting of that kiss and wasn't quite prepared to lower his guard again. Because it had fucking hurt like a knife in his back, or rather through his heart. Which was entirely the point. He'd drugged Ianto, and how the hell was that supposed to be forgiven? Regardless of good intentions, it was a betrayal none the less.
Jack was angry still, and he'd been the one to do it first. He wasn't going to be manipulated into regretting it either. If he'd actually swallowed, though, he thought for sure he would have hated Ianto.
"If I'm going to be a goddamn walking zombie," Ianto shouted, "I have every fucking right to know! I at least deserve that."
"Right," Jack retorted, "because you're obviously dealing with things so well."
He picked up the teacup again and threw it at Jack. He missed without Jack even needing to dodge. Because his intention hadn't been to actually hit him, Jack realized. Ianto's aim wasn't that bad. Same thing with him releasing Jack from the kiss when he'd pulled back. If he'd really wanted Jack to swallow, he probably could have accomplished it. His aim wasn't to hurt him, but merely to... hurt him.
"You should have just left things well enough alone."
"I couldn't leave things like that!" Jack had raised his voice to a yell, but he stopped, running a hand through his hair. Ianto wouldn't remember this anyway, so really what was the point of them sidestepping around the truth? "I couldn't... I watched you die, and I fucked everything up. I did everything wrong, didn't say what I... I fucked it up, and it couldn't end like that."
Walking back over to Jack's bed, Ianto sat heavily. "You don't know what's going to happen to us." His voice sounded defeated.
Jack sat down beside him. He wouldn't let his feelings make him regret his actions. He was taking a single day, just one day, and giving Ianto back his life. So no, Jack refused to feel guilty. "Nothing's going to happen to us. Today never happened."
Ianto leaned against Jack's shoulder, unable to keep fighting the drugs and stay awake. "But it did." He had the hole in his chest to prove it. "If this ends up killing us both, then it was meaningless. I'm scared. You should be also."
"I'm not." Jack eased him back down against the pillow as he lost consciousness. "And I'm not sorry."
-----
TBC
NC-17
set between 1x08 and 1x13
Sorry for such a short chapter, just one scene, but I've been much busier than I expected. I'll try to write more over Christmas.
They Come in Pairs - Chapter 4
-----
"I moved the glove," Jack stated after disconnecting his headset. He turned his attention back to Ianto, predictably finding the man halfway out the hatch to his room. "You want to come back down here before you fall down and break my leg?"
Ianto paused in his escape. "How long until the sedative takes effect?"
"About two minutes, give or take."
With a sigh, Ianto dropped back down the ladder and turned to face Jack. "And then what?"
Jack didn't really have an answer to that.
"Then what happens?" Ianto persisted. "What's your plan? Did you even think about it before using that thing? You don't think it will kill you, but do you know that? Did this one come with an instruction manual that I'm not aware of? Did something convince you that this isn't a completely terrible idea?"
"What would you have had me do?" Jack argued back. "Let you die?"
"Yes!" Ianto shouted at Jack, fully serious. "After what that thing did to Suzie, and Gwen... What could have possibly possessed you to use it on me?"
"I thought that--"
"Did you?" Ianto interrupted. "Did you think about it? That bullet was supposed to have killed you, not me, so you decided to switch it back? Well, Sir, you're under no obligation to follow through with--"
"Alright, no, I didn't think, I just reacted!" he replied, interrupting to throw Ianto's own words back at him. "But what's your plan? Shoot the glove and drop dead? Because yeah, that's a great fucking plan!"
Ianto just stared angrily at him.
"So you want to die now, that it?" Jack demanded.
Ianto shook his head in obvious frustration. "It already happened! It's not like it was on my to-do list for today. Buy milk, get killed, pick up the dry-cleaning... But it happened. I died, Jack. I died. You can't just undo something like that. I wish you could, but..."
"But I have." Jack placed his hand on Ianto's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "You know, you were handling this much better earlier."
"Well, that was before some arsehole decided to retcon me!" Two minutes wasn't quite enough time to process the whole ominous resurrection thing.
Jack paced the several steps the confined room permitted before spinning back to face Ianto again. "I'm not doing this because I feel obligated! I care about you, damn it. I thought it would be better if you didn't remember, better for you to not know. That decision, I did think about."
"You care about me?" Ianto casually picked up his cup and took a slow sip as he waited for Jack to elaborate.
"Yes, I..." Jack sputtered over what to say, not normally one to be lost for words, but this wasn't exactly a normal situation. He'd watched too many people die, lost everyone that mattered, everybody who meant something, and he wasn't strong enough to keep doing that. Not today. Not Ianto. "I brought you back from the dead, for Christ's sake! That wasn't obligation, it was selfish. I won't lose you. I need you. I need you here, every day, making coffee and making this job, this life, bearable. I need you alive and not in some drawer in the wall." He needed to not be responsible for getting Ianto killed.
Then Ianto had his hands fisted in Jack's shirt and was pressing their lips together before Jack knew how to react. Instinct and desire won out over the incredibly bad timing, and Jack found himself kissing back, moving his hand automatically to Ianto's neck and pulling him closer. He responded to the firm and insistent pressure of Ianto's lips and parted his own to allow the kiss to deepen.
And got a mouthful of coffee.
Instantly pulling back, Jack spit the coffee onto the floor. He spit several more times, making certain not to swallow. How had he not seen that coming from the second Ianto had picked up that damn cup? He glared at Ianto who was glaring just as fiercely back.
"Don't like the taste of your own medicine?" And Jack could swear Ianto practically smirked. "Or maybe just not the taste of your own coffee."
"Just what was that supposed to accomplish?" Jack demanded. He knew, however, feeling betrayed and seeing it mirrored back at him in Ianto's eyes.
Ianto shrugged. "Level ground."
Wiping his lips with his hand, Jack replied, "Okay, I get it, you're pissed. I'm sorry."
"You don't and you're not."
This time, it was Jack who shrugged. He almost immediately regretted it, but he still felt the sting of that kiss and wasn't quite prepared to lower his guard again. Because it had fucking hurt like a knife in his back, or rather through his heart. Which was entirely the point. He'd drugged Ianto, and how the hell was that supposed to be forgiven? Regardless of good intentions, it was a betrayal none the less.
Jack was angry still, and he'd been the one to do it first. He wasn't going to be manipulated into regretting it either. If he'd actually swallowed, though, he thought for sure he would have hated Ianto.
"If I'm going to be a goddamn walking zombie," Ianto shouted, "I have every fucking right to know! I at least deserve that."
"Right," Jack retorted, "because you're obviously dealing with things so well."
He picked up the teacup again and threw it at Jack. He missed without Jack even needing to dodge. Because his intention hadn't been to actually hit him, Jack realized. Ianto's aim wasn't that bad. Same thing with him releasing Jack from the kiss when he'd pulled back. If he'd really wanted Jack to swallow, he probably could have accomplished it. His aim wasn't to hurt him, but merely to... hurt him.
"You should have just left things well enough alone."
"I couldn't leave things like that!" Jack had raised his voice to a yell, but he stopped, running a hand through his hair. Ianto wouldn't remember this anyway, so really what was the point of them sidestepping around the truth? "I couldn't... I watched you die, and I fucked everything up. I did everything wrong, didn't say what I... I fucked it up, and it couldn't end like that."
Walking back over to Jack's bed, Ianto sat heavily. "You don't know what's going to happen to us." His voice sounded defeated.
Jack sat down beside him. He wouldn't let his feelings make him regret his actions. He was taking a single day, just one day, and giving Ianto back his life. So no, Jack refused to feel guilty. "Nothing's going to happen to us. Today never happened."
Ianto leaned against Jack's shoulder, unable to keep fighting the drugs and stay awake. "But it did." He had the hole in his chest to prove it. "If this ends up killing us both, then it was meaningless. I'm scared. You should be also."
"I'm not." Jack eased him back down against the pillow as he lost consciousness. "And I'm not sorry."
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TBC