Resonating Through Time -- Are You Sure You Really Want To Do That?
Title: Are You Sure You Really Want To Do That?
dwtwprompts prompt: Lullaby
Date Written: 4/26/08
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 1,874
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Doctor, Donna, Doctor, Jack/Ianto, mentions the Master and Rose
Spoilers: Torchwood seasons 1 & 2, Doctor Who Seasons 01-04
Warnings: None, really.
Author's Notes: And here we go, part two!
1/9: Salt and Pepper
2/9: That's the Thing About Gloves, Sir
3/9: Leading Back To Rome
4/9: It's So Nice To See That Insanity Translates
5/9: Cariad, Dwi'n Unig
6.1/9: I Can Resist Everything But Temptation
Ianto could hear singing. Not the resonating singing he'd heard in his dreams, but a quiet, oh-so-ancient song, in a language Ianto didn't recognize. He must be singing in English, Ianto realized, so the TARDIS was translating it back.
He realized with a small shock that he was probably the first non-Time Lord to ever hear the Language of the Time Lords.
He opened his eyes, blinking against the light coming from a lamp across the room. The Doctor was sitting in a chair, his gaze focused on a far corner of the room as he sang softly. The Time Lord had a lovely baritone.
Jack's singing voice was better.
"Oh, you're awake. About time, too!"
Ianto groaned a little and moved to prop himself up on his elbows. "Where's Jack?" he asked, his voice sounding sleepy and slurred in his own ears.
"Having a cup of tea with Donna."
Ianto frowned. "Jack doesn't drink tea. He had tea with the Queen last year and asked her for coffee instead. She was rather insulted."
The Doctor laughed and stood, moving the chair to beside Ianto's bed. "That sounds like Jack!"
Ianto smiled a little, lying back against the bed as the Doctor peered down at him. "Are you going to throw me off?"
The Doctor scoffed. "Please. The TARDIS would be angry, and I don't think I'll be able to get rid of you that easy!" He smiled at him, not the broad smile but a soft, worried smile. "What do you remember?"
Ianto frowned a little, putting a hand on his head. "There was this... this singing..."
"It's like, there was this singing--"
"That's right. I sang a song and the Daleks went away."
"The whole of the Universe, singing. It was beautiful, heartbreakingly gorgeous." He pulled his hand away and looked up at the Doctor. "Is that what you hear, Doctor?"
He smiled a little and brushed Ianto's hair back from his face. "Sometimes. It's usually a bit more like a filing cabinet, pieces of knowledge stashed here and there, in perfect order." He sat back, dropping his hand away. "But yes, when I looked into the Schism, I heard music too."
"It was like a symphony!" The Doctor, oh so young and still bearing his ancient, now hidden name. "It was beautiful!"
The young Time Lords were handling their Initiation in different ways. Most were serious and reverent, quite a few cried at the sudden feeling of futility of everything, but a few laughed and bounced in excitement, hooked on the experience. They would grow up to be the adventurers, the renegades, the ones who would save the race over and over by fighting on the front lines.
One was quiet, trying to tuck himself away and hide from the questions, from everyone. His hands were over his ears, as if he was trying to block out something.
"What about you?" He'd shimmied out of his bed, hurrying over to the boy he'd stood by on the first day, who he already considered his best friend. "Did you hear music?"
The other nodded, his grip tightening on his head. Slowly, carefully, the young Doctor pulled the hands away, already trying to help. "What did you hear?"
"Drums," the other whispered. The future Master looked up, tears streaming down his face. "I heard drums."
Ianto slowly sat up, tucking the sheets around his waist. "Jack. I want to -- I need to see him."
"You need to rest," the Doctor replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He needs a moment. You need a moment."
"Why? I'm fine. I've never felt better."
"Now. You had all of space and time in your head, Ianto."
"Jack," Ianto insisted. "Now."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but inwardly grinned. Oh, this one reminded him of his youngest son, he'd been so stubborn too, full of spirit. He knew he'd be just fine.
Eventually.
"Doctor!" Donna came rushing into the console room. "Doctor, it's Jack, he's--"
"Passed out?" the Doctor supplied, crouched down to touch Ianto's neck carefully, checking for a pulse. It was there, and strong. The light had been out of his eyes when he'd seen the Doctor.
He'd survive. Well, he would have survived anyway.
Donna moved around to Ianto's other side. "Is he okay?" he asked, touching the Welshman's hand carefully.
"More or less." He sighed and stood, bending at the waist. "Help me with him. I'll get this side."
"Doctor, what happened?"
"Help me and I'll tell you."
Donna grabbed Ianto's arm, looping it around her neck as the Doctor did the same. "Those necklaces they wear, they're Vidara necklaces," the Time Lord explained as they pulled Ianto's limp body towards the nearest bedroom. "They're made for soul mates, two people -- usually lovers, but it's not a rule -- who have formed a strong psychic connection.
"Humans have inherit psychic abilities. Most living organisms do, and the higher up the evolutionary chain your race is, the stronger it can become. Soul mates get bound up in each other's abilities, in each other's mind. If you notice, Ianto and Jack finish each other's thoughts, like they did when they were coming up with a way to break into the dojo back in Japan. They're more than in sync, they're at the same frequency."
"So when -- whatever happened to Ianto happened -- " Donna started slowly, reaching for the doorknob to the Doctor's room, jumping a little when the door swung open before she touched it. Donna still wasn't used to the TARDIS being alive.
"Exactly. Jack felt it too."
They moved Ianto to the bed, Donna pulling off Ianto's shoes before they tucked him into bed and left the room. "You go get Jack, I'll be with you in a tick."
Donna opened her mouth but thought better of it and shut it, heading to the library. She could probably pull it out of Jack.
The Doctor returned to the Console room, leaning against the wall. "Oh, you naughty, naughty girl," he scolded, crossing his legs. "You were plotting this, weren't you?"
He heard the TARDIS' laughter ring through his head.
It sounded like Rose's.
"Oh, Ianto," Jack breathed, touching Ianto's face. "Ianto, Ianto, my beautiful Ianto, what did you do?"
Confusion clouded those beautiful blue eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Yan, I know. I saw it, I heard the music, I felt it." He took Ianto's hand and placed it over his heart. "You tied yourself to me."
Ianto shook his head a little. "What are you talking about, Jack?"
"Ianto, you made yourself like me. Infinite. Fact. Immortal. Don't you remember?"
The console rumbled against Ianto's back, a pleasant roll that should have frightened him. Instead he found himself turning towards the sound, in an almost sleepy state.
He carefully touched the console panel next to his shoulder, smiling as the panel slid away. A golden light lingered within, pulsing in time with the warm affection that still surrounded him.
It was beautiful.
He reached in to touch it, a little confused when the light didn't stay in one place. Soft soothing washed over him and he instantly relaxed, watching the tendrils of light as they slipped around his body, into him.
There was music in his ears, a choir of angels -- no. The choir of Existence, everything singing in tones of perfection, their short bars tapering off after two or three. Songs, full-blown themes were there, but sung with the multitude, cut short by tragedy, by Time itself, but replaced just as quickly with another refrain.
The Doctor's song was longer, but finite. It had a beginning and an end. Jack's -- he knew it was Jack's, it couldn't be anyone else, he just knew, as surely as he knew his own -- was the only constant, a lonely, melancholy melody threading through space and time.
Ianto felt the tears slide down his face. So sad, it broke his heart.
He reached out and plucked up an accompanying note, one that resonated perfectly with Jack's, one that was just as sorrow-filled, and he twisted it. Pulled and tugged and lengthened it, from the beginning of time to the implosion of All. Wound it tight around Jack's melody, creating a perfect duet. Full of Sorrow, and of Pain, yes, but also accompanied by resonating Joy, pure Bliss.
Then he took a breath and exhaled, the golden light leaving him, the sudden deafening silence ringing in his ears.
The Doctor burst into the console room, hair sticking up at all angles and glasses askew, the definition of the word 'panic'. Ianto smiled and grabbed his arms, laughing, the lingering joy making him feel drunk.
Then he collapsed back onto the floor.
"Oh, Duw," Ianto swore, his eyes widening. It was true. He hadn't meant to pick his own soul, he'd just picked the one that was the best compliment to Jack's, the best pairing through the multitude of All.
He was completely ecstatic.
"Oh, damn, Jack," he murmured, pulling Jack close and hugging him tight. Neither of them would ever be lonely again. There was no one in the whole wide galaxy that would care for Jack better, who loved him more, than Ianto.
"We need to reverse this, Yan."
And just like that, Ianto's heart shattered into pieces.
"I can't hear what they're saying!" Donna whispered, her ear pressed against the keyhole.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and reached into his jacket pockets, pulling out two stethoscopes. He handed one over to Donna, tucking the earpieces of his into his ears.
"How do you do that?"
"I told you before, remember?" the Doctor said easily, placing the flat end on the door. "Time Lord technology, they're bigger on the inside."
"Time Lord technology my arse," Donna replied, following his example.
The Doctor grinned and shushed her.
"W-what?"
"Ianto, be reasonable," Jack said, pulling back to look at Ianto's face. "You can't do this. You can't want this."
The Doctor should have pitched him out into the void of space. It would have been kinder. "I do. Jack, Jack, I want this so much--"
"No, Ianto, you don't. Trust me." He cupped his face in his hands gently, smiling at him. "It's not everything the fairy tales make it out to be. It's Hell."
No, Ianto thought. This is. Hearing you say these awful, horrid things, this is Hell.
He reached up and gently pulled Jack's hands away. He slowly slid out of bed, vertigo slamming him momentarily and making him grab at the bedside table as the world righted itself.
Jack stood and reached out to help him, but the Welshman just pointed at him, his finger shaking from the force of his anger. "Don't," he said, his voice hard. "Don't you dare, Jack Harkness."
The dizziness passed and Ianto stood, tugging the wrinkles out of his clothing before walking -- a little shakily, but on his own -- to the door.
The look on the Doctor and Donna's faces were priceless as Ianto threw it open, eyes wide in shock, hands holding the stethoscopes still suspended in midair.
"Doctor," Ianto said, drawing himself up to his full determined height. "Take me home."
ETA: Chapter seven part one here
dwtwprompts prompt: Lullaby
Date Written: 4/26/08
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 1,874
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Doctor, Donna, Doctor, Jack/Ianto, mentions the Master and Rose
Spoilers: Torchwood seasons 1 & 2, Doctor Who Seasons 01-04
Warnings: None, really.
Author's Notes: And here we go, part two!
1/9: Salt and Pepper
2/9: That's the Thing About Gloves, Sir
3/9: Leading Back To Rome
4/9: It's So Nice To See That Insanity Translates
5/9: Cariad, Dwi'n Unig
6.1/9: I Can Resist Everything But Temptation
Ianto could hear singing. Not the resonating singing he'd heard in his dreams, but a quiet, oh-so-ancient song, in a language Ianto didn't recognize. He must be singing in English, Ianto realized, so the TARDIS was translating it back.
He realized with a small shock that he was probably the first non-Time Lord to ever hear the Language of the Time Lords.
He opened his eyes, blinking against the light coming from a lamp across the room. The Doctor was sitting in a chair, his gaze focused on a far corner of the room as he sang softly. The Time Lord had a lovely baritone.
Jack's singing voice was better.
"Oh, you're awake. About time, too!"
Ianto groaned a little and moved to prop himself up on his elbows. "Where's Jack?" he asked, his voice sounding sleepy and slurred in his own ears.
"Having a cup of tea with Donna."
Ianto frowned. "Jack doesn't drink tea. He had tea with the Queen last year and asked her for coffee instead. She was rather insulted."
The Doctor laughed and stood, moving the chair to beside Ianto's bed. "That sounds like Jack!"
Ianto smiled a little, lying back against the bed as the Doctor peered down at him. "Are you going to throw me off?"
The Doctor scoffed. "Please. The TARDIS would be angry, and I don't think I'll be able to get rid of you that easy!" He smiled at him, not the broad smile but a soft, worried smile. "What do you remember?"
Ianto frowned a little, putting a hand on his head. "There was this... this singing..."
"It's like, there was this singing--"
"That's right. I sang a song and the Daleks went away."
"The whole of the Universe, singing. It was beautiful, heartbreakingly gorgeous." He pulled his hand away and looked up at the Doctor. "Is that what you hear, Doctor?"
He smiled a little and brushed Ianto's hair back from his face. "Sometimes. It's usually a bit more like a filing cabinet, pieces of knowledge stashed here and there, in perfect order." He sat back, dropping his hand away. "But yes, when I looked into the Schism, I heard music too."
"It was like a symphony!" The Doctor, oh so young and still bearing his ancient, now hidden name. "It was beautiful!"
The young Time Lords were handling their Initiation in different ways. Most were serious and reverent, quite a few cried at the sudden feeling of futility of everything, but a few laughed and bounced in excitement, hooked on the experience. They would grow up to be the adventurers, the renegades, the ones who would save the race over and over by fighting on the front lines.
One was quiet, trying to tuck himself away and hide from the questions, from everyone. His hands were over his ears, as if he was trying to block out something.
"What about you?" He'd shimmied out of his bed, hurrying over to the boy he'd stood by on the first day, who he already considered his best friend. "Did you hear music?"
The other nodded, his grip tightening on his head. Slowly, carefully, the young Doctor pulled the hands away, already trying to help. "What did you hear?"
"Drums," the other whispered. The future Master looked up, tears streaming down his face. "I heard drums."
Ianto slowly sat up, tucking the sheets around his waist. "Jack. I want to -- I need to see him."
"You need to rest," the Doctor replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He needs a moment. You need a moment."
"Why? I'm fine. I've never felt better."
"Now. You had all of space and time in your head, Ianto."
"Jack," Ianto insisted. "Now."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but inwardly grinned. Oh, this one reminded him of his youngest son, he'd been so stubborn too, full of spirit. He knew he'd be just fine.
Eventually.
"Doctor!" Donna came rushing into the console room. "Doctor, it's Jack, he's--"
"Passed out?" the Doctor supplied, crouched down to touch Ianto's neck carefully, checking for a pulse. It was there, and strong. The light had been out of his eyes when he'd seen the Doctor.
He'd survive. Well, he would have survived anyway.
Donna moved around to Ianto's other side. "Is he okay?" he asked, touching the Welshman's hand carefully.
"More or less." He sighed and stood, bending at the waist. "Help me with him. I'll get this side."
"Doctor, what happened?"
"Help me and I'll tell you."
Donna grabbed Ianto's arm, looping it around her neck as the Doctor did the same. "Those necklaces they wear, they're Vidara necklaces," the Time Lord explained as they pulled Ianto's limp body towards the nearest bedroom. "They're made for soul mates, two people -- usually lovers, but it's not a rule -- who have formed a strong psychic connection.
"Humans have inherit psychic abilities. Most living organisms do, and the higher up the evolutionary chain your race is, the stronger it can become. Soul mates get bound up in each other's abilities, in each other's mind. If you notice, Ianto and Jack finish each other's thoughts, like they did when they were coming up with a way to break into the dojo back in Japan. They're more than in sync, they're at the same frequency."
"So when -- whatever happened to Ianto happened -- " Donna started slowly, reaching for the doorknob to the Doctor's room, jumping a little when the door swung open before she touched it. Donna still wasn't used to the TARDIS being alive.
"Exactly. Jack felt it too."
They moved Ianto to the bed, Donna pulling off Ianto's shoes before they tucked him into bed and left the room. "You go get Jack, I'll be with you in a tick."
Donna opened her mouth but thought better of it and shut it, heading to the library. She could probably pull it out of Jack.
The Doctor returned to the Console room, leaning against the wall. "Oh, you naughty, naughty girl," he scolded, crossing his legs. "You were plotting this, weren't you?"
He heard the TARDIS' laughter ring through his head.
It sounded like Rose's.
"Oh, Ianto," Jack breathed, touching Ianto's face. "Ianto, Ianto, my beautiful Ianto, what did you do?"
Confusion clouded those beautiful blue eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Yan, I know. I saw it, I heard the music, I felt it." He took Ianto's hand and placed it over his heart. "You tied yourself to me."
Ianto shook his head a little. "What are you talking about, Jack?"
"Ianto, you made yourself like me. Infinite. Fact. Immortal. Don't you remember?"
The console rumbled against Ianto's back, a pleasant roll that should have frightened him. Instead he found himself turning towards the sound, in an almost sleepy state.
He carefully touched the console panel next to his shoulder, smiling as the panel slid away. A golden light lingered within, pulsing in time with the warm affection that still surrounded him.
It was beautiful.
He reached in to touch it, a little confused when the light didn't stay in one place. Soft soothing washed over him and he instantly relaxed, watching the tendrils of light as they slipped around his body, into him.
There was music in his ears, a choir of angels -- no. The choir of Existence, everything singing in tones of perfection, their short bars tapering off after two or three. Songs, full-blown themes were there, but sung with the multitude, cut short by tragedy, by Time itself, but replaced just as quickly with another refrain.
The Doctor's song was longer, but finite. It had a beginning and an end. Jack's -- he knew it was Jack's, it couldn't be anyone else, he just knew, as surely as he knew his own -- was the only constant, a lonely, melancholy melody threading through space and time.
Ianto felt the tears slide down his face. So sad, it broke his heart.
He reached out and plucked up an accompanying note, one that resonated perfectly with Jack's, one that was just as sorrow-filled, and he twisted it. Pulled and tugged and lengthened it, from the beginning of time to the implosion of All. Wound it tight around Jack's melody, creating a perfect duet. Full of Sorrow, and of Pain, yes, but also accompanied by resonating Joy, pure Bliss.
Then he took a breath and exhaled, the golden light leaving him, the sudden deafening silence ringing in his ears.
The Doctor burst into the console room, hair sticking up at all angles and glasses askew, the definition of the word 'panic'. Ianto smiled and grabbed his arms, laughing, the lingering joy making him feel drunk.
Then he collapsed back onto the floor.
"Oh, Duw," Ianto swore, his eyes widening. It was true. He hadn't meant to pick his own soul, he'd just picked the one that was the best compliment to Jack's, the best pairing through the multitude of All.
He was completely ecstatic.
"Oh, damn, Jack," he murmured, pulling Jack close and hugging him tight. Neither of them would ever be lonely again. There was no one in the whole wide galaxy that would care for Jack better, who loved him more, than Ianto.
"We need to reverse this, Yan."
And just like that, Ianto's heart shattered into pieces.
"I can't hear what they're saying!" Donna whispered, her ear pressed against the keyhole.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and reached into his jacket pockets, pulling out two stethoscopes. He handed one over to Donna, tucking the earpieces of his into his ears.
"How do you do that?"
"I told you before, remember?" the Doctor said easily, placing the flat end on the door. "Time Lord technology, they're bigger on the inside."
"Time Lord technology my arse," Donna replied, following his example.
The Doctor grinned and shushed her.
"W-what?"
"Ianto, be reasonable," Jack said, pulling back to look at Ianto's face. "You can't do this. You can't want this."
The Doctor should have pitched him out into the void of space. It would have been kinder. "I do. Jack, Jack, I want this so much--"
"No, Ianto, you don't. Trust me." He cupped his face in his hands gently, smiling at him. "It's not everything the fairy tales make it out to be. It's Hell."
No, Ianto thought. This is. Hearing you say these awful, horrid things, this is Hell.
He reached up and gently pulled Jack's hands away. He slowly slid out of bed, vertigo slamming him momentarily and making him grab at the bedside table as the world righted itself.
Jack stood and reached out to help him, but the Welshman just pointed at him, his finger shaking from the force of his anger. "Don't," he said, his voice hard. "Don't you dare, Jack Harkness."
The dizziness passed and Ianto stood, tugging the wrinkles out of his clothing before walking -- a little shakily, but on his own -- to the door.
The look on the Doctor and Donna's faces were priceless as Ianto threw it open, eyes wide in shock, hands holding the stethoscopes still suspended in midair.
"Doctor," Ianto said, drawing himself up to his full determined height. "Take me home."
ETA: Chapter seven part one here