Torchwood Fic: Constant (5/7)
Title: Constant (5/7)
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R/NC17
Warning: None
Spoilers: Set after 2.13. Spoilers for both series 1 and 2, and a bit DW: Last of the Time Lords and The Shakespeare Code
Summary: There has been one constant in Ianto’s life. And Jack will just have to deal with it.
Beta: rakina
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - unfortunately
A/N: This is the sequel to my story Lynchpin. I would suggest you read that first otherwise it might be a tad confusing. Those of you who asked for a sequel... I hope you’re happy - it’s all your fault! Lynchpin was very much Jack’s POV... this is overall more Ianto’s show. Where Lynchpin focused more on Torchwood Four, Constant is more about Ianto’s rather unique family background - and a certain relative of his.
Lynchpin here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/21730.html
Constant chapter one: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/23390.html
Constant chapter two: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/23692.html
Constant chapter three: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/23947.html
Constant chapter four: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/24140.html
Chapter 5
Snippet:
Ianto reached up and stroked Jack’s face. “I know what you told me; now tell me what you left out. Don’t feel you have to pull your punches, Jack. I know what he is capable of.”
Gwen barrelled into the Hub having left Rhys at the flat after an impromptu lunch together. During the journey she had changed her mind a total of six times as to what to say to Jack - if she should say anything at all. But now, with everything else that had gone on, was not the time for secrets. She’d convinced herself that this was the right course of action, to tell Jack of her suspicions. There must be something wrong with Ianto if he was sneaking around behind Jack’s back. They had to be vigilant, they couldn’t take any risks at the moment - they were too exposed, too fragile.
Jack was in his office. He looked drawn, there were dark circles under his eyes and his skin had a deathly pallor that not even his tanned complexion could disguise. His head shot up from his paperwork as she entered the room, a momentary look of disappointment flickered across his face and she realised he'd thought she might be Ianto. “Do you have a minute?” she asked, keeping the resentment from her voice that he wasn’t pleased to see her.
“Sure.” He gestured for her to sit opposite and she did so.
“Jack, I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just come straight out with it. Rhys saw Ianto with another man earlier today in a cafe... he thought they might be more than friends.” She bit her lip as she finished, waiting for Jack’s reaction.
“Let me get this straight. Your husband saw your colleague having coffee with another guy and you immediately jump to the conclusion that they are ‘more than friends’?”
“Well, I mean... Look, Jack. We both know what’s going on between you and Ianto, and I don’t for a second believe that Ianto would do anything deliberately to hurt you, but things have been difficult lately and maybe there’s something wrong with him.”
Jack laughed and Gwen flinched a little in her seat. “You of all people should have learnt not to jump to conclusions. I know where Ianto has been today - with a relative... so I guess you’re right - they are more than friends.” He leaned forward across his desk and looked her squarely in the eye. “You made it very clear that Torchwood should not meddle in your personal life, so I’m giving you fair warning, Gwen Cooper, don’t meddle in mine.”
“Jack...”
“Go. I appreciate your concern, but get out of my sight before I say something I might, or more than likely might not, regret.”
The footsteps on the staircase to Jack’s office alerted them both to Ianto’s arrival. Gwen stood up quickly, smiling weakly at Ianto as she left. Ianto raised his eyebrows in question at the scene he’d entered. “Shut the door,” ordered Jack.
Ianto did so and seeing the look on Jack’s face went straight for his decanter and poured them both a decent slug of brandy. “Well?” he prompted, handing Jack a glass.
Jack saluted him with his glass before knocking back the brandy in one go. “Apparently Rhys saw you this morning with your friend. He told Gwen who, for reasons known only to herself, thought it meant you were seeing someone else behind my back.”
“I have no idea what he thought he saw, but I assure you that no matter how fucked up my family is we’re not involved in incest!” Ianto shuddered slightly, emptied his glass and quickly refilled it. “And what right has she to judge me?”
Jack saw the anger rising in his lover and thought it best for the sake of all their sanities to play the diplomat. “She was concerned, primarily for you. Thought your behaviour was out of character. Give her some slack. It’s been difficult for all of us lately and, unlike either of us, she’s never had to deal with anything like this before.”
Ianto nodded. “So what did you say to her?”
“That it was a relative of yours, and that I would prefer her not to mess with my private life.”
“Ah, hence the expression she was wearing.” Ianto watched his captain carefully. “Are you all right? You don’t look so good.”
Jack rubbed his eyes. “We need to talk - about your grandfather.”
This conversation was something they had both been avoiding, and Ianto could see that Jack would’ve been happier to avoid it for as long as possible, but Koschei’s arrival meant it was time to talk. “Why don’t we go down into your quarters? More private there, less chance of an interruption.”
Ianto held out his hand and Jack took it, squeezing tightly. He led them to the hatch, letting Jack go down the ladder first and shut the trap door behind them. Jack sank onto his bed and Ianto sat beside him. “I told you about the ‘Year That Never Was’... about the Doctor, getting imprisoned on the Valiant, the Paradox Machine and the Master.”
Ianto reached up and stroked Jack’s face. “I know what you told me; now tell me what you left out. Don’t feel you have to pull your punches, Jack. I know what he is capable of.”
“He said I was a freak. He said he couldn’t bear to look at me - that something so wrong shouldn’t be allowed to exist. So he ordered me to be chained up in the engine room and he shot me. It was like all his Christmases had come at once when he realised I couldn’t die... I became his entertainment.”
Ianto swallowed thickly, he thought he should have expected this. His grandfather’s cruel streak was as long as the Grand Canyon and seemingly unstoppable. Jack’s eyes were wet, and Ianto could see he was holding back emotions that had threatened to escape since he’d returned from travelling with the Doctor. Seeing Jack so vulnerable made Ianto's heart bleed and he wrapped his arms around him and lay back on the bed, pillowing Jack’s head on his chest and stroking his hair.
“I was down there for months. Each day he’d try a new way of trying to kill me...” Jack paused, shuddered slightly and continued: “Eventually he got bored.”
Ianto hugged him tight. “You should have told me.”
“I didn’t want you to know. And when I found out that he was your grandfather I thought it would be best not to say anything.... but I can’t lock this away any longer.”
A terrible thought worked its way through Ianto’s mind. “Tell me, Jack, did he ever give you a reason for what he did? I mean more than you just being ‘wrong’ or something to play with.”
“No. But it was as if he was taking a great personal pleasure in killing me. Almost like revenge, but without a motive.”
Ianto didn’t answer just held Jack tight and rocked him slightly. His grandfather hadn’t hidden his disapproval of Jack Harkness from Ianto. Even though they hadn’t seen each other face-to-face for years Koschei had, since Ianto's initial involvement with Jack, taken great pains to discourage Ianto from either entering into or continuing a relationship with the captain. There was no way Jack’s torture at the hands of his grandfather was unrelated. Jack had suffered, at least in part, because the Master hadn’t deemed him worthy of his grandson’s affection.
“Ianto?” Jack levered himself up on his elbows. “I don’t hold you responsible for your grandfather’s actions. You aren’t him.”
Ianto gazed into Jack’s blue eyes and pulled him down closer, capturing his lover’s lips in a kiss meant to convey his love for Jack. He’d missed this, since the troubles they’d spent so little time together and now he wanted to show Jack exactly how he felt. He wasn’t good with words, emotions or any of the other romantic notions, but he hoped he was getting his point across.
“You’re a good man, Jack,” he whispered against his lips.
“No, Ianto. If you can forgive me for Lisa I’ve no right to condemn you for your grandfather’s actions.”
Ianto was about to speak, but four sharp beeps came from Jack’s wrist-strap. They jumped apart. “That’s the intruder alarm,” said Jack, rolling off the bed and grabbing his gun from his nightstand. “Are you armed?”
“No.”
“Take my spare gun from the top drawer of the desk. Find Gwen and stick together. I’ll access the CCTV and see who our visitor is... Keep your com line open.”
A brief nod signified Ianto’s agreement. Jack grabbed him around the neck and kissed him fiercely. “Take no unnecessary risks, understand?”
“Yes. Same goes for you.”
They emerged into Jack’s office; it was empty. Ianto grabbed the gun, noting it was a standard issue model meaning, thankfully, he wouldn’t have to cope with using a Webley, while Jack accessed the CCTV. “I can’t see anything obvious,” said Jack, flicking through a number of screenshots.
“I’ll find Gwen.”
Ianto left the office, Jack close on his heels, and spotted Gwen immediately. She was slumped over her desk. Jack gave him cover as he raced over. He checked her pulse and he sighed in relief to find it strong and that she was breathing normally. “She’s just unconscious.”
Three sharp metallic bangs rang out across the Hub. They looked up in shock and Ianto swore under his breath as he saw his grandfather standing on the gangway leading to the conference room.
Koschei smiled broadly and held out his arms. “Good afternoon, Freak,” he called. “Thought I’d drop by and see how you were doing. Sorry I didn’t bring a present - very rude of me.”
“What are you doing here?” demanded Ianto angrily.
“Oh, Ianto, what sort of grandparent would I be if I didn’t take an interest in my grandson’s insignificant other?”
“Get out of my Hub!” roared Jack.
“Now, now, Harkness. Is that anyway to speak to a potential in-law? Although if I’m honest, I’d rather have porphyria in my family than you!”
“As if I would want to be associated with something as objectionable as you! Ianto became the man he is today despite being related to you.”
“Ianto,” Koschei called to his grandson, “how can you bear to let this aberration near you?”
Ianto stared steely-eyed at his grandfather. “Jack told me what you did on the Valiant. How could you? You knew want he meant to me!”
“He does not deserve your devotion. If I repaid him in kind for every death he is responsible for - either by his own hand or another - then I would need to kill him daily until your pitiful sun burnt out.” He turned to Jack. “Isn’t that true, Captain, or should I call you Time Agent 6098? You had a reputation far surpassing mine as a torturer.”
“I am no longer that man,” ground out Jack, looking desperately at Ianto.
“And, Ianto, have you forgotten Lisa: the girl of your dreams he executed in front of you? Or the fact he left you to cavort across the galaxy with the Doctor? Oh, what a fine man you have chosen there!” he cried mockingly.
Ianto shut his eyes, desperate not to look at the two people who were the most important in his life as they vied for his support. He had known Jack’s past was jaded, but so was his grandfather’s - neither man was perfect, neither innocent of crimes against many civilisations. “Stop it!” he screamed. “Stop it now!”
Koschei smiled.
Ianto should have realised that grin was a warning. No smile that wide could mean anything but trouble. He was thrown to floor as a large explosion erupted behind him, sparks and smoke filled the air and he covered his head with his arms to protect himself from falling debris.
TBC...
Chap 6: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/24609.html