Torchwood Fic: Mythology (8/10)
Title: Mythology (8/10)
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R/NC17
Warning: None
Spoilers: Set after 2.13. Spoilers for both series 1 and 2, and a bit of DW: Last of the Time Lords and The Shakespeare Code
Summary: With mythical beasts turning up all over Scotland, Torchwood Two thought they were in charge; however, so did Torchwood Four. Unfortunately for both parties their main suspect was refusing to talk to anyone other than Torchwood Three’s Ianto Jones.
Beta: rakina
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - unfortunately. And I ain’t Shakespeare!
A/N: Set after my stories Lynchpin and Constant. Okay folks... time to investigate the other side of Ianto’s family tree! This one is lighter in tone to Constant - time to have a bit of fun!
Lynchpin here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/21730.html
Constant here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/23390.html
Mythology chapter 1 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/25464.html
Mythology chapter 2 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/25667.html
Mythology chapter 3 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/25892.html
Mythology chapter 4 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/26608.html
Mythology chapter 5 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/26851.html
Mythology chapter 6 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/27087.html
Mythology chapter 7 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/27245.html
Chapter Eight
Snippet:
“You’re not usually jealous. In fact, the last time someone tried to chat me up in a bar you invited them to play.”
In all the time he had worked with Jack, Ianto had never seen his lover affected in such a way. Yes, there had been occasions when Jack had tested his immortality to its limits, but Ianto couldn’t recall an instance when Jack had been forced to lie down to recover from a seemingly non-life threatening complaint.
Ianto sat on the edge of the small camp bed Jack had been guided to after his earlier altercation with Philip. “Feeling better?”
“A little,” Jack replied, sitting up. “My head feels like someone’s been using my skull for a speakeasy.”
“Want to tell me why you suddenly felt the need to punch Philip?” Ianto asked, reaching out to brush Jack’s hair out of his eyes.
Jack looked embarrassed, which was another rarity. “I can’t really explain it. One minute I’m talking to your great-aunt, the next I’m so consumed with jealousy that I can’t stop myself.”
“You’re not usually jealous. In fact, the last time someone tried to chat me up in a bar you invited them to play.”
“I told you I was only joking, I wouldn’t have actually acted on it,” Jack defended with a grin. “And I certainly remember you enjoying my heartfelt apology.”
“Yes, well, never mind that. What I want to know is what Kelis actually said to you before you waded into my perfectly innocent conversation.”
Jack scrunched his eyes together, clearly trying to recall. “I can’t remember. I’m sorry, Ianto. Once the green-eyed monster came to visit she could have been offering me a sex change with extra tentacles and I wouldn’t have heard her.”
“Actually, I think she might have something to do with it,” Ianto admitted apologetically. “She was the only one here who knew that I was involved with Philip when he was younger, and since you now know she must have told you. If there’s one thing Kelis is, it’s vengeful. Not to mention determined and overly protective of anyone who is either a friend or family.”
Jack looked puzzled, then horrified. “Jesus, Ianto, what have you told her about us that could make her think I should be removed from your picture?”
“Nothing,” Ianto insisted, irritated that he seemed to be on the defensive when he hadn’t any reason to be. “I didn’t have to say anything. She told me she knew you through a friend - a friend you left in the lurch, so to speak.”
The noise of someone clearing their throat interrupted the conversation. Ianto turn to see the Doctor. “I thought I'd see how Jack was doing,” he said as a means of explaining his presence. “I also thought I could see if there was any physical reason why we can’t see what the others are seeing.”
Ianto stood up. “I’ve already established that there’s nothing wrong with me.”
“That...er... thing you did with what’s-his-name.”
“Philip,” Ianto automatically corrected.
“Yes, yes,” said the Doctor, dismissively waving his hand. “But I doubt he’d have taken any of your Gallifreyan characteristics into account.”
“I doubt it’s anything to do with that side of my physiology, otherwise Kelis wouldn’t be able to see them either.”
Jack was scowling, but Ianto could see his lover working hard to bite down on his jealousy. “Perhaps it’s because you’re not completely human,” Jack suggested.
“Neither are you,” Ianto replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Hey, I’m more human than you are. Probably about ninety-five percent, and that’s due to the human genome of my time - not the fact my grandparents were off-worlders.”
Ignoring Jack for a moment, Ianto spoke to the Doctor: “If you honestly think that it’s because I’m part alien then I should go and get Kelis.”
“Maybe, we should test my theory first,” the Doctor said hopefully, reaching out to place a hand on Ianto’s shoulder.
“I don’t think so, Doctor.” Ianto gave him a wry grin and looked over to Jack who was practically snarling. “Jack is agitated enough as it is. And the last I thing I want is for him to punch you as well.”
Ianto left, leaving Jack and the Doctor alone. Jack examined his friend who was looking wistfully back in the direction Ianto had disappeared. Suddenly a sense of foreboding grew within him. “The last time I saw you this infatuated with anyone, it was Rose,” he said quietly.
The Doctor had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Jack... I...er...”
“You have got it bad if he’s left you speechless,” Jack joked, but his tone was humourless. “Why him?”
“I’m not sure I can explain it to you without me coming across as more of a bastard than you already think I am.” The Doctor sighed at Jack’s unimpressed expression. “But I guess that’s not going to stop me having to, is it?”
“No,” Jack replied flatly. “But be prepared that if you tell me this... crush... you have for my lover is because of his grandfather, I may not be responsible for my actions.”
“Give me some credit, Jack; I’m not that shallow. Yes, Ianto does have more than a passing resemblance to how Koschei looked when I first knew him, and yes, I’d be lying if I wasn’t slightly attracted to the old devil, but that’s where it ends. I look at Ianto Jones and I see his skewed genetics that should be oh so very, very wrong, but instead he is so very, very right.”
Jack swallowed thickly. “Just what’s so right about him?” he asked, trying not to sound as bitter as he felt. Trying not to remember being told how wrong he was, and not to feel jealous that the Doctor deemed Ianto perfect. Just of whom he was jealous he couldn’t decide.
“Jack, this isn’t about you. I’m sorry, but I can’t help what I feel. Ianto, like you, shouldn’t exist, but the miracle of combining Carrionite and Gallifreyan DNA has resulted in a human hybrid with a unique place in the universe. He’s an amazingly impossible thing that I just can’t turn my back on.” The Doctor smiled. “Oh, the wonders I could show him. Do you think he’d agree to travel with me?”
“No, I’m not interested.” Ianto had returned, Kelis in tow, both of them looking decidedly put out. “No disrespect, Doctor, but if I wanted to travel with a Time Lord I would have taken my grandfather up on his offer.”
“But, Ianto, think of the possibilities,” the Doctor implored. “The universe is out there waiting to be explored.”
“And it’ll still be there when - if - I decide I want to explore it. Thank you for the offer, but for now I’m happy where I am.”
“But...”
Ianto turned away from the Doctor; now wasn’t the time. “Jack, Kelis has something to say to you.”
He looked meaningfully at his great-aunt and she sniffed noisily and smiled thinly at Jack. “I believe I may have inadvertently caused you some distress. Ianto thinks I may have judged you a little harshly and I may have acted hastily in my desire to protect the boy.”
She sighed noisily, laid a hand on Jack’s shoulder and said: “Virtue and cunning were endowments greater than nobleness and riches. Careless heirs, may the two latter darken and expend; but immortality attends the former, making a man a god.”*
Jack’s eyes widened and a sudden wave of mortification mixed with anger and incredulity hit him hard. He was on his feet in an instant, looming over Kelis who didn’t look the slightest bit intimidated. “You!” he accused. “What in hell did you do to me?”
“What do you think I did to you, you mutated ape?” spat Kelis. “I manipulated the thoughts you already had and exaggerated them. I can hardly be held accountable if you have trust issues.”
“Kelis,” warned Ianto, “you are supposed to be apologising.”
She sighed overly dramatically. “Fine. Like I have already said I may have over-reacted, but I am willing to accept - for Ianto’s sake - that I was wrong.”
Jack stepped back, realising that this was as close to an explanation or a true apology he was going to get. “Ianto does have that effect on people,” he said carefully.
Kelis smiled softly. “It is difficult not to feel protective; he is the last of my closest relatives. I won’t say sorry for wanting to keep my family safe. God knows, he has enough to contend with, considering his bloody grandfather.”
Jack laughed, Ianto groaned and the Doctor appeared uncomfortable to be in the middle of something that really didn’t concern him.
“Right, back to business,” the Doctor said matter-of-factly, amused in part by Kelis and Jack’s antics and the look of resignation on Ianto’s face. “If we assume that it is something about our alien nature not allowing us to see these mythological creatures we could also assume that something is outwardly affecting the human population.”
“Potentially,” agreed Ianto. “Wouldn’t exactly be the first time someone had malicious intentions towards the Earth.”
“So when did the first creature appear?”
“There was a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster in the Union canal, followed moments later by the arrival of Cerberus - sorry Floxy - and Kelis,” Ianto informed the Doctor.
Kelis frowned. “I have already told you, you impertinent child, that I have absolutely nothing to do with this.”
“Maybe not intentionally, but something must have happened. And just how did you happen to appear in a Glaswegian park out of nowhere?” asked Ianto, trying to placate his great-aunt.
“I was trying to find Floxy. I opened a pan-dimensional doorway. Don’t look at me like that, Ianto Jones. You don’t know half the things I’m capable of, and you’re not too old to go over my knee!”
Ianto stilled his features, hopeful he’d removed his look of disbelief. “Sorry, Auntie. And what happened next?”
“I come through and I’m surrounded by a selection of humans who thought they’d be able to take me prisoner.” She rolled her eyes in contempt, making Jack wonder if it was a family trait. “They prattled on and mentioned Torchwood. I might not have seen you in a while, Ianto darling, but I have been being keeping an eye on you.”
The Doctor sucked his teeth, his bottom lip sticking out in a ridiculous fashion. “So what were Torchwood Four doing when Kelis and Floxy came through the doorway? I mean there must have been a reason they were standing around in a park on a Saturday evening - and Philip Henshaw doesn’t strike me as a swings and roundabouts type of man.”
“Not that sort, anyway,” muttered Ianto, who was very pleased to see Jack’s saucy grin as he nudged Ianto playfully.
“Ianto,” admonished Kelis, “behave yourself!”
“Sorry,” Ianto said, smirking. “From what Philip told me they were investigating readings from something they thought could be a psychic bomb.”
The Doctor’s eyes widened comically, he turned on his heel and ran from the room. Jack, Ianto and Kelis exchange a quick bemused look before chasing after him. Ianto led the pack, wondering what it was about long-lived men in long coats that meant he spent a large portion of his life running down corridors.
They emerged into the main area of the Armadillo. The Doctor grabbed Henshaw by the biceps. “Tell me, did you diffuse the bomb?”
TBC
Kelis quotes: *Pericles Prince of Tyre (Cerimon at III, ii)
A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry... but I’ve been writing my Stopwatch Exchange fic, and all sort of other excuses. I will do better :)
Chap 9 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/28863.html