Achieving Avalon (part 5)
Title: Achieving Avalon
Author: HopeNight
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, past Arthur/Merlin, past Ianto/Lisa, past Ianto/others, Gwen/Rhys
Ianto Jones/Merlin Emrys, Captain Jack Harkness/Arthur Pendragon, Toshiko Sato, Doctor Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Morgana la Fey/Lady Morgana Farthing, Great Dragon/Cameron Ashmore, Nimueh/Naomi Smith
Warnings: OOC-ness running rampant, rude language, REALLY AU after Cyberwoman, Jack Harkness in general
Rating: PG-13 possibly light R
Current Word Count: 20,001
Artists: chosenfire28
Beta(s): scarlet_reader
Summary: Ianto Jones is a perfectly ordinary man with no past and a not so ordinary job. Merlin Emrys on the other hand? He has a trail of mysticism, magic, death, love, and reincarnation following him like a lost puppy. Somehow it’s up to him to put a little magic back into the Torchwood teams lives especially Jack’s. Why? Well because it’s Jack he falls in love with every lifetime and it’s up to the Captain to get his own memories back.
Notes: This was just a weird little chestnut in my head. So yeah I wrote and I enjoyed it. Thanks to my wonderful beta, scarlet_reader.
“Understand this, I mean to arrive at the truth. The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.”-Agatha Christie
The beginning of the end of all Jack Harkness believed to be true started with a phone call over dinner. Ianto was telling him about a time in university when he accidentally wandered into a gay karaoke bar and accidentally tripped in the middle of the song landing in who he believed was Pete Wentz’s lap. He cannot prove it of course but he swore up and down that it was him.
Jack chuckled into his drink and was beginning to tell him the time with him, a case of brandy, a boa constrictor, and the runaway prince of Brodesia when his phone rang. He closed his eyes.
“Maybe if you ignore it then it will go away?” suggested Ianto calmly also not happy that their date was
ruined.
“As much as I love that idea, Ianto, I know for a fact that it won’t go away.”
Ianto sighed, “Well there’s goes my fabulous plan of seduction that ended with us and chocolate whipped cream.”
Jack was proud that his very near whimper was held back. It had been a year and half since he last got laid. Anything involving whipped cream sounded good to him because that involved licking. Remember that licking inevitably leads to sex.
Why else were popsicles invented? And don’t start spewing all the shit about children and summer.
But that’s beside the point.
“Hello? Owen. This better be important. Uh-huh. You have to be kidding me. It’s been confirmed. Huh. Alright we’ll be there in ten.”
“What is it?” asked Ianto as Jack put away his phone. His own was vibrating in his pocket.
“Apparently a sword in a stone appeared in the fountain.”
“The one in the Plass? Near our office?”
“Yep and apparently it now comes with its own Lady of the Lake.”
Ianto blinked and cursed in his head. The Lady of the bloody Lake?! She was early! Jack hadn’t even remembered yet! Great now this was going to be messy. Interrogations, possible attempts to be killed (not like it would actually work), and him leaving the country if this didn’t turn out right. He should go to Greece. It’s supposed to be lovely this time of year. He’s sure that Morgana has a house there. She always has a house on all the pretty places.
Then again if by some minor miracle they believed him and Jack regained his memories…Ianto pushed the thought from his mind. Yeah right like that would actually happen.
Over the years sometimes cynicism is just easier to embrace then optimism. Optimism is just too trying after centuries of living. After seeing humanity destroy each other become fragile with paranoia and fear. Sometimes being cynical can save your life. Of course someone once told him that optimism can save his soul.
Maybe he does have a little light in his heart, a little bit optimism for something. One day he would begin getting older with Arthur not standing on the sidelines and watching him die. Because really that’s all he has to believe in anymore. Just one chance at normal.
Ladies and gentleman meet Merlin Emrys/Ianto Jones president/tyrant/dictator/ruler/supreme authority on Cynics of the Universe (CU for short). He will be taking questions shortly after an unmitigated disaster involving his job that has occurred.
Arthur: Still alive then?
Merlin: Yeah, just about. I understand I have you to thank for that.
Arthur: Yeah, well, it was nothing. A half-decent servant is hard to come by. I was only dropping by to make sure you were alright. Check that you'll be back to work tomorrow.
Merlin: Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course. Bright and early. Arthur... thank you.
Arthur: You too. Get some rest.-Arthur and Merlin “The Poisoned Chalice”
A bloody sword in a bleeding stone in the middle of fucking Cardiff was the Rift activity of the day. Sometimes Owen’s job is just really weird most days. Well actually there’s weird and then there’s fucking bizarre. This whole sword thing actually puts it pretty close to fucking bizarre. Well add the apparent nymph in then it’s just a whole other level of strange. A level that Owen has not even conceived of yet. They had to clear the Plass and that was just a pain in the ass of 35 on his pain in the various body part scales.
And that’s just scary by itself. The nymph is hot though. So it is all balanced out in Owen’s head. So barring the fact that his life is reminding him a little too much of Arthurian legend all of the sudden. It’s not so bad.
Too bad that whole Arthurian thing is about to get a whole lot worse.
The water nymph is pale with long blue-green hair that moves like a gentle current of the sea held back with seaweed. Her eyes are a dark blue like the deepest part of the ocean. She’s wearing a dress made of some sort of blue material with shells, driftwood, net, pearls, and starfish decorating the dress. She hasn’t said a word except asking for someone named “Emrys”.
“Where’s Emrys?” asked the girl again. Her voice sounds like the gentle crashing of the waves.
“Who is Emrys?” asked Gwen again.
“Emrys is the great sorcerer. Priest of the Old Religion. Lover of my King. Protector and Friend of my people. He has found the king and it has been nearly twenty one moons since he has met the Once and Future Ruler. He should remember.”
“Who?”
“He is known to you as Arthur.”
Owen blinked and stared. He wondered what kind of alien was this. She took to gazing out waiting for someone. Then all of the sudden the creature smiled and began to sing softly.
“Emrys! You have brought him!”
Owen turned to see who this Emrys was. All he saw was Jack and the tea-boy.
“Jack? You know her?”
“No,” said the leader with absolute certainty. Everyone’s eyes turned to Ianto. The tea-boy was staring at the ground. Owen bit back a growl he knew that they shouldn’t have trusted him again.
“Ianto…” said Jack warningly. He sounded hurt and angry. Ianto flinched and slowly looked up. Everyone gasped in shock and awe.
His eyes were a glowing gold. They were beautiful like two suns, the energy of life, and held a frightening power. It was beautifully terrifying. Owen had to suppress the urge to run like hell. Ianto was barely paying attention to the rest of them. His focus was on Jack like always.
Bright eyes reflected sorrow. The seconds that ticked by felt like eons. The three other members of Torchwood felt like they were intruding on a private moment only known to one of the two people involved. Tosh looked at Ianto and felt her heartbreak. In Ianto’s eyes, he held heartbreak that she knew so well.
“I’m sorry, Jack,” he murmured in a two tone voice with English and Welsh accents blending. It made him sound old and young at once. He bit his bottom lip for a moment trying to decide what to say next. Ianto had always held the belief that in some situations the blunter you were the better. It seemed like this was as good as time as any to stay true to that belief.
“I am not Ianto Jones. He never existed except on paper,” the archivist paused for a moment. Everyone fingered their guns waiting for Jack’s command.
“Then who…what are you?” he spat out angry and hurt clear in the cold tone. Ianto winced and grimaced.
He whispered sadly,
“I am who you call Emrys, Myrddin… My most common name, the name given to me at birth is Merlin. I am Merlin.” He stared at the guns leveled at him. Everyone waited for Jack’s command. This was Ianto Jones, who he really was, going to live? Was Jack going to let that happen?
Tosh hoped so. She had grown to like and respect Ianto since their talk. She had begun to view him as a friend for his sharp intellect, gentle nature, creative mind, big heart, and brilliant wit. She knew in her heart of hearts that even though his name was fake…he had lied for a valid reason.
She knew that she had gotten to know some portion of the real him. To have Ianto entrust this to her, no matter how small the part made Tosh feel special.
Not that she wasn’t upset about the whole lying thing but friends learned to forgive right? At least that was what Tosh was taught. So she aimed her gun as far off Ianto as possible.
“I would like to see you try to kill me,” whispered Ianto/Merlin softly under his breath. It still carried to all the other team members. Tosh still kept her gun wrongly aimed. Owen and Gwen awaited the Captain’s command.
He turned to Jack and met his eyes, “Fifteen centuries alive is a very long time indeed. Yet I am still among the land of the living,” he paused for a moment, “But you know all about long life don’t you, Captain?”
Jack, to his credit, did not falter. He kept his gun raised. The nymph blinked for a moment. This was not right! Today was supposed to be a happy day! Joyous celebration for the King of Albion had returned! It was to be a day of celebration and merry making. These horrible emotions of woe and angry should not be there. It was just not right. It was also confusing for the King should have remembered by now.
“Excuse me?” she interrupted. Everyone turned to look at her. She tilted her head with curiosity in her eyes.
“May I ask Emrys a question?”
The Torchwood team stared at the nymph. Her eyes were wide and earnest. They all exchanged looks with each other not used to a polite being at all. It was a little disconcerting.
“I suppose…”answered the Captain cautiously.
“Emrys, why doesn’t the King remember? He’s right here and yet he has that weapon trained on you. Why has he not remembered? We need him again.”
“The King?” asked Jack confused.
“Arthur apparently,” supplied Owen sarcastically.
“I…,” began Ianto/Merlin cautiously. Everyone turned to look at him. Guns still pointed uncomfortably high.
He sighed sadly.
“It is my destiny to help Arthur in any life, in every life. So I was made immortal but the Old Religion in order to remember, lead, and find Arthur’s soul in every life that it leads. Albion’s darkest hour has come again and again. So has he with the turning of time. Each time different and each time he does remember me. I am bound not to tell him who he was. It’s up to him to remember.”
“Why do you do it, Ianto?” asked Tosh, “You could have told us. We would have helped.”
“Love…I love Arthur. Everything I did over the centuries was always for him. I come back every time I feel his rebirth. Even Lisa…Guinevere…it is rare for her to be reborn. She wanted to see Lancelot and Arthur again.”
“Then why couldn’t you tell us about this Ianto? We could have helped you,” asked Jack betrayal stinging his voice.
“Because Jack, Arthur was there all along. Right in front of me this entire time so close and yet a million light years away from me. I could not tell him. But now that the Lady is here... I have to because he must remember.”
“Who is he?”
“You Jack,” said Ianto with quiet desperation, “Everything I did, I do, and that I will do…it’s always for you.”
Jack’s gun clattered to the ground in shock.
“ME?! No…I mean I’m not from around here. I…I can’t.”
“You are, Jack.”
He slowly met Ianto’s eyes. The gold and blue blended together beautifully. Suddenly time froze briefly and something brief, a snatch out of time played before his eyes. It was almost like peeking through a keyhole to see what was going on the other side of the doorway.
“Arthur, you really don’t have to do this. So what if I do not have an actual birthday? Most people do not,” protested a thin, pale thing with adorably large ears and blue gold eyes. “Merlin,” said a voice in the back of his mind.
“Come off it Merlin. If I am going to do this courtship properly than we are celebrating your birthday and that’s a royal order. Gaius told me that you were born near the Yule correct?”
“Yes,” answered his lover hesitantly.
“So it is near the Yule correct?”
“Right now? Of course Arthur everyone in the castle knows that.”
“So tonight we shall celebrate your birthday! Since the festivities start tomorrow night.”
“Irrefutable logic, sire.”
“You’re doing that patronizing tone again Merlin.”
“It’s my birthday apparently. I think that I am allowed.”
“Now there’s the spirit!” cheered Arthur on merrily.
“Are you drunk, sire?”
“I may have had a glass of wine to calm my nerves.”
“You were nervous?” Merlin had a smile in his tone.
“Not a word, Merlin. Not. A. Word.”
“Whatever my lord commands,” said Merlin giving an awkward half bow.
“Close your eyes then, Merlin.”
Once he was sure that his manservant had his eyes closed. He opened the door and got behind the
sorcerer. He gently whispered in his ear.
“Open your eyes.”
Merlin cautiously opened his eyes. He took a step back and gasped. In the room there was a small table with a small meal laid out for two. A fire crackled merrily and candles lit the room.
“Arthur you didn’t have to do this… It’s too much.”
“Happy Birthday, Merlin,” he whispered gently and kissed an ear.
Jack snapped out of the memory…hallucination? He stared at Ianto who was staring back curiously. He knew that it was the truth as strange as that sounded. He knew that Ianto was not lying. He reached out to him.
“Mer…” he began softly before all went black. He felt a pair of arms catch him.
“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for awhile.” -Westley The Princess Bride
When Jack opened his eyes, he was on a beach. He could feel the sand in hands, hear the waves gently lapping. He sat up and wildly looked around him.
“About time you woke up,” said an accented voice. He turned knowing who that voice belonged to.
“You’re…”
“Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther, ruler of Camelot, Once and Future King, lover of Merlin, Head of the Round Table, do I really need to go on?” asked the handsome, tanned blonde twenty something. He was dressed in, what Jack assumed was, clothing from his period. Though that red leather jacket was really nice on the physique on the younger man.
“No but I do think this is one of the strangest days of my life,” stated Jack with certainty.
“I’m not sure whether or not I should feel honored about that, Jack. I do know…everything.”
“W-what?” asked Jack shocked and little bit frightened.
“I’ve been locked in your head for over a hundred years, Jack. I really don’t have much to do,” said Arthur standing up. He ambled over to Jack looking vaguely amused by this whole mess.
“So you know…”
“About Gray, about Boeshane, about all the wars, about the Time Agency, about what happened with Guinevere…Lisa,” Arthur had looked sad at what had happened. “He can be so stupid sometimes. Always trying to save everyone even when they cannot be saved...”
“Reminds you of someone?” asked Jack back with a sly grin.
“Always,” answered the prince back with an equally sly smile.
“So…why are we here?”
“Well if you want I’m here to give you my memories and such. Merge us if you will,” shrugged Arthur
nonchalantly, “You know make sure we’re there for the country’s greatest hour of need.”
“What if I don’t want to?” asked Jack uncertainly. He did not want to give up his memories, who he was. He didn’t want to merge with Arthur.
“Then stop being so selfish. This is for him just as much as us,” said the former king harshly.
“What do you mean?”
“You have lived over a hundred years, Jack. Ianto…Merlin has lived over fifteen hundred years. Combined total I was possibly around for some five hundred years at random intervals in different forms. Every time I couldn’t remember him and he still stuck by until I did. He loves us, Jack. He would do anything we asked of him and he has the power to do it. Your form will be around for a long time. We both will be around for a very long time. After all that waiting, all that sacrificing…isn’t it time to give something back to him?”
Arthur was passionate about this. He had seen how this had torn at the man he loved. He saw how it killed
him every time that the newly reborn King had died.
Jack just imagined going through seeing people he loved die for over fifteen hundred years. He winced at the thought. Just a hundred years had broken him but that long? It clenched his heart in such an unexpected way. He understood better why Ianto wanted Lisa to survive. Maybe he could love Ianto because Arthur was certainly crazy about him.
The same pair of blue eyes met each other. Jack opened his mouth and said, “Alright. So how do we…”
Arthur stopped him from continuing his question by pressing their mouths together in a passionate kiss.
The two stayed locked in that pose. Past and present were melding together for a better future.
Needless to say in true magical fashion, there was a big flash of light.
“If everything is imperfect in this imperfect world, love is most perfect in its perfect imperfection.” -Gunnar Björnstrand in The Seventh Seal
Jack opened his eyes to Gwen’s face peering down at him. Too close for comfort, Jack let out a manly grunt (actually it was a yelp).
“Gwen?! What the hell were you trying to do?!”
Gwen blushed sheepishly and pulled back rather quickly. She wasn’t trying to kiss him was she?! He suppressed a shudder.
“How long was I out?”
“Three days,” answered Owen as he came in, “I need to check you over, Jack.”
“Ianto and the nymph, where are they?”
“She’s moved herself into a spare room in the archives. Tea-boy is in the cells,” answered Owen as he
checked Jack’s pulse.
“What?! Why?!”
“He betrayed us, Jack. We thought that was what you wanted.”
“Well you were wrong,” growled the Captain. He got off of the small med bay bed. His bright blue eyes were
like daggers penetrating into Gwen. She took an involuntary step back because where Jack’s were old before. Now they looked ancient but a peace was there that Jack never had. A peace that Gwen wished she could place into his eyes. Instead it was Ianto that allowed Jack to discover it.
Owen sighed, “Go and get the tea-boy but I still want to give you a look over deal?”
“Deal,” said Jack with a nod and wicked grin.
“I’d take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.” -Douglas Adams
Ianto sighed as he gently twisted the bubble in front of him with a wave of his hand. He was trying to make it into a shape of a butterfly. He groaned and rolled his eyes. The door opened and he sat up thinking it was Tosh come to give him food as well as some company. Instead in the doorway was Jack.
“You’re okay,” said Ianto relieved.
“Honestly Merlin next time that I’m reborn we need to figure out how you can tell me.”
Ianto sat there and stared at Jack. He then let out a strangled sob that sounded like relief and happiness. He ran to Jack and threw his arms around him. He gently pressed a kiss to Jack’s lips. Jack grinned against the kiss. Ianto pulled away and flushed.
“Sorry I shouldn’t…”
“Ianto shut up and kiss me.”
“Yes, sire.”
They kissed and afterwards Jack pulled the sword from the stone. But that’s something entirely different to the point.
They kissed and this time Jack and Ianto, Arthur and Merlin, and all lives past and future saw brightly colored explosions in front of their eyes.
And just for one minute, nothing was wrong in the universe because the magic was singing.
Author: HopeNight
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, past Arthur/Merlin, past Ianto/Lisa, past Ianto/others, Gwen/Rhys
Ianto Jones/Merlin Emrys, Captain Jack Harkness/Arthur Pendragon, Toshiko Sato, Doctor Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Morgana la Fey/Lady Morgana Farthing, Great Dragon/Cameron Ashmore, Nimueh/Naomi Smith
Warnings: OOC-ness running rampant, rude language, REALLY AU after Cyberwoman, Jack Harkness in general
Rating: PG-13 possibly light R
Current Word Count: 20,001
Artists: chosenfire28
Beta(s): scarlet_reader
Summary: Ianto Jones is a perfectly ordinary man with no past and a not so ordinary job. Merlin Emrys on the other hand? He has a trail of mysticism, magic, death, love, and reincarnation following him like a lost puppy. Somehow it’s up to him to put a little magic back into the Torchwood teams lives especially Jack’s. Why? Well because it’s Jack he falls in love with every lifetime and it’s up to the Captain to get his own memories back.
Notes: This was just a weird little chestnut in my head. So yeah I wrote and I enjoyed it. Thanks to my wonderful beta, scarlet_reader.
“Understand this, I mean to arrive at the truth. The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.”-Agatha Christie
The beginning of the end of all Jack Harkness believed to be true started with a phone call over dinner. Ianto was telling him about a time in university when he accidentally wandered into a gay karaoke bar and accidentally tripped in the middle of the song landing in who he believed was Pete Wentz’s lap. He cannot prove it of course but he swore up and down that it was him.
Jack chuckled into his drink and was beginning to tell him the time with him, a case of brandy, a boa constrictor, and the runaway prince of Brodesia when his phone rang. He closed his eyes.
“Maybe if you ignore it then it will go away?” suggested Ianto calmly also not happy that their date was
ruined.
“As much as I love that idea, Ianto, I know for a fact that it won’t go away.”
Ianto sighed, “Well there’s goes my fabulous plan of seduction that ended with us and chocolate whipped cream.”
Jack was proud that his very near whimper was held back. It had been a year and half since he last got laid. Anything involving whipped cream sounded good to him because that involved licking. Remember that licking inevitably leads to sex.
Why else were popsicles invented? And don’t start spewing all the shit about children and summer.
But that’s beside the point.
“Hello? Owen. This better be important. Uh-huh. You have to be kidding me. It’s been confirmed. Huh. Alright we’ll be there in ten.”
“What is it?” asked Ianto as Jack put away his phone. His own was vibrating in his pocket.
“Apparently a sword in a stone appeared in the fountain.”
“The one in the Plass? Near our office?”
“Yep and apparently it now comes with its own Lady of the Lake.”
Ianto blinked and cursed in his head. The Lady of the bloody Lake?! She was early! Jack hadn’t even remembered yet! Great now this was going to be messy. Interrogations, possible attempts to be killed (not like it would actually work), and him leaving the country if this didn’t turn out right. He should go to Greece. It’s supposed to be lovely this time of year. He’s sure that Morgana has a house there. She always has a house on all the pretty places.
Then again if by some minor miracle they believed him and Jack regained his memories…Ianto pushed the thought from his mind. Yeah right like that would actually happen.
Over the years sometimes cynicism is just easier to embrace then optimism. Optimism is just too trying after centuries of living. After seeing humanity destroy each other become fragile with paranoia and fear. Sometimes being cynical can save your life. Of course someone once told him that optimism can save his soul.
Maybe he does have a little light in his heart, a little bit optimism for something. One day he would begin getting older with Arthur not standing on the sidelines and watching him die. Because really that’s all he has to believe in anymore. Just one chance at normal.
Ladies and gentleman meet Merlin Emrys/Ianto Jones president/tyrant/dictator/ruler/supreme authority on Cynics of the Universe (CU for short). He will be taking questions shortly after an unmitigated disaster involving his job that has occurred.
Arthur: Still alive then?
Merlin: Yeah, just about. I understand I have you to thank for that.
Arthur: Yeah, well, it was nothing. A half-decent servant is hard to come by. I was only dropping by to make sure you were alright. Check that you'll be back to work tomorrow.
Merlin: Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course. Bright and early. Arthur... thank you.
Arthur: You too. Get some rest.-Arthur and Merlin “The Poisoned Chalice”
A bloody sword in a bleeding stone in the middle of fucking Cardiff was the Rift activity of the day. Sometimes Owen’s job is just really weird most days. Well actually there’s weird and then there’s fucking bizarre. This whole sword thing actually puts it pretty close to fucking bizarre. Well add the apparent nymph in then it’s just a whole other level of strange. A level that Owen has not even conceived of yet. They had to clear the Plass and that was just a pain in the ass of 35 on his pain in the various body part scales.
And that’s just scary by itself. The nymph is hot though. So it is all balanced out in Owen’s head. So barring the fact that his life is reminding him a little too much of Arthurian legend all of the sudden. It’s not so bad.
Too bad that whole Arthurian thing is about to get a whole lot worse.
The water nymph is pale with long blue-green hair that moves like a gentle current of the sea held back with seaweed. Her eyes are a dark blue like the deepest part of the ocean. She’s wearing a dress made of some sort of blue material with shells, driftwood, net, pearls, and starfish decorating the dress. She hasn’t said a word except asking for someone named “Emrys”.
“Where’s Emrys?” asked the girl again. Her voice sounds like the gentle crashing of the waves.
“Who is Emrys?” asked Gwen again.
“Emrys is the great sorcerer. Priest of the Old Religion. Lover of my King. Protector and Friend of my people. He has found the king and it has been nearly twenty one moons since he has met the Once and Future Ruler. He should remember.”
“Who?”
“He is known to you as Arthur.”
Owen blinked and stared. He wondered what kind of alien was this. She took to gazing out waiting for someone. Then all of the sudden the creature smiled and began to sing softly.
“Emrys! You have brought him!”
Owen turned to see who this Emrys was. All he saw was Jack and the tea-boy.
“Jack? You know her?”
“No,” said the leader with absolute certainty. Everyone’s eyes turned to Ianto. The tea-boy was staring at the ground. Owen bit back a growl he knew that they shouldn’t have trusted him again.
“Ianto…” said Jack warningly. He sounded hurt and angry. Ianto flinched and slowly looked up. Everyone gasped in shock and awe.
His eyes were a glowing gold. They were beautiful like two suns, the energy of life, and held a frightening power. It was beautifully terrifying. Owen had to suppress the urge to run like hell. Ianto was barely paying attention to the rest of them. His focus was on Jack like always.
Bright eyes reflected sorrow. The seconds that ticked by felt like eons. The three other members of Torchwood felt like they were intruding on a private moment only known to one of the two people involved. Tosh looked at Ianto and felt her heartbreak. In Ianto’s eyes, he held heartbreak that she knew so well.
“I’m sorry, Jack,” he murmured in a two tone voice with English and Welsh accents blending. It made him sound old and young at once. He bit his bottom lip for a moment trying to decide what to say next. Ianto had always held the belief that in some situations the blunter you were the better. It seemed like this was as good as time as any to stay true to that belief.
“I am not Ianto Jones. He never existed except on paper,” the archivist paused for a moment. Everyone fingered their guns waiting for Jack’s command.
“Then who…what are you?” he spat out angry and hurt clear in the cold tone. Ianto winced and grimaced.
He whispered sadly,
“I am who you call Emrys, Myrddin… My most common name, the name given to me at birth is Merlin. I am Merlin.” He stared at the guns leveled at him. Everyone waited for Jack’s command. This was Ianto Jones, who he really was, going to live? Was Jack going to let that happen?
Tosh hoped so. She had grown to like and respect Ianto since their talk. She had begun to view him as a friend for his sharp intellect, gentle nature, creative mind, big heart, and brilliant wit. She knew in her heart of hearts that even though his name was fake…he had lied for a valid reason.
She knew that she had gotten to know some portion of the real him. To have Ianto entrust this to her, no matter how small the part made Tosh feel special.
Not that she wasn’t upset about the whole lying thing but friends learned to forgive right? At least that was what Tosh was taught. So she aimed her gun as far off Ianto as possible.
“I would like to see you try to kill me,” whispered Ianto/Merlin softly under his breath. It still carried to all the other team members. Tosh still kept her gun wrongly aimed. Owen and Gwen awaited the Captain’s command.
He turned to Jack and met his eyes, “Fifteen centuries alive is a very long time indeed. Yet I am still among the land of the living,” he paused for a moment, “But you know all about long life don’t you, Captain?”
Jack, to his credit, did not falter. He kept his gun raised. The nymph blinked for a moment. This was not right! Today was supposed to be a happy day! Joyous celebration for the King of Albion had returned! It was to be a day of celebration and merry making. These horrible emotions of woe and angry should not be there. It was just not right. It was also confusing for the King should have remembered by now.
“Excuse me?” she interrupted. Everyone turned to look at her. She tilted her head with curiosity in her eyes.
“May I ask Emrys a question?”
The Torchwood team stared at the nymph. Her eyes were wide and earnest. They all exchanged looks with each other not used to a polite being at all. It was a little disconcerting.
“I suppose…”answered the Captain cautiously.
“Emrys, why doesn’t the King remember? He’s right here and yet he has that weapon trained on you. Why has he not remembered? We need him again.”
“The King?” asked Jack confused.
“Arthur apparently,” supplied Owen sarcastically.
“I…,” began Ianto/Merlin cautiously. Everyone turned to look at him. Guns still pointed uncomfortably high.
He sighed sadly.
“It is my destiny to help Arthur in any life, in every life. So I was made immortal but the Old Religion in order to remember, lead, and find Arthur’s soul in every life that it leads. Albion’s darkest hour has come again and again. So has he with the turning of time. Each time different and each time he does remember me. I am bound not to tell him who he was. It’s up to him to remember.”
“Why do you do it, Ianto?” asked Tosh, “You could have told us. We would have helped.”
“Love…I love Arthur. Everything I did over the centuries was always for him. I come back every time I feel his rebirth. Even Lisa…Guinevere…it is rare for her to be reborn. She wanted to see Lancelot and Arthur again.”
“Then why couldn’t you tell us about this Ianto? We could have helped you,” asked Jack betrayal stinging his voice.
“Because Jack, Arthur was there all along. Right in front of me this entire time so close and yet a million light years away from me. I could not tell him. But now that the Lady is here... I have to because he must remember.”
“Who is he?”
“You Jack,” said Ianto with quiet desperation, “Everything I did, I do, and that I will do…it’s always for you.”
Jack’s gun clattered to the ground in shock.
“ME?! No…I mean I’m not from around here. I…I can’t.”
“You are, Jack.”
He slowly met Ianto’s eyes. The gold and blue blended together beautifully. Suddenly time froze briefly and something brief, a snatch out of time played before his eyes. It was almost like peeking through a keyhole to see what was going on the other side of the doorway.
“Arthur, you really don’t have to do this. So what if I do not have an actual birthday? Most people do not,” protested a thin, pale thing with adorably large ears and blue gold eyes. “Merlin,” said a voice in the back of his mind.
“Come off it Merlin. If I am going to do this courtship properly than we are celebrating your birthday and that’s a royal order. Gaius told me that you were born near the Yule correct?”
“Yes,” answered his lover hesitantly.
“So it is near the Yule correct?”
“Right now? Of course Arthur everyone in the castle knows that.”
“So tonight we shall celebrate your birthday! Since the festivities start tomorrow night.”
“Irrefutable logic, sire.”
“You’re doing that patronizing tone again Merlin.”
“It’s my birthday apparently. I think that I am allowed.”
“Now there’s the spirit!” cheered Arthur on merrily.
“Are you drunk, sire?”
“I may have had a glass of wine to calm my nerves.”
“You were nervous?” Merlin had a smile in his tone.
“Not a word, Merlin. Not. A. Word.”
“Whatever my lord commands,” said Merlin giving an awkward half bow.
“Close your eyes then, Merlin.”
Once he was sure that his manservant had his eyes closed. He opened the door and got behind the
sorcerer. He gently whispered in his ear.
“Open your eyes.”
Merlin cautiously opened his eyes. He took a step back and gasped. In the room there was a small table with a small meal laid out for two. A fire crackled merrily and candles lit the room.
“Arthur you didn’t have to do this… It’s too much.”
“Happy Birthday, Merlin,” he whispered gently and kissed an ear.
Jack snapped out of the memory…hallucination? He stared at Ianto who was staring back curiously. He knew that it was the truth as strange as that sounded. He knew that Ianto was not lying. He reached out to him.
“Mer…” he began softly before all went black. He felt a pair of arms catch him.
“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for awhile.” -Westley The Princess Bride
When Jack opened his eyes, he was on a beach. He could feel the sand in hands, hear the waves gently lapping. He sat up and wildly looked around him.
“About time you woke up,” said an accented voice. He turned knowing who that voice belonged to.
“You’re…”
“Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther, ruler of Camelot, Once and Future King, lover of Merlin, Head of the Round Table, do I really need to go on?” asked the handsome, tanned blonde twenty something. He was dressed in, what Jack assumed was, clothing from his period. Though that red leather jacket was really nice on the physique on the younger man.
“No but I do think this is one of the strangest days of my life,” stated Jack with certainty.
“I’m not sure whether or not I should feel honored about that, Jack. I do know…everything.”
“W-what?” asked Jack shocked and little bit frightened.
“I’ve been locked in your head for over a hundred years, Jack. I really don’t have much to do,” said Arthur standing up. He ambled over to Jack looking vaguely amused by this whole mess.
“So you know…”
“About Gray, about Boeshane, about all the wars, about the Time Agency, about what happened with Guinevere…Lisa,” Arthur had looked sad at what had happened. “He can be so stupid sometimes. Always trying to save everyone even when they cannot be saved...”
“Reminds you of someone?” asked Jack back with a sly grin.
“Always,” answered the prince back with an equally sly smile.
“So…why are we here?”
“Well if you want I’m here to give you my memories and such. Merge us if you will,” shrugged Arthur
nonchalantly, “You know make sure we’re there for the country’s greatest hour of need.”
“What if I don’t want to?” asked Jack uncertainly. He did not want to give up his memories, who he was. He didn’t want to merge with Arthur.
“Then stop being so selfish. This is for him just as much as us,” said the former king harshly.
“What do you mean?”
“You have lived over a hundred years, Jack. Ianto…Merlin has lived over fifteen hundred years. Combined total I was possibly around for some five hundred years at random intervals in different forms. Every time I couldn’t remember him and he still stuck by until I did. He loves us, Jack. He would do anything we asked of him and he has the power to do it. Your form will be around for a long time. We both will be around for a very long time. After all that waiting, all that sacrificing…isn’t it time to give something back to him?”
Arthur was passionate about this. He had seen how this had torn at the man he loved. He saw how it killed
him every time that the newly reborn King had died.
Jack just imagined going through seeing people he loved die for over fifteen hundred years. He winced at the thought. Just a hundred years had broken him but that long? It clenched his heart in such an unexpected way. He understood better why Ianto wanted Lisa to survive. Maybe he could love Ianto because Arthur was certainly crazy about him.
The same pair of blue eyes met each other. Jack opened his mouth and said, “Alright. So how do we…”
Arthur stopped him from continuing his question by pressing their mouths together in a passionate kiss.
The two stayed locked in that pose. Past and present were melding together for a better future.
Needless to say in true magical fashion, there was a big flash of light.
“If everything is imperfect in this imperfect world, love is most perfect in its perfect imperfection.” -Gunnar Björnstrand in The Seventh Seal
Jack opened his eyes to Gwen’s face peering down at him. Too close for comfort, Jack let out a manly grunt (actually it was a yelp).
“Gwen?! What the hell were you trying to do?!”
Gwen blushed sheepishly and pulled back rather quickly. She wasn’t trying to kiss him was she?! He suppressed a shudder.
“How long was I out?”
“Three days,” answered Owen as he came in, “I need to check you over, Jack.”
“Ianto and the nymph, where are they?”
“She’s moved herself into a spare room in the archives. Tea-boy is in the cells,” answered Owen as he
checked Jack’s pulse.
“What?! Why?!”
“He betrayed us, Jack. We thought that was what you wanted.”
“Well you were wrong,” growled the Captain. He got off of the small med bay bed. His bright blue eyes were
like daggers penetrating into Gwen. She took an involuntary step back because where Jack’s were old before. Now they looked ancient but a peace was there that Jack never had. A peace that Gwen wished she could place into his eyes. Instead it was Ianto that allowed Jack to discover it.
Owen sighed, “Go and get the tea-boy but I still want to give you a look over deal?”
“Deal,” said Jack with a nod and wicked grin.
“I’d take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.” -Douglas Adams
Ianto sighed as he gently twisted the bubble in front of him with a wave of his hand. He was trying to make it into a shape of a butterfly. He groaned and rolled his eyes. The door opened and he sat up thinking it was Tosh come to give him food as well as some company. Instead in the doorway was Jack.
“You’re okay,” said Ianto relieved.
“Honestly Merlin next time that I’m reborn we need to figure out how you can tell me.”
Ianto sat there and stared at Jack. He then let out a strangled sob that sounded like relief and happiness. He ran to Jack and threw his arms around him. He gently pressed a kiss to Jack’s lips. Jack grinned against the kiss. Ianto pulled away and flushed.
“Sorry I shouldn’t…”
“Ianto shut up and kiss me.”
“Yes, sire.”
They kissed and afterwards Jack pulled the sword from the stone. But that’s something entirely different to the point.
They kissed and this time Jack and Ianto, Arthur and Merlin, and all lives past and future saw brightly colored explosions in front of their eyes.
And just for one minute, nothing was wrong in the universe because the magic was singing.