Who're You? 2/2 A Torchwood fic
This is something I wrote ages ago, for tw_exchange, Part one can be found here but someone pointed out that I didn't post the second part. So here it is:
Ianto awoke with a yell, sweat dripping from his body and he sat bolt upright in bed. Jack woke beside him, concern evident on his face.
“What’s wrong Ianto?” he asked, stroking the Welshman’s back.
“Just a nightmare,” Ianto replied, but when he looked at Jack he could tell from the intensity of his gaze that answer wouldn’t suffice. Ianto sighed. “You’ll think I’m crazy, that I’m some psycho killer or something.”
“Tell me,” Jack insisted in a commanding tone. “Please,” he added, softer this time. Ianto regarded him for a moment.
“I keep having these nightmares, but they feel like more than dreams. They feel like memories.”
“Do you think your memory is returning?”
“God I hope that isn’t it. These dreams are awful, full of blood and screaming. I think I was at Canary Wharf when those metal things attacked.”
Ianto wasn’t sure how Jack would react to his revelation. What he most expected was for Jack to laugh and say he was being silly. He didn’t predict Jack’s real reaction.
“Seriously? You’re beginning to remember Canary Wharf?” Jack looked excited by the news. “What else is there?”
“Bits and pieces, but nothing makes sense, none of it could be real. It’s all so strange and so violent. I think there was a pterodactyl, now I know that couldn’t be real,” Ianto shook his head and chuckled, but Jack was still regarding him earnestly.
“I really think your memory is returning Ianto. Oh, this is great news,” Jack exclaimed and grabbed Ianto into a hug before kissing him enthusiastically. Confused, Ianto simply responded automatically. “I hoped your memory would return one day, I really did. That’s why I kept visiting, hoping I might jog something. Well that and I missed the great sex,” Jack said grinning.
“You knew me before the accident? We were…intimate before the accident?”
“Kinda. We worked together. Does the name Torchwood mean anything to you?”
“Something…it’s all quite fuzzy. I get an image of the Plass and a name…something about a Doctor?”
“Yes! Oh this is great! Get dressed Ianto, I’ll take you to where you used to work, maybe familiar surroundings will bring things back.”
Ianto hadn’t failed to notice that Jack was avoiding his question about their previous relationship, but he decided to let it slide. Jack seemed as desperate as Ianto was to recover his memory, so it was best not to antagonise him if he could provide answers.
They walked the short distance to the Plass and Jack led Ianto toward the Tourism office.
“I worked for Tourist Information?” Ianto asked incredulously. Jack just smiled in reply.
They entered the shabby looking Tourist Information office and Jack flicked on the lights. The place had an air of abandonment, and there was a thick layer of dust on the furniture. Ianto began to slowly examine the room, moving from object to object. He brushed the top of the computer monitor and the resulting cloud of dust made him cough.
“Sorry about that,” Jack said with a smile. “Just couldn’t bring myself to replace you, so the office has been shut a while. Anything coming back?”
“Yes actually. A name, Myfanwy?” Ianto said. Suddenly a look of recognition appeared on his face and he moved round to behind the counter. He reached down to a secret compartment and pulled out a gun, holding it aloft. “I remember Jack! Oh god, I remember!”
“Remember what exactly?” Jack said, his hand hovering near where his own weapon was concealed.
“Torchwood, aliens, Lisa, the pterodactyl, us, everything!” Ianto exclaimed. There was a strange mixture of excitement and sorrow on his face as he spoke. “Where are the others Jack?” he asked. Jack grew sombre. “Sir? Where are the others? Tosh, Gwen and Owen?”
“They’re dead Ianto. I’m so sorry, but they’re dead,” Jack led Ianto to the door that led down to the Hub. As they descended Ianto continued to ask Jack for an explanation, but he just continued down, not looking at or speaking to Ianto. When they reached the Hub Ianto gasped.
The massive door that protected the Hub from intruders had been blown apart and lay in two pieces on the floor. Ianto noticed that it had been blasted from the inside. Inside the Hub had fared no better. Terminals and screens were in pieces, scattered across the room. Wires hung from empty sockets where equipment once resided and fragments of glass crunched under foot.
“What happened?” Ianto whispered, as much to himself as Jack.
“We found a device, one that I recognised as being medical equipment from the 34th Century. It was to be sent to R and D but Owen and Tosh couldn’t resist having a little look at it first. Whoever left it had booby-trapped it and it blew up, killing everyone in the Hub.”
“I wasn’t there?”
“No. Luckily you were up in the front office, but the blast was big enough to send a shockwave to the surface that threw you across the room. That’s what put you in a coma. I tried to help when I revived, but it was too late,” Jack’s voice was beginning to crack as he spoke, the anger and grief coming through. “I tried the kissing thing, but it didn’t work. They were all gone, Ianto, and there was nothing I could do,” Tears were rolling down Jack’s face, “Everyone dies, and I’m left alone.”
Ianto caressed Jack’s face, wiping away his tears with a gentle thumb before pulling him into a hug.
“You’re not alone now sir. I’m back, I’m here, and I don’t intend dying for a long time yet,” he pulled back and kissed Jack fiercely, to prove that he was very much alive. “Now, I’ll go and see if the coffee machine survived, and we can start clearing up this mess.”
Ianto awoke with a yell, sweat dripping from his body and he sat bolt upright in bed. Jack woke beside him, concern evident on his face.
“What’s wrong Ianto?” he asked, stroking the Welshman’s back.
“Just a nightmare,” Ianto replied, but when he looked at Jack he could tell from the intensity of his gaze that answer wouldn’t suffice. Ianto sighed. “You’ll think I’m crazy, that I’m some psycho killer or something.”
“Tell me,” Jack insisted in a commanding tone. “Please,” he added, softer this time. Ianto regarded him for a moment.
“I keep having these nightmares, but they feel like more than dreams. They feel like memories.”
“Do you think your memory is returning?”
“God I hope that isn’t it. These dreams are awful, full of blood and screaming. I think I was at Canary Wharf when those metal things attacked.”
Ianto wasn’t sure how Jack would react to his revelation. What he most expected was for Jack to laugh and say he was being silly. He didn’t predict Jack’s real reaction.
“Seriously? You’re beginning to remember Canary Wharf?” Jack looked excited by the news. “What else is there?”
“Bits and pieces, but nothing makes sense, none of it could be real. It’s all so strange and so violent. I think there was a pterodactyl, now I know that couldn’t be real,” Ianto shook his head and chuckled, but Jack was still regarding him earnestly.
“I really think your memory is returning Ianto. Oh, this is great news,” Jack exclaimed and grabbed Ianto into a hug before kissing him enthusiastically. Confused, Ianto simply responded automatically. “I hoped your memory would return one day, I really did. That’s why I kept visiting, hoping I might jog something. Well that and I missed the great sex,” Jack said grinning.
“You knew me before the accident? We were…intimate before the accident?”
“Kinda. We worked together. Does the name Torchwood mean anything to you?”
“Something…it’s all quite fuzzy. I get an image of the Plass and a name…something about a Doctor?”
“Yes! Oh this is great! Get dressed Ianto, I’ll take you to where you used to work, maybe familiar surroundings will bring things back.”
Ianto hadn’t failed to notice that Jack was avoiding his question about their previous relationship, but he decided to let it slide. Jack seemed as desperate as Ianto was to recover his memory, so it was best not to antagonise him if he could provide answers.
They walked the short distance to the Plass and Jack led Ianto toward the Tourism office.
“I worked for Tourist Information?” Ianto asked incredulously. Jack just smiled in reply.
They entered the shabby looking Tourist Information office and Jack flicked on the lights. The place had an air of abandonment, and there was a thick layer of dust on the furniture. Ianto began to slowly examine the room, moving from object to object. He brushed the top of the computer monitor and the resulting cloud of dust made him cough.
“Sorry about that,” Jack said with a smile. “Just couldn’t bring myself to replace you, so the office has been shut a while. Anything coming back?”
“Yes actually. A name, Myfanwy?” Ianto said. Suddenly a look of recognition appeared on his face and he moved round to behind the counter. He reached down to a secret compartment and pulled out a gun, holding it aloft. “I remember Jack! Oh god, I remember!”
“Remember what exactly?” Jack said, his hand hovering near where his own weapon was concealed.
“Torchwood, aliens, Lisa, the pterodactyl, us, everything!” Ianto exclaimed. There was a strange mixture of excitement and sorrow on his face as he spoke. “Where are the others Jack?” he asked. Jack grew sombre. “Sir? Where are the others? Tosh, Gwen and Owen?”
“They’re dead Ianto. I’m so sorry, but they’re dead,” Jack led Ianto to the door that led down to the Hub. As they descended Ianto continued to ask Jack for an explanation, but he just continued down, not looking at or speaking to Ianto. When they reached the Hub Ianto gasped.
The massive door that protected the Hub from intruders had been blown apart and lay in two pieces on the floor. Ianto noticed that it had been blasted from the inside. Inside the Hub had fared no better. Terminals and screens were in pieces, scattered across the room. Wires hung from empty sockets where equipment once resided and fragments of glass crunched under foot.
“What happened?” Ianto whispered, as much to himself as Jack.
“We found a device, one that I recognised as being medical equipment from the 34th Century. It was to be sent to R and D but Owen and Tosh couldn’t resist having a little look at it first. Whoever left it had booby-trapped it and it blew up, killing everyone in the Hub.”
“I wasn’t there?”
“No. Luckily you were up in the front office, but the blast was big enough to send a shockwave to the surface that threw you across the room. That’s what put you in a coma. I tried to help when I revived, but it was too late,” Jack’s voice was beginning to crack as he spoke, the anger and grief coming through. “I tried the kissing thing, but it didn’t work. They were all gone, Ianto, and there was nothing I could do,” Tears were rolling down Jack’s face, “Everyone dies, and I’m left alone.”
Ianto caressed Jack’s face, wiping away his tears with a gentle thumb before pulling him into a hug.
“You’re not alone now sir. I’m back, I’m here, and I don’t intend dying for a long time yet,” he pulled back and kissed Jack fiercely, to prove that he was very much alive. “Now, I’ll go and see if the coffee machine survived, and we can start clearing up this mess.”