Beautiful Iris 8/20
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Tosh/Owen
Summary: when a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning all is not as it originally seems. Alien technology leads the team into a trap of danger and curiosity, propelling them to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces. Split into two, the team must find a way back before past events puts one member of Torchwood into danger.
Spoilers: season1 up to episode 7.
A/N : I haven't written anything for a while, so I decided to finish this fic. It now has 20 parts an an actual ending :) please r&r
Disclaimer these characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing RTD's toys and promise to put them back when I'm done
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
"Tosh!" Owen called her name, shaking her shoulder to drag her away from sleep..
"Tosh, wakey, wakey, rise and shine."
"Hmm?" She lifted her head from the desk. "Did I fall asleep."
"About twenty minutes ago," he said, peeling the yellow post it note from her cheek. "You're starting to dribble on the keyboard."
"Sorry."
" I made you some tea. I tried coffee but ianto's Machine looks more like something we dredged out of the bay."
"Thanks." Tosh smiled and took a drink. "What time is it?"
"One o'clock," he said. "We're burning the night oil until it runs out."
"Did you find anything in Suzie's files?"
"Not yet, What about Jack's signal?"
"Nothing yet. I've set some systems up to check every frequency in case it's operating on another level."
"Alright." Owen picked a pile of files up and put them on her desk, then split them in two. "These are the rest of Suzie's files - we'll each take half home, look them over, sleep a bit and meet back here tomorrow."
"I'd rather just stay here."
"You need a break from this place." Owen picked up her jacket and handed it to her. "I'll take you home."
"I don't really want to be on my own, at least here I have myfanwy for company."
"Then you're coming home with me." Taking her hand, Owen pulled her to her feet, pressing a few buttons to shut down the computer system. "We'll have a drink, look over these files and get our heads down for a few."
"You don't have to."
"Well I can't stand to stay a minute longer in this place and you don't want to be on your own, so you're coming with me."
"Maybe it will be better to have a change of scenery." Tosh started to pack some things into her bag, then followed Owen into the lift.
"If you play your cards right I might even make you breakfast."
Owen knocked back the remainder of whiskey in his glass; it was far too early to be drinking, well past three in the morning, but the warmth of the alcohol was the only thing keeping him awake. He looked over towards Tosh who sat beside him on his couch, her legs tucked underneath herself as she read through another file.
"What do you think they're doing right now?" He asked. "Do you think they're trying to get back, or just waiting for us to make a breakthrough?"
"Who knows." Tosh yawned, stretching out like a cat. "The universe is a crazy thing, they could. Be anywhere doing anything. What if they're not even alive?"
"They are." Owen touched her hand reassuringly.
"We could do this forever and find nothing that will help." She threw the file back on the coffee table, then picked up another.
"We'll get them back. Until then it's just you and me and if we don't kill each other, we'll figure it out."
"You're being nice to me." Tosh smiled. "You haven't been nice to me in a long time"
"What do you mean,? I'm always nice."
"No you're not. In fact sometimes, you can be quite cruel."
"What?" Owen looked genuinely shocked, putting the file down beside him to look at her. "When have I been cruel?"
"Some of the things you say--"
"I'm joking! I thought you could take it, y'know banter and all that?"
"When I had that pendant, I heard what you think of me, what Gwen thinks of me and it was awful." Tosh sighed, concentrating her eyes back to the file, scanning the information before turning a page over. "Just sitting there, listening to people think horrible things about you."
"Like you never think horrible things about me once in a while?"
"It's just hard sometimes. Right now I don't need an alien pendant to know who you would rather be stuck here with."
"What?" Owen closed his eyes and shook his head' his brow knitting together out of confusion. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Gwen. I know you would rather it was her here."
"That's bollocks!."
"Is it?"
"I'm glad it's you I'm here with, because I know that we have the best chance of fixing it with you here. What Gwen going to do? Emotionally blackmail the rift into spitting them back out?"
"She always seems to be better at me at everything."
"Well, she's not." Owen stood up, climbing over Toshiko's legs to get out of the couch. "I'm going for a shower, when you're finished sprouting complete bollocks you can take my bed. Maybe when you wake up you'll speak more sense."
Ianto groaned and opened his eyes. Whatever it was that had awoken him had done so by sitting on his chest, and it was heavy, too heavy to ignore anyway. A loud meowing reverberated around the stone walls of the building and he finally sat up, looking down at Spike who meowed again and sat on the scratchy hay looking expectant.
He looked around and squinted, the sunlight broke through the door, creating a single beam of blinding light in the dark room. The building was freezing cold, and made completely of stone, with large wooden doors and a high roof that made every sound echo. It was empty, save for a scattering of old hay and a few empty wooden crates.
He reached down and put his hand on Spike's head, stroking the fur behind his ears, making him purr; the cat lay down on the floor and stretched out lazily. His claws spread out and he closed his eyes, yawning wide and licking his teeth..
The door opened, squeaking on the old rusted hinges and Iris appeared in the doorway. She opened one door wide, letting the morning light stream in and walked over to him. Ianto shaded his eyes from the new intruding daylight and moved back into the shadows a little.
“Mr Jones?” She looked at him with intrigue and crossed her arms. “What on earth are you doing?”
Ianto covered his eyes and moved back even more, hiding from the light as much as he could. “Waking up,” he said groggily.
“You've slept in here all night?”
“Mostly.”
“Why?”
“It's hard to explain,” he said.
“You and the Captain had a disagreement.” Iris looked down at Ianto. “I heard you arguing last night.”
“What did you hear?” Ianto was suddenly scared, but surely if she had heard what she shouldn't have the look on her face wouldn't have been so kind.
“Not much. I just heard you storm out of the room and down the stairs. If i had known that you were going to sleep rough then I would have at least offered you a blanket.” She took her shawl from her shoulders and draped it over Ianto's back. “You shouldn't have slept here. You're recovering from a concussion and you're sure to get sick.”
“Thank you.”
“I haven't been in here for months." Iris sat down beside him and tucked her knees to her chest, casting her eyes around the tall building. “Not since we sold the horses. It's the old stable.”
“It doesn't look like a stable.”
“We took down the walls to use it as a store.”
“Not much stored in here,” Ianto said looking around the bare room. “Looks a little empty.” He looked up at the roof and at the hole that let the rainwater trickle through. “And derelict.”
“Things don't always work out as you hope them to.” She smiled, a gentle smile that didn't reach her eyes and sighed heavily. “It's funny that I should find you in here. This is where my brother always used to hide when he didn't want to be found.”
“It was the closest thing nearby when it started to rain.” Ianto shrugged. “It looked dry and that was good enough for me.”
They sat in silence for a while, neither really knowing what to say and then, out of the blue, Iris turned her body to face him and rested her elbows on her knees. She rested her chin in the palms of her hand and studied the Welshman.
“You're rather good looking you know,” she said, “quite the handsome kind Mr. Jones if you don't mind me saying so.”
“No, of course not.” Ianto blushed a little; half out of panic, and the other half out of bashfulness. “It's nice to hear actually, it's just that I'm not--”
“Not what?” she smiled weakly as she looked down at Ianto's grubby feet that seemed to have hay stuck to it.
"Well--" Ianto opened his mouth to speak. “I know that you may think that I'm--”
“Don't take that the wrong way,” Iris said quickly, cutting his sentence off before he could complete it. “I'm not showing my interest in you. I was just wondering something.”
“Wondering what?”
“You're quite the handsome gentleman, you seem rather kind and from what I know you're a nice natured man. So how is it that you travel with the Captain and Miss Cooper?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren't you married. Don't you have a someone to miss you?” she asked.
“I did,” he said sadly, pulling the shawl around his shoulders to keep himself warm. “Her name was Lisa, but she passed away.”
“I'm sorry, i wouldn't have mentioned it if I had known.” Iris froze for a while, and then licked her lips before focussing her gaze on the Welshman. “Do you mind me asking what happened to her?”
“I guess you could say that she lost her mind.”
“That's terrible, I'm sorry.”
“Really?” she asked with the tiniest hint of a smile. “I didn't know that it was you that killed her.” Ianto said, watching Iris as she picked up Spike and let him stretch out lazily across her lap. “I have one rule; never apologise for things that you aren't responsible for. There's no good in pointing fingers in an empty room, that's what my mother always said.”
A deadly silence filled the old stone building again, and just for a second it almost seemed to cling to the air and then echo around the walls.
“Did Spike do that?” Iris said suddenly, pointing to the deep scratches on Ianto's hand.
“Yes.”
“He's a grumpy old man,” she said, tickling the cat under his chin, “but I wouldn't have him any other way.”
“I'd have him without claws,” the Welshman muttered.
Iris chuckled and stroked a purring Spike on her lap. “Do you keep animals?”
“I have a fish,” Ianto said. “He's called fish.”
“You have a fish called fish?”
“It's self-explanatory,” he explained, “I'm a man of very few words.”
“You're a man of few words and the Captain is a man of many, usually unnecessary and tinged with a degree of flirtation.”
“That's a very accurate observation.”
"Well, can't sit here all day." Iris pulled herself to her feet and dusted off her skirt. “I must go and start breakfast, will you be joining me?”
“No. I think I'll just sit here and think for a while if you don't mind.”
“Of course not.”
“And if you speak to Jack, you haven't seen me.”
Iris nodded in understanding and left.
Gwen sat outside on the old wooden bench and looked out on the rain from the shelter of the porch. It had been a long night and her lack of sleep had made it seem even longer; now it was just past six-thirty in the morning and she had watched the rain fall for the second consecutive hour. She heard the padding of bare feet on the stone behind her and then a firm hand cup her shoulder.
“It's funny how rain in the twentieth century looks just the same as it does in the twenty-first.” Jack walked around in front of her and took a seat on the other side of the bench. “Miserable, cold and wet.”
“I suppose some things never change.”
“Most things don't,” he said, leaning back and watching the grey sky as the clouds gathered. “Faces and scenery come and go, but a lot of the things we love remain static. It's fantastic. Not like people, people constantly change.”
“You say that like people don't matter.”
“People are unpredictable, you never know where you stand, but in Wales it will always rain.”
“This isn't about the rain, Jack.”
“I didn't say it was about the rain.”
“It's about Ianto.”
“It's not.” Jack's answer was a little too quick and Gwen covered his knee with her hand.
“Yes it is.”
“Well, not just Ianto.”
“I take it that you two didn't sort things out then.”
“I thought we had, I really did.”
“But--”
“I thought you would know all about it.” His voice was a little harsher than he had meant it. “I'm sure he told you all about it last night.”
“Last night?”
Jack turned to face her. “When he ran to you and probably told you everything.”
“I haven't seen him since he went after you last night; he didn't come back after that.” Gwen narrowed her eyes and shifted closer to the older man, who now had a confused look on his face. “Whatever you think is going on between me and Ianto is all in your head, Jack. I love Rhys."
“then where did he go and where the hell is he now?”
“I don't know, but he wasn't with me. I share a room with iris, no man was getting within a mile of that door."
"Yeah." Jack stood up and started to walk away before turning back. “I'm sorry. I kind of jumped to conclusions.”
“Yes you did.”
“I was wrong.”
“Very."
“And you're going to make me suffer, aren't you?” he asked.
Gwen got up and hobbled her way over to Jack, holding onto him for balance. “You need to go and find him and make the first move to apologise. You're as stubborn as each other and one of you has to take the first step to sort things out."
"This isn't exclusively my fault."
"You can't go on like this, or you and Ianto are going to end up ruining what friendship you have for nothing and we need to stick together here. You two are all I have."
“Have you seen Ianto?” Jack asked. He put his foot up on the chair and fastened his boot as Iris walked in the kitchen from outside.
“No, sir.”
Jack looked at her as he tightened his laces and smiled lightly before straightening his trousers over his boots. “If you see him would you let him know that I need to speak to him as soon as possible?”
“Certainly sir, if I see him I will absolutely let him know.”
"Thank you." Jack walked past her, putting his hand on the door handle, and the young woman touched his arm lightly.
“I have not seen his this morning.”
“Okay.”
“No, I mean--” Iris took a deep breath and looked directly into Jack's eyes as she spoke. “When I was walking I did not see him. I certainly did not see him in the old stables in the paddock.”
“Okay--”
“Not sleeping rough,” she added. "On the old hay with the cat.”
“I see.” Jack smiled. “Did he, by any chance, tell you that you should forget that you saw him?”
“I couldn't possibly betray his trust sir,” Iris smiled, turning and pouring two cups of tea into old tin cups. “When a man tells you that you haven't seen him you simply can't go around telling people that you have.” She handed Jack the tea. “Even if you think that his friend should go and apologise to him for whatever it is that he has done to make him find the cold stone stable more appealing than a warm comfortable bed for the night.”
“Thank you.”
“It's no bother, just as long as you do not mention the fact that I mentioned what he asked me specifically not to.”
“You didn't tell me anything,” Jack said making his way to the door.
Iris turned back to the stove and started to crack eggs into a pan of spitting fat. “And send him in for him breakfast will you, he's already risked a cold by sleeping out all night, I wouldn't want him to go hungry.”
"Will do." Jack laughed and put the tea down on the bench, walking up behind her. He took her hand and turned her around. “What would we do without you?”
“I dare say you would starve and eventually die Captain. After all that's what most men would do without a good woman to look after them.”
“And you certainly are a good woman,” Jack said, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"Watch it." Iris blushed a little and rubbed her cheek. “Don't let my father see you kiss me like that, he'll have you out on your ear.”
“You wouldn't let him throw me out and you know it,"
“That all depends on whether you go and make it up with Mr. Jones sir.” Iris turned to look at him over her shoulder. “The poor boy is in that stable looking lost, like a stray little puppy.”
“But you do like strays Miss Hughes,” Jack smiled.
“I adore strays, just as long as they don't fight in my garden."
Jack made his way through the heavy downpour and towards the old stable across the far end of the yard. The cobbled stones were wet and on a few occasions he slipped and had to stop himself from falling; half of the tea in the old tin mugs had been splashed across the stones already and what was left was mixed in with rainwater. He opened the stable door and peeked into the darkness before stepping inside. It was cold, wet and dark; the only light came from the crack in the door and the odd hole in the roof where rain seeped through drop by drop.
Ianto turned and looked at the Captain as he walked in and then avoided his gaze.
“You found me then.”
“It was kind of fun,” Jack said, edging towards the Welshman slowly. "There's nothing quite like a game of early twentieth century hide and seek to set you up for the day.”
"We,, I'm glad you had fun."
"I wouldn't call any of this fun." Jack looked down at him when he reached his side.“The old stable huh? Original, yet slightly cliché at the same time.”
“She told you.”
“Yeah,” Jack admitted, “what can I say; I charmed it out of her with my alluring smile and winning personality.”
“Sometimes I think it's impossible for you to take anything seriously.” Ianto tried not to smile as he played with the scattering of hay on the ground.
“That's not true, I take most things very seriously indeed.” Jack sat down beside him on the ground next to Ianto, then handed him one of the old tin mugs. “It's not Coffee and it has rain in it, but it's hot.”
“Thank you.” Ianto's thanks was barely audible, but at least it was there, and as he took the cup from him he let his fingers brush against Jack's for a moment, pulling away quickly as though he had been burnt by his touch.
They took a few sips of tea in silence until Jack put his mug down on the stone floor.
“I was worried when you didn't come back last night.”
“I meant to, I really did.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“I had every intention of coming back.” Ianto avoided Jack's gaze. “But then it started to rain and I took cover in here with every intention of going back when it stopped, only it never did so I stayed here all night.”
“And that's the only reason?”
“I didn't say it was the only reason.”
“I think we need to talk.”
“I don't.” Ianto pulled himself to his feet and made his way to the door
“Right now is a really bad time for us to be fighting,” Jack said, following him and stopping him before he could walk out. “We should be sticking together and helping each other out, not avoiding each other and arguing.”
“You're the one who is arguing Jack,” he said. Ianto turned to face the older man and took a step in his direction. “You were the one who pushed me and pushed me until I had no option but to break.”
“I--”
“There's nothing going on between me and Gwen. It was a kiss and that's all.”
“We established that last night, this is way beyond that now.” He took another step towards the Welshman and set his gaze onto his eyes. “You told me that you felt nothing.”
“And?”
“And it was a lie.”
“I know.” Ianto let his eyes lock onto Jack's for a moment. “I'm sorry.”
“For what?” he asked. “For lying to me?"
““Lying to you is no problem for me. I have bigger secrets than this.”
“So what are you sorry for?”
Ianto opened his mouth to speak, but averted his eyes at the last moment and moved away. “I should go and change out of these clothes, Iris said I would get sick and I would hate to prove her right. I bet she's intolerable when she gets one over on you.”
“I think that it's more important for us to talk.”
“No. It's not.”
“Then let me rephrase it for you.” Jack stood behind him. “I need you to talk to me, I need to know why you wouldn't come back. And that means the actual reason, not some half-baked attempt at what you think would be easiest for me to understand.”
"Alright."
"Now we're getting somewhere."
"I'll tell you." Ianto turned around and put his hands on Jack's coat, running his fingers down the lapels. “So, you want to know the honest reason why I didn't come back to bed last night?”
“Yes.”
Ianto pulled Jack closer to him by his coat; his hands gripping the thick wool until his knuckles turned white, dragging Jack's lips closer to his own and kissed him hard, his mouth crushing against the older man's. He slipped his hand around the back of Jack's neck, keeping him close, his fingers finding their way into his hair when he felt the Captain's hands grip his hips and draw them closer so that no space could pass between.
Ianto pulled away, panting, and pressed their heads together; he opened his eyes and set his gaze upon Jack. His eyes were darker than Jack had ever seen them, and his words were laced with a gravely husk
“ Iris knows that we're in here together and the only reason I stopped kissing you now is that at any moment she could come in here and see us. But last night, if I had come back and you were awake?” Ianto's lips brushed Jack's as he spoke. “I would have kissed you again. The door would have been locked and we would have been there alone. Nothing could have stopped me touching you and II wouldn't have been able to let you go..”
“Is that really so bad?”
“Right now it's the worst thing that I can imagine.”
“Why?” Jack asked. “Why is a kiss such a big deal to you?”
“A kiss is not just a kiss Jack, not here and now. And you know why.”
“No. No actually, I don't.”
Ianto took a step back and finally removed Jack from his grip.
“If we were back home and I felt this way then nothing could have stopped me, but this is a different time Jack; it's a whole different world.”
“Tell me why what we do behind locked doors here is any different to back home?”
“Because it is.”
“Why?”
“Do you even know what they do to people like us here?” Ianto asked, closing the gap between them again.
"I know. I've been in far worse times than this."
“Then you know, Jack." He put his hand on Jack's face and trailed his thumb across his cheekbone. “You know that they're not so accepting in this time. You can't just live your life the way you want to here, especially not in such a small community.”
“But behind closed doors--”
“Nothing is behind closed doors forever.”
“Not forever,” Jack said. “Just until we find our way back.”
“And what if we don't?”
“We will.”
“But what if we don't, what then?” Ianto's voice was calm and low as though he was whispering and his eyes stayed fixed on Jack's. “Do we hide away and hope that nobody finds out about us, because you can't hide it forever. Someone will find out Jack, and then we're as good as dead.” His voice shook a little. “This thing between us has to stop before it really begins.”
“You're reading far too much into this,” Jack said, running his fingers across Ianto's lips. "You're in a place that you don't fully understand and you're just a little bit scared so you're over-thinking. I understand that.”
"No."
"Yes."
“I'm not over-thinking. I know exactly what would happen . They would lock us up and life would be finished,” he tried to move away but Jack was stronger and held his body close. “That life is not easy, it's hard graft that makes your hands bleed and life is downgraded to a mere existence full of shame; I can't live through that, it'll kill me Jack.”
“You know." Jack took a sudden step back and looked at Ianto; his mouth opened and closed without speech a few times until he finally found his voice. “You're not over thinking or fearing the worst, you actually know."
"Jack--"
"You're not out of your time here are you? You're slap bang in the middle of it.”
Ianto backed away and distanced himself from a shocked Jack who glared at him, demanding an answer. “I should go--”
“You can't.” Jack pulled him back from the doorway. “You have to explain this to me because I'm not understanding much of anything.”
“He promised me that I wouldn't have to live in this world again,” Ianto said. "He said I would be safe and now I'm not.”
“Who did?”
"I'm not safe, I'm right back in the worst place I could possibly be with the worst possible person I could ever be with. He broke his promises and now things couldn't be worse.”
“Who?”
“It doesn't matter,” the Welshman shook his head. "He doesn't matter any more, he's long gone.”
“Who?”
"Charles. He was my lover; he worked for Torchwood."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know how, I didn't know what you would do to me. Torchwood is all I have, everything else is fake, even my family is made up. I have nobody and it's all his fault."
"What happened?"
" I was in hell, Jack. My existence was nothing. I had nothing, until one day I couldn't take it anymore, so I took a chance, I murdered someone who tried to stop me running because it was him or me. Then I didn't know what to do, I just made a run for it and I went back to Charlie and asked him to hide me so they could never find me. He helped me escape this time and promised this me he wouldn't be far behind, but he never came for me. He left me in a world I didn't understand, alone and scared, but I've never been more scared than I am right now.”
“Its ok.” Jack approached him and held his face in his hands.
"It's not! Right now there's a version of me locked away in a prison, for the crime of loving someone I shouldn't."
"But you're here with me and it's ok. Why are you so scared?”
“This year, it's the worst year of my existence. In three months I kill that guard and escape, I become a wanted man and if they find me, they'll hang me, Jack.”
"They're not going to find you. I'll get us home. I'll find a way.”
“Promise me,” Ianto demanded.
“I can't do that. But I'll keep you safe. I won't let anyone hurt you and that Is a promise." Jack pressed his forehead to Ianto's temple. “We just have to stick together and everything will be fine.” He kissed his lips gently. “Don't worry.”
“This doesn't change anything,” Ianto said. “I still can't be with you, not in this time.”
“And when we get back?”
Ianto returned Jack's soft kiss and raked his fingers through the Captain's hair for a moment before pulling away. “I still won't be able to control this; it's hard enough when I can walk away at the end of the day.”
Jack cupped Ianto's cheeks in his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. He wrapped his arms around the younger man, pulling his head against his shoulder; his lips brushed against Ianto's ear. “I could probably handle all this if only I wasn't stuck here with you.”
“And we are stuck,” Ianto whispered, trailing his hands across Jack's back. “I can't think of anything worse.”
“You could be alone.”
“I don't even think that would be worse to be honest.” His smile was so faint it was barely there.
“We should probably head back in.”
“Yeah.”
Jack ran his thumb across the back of Ianto's neck, feeling the soft skin beneath his fingertips; every fibre of his being was telling him to let go, but the fingers that caressed the Welshman's skin refused. He could feel the slow beating of the younger man's heart thump through his chest, and the heat of Ianto's breath on his neck was comfortable and warm; he didn't want to let go.
“They're probably starting to wonder where we've got to,” Jack said. “They'll be sending out a search party.”
“I know.” Ianto stepped back a little to break the embrace, only to find Jack's firm hands on the back of his neck, pulling him back. A soft kiss landed on his shoulder and a hot breath tickled his earlobe. He settled back into the comfort of Jack's arms and inhaled the familiar scent that never seemed to fade.
“We could wait until the rain stops,” Jack whispered, “just stay in here for a while.” He trailed his thumb across the back of Ianto's neck again and felt Ianto's hot breath exhale onto his cool neck. “It's warm and dry in here with you.”
“Out there--”
“I don't want to think about what's out there. I never get the chance to forget the world exists.”
"And you never will." Ianto sighed heavily and gripped onto Jack's shoulder. “Reality is the one thing that you can't run away from; i've tried too many times.”
The older man planted a small kiss on Ianto's neck and rested his warm lips on the cool skin. “I just wish we could hide from it. I'm sick of being the one who never gets to hide away once in a while.”
“Jack.” Ianto reached behind him and lifted the Captain's hand from his neck, lacing their fingers together by his side. “We really need to go.”
Ianto broke away from him and made his way towards the door, leaving Jack behind.
“I'll get us home,” Jack said.
“Let's hope so.” Ianto didn't turn back to face him. "I refuse to live through this life again."
Summary: when a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning all is not as it originally seems. Alien technology leads the team into a trap of danger and curiosity, propelling them to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces. Split into two, the team must find a way back before past events puts one member of Torchwood into danger.
Spoilers: season1 up to episode 7.
A/N : I haven't written anything for a while, so I decided to finish this fic. It now has 20 parts an an actual ending :) please r&r
Disclaimer these characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing RTD's toys and promise to put them back when I'm done
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
"Tosh!" Owen called her name, shaking her shoulder to drag her away from sleep..
"Tosh, wakey, wakey, rise and shine."
"Hmm?" She lifted her head from the desk. "Did I fall asleep."
"About twenty minutes ago," he said, peeling the yellow post it note from her cheek. "You're starting to dribble on the keyboard."
"Sorry."
" I made you some tea. I tried coffee but ianto's Machine looks more like something we dredged out of the bay."
"Thanks." Tosh smiled and took a drink. "What time is it?"
"One o'clock," he said. "We're burning the night oil until it runs out."
"Did you find anything in Suzie's files?"
"Not yet, What about Jack's signal?"
"Nothing yet. I've set some systems up to check every frequency in case it's operating on another level."
"Alright." Owen picked a pile of files up and put them on her desk, then split them in two. "These are the rest of Suzie's files - we'll each take half home, look them over, sleep a bit and meet back here tomorrow."
"I'd rather just stay here."
"You need a break from this place." Owen picked up her jacket and handed it to her. "I'll take you home."
"I don't really want to be on my own, at least here I have myfanwy for company."
"Then you're coming home with me." Taking her hand, Owen pulled her to her feet, pressing a few buttons to shut down the computer system. "We'll have a drink, look over these files and get our heads down for a few."
"You don't have to."
"Well I can't stand to stay a minute longer in this place and you don't want to be on your own, so you're coming with me."
"Maybe it will be better to have a change of scenery." Tosh started to pack some things into her bag, then followed Owen into the lift.
"If you play your cards right I might even make you breakfast."
Owen knocked back the remainder of whiskey in his glass; it was far too early to be drinking, well past three in the morning, but the warmth of the alcohol was the only thing keeping him awake. He looked over towards Tosh who sat beside him on his couch, her legs tucked underneath herself as she read through another file.
"What do you think they're doing right now?" He asked. "Do you think they're trying to get back, or just waiting for us to make a breakthrough?"
"Who knows." Tosh yawned, stretching out like a cat. "The universe is a crazy thing, they could. Be anywhere doing anything. What if they're not even alive?"
"They are." Owen touched her hand reassuringly.
"We could do this forever and find nothing that will help." She threw the file back on the coffee table, then picked up another.
"We'll get them back. Until then it's just you and me and if we don't kill each other, we'll figure it out."
"You're being nice to me." Tosh smiled. "You haven't been nice to me in a long time"
"What do you mean,? I'm always nice."
"No you're not. In fact sometimes, you can be quite cruel."
"What?" Owen looked genuinely shocked, putting the file down beside him to look at her. "When have I been cruel?"
"Some of the things you say--"
"I'm joking! I thought you could take it, y'know banter and all that?"
"When I had that pendant, I heard what you think of me, what Gwen thinks of me and it was awful." Tosh sighed, concentrating her eyes back to the file, scanning the information before turning a page over. "Just sitting there, listening to people think horrible things about you."
"Like you never think horrible things about me once in a while?"
"It's just hard sometimes. Right now I don't need an alien pendant to know who you would rather be stuck here with."
"What?" Owen closed his eyes and shook his head' his brow knitting together out of confusion. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Gwen. I know you would rather it was her here."
"That's bollocks!."
"Is it?"
"I'm glad it's you I'm here with, because I know that we have the best chance of fixing it with you here. What Gwen going to do? Emotionally blackmail the rift into spitting them back out?"
"She always seems to be better at me at everything."
"Well, she's not." Owen stood up, climbing over Toshiko's legs to get out of the couch. "I'm going for a shower, when you're finished sprouting complete bollocks you can take my bed. Maybe when you wake up you'll speak more sense."
Ianto groaned and opened his eyes. Whatever it was that had awoken him had done so by sitting on his chest, and it was heavy, too heavy to ignore anyway. A loud meowing reverberated around the stone walls of the building and he finally sat up, looking down at Spike who meowed again and sat on the scratchy hay looking expectant.
He looked around and squinted, the sunlight broke through the door, creating a single beam of blinding light in the dark room. The building was freezing cold, and made completely of stone, with large wooden doors and a high roof that made every sound echo. It was empty, save for a scattering of old hay and a few empty wooden crates.
He reached down and put his hand on Spike's head, stroking the fur behind his ears, making him purr; the cat lay down on the floor and stretched out lazily. His claws spread out and he closed his eyes, yawning wide and licking his teeth..
The door opened, squeaking on the old rusted hinges and Iris appeared in the doorway. She opened one door wide, letting the morning light stream in and walked over to him. Ianto shaded his eyes from the new intruding daylight and moved back into the shadows a little.
“Mr Jones?” She looked at him with intrigue and crossed her arms. “What on earth are you doing?”
Ianto covered his eyes and moved back even more, hiding from the light as much as he could. “Waking up,” he said groggily.
“You've slept in here all night?”
“Mostly.”
“Why?”
“It's hard to explain,” he said.
“You and the Captain had a disagreement.” Iris looked down at Ianto. “I heard you arguing last night.”
“What did you hear?” Ianto was suddenly scared, but surely if she had heard what she shouldn't have the look on her face wouldn't have been so kind.
“Not much. I just heard you storm out of the room and down the stairs. If i had known that you were going to sleep rough then I would have at least offered you a blanket.” She took her shawl from her shoulders and draped it over Ianto's back. “You shouldn't have slept here. You're recovering from a concussion and you're sure to get sick.”
“Thank you.”
“I haven't been in here for months." Iris sat down beside him and tucked her knees to her chest, casting her eyes around the tall building. “Not since we sold the horses. It's the old stable.”
“It doesn't look like a stable.”
“We took down the walls to use it as a store.”
“Not much stored in here,” Ianto said looking around the bare room. “Looks a little empty.” He looked up at the roof and at the hole that let the rainwater trickle through. “And derelict.”
“Things don't always work out as you hope them to.” She smiled, a gentle smile that didn't reach her eyes and sighed heavily. “It's funny that I should find you in here. This is where my brother always used to hide when he didn't want to be found.”
“It was the closest thing nearby when it started to rain.” Ianto shrugged. “It looked dry and that was good enough for me.”
They sat in silence for a while, neither really knowing what to say and then, out of the blue, Iris turned her body to face him and rested her elbows on her knees. She rested her chin in the palms of her hand and studied the Welshman.
“You're rather good looking you know,” she said, “quite the handsome kind Mr. Jones if you don't mind me saying so.”
“No, of course not.” Ianto blushed a little; half out of panic, and the other half out of bashfulness. “It's nice to hear actually, it's just that I'm not--”
“Not what?” she smiled weakly as she looked down at Ianto's grubby feet that seemed to have hay stuck to it.
"Well--" Ianto opened his mouth to speak. “I know that you may think that I'm--”
“Don't take that the wrong way,” Iris said quickly, cutting his sentence off before he could complete it. “I'm not showing my interest in you. I was just wondering something.”
“Wondering what?”
“You're quite the handsome gentleman, you seem rather kind and from what I know you're a nice natured man. So how is it that you travel with the Captain and Miss Cooper?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren't you married. Don't you have a someone to miss you?” she asked.
“I did,” he said sadly, pulling the shawl around his shoulders to keep himself warm. “Her name was Lisa, but she passed away.”
“I'm sorry, i wouldn't have mentioned it if I had known.” Iris froze for a while, and then licked her lips before focussing her gaze on the Welshman. “Do you mind me asking what happened to her?”
“I guess you could say that she lost her mind.”
“That's terrible, I'm sorry.”
“Really?” she asked with the tiniest hint of a smile. “I didn't know that it was you that killed her.” Ianto said, watching Iris as she picked up Spike and let him stretch out lazily across her lap. “I have one rule; never apologise for things that you aren't responsible for. There's no good in pointing fingers in an empty room, that's what my mother always said.”
A deadly silence filled the old stone building again, and just for a second it almost seemed to cling to the air and then echo around the walls.
“Did Spike do that?” Iris said suddenly, pointing to the deep scratches on Ianto's hand.
“Yes.”
“He's a grumpy old man,” she said, tickling the cat under his chin, “but I wouldn't have him any other way.”
“I'd have him without claws,” the Welshman muttered.
Iris chuckled and stroked a purring Spike on her lap. “Do you keep animals?”
“I have a fish,” Ianto said. “He's called fish.”
“You have a fish called fish?”
“It's self-explanatory,” he explained, “I'm a man of very few words.”
“You're a man of few words and the Captain is a man of many, usually unnecessary and tinged with a degree of flirtation.”
“That's a very accurate observation.”
"Well, can't sit here all day." Iris pulled herself to her feet and dusted off her skirt. “I must go and start breakfast, will you be joining me?”
“No. I think I'll just sit here and think for a while if you don't mind.”
“Of course not.”
“And if you speak to Jack, you haven't seen me.”
Iris nodded in understanding and left.
Gwen sat outside on the old wooden bench and looked out on the rain from the shelter of the porch. It had been a long night and her lack of sleep had made it seem even longer; now it was just past six-thirty in the morning and she had watched the rain fall for the second consecutive hour. She heard the padding of bare feet on the stone behind her and then a firm hand cup her shoulder.
“It's funny how rain in the twentieth century looks just the same as it does in the twenty-first.” Jack walked around in front of her and took a seat on the other side of the bench. “Miserable, cold and wet.”
“I suppose some things never change.”
“Most things don't,” he said, leaning back and watching the grey sky as the clouds gathered. “Faces and scenery come and go, but a lot of the things we love remain static. It's fantastic. Not like people, people constantly change.”
“You say that like people don't matter.”
“People are unpredictable, you never know where you stand, but in Wales it will always rain.”
“This isn't about the rain, Jack.”
“I didn't say it was about the rain.”
“It's about Ianto.”
“It's not.” Jack's answer was a little too quick and Gwen covered his knee with her hand.
“Yes it is.”
“Well, not just Ianto.”
“I take it that you two didn't sort things out then.”
“I thought we had, I really did.”
“But--”
“I thought you would know all about it.” His voice was a little harsher than he had meant it. “I'm sure he told you all about it last night.”
“Last night?”
Jack turned to face her. “When he ran to you and probably told you everything.”
“I haven't seen him since he went after you last night; he didn't come back after that.” Gwen narrowed her eyes and shifted closer to the older man, who now had a confused look on his face. “Whatever you think is going on between me and Ianto is all in your head, Jack. I love Rhys."
“then where did he go and where the hell is he now?”
“I don't know, but he wasn't with me. I share a room with iris, no man was getting within a mile of that door."
"Yeah." Jack stood up and started to walk away before turning back. “I'm sorry. I kind of jumped to conclusions.”
“Yes you did.”
“I was wrong.”
“Very."
“And you're going to make me suffer, aren't you?” he asked.
Gwen got up and hobbled her way over to Jack, holding onto him for balance. “You need to go and find him and make the first move to apologise. You're as stubborn as each other and one of you has to take the first step to sort things out."
"This isn't exclusively my fault."
"You can't go on like this, or you and Ianto are going to end up ruining what friendship you have for nothing and we need to stick together here. You two are all I have."
“Have you seen Ianto?” Jack asked. He put his foot up on the chair and fastened his boot as Iris walked in the kitchen from outside.
“No, sir.”
Jack looked at her as he tightened his laces and smiled lightly before straightening his trousers over his boots. “If you see him would you let him know that I need to speak to him as soon as possible?”
“Certainly sir, if I see him I will absolutely let him know.”
"Thank you." Jack walked past her, putting his hand on the door handle, and the young woman touched his arm lightly.
“I have not seen his this morning.”
“Okay.”
“No, I mean--” Iris took a deep breath and looked directly into Jack's eyes as she spoke. “When I was walking I did not see him. I certainly did not see him in the old stables in the paddock.”
“Okay--”
“Not sleeping rough,” she added. "On the old hay with the cat.”
“I see.” Jack smiled. “Did he, by any chance, tell you that you should forget that you saw him?”
“I couldn't possibly betray his trust sir,” Iris smiled, turning and pouring two cups of tea into old tin cups. “When a man tells you that you haven't seen him you simply can't go around telling people that you have.” She handed Jack the tea. “Even if you think that his friend should go and apologise to him for whatever it is that he has done to make him find the cold stone stable more appealing than a warm comfortable bed for the night.”
“Thank you.”
“It's no bother, just as long as you do not mention the fact that I mentioned what he asked me specifically not to.”
“You didn't tell me anything,” Jack said making his way to the door.
Iris turned back to the stove and started to crack eggs into a pan of spitting fat. “And send him in for him breakfast will you, he's already risked a cold by sleeping out all night, I wouldn't want him to go hungry.”
"Will do." Jack laughed and put the tea down on the bench, walking up behind her. He took her hand and turned her around. “What would we do without you?”
“I dare say you would starve and eventually die Captain. After all that's what most men would do without a good woman to look after them.”
“And you certainly are a good woman,” Jack said, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"Watch it." Iris blushed a little and rubbed her cheek. “Don't let my father see you kiss me like that, he'll have you out on your ear.”
“You wouldn't let him throw me out and you know it,"
“That all depends on whether you go and make it up with Mr. Jones sir.” Iris turned to look at him over her shoulder. “The poor boy is in that stable looking lost, like a stray little puppy.”
“But you do like strays Miss Hughes,” Jack smiled.
“I adore strays, just as long as they don't fight in my garden."
Jack made his way through the heavy downpour and towards the old stable across the far end of the yard. The cobbled stones were wet and on a few occasions he slipped and had to stop himself from falling; half of the tea in the old tin mugs had been splashed across the stones already and what was left was mixed in with rainwater. He opened the stable door and peeked into the darkness before stepping inside. It was cold, wet and dark; the only light came from the crack in the door and the odd hole in the roof where rain seeped through drop by drop.
Ianto turned and looked at the Captain as he walked in and then avoided his gaze.
“You found me then.”
“It was kind of fun,” Jack said, edging towards the Welshman slowly. "There's nothing quite like a game of early twentieth century hide and seek to set you up for the day.”
"We,, I'm glad you had fun."
"I wouldn't call any of this fun." Jack looked down at him when he reached his side.“The old stable huh? Original, yet slightly cliché at the same time.”
“She told you.”
“Yeah,” Jack admitted, “what can I say; I charmed it out of her with my alluring smile and winning personality.”
“Sometimes I think it's impossible for you to take anything seriously.” Ianto tried not to smile as he played with the scattering of hay on the ground.
“That's not true, I take most things very seriously indeed.” Jack sat down beside him on the ground next to Ianto, then handed him one of the old tin mugs. “It's not Coffee and it has rain in it, but it's hot.”
“Thank you.” Ianto's thanks was barely audible, but at least it was there, and as he took the cup from him he let his fingers brush against Jack's for a moment, pulling away quickly as though he had been burnt by his touch.
They took a few sips of tea in silence until Jack put his mug down on the stone floor.
“I was worried when you didn't come back last night.”
“I meant to, I really did.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“I had every intention of coming back.” Ianto avoided Jack's gaze. “But then it started to rain and I took cover in here with every intention of going back when it stopped, only it never did so I stayed here all night.”
“And that's the only reason?”
“I didn't say it was the only reason.”
“I think we need to talk.”
“I don't.” Ianto pulled himself to his feet and made his way to the door
“Right now is a really bad time for us to be fighting,” Jack said, following him and stopping him before he could walk out. “We should be sticking together and helping each other out, not avoiding each other and arguing.”
“You're the one who is arguing Jack,” he said. Ianto turned to face the older man and took a step in his direction. “You were the one who pushed me and pushed me until I had no option but to break.”
“I--”
“There's nothing going on between me and Gwen. It was a kiss and that's all.”
“We established that last night, this is way beyond that now.” He took another step towards the Welshman and set his gaze onto his eyes. “You told me that you felt nothing.”
“And?”
“And it was a lie.”
“I know.” Ianto let his eyes lock onto Jack's for a moment. “I'm sorry.”
“For what?” he asked. “For lying to me?"
““Lying to you is no problem for me. I have bigger secrets than this.”
“So what are you sorry for?”
Ianto opened his mouth to speak, but averted his eyes at the last moment and moved away. “I should go and change out of these clothes, Iris said I would get sick and I would hate to prove her right. I bet she's intolerable when she gets one over on you.”
“I think that it's more important for us to talk.”
“No. It's not.”
“Then let me rephrase it for you.” Jack stood behind him. “I need you to talk to me, I need to know why you wouldn't come back. And that means the actual reason, not some half-baked attempt at what you think would be easiest for me to understand.”
"Alright."
"Now we're getting somewhere."
"I'll tell you." Ianto turned around and put his hands on Jack's coat, running his fingers down the lapels. “So, you want to know the honest reason why I didn't come back to bed last night?”
“Yes.”
Ianto pulled Jack closer to him by his coat; his hands gripping the thick wool until his knuckles turned white, dragging Jack's lips closer to his own and kissed him hard, his mouth crushing against the older man's. He slipped his hand around the back of Jack's neck, keeping him close, his fingers finding their way into his hair when he felt the Captain's hands grip his hips and draw them closer so that no space could pass between.
Ianto pulled away, panting, and pressed their heads together; he opened his eyes and set his gaze upon Jack. His eyes were darker than Jack had ever seen them, and his words were laced with a gravely husk
“ Iris knows that we're in here together and the only reason I stopped kissing you now is that at any moment she could come in here and see us. But last night, if I had come back and you were awake?” Ianto's lips brushed Jack's as he spoke. “I would have kissed you again. The door would have been locked and we would have been there alone. Nothing could have stopped me touching you and II wouldn't have been able to let you go..”
“Is that really so bad?”
“Right now it's the worst thing that I can imagine.”
“Why?” Jack asked. “Why is a kiss such a big deal to you?”
“A kiss is not just a kiss Jack, not here and now. And you know why.”
“No. No actually, I don't.”
Ianto took a step back and finally removed Jack from his grip.
“If we were back home and I felt this way then nothing could have stopped me, but this is a different time Jack; it's a whole different world.”
“Tell me why what we do behind locked doors here is any different to back home?”
“Because it is.”
“Why?”
“Do you even know what they do to people like us here?” Ianto asked, closing the gap between them again.
"I know. I've been in far worse times than this."
“Then you know, Jack." He put his hand on Jack's face and trailed his thumb across his cheekbone. “You know that they're not so accepting in this time. You can't just live your life the way you want to here, especially not in such a small community.”
“But behind closed doors--”
“Nothing is behind closed doors forever.”
“Not forever,” Jack said. “Just until we find our way back.”
“And what if we don't?”
“We will.”
“But what if we don't, what then?” Ianto's voice was calm and low as though he was whispering and his eyes stayed fixed on Jack's. “Do we hide away and hope that nobody finds out about us, because you can't hide it forever. Someone will find out Jack, and then we're as good as dead.” His voice shook a little. “This thing between us has to stop before it really begins.”
“You're reading far too much into this,” Jack said, running his fingers across Ianto's lips. "You're in a place that you don't fully understand and you're just a little bit scared so you're over-thinking. I understand that.”
"No."
"Yes."
“I'm not over-thinking. I know exactly what would happen . They would lock us up and life would be finished,” he tried to move away but Jack was stronger and held his body close. “That life is not easy, it's hard graft that makes your hands bleed and life is downgraded to a mere existence full of shame; I can't live through that, it'll kill me Jack.”
“You know." Jack took a sudden step back and looked at Ianto; his mouth opened and closed without speech a few times until he finally found his voice. “You're not over thinking or fearing the worst, you actually know."
"Jack--"
"You're not out of your time here are you? You're slap bang in the middle of it.”
Ianto backed away and distanced himself from a shocked Jack who glared at him, demanding an answer. “I should go--”
“You can't.” Jack pulled him back from the doorway. “You have to explain this to me because I'm not understanding much of anything.”
“He promised me that I wouldn't have to live in this world again,” Ianto said. "He said I would be safe and now I'm not.”
“Who did?”
"I'm not safe, I'm right back in the worst place I could possibly be with the worst possible person I could ever be with. He broke his promises and now things couldn't be worse.”
“Who?”
“It doesn't matter,” the Welshman shook his head. "He doesn't matter any more, he's long gone.”
“Who?”
"Charles. He was my lover; he worked for Torchwood."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know how, I didn't know what you would do to me. Torchwood is all I have, everything else is fake, even my family is made up. I have nobody and it's all his fault."
"What happened?"
" I was in hell, Jack. My existence was nothing. I had nothing, until one day I couldn't take it anymore, so I took a chance, I murdered someone who tried to stop me running because it was him or me. Then I didn't know what to do, I just made a run for it and I went back to Charlie and asked him to hide me so they could never find me. He helped me escape this time and promised this me he wouldn't be far behind, but he never came for me. He left me in a world I didn't understand, alone and scared, but I've never been more scared than I am right now.”
“Its ok.” Jack approached him and held his face in his hands.
"It's not! Right now there's a version of me locked away in a prison, for the crime of loving someone I shouldn't."
"But you're here with me and it's ok. Why are you so scared?”
“This year, it's the worst year of my existence. In three months I kill that guard and escape, I become a wanted man and if they find me, they'll hang me, Jack.”
"They're not going to find you. I'll get us home. I'll find a way.”
“Promise me,” Ianto demanded.
“I can't do that. But I'll keep you safe. I won't let anyone hurt you and that Is a promise." Jack pressed his forehead to Ianto's temple. “We just have to stick together and everything will be fine.” He kissed his lips gently. “Don't worry.”
“This doesn't change anything,” Ianto said. “I still can't be with you, not in this time.”
“And when we get back?”
Ianto returned Jack's soft kiss and raked his fingers through the Captain's hair for a moment before pulling away. “I still won't be able to control this; it's hard enough when I can walk away at the end of the day.”
Jack cupped Ianto's cheeks in his hands and pressed a kiss to his lips. He wrapped his arms around the younger man, pulling his head against his shoulder; his lips brushed against Ianto's ear. “I could probably handle all this if only I wasn't stuck here with you.”
“And we are stuck,” Ianto whispered, trailing his hands across Jack's back. “I can't think of anything worse.”
“You could be alone.”
“I don't even think that would be worse to be honest.” His smile was so faint it was barely there.
“We should probably head back in.”
“Yeah.”
Jack ran his thumb across the back of Ianto's neck, feeling the soft skin beneath his fingertips; every fibre of his being was telling him to let go, but the fingers that caressed the Welshman's skin refused. He could feel the slow beating of the younger man's heart thump through his chest, and the heat of Ianto's breath on his neck was comfortable and warm; he didn't want to let go.
“They're probably starting to wonder where we've got to,” Jack said. “They'll be sending out a search party.”
“I know.” Ianto stepped back a little to break the embrace, only to find Jack's firm hands on the back of his neck, pulling him back. A soft kiss landed on his shoulder and a hot breath tickled his earlobe. He settled back into the comfort of Jack's arms and inhaled the familiar scent that never seemed to fade.
“We could wait until the rain stops,” Jack whispered, “just stay in here for a while.” He trailed his thumb across the back of Ianto's neck again and felt Ianto's hot breath exhale onto his cool neck. “It's warm and dry in here with you.”
“Out there--”
“I don't want to think about what's out there. I never get the chance to forget the world exists.”
"And you never will." Ianto sighed heavily and gripped onto Jack's shoulder. “Reality is the one thing that you can't run away from; i've tried too many times.”
The older man planted a small kiss on Ianto's neck and rested his warm lips on the cool skin. “I just wish we could hide from it. I'm sick of being the one who never gets to hide away once in a while.”
“Jack.” Ianto reached behind him and lifted the Captain's hand from his neck, lacing their fingers together by his side. “We really need to go.”
Ianto broke away from him and made his way towards the door, leaving Jack behind.
“I'll get us home,” Jack said.
“Let's hope so.” Ianto didn't turn back to face him. "I refuse to live through this life again."