FanFic: To Forget.
Title: To Forget.
Pairing: Jack/Ianto kind of.
Rating: R
Summary: What lengths would you go to, get back who you are? What would you be prepared to do to know your name?
Beta: madtheo
Disclaimer: Not Mine
Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone that commented on previous chapters.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 and Chapter 9.
Chapter 10 - Catching Up.
Storming into the Hub, he went straight for the meeting room, calling out for the others to meet him there. Once there, he took the envelope from his coat and threw it on the table in front of him.
“Jack?” asked Gwen, as she stepped into the room.
He looked at her, and he wondered for a moment what lengths Rhys would go to in order to save Gwen. Would he do what Jack was planning on doing now? Would he risk others to save one person?
Realizing he hadn’t replied, he said, “I have some information.”
“What information, Jack? Will it help us get Ianto back? He must be looking for us by now, we’ll just have to go out and collect him,” Gwen was in full police mode, earnest and comforting.
Jack sat down heavily in one of the chairs, watching as Owen and Tosh walked into the room. He wished sometimes Gwen wouldn’t be so optimistic. Instead of helping him see the good side of things, it sometimes made him want to play devil’s advocate just to rile her up. Today, he didn’t want to play anything. He just wanted to fix things, but he knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“So, you found him yet?” Owen asked, slouching in his seat.
He looked at each of his team in turn, trying to figure out where to start. Now was the time to explain some things; things that were either going to get him locked in a cell next to Janet, or things that would prove to him yet again how much his team was willing to accept him and his past discretions.
“What is it, Jack?” prompted Gwen.
“Living as long as I have you make enemies; people that you never thought would hurt or find you again once you’d left,” started Jack quietly.
His team sat, silent and still, much as children sitting at their father’s feet to hear an anecdote from his youth or a fairy tale. Only this story’s outcome hadn’t yet been determined and Jack had learned many times over the years that happy endings weren’t as common as people thought.
“Jack, what are you saying?” Tosh asked.
“I’m saying I know what’s happened to Ianto. I know who did it and how,” answered Jack. “I don’t know how to find him though.”
“What happened to him, Jack?” asked Tosh.
“He’s had a memory wipe,” answered Jack slowly.
“Retcon?” asked Owen.
Jack offered a half shrug to the doctor. “It’s entirely possible, although she could have used something stronger. She always did have a way of getting her hands on things other people couldn’t.”
“But he could get his memories back, Jack. I did,” said Gwen.
“You were given a small dose of retcon - enough to wipe only twenty four hours from your mind. Given this lady’s track record, an minor loss of a couple of days is not what she has in mind”
He waited a moment for what he had implied to sink in. As the significance of his words slowly penetrated the team, he saw hope fade from Tosh’s eyes; saw the look of utter disbelief on Gwen’s face and saw the emotional shutters slam shut on Owen. The news was like a blow to the stomach; it hurt terribly at first before leaving you in wounded disbelief.
He knew he didn’t need to say it, but he spoke anyway. “The more retcon taken, the less likely you are to remember anything.”
Even Gwen didn’t reply to that and he couldn’t blame her; he had taught the woman who had taken Ianto everything he knew about stealing and altering people’s memories.
“Aww, isn’t this sweet,” John tutted, stepping into the room.
Jack was out of his seat, gun pointed at John quicker than the others could react. Echoing through his head was the taunting voice of his nemesis: Is Hart helping you or is he helping me?”
“How the hell did you get in here?” Jack’s voice was low and furious.
Brandishing his wrist strap with a cheeky grin, Hart said, “I programmed it to pick up the frequency of your transmission code when you brought me down your super secret entrance” He gave Tosh a sly wink. “See, Sweetheart? Bigger isn’t always better.” Switching his attention back to Jack, he grew serious. “Came to help, again.” He lazily waved away the Webley. “You can put that away, Jack,”
“I don’t think so.”
As a unit, the other team members drew their weapons and came around to flank Jack on both sides.
“Okay, you aren’t all gonna shoot me,” said John, looking at each of them in turn.
“Don’t be too sure,” replied Owen forcefully.
“Please. You won’t shoot me. You haven’t survived the rift this long by being stupid” said John, smiling.
“Which means, our skilful deductive reasoning puts shooting you as a very viable option. Tell me why we shouldn’t,” Gwen challenged.
“Cause I know where your Ianto Jones is.”
Jack glared at John, wondering exactly what type of game the other man was playing. His already established distrust for John had grown exponentially over the last few hours.
“I don’t believe you,” snapped Jack.
“Don’t, it doesn’t bother me,” replied John calmly. “But would you really ignore that little voice in your head telling you I could actually be right this time?”
Letting out a growl, Jack stepped forward, the gun feeling like a very welcome weight in his hand. He was vaguely aware of Gwen moving behind him before a small hand was placed on his arm.
“Jack, maybe we should listen to him,” Gwen said softly.
“Not this time. He’s had too many chances, Gwen, you should know that,” spat Jack.
He adjusted his stance to try and dislodge Gwen, and he felt the grip on his arm tighten a fraction. Gwen was trying to be his conscience again to keep him from doing something irreversible. But he didn’t want to stop. Someone close to him had been taken; he was hurting and he needed to make someone else hurt too, and it didn’t matter how.
“Jack, please,” Gwen pleaded.
“Listen to the pretty girl, Jack,” John said. Jack felt a wave of savage pleasure course through him as he saw real fear building in the Englishman’s eyes. All he had to do was squeeze the trigger and Captain John Hart would not manipulate or con anyone ever again. He could feel hot adrenalin racing through him, strengthening his body, steadying his hand as he remembered the sick thrill he always felt after he killed someone or something who deserved it. And this smug bastard certainly fit that bill. He could feel the cold, hard smile, almost a grimace that was spreading over his face; a smile that hadn’t seen the light of day since he left the Time Agency with two years of his life missing.
“Let’s see if you can come back from the dead,” said Jack coldly.
His finger tightened around the trigger, as everything seemed to slow down, become sharper, as his vision narrowed down to a tunnel that held nothing but Hart, the man who had helped create this ineffectual manhunt they were involved in. His pulse quickened as increasing pressure began to move the hammer on the Webley and -
“Jack! No!” screamed Gwen.
The gun was knocked from his hands as both Gwen and Owen collided with him. Time reasserted itself; brought the world back into focus Gwen pulled the gun from his shaking hands and engaged the safety before reaching behind herself to slide the weapon into her waistband. Jack’s eyes bored into Hart’s and let him know, This isn’t over, before he furiously turned away and let Owen tug him from the room. Once down in the main Hub area, Jack yanked his arm free from the doctor and began pacing. The quickly fading adrenaline left him faintly light-headed and fairly vibrating with unspent rage.
“Jack, mate, you have gotta calm down,” Owen said calmly.
Laughing harshly, Jack replied, “He’s been with-holding information. We need what he knows.”
“We or you?” asked Owen.
“What?” Jack’s rampant thoughts of vengeance were making it a little difficult to pay complete attention to Owen. He forced himself to take a couple of good, deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down, then he focused on the doctor. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you looking for answers to finding Ianto or finding answers to something else?” asked Owen.
“Don’t be stupid, Owen,” Jack snapped.
Owen held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m only calling it as I see it, Jack.”
Jack stopped pacing, and ran a tired hand down his face. Away from the confrontation, he was able to look at the situation more objectively and see that he had lost his ever- present self-control. All he had wanted were answers to where Ianto was and in what condition, yet somewhere along the way he had forgotten himself. Forgotten that torture and killing wouldn’t always give him the answers he sought.
It hurt him though, hurt in a way that it hadn’t in a long time, and the only way to stop it was to bring his archivist back safely. Sighing, he let himself fall into the nearest chair. He was grateful to Owen for stopping him and talking him down, though he was mildly surprised that it was the doctor who had made him see sense instead of Gwen. Owen the Onion - he with his many hidden layers. Jack snorted to himself before sobering again.
“We put him in the cells,” decided Jack. “One wrong move and Myfanwy and Janet can have him,”
“Okay, I’ll let Tosh do that,” replied Owen. “Jack…”
Owen didn’t get to finish his sentence as his mobile buzzed. Jack watched as the young doctor rolled his eyes at the caller ID and he offered a ‘go ahead’ smile. He wasn’t going to be going anywhere just yet; he had to make sure his control was completely back first.
“Can’t it wait? Well, I’m in the middle of something…yes…I know I owe ya,” spoke Owen rolling his eyes again. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Yeah, sure. See ya.”
“Going somewhere?” Jack asked.
“Sorry, Jack, someone’s called in a favour. I kinda owe them, plus it sounded like the person got attacked by a…”
“Weevil?” finished John.
Jack got to his feet, not quite sure what he intended but knowing he would love to lay John out right about now, and not in a recreational, sexy way. With quick reflexes, Owen moved in front of Jack, hand on his chest, blocking his access to the other captain. Jack pushed against the barrier for a moment before deciding that the scrawny doctor had a little more strength in him than he let on, and it wasn’t worth the effort fighting him.
“Gwen, Tosh get him out of here!” ordered Owen.
“The pretty eye candy was attacked by your Weevils,” taunted John as he was led away. “Run, Jack, run to save your little pet!”
Jack struggled against Owen, not relaxing again until the girls had taken the other captain down into the cells and out of his sight.
“Damn it, Harkness, you gotta calm down!” Owen exclaimed.
“I’m coming with you,” said Jack.
“What?” asked Owen, shocked by the quick change of subject.
“If this person was attacked by a Weevil, we need to make sure they don’t remember it. Come on.”
Without waiting for Owen to reply, Jack grabbed his coat and left the Hub. He had to get out to calm down, to remember that he had a job to do despite wanting to find Ianto so badly.
***
“Another note?” Owen asked.
“Seems she is set out to finish her game,” snarled Jack.
Crumbling up the letter, he stuffed it into his pocket and stormed out of the house, leaving Owen to do his work. He needed air and space to think for a moment: if she wanted this to go ahead he was going to have to get there first, stay one step ahead of her. He wasn’t about to lose Ianto, not yet.
“What exactly is in the note?” Owen asked, as he finally climbed back into the SUV.
“This is a Final Message,” answered Jack.
“Final Message?” asked Owen.
“It’s what used to be left behind for identification when we…worked in another agent’s territory, so they knew it was us.”
Frowning, Owen said, “So that’s hers, and we’re still no closer to finding Ianto. Damn it!”
Jack winced as Owen lashed out at the dashboard; he knew this wasn’t easy on the doctor. It had become personal when she had killed someone innocent, someone who didn’t know anything about aliens, Time Agencies or Torchwood.
“Owen,” started Jack, putting a hand on Owen’s shoulder. “I…what she’s done…”
“Don’t; let’s just finish this god damn mission already!”
“Fair enough,” replied Jack.
Starting the SUV’s engine, he was about to head back to the Hub when his wrist strap beeped. Frowning, he pushed his sleeve up and flipped it open.
“What is it?” asked Owen.
“Co-ordinates,” answered Jack, reaching up to the Bluetooth in his ear. “Gwen, Tosh, I’m sending you guys some co-ordinates. Meet us there.”
“You think Ianto’s there?” Owen asked.
“Worth a look. Only Time Agents are capable of communicating through these,” he said, indicating the wrist device.
After transferring the co-ordinates via the on-board computer, they were on their way. They drove in silence, both men adrift in their own thoughts of retribution for wrongs suffered of innocent victims. Within a few minutes, they reached their destination. Turning off the engine, Jack sat for a moment, peering out into the streets, trying to sense if there was an ambush waiting for them. Spying movement to the left of the truck, Jack quietly opened his door and slipped out, Owen following behind. Easing his gun from the holster, he crept across the road, trying to get a bead on whatever was out there. Just a few feet more and he’d be able to see….. Suddenly straightening up, Jack took in the sight of exactly the man they had been searching for: Ianto Jones
Jack watched as she spoke to Ianto, the wind carrying her words away from him. What was she saying? Was she threatening him? Would she hurt him if she were confronted right now? Jack was suddenly indecisive, a feeling he was not very familiar with. He heard another car pull up and knew the rest of this team had arrived. He felt surety settle over him again; with his team at his back, he felt like he could face anything.
“Gwen, Tosh,” he said quietly.
“Jack, John’s with us,” whispered Gwen. “He’s going to help.”
I hope you’re right, Gwen, I really do, Jack thought, nodding his head, letting her know he had heard her. Finally strolling forward, he made their presence known and he could just make out her cold smile in the shadows.
“Come now, our guests can’t hear you,” the woman said.
Jack felt his breath catch as he made eye contact with Ianto, dismayed at what he saw there. He could see the emptiness; see the confusion in the eyes that had once held recognition and emotions.
“Don’t say anything, Ian…” started Jack.
“Ah, don’t say his name, Captain,” she interrupted. “He wants to bargain for it.”
“What?” Jack asked.
He could feel something heavy settle in his stomach, heard Tosh let out a whispered ‘no’. Jack knew this had the potential to end badly, very badly, but not if he had any say in the matter.
“I want my name,” reiterated Ianto.
“We can give you, your name,” Gwen said.
Jack nodded in agreement. They could give Ianto his identity back, could try to help him remember who he was, help him recapture his memories.
“Ah, but he hasn’t told you the best part. If I tell him his name as he so wants, it will undo everything I’ve worked at. And I hate to leave a job undone. So him learning his name will be the last thing he ever knows,” she explained gleefully.
Jack understood the implication of her words immediately, and fought the urge to just go over there - screw the consequences - and take this wild Time Agent out; but if he did that, he could lose Ianto.
“You can’t do that,” protested Jack, bringing his gun up to take aim.
“I can. My bullet would strike him first which means even if you fired at me now, he’d still be dead.”
Cursing silently, he lowered his weapon slightly. She was right; no matter how quick he would be, spastic reflexes would ensure Ianto’s trauma, if not death. No, for now Jack had to play it her way, play into her little game.
“Look, you can do anything you want to me,” pleaded Jack. “Just let him go, please.”
“I’m already doing it. I’m watching your heart break into a thousand tiny little pieces,” she laughed.
Jack kept his face impassive, refusing to let her see how true it was; he felt like he was about to lose everything and be sent back into the black that he had lived in for so long before he’d met Ianto.
“My name,” demanded Ianto loudly.
No, please Ianto, don’t ask that of her, please, he silently urged, as he glanced up and saw the desperate look on Ianto’s face.
“Very well, I always keep my word,” she replied.
No! “I will kill you,” growled Jack. “If you so much as touch him!”
“But he wants to know, surely you can understand that?”
“There are other ways to gain knowledge,” Jack replied shortly.
Smiling she replied calmly, “Yes, you’re right, of course. Here - take him!”
Jack had no idea what she was on about until Ianto was thrown at him. Quickly he took several steps forward, catching Ianto before he fell to the ground. The smile on his face was so bright that he was sure he must be scaring Ianto but he held on to him, so afraid he was going to lose the Welshman again.
“Hey,” whispered Jack.
“Hello,” Ianto replied.
Jack let out a small laugh at that. God, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed Ianto.
“Oh, just one more thing,” called out the woman. “Your name is Ianto Jones.”
Looking over Ianto’s shoulder, Jack was trying to figure out why she had tossed out the name when he heard the gun shot. Sudden dread gripped him as he braced for the expected pain of the bullet, so he was confused when he didn’t feel anything.
“Oh, god!” exclaimed Gwen.
Jack looked down at Ianto to see a dark crimson stain spreading slowly down his side. An icy band of fear constricted around his chest and he gripped Ianto’s arms tighter, falling to his knees as Ianto crumpled in his arms.
“Owen!” Jack shouted, panicking.
Looking around for the doctor, he saw John in the distance, engaged in a scuffle with the woman, soon over-powering her and proceeding to drag her over to the SUV. Focusing back onto Ianto, he tried to comfort the younger man.
“Owen!” shouted Jack again, his hands brushing Ianto’s hair out of his face. “Just hang on, Owen’ll fix you up.”
“S-sorry,” Ianto coughed.
“Don’t be - Owen will fix you. I’m not gonna lose you.”
The end of the sentence went unheard as the Welshman finally passed out from shock. Jack held onto his hand tighter, not willing to let go just yet. Whispering words of encouragement, Jack listened to Owen working away, but he never took his eyes off of Ianto.
“Jack. Jack!” persisted Owen, nudging the Captain.
“What?”
“I need to get him to the hospital,” explained Owen. “He’s lost a lot of blood, Jack. Jack?”
“Just do what you have to.”
After helping to carefully shift the unconscious man into Jack’s arms, Owen made sure the compress was still firmly pressed against the wound, then ran for the truck. After relocating a self-congratulating Captain Hart and a senseless woman to the girls’ car, he backed the truck up to Jack and helped him gently lay Ianto in the backseat. During the frenetic ride to the hospital, Jack rode in the back, acting on the constant flow of instructions streaming from the doctor. In between the commands of ‘Keep pressure on it’, ‘Check his breathing; how does it sound?’ and ‘Stay calm back there, Jack, he needs you now’, Jack had the absurd thought of how angry Ianto was going to be at the amount of blood currently staining the car. Then the band of fear tightened again as he realized Ianto may not ever have the chance to clean it. Silently, he urged Owen to drive faster, fervently hoping the Welshman would make it that long, afraid of the amount he had already bled out
Finally screeching to a halt in front of A&E, Owen threw open his door, calling out for help as he slid (so much blood!) the unaware man from the rear seat, Jack tumbling out behind him. A nurse was already there with a gurney and they wheeled him in through the doors and out of Jack’s sight. He stood in the waiting room, alone and looking a little lost, wondering if he was to lose his friend now, after finally finding him. Sitting down in one of the olive green chairs, he leaned forward, put his head in his hands….. and waited.
.
Pairing: Jack/Ianto kind of.
Rating: R
Summary: What lengths would you go to, get back who you are? What would you be prepared to do to know your name?
Beta: madtheo
Disclaimer: Not Mine
Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone that commented on previous chapters.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 and Chapter 9.
Chapter 10 - Catching Up.
Storming into the Hub, he went straight for the meeting room, calling out for the others to meet him there. Once there, he took the envelope from his coat and threw it on the table in front of him.
“Jack?” asked Gwen, as she stepped into the room.
He looked at her, and he wondered for a moment what lengths Rhys would go to in order to save Gwen. Would he do what Jack was planning on doing now? Would he risk others to save one person?
Realizing he hadn’t replied, he said, “I have some information.”
“What information, Jack? Will it help us get Ianto back? He must be looking for us by now, we’ll just have to go out and collect him,” Gwen was in full police mode, earnest and comforting.
Jack sat down heavily in one of the chairs, watching as Owen and Tosh walked into the room. He wished sometimes Gwen wouldn’t be so optimistic. Instead of helping him see the good side of things, it sometimes made him want to play devil’s advocate just to rile her up. Today, he didn’t want to play anything. He just wanted to fix things, but he knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“So, you found him yet?” Owen asked, slouching in his seat.
He looked at each of his team in turn, trying to figure out where to start. Now was the time to explain some things; things that were either going to get him locked in a cell next to Janet, or things that would prove to him yet again how much his team was willing to accept him and his past discretions.
“What is it, Jack?” prompted Gwen.
“Living as long as I have you make enemies; people that you never thought would hurt or find you again once you’d left,” started Jack quietly.
His team sat, silent and still, much as children sitting at their father’s feet to hear an anecdote from his youth or a fairy tale. Only this story’s outcome hadn’t yet been determined and Jack had learned many times over the years that happy endings weren’t as common as people thought.
“Jack, what are you saying?” Tosh asked.
“I’m saying I know what’s happened to Ianto. I know who did it and how,” answered Jack. “I don’t know how to find him though.”
“What happened to him, Jack?” asked Tosh.
“He’s had a memory wipe,” answered Jack slowly.
“Retcon?” asked Owen.
Jack offered a half shrug to the doctor. “It’s entirely possible, although she could have used something stronger. She always did have a way of getting her hands on things other people couldn’t.”
“But he could get his memories back, Jack. I did,” said Gwen.
“You were given a small dose of retcon - enough to wipe only twenty four hours from your mind. Given this lady’s track record, an minor loss of a couple of days is not what she has in mind”
He waited a moment for what he had implied to sink in. As the significance of his words slowly penetrated the team, he saw hope fade from Tosh’s eyes; saw the look of utter disbelief on Gwen’s face and saw the emotional shutters slam shut on Owen. The news was like a blow to the stomach; it hurt terribly at first before leaving you in wounded disbelief.
He knew he didn’t need to say it, but he spoke anyway. “The more retcon taken, the less likely you are to remember anything.”
Even Gwen didn’t reply to that and he couldn’t blame her; he had taught the woman who had taken Ianto everything he knew about stealing and altering people’s memories.
“Aww, isn’t this sweet,” John tutted, stepping into the room.
Jack was out of his seat, gun pointed at John quicker than the others could react. Echoing through his head was the taunting voice of his nemesis: Is Hart helping you or is he helping me?”
“How the hell did you get in here?” Jack’s voice was low and furious.
Brandishing his wrist strap with a cheeky grin, Hart said, “I programmed it to pick up the frequency of your transmission code when you brought me down your super secret entrance” He gave Tosh a sly wink. “See, Sweetheart? Bigger isn’t always better.” Switching his attention back to Jack, he grew serious. “Came to help, again.” He lazily waved away the Webley. “You can put that away, Jack,”
“I don’t think so.”
As a unit, the other team members drew their weapons and came around to flank Jack on both sides.
“Okay, you aren’t all gonna shoot me,” said John, looking at each of them in turn.
“Don’t be too sure,” replied Owen forcefully.
“Please. You won’t shoot me. You haven’t survived the rift this long by being stupid” said John, smiling.
“Which means, our skilful deductive reasoning puts shooting you as a very viable option. Tell me why we shouldn’t,” Gwen challenged.
“Cause I know where your Ianto Jones is.”
Jack glared at John, wondering exactly what type of game the other man was playing. His already established distrust for John had grown exponentially over the last few hours.
“I don’t believe you,” snapped Jack.
“Don’t, it doesn’t bother me,” replied John calmly. “But would you really ignore that little voice in your head telling you I could actually be right this time?”
Letting out a growl, Jack stepped forward, the gun feeling like a very welcome weight in his hand. He was vaguely aware of Gwen moving behind him before a small hand was placed on his arm.
“Jack, maybe we should listen to him,” Gwen said softly.
“Not this time. He’s had too many chances, Gwen, you should know that,” spat Jack.
He adjusted his stance to try and dislodge Gwen, and he felt the grip on his arm tighten a fraction. Gwen was trying to be his conscience again to keep him from doing something irreversible. But he didn’t want to stop. Someone close to him had been taken; he was hurting and he needed to make someone else hurt too, and it didn’t matter how.
“Jack, please,” Gwen pleaded.
“Listen to the pretty girl, Jack,” John said. Jack felt a wave of savage pleasure course through him as he saw real fear building in the Englishman’s eyes. All he had to do was squeeze the trigger and Captain John Hart would not manipulate or con anyone ever again. He could feel hot adrenalin racing through him, strengthening his body, steadying his hand as he remembered the sick thrill he always felt after he killed someone or something who deserved it. And this smug bastard certainly fit that bill. He could feel the cold, hard smile, almost a grimace that was spreading over his face; a smile that hadn’t seen the light of day since he left the Time Agency with two years of his life missing.
“Let’s see if you can come back from the dead,” said Jack coldly.
His finger tightened around the trigger, as everything seemed to slow down, become sharper, as his vision narrowed down to a tunnel that held nothing but Hart, the man who had helped create this ineffectual manhunt they were involved in. His pulse quickened as increasing pressure began to move the hammer on the Webley and -
“Jack! No!” screamed Gwen.
The gun was knocked from his hands as both Gwen and Owen collided with him. Time reasserted itself; brought the world back into focus Gwen pulled the gun from his shaking hands and engaged the safety before reaching behind herself to slide the weapon into her waistband. Jack’s eyes bored into Hart’s and let him know, This isn’t over, before he furiously turned away and let Owen tug him from the room. Once down in the main Hub area, Jack yanked his arm free from the doctor and began pacing. The quickly fading adrenaline left him faintly light-headed and fairly vibrating with unspent rage.
“Jack, mate, you have gotta calm down,” Owen said calmly.
Laughing harshly, Jack replied, “He’s been with-holding information. We need what he knows.”
“We or you?” asked Owen.
“What?” Jack’s rampant thoughts of vengeance were making it a little difficult to pay complete attention to Owen. He forced himself to take a couple of good, deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down, then he focused on the doctor. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you looking for answers to finding Ianto or finding answers to something else?” asked Owen.
“Don’t be stupid, Owen,” Jack snapped.
Owen held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m only calling it as I see it, Jack.”
Jack stopped pacing, and ran a tired hand down his face. Away from the confrontation, he was able to look at the situation more objectively and see that he had lost his ever- present self-control. All he had wanted were answers to where Ianto was and in what condition, yet somewhere along the way he had forgotten himself. Forgotten that torture and killing wouldn’t always give him the answers he sought.
It hurt him though, hurt in a way that it hadn’t in a long time, and the only way to stop it was to bring his archivist back safely. Sighing, he let himself fall into the nearest chair. He was grateful to Owen for stopping him and talking him down, though he was mildly surprised that it was the doctor who had made him see sense instead of Gwen. Owen the Onion - he with his many hidden layers. Jack snorted to himself before sobering again.
“We put him in the cells,” decided Jack. “One wrong move and Myfanwy and Janet can have him,”
“Okay, I’ll let Tosh do that,” replied Owen. “Jack…”
Owen didn’t get to finish his sentence as his mobile buzzed. Jack watched as the young doctor rolled his eyes at the caller ID and he offered a ‘go ahead’ smile. He wasn’t going to be going anywhere just yet; he had to make sure his control was completely back first.
“Can’t it wait? Well, I’m in the middle of something…yes…I know I owe ya,” spoke Owen rolling his eyes again. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Yeah, sure. See ya.”
“Going somewhere?” Jack asked.
“Sorry, Jack, someone’s called in a favour. I kinda owe them, plus it sounded like the person got attacked by a…”
“Weevil?” finished John.
Jack got to his feet, not quite sure what he intended but knowing he would love to lay John out right about now, and not in a recreational, sexy way. With quick reflexes, Owen moved in front of Jack, hand on his chest, blocking his access to the other captain. Jack pushed against the barrier for a moment before deciding that the scrawny doctor had a little more strength in him than he let on, and it wasn’t worth the effort fighting him.
“Gwen, Tosh get him out of here!” ordered Owen.
“The pretty eye candy was attacked by your Weevils,” taunted John as he was led away. “Run, Jack, run to save your little pet!”
Jack struggled against Owen, not relaxing again until the girls had taken the other captain down into the cells and out of his sight.
“Damn it, Harkness, you gotta calm down!” Owen exclaimed.
“I’m coming with you,” said Jack.
“What?” asked Owen, shocked by the quick change of subject.
“If this person was attacked by a Weevil, we need to make sure they don’t remember it. Come on.”
Without waiting for Owen to reply, Jack grabbed his coat and left the Hub. He had to get out to calm down, to remember that he had a job to do despite wanting to find Ianto so badly.
***
“Another note?” Owen asked.
“Seems she is set out to finish her game,” snarled Jack.
Crumbling up the letter, he stuffed it into his pocket and stormed out of the house, leaving Owen to do his work. He needed air and space to think for a moment: if she wanted this to go ahead he was going to have to get there first, stay one step ahead of her. He wasn’t about to lose Ianto, not yet.
“What exactly is in the note?” Owen asked, as he finally climbed back into the SUV.
“This is a Final Message,” answered Jack.
“Final Message?” asked Owen.
“It’s what used to be left behind for identification when we…worked in another agent’s territory, so they knew it was us.”
Frowning, Owen said, “So that’s hers, and we’re still no closer to finding Ianto. Damn it!”
Jack winced as Owen lashed out at the dashboard; he knew this wasn’t easy on the doctor. It had become personal when she had killed someone innocent, someone who didn’t know anything about aliens, Time Agencies or Torchwood.
“Owen,” started Jack, putting a hand on Owen’s shoulder. “I…what she’s done…”
“Don’t; let’s just finish this god damn mission already!”
“Fair enough,” replied Jack.
Starting the SUV’s engine, he was about to head back to the Hub when his wrist strap beeped. Frowning, he pushed his sleeve up and flipped it open.
“What is it?” asked Owen.
“Co-ordinates,” answered Jack, reaching up to the Bluetooth in his ear. “Gwen, Tosh, I’m sending you guys some co-ordinates. Meet us there.”
“You think Ianto’s there?” Owen asked.
“Worth a look. Only Time Agents are capable of communicating through these,” he said, indicating the wrist device.
After transferring the co-ordinates via the on-board computer, they were on their way. They drove in silence, both men adrift in their own thoughts of retribution for wrongs suffered of innocent victims. Within a few minutes, they reached their destination. Turning off the engine, Jack sat for a moment, peering out into the streets, trying to sense if there was an ambush waiting for them. Spying movement to the left of the truck, Jack quietly opened his door and slipped out, Owen following behind. Easing his gun from the holster, he crept across the road, trying to get a bead on whatever was out there. Just a few feet more and he’d be able to see….. Suddenly straightening up, Jack took in the sight of exactly the man they had been searching for: Ianto Jones
Jack watched as she spoke to Ianto, the wind carrying her words away from him. What was she saying? Was she threatening him? Would she hurt him if she were confronted right now? Jack was suddenly indecisive, a feeling he was not very familiar with. He heard another car pull up and knew the rest of this team had arrived. He felt surety settle over him again; with his team at his back, he felt like he could face anything.
“Gwen, Tosh,” he said quietly.
“Jack, John’s with us,” whispered Gwen. “He’s going to help.”
I hope you’re right, Gwen, I really do, Jack thought, nodding his head, letting her know he had heard her. Finally strolling forward, he made their presence known and he could just make out her cold smile in the shadows.
“Come now, our guests can’t hear you,” the woman said.
Jack felt his breath catch as he made eye contact with Ianto, dismayed at what he saw there. He could see the emptiness; see the confusion in the eyes that had once held recognition and emotions.
“Don’t say anything, Ian…” started Jack.
“Ah, don’t say his name, Captain,” she interrupted. “He wants to bargain for it.”
“What?” Jack asked.
He could feel something heavy settle in his stomach, heard Tosh let out a whispered ‘no’. Jack knew this had the potential to end badly, very badly, but not if he had any say in the matter.
“I want my name,” reiterated Ianto.
“We can give you, your name,” Gwen said.
Jack nodded in agreement. They could give Ianto his identity back, could try to help him remember who he was, help him recapture his memories.
“Ah, but he hasn’t told you the best part. If I tell him his name as he so wants, it will undo everything I’ve worked at. And I hate to leave a job undone. So him learning his name will be the last thing he ever knows,” she explained gleefully.
Jack understood the implication of her words immediately, and fought the urge to just go over there - screw the consequences - and take this wild Time Agent out; but if he did that, he could lose Ianto.
“You can’t do that,” protested Jack, bringing his gun up to take aim.
“I can. My bullet would strike him first which means even if you fired at me now, he’d still be dead.”
Cursing silently, he lowered his weapon slightly. She was right; no matter how quick he would be, spastic reflexes would ensure Ianto’s trauma, if not death. No, for now Jack had to play it her way, play into her little game.
“Look, you can do anything you want to me,” pleaded Jack. “Just let him go, please.”
“I’m already doing it. I’m watching your heart break into a thousand tiny little pieces,” she laughed.
Jack kept his face impassive, refusing to let her see how true it was; he felt like he was about to lose everything and be sent back into the black that he had lived in for so long before he’d met Ianto.
“My name,” demanded Ianto loudly.
No, please Ianto, don’t ask that of her, please, he silently urged, as he glanced up and saw the desperate look on Ianto’s face.
“Very well, I always keep my word,” she replied.
No! “I will kill you,” growled Jack. “If you so much as touch him!”
“But he wants to know, surely you can understand that?”
“There are other ways to gain knowledge,” Jack replied shortly.
Smiling she replied calmly, “Yes, you’re right, of course. Here - take him!”
Jack had no idea what she was on about until Ianto was thrown at him. Quickly he took several steps forward, catching Ianto before he fell to the ground. The smile on his face was so bright that he was sure he must be scaring Ianto but he held on to him, so afraid he was going to lose the Welshman again.
“Hey,” whispered Jack.
“Hello,” Ianto replied.
Jack let out a small laugh at that. God, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed Ianto.
“Oh, just one more thing,” called out the woman. “Your name is Ianto Jones.”
Looking over Ianto’s shoulder, Jack was trying to figure out why she had tossed out the name when he heard the gun shot. Sudden dread gripped him as he braced for the expected pain of the bullet, so he was confused when he didn’t feel anything.
“Oh, god!” exclaimed Gwen.
Jack looked down at Ianto to see a dark crimson stain spreading slowly down his side. An icy band of fear constricted around his chest and he gripped Ianto’s arms tighter, falling to his knees as Ianto crumpled in his arms.
“Owen!” Jack shouted, panicking.
Looking around for the doctor, he saw John in the distance, engaged in a scuffle with the woman, soon over-powering her and proceeding to drag her over to the SUV. Focusing back onto Ianto, he tried to comfort the younger man.
“Owen!” shouted Jack again, his hands brushing Ianto’s hair out of his face. “Just hang on, Owen’ll fix you up.”
“S-sorry,” Ianto coughed.
“Don’t be - Owen will fix you. I’m not gonna lose you.”
The end of the sentence went unheard as the Welshman finally passed out from shock. Jack held onto his hand tighter, not willing to let go just yet. Whispering words of encouragement, Jack listened to Owen working away, but he never took his eyes off of Ianto.
“Jack. Jack!” persisted Owen, nudging the Captain.
“What?”
“I need to get him to the hospital,” explained Owen. “He’s lost a lot of blood, Jack. Jack?”
“Just do what you have to.”
After helping to carefully shift the unconscious man into Jack’s arms, Owen made sure the compress was still firmly pressed against the wound, then ran for the truck. After relocating a self-congratulating Captain Hart and a senseless woman to the girls’ car, he backed the truck up to Jack and helped him gently lay Ianto in the backseat. During the frenetic ride to the hospital, Jack rode in the back, acting on the constant flow of instructions streaming from the doctor. In between the commands of ‘Keep pressure on it’, ‘Check his breathing; how does it sound?’ and ‘Stay calm back there, Jack, he needs you now’, Jack had the absurd thought of how angry Ianto was going to be at the amount of blood currently staining the car. Then the band of fear tightened again as he realized Ianto may not ever have the chance to clean it. Silently, he urged Owen to drive faster, fervently hoping the Welshman would make it that long, afraid of the amount he had already bled out
Finally screeching to a halt in front of A&E, Owen threw open his door, calling out for help as he slid (so much blood!) the unaware man from the rear seat, Jack tumbling out behind him. A nurse was already there with a gurney and they wheeled him in through the doors and out of Jack’s sight. He stood in the waiting room, alone and looking a little lost, wondering if he was to lose his friend now, after finally finding him. Sitting down in one of the olive green chairs, he leaned forward, put his head in his hands….. and waited.
.