Tales Of A Time Agency - 24 A/ 24
Title: Tales of A Time Agency - 24 A/24
Rating: 15 - NC-17
Pairings: Jack/Ianto but it’s the Time Agency so expect Jack/John, Tosh/Owen, Ianto/John, Tosh/Mary, John/ OFC, John/the consenting population of the universe……
Spoilers: Anything Torchwood could be hinted at.
Summary: Ianto Jones is thrown into the world of excess of the Time Agency Academy, but will he sink or swim? It’s one month on from the events on Bryce - 7, but has Ianto being able to move on? And what lies in store for those still at TARA?
Disclaimer: Regrettably I own nothing, none of the characters, zip. Wish I did though. I will take the credit for Telmaya though; I’m quite fond of her.
Author’s Notes: Well, this is it. The end of TOATA. And it feels so odd from my point of view! But still, here we are, the end is in sight. And of course I must sit here and just mumble a bit about how much I completely love naddypants for betaing this for me. Really, she’s bloody marvellous she is. Thank you so much angel :)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five A
Chapter Five B
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight A
Chapter Eight B
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven A
Chapter Eleven B
Janto Interlude
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen A
Chapter Eighteen B
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two A
Chapter Twenty Two B
Chapter Twenty Three
Ok…so today’s dedication is a little different. Because it is dedicated to everyone who has stood by me and kept on reading TOATA. I know that it has taken me an age to write (hell some of you have been reading for nearly a year :S) but your comments have just pushed me on, even when I was doing my pesky a-levels. So thank you to everyone who has stuck with this series, because as always, it partly belongs to you. :D
“Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away”
One month later
Four weeks of searching, tinkering, bargaining and travelling and at last she had achieved her goal.
And yet the barren wasteland that had greeted her meant very little to Toshiko Sato herself.
The lush green of Adronax Minor was long gone, the landscape dry, parched, the sandy terrain that surrounded her almost aching for water. The curves of the land arched out in front of her, plain, only speckled with the occasional hardy vegetation, the leaves sturdy, thick and needle like to withstand the long periods of drought. There were no clouds to gather in the sky, a pure strip of deep blue running parallel with the orange tinged plains that stretched out for miles and miles. The vast desert was unlike anything she could have ever imagined, a place where she would have thought human life would be unable to sustain itself. And yet sustain and survive it did, small clusters of settlements pocketed amongst the twirling sands and heaping dunes. Each group of buildings hailed back to the same style, all curved edges, pale stone and glass, each and every home interlocking in some way with another. There was a quietness to the streets, a soft backdrop of noise rather than the overcrowded cities that Toshiko herself had grown up in. The planet immediately astounded her because of this, as it appeared that the most idyllic of communities seemed to exist within such a harsh environment.
It had taken her all of her wit and intellect to find, but now one settlement in particular stood proudly in front of her. Unlike the other’s she had seen though it was different, the pale buildings scorched and mistreated. Within the streets life seemed to bustle onwards, the people seemingly happy and healthy, although the buildings and the lines of graves on the outskirts of the city seemed to show otherwise. It was as if the entire place was in recovery of some awful occurrence, of one fateful moment when everything in this world had crumbled beyond all recognition. And yet life was carrying on, had rebuilt itself regardless, the almost scorched buildings still in use, still alive as people proudly flowed in and out of them like a sustaining life blood. Apart from one house that lay on the very fringes of the community. A building that stood, almost as if it was still bleeding, its windows still broken, haphazardly boarded up against the elements. A house that was still in disarray, abandoned, alone. Seemingly forgotten whilst the other’s around it had flourished back into life...
And yet this was the place that Toshiko had been searching for.
The door wasn’t locked as she stepped forward, pushing it open slowly, her hand nervous against the metal. Inside the light was dimmed due to the boarded up windows, and yet somehow one soul had placed a scattering of bulbs through the main living area with which to light it properly. The yellow light swallowed up the room, glistened off the walls and projected a soft glow into the air, a strange musty quality given to her vision due to the sand particles that hung in the air. There was sand almost everywhere, most likely blown into the husk of the building before the windows were boarded; now crackling slightly under her feet as she stepped further into the room. It was all but empty, gutted, scatterings of broken machinery and furniture littering the floor. And yet none of that mattered. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the gloom, a small smile spread across Toshiko’s features, her heart pattering with a strange concoction of relief, joy and anxiety. For in front of her sat the one thing she had been searching for. A sole figure, his back firmly to her, hunched lovingly over a piece of what looked to be furniture of some kind. She watched in silence as the knowing hands graced the wood, flowing across it, shaping it effortlessly at their will, curls of the sun bleached substance dropping to floor, shaped almost into perfect ringlets. It was an ancient practice and yet Toshiko loved it instantly, relief now pounding harder through her heart. She only knew of one man who would willingly do something as rudimentary, as old as this craft. Someone who just like her, valued tradition, valued classical practices more than anything else…
“Ianto…” Her voice came out soft, and yet it still managed to instantly strike a chord through the air, the figure in front of her freezing in a heartbeat. The busy hands suddenly stilled; the knife and wood clattering to the floor, the noise ricocheting off the four walls of the room around them. Slowly but surely the figure straightened up, turning round, his lost blue eyes nervously meeting hers, their pupils animated by shock in the dim room. Her mouth was dry as Toshiko laughed weakly, her tone clearly unsure. “I thought I’d never find you.” She paused, awaiting Ianto to reply, but he did not, his face looking at her blankly, void of any emotion. This was not the man she had expected to find, a mere shadow of the best friend she knew and so she stepped forwards, forcing a lighter tone into her voice when she spoke again. “The outer rim…do you have any idea how hard you were to track?”
“…H-how did you find me?” When he finally did reply, Ianto’s voice was weak, betraying the true shock that his body was feeling as it wavered slightly, his reddened eyes blinking hard, confused.
“I’m a genius remember?” She smiled warmly, moving a little closer. “I missed you.”
“And you’ve left TARA?” Ianto paused, his eyes moving away from hers to the far wall. “For good?”
“I couldn’t stay there.”
“What about Owen?”
“He couldn’t leave…” She sighed solemnly, blinking hard in a mild attempt to shun Owen’s perfect features from her mind’s eye. “It’s over for us.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was my choice.”
“But I forced it upon you.” Ianto bit his lip, a shaking hand stroking through his hair. “It’s all my fault, Tosh…”
“What is?”
“Everything!” Ianto’s body shook violently, his voice suddenly so loud that it caught Toshiko completely off guard, her body jumping from the sound. She watched him intently; saw so much pain in his eyes, emotions suddenly spilling from his features water when a dam breaks. His features were creased with frustrated agony, the red rims of his eyes framing the watery pools within. In seconds it was almost as if she had just broken through his façade, discovered the true torment that was raging in Ianto’s heart.
“Yan? What’s-”
“Please…don’t…don’t call me that.” He instantly grimaced at the sound of his nickname, his hands rising up into the air as if to silence her. “Please.”
“Ok…Ianto…” Advancing slowly with careful steps, Toshiko moved closer towards him, her eyes filled with so much pure concern, her own heart breaking at suddenly seeing her friend in such an extreme state of mind. “What’s wrong?...What’s happened? Just tell me…”
“I’ve ruined so many lives Tosh…Yours…” He swallowed hard, his fists clenched before continuing. “Jack’s…”
“Where is he?”
“Out there… With his family.” Ianto nodded softly towards the door, liquid began to slide from the pools of his eyes. “…He’s dead, Tosh. I killed him.”
“How?”
“I did it to him!” Ianto’s voice was overcome now, words spilling from his mouth, almost as if he was speaking to himself rather than to Tosh. “It was as if I pulled the trigger… If I hadn’t been so selfish, so stupid then he would be alive…he’d still be here.” He bit his lip hard, his eyes finally clashing with Toshiko’s once more. “I wouldn’t be alone.”
“You’re not alone…not now.” Tosh didn’t spare anything a second thought as she closed the distance between them, her arms wide as they pulled her friend into her. Ianto’s face was buried deep within the fabric at her shoulder by the time his sob finally rose up from his throat, shaking through both of them when it finally escaped, loud and unwelcome into the air. His tears dampened her skin; his legs became too weak to support him, his body sinking down to his knees, the sudden weight pulling Toshiko down clumsily with him. And yet she stayed there, an uneasy constant, one hand so tight around his back whilst the other stroked so reassuringly through his hair. She never told him to stop, never asked for the tears to cease, her mouth silent of calming words. For Toshiko merely knelt there, providing support, providing care, giving him the release that she knew he needed. Waiting for the moment when Ianto simply would run out of tears.
For she was determined to become the next constant in Ianto Jones’ life. The strength that he would crave, need, if only for a short time. After all, she hadn’t travelled halfway across the galaxy for nothing. She’d done it for her friend.
For her brother.
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It was as if something was missing.
For weeks now there had been this deep seated emptiness, this numb feeling suddenly raging through his skull that he was unable to shake. Like a cold chill, it was never all powerful, never consuming, it merely sat there, weak and niggling, forever at the back of his thoughts. A shadow, a dark chasm that had suddenly, inexplicably opened itself up within his mind.
It was a feeling John Hart had only ever felt before.
Almost three years previous when he had joined the Academy, a sudden emptiness had swelled in his mind then, right at the very beginnings of his training. He could still remember how infuriating it was, how incomplete he suddenly felt. Like a part of his mind had died and there was merely the shrivelled remains of the tissue left, dead and abandoned to slow, rotting time. It had been all the more unnerving that he had no idea where the feeling had suddenly come from, the sheer emotion running riot through his body, the unknown that had terrified him so much back then. It was only when he received a message, a letter, informing him that his mother was dead. Killed by the man he had tried to protect her from, the man she chose over him, his own father. It was then when John suddenly realised the sheer magnitude of what he was feeling. When they had abandoned him, John had severed all ties with his mother, all emotion. He no longer let himself care whether or not she lived or died. And yet there would always be one link he could not sever himself. The psychological, the mental link, an almost psychic scar that would stain your consciousness no matter what that person did to you, no matter what you did to them. A streak of their presence that remained with you simply because you had let yourself care for them in any way, an inescapable bond. A tie that would only be cut when one half of the pair died, ripping that scar away and leaving only black abyss.
And now that feeling was back, John was a logical enough man to realise what it meant. He knew that there were only two people he truly cared about in this world, whether he wanted to or not. One of them was safe and alive with him in the Academy. The other had disappeared without trace. Jack. Even though John resented him for everything he had done, everything he had become, all the hypocrisy and idiocy of it all; that link to him had always remained. It had been stored, frozen, forgotten. A dull, almost comforting presence that John simply grew used to. Until now…
He had known that it was a mistake long before he had seen the hurt lodged deeply with Telmaya’s eyes that morning. They were watery; the bright purple of her iris’s diluted into lilac, the whites of her teeth gently biting down onto her lip. He could see her fingers dig into the door frame as she leant against it, almost steadying herself whilst her eyes desperately searched his for remorse. John prayed that they found some, because deep down he knew that he was feeling something. The self hate was back, bubbling through his system, cursing his mentality with ever passing second. He had never promised her that he would not betray her like this, and yet now that he had, John suddenly realised that she deserved so much more.
He had struggled with the emptiness for weeks. He had wanted to talk to her, to tell her, but every time he tried the words simply stuck in his throat, barbed and sharp against his flesh. He had no desire to admit to her, or to himself that he had felt something for Jack, to dignify how he had treated him with some kind of explanation. And so, each time Jack pushed the emptiness aside, reaching out and losing himself in Telmaya, holding her to him so tightly that at times it felt as if her frame might snap against his own. But it wasn’t enough. The feeling remained, resided, festering in his subconscious; a constant distraction. He was desperate, unsure of what action to take, unsure of how to deal with a grief that felt so seemingly forced upon him. And so John did the only thing he knew. He reached out, tried to lose himself in another person, someone who didn’t matter like Telmaya did. After all, when his mother had died John had found comfort in fucking Jack, logically now another, random soul would somehow be able to hide the gaping hole he had now himself left. It was ironic that John didn’t even know this man’s name, and yet at the same time it was irrelevant. At that time all he cared about was flesh, against him, pounding, moving, rough hands scraping over tender skin. Anything to just numb this perpetual pain. He had never thought that Telmaya would find out, never thought that she might notice his distant behaviour and come find him. He had never anticipated that she would be there, now, stood in front of him, her eyes forced to take in the sight of him lying naked beside someone else. The betrayal in her eyes was so painful, so deep, so identical to the countless other times John had inflicted upon people before her.
Except this time, he actually cared.
“Tel…please…I…” His voice was scrabbling for words as he practically jumped from his bed, his hands immediately making a grab for his boxers, as if the simple act of wearing them might make him seem less guilty. “I didn’t want you to see this…”
“You know it’s funny.” Telmaya laughed weakly in reply, her hands finally letting go of the door frame. She threw a half-hearted amused glance at the man still lying bemused in John’s bed, although her watery eyes gave away her true emotions. “You said you’d break me…just like everyone else. Remember? That night outside Poseidon?...” She paused, a sick smirk brandished across her features. “And you were right.”
“No! Please…I just need to explain...”
“Explain what?” She shook her head. “It’s not your fault, John. I forced you into this.”
“You didn’t-”
“I did. You never promised me anything…” She shrugged softly, a small sad smile spreading across her features. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“That’s not true…-”
“It is. This is all my fault. Self inflicted…I get it, John.”
“Then why is it hurting you so much, Tel?!” The frustration in John’s voice had one main goal; to force his lover into anger, to make her lash out at him, to make him pay for what he had done rather than merely accepting it like she was.
“Because…” She was nodding weakly as her voice shook with emotion, her eyes blinking hard. When she looked at him again, Telmaya had found a new resolve, had calmed her voice so that it now remained steady. “I was stupid enough to believe in you. Maybe even love you. But you never asked me to.” She laughed bitterly again, already backing out of the door. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Tel!” It didn’t matter to him how loud his voice might have seemed, or that he was dashing after her, the cold air of the corridor flurrying against his bare skin as he stopped, watching her back intently. “You do matter….to me…” He swallowed hard, the words seemingly so difficult for him to voice. “I still want you to believe in me!”
“Then why do this?!” As she whirled round, the anger that John had sought was burning in her eyes, piercing and vengeful. “Wasn’t I enough anymore?”
“It wasn’t that!”
“Then what John? Why now? Or has this been going on the whole time?”
“No!” John groaned softly, confusion and frustration written across his face. “Something changed; it made me feel so empty. So alone. I just wanted to stop it….I….” He sighed, a hand running through his hair. “I can’t explain it Tel…it’s what I have always known. I told you that…”
“I know…and I should have listened.” Biting her lip Telmaya turned round slowly, as if she could no longer look at him. “I can’t do this, John. I need time.”
“Time…” John laughed darkly, rolling his eyes even though her back was still turned to him. “Will you find someone else?”
“I don’t know…” She paused, turning her head and giving him one last smile. “I don’t know how I feel about anything right now.”
As John watched her walk away, he could feel regret, anger and frustration all mingle and swell within his belly, a nauseating feeling permeating up into the back of his throat. He swallowed it back, closing his eyes and merely standing there, unable to move and yet unable to watch her leave. As once again, someone John cared about was walking out of his life. And just like before, it was all his fault.
But of course...there's more! Part B is here!