The Ties That Bind (20/34 + epilogue)
Title: The Ties That Bind - Part 20
Beta: Blackcat1000
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Donna, John Hart, Owen and James Harper, Mickey/Martha, Toshiko/Tommy, Claudia, Phillip, Saxon, Rhiannon, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 75K+
Warnings/Contains: Explicit sex (does that need a warning?), witchcraft, horror, supernatural themes, character death.
Summary: Ianto is a powerful magical warrior, one which Jack Harkness has never been able to resist. Once enemies, then almost lovers, he broke his heart. Years later, Jack must return to his hometown and seek help before it is too late. Jack and Ianto must now put aside their past and work together to defeat an evil threatening to overwhelm and take control of Jack because of his unique bloodline. Secrets and foretold prophecies will plague them and in this paranormal battle, they will need more than magic to survive.
A/N: John’s revelation has certainly added a little more tension to the situation.
Chapter Twenty
“You think Ianto’s a virgin?” Jack shook his head and snorted. “I don’t think so.”
“Yeah?” The demon’s chest shook with a breathless laugh. “Tell me, Harkness, did he or did he not have sex with you tonight?”
“John,” Ianto snarled, “not another bloody word, or I swear you are going to seriously pay!”
All traces of humour fled the demon’s expression as he looked away from Jack, and locked his gaze with Ianto’s. “I’m sorry, Eye Candy. But you were gonna have to come clean with the guy sooner or later. I mean, you are what’s needed for the ceremony. You think that’s just coincidence?”
For a breathless span of seconds, all Jack could do was stare, the past forty-eight hours he’d spent with him slamming through his brain in rapid time. When it all crashed together, he nearly fell on his ass. “A virgin?” he croaked, thankful for the door supporting his back. “I don’t believe it.”
Ianto closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Then he stood, pulled his shoulders back and looked right at him. “I hate to say it, but you can. Believe it, that is.”
“Shit, Ianto. That doesn’t make any goddamn sense!”
“Yeah, well, that’s one of the great things about life, Jack. Things don’t always make sense. And I don’t have to explain a single thing to you. Wonderful, isn’t it?”
He could feel his frustration being shaped into something ugly and raw, but there was no stopping it. He crossed the room before he even realised what he was doing, and found himself nose to nose with him. “You can drop the damn sarcasm, Ianto. I want to know why.”
“We all want lots of things, Jack.” The quiet words rang with a kind of eerie finality that chilled him. “But most of us never get them.”
Jack’s pulse raced as he stared at Ianto’s pale face, his heart pounding like a bastard. He wanted so badly to argue and shout until he’d given him the explanation he wanted, but he knew Ianto was too stubborn to bend. If he didn’t want to tell him, he wouldn’t. And nothing he said was going to change that.
Clenching his jaw so tightly it hurt, Jack turned away from him and went to his bag, took out a shirt and pulled it over his head. Then he shoved his feet into his boots, grabbed his mobile phone and stalked toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Ianto asked, just before he slammed out of the room.
He didn’t bother to turn around as he said, “I need to let the others know about the spell.”
“And then what? Are you going to just leave me here?”
Jack gripped the handle so hard, he was surprised it didn’t break. “It’d be better if I did.”
“Why?”
He could feel the pain beneath his anger, and hated that Ianto was hurting, even when he was pissed enough to turn him over his knee for keeping something like this from him.
“Because now you know you’re not getting laid?”
“You saw what happened tonight.” He threw a dark look over his shoulder. “This is getting too dangerous.”
“For who? A virgin?” Ianto pulled in a deep breath, looking enraged, his dark eyes glowing with fury. “I’m still me, Jack. I don’t need you or anyone else to take care of me. I can take care of myself.”
“And not to butt in or anything,” John drawled, “but you’re kinda gonna need him for the spell. Remember?” Jack scowled, not even bothering to give the demon a reply.
Ianto crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. “You can’t ditch me now, Jack. Even if you want to. We had a deal. I helped you find John. Now you’re going to help me with my sister.”
~*~
It wasn’t like they had anything in writing, but that was the way Ianto was choosing to interpret their agreement.
“We’ll talk about this later.” His severe expression said that he wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the room…and away from him. “Right now, I have to make this call.”
The second the door closed behind him, John looked at Ianto and raised his brows. “You sure you know what you’re doing with this guy, Ianto?”
“Don’t I always?” Ianto muttered.
John laughed as he rubbed two fingers over his smooth jaw. “Then I guess this should be fun to watch.”
“I wouldn’t look so thrilled if I were you,” he said softly, flicking him a deadly glare from beneath his lashes. “Or did you forget that you’re the one with the big mouth?”
“You can’t hold that against me,” John argued, though he at least had the grace to look guilty. “You never would have confessed, and the man needed to know.”
“Why?” Ianto asked, wondering why he couldn’t have just stayed the hell out of his business.
John rolled his eyes. “Because I don’t believe in accidents, that’s why. Everything that happens, happens for a reason.”
It was impossible to sound anything but snide as he said, “So my virginity is going to be the answer to everybody’s prayers? Wow, lucky me.”
“Think about it. This is more than just coincidence Eye Candy. It has to be. Harkness walks back into your life after all this time, and he just so happens to need help with a spell that requires a warrior virgin’s blood? What are the odds?”
He’d purposefully avoided thinking about the odds…or the spell…or what it all meant. And he didn’t like thinking about it now. He knew how fate worked. It would catch up with him whether he wanted it to or not. There was no sense in trying to run from it.
“Come on,” John drawled. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll be right there with you the whole time. Hell, it might even be fun.”
“I might find that comforting,” Ianto shot back, “if not for the fact that your idea of fun is completely warped.”
“Well, then, forget about me. Look at it this way. Wouldn’t you like to be the guy who saves the world?”
“You know what I’d like?” Ianto let out a shaky breath of air. “For once, I’d like to be the guy having a good time. Is that so freaking much to ask?”
Before John could respond, Jack came back into the room, his scowl even darker than it had been before. “We need to get back on the road.”
“Where are we going?” they asked in unison.
“James and Owen think this place in Devon sounds like a good idea, so they’re going to meet us there.”
John shot him a wary glance. “Who’s going to meet us there?”
“My friends.”
“Would these be your vampire and shape-shifter friends?” John asked, sounding less than thrilled.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he said, “One and the same. And we can’t forget about Tommy, who is human. He used to be with the Tome, but he’s one of us now.” Jack narrowed his eyes. “You got a problem with that?”
“Not at all,” John replied with a grimace. “Sounds like a blast. But I’m not the one you need to worry about.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning your friends aren’t going to be too keen on working with a demon.”
Jack snorted. “They might hate you for being a pain in the ass, but they’re not going to hold that little red streak in your hair against you.”
“Watch your mouth,” John said with a sharp smile, rolling up off the bed. “There’s nothing little about my streak.”
Ianto knew a good time to interrupt when he heard one, so he asked, “If they’re travelling there now, do they expect me to take part in the ritual with John?”
“No,” he grunted, his gaze sliding away as he grabbed his bag. “They might have a lead on a possible candidate. One of the guys is trying to locate them.”
Pushing his hands into his pockets, John gave a low whistle. “Guess this means Eye Candy might be off the hook.”
“I don’t care what they find,” Jack muttered. “Ianto was never on the hook for it, either.”
“Really?” John raised his eyebrows and rocked on his heels. “And why is that?” You planning on divesting him of his virginity before we get there?”
Ianto held his breath as he waited for Jack’s reply. But it never came. He just stood there, staring at the demon, a predatory force of violence pouring off him that made him shiver. Then he turned his head, and the look he gave shot a wave of heat through Ianto’s body that was so scalding, he felt the roots of his hair go damp. He wondered what was going through Jack’s mind as he dropped that blistering gaze to his mouth, then lower to the base of his throat, where his pulse was beating a crazy, frantic rhythm. The pull toward him was so strong.
Then he tore his gaze away, threw his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the room without ever saying a damn thing. John’s voice was soft, but Ianto still flinched from the demon’s quiet words as he said, “I’m guessing that’s a no.”