Born this Way - Chapter 1 (Sequel to Choices)
Title: Born This Way
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, John, Gray, Owen, Toshiko/Tommy, Suzie, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Warnings/Contains: Supernatural themes, character death, drug references, dub-con.
Summary: Sequel to Choices - Ianto Jones was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately-thanks to Jack Harkness. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences and suddenly Ianto’s and Jack’s happily ever after may not be so happy.
A/N: As promised, here is the sequel to Choices. Again, this is not entirely mine but shamelessly pilfered for my own (and yours too, I’m sure) guilty pleasures. It is once again a union between Jack and Ianto with a story I read. I love putting the boys in AU situations and glad to have found a sequel to the one I used for Choices. This one is a little darker than Choices and some new characters are introduced. And we have a third POV in this one, too. J
1
You Can Take the Demon out of Hell…
*~*
Ianto
Not that I’m complaining, but one serious downside of being a demon-turned-human is that I’m no longer indestructible. I stare at my bleeding face in the mirror and rinse the razor in the sink. As I examine the mass of wounds, I wonder how much blood a mortal can afford to lose.
Which brings me to another downside of being human: personal hygiene. Why the Almighty would design humans to require so much maintenance is beyond me. And all these millennia, I thought it was we demons who got off on torture.
I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around all this-my new life. Jack. I woke up in my car this morning and my heart ached because, for an instant, I was sure it had all been a dream. But it was my aching heart-and the fact that I was asleep in the first place-that convinced me otherwise. Brimstone doesn’t ache.
Which brings me to yet another downside: sleep. Now that I have to sleep, I can’t protect Jack like I want to. With some assistance from coffee, until last night I was able to hang on. But four o’clock this morning found me sound asleep in my car in front of his house, leaning over the steering wheel and drooling on my sleeve. I’m going to have to discuss shifts with Gray.
Jack insists he doesn’t need a guardian angel, but I’m glad for the help. Of course, I haven’t been quite honest with him. He doesn’t know that I’m still watching every night. He’d probably beat the crap out of me if he did. It’s a little embarrassing to think that my boyfriend could kick my arse, a demon-well, former demon-but unfortunately, it’s true.
“Jack’s on his way over.”
Even though the voice sounds smooth and musical, it still scares the hell out of me. It’s a good thing the razor is in the sink, because if it’d been on my face, it would have left another gash.
I spin and survey my studio apartment for the source of the proclamation. Gray leans against the wall next to the unfinished edge of my wall mural, thumbs hooked into the front pockets of his torn jeans.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s rude not to knock?” I say. But seeing an angel standing there, next to a floor-to-ceiling painting of Hell, is more than I can take, and I burst out laughing.
Gray’s sandy blond curls are almost to his shoulders, and his tanned face is positively angelic-except for the fact that he’s glaring death at me. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was an avenging angel, not a guardian. But, as I get myself back together, a hint of a smile creeps into those baby blues.
“She might have mentioned something about that.”
I hate that Jack needs a guardian. I hate that I can’t protect him anymore. But my power has completely dried up. There’s no spark left in the plugs. I do miss being able to shoot Hellfire out of my fists and blast things into oblivion.
But would I go back to what I was? Never.
I raise an eyebrow at him. “So, if Jack’s on his way over, why aren’t you watching him? Falling down on the job so soon? What the Hell kind of guardian angel are you?”
A grin spreads across Gray’s face as he shrugs away from the wall. “He drives so fast not even the Hounds of Hell could catch him between there and here.”
I smile thinking about him driving that midnight blue ’65 Mustang convertible, top down, music cranked. He does drive dangerously fast, but it’s kind of sexy.
“Thanks for the backup last night, by the way,” I say as Gray glides over to my bookshelf and scans the titles. “I was hoping this whole sleep thing was overrated. Guess I was wrong.”
Pulling my first edition of Dante’s Purgatorio from the volumes, he scowls. “I knew you were going to be useless. Why John thought you’d be any help at all, I’ll never understand.” He fans the pages and then turns his glare back to me. “You’re going to slip back into your old ways. I just know it. Demons don’t change.”
“But I’m not a demon anymore. There are no ‘old ways.’ Clean slate and all.”
“You’ll slip.” He flips me a self-satisfied smirk, and slides Dante back onto the shelf. “And when you do, I hope it’s a good one. I’ve been dying to smite someone. Nothing would make me happier than if it was you.”
“I thought only the hand of God could smite.”
An enigmatic smile turns the corners of his mouth. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
I walk back into the bathroom, shaking my head, and wipe the last traces of shaving cream from my face with a towel. “When will he get here?” I say, re-examining my wounds in the mirror and rubbing at the dark circles under my eyes.
My finger courses along the blood red scar twisting down the right side of my face-Gwen’s parting gift-as Gray peers over my shoulder into the mirror and says, “Now.”
I push past him and cross my studio to the window, throwing up the sash, just in time to see him pull in next to my black ’68 Shelby Cobra. Climbing out of his car his face beams as he waves at me and makes his way toward the door of my building. I sprint down the hall and meet him on the stairs.
He rushes up, smiling. “Hey. Missed you.”
Jack’s hair, a little longer than usual, is spiky and windblown. And I can’t help but admire how that tight white T-shirt and those well-worn jeans hug every contour of his body without being tight. A large tear in the jeans teases me with a hint of skin, and I shudder.
“Hey.” I smile. I loop my arms around his shoulders and run my hands through his hair, clasping them at the base of his neck. “I missed you too.”
He pushes against me and we meet halfway for our kiss. I guide him up the rest of the stairs and into my apartment.
He bounds through the door, and when he sees Gray, his eyes light up. Just watching them together, how happy he is to have him back, I have no doubt that it was Jack’s Sway that influenced John to choose him as Jack’s guardian. And, the best part: he looks at him with a light heart and clear eyes now. The guilt is gone. I know he had to forgive himself for Gray’s death in order for John to tag his soul for Heaven, but something lightens in my core to see it so clearly on his face.
“Hey, Gray. Long time no see,” he says.
Gray’s expression is warm and genuine as he regards his brother. “Thought you were going to break the sound barrier on the way over. I was pretty sure you’d beat me here.” He hooks an arm over his shoulder. “If you won’t drive more carefully, I’m going to have to wrap that Mustang in celestial Bubble Wrap.” He rolls his eyes toward the ceiling, contemplating. “And maybe rig the accelerator.”
“Touch my car and you’re dead, little brother.” As soon as the words leave his lips, his eyes widen. “I mean…”
Gray chuckles and pulls him back to his side. “Yeah, good luck with that. And I’m not your ‘little brother.’”
He swallows hard and offers a wily smile. “Yes, you are. By eight and a half minutes, according to Mum.” He shoves away from him and heads to the small wooden kitchen table, where he drops his bag onto a chair.
Up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t need to eat, so the only furniture in my apartment was a big, black, king-sized bed-for recreational purposes. The addition of the table and two chairs became necessary when I kept finding food in my bed. And since laundry is also a necessity- the downsides of being human are racking up fast-we eat at the table.
I twine my fingers into his. “Did you eat? I was going to make omelettes.”
He gazes up at me, tracing a finger along the scar on my face, and I get completely lost in his eyes.
“Sounds good,” he says.
“What?”
A devilish smile breaks across his face. “Rarebit?”
“Oh, yeah…”
*~*
Gray
“Not hungry, thanks,” I say.
They both look at me and Jack cracks a smile. “That’s ’cause you’ve never had one of Ianto’s Welsh Rarebits. They’re to die for,” he says, then cringes.
“I got it, bro. They’re good. So, what’s the plan for the day?”
Jack shrugs. “Well, lunch, I guess. Then…” He looks at the demon, and an impish grin pulls at his lips. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking…?”
I roll my eyes and glower at Ianto.
He leans back into the table and smirks at me as Jack heads for the fridge. “Get your mind out of the gutter, cherub. The Mustang needs an oil change.”
Ianto pushes off the table and moves to the kitchen, bringing a pan and bowl out from the cabinet below the stove. Jack retrieves the ingredients from the fridge. As they move around the kitchen, they don’t speak, but as they work, they seem completely unaware that they are always touching-connected. And perfectly in sync.
Suddenly, it feels too intimate. How can cooking lunch be intimate? I clench my teeth to keep from groaning. I can’t stand this. I have to get out of here.
“So, if you guys don’t need me, I guess I’ll go.” Jack turns back to me and smiles. “Sure you don’t want any?” he says.
I can’t help smiling back. “Got to watch my girlish figure.” Jack cracks up as I push through the wall into the hall, where I stand guard.
Alone.
As usual.
I slide down to sit on the floor, my back against the wall. When John pulled me out of training to work with me himself, he said he had a special job for me. A job no one was better suited for. When he told me I was going to be Jack’s guardian, I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t proud of how I’d treated him in life, and being seven was no excuse. This was perfect. How many people get the chance to make amends with their twin from the other side?
What he failed to mention was that my brother is in love with a freakin’ demon. How did he let that happen?
So here I sit, banging my head against the wall helplessly while my brother is in there-in danger. John was clear. I can’t interfere. He says it’s his life. His choice. He says things will work out.
I don’t believe him.
And it’s only a matter of time before the demon does something to prove me right.
*~*
So, thoughts, comments? More?