Partners in Every Way - Chapter Nine
15 June 2008
Jack let Owen fuss over him, even though he knew he was completely healed.
He realized why the medic - and Ianto and Toshiko - were insisting…they were all worried about him after being in the hands of the Master, and wanted to make certain that his immortality was back to normal. He’d confided in Owen over a phone call that, at some point during that year, his quick healing had slowed down considerably, and he could understand why the three of them were ganging up on him over his latest death. It touched him that they really did care that much, and so he allowed Owen to poke and prod, while the others were off doing what needed to be done.
He could feel Ianto’s eyes on him, and relaxed under the dragon’s scrutiny. It had been so long since he’d actually mattered to others, that Jack wasn’t afraid to wallow in the warmth that it sent through him. “Did Hart say anything to you while you were terrorizing him?”
Even though Ianto was standing behind him, Jack could practically feel the eye roll. “He tried to bribe me.”
“I take it that was after he pushed Jack off the roof,” Owen snorted. He was using the Bekaran deep-tissue scanner to check on any internal damage. “Didn’t know you at all well then.”
“That’s…not the impression I got,” Ianto murmured. “Or else he’s been reading fairy tales about dragons. He apparently thought I’d go for something shiny…he offered something called an Arcadian diamond.”
Jack whistled. “Now, where the hell did he get his hands on one of those?”
“I take it he wasn’t lying when he said it was valuable?” Ianto asked.
“Not at all. Arcadia was once a peaceful place, until the Daleks used it as a launch point for a major battle during the Time War. The place was destroyed. What diamonds were out there are the only ones left.” The Time War had been devastating in its scope, destroying hundreds of worlds and time-locking at least a dozen others, including Gallifrey itself.
It did bother him that it seemed Hart knew something about dragons. It would be something they’d be discussing as soon as Owen finished his examination.
“Okay,” Owen said, “put your shirt back on, Harkness. Everything is good.”
“I did try to tell you that,” Jack sniped good-naturedly, doing as Owen bid and hopping off the metal table.
“Yeah, well the last time I checked you didn’t have an actual medical degree.”
Jack couldn’t argue about that, even though he knew more about his immortality than Owen did.
“Too bad,” Ianto drawled. “I was really enjoying the view.”
He turned and grinned at his mate. “I’m sure I can arrange a private show later on.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Christ you two, take that shit out of here,” Owen groaned, putting away the scanner. “Some of us have jobs to do.”
Jack laughed, heading up the steps into the main Hub. Ianto joined him the moment he reached the observation level, and he found himself in a fierce hug, which he gratefully returned. “I’m fine,” he whispered in his dragon’s ear.
Ianto didn’t say anything, but his arms tightened just a little, before he let him go. Jack missed the warmth of that embrace. “Let’s go and see what Hart has to say,” he said. “He’s about to get the biggest shock of his life.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “I think we should let me go first, and then you can make your big entrance.”
“Sounds like fun. Let’s see if he’s been up to something and then go down and have a little chat.” To be honest, Jack wasn’t actually looking forward to it; he really just wanted Hart gone, after everything he’d done.
“Oi, Dragon Boy!” Owen called out, “I’ll want to check you out too. We don’t know if what Hart used on you has any lasting effects.”
Jack’s heart clenched. He’d known that his ex-partner had to have gotten past Ianto somehow in order to go after him and the others, but he hadn’t thought it had been that serious. “Just what happened?” he demanded, resting his hand on Ianto’s shoulder.
“He tried to use some sort of muscle paralyzer on me,” Ianto admitted. ‘He didn’t get enough on me to really work, and my dragon metabolism got rid of the rest. Then he locked me into a cargo container and, by the time I’d gotten myself out, he was gone.”
Jack knew exactly what Hart had tried to use on Ianto, and he relaxed slightly. The paralyzing lip gloss had been formulated for humanoid lifeforms; it would have had some small effect on a dragon, but not enough to put him down permanently. But that meant… “I warned you not to let him kiss you!” he chided. A sudden burst of jealousy surged through Jack, and he had to clamp it down hard.
“He grabbed me and went for it,” Ianto defended. “And I did actually push him away before he got too much of a lip lock on me. Believe me, the last thing I wanted was that ephemeral’s lips on mine.” He made the word ‘ephemeral’ sound like a curse.
“Good,” Jack said, tugging him close, “because the only lips I want yours touching are mine.” To suit action with words, he pressing his mouth against Ianto’s, the dragon sighing as he leaned into the kiss.
“Stop it!” Owen cried. “The last thing I need to see is you two macking on each other. Go and tear Hart into little pieces and leave the rest of us in peace!”
Jack pulled away, laughing. Ianto had a smirk on his face as he stepped back. “Your wish is our command, oh Snarky One,” Jack intoned, giving Owen a rather flamboyant bow; to which the medic replied with a distinctly rude gesture.
“Perhaps later,” Ianto answered Owen’s salute.
“Not likely,” Owen snorted.
Together, they both turned and headed into the main Hub itself, to be halted by Toshiko calling them over to her station. “Whatcha got, beautiful?” Jack asked, resting his hand on the back of her chair.
The canisters were set up on her station, and Toshiko picked one up. “According to my scans, these aren’t any sort of bombs at all. In fact, they’re almost empty except for a small, angular device in each one. And, the readings I’m getting pretty much match up with the device we took off that Blowfish earlier.”
Now that was interesting. “Seems like my ex-partner’s been fraternizing with low-lifes,” Jack mused, pulling at his lip thoughtfully. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
The question was, of course, why Hart had had a creature as unreliable as a Blowfish go after whatever that strange pyramid was. He could have easily done it himself.
“Why didn’t he just go after that device himself?” Ianto echoed Jack’s thoughts.
“Guess that’s one more thing to ask him,” Toshiko said.
“No,” Jack ordered. “I don’t want to tip our hand. We’re not going to mention the Blowfish or that device to him. Let’s see if he incriminates himself first.” He turned toward Gwen, who was at her computer. From where Jack stood he could see Hart on the monitor, sitting on the bunk. “Anything, Gwen?”
“He’s just sitting there, doing nothing,” she answered, sounding slightly irritated. “I thought he was some sort of escape artist, the way you made him sound, Jack.”
“Believe me, the only reason he’s still in that cell is because he wants to be there.” He’d seen Hart escape from places that had been considered completely secure, and he wasn’t about to underestimate him. “Keep an eye on us as we talk to him. First sign of trouble, you all have permission to come in, guns blazing. Ianto,” he turned to his Second, “let’s go play Bad Cop/Bad Cop with our guest, shall we?”
“You just say that because you know we both want to be Bad Cop,” the dragon chuckled as he matched steps with Jack and they headed down into the cells.
“Why fight over it?” Jack returned, his hand touching his mate’s. “There are other things I’d rather be doing with you.”
“Don’t you mean ‘to’ me?”
“There’s that, too.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Then you should know better than to incorrige me.”
“That’s not even a word, Jack.”
Jack mock-pouted. “How do you know it isn’t in the future?”
“Because I flat-out refuse to believe that the grammar of the future is that bad.”
Jack laughed. He couldn’t help himself.
**********
Ianto stood in front of the cell holding John Hart, while Jack stood a bit to the side and out of view of the cell’s occupant. The dragon looked utterly forbidding as he stared at Hart, his arms crossed across his chest, and Jack wished he could see the look on his ex-partner’s face. Hell, it was all he could do not to grab his mate and drag him off somewhere, to have his wicked way with him. Ianto being like that was just plain hot.
“We know the canisters aren’t dangerous,” Ianto was saying. “The question is, just what are they?”
“I think you already know,” Hart responded, sounding cocky.
Ianto’s mouth turned up in a slight smile. “Perhaps if you hadn’t tried to bribe me, your secret would still be safe. The woman who sent the canisters here…I’m assuming you killed her.”
“You did hear the part about the diamond being worth a lot of money, right? There was no way I was gonna let her hide it from me. It all comes down to money, you know…nothing else matters.”
“This is why you thought you could buy your way out of my wrath.”
“Look, I’m sorry about Jack…but he was standing in my way. I didn’t want to kill him.”
Somehow Jack didn’t doubt that. Hart had tried to get him to leave with him; he suspected that he’d only been pushed off the building because he’d tossed the canister over the side in order to get it away from Hart. If he hadn’t he most likely would have been left alone with minimal bruising, but that would have meant his former partner’s certain escape.
Although, Hart had no idea that they had the final piece of the puzzle that he was looking for. It would have all been for nothing.
“You know,” Ianto mused, “I actually believe you, especially after your comment to me about ‘getting rid of the competition’. I think you really do want Jack, and killing him wasn’t in the plan.” The dragon took a step closer to the hardened plastic of the cell wall. “Just what is your plan, Hart? Is this some sort of treasure hunt for a glittery bauble, and no one can stand in your way?”
Jack narrowed his eyes. Had he and Ianto been that blatant about their relationship, that Hart had felt the need to murder his mate to get him out of the way? His ex-partner obviously didn’t know him anymore, to think that. If anything had happened to Ianto, Jack would have hunted throughout time and space for his killer, and nothing would have stood in his way.
“That ‘glittery bauble’ as you put it could set me up for life! I could do whatever I want, without having to worry about where my next bit of scratch comes from.” There was a pause. “The diamond would support two, you know.” Hart’s voice practically dripped seduction.
Ianto snorted. “Coming onto me isn’t going to work, Hart. See, there’s something you don’t know about dragons…we mate for eternity. If our mates die, we never take another. You killed my mate…not only will I never forget that, but I’ll never be with anyone else, ever again. So get that thought out of your head, because I happen to find commitment much sexier than plain old wealth.” The words were full of anger, and Ianto’s arms were now by his sides, his fists clenched tightly.
“Yeah,” Hart answered sarcastically, “well your mate was splayed out all over the pavement -“
It was at that point Jack decided to make an appearance.
Hart was getting to Ianto, Jack could tell. The dragon did take his commitment to him very seriously indeed, and it touched Jack more than he could say that Ianto was willing to stay with him for eternity. But he felt it was time to make an appearance, and so he did.
He stepped into view, standing next to Ianto, close enough to feel the dragon’s warmer than human body heat.
The look on Hart’s face was priceless. “That’s…amazing. Seriously, you could earn a fortune in the Vegas Galaxies with an act like that! Come on, how did you do that? You were dead!”
“I can’t die,” Jack said, smirking.
“No,” Hart said, shaking his head, “really -“
“No, really. You can’t kill me. No matter how many times you try, I’ll always come back.”
Something flickered across Hart’s face; Jack thought he caught pity and fear, but the emotions flitted away too quickly. “But what does it cost you?” he asked weakly. “Every time you have to drag yourself back here, all that pain and trauma…plus, you’re reborn into this goddess-forsaken world. I pity you.”
“You’ll never understand,” Jack said, shaking his head. Hart might say he pitied Jack, but it was Jack who really pitied his former partner. “There’s so much beauty here, and you just don’t see it.” He put his arm around Ianto. “And then there’s this: a mate, one who will be with me forever. Everything I go through to come back…this makes it all worth it. He makes it worth it. All that I’ve had to do to get to this point, no matter how terrible…as long as I have Ianto waiting for me, it makes it all worthwhile.”
Hart’s eyes darted between them. Jack could practically see the man thinking, and for once he wished he could read minds, to see just what was going on in that brain of his. It was as if he was weighing everything he’d seen and heard, and Jack wouldn’t put it past him to try to spin things to his own advantage.
Finally, the man said, “Look, I’ll leave. Just give me the canisters and you’ll never see me again.”
“The canisters will somehow lead you to this Arcadian diamond, won’t it?”
Hart nodded. “Yeah. Let me just leave with what I came for and I’ll be gone for good.”
Jack pondered that. They could let Hart go with the canisters, but he would never be able to find the diamond, if that pyramid device also had something to do with however it was supposed to be accessed. They could give those over and Hart would be gone, out of their hair.
“If we do,” he said, “then you’ll leave and never come back.”
“You have my word.”
Ianto laughed. “We’re supposed to accept that?”
“Why would I want to come back?” Hart scoffed. “I’ll have what I want. There’s nothing else here for me anymore.” He shrugged. “Sure, I’d love either of you to come with me, but I know that’s not going to happen. So yeah, I don’t have any reason to stick my nose back into this backward time anymore.”
Jack got the feeling there was something Hart wasn’t saying. “And?”
“And what? Honestly, Jack, you’re paranoid.” The ex-Time Agent rolled his eyes.
“No; I know you. And you know something you’re not telling.”
“I think it’s been bloody obvious I don’t know anything, as badly as I screwed this job up. Look, Jack…just get me some useful Rift coordinates and the canisters and I’ll go back to my own time. You and Eye Candy can live in domestic bliss for all I care. I just wanna get my diamond and go back to the civilized worlds.”
He knew he wasn’t going to get anything else out of Hart, outside of torture; which Jack wasn’t willing to do. “Stay put,” Jack ordered. “We’ll be back to let you know what we decide.” He already knew what he wanted to do, but he owed the rest of the team their say in the matter.
“Fine,” Hart said huffily, plopping down hard on the shelf in the cell. “Just hurry up, okay? I’m bored silly in here.”
Jack didn’t dignify that with a reply. Instead, he steered his mate toward the upper levels, keeping his arm around Ianto’s waist.
He needed to talk to his team, and tell them what his decision would be.
Chapter Ten