Clash of the Titans - Thetis' Revenge - 4/5 + epilogue
Title: Clash of the Titans - Thetis’ Revenge
Written for: reel_torchwood
Author: moonfirefic
Beta: The fabulous Milady_Dragon
Prompt: Clash of the Titans - 1981 Torchwood Style
Characters: Ianto/Jack, Gwen/Rhys, Tosh/Owen, John Hart, Rose Tyler, Mary, Yvonne Hartman, Lois Habiba, Gods of Olympus, Others
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 16,750
Disclaimer: I do not own Clash of the Titans, nor do I own Torchwood.
Synopsis: After a chance encounter with famous director Yvonne Hartman, designer Toshiko Sato lands her dream job as the head of costuming for her latest film; an adaptation of the classic movie, Clash of the Titans. As she befriends the enigmatic man who’s been cast as the lead, strange things start to happen, and she finds herself caught up in the ancient story of two star-crossed lovers.
A/N: I played a bit with Greek mythology here to suit the story, and fit a bit more with the Torchwood characters.
Chapter Four
Over the course of the next two weeks, Jack and Ianto grew closer. Rhys was overjoyed for his brother and Ianto had confided to him that while they had been together the night before, Jack had called him Perseus in his sleep. While Rhys tried to downplay it as possibly being a result of their film roles, Ianto was certain that it was a sign that Andronikos’ memories would soon return in full.
Rhys himself had started seeing Gwen Cooper, and once she dropped the pretense of being a film star, found her fun-loving nature and easy laugh a welcome surprise. And as he told his brother, the fact that she was a tiger in the sack didn’t harm matters either. She had stayed on at his villa after her portion of filming was finished, and the two of them had spent their days off exploring the island and snorkeling in the blue lagoon on the outskirts of the city.
As the last week of shooting started, the inexplicable happened and Jack had abruptly ended his romance with Ianto and turned his attentions back to Hart.
A heartbroken and confused Ianto went to Rhys for help.
“I don’t understand it,” he ranted pacing the courtyard of the patio as he tried to make sense of what had happened. “Just last night he was talking about how he wanted to get a house together when we went back home. He was making plans and said he had never been so happy, and now this.”
Rhys looked over at Gwen who realized it might be good to let the brothers talk and went over and patted Ianto on the arm before making her way back inside the villa.
“Have you seen any signs of Thetis having a hand in it?” Rhys asked as Ianto threw himself onto a nearby bench and sighed.
Before he could answer a car pulled up the drive and Tosh and Owen got out. They sometimes stopped by after the days shooting was finished, but by the looks on their faces, this was no social call.
“Rhys? Ianto?” Tosh called out as they made their way through the entry way to the courtyard beyond.
“Out here,” Rhys called back as they arrived. “You’re early today, is something wrong?”
“Everything,” Tosh breathed as Ianto made room for her on the bench and she sat down. “Yvonne broke set early today in celebration of Hart’s news.”
“What do you mean?” Ianto asked as a feeling of dread snaked up his spine.
“He’s getting married,” Owen answered as Tosh reached for Ianto’s hand. “To Jack apparently; they’re going to have the wrap party double as an engagement party,” he said flatly. “Did you two fight or something? Because this is going far too fast for my liking and I think Hart has done something to him,” he added with a scowl.
Ianto stood up and turned his back to them as he tried to gather his thoughts.
“You should have seen the ring,” Tosh said quietly. “It’s this incredibly gaudy thing with two enormous pearls,” she said wrinkling her nose in disgust. “And Jack hasn’t said much at all, just that he’s very happy and John is great.”
Ianto froze at the description of the ring. It sounded just like the one he had cut from Calibos’ hand to free Andromeda long ago.
“The ring, Tosh,” he said wanting to clarify his suspicions. “Were the two pearls inlaid into a golden band with a bit of ornate braiding on the band itself?”
Tosh nodded. “You sound like you’ve already seen it,” she said looking at him strangely.
Ianto swore under his breath.
“It’s Calibos’ ring,” he said to Rhys as his brother looked at him in concern. “It disappeared in the chaos of trying to save Andromeda. Andronikos was going to destroy it when we got back, but when we returned it was nowhere to be found.”
“So Thetis is back up to her old tricks,” Rhys said shaking his head. “You think she would get over it, I mean civilizations have turned to dust since her freak of a son was struck down, and yet she still pines for him.”
“It’s worse than that,” said a female voice.
All eyes turned to the entrance to the courtyard where a tall woman with bronzed skin and long curly brown hair in a Grecian style now stood. Golden sandals adorned her feet, and she wore a simple summer dress of deep olive green with a gold bracelet in the shape of a snake adorning her upper arm.
“I came as soon as I heard,” she said as she crossed the courtyard to embrace Ianto. “My Bubo has been keeping watch over you,” she explained as she stepped back and an owl swooped down from overhead to land on her outstretched arm. “Thetis is indeed behind this, as is her cohort, the mortal John Hart.”
“Mortal? Thetis?” Gwen asked as she rejoined them and went to stand beside Rhys. “What’s going on?”
Rhys and Ianto exchanged a look and turned to Athena who nodded her consent.
“Tosh, Owen, Gwen,” Ianto said moving to stand alongside Athena. “I would like to introduce you to my sister, Athena, Patron Goddess of Athens, and Goddess of Wisdom, Warfare, Divine Intelligence, and Crafts.”
“Your sister?” Owen asked with a scowl looking between them. “Then that makes you-”
“Perseus, son of Zeus,” interrupted Athena. “Warrior Prince and God of Wisdom and Knowledge, even if he does have a hard time beating me in a debate,” she added with a sly grin.
“Hold on,” Owen said squinting at them. “You want us to believe that the two of you are actually gods from Mount Olympus?” he asked in disbelief. “I thought you said Rhys was your brother,” he added narrowing his eyes at Ianto.
“He is,” Ianto replied calmly. “Though we tend to call him Dionysus when amongst family.”
“The God of Wine and Revels?” Gwen asked wide-eyed as she looked at Rhys.
“That explains the overabundance of wine,” Owen snarked causing Tosh to giggle nervously.
“But why didn’t you tell me?” Gwen asked, looking hurt.
“Because whenever one of us reveals themselves, mortals usually either run away, or assume that their every whim will be catered to, and we are far too busy to deal with all that nonsense,” Athena interjected impatiently.
Gwen glared at her but remained silent as Athena pressed on.
“Thetis has indeed placed Jack under her control with Calibos’ ring,” she explained. “As long as he wears it, he will be within her power.”
“Can’t you just make him take it off or something?” asked Tosh. “I mean, if I remember my mythology, no god can corrupt a mortal’s free will, so he must be able to remove it if he wants to.”
“Ah but therein lies the problem,” Athena replied smiling at Tosh fondly. She had come to like the mortal and was happy that her brother had seen the value of trusting her with his secrets. “From what Bubo saw, only Jack can remove it, and break the ring’s hold, and for some reason he trusts John enough to keep it on.”
“Then we have to convince him,” piped up Gwen, much to everyone’s surprise. “What? Hart is a jerk. Nobody deserves to be stuck with him.”
“I’m not clear on one thing,” interjected Tosh.
“Just one?” Owen quipped, still not buying the whole gods and goddesses spiel. He changed his mind a moment later when Athena glared at him causing his mouth to seal shut.
“That should hold him for a moment,” she said with satisfaction as Owen frantically tried to open his mouth.
“I know he’s a prat but we could use his help,” Ianto said sternly before waving his hand and giving Owen back his ability to speak.
“Holy shit!” Owen said as his mouth sprang open. “You were telling the truth.”
“Yes we were. Now sit down before you make my sister angry,” Rhys ordered and Owen promptly sat down to listen. “Go ahead Tosh,” he said gesturing for her to continue.
“Well, I was wondering,” Tosh started to ask, suddenly nervous. “Isn’t Thetis targeting Jack outside the boundaries of her curse?”
Ianto exchanged a glance with Athena.
“I’ll have ask Hermes look into it,” she answered, knowing that he would be the fastest way to get an answer from the Fates without alerting Thetis.
“Can I ask a question?” Owen asked trying not to flinch as Athena turned her gaze in his direction and nodded.
“Why is this Thetis bird targeting Jack?” he asked, trying to understand what was happening.
Ianto sighed.
“You know the story we are telling in the film, about Perseus and Andronikos?” he asked.
Owen nodded.
“Andronikos was Andromeda’s brother,” Ianto started to explain. “After we saved his sister, I asked for his hand and Cassiopeia granted my request. Aphrodite didn’t like the idea of me choosing him over his sister and chained me to Hephaestus’ forge in punishment. Zeus found out and freed me, but by the time I returned, Andronikos had asked the goddess Thetis for help in finding me and she had dredged up Medusa’s head to turn him to stone instead.”
Tosh walked over and placed a hand on Ianto’s arm in support. “And Jack?” she prompted knowing he needed to finish the tale.
“Aphrodite was disgusted at what Thetis had done and convinced the Fates to give us another chance,” Ianto said staring into space. “Andronikos was to be reborn; all I had to do was wait for him to remember who he was so that we could be reunited,” he continued. “When Zeus offered immortality as a way to break Thetis’ curse, I had no idea it would take this long,” he finished with a sad smile.
“That’s so sad,” said Gwen wiping away tears. “Is there anything we can do?”
“Get that bloody ring off of his finger so that I can throw it into the depths of the underworld so that it’s destroyed once and for all,” Ianto replied darkly.
“That’s not a bad idea,” said Tosh thoughtfully. “If we can convince him it needs to be removed to keep continuity in the production, we might be able to get it away from him long enough to for you to destroy it.”
“The mortal has a point,” Athena conceded. “You have two days left on set, once he returns, I will send Bubo to watch over your Andronikos and make certain that no further harm befalls him before the engagement celebration,” she said stroking her owl and murmuring into his ear before launching him back into the sky.
“Take heart little brother,” she said as she took Ianto’s hand. “We will save your beloved and reunite you once more.”
Ianto held her gaze and nodded.
Patting his hand she released him and turned to the others.
“Right then mortals, we have work to do,” Athena said snapping her fingers.
“Um sis?” Rhys said as she turned to go. “You might want to resume your human guise if you plan on spending a little time in the mortal realm?”
“Oh right,” she said with a sheepish grin and a swirl of wind surrounded her for a moment before receding to reveal Mary standing there tapping her foot.
“Well, come on then,” she said impatiently. “We best get moving if we are going to keep Hart away from Jack and get that blasted ring off,” she added marching out the door towards Tosh’s car.
“Did you see? Did she just? Bollocks,” Owen said shaking his head.
Rhys laughed. “Athena tends to always be at least four moves of ahead of the gods and at least ten ahead of most mortals,” he said with a grin. “Don’t take it personally.”
“Come on Owen,” Tosh said looping her arm in his. “Not every day you get to find out your co-worker is a battle goddess.”
Owen shook his head and looked over at Ianto who, though still pale, looked at little less shell-shocked than he had when they made the announcement that afternoon. “You going to be alright mate?” he asked, wanting to make sure before they left.
“I’ll be fine Owen,” Ianto replied before nodding towards the door. “Best not keep Athena waiting. Don’t want her sending her snakes to hurry you along.”
Owen shivered. “Freaking crazy-arse Olympians,” he muttered under his breath.
As they reached the door, Tosh stopped and ran back to kiss Ianto on the cheek.
“It will all turn out alright you’ll see,” she whispered before hurrying back to join Owen as Athena started honking the horn.
“You do realize that you just entrusted your future to two mortals and our sister,” Rhys said as Athena peeled out of the driveway and headed back towards the city.
“I have a feeling they might just succeed,” said Gwen with a grin.
Rhys looked down at her fondly, before holding up a goblet of wine that had appeared out of nowhere.
Gwen and Ianto, finding goblets of their own on a nearby table joined him.
“A toast to our champions, may they succeed in reuniting the lovers Perseus and Andronikos at long last,” he said before taking a long sip of his wine.
“I pray to Olympus they do,” Ianto answered as he took a sip of his own.
Chapter FiveThis entry was originally posted at http://moonfirefic.dreamwidth.org/43496.html. Please comment there using OpenID.