LIFE FORCE
Characters: Owen, Jack, Ianto
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: Mild PG for M/M kissing
Spoilers: General, for series
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to the BBC.
Prompt: Originally for the prompt of ‘power’ at tw_flashfic
Summary: Ianto should be dead, but he isn’t, and Owen can’t help but wonder…
“Come on, come on! Damn it, teaboy, do as you’re bloody told for once and breathe!” Owen was beginning to despair. He’d been doing chest compressions now for a solid five minutes and there was no sign of any reaction from Ianto.
It had all happened so damned fast and with so little warning. One minute they had been larking around, the next they were in the middle of a total disaster. They’d been called to the site of a supposed meteorite impact, where the only thing that they had found had been a small dull grey sphere. Quite what the thing was supposed to be was still a mystery since it hadn’t reacted to any of the tests that had been run on it. Owen had picked it up and tossed it at Ianto as the man had arrived to clean up the scene, telling him to take it back to the Hub and file it away if he could stand the excitement. A startled Ianto had instinctively reached up to catch the artefact, there had been a bright flash of harsh yellow light and Ianto had dropped like a stone to the ground.
Everyone had frozen for a good couple of seconds before Jack had lunged for Ianto. Owen was with him a split-second later, running an automatic appraisal on the limp form. No sign of a pulse, pupils showing no reaction to light when he pulled back an eyelid, no breathing, no response to any kind of stimulus… His own heart pounding, Owen had shoved Jack to one side and started chest compressions. He heard Ianto’s sternum crack at one point but he was zoning on the need to keep up the insistent rhythm, desperately trying to coax Ianto’s heart to start beating again.
“Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it!” Owen gasped as he realised that this wasn’t going to work. He needed the proper equipment and that was back at the Hub or at the nearest hospital. The sweat was dripping into his eyes and burning there, making his own eyes blur. He knew he was on to a loser but he couldn’t stop. If he stopped he’d be admitting defeat and he couldn’t do that. Not with Jack looming behind him like some unexploded bomb. Not with Gwen and Tosh sobbing quietly in the background.
He was taken completely by surprise when hands grabbed him and pulled him away, almost throwing him in the direction of the girls. He scrambled for balance and started back towards Ianto’s limp form, only to be brought up short by Jack turning and snarling “no!” at him. He blinked, rocked out of his focus by the fact that he scarcely recognised Jack at that moment. He made a small sound of protest when Jack turned back to Ianto and kissed him, but he was still too confused to do more than watch as he tried to catch his breath.
Nothing happened.
Owen shook his head. What the hell had he been expecting to happen? Jack was kissing a dead man. Kinky, even by his standards, but Owen supposed that even a part-time shag deserved some kind of send-off, even if Ianto was beyond appreciating the fact. After a moment, Jack pulled away and looked down at Ianto, an odd expression on his face. A weird kind of angry longing, like he was expecting something to happen. The next thing Owen knew, Jack had pulled Ianto up into his arms so that he was half-lying on his knees and one hand was supporting the back of Ianto’s head while Jack kissed him with more passion that Owen had seen in his life.
“For Christ’s sake, Harkness, if you’re into necrophilia, wait until we get him back to the morgue,” he said, more out of shock at the emotion he was seeing in Jack than any real disapproval. He’d seen weirder things in his time.
If Jack heard him, he gave no sign. Under any other circumstances, the kiss would probably have been erotic. Now it just made the people watching acutely uncomfortable, as if they were eavesdropping on something intensely private. Owen took it as long as he could, then pushed himself to his feet and walked forward.
“That’s enough, Jack. He’s gone; leave him in peace, for God’s sake.”
He started to reach out for Jack, then stopped as he felt… well, it was difficult to describe what he felt. Something a little like a build-up to a thunderstorm, but extremely focused and distilled. Something like the sensation of an intense magnetic field flowing over and around you. The snapping threat of static electricity ready to bite. Being in a dark room and knowing that there was someone else in there with you. That instant of disorientation when you woke up with someone’s arms around you, before you remembered and smiled. An intense feeling that you were supposed to be somewhere else, that someone was waiting for you.
Ianto gasped and heaved up against Jack’s embrace. Jack jerked back, gasping as well, as if he had just run a hard sprint. For a moment longer the tableaux held, with Ianto staring up at Jack and Jack gazing back at him, both of them with the same intense expression on their faces. Then Ianto lifted a hand to touch Jack’s face and the moment shattered, with Gwen and Tosh lunging forward, tears transforming into laughter. And Jack was laughing and teasing Ianto, who was still looking a little dazed but gradually coming back into focus.
And Owen was left wondering just what the hell he had just seen. Ianto had been dead. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been able to do a brain scan to confirm brain death, but every indication had pointed to the fact that he was dead. Owen wasn’t exactly a beginner when it came to seeing dead bodies. And Jack had kissed him and now he was awake, aware and showing no signs of oxygen starvation or even the broken sternum that Owen had inadvertently given him.
It was all too bloody Sleeping Beauty for words.
Owen knew he was staring. He knew he should go up and check to see that Ianto was all right, but all he could do was stand there and stare. Ianto had been dead. Jack had brought him back to life. With a kiss. Like some ruddy fairytale you told a toddler, only this was Real Life and that kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen. The look he gave Jack was almost accusing. That kind of power…. God, what he could do with that kind of power.
Jack looked around and met his gaze. There was a steel wall behind those eyes, Owen realised. No hint of an answer, not even a vague promise there might be one in the future. Owen was pretty sure that Jack would deny that he had done anything if Owen was to ask him about it. Or he’d make some quip about being the right kind of Prince Charming. Just another mystery to add to all the others. Just another set of questions to make things difficult when you were trying to get to sleep at night.
Maybe it was time he started to think about doing a little research on Captain Jack Harkness.
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: Mild PG for M/M kissing
Spoilers: General, for series
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to the BBC.
Prompt: Originally for the prompt of ‘power’ at tw_flashfic
Summary: Ianto should be dead, but he isn’t, and Owen can’t help but wonder…
“Come on, come on! Damn it, teaboy, do as you’re bloody told for once and breathe!” Owen was beginning to despair. He’d been doing chest compressions now for a solid five minutes and there was no sign of any reaction from Ianto.
It had all happened so damned fast and with so little warning. One minute they had been larking around, the next they were in the middle of a total disaster. They’d been called to the site of a supposed meteorite impact, where the only thing that they had found had been a small dull grey sphere. Quite what the thing was supposed to be was still a mystery since it hadn’t reacted to any of the tests that had been run on it. Owen had picked it up and tossed it at Ianto as the man had arrived to clean up the scene, telling him to take it back to the Hub and file it away if he could stand the excitement. A startled Ianto had instinctively reached up to catch the artefact, there had been a bright flash of harsh yellow light and Ianto had dropped like a stone to the ground.
Everyone had frozen for a good couple of seconds before Jack had lunged for Ianto. Owen was with him a split-second later, running an automatic appraisal on the limp form. No sign of a pulse, pupils showing no reaction to light when he pulled back an eyelid, no breathing, no response to any kind of stimulus… His own heart pounding, Owen had shoved Jack to one side and started chest compressions. He heard Ianto’s sternum crack at one point but he was zoning on the need to keep up the insistent rhythm, desperately trying to coax Ianto’s heart to start beating again.
“Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it!” Owen gasped as he realised that this wasn’t going to work. He needed the proper equipment and that was back at the Hub or at the nearest hospital. The sweat was dripping into his eyes and burning there, making his own eyes blur. He knew he was on to a loser but he couldn’t stop. If he stopped he’d be admitting defeat and he couldn’t do that. Not with Jack looming behind him like some unexploded bomb. Not with Gwen and Tosh sobbing quietly in the background.
He was taken completely by surprise when hands grabbed him and pulled him away, almost throwing him in the direction of the girls. He scrambled for balance and started back towards Ianto’s limp form, only to be brought up short by Jack turning and snarling “no!” at him. He blinked, rocked out of his focus by the fact that he scarcely recognised Jack at that moment. He made a small sound of protest when Jack turned back to Ianto and kissed him, but he was still too confused to do more than watch as he tried to catch his breath.
Nothing happened.
Owen shook his head. What the hell had he been expecting to happen? Jack was kissing a dead man. Kinky, even by his standards, but Owen supposed that even a part-time shag deserved some kind of send-off, even if Ianto was beyond appreciating the fact. After a moment, Jack pulled away and looked down at Ianto, an odd expression on his face. A weird kind of angry longing, like he was expecting something to happen. The next thing Owen knew, Jack had pulled Ianto up into his arms so that he was half-lying on his knees and one hand was supporting the back of Ianto’s head while Jack kissed him with more passion that Owen had seen in his life.
“For Christ’s sake, Harkness, if you’re into necrophilia, wait until we get him back to the morgue,” he said, more out of shock at the emotion he was seeing in Jack than any real disapproval. He’d seen weirder things in his time.
If Jack heard him, he gave no sign. Under any other circumstances, the kiss would probably have been erotic. Now it just made the people watching acutely uncomfortable, as if they were eavesdropping on something intensely private. Owen took it as long as he could, then pushed himself to his feet and walked forward.
“That’s enough, Jack. He’s gone; leave him in peace, for God’s sake.”
He started to reach out for Jack, then stopped as he felt… well, it was difficult to describe what he felt. Something a little like a build-up to a thunderstorm, but extremely focused and distilled. Something like the sensation of an intense magnetic field flowing over and around you. The snapping threat of static electricity ready to bite. Being in a dark room and knowing that there was someone else in there with you. That instant of disorientation when you woke up with someone’s arms around you, before you remembered and smiled. An intense feeling that you were supposed to be somewhere else, that someone was waiting for you.
Ianto gasped and heaved up against Jack’s embrace. Jack jerked back, gasping as well, as if he had just run a hard sprint. For a moment longer the tableaux held, with Ianto staring up at Jack and Jack gazing back at him, both of them with the same intense expression on their faces. Then Ianto lifted a hand to touch Jack’s face and the moment shattered, with Gwen and Tosh lunging forward, tears transforming into laughter. And Jack was laughing and teasing Ianto, who was still looking a little dazed but gradually coming back into focus.
And Owen was left wondering just what the hell he had just seen. Ianto had been dead. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been able to do a brain scan to confirm brain death, but every indication had pointed to the fact that he was dead. Owen wasn’t exactly a beginner when it came to seeing dead bodies. And Jack had kissed him and now he was awake, aware and showing no signs of oxygen starvation or even the broken sternum that Owen had inadvertently given him.
It was all too bloody Sleeping Beauty for words.
Owen knew he was staring. He knew he should go up and check to see that Ianto was all right, but all he could do was stand there and stare. Ianto had been dead. Jack had brought him back to life. With a kiss. Like some ruddy fairytale you told a toddler, only this was Real Life and that kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen. The look he gave Jack was almost accusing. That kind of power…. God, what he could do with that kind of power.
Jack looked around and met his gaze. There was a steel wall behind those eyes, Owen realised. No hint of an answer, not even a vague promise there might be one in the future. Owen was pretty sure that Jack would deny that he had done anything if Owen was to ask him about it. Or he’d make some quip about being the right kind of Prince Charming. Just another mystery to add to all the others. Just another set of questions to make things difficult when you were trying to get to sleep at night.
Maybe it was time he started to think about doing a little research on Captain Jack Harkness.