Ianto's Journey - Chapter 5
Title: Ianto’s Journey - Chapter 5
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Ianto Jones, Lisa Hallet
Series Rating: 15
Words: 1414 / 25351
Spoilers: S1E4, S2E12, DW-S2E12, DW-S2E13
Disclaimer: Characters belong to RTD and the BBC - I’m just borrowing them.
Written for hc_bingo prompt "Runaways".
Start at the Prologue
Previous Chapter - Chapter 4
To say Ianto didn’t sleep well would be an understatement. He couldn’t get comfortable with the pain in his back and his arm. But that was the least of his problems. Every time his eyes slid closed he would immediately open them again feeling guilty for not watching over Lisa. He knew he had to rest - he needed his strength to be able to look after her, but that didn’t make it any easier to let go.
Every time she moved or whimpered he would be there leaning over her, fretting.
After what seemed like the hundredth time of her waking up to find her partner’s worried face looking down at her, Lisa offered him a weak smile, “I’m fine. You’re not going to lose me tonight. Just give me some more pain killers and a stronger sedative and go to sleep. You could probably use some pain killers and sedatives yourself too,” she admonished, correctly guessing that he hadn’t wanted to waste their meagre supplies on himself.
Ianto did as he was told, waiting until she was asleep again before taking a reduced dose of the pills himself. She was right, he did need to sleep, but he was terrified of not noticing if she woke up and needed him.
When Ianto awoke before dawn Lisa was already awake. After making sure she was as comfortable as possible, Ianto set about writing a list of the things he would need to try to salvage from Torchwood Tower. Lisa seemed to know exactly what she needed to help her, which Ianto found comforting but oddly disturbing.
Shortly before the first rays of light appeared over the horizon in the East Ianto got into his car and drove to his place of work for the last time. He was able to park much closer than he had anticipated, a fact he was grateful for. The place was eerily deserted, which just a few UNIT guards pacing the perimeter of the cordon they had set out in police tape. It was almost too easy to slip past them and into the building.
One advantage of working in the archives, and of having an almost photographic memory meant that Ianto knew exactly where to find all of the items of alien technology on his list. He made a couple of trips back to his car with items from the archives, then went up to the medical unit and took Torchwood One’s entire stock of pain killers and sedatives, which although plentiful, wasn’t actually as much as he had hoped for. His back was hurting again with all the moving about so he took a painkiller and was about to leave when he spotted the retcon and decided to take several doses of that with him - just in case.
Now there was only one room left that Ianto had to salvage things from and he had been putting it off. Lisa had asked him to go back to the room he had found her in and dismantle one of the cyber conversion tables. She explained that the machine had made her the way she was - she would need him to reconstruct the machine so that they could use it as a kind of life support system to help her regain her strength and then eventually figure out how to change the settings and get it to reverse the procedure.
Ianto took a steadying breath then pushed open the door. He strode over to the machine that he had found Lisa strapped to. His fists were clenched so tightly that his fingernails cut into his palms. He bit down on his lip and breathed heavily through his nose. Big mistake - although the bodies had been removed the previous evening, the stench of blood was still heavy in the air. Ianto coughed and spluttered, thankfully getting himself back under control before he was actually sick.
Ianto worked as quickly as he could to dismantle the machine and carry the pieces out to his car and not more than an hour and a half after he left his apartment building he was parking his car once more in the car park. It was still early and he took a minute in the peace and quiet to gather himself, taking deep breaths to try and stop his hands from shaking on the steering wheel.
Ianto looked up at the window of his apartment, their first apartment together. It wasn’t much but it had been perfect, and now he was going to have to leave it behind. The thought brought a lump to his throat and as he swallowed around it he chided himself for getting sentimental over a flat. The important thing was that Lisa was alive and the best way to help her and make her better would be for both of them to run away to Cardiff where he could infiltrate Torchwood Three and use their technology to help her.
He got out of the car and locked it, before climbing up the steps of the still quiet apartment block to the home he shared with Lisa. They had to get moving if he was going to be able to get her out of there unseen. “Hey Lisa, I’m home,” he said quietly as he entered the bedroom.
Lisa smiled weakly at him, “Hey.”
Ianto gave her another pain killer and kissed her forehead before launching into a brief description of what he had managed to find at Torchwood Tower. He spared her the details of what he had seen. As he spoke he took two large holdall bags out of the wardrobe and began filling them with clothes and essentials for the two of them.
“Ianto?”
Ianto didn’t hear her.
“Ianto!?” Lisa shouted, then dissolved into a coughing fit.
Ianto rushed to her side and helped her to sip from a glass of water. When she had recovered her breath, Ianto wiped the tears that her fit had caused to leak from her eyes, “what is it Lise?”
“I was just going tell you to take it easy,” she said and they both smiled gently at the irony of her making herself ill just to tell him to go slow. Ianto leant over and kissed her forehead then got up and finished packing at a less frantic pace.
He picked up a photo of the two of them at Lisa’s last birthday party. They were seated around a table with a dozen of their friends all wearing silly hats and big smiles. A tear rolled down Ianto’s face as he realised that eight of those friends had worked at Torchwood and the others would now be grieving the loss of their partners. He glanced over at Lisa and smiled a watery smile as he thanked whichever God was listening that he hadn’t lost his partner.
Yet - a small voice in his head reminded him.
He looked back down at the photo and angrily wiped the tears from his face. He would never see these people again. More than half were lost and if he was going to succeed in helping Lisa he was going to have to make a clean break and it would be some time if ever before he would see the others again. He stuffed the picture into the bottom of one of the bags and allowed himself a big sigh before turning to Lisa with a bright smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. “Alright then, Sweetheart,” he said, “we have to make a move. Are you strong enough to walk with my help?”
“I’ll be ok,” Lisa reassured him, “we’ll be ok Ianto. Don’t think about what you are leaving behind. You’re going back to Wales. You always told me how much you love Cardiff, the shops and cafes down by the bay, the colours of the trees in Bute Park in autumn, the view from the castle. And once I’m better you’ll even be able to take me to that little pub with the live music you were always telling me about. What was it called?”
“Buffalo Bar.” Ianto smiled softly. “Let me take these bags down to the car then I’ll come back and get you.”
“Ok. Come here first though,” Lisa said, beckoning her boyfriend down towards her. The kiss was tender and Ianto thought, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have her and he determined he would do whatever it took to save her.
On to Chapter 6
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Ianto Jones, Lisa Hallet
Series Rating: 15
Words: 1414 / 25351
Spoilers: S1E4, S2E12, DW-S2E12, DW-S2E13
Disclaimer: Characters belong to RTD and the BBC - I’m just borrowing them.
Written for hc_bingo prompt "Runaways".
Start at the Prologue
Previous Chapter - Chapter 4
To say Ianto didn’t sleep well would be an understatement. He couldn’t get comfortable with the pain in his back and his arm. But that was the least of his problems. Every time his eyes slid closed he would immediately open them again feeling guilty for not watching over Lisa. He knew he had to rest - he needed his strength to be able to look after her, but that didn’t make it any easier to let go.
Every time she moved or whimpered he would be there leaning over her, fretting.
After what seemed like the hundredth time of her waking up to find her partner’s worried face looking down at her, Lisa offered him a weak smile, “I’m fine. You’re not going to lose me tonight. Just give me some more pain killers and a stronger sedative and go to sleep. You could probably use some pain killers and sedatives yourself too,” she admonished, correctly guessing that he hadn’t wanted to waste their meagre supplies on himself.
Ianto did as he was told, waiting until she was asleep again before taking a reduced dose of the pills himself. She was right, he did need to sleep, but he was terrified of not noticing if she woke up and needed him.
When Ianto awoke before dawn Lisa was already awake. After making sure she was as comfortable as possible, Ianto set about writing a list of the things he would need to try to salvage from Torchwood Tower. Lisa seemed to know exactly what she needed to help her, which Ianto found comforting but oddly disturbing.
Shortly before the first rays of light appeared over the horizon in the East Ianto got into his car and drove to his place of work for the last time. He was able to park much closer than he had anticipated, a fact he was grateful for. The place was eerily deserted, which just a few UNIT guards pacing the perimeter of the cordon they had set out in police tape. It was almost too easy to slip past them and into the building.
One advantage of working in the archives, and of having an almost photographic memory meant that Ianto knew exactly where to find all of the items of alien technology on his list. He made a couple of trips back to his car with items from the archives, then went up to the medical unit and took Torchwood One’s entire stock of pain killers and sedatives, which although plentiful, wasn’t actually as much as he had hoped for. His back was hurting again with all the moving about so he took a painkiller and was about to leave when he spotted the retcon and decided to take several doses of that with him - just in case.
Now there was only one room left that Ianto had to salvage things from and he had been putting it off. Lisa had asked him to go back to the room he had found her in and dismantle one of the cyber conversion tables. She explained that the machine had made her the way she was - she would need him to reconstruct the machine so that they could use it as a kind of life support system to help her regain her strength and then eventually figure out how to change the settings and get it to reverse the procedure.
Ianto took a steadying breath then pushed open the door. He strode over to the machine that he had found Lisa strapped to. His fists were clenched so tightly that his fingernails cut into his palms. He bit down on his lip and breathed heavily through his nose. Big mistake - although the bodies had been removed the previous evening, the stench of blood was still heavy in the air. Ianto coughed and spluttered, thankfully getting himself back under control before he was actually sick.
Ianto worked as quickly as he could to dismantle the machine and carry the pieces out to his car and not more than an hour and a half after he left his apartment building he was parking his car once more in the car park. It was still early and he took a minute in the peace and quiet to gather himself, taking deep breaths to try and stop his hands from shaking on the steering wheel.
Ianto looked up at the window of his apartment, their first apartment together. It wasn’t much but it had been perfect, and now he was going to have to leave it behind. The thought brought a lump to his throat and as he swallowed around it he chided himself for getting sentimental over a flat. The important thing was that Lisa was alive and the best way to help her and make her better would be for both of them to run away to Cardiff where he could infiltrate Torchwood Three and use their technology to help her.
He got out of the car and locked it, before climbing up the steps of the still quiet apartment block to the home he shared with Lisa. They had to get moving if he was going to be able to get her out of there unseen. “Hey Lisa, I’m home,” he said quietly as he entered the bedroom.
Lisa smiled weakly at him, “Hey.”
Ianto gave her another pain killer and kissed her forehead before launching into a brief description of what he had managed to find at Torchwood Tower. He spared her the details of what he had seen. As he spoke he took two large holdall bags out of the wardrobe and began filling them with clothes and essentials for the two of them.
“Ianto?”
Ianto didn’t hear her.
“Ianto!?” Lisa shouted, then dissolved into a coughing fit.
Ianto rushed to her side and helped her to sip from a glass of water. When she had recovered her breath, Ianto wiped the tears that her fit had caused to leak from her eyes, “what is it Lise?”
“I was just going tell you to take it easy,” she said and they both smiled gently at the irony of her making herself ill just to tell him to go slow. Ianto leant over and kissed her forehead then got up and finished packing at a less frantic pace.
He picked up a photo of the two of them at Lisa’s last birthday party. They were seated around a table with a dozen of their friends all wearing silly hats and big smiles. A tear rolled down Ianto’s face as he realised that eight of those friends had worked at Torchwood and the others would now be grieving the loss of their partners. He glanced over at Lisa and smiled a watery smile as he thanked whichever God was listening that he hadn’t lost his partner.
Yet - a small voice in his head reminded him.
He looked back down at the photo and angrily wiped the tears from his face. He would never see these people again. More than half were lost and if he was going to succeed in helping Lisa he was going to have to make a clean break and it would be some time if ever before he would see the others again. He stuffed the picture into the bottom of one of the bags and allowed himself a big sigh before turning to Lisa with a bright smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. “Alright then, Sweetheart,” he said, “we have to make a move. Are you strong enough to walk with my help?”
“I’ll be ok,” Lisa reassured him, “we’ll be ok Ianto. Don’t think about what you are leaving behind. You’re going back to Wales. You always told me how much you love Cardiff, the shops and cafes down by the bay, the colours of the trees in Bute Park in autumn, the view from the castle. And once I’m better you’ll even be able to take me to that little pub with the live music you were always telling me about. What was it called?”
“Buffalo Bar.” Ianto smiled softly. “Let me take these bags down to the car then I’ll come back and get you.”
“Ok. Come here first though,” Lisa said, beckoning her boyfriend down towards her. The kiss was tender and Ianto thought, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have her and he determined he would do whatever it took to save her.
On to Chapter 6