Ianto's Journey - Chapter 23
Title: Ianto’s Journey - Chapter 23
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness
Series Rating: 15
Words: 911 / 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 "Brainwashing/Deprogramming"
Author's Note: If anybody is actually reading this, I apologise for the length of time it has taken me to get around to posting this. Only two more chapters to go after this one.
Start at the Prologue
Previous chapter - Chapter 22
“Can I ask you something?” Ianto said.
They were sitting in Jack’s office after the others had gone home for the night. In the couple of weeks since Ianto had returned from his suspension it had become a bit of a ritual for them to share one last coffee together and catch up. The talks were informal, sometimes only lasting a few minutes literally until they had drunk their caffeine fix, but other times Ianto would eventually look at his watch to realise that several hours had just flown by without him noticing.
In his more paranoid moments Ianto thought that the Captain was just keeping tabs on him, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to commit such an act of deception again, but then other times he wasn’t so sure. Jack certainly seemed to enjoy their little chats and maybe he was just taking on board Ianto’s accusation that before everything went to hell he had never asked Ianto anything about his life.
Oh he had been friendly enough, maybe too friendly in certain ways. He was kind and generous of spirit, always happy to help the team, including Ianto, with any problems they had, but only if Ianto were to volunteer the information. He kept their relationship very superficial, like he appreciated having a pretty face around and someone to laugh and joke and flirt and verbally spar with but he didn’t want to get too attached.
But now he was trying to change that and Ianto found himself even more drawn to the Captain like a moth to the flame.
“What’s that?” Jack asked drawing Ianto out of his thoughts.
“Oh, um. Yeah, sorry. It’s just something that’s been bothering me for a while.” He paused and took another sip of coffee before looking up at the Captain whose eyes were patiently fixed on him. Ianto looked away again quickly. “At what point do you think Lisa really died?” he asked quietly.
Jack let the question hang in the air for a couple of seconds and Ianto wished he could take the words back.
“I think that the Lisa you knew and loved was lost at Canary Wharf.” Jack answered carefully, watching the younger man’s reactions.
Ianto seemed to sag in his seat, but even he didn’t know if it was from relief or despair.
“I think that the Cyberman used your grief and humanity against you, manipulating you into helping it.”
“And I fell for it.” Ianto’s reply was flat, lifeless.
“It was only natural. You loved her.” Jack shrugged and finished his coffee.
“What, you accept it just like that? You’re not going to tell me what an idiot I was and how you would never have let it brainwash you like that?” Ianto raised an eyebrow in challenge.
“It was clever. It had access to her memories. It was fighting for its own survival. It needed you to believe it.”
Ianto’s hand shook as he raised his mug to finish his coffee.
“I know you believed you could save her right up until the end, but were there moments when you wondered how much of her was actually left to save?” Jack asked gently.
Ianto’s took a moment before answering, not wanting his voice to crack. He needed to be strong. He wanted to have this conversation and get his thoughts in order and un-bottle his feelings without dissolving into the floods of tears that threatened to engulf him whenever he thought of Lisa. He didn’t want Jack’s sympathy, just needed his help to think about and process what happened.
“There were times when I wondered. When I would look at her and her eyes were empty, but I put that down to the shock or the sedatives.” Ianto paused and looked down into his empty mug, unable to meet the Captain’s eyes.
“I didn’t question when she knew stuff she shouldn’t have known. She knew exactly what I needed to steel from Torchwood One. It was her that drew me the schematics to explain how to build the conversion unit. She was really clever but she shouldn’t have known that.”
Ianto shuddered and Jack reached out to take his hand. “Hope is a powerful weapon. It kept just enough of Lisa alive that you would believe in it and want to help it.”
“Yeah.” Ianto muttered, lost for a few minutes in his own thoughts. “It was only after Dr Tanazaki helped her to function on her own again, without the life support given by the machine that I… I…” Ianto broke off and clasped a hand over his mouth, scrunching his eyes closed, refusing to give in to his emotions.
After a moment, he removed his hand, opened his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. “I dared to believe that we had cracked it, that we were going to save her. And then she killed him and I knew then that the monster was winning. I tried to put it down to post traumatic stress, that she hadn’t meant to kill him, but deep down I knew. But I still wanted to believe there was enough of her left to save.”
Ianto couldn’t hold back the sobs any longer and they engulfed him, wracking his frame with misery.
All Jack could do was stand up and move around the desk, stand beside the young man and cradle Ianto’s head against his stomach until he had no more tears left to cry.
On to Chapter 24
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness
Series Rating: 15
Words: 911 / 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 "Brainwashing/Deprogramming"
Author's Note: If anybody is actually reading this, I apologise for the length of time it has taken me to get around to posting this. Only two more chapters to go after this one.
Start at the Prologue
Previous chapter - Chapter 22
“Can I ask you something?” Ianto said.
They were sitting in Jack’s office after the others had gone home for the night. In the couple of weeks since Ianto had returned from his suspension it had become a bit of a ritual for them to share one last coffee together and catch up. The talks were informal, sometimes only lasting a few minutes literally until they had drunk their caffeine fix, but other times Ianto would eventually look at his watch to realise that several hours had just flown by without him noticing.
In his more paranoid moments Ianto thought that the Captain was just keeping tabs on him, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to commit such an act of deception again, but then other times he wasn’t so sure. Jack certainly seemed to enjoy their little chats and maybe he was just taking on board Ianto’s accusation that before everything went to hell he had never asked Ianto anything about his life.
Oh he had been friendly enough, maybe too friendly in certain ways. He was kind and generous of spirit, always happy to help the team, including Ianto, with any problems they had, but only if Ianto were to volunteer the information. He kept their relationship very superficial, like he appreciated having a pretty face around and someone to laugh and joke and flirt and verbally spar with but he didn’t want to get too attached.
But now he was trying to change that and Ianto found himself even more drawn to the Captain like a moth to the flame.
“What’s that?” Jack asked drawing Ianto out of his thoughts.
“Oh, um. Yeah, sorry. It’s just something that’s been bothering me for a while.” He paused and took another sip of coffee before looking up at the Captain whose eyes were patiently fixed on him. Ianto looked away again quickly. “At what point do you think Lisa really died?” he asked quietly.
Jack let the question hang in the air for a couple of seconds and Ianto wished he could take the words back.
“I think that the Lisa you knew and loved was lost at Canary Wharf.” Jack answered carefully, watching the younger man’s reactions.
Ianto seemed to sag in his seat, but even he didn’t know if it was from relief or despair.
“I think that the Cyberman used your grief and humanity against you, manipulating you into helping it.”
“And I fell for it.” Ianto’s reply was flat, lifeless.
“It was only natural. You loved her.” Jack shrugged and finished his coffee.
“What, you accept it just like that? You’re not going to tell me what an idiot I was and how you would never have let it brainwash you like that?” Ianto raised an eyebrow in challenge.
“It was clever. It had access to her memories. It was fighting for its own survival. It needed you to believe it.”
Ianto’s hand shook as he raised his mug to finish his coffee.
“I know you believed you could save her right up until the end, but were there moments when you wondered how much of her was actually left to save?” Jack asked gently.
Ianto’s took a moment before answering, not wanting his voice to crack. He needed to be strong. He wanted to have this conversation and get his thoughts in order and un-bottle his feelings without dissolving into the floods of tears that threatened to engulf him whenever he thought of Lisa. He didn’t want Jack’s sympathy, just needed his help to think about and process what happened.
“There were times when I wondered. When I would look at her and her eyes were empty, but I put that down to the shock or the sedatives.” Ianto paused and looked down into his empty mug, unable to meet the Captain’s eyes.
“I didn’t question when she knew stuff she shouldn’t have known. She knew exactly what I needed to steel from Torchwood One. It was her that drew me the schematics to explain how to build the conversion unit. She was really clever but she shouldn’t have known that.”
Ianto shuddered and Jack reached out to take his hand. “Hope is a powerful weapon. It kept just enough of Lisa alive that you would believe in it and want to help it.”
“Yeah.” Ianto muttered, lost for a few minutes in his own thoughts. “It was only after Dr Tanazaki helped her to function on her own again, without the life support given by the machine that I… I…” Ianto broke off and clasped a hand over his mouth, scrunching his eyes closed, refusing to give in to his emotions.
After a moment, he removed his hand, opened his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. “I dared to believe that we had cracked it, that we were going to save her. And then she killed him and I knew then that the monster was winning. I tried to put it down to post traumatic stress, that she hadn’t meant to kill him, but deep down I knew. But I still wanted to believe there was enough of her left to save.”
Ianto couldn’t hold back the sobs any longer and they engulfed him, wracking his frame with misery.
All Jack could do was stand up and move around the desk, stand beside the young man and cradle Ianto’s head against his stomach until he had no more tears left to cry.
On to Chapter 24