Fic - Death Repeated (5/6)
Title - Death Repeated
Chapter - Four (5/6)
Prompt - Groundhog Day
Character/Pairing(s) - Janto
Rating - NC-17 (only really for one chapter)
Warnings - death, ANGST (*cough* lots of the two *points to prompt as explanation), fix!it fic, ending is ambiguous.
Spoilers - For COE (specifically day 4 but pretty much all) and The Year The Never Was
Summary - Jack can’t tell Ianto he loves him, no matter how many times the day repeat
Chapter 4
This time when he woke, Jack noticed the metal roof above him, nothing like the roof in his room at the Hub. Taking a steadying breath, he lifted one of his hands to run over his face, only to be brought up short when he noticed that it was weighed down by chains attached to the wall.
Blinking, he felt his heart start to race, as the image dissolved, his room coming back into focus, the other images fading away.
Lying in bed, his mind tried to piece it all together, but came up with nothing.
There was something, niggling at the back of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried to figure out what it was, nothing came to him.
Sighing, he rolled out of bed, slowly dressing and making his way up to his office.
He wasn’t surprised to see Ianto there, already tidying up his desk and putting papers he needed to see to on the top of the pile, hot coffee on his desk.
“Good morning, Sir,” Ianto said, smile on his face fading as he looked up.
“Jack?” Ianto asked, moving over towards him, starting to reach out and then stopping himself.
“You need to go home, Ianto,” Jack said, turning away from his young Welshman and moving to sit behind his desk.
“What?” Ianto asked, one eyebrow rising in question.
“Home, Ianto,” Jack answered, dropping his voice to the cool tone he used with government officials.
“And why do I have to ‘go home’?” Ianto asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Because it isn’t safe for you with me, Jack thought.
But he couldn’t say that, if he did Ianto would argue, would stick around. No … the only way Ianto would leave would be if he was hurt.
Looking away briefly, Jack had to swallow the lump in his throat, steeling himself to do what was best for the other man.
“I don’t require your assistance today,” Jack said, voice still cool, hands fisted underneath the table where Ianto couldn’t see them.
“What’s this about, Jack?” Ianto asked, voice conveying that he wasn’t buying the act.
“I think that we’re … you want different things then I do, have come to expect more from this … arrangement then I’m willing to give,” Jack said, the words pulled from him, seeing the flash of confusion and hurt the crossed Ianto’s face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ianto said, his voice slightly more strained then before.
“This … was never a serious thing for me, Ianto,” Jack lied, none of the turmoil brewing inside of him making its way to the surface. He always had been good at hiding what he really felt.
And right now, he was both glad and saddened by it. Glad because he needed it to make Ianto leave, and saddened, because he didn’t want to hurt the beautiful man in front of him anymore then he had.
“More like a … friend’s with benefits thing,” he continued. “I thought you understood that.”
Ianto let his arms drop, the blank look that Jack hated falling over his face, as he nodded once, not dropping his eyes from Jack once.
“So you should take some time,” Jack said, tongue sweeping out to wet his lips.
“Very well, sir,” Ianto replied, nothing in his face or tone but polite enquiry.
“I’ll see you next week,” Jack said, nerves running through him.
Ianto gave him one nod, before turning and walking out of his office. Leaning back in his chair, Jack tried to stop the ache that ran through his chest as he watched Ianto leaving via the CCTV.
It would all be worth it if it kept Ianto safe.
If Ianto was away from Torchwood, away from Jack, he would be safe.
Even if he was tearing Jack’s heart apart when he left.
Closing his eyes, Jack didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he heard Gwen calling out to him, his arms heavy as he rubbed at his face, the feeling of something around his wrists distracting him for a moment, before Gwen came into his office. The thought pushed to the back of his mind.
“Jack?” Gwen called.
Moving around his desk, his mind flashed back to his day before, to the solider standing there, the name Beckett standing out in his mind, remembering that he’d seen the man before, in the hospital, at the car crash.
The man knew something, was involved with the day’s repeating.
He needed to find him.
“Oh, you are here,” Gwen said, as he quickly moved down the stairs.
“We need to find someone,” he said in greeting, moving over to the computer and starting the search.
“We have bigger-”
“No we don’t,” he interrupted, growling when the search came up with over a thousand hits.
Pulling up a chair, he refined the search to soldiers, still annoyed when there was over two hundred hits.
It took him half an hour to cut the suspects down, even longer to go through their pictures.
“Got you,” he muttered, printing out the address.
“Jack, what’s going on?” Gwen asked, looking up from the search she had been conducting.
“Stay here,” he ordered, grabbing his coat and heading towards the door. “And congratulations.”
Smiling, he knew his parting comment would have her confused long enough for him to get to the SUV and go.
**
Pulling up to the house, Jack could tell that it was unoccupied even before he hopped out.
Staring up at the house, he slowly moved forwards, his gut telling him that this was the right place.
Opening the door, he walked cautiously into the house, gun drawn, noticing the dust and disarray, Beckett sitting on a chair, looking at him with an amused look on his face.
“I was wondering if you would figure it out this time, Jack,” he said, finger rubbing along the bottom of his lip.
“Who are you?” Jack asked, looking around, not sensing anyone else around.
“So … not figured it all out then,” Beckett replied, leaning back in the chair, not looking worried in the least.
“Who are you?” Jack growled, pointing the gun at the man and walking further into the room.
“I’m sure you could figure it out, Jack,” Beckett said, shrugging a shoulder and looking at the gun with nothing but idle interest. “Deep down, you know it already, you’ve seen it already, that split second before you’re fully awake, you see exactly where you are, what’s happening.”
“It never happened,” Jack replied, swallowing hard, a pit forming in his stomach as his mind supplied him with the answer, the answer that he didn’t want to think about. “We stopped it.”
“Ah, yes,” Beckett said standing up, grin on his face as he slowly paced towards him. “You, Miss Jones and the Doctor. I let you see that, Jack. I let you believe it, another way to mess with your mind.”
Shaking his head, Jack flinched when the man raised a hand, running it down his cheek.
“And it’s been fun,” he whispered, eyes shining with malice. “But it’s time to wake up.”
“Jack!”
Turning, Jack froze as he saw Gwen and Ianto run in, the two of them with their guns raised, eyes wide.
“Not before one last hit though,” Beckett murmured, hand quickly raising a gun and firing.
Jack watched as Ianto’s eyes fell down, his own running down the man’s chest coming to rest on the spreading red.
“Ianto,” Jack whispered, pain ripping through his chest as his young Welshman fell to the floor, Gwen dropping next to him.
Feeling his vision narrow, Jack forgot about the man behind him, every sense on the man gasping for breath in front of him.
“No, Ianto, please,” he said, rushing over and kneeling next to him, hands cradling his head. “Don’t … just … please.”
“Jack,” Ianto whispered, eyes already losing focus. “I-”
“Don’t,” Jack said cutting him off, tears welling in his eyes. “Just … I know, Ianto. You … you have to know that I … I … feel the same way …”
His words were cut off as a sharp lance of pain ran through his head. Ignoring it, he cupped Ianto’s cheek, feeling him go limp, the colour leaving his face.
“Ianto,” he whispered, leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss to the mouth he knew so well, the darkness clouding his vision, pulling him down, the sound of Beckett’s laughter the last thing he heard as he fell.
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Chapter - Four (5/6)
Prompt - Groundhog Day
Character/Pairing(s) - Janto
Rating - NC-17 (only really for one chapter)
Warnings - death, ANGST (*cough* lots of the two *points to prompt as explanation), fix!it fic, ending is ambiguous.
Spoilers - For COE (specifically day 4 but pretty much all) and The Year The Never Was
Summary - Jack can’t tell Ianto he loves him, no matter how many times the day repeat
Chapter 4
This time when he woke, Jack noticed the metal roof above him, nothing like the roof in his room at the Hub. Taking a steadying breath, he lifted one of his hands to run over his face, only to be brought up short when he noticed that it was weighed down by chains attached to the wall.
Blinking, he felt his heart start to race, as the image dissolved, his room coming back into focus, the other images fading away.
Lying in bed, his mind tried to piece it all together, but came up with nothing.
There was something, niggling at the back of his mind, but no matter how hard he tried to figure out what it was, nothing came to him.
Sighing, he rolled out of bed, slowly dressing and making his way up to his office.
He wasn’t surprised to see Ianto there, already tidying up his desk and putting papers he needed to see to on the top of the pile, hot coffee on his desk.
“Good morning, Sir,” Ianto said, smile on his face fading as he looked up.
“Jack?” Ianto asked, moving over towards him, starting to reach out and then stopping himself.
“You need to go home, Ianto,” Jack said, turning away from his young Welshman and moving to sit behind his desk.
“What?” Ianto asked, one eyebrow rising in question.
“Home, Ianto,” Jack answered, dropping his voice to the cool tone he used with government officials.
“And why do I have to ‘go home’?” Ianto asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Because it isn’t safe for you with me, Jack thought.
But he couldn’t say that, if he did Ianto would argue, would stick around. No … the only way Ianto would leave would be if he was hurt.
Looking away briefly, Jack had to swallow the lump in his throat, steeling himself to do what was best for the other man.
“I don’t require your assistance today,” Jack said, voice still cool, hands fisted underneath the table where Ianto couldn’t see them.
“What’s this about, Jack?” Ianto asked, voice conveying that he wasn’t buying the act.
“I think that we’re … you want different things then I do, have come to expect more from this … arrangement then I’m willing to give,” Jack said, the words pulled from him, seeing the flash of confusion and hurt the crossed Ianto’s face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ianto said, his voice slightly more strained then before.
“This … was never a serious thing for me, Ianto,” Jack lied, none of the turmoil brewing inside of him making its way to the surface. He always had been good at hiding what he really felt.
And right now, he was both glad and saddened by it. Glad because he needed it to make Ianto leave, and saddened, because he didn’t want to hurt the beautiful man in front of him anymore then he had.
“More like a … friend’s with benefits thing,” he continued. “I thought you understood that.”
Ianto let his arms drop, the blank look that Jack hated falling over his face, as he nodded once, not dropping his eyes from Jack once.
“So you should take some time,” Jack said, tongue sweeping out to wet his lips.
“Very well, sir,” Ianto replied, nothing in his face or tone but polite enquiry.
“I’ll see you next week,” Jack said, nerves running through him.
Ianto gave him one nod, before turning and walking out of his office. Leaning back in his chair, Jack tried to stop the ache that ran through his chest as he watched Ianto leaving via the CCTV.
It would all be worth it if it kept Ianto safe.
If Ianto was away from Torchwood, away from Jack, he would be safe.
Even if he was tearing Jack’s heart apart when he left.
Closing his eyes, Jack didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he heard Gwen calling out to him, his arms heavy as he rubbed at his face, the feeling of something around his wrists distracting him for a moment, before Gwen came into his office. The thought pushed to the back of his mind.
“Jack?” Gwen called.
Moving around his desk, his mind flashed back to his day before, to the solider standing there, the name Beckett standing out in his mind, remembering that he’d seen the man before, in the hospital, at the car crash.
The man knew something, was involved with the day’s repeating.
He needed to find him.
“Oh, you are here,” Gwen said, as he quickly moved down the stairs.
“We need to find someone,” he said in greeting, moving over to the computer and starting the search.
“We have bigger-”
“No we don’t,” he interrupted, growling when the search came up with over a thousand hits.
Pulling up a chair, he refined the search to soldiers, still annoyed when there was over two hundred hits.
It took him half an hour to cut the suspects down, even longer to go through their pictures.
“Got you,” he muttered, printing out the address.
“Jack, what’s going on?” Gwen asked, looking up from the search she had been conducting.
“Stay here,” he ordered, grabbing his coat and heading towards the door. “And congratulations.”
Smiling, he knew his parting comment would have her confused long enough for him to get to the SUV and go.
**
Pulling up to the house, Jack could tell that it was unoccupied even before he hopped out.
Staring up at the house, he slowly moved forwards, his gut telling him that this was the right place.
Opening the door, he walked cautiously into the house, gun drawn, noticing the dust and disarray, Beckett sitting on a chair, looking at him with an amused look on his face.
“I was wondering if you would figure it out this time, Jack,” he said, finger rubbing along the bottom of his lip.
“Who are you?” Jack asked, looking around, not sensing anyone else around.
“So … not figured it all out then,” Beckett replied, leaning back in the chair, not looking worried in the least.
“Who are you?” Jack growled, pointing the gun at the man and walking further into the room.
“I’m sure you could figure it out, Jack,” Beckett said, shrugging a shoulder and looking at the gun with nothing but idle interest. “Deep down, you know it already, you’ve seen it already, that split second before you’re fully awake, you see exactly where you are, what’s happening.”
“It never happened,” Jack replied, swallowing hard, a pit forming in his stomach as his mind supplied him with the answer, the answer that he didn’t want to think about. “We stopped it.”
“Ah, yes,” Beckett said standing up, grin on his face as he slowly paced towards him. “You, Miss Jones and the Doctor. I let you see that, Jack. I let you believe it, another way to mess with your mind.”
Shaking his head, Jack flinched when the man raised a hand, running it down his cheek.
“And it’s been fun,” he whispered, eyes shining with malice. “But it’s time to wake up.”
“Jack!”
Turning, Jack froze as he saw Gwen and Ianto run in, the two of them with their guns raised, eyes wide.
“Not before one last hit though,” Beckett murmured, hand quickly raising a gun and firing.
Jack watched as Ianto’s eyes fell down, his own running down the man’s chest coming to rest on the spreading red.
“Ianto,” Jack whispered, pain ripping through his chest as his young Welshman fell to the floor, Gwen dropping next to him.
Feeling his vision narrow, Jack forgot about the man behind him, every sense on the man gasping for breath in front of him.
“No, Ianto, please,” he said, rushing over and kneeling next to him, hands cradling his head. “Don’t … just … please.”
“Jack,” Ianto whispered, eyes already losing focus. “I-”
“Don’t,” Jack said cutting him off, tears welling in his eyes. “Just … I know, Ianto. You … you have to know that I … I … feel the same way …”
His words were cut off as a sharp lance of pain ran through his head. Ignoring it, he cupped Ianto’s cheek, feeling him go limp, the colour leaving his face.
“Ianto,” he whispered, leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss to the mouth he knew so well, the darkness clouding his vision, pulling him down, the sound of Beckett’s laughter the last thing he heard as he fell.
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