Fic - Death Repeated (2/6)
Chapter 1
Waking up, Jack froze as he looked around, the feel of a cold wall melting into the feel of his mattress.
He was in his room, in the Hub.
Which had been destroyed three days ago.
Looking around the small space he called his room, he ran a hand shakily through his hair.
Had it all been some weird dream, telling him, letting him know that life was too short to keep people he cared about at a distance, for not letting Ianto know what he meant to him?
But it had all seemed so real, a nightmare from his past coming back to haunt him … again. Except this time he had been the monster, and there was nothing he could say or do to defend himself.
It was something that he still regretted to this day and he knew if Ianto and Gwen knew about it, they wouldn’t look up to him the way they did.
Getting out of bed, he quickly threw his clothes on, quickly climbing up to his office and checking the calendar. It was Monday. Everything he’d seen hadn’t happened, it was just a dream … wasn’t it?
Turning around quickly, he had to stop himself from running into Ianto.
“Good morning, sir,” Ianto said, holding a coffee out to him, small smile on his face.
“Ianto,” Jack said quietly, taking the cup and putting it on the desk, before pulling the man closer to him, the memory of holding a dying Ianto in his arms fading away, as he pulled Ianto’s warm body even closer.
“Jack?” Ianto asked, his face showing confusion and amusement.
Bringing his hand up, Jack cupped the other man’s cheek, letting the warmth seep into his hand before moving forward and covering Ianto’s mouth with his own.
The kiss started off gentle and chaste, a slow start, that quickly became more passionate, Jack moving Ianto back until the other man’s legs hit the desk, and he sat on it, not once breaking the kiss, as Jack moved between them, moving until he was flush against Ianto again.
“Jack,” Ianto said breathlessly, pulling away, and looking up at Jack in a daze. “What’s going on?”
“Can’t a guy just say good morning,” Jack said, nipping along Ianto’s jaw.
“Sure,” Ianto said, a look of disbelief on his face, as he pulled away again.
“Ianto,” he purred, knowing that Ianto loved that tone of voice.
“Sir,” Ianto said, pushing him away and standing up, moving away. “We can continue this ‘good morning’ when we get back.”
“Back?” Jack asked, stalking towards the other man, noticing the way Ianto was moving backwards towards the door.
“Reports of an old man, Mr. Williams, that might have picked up a hitchhiker that we should go check out,” Ianto said, small smile on his face.
Jack froze, the smile that had been on his face falling, as he realized that this had been what had happened in his dream.
“Jack?” Ianto asked, moving closer to him. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah … I … nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “Let’s go.”
Ianto gave him a confused look as he brushed past him, following him as he walked down to the SUV.
As they drove to the apartment where the old man lived, he could feel Ianto’s gaze, but ignored it, trying to remember exactly what had happened in the days leading up to … the confrontation with the 456.
“Jack,” Ianto said, as he pulled up to the apartment. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” he replied, turning and sending the other man a poor imitation of his usual grin, before opening the door and getting out.
As they made their way up to the apartment, Jack prayed that this wasn’t going to be the same as his dream.
His prayers went unheard, as he pushed open the door of the apartment to see Mr. Williams lying on the floor.
“Damn,” he muttered, as he walked into the apartment, already hearing the paramedics coming down the hall, just behind them, like they had in his dream.
The medics came in and attended Mr. Williams while Jack and Ianto watched on, exactly as they had in his ‘dream’. Jack wondered if maybe he’d had some kind of premonition the night before, maybe from something they had come into contact with.
“Sir?”
Looking up, Jack saw that one of the paramedics was talking to them, concern on his face.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said, shaking his head.
“Do you know the man?” he asked, eyes sympathetic.
“We’re his neighbours,” Ianto replied smoothly, covering for Jack’s out of character silence.
“Well, we’re taking him to Cardiff Medical,” the medic said. “You can meet us there if you’d like.”
Nodding, Jack moved aside, so that they could get past them, wondering if everything in his dream had been correct.
“Jack,” Ianto said, moving closer to him, concern on his face again. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, we should get to the hospital,” he replied curtly, knowing his tone would stop Ianto from asking again, at least for the moment.
He didn’t look at Ianto’s face as he turned and walked out, not sure he could handle the blank look that Ianto always had on his face when Jack hurt him.
Swallowing hard, he wondered how he had gone from the man needing to touch and kiss Ianto this morning, to the man once again pushing him away.
**
They made it to the hospital just after the ambulance, Ianto with nothing but a polite look on his face as the doctor, who he remembered was called Rupesh Patanjali, worked on the man.
“I’m sorry,” Rupesh said coming out, face freezing as Jack glared at him, remembering that this man had started everything.
He had lured him here, had helped to put the bomb in him, had destroyed the Hub and helped Johnson and her crew to keep him captive.
“We did everything we could,” he said, addressing Ianto, eyes flicking back to Jack every now and then. “But he didn’t make it.”
“That’s very sad,” Ianto said, once again filling in the silence that Jack left, Doctor Patanjali nodding.
“There’ll have to be an autopsy, but I’d say his heart gave out,” Rupesh said nervously.
“Brave old heart,” Ianto said, shaking his head.
“You guys were his neighbours, is that right?” he asked, sending a small smile Jack’s way, Jack simply raising an eyebrow at him, not noticing the sandy haired man who bumped him slightly as he went past, his name tag with Beckett, shining a little oddly, Jack ignoring it as Ianto spoke again.
“We lived next door,” Ianto said, sending Jack a look that showed his confusion at Jack’s attitude. “He's got no family to speak of. All on his own. We'd just keep an eye on him, y'know.”
“Well, I'm sure he appreciated it. If only there were more like,” Rupesh trailed off, as Jack continued to glare at him, “you two in the world.”
“I know it’s an imposition,” Jack finally said coolly. “But with us being such good neighbours... Can we see the body?”
Rupesh looked a little uncertain, before nodding his head. Jack followed him into the room, already knowing that the doctor would agree, that he would allow them to have time alone with the old man.
“Do you think we could have some time … on our own?” Ianto asked, his tone soft and questioning, a tone that Jack had never been able to say no to, and which the doctor didn’t seem able to either.
“Course you can. Just come and find me, once you're done. And I'm sorry for your loss,” he said, before leaving and closing the curtain.
Jack uncovered the corpse, Ianto already setting up the equipment, nerves running through him as he remembered the conversation he’d had with Ianto in his dream.
“He thought we were together,” Ianto said, exactly like he had in the dream, a small smile on his face. “Like a couple. He said, "You two." The way he said it, huh. "You two."”
“I need you to go and distract the doctor,” Jack replied, avoiding the conversation, his heart beating faster as he leant over and grabbed the laser saw.
“You want me to go distract the doctor?” Ianto asked, looking confused as Jack cut into the man.
“Now, Ianto,” he said, looking up at the young Welshmen, giving him a small smile as Ianto nodded and walked out of the cubicle.
This time, instead of being caught, he managed to grab the hitchhiker out and seal the man up before the doctor came back in, everything back to normal, the doctor looking around suspiciously.
“Thank you very much,” he said, walking past the confused doctor, Ianto following after him.
Ianto didn’t ask anything as they walked off, both of the men ignoring the doctor calling for them to stop.
“Wait,” Rupesh called again, running after them. “Wait a minute.”
“You’re Torchwood?” he asked, having caught up to them at the SUV, exactly like he had before.
Turning, Jack grabbed the man, pushing him against the SUV, scowl on his face as he glared at the man.
“You listen to me,” he growled, hands fisted into the man’s shirt as he held him. “I know who you are, you sniveling, little creep. I know who you work for and newsflash, they kill you too!”
Rupesh stared at him in shock, shaking his head in denial.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Right,” Jack said. “So you weren’t about to tell me about missing bodies, huh? Weren’t going to use it to lure me back here? And then call your boss, and have her shove a bomb inside of me?”
Rupesh swallowed hard, eyes showing his fear, as he opened and closed his mouth.
“Get out of here, I don’t want to ever see you again,” Jack growled, pulling the man away from the car and pushing him back to the hospital.
“And tell your boss it’s too late,” he added. “I already know the 456 is back. And I’m going to stop it. So stay out of my way.”
Rupesh ran off towards the hospital, not once looking back.
When he turned he saw Ianto glaring at the other man, before looking back at him.
“Jack, what’s going on?” he asked, steel in his voice that told Jack he wasn’t going to let it go with any deflection this time.
“I’ll explain it when we get back to the Hub,” Jack replied, hopping into the car, watching as Ianto moved and got in the other side.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he said, pulling his seat belt on.
Driving back to the Hub, Jack felt his heart pounding. His dream was becoming reality, which meant the 456 was really back, the regret and shame he felt flooding him as he remembered the children he had helped give over to them.
If they stopped the 456 before it even got to Earth, stopped them building that room, then maybe he could buy Earth a little more time, time enough to contact Martha, maybe to contact the Doctor.
He didn’t even see the Hummer until it hit his side of the car, hitting them so hard that it sent them spinning, Jack trying his hardest to keep control of the SUV, any chance he had gone when they were hit by another vehicle, the hit sending them over, rolling, once, twice, losing count of the number of times they rolled, before coming to a stop upside down.
Groaning, Jack spat out a mouth full of blood, realizing he had hit the steering wheel when they had rolled, the smell of gasoline filling his nose, and he knew they had to get out soon, before the SUV caught on fire.
Looking over at Ianto, he felt his heart stutter at the unconscious face, a part of him panicking, as one of his hands found his seat belt, letting the latch go, making him groan again as he collapsed onto his shoulder.
“Ianto,” he called, his voice coming out raspy, as his hand reached out and feeling Ianto’s neck.
He stopped breathing when his fingers found nothing.
There was no pulse.
Nothing.
Ianto’s skin already starting to cool, to lose colour, as death claimed him.
“Ianto,” he called again, his heart starting to speed up as he crawled over to the other man, catching him as he undid the seat belt.
“Ianto,” he whispered, voice catching, as tears filled his eyes.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, he thought.
But then, he hadn’t confronted Rupesh in his dream, had thought the man would make a fine addition to the team.
Rupesh must have rung Johnson.
“Ianto, please,” he whispered again, cradling the man’s head in his lap, the sound of footsteps not registering, as he looked down at the Welshmen’s face, his heart breaking again, like it had last night.
And once again, it had been his fault, if he hadn’t said anything, had waited until he was alone to confront Rupesh, then this wouldn’t be happening.
The last thing he heard was a match being struck, cruel laughter floating on the wind, before a white light took him into the darkness that had become a part of his everyday life.
Death.
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Waking up, Jack froze as he looked around, the feel of a cold wall melting into the feel of his mattress.
He was in his room, in the Hub.
Which had been destroyed three days ago.
Looking around the small space he called his room, he ran a hand shakily through his hair.
Had it all been some weird dream, telling him, letting him know that life was too short to keep people he cared about at a distance, for not letting Ianto know what he meant to him?
But it had all seemed so real, a nightmare from his past coming back to haunt him … again. Except this time he had been the monster, and there was nothing he could say or do to defend himself.
It was something that he still regretted to this day and he knew if Ianto and Gwen knew about it, they wouldn’t look up to him the way they did.
Getting out of bed, he quickly threw his clothes on, quickly climbing up to his office and checking the calendar. It was Monday. Everything he’d seen hadn’t happened, it was just a dream … wasn’t it?
Turning around quickly, he had to stop himself from running into Ianto.
“Good morning, sir,” Ianto said, holding a coffee out to him, small smile on his face.
“Ianto,” Jack said quietly, taking the cup and putting it on the desk, before pulling the man closer to him, the memory of holding a dying Ianto in his arms fading away, as he pulled Ianto’s warm body even closer.
“Jack?” Ianto asked, his face showing confusion and amusement.
Bringing his hand up, Jack cupped the other man’s cheek, letting the warmth seep into his hand before moving forward and covering Ianto’s mouth with his own.
The kiss started off gentle and chaste, a slow start, that quickly became more passionate, Jack moving Ianto back until the other man’s legs hit the desk, and he sat on it, not once breaking the kiss, as Jack moved between them, moving until he was flush against Ianto again.
“Jack,” Ianto said breathlessly, pulling away, and looking up at Jack in a daze. “What’s going on?”
“Can’t a guy just say good morning,” Jack said, nipping along Ianto’s jaw.
“Sure,” Ianto said, a look of disbelief on his face, as he pulled away again.
“Ianto,” he purred, knowing that Ianto loved that tone of voice.
“Sir,” Ianto said, pushing him away and standing up, moving away. “We can continue this ‘good morning’ when we get back.”
“Back?” Jack asked, stalking towards the other man, noticing the way Ianto was moving backwards towards the door.
“Reports of an old man, Mr. Williams, that might have picked up a hitchhiker that we should go check out,” Ianto said, small smile on his face.
Jack froze, the smile that had been on his face falling, as he realized that this had been what had happened in his dream.
“Jack?” Ianto asked, moving closer to him. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah … I … nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “Let’s go.”
Ianto gave him a confused look as he brushed past him, following him as he walked down to the SUV.
As they drove to the apartment where the old man lived, he could feel Ianto’s gaze, but ignored it, trying to remember exactly what had happened in the days leading up to … the confrontation with the 456.
“Jack,” Ianto said, as he pulled up to the apartment. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” he replied, turning and sending the other man a poor imitation of his usual grin, before opening the door and getting out.
As they made their way up to the apartment, Jack prayed that this wasn’t going to be the same as his dream.
His prayers went unheard, as he pushed open the door of the apartment to see Mr. Williams lying on the floor.
“Damn,” he muttered, as he walked into the apartment, already hearing the paramedics coming down the hall, just behind them, like they had in his dream.
The medics came in and attended Mr. Williams while Jack and Ianto watched on, exactly as they had in his ‘dream’. Jack wondered if maybe he’d had some kind of premonition the night before, maybe from something they had come into contact with.
“Sir?”
Looking up, Jack saw that one of the paramedics was talking to them, concern on his face.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said, shaking his head.
“Do you know the man?” he asked, eyes sympathetic.
“We’re his neighbours,” Ianto replied smoothly, covering for Jack’s out of character silence.
“Well, we’re taking him to Cardiff Medical,” the medic said. “You can meet us there if you’d like.”
Nodding, Jack moved aside, so that they could get past them, wondering if everything in his dream had been correct.
“Jack,” Ianto said, moving closer to him, concern on his face again. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, we should get to the hospital,” he replied curtly, knowing his tone would stop Ianto from asking again, at least for the moment.
He didn’t look at Ianto’s face as he turned and walked out, not sure he could handle the blank look that Ianto always had on his face when Jack hurt him.
Swallowing hard, he wondered how he had gone from the man needing to touch and kiss Ianto this morning, to the man once again pushing him away.
**
They made it to the hospital just after the ambulance, Ianto with nothing but a polite look on his face as the doctor, who he remembered was called Rupesh Patanjali, worked on the man.
“I’m sorry,” Rupesh said coming out, face freezing as Jack glared at him, remembering that this man had started everything.
He had lured him here, had helped to put the bomb in him, had destroyed the Hub and helped Johnson and her crew to keep him captive.
“We did everything we could,” he said, addressing Ianto, eyes flicking back to Jack every now and then. “But he didn’t make it.”
“That’s very sad,” Ianto said, once again filling in the silence that Jack left, Doctor Patanjali nodding.
“There’ll have to be an autopsy, but I’d say his heart gave out,” Rupesh said nervously.
“Brave old heart,” Ianto said, shaking his head.
“You guys were his neighbours, is that right?” he asked, sending a small smile Jack’s way, Jack simply raising an eyebrow at him, not noticing the sandy haired man who bumped him slightly as he went past, his name tag with Beckett, shining a little oddly, Jack ignoring it as Ianto spoke again.
“We lived next door,” Ianto said, sending Jack a look that showed his confusion at Jack’s attitude. “He's got no family to speak of. All on his own. We'd just keep an eye on him, y'know.”
“Well, I'm sure he appreciated it. If only there were more like,” Rupesh trailed off, as Jack continued to glare at him, “you two in the world.”
“I know it’s an imposition,” Jack finally said coolly. “But with us being such good neighbours... Can we see the body?”
Rupesh looked a little uncertain, before nodding his head. Jack followed him into the room, already knowing that the doctor would agree, that he would allow them to have time alone with the old man.
“Do you think we could have some time … on our own?” Ianto asked, his tone soft and questioning, a tone that Jack had never been able to say no to, and which the doctor didn’t seem able to either.
“Course you can. Just come and find me, once you're done. And I'm sorry for your loss,” he said, before leaving and closing the curtain.
Jack uncovered the corpse, Ianto already setting up the equipment, nerves running through him as he remembered the conversation he’d had with Ianto in his dream.
“He thought we were together,” Ianto said, exactly like he had in the dream, a small smile on his face. “Like a couple. He said, "You two." The way he said it, huh. "You two."”
“I need you to go and distract the doctor,” Jack replied, avoiding the conversation, his heart beating faster as he leant over and grabbed the laser saw.
“You want me to go distract the doctor?” Ianto asked, looking confused as Jack cut into the man.
“Now, Ianto,” he said, looking up at the young Welshmen, giving him a small smile as Ianto nodded and walked out of the cubicle.
This time, instead of being caught, he managed to grab the hitchhiker out and seal the man up before the doctor came back in, everything back to normal, the doctor looking around suspiciously.
“Thank you very much,” he said, walking past the confused doctor, Ianto following after him.
Ianto didn’t ask anything as they walked off, both of the men ignoring the doctor calling for them to stop.
“Wait,” Rupesh called again, running after them. “Wait a minute.”
“You’re Torchwood?” he asked, having caught up to them at the SUV, exactly like he had before.
Turning, Jack grabbed the man, pushing him against the SUV, scowl on his face as he glared at the man.
“You listen to me,” he growled, hands fisted into the man’s shirt as he held him. “I know who you are, you sniveling, little creep. I know who you work for and newsflash, they kill you too!”
Rupesh stared at him in shock, shaking his head in denial.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Right,” Jack said. “So you weren’t about to tell me about missing bodies, huh? Weren’t going to use it to lure me back here? And then call your boss, and have her shove a bomb inside of me?”
Rupesh swallowed hard, eyes showing his fear, as he opened and closed his mouth.
“Get out of here, I don’t want to ever see you again,” Jack growled, pulling the man away from the car and pushing him back to the hospital.
“And tell your boss it’s too late,” he added. “I already know the 456 is back. And I’m going to stop it. So stay out of my way.”
Rupesh ran off towards the hospital, not once looking back.
When he turned he saw Ianto glaring at the other man, before looking back at him.
“Jack, what’s going on?” he asked, steel in his voice that told Jack he wasn’t going to let it go with any deflection this time.
“I’ll explain it when we get back to the Hub,” Jack replied, hopping into the car, watching as Ianto moved and got in the other side.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he said, pulling his seat belt on.
Driving back to the Hub, Jack felt his heart pounding. His dream was becoming reality, which meant the 456 was really back, the regret and shame he felt flooding him as he remembered the children he had helped give over to them.
If they stopped the 456 before it even got to Earth, stopped them building that room, then maybe he could buy Earth a little more time, time enough to contact Martha, maybe to contact the Doctor.
He didn’t even see the Hummer until it hit his side of the car, hitting them so hard that it sent them spinning, Jack trying his hardest to keep control of the SUV, any chance he had gone when they were hit by another vehicle, the hit sending them over, rolling, once, twice, losing count of the number of times they rolled, before coming to a stop upside down.
Groaning, Jack spat out a mouth full of blood, realizing he had hit the steering wheel when they had rolled, the smell of gasoline filling his nose, and he knew they had to get out soon, before the SUV caught on fire.
Looking over at Ianto, he felt his heart stutter at the unconscious face, a part of him panicking, as one of his hands found his seat belt, letting the latch go, making him groan again as he collapsed onto his shoulder.
“Ianto,” he called, his voice coming out raspy, as his hand reached out and feeling Ianto’s neck.
He stopped breathing when his fingers found nothing.
There was no pulse.
Nothing.
Ianto’s skin already starting to cool, to lose colour, as death claimed him.
“Ianto,” he called again, his heart starting to speed up as he crawled over to the other man, catching him as he undid the seat belt.
“Ianto,” he whispered, voice catching, as tears filled his eyes.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, he thought.
But then, he hadn’t confronted Rupesh in his dream, had thought the man would make a fine addition to the team.
Rupesh must have rung Johnson.
“Ianto, please,” he whispered again, cradling the man’s head in his lap, the sound of footsteps not registering, as he looked down at the Welshmen’s face, his heart breaking again, like it had last night.
And once again, it had been his fault, if he hadn’t said anything, had waited until he was alone to confront Rupesh, then this wouldn’t be happening.
The last thing he heard was a match being struck, cruel laughter floating on the wind, before a white light took him into the darkness that had become a part of his everyday life.
Death.
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