Fic: TW: No Grand Arena: Mixed Pairings: AU (part 2/3)
Title: No Grand Arena, 2/3
Author: weaselett
Prompt: Serenity
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, slight Owen/Tosh
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some mention of injury, minor character death and some mild swear words.
Author's Notes: Beta'd by the lovely charlies_dragon - written for reel_torchwood.
part one
Ianto started, dropping the tunic that he’d just unearthed from the trunk and edging towards the entrance to the shuttle. He could hear voices and hurried footsteps coming from within the ship its self, which couldn’t even possibly be a good sign.
Knowing John, he’d probably decided to take matters into his own hands and had only managed to make the situation worse.
Ianto sighed, moving to step out of the shuttle. It wasn’t worth looking for the others, it was better if he kept an eye out for Toshiko himself, to make sure that she didn’t try to hide, or worse, take control, of one of the shuttles.
“Ianto.” Martha appeared on the metal gangway through the door leading from the kitchen, “Toshiko’s gotten loose, you seen her?”
Ianto shook his head, “No, I’m guessing John…”
Martha nodded grimly, leaning over the railing to look down into the cargo bay, “Who else.”
“Is he…?” Ianto broached, remembering what Jack had told him before, about the first sign of trouble being Toshiko taking out a whole bar of people, uncaring of whether they lived or not.
“Not a clue, first concern is finding her and making sure we don’t find ourselves even deeper in.” Martha said, turning as she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. Gwen appeared on the gangway, hands in the air.
“There’s no sign of her.” Gwen said, glancing back over her shoulder as Rhys joined them, supporting a dazed looking Owen who had a hand to his forehead.
“I think she’s on the bridge.” Rhys said, tightening his grip on Owen as the other man swayed dangerously, “She took out Owen on the way.”
Owen made a disgusted noise, “Teach me to stand in doorways.”
Gwen smiled faintly, opening her mouth to comment only to be cut off by Jack’s voice coming over the com-system, “You’re all gunna want to see this.”
They hesitated, exchanging looks before Owen broke the silence, “We should fetch the idiot, make sure there’s nothing broken that weren’t already missing.”
-
John was the last one of file past Ianto and onto the bridge, holding a cold compress to the back of his head and glaring at Toshiko. He wasn’t likely to forgive anytime soon.
Ianto hung back, leaning on the doorway, letting the others get in closer to the screen as Jack brought up the display, Toshiko perched in the chair beside him, her eyes lowered. It was hard to believe that she could be dangerous, but Ianto had seen evidence of it before he’d left for the Training House.
The image of the planet on the view screen spun as information appeared beside it; name of the planet, location, any details that were stored in the Cortex for all to see, if they knew what to look for. The planet Miranda in all her glory.
Gwen edged closer, hand reaching out and stopping just short of the screen before she turned back to the rest of them, eyes wide, “How can it be there's a whole planet called Miranda and none of us knowed that?”
Jack shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the console, “because there isn't one. It's a black-rock. Uninhabitable. Terraforming didn't take or somesuch. Few settlers died.”
Ianto frowned, there had to be more to it than that. There’d been other planets that the Alliance had failed to settle, other planets that settlers had died on. Something about Miranda was worth killing for, or so the Alliance seemed to think, or maybe this wasn’t what the Alliance was after. Maybe Miranda was just the tip of the iceberg of information that Toshiko had floating around in her head. Ianto glanced at her, only to find her gaze already fixed on him. He shifted is weight, ducking his head, silently apologising to her. He shouldn’t be thinking about her like that.
“Was it right before the war?” Martha asked and Jack nodded.
“Think so.”
Gwen gasped, covering her mouth, eyes wide, “Oh God! I remember.” Rhys reached out, drawing his wife close as she ducked her head for a moment before looking up at them all again, her jaw set, “Some years back, before the war. There was call for workers to settle on Miranda, my daddy talked about going. I should've recalled.”
“But there's nothing about it on the Cortex, history, astronomy...it's not there.” Rhys said, reassuring his wife. None of them but Toshiko had any idea what Miranda’s secret was, but they were all acting like it was something terrible, which it probably was, considering that the Alliance seemed to want it buried so bad. It was just strange to watch; maybe the not knowing made it seem all the more fearsome.
Jack shrugged, “Half of writing history is hiding the truth. There's something on this rock the Alliance doesn't want known.”
Ianto hesitated for a moment, aware that what he was about to suggest might be the worst idea possible, before he spoke, “That's right at the edge of the Burnham Quadrant, right? Furthest planet out. It's not far from here...”
“Whoa, no, no…” Rhys interrupted, easing out of Gwen’s grip and moving to the controls, even as Martha voiced her own concerns. She moved to stand over Rhys watching as he panned out, away from Miranda to show the space around it.
“This is us see?” Martha explained and Rhys moved so that they all had a good view of the screen, “and here's Miranda. All along here, this dead space in between, that's Reaver territory.”
Ianto winced, taking an involuntary step back. Reavers. He shuddered, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing sideways at Jack. Reavers were bad news, more than bad news, they were the closet thing to pure evil that Ianto could imagine.
Reavers didn’t care, about themselves or anything but killing and making people hurt. They weren’t human, they looked human but they weren’t. Ianto swallowed against the bile threatening at the back of his throat, remembering the times when he’d been unfortunate enough to witness the aftermath of a Reaver attack.
“They just float out there, sending out raiding parties.” Rhys said.
“Nobody ventures there, not even the Alliance.” Martha finished, her gaze set on Jack as she turned away from the screen, “You go through that and you’re signing up to be banquet.”
Rhys refocused his attention of the controls, settling into his customary chair and taking the controls, “I'm on board with the run and hide scenario and we are just about..” He trailed off, staring at his instruments for a moment before he looked up, out of the window. “Wait…”
Smoke drifted up in front of the window, drawing them all to look and silence took hold of the bridge, all thoughts of Miranda chased away by the sight in front of them.
Haven burning.
-
The ramp seemed to take an eternity to lower, the stench of smoke of death seeping in as they waited. Ianto had only ever been to Haven twice before, it hadn’t been until after he’d left for the Training House that Jack had taken to using the settlement as a favoured berth, which probably had something to do with the Preacher’s decision to settle down there.
In the end he’d wanted to escape the ship as much as Ianto had, only for different reasons.
Ianto trailed John and Jack as they ran through the settlement, searching the bodies for the one that none of them wanted to see, while Gwen’s voice echoed eerily as she called out, her cries getting slowly more desperate.
There were bodies everywhere, interspersed with debris from the smouldering Alliance ship and the destroyed buildings of the settlement. Ianto winced as he narrowly missed standing on an outstretched hand, hurrying as the other two vanished behind a mound of debris.
“Get the doc.” Jack ordered John just as Ianto rounded the mound, catching sight of the man slumped against it, blood staining the surrounding ground. Ianto winced, closing his eyes and stopping a few metres from where Jack was crouched at his friend’s side. It was Jack’s place, not his.
“Don’t you move now Preacher.” Jack warned, taking the other man’s hand as dark eyes fluttered open and Shepherd Smith smiled.
“Won't go far.”
“Shouldn't've been you. I'm so sorry, it was...they should've hit us, should’ve hit me.” Jack was squeezing the Shepherd’s hand, his gaze jumping from the man’s wound to his face as he struggled to retain his composure.
“That crossed my mind.” The Shepherd coughed, eyes closing for a moment before he swallowed, opening them again to meet Jack’s gaze, a faint smile touching his bloodstained lips, “ I shot him down..”
“I seen.”
“I killed the ship that killed us. Not very Christian of me.”
Jack shook his head, “You did what's right.”
“Coming from you, that means almost nothing,” the Shepherd struggled for breath and Jack shook his again gently making the other man cough painfully, “ah I’m long gone.”
Ianto winced, glancing back towards the ship, wondering what was taking Owen so long, hating how helpless he was. There was nothing he could do to help the Preacher, and little he could do to help Jack. All he could do was stand witness.
“Doc'll bring you round. I look to be bored by many more sermons 'fore you slip, don't move.” Jack slipped a supporting arm under the other man, preventing him from moving any further despite the hand that batted his chest in complaint.
“Can't order me around, I'm not one of your crew.”
“Yes, yes you are.”
“Toshiko.” The Shepherd focused with difficulty, reaching up with both hands to hold Jack’s head and pull him in close, forcing him to listen, “I don't care what you believe! just...believe it. Whatever you have to...” His hands feel lip to his sides, his eyes staring blankly up at the sky even as Jack shook him.
Ianto took a step forward, almost reaching out to pull Jack away but stopping himself short, “Jack.”
Jack’s shoulders slumped and he released the Shepherd’s body, sitting back on his heels staring numbly at a point somewhere in the distance as the others came running, too late.
Jack stood stiffly as the others skidded to a halt, keeping his back to them all for a moment before he turned and walked past them, back towards the ship. Owen took his place next to the Shepherd’s body, hand hovering for a moment before he slumped, closing his eyes and pressing a hand against his forehead.
Ianto followed Jack’s progress but made no move to follow him. He wouldn’t be wanted, he knew that much and there was something Jack was leaving to do. Something that he wanted to do himself.
“How come they ain't waiting? they know'd we was coming, how come they only sent one?” John asked, breaking the silence.
Martha shook her head in reply, expression grim, “They didn't know we'd come here.” She turned to Rhys, her voice rising in volume with each word, “Get on the Cortex, wave the Sanchez brothers, Li Shen - anyone who’s ever sheltered us after a heist. Tell them to get out. Get out now.”
Ianto closed his eyes, lowering his head and muttering a prayer, the image of the downed craft behind him and the Operative walking up the steps to the Training House overlaid in his mind.
If she hadn’t known where they were headed, then any message was likely to be too late to be of any aid.
-
Jack emerged from the ship as they returned from their individual searches for survivors, grouping together in silence, all still too numb to know what to say.
John had gathered all of the weapons that he had seen during his search and he piled them haphazardly, checking each one before adding it to his growing pile. Owen and Martha, with some help from Gwen, had covered some of the bodies, while Ianto and Rhys just watched Toshiko wander.
It was strange, almost disturbing, watching Toshiko wander through the devastation. She looked at bodies, but she didn’t seem to see them, she reacted more to the inanimate objects than she did the dead. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, or at least Ianto hoped it wasn’t because she didn’t care. It was more like she just couldn’t react.
Ianto shuddered and turned away from her to watch Jack approach. He frowned, taking in Jack’s stiff posture and his expression, everything about him screamed purpose.
“Get these bodies together.” Jack ordered, throwing a coil of rope to Martha and nodding towards the covered forms. Martha’s eyes narrowed and she straightened, watching Jack carefully.
“We got time for gravedigging?”
Jack ignored her, continuing as though she hadn’t spoken, “Martha, you and Owen are gonna rope ‘em together. Five or six of ‘em. I want them laid out on the nose of our ship.”
“Are you insane?” Owen grabbed the coil of rope from Martha and threw it back towards Jack, his eyes blazing with anger.
“What do you mean the bodies...?” Gwen edged in closer, eyes wide.
“Gwen, I need you to muck the reactor core, just enough to leave a trail and make it read like we're flying without containment, not enough to fry us.” Jack said, still refusing to hear anything any of them said.
“These people are our friends…” Gwen objected, close to tears.
“Gwen, you've got a day's work to do and two hours to do it in. John, you and Rhys hoist up that cannon mount. Goes right on top, piece or two of the other ship, stick it on. Any place you can tear hull without inner breach, do that too. And we're going to need paint. We're gonna need red paint.” Jack motioned towards the ship as he spoke before turning, searching their surroundings for what he needed.
“Oh merciful Buddha protect us.” Ianto whispered, turning his back on Jack and taking a few steps away. If he argued it was likely that Jack would either shot or leave him with the dead. If he didn’t he would have to help corrupt the only place he had ever really considered home. There didn’t seem to be a good choice.
“Jack, do you really mean to turn our home into an abomination so we can make a suicidal attempt at passing through Reaver space?” Martha asked, her voice taking on the same tone as it did when she was threatening to kill someone and it was she who finally managed to raise a response from Jack.
“I mean to live. I mean for us to live. The Alliance won't have that, so we go where they won't follow.”
“God's balls there's no way we're going out there.” John said, his words soon followed by everyone but Toshiko and Ianto trying to make themselves heard. Ianto took a step away from the main group and closer to Toshiko. Jack’s plan was horrific, but Ianto knew the expression on Jack’s face. It was the look of a man who would not be swayed.
Jack pulled his gun as John stepping into his personal space and the ther man reacted instantly, backing off and reaching for his own gun as Jack started to speak, “This is how it works. Anybody doesn't wanna fly with me anymore, this is your port of harbour.”
Jack moved through the group, his gun held ready, his gaze fixed on the hunk of wrecked Alliance ship and the man that Ianto could now see struggling to escape it. Jack fired a single shot, dropping the man instantly, before turning back to his crew, his expression unchanged, “There’s a lot of fine ways to die. I’m not waiting for the Alliance to decide mine. I mean to confound these bungers, and take my shot at getting to Miranda, maybe finding out what all I'm dying for. That’s the only path I see left and I got to walk it. So I hear a word out of any of you that ain't helping me out or taking your leave, I will shoot you.”
Jack lent down to pick up the discarded coil of rope, tossing it to Martha, “Get to work.”
-
Ianto retreated to his shuttle, or rather, the shuttle that had once been his, when the atmosphere in the kitchen became too much. He had a trunk of things to finish looking through, things that he hadn’t even realised he was missing. Not that it really mattered, all things considered. It wasn’t like he was likely to be whole enough to be thinking of anything in a few hours time.
And anyway, it was sort through the trunk or attempt to wash until he felt clean again, which he doubted he ever would. There were things you shouldn’t ever find yourself forced to do and tying the bodies of good people to a ship was one of them.
Ianto shuddered, lowering himself onto the now bare bench set into one of the walls of the shuttle’s main section and resting his head back against the wall. No matter what he did, he always seemed to end up back here, on this ship, knee deep in whatever trouble Jack Harkness had managed to attract at that particular time.
Ianto started, looking up as someone else stepped into the darkness of the shuttle; Jack, looking as worn as Ianto felt.
“Jack.”
The other man jumped visibly, turning towards the source of the voice, “Didn’t see you.”
Ianto offered Jack a faint smile, “I figured that.”
Jack stood, staring at Ianto for a long moment, clearly lost as to anything to say, before he cleared his throat, nodding towards the trunk set against the far wall. “Anything of use in there?”
Ianto glanced at the trunk automatically, before looking back up at the other man, “There might be.”
Jack hesitated for a moment longer before he moved across the room, easing himself down onto the bench beside Ianto, leaving the smallest gap possible between them, “You don’t have to stay in here. There’s empty rooms, if you wanna sleep awhile.”
Ianto raised an eyebrow, turning slightly so that he could see Jack’s face a little better, carefully not reacting as his leg pressed against Jack’s, “You think anyone’s going to sleep? Owen’s portioning out overdoses of morphine, just in case.” He imitated the doctor as he spoke the last, before shuddering faintly.
Jack shrugged, clearly unsurprised by his medic’s actions, before he glanced around at the dreary space they were sat within, dirty dust sheets and spare engine parts littering the area that Ianto had once used to meet clients, “I bet you didn’t miss this place.”
Ianto hesitated, watching Jack, before deciding that now wasn’t the time to lie, “Sometimes,” he smiled ruefully, “not so much right now.”
Jack snorted, dropping his gaze as he picked idly at a lose seam on his trousers, “Why did you leave?”
Ianto stiffened, dropping his own gaze, idly wondering if they would have ever had this conversation, had they not been staring death in the face so obviously, “Why didn’t you ask me not to?”
Jack’s head jerked up and he stared at Ianto, jaw tight with anger. It was always the same, Ianto thought to himself as Jack pushed himself stiffly to his feet, Jack never seeing what was right in front of him, Ianto refusing to spell it out for him. It wasn’t healthy, for either of them.
“I should check on the others. See how the inevitable mutiny is coming along.” Jack turned sharply on his heel, leaving the shuttle and Ianto’s vicinity as fast as he could without running, something else that hadn’t changed.
Ianto sighed, rubbing his temples before standing and crossing the room to kneel in front of the chest. He really should see if there was anything in it that might be useful, should they make it through Reaver space intact.
-
Ianto waited a few minutes after Rhys’ call before making his way up to the bridge, meeting Gwen as she appeared from the engine room, wiping her hands nervously on an already well oiled stained rag. Neither of them dared speak, scared that even one word might be enough to bring the Reavers down on them.
Ianto edged in, past Martha and John who had taken up positions either side of the door, John’s hand gripped tight around the butt of one of his guns, stopping with his chest pressed against the back of Jack’s chair, not caring what the others might think.
Gwen took up a similar position behind Rhys, one hand resting on her husband’s shoulder, the other gripping the back of his chair hard enough to turn her knuckles white.
Owen stood further back, in the shadows by the instrument boards, barely a foot from John’s position by the door, while Toshiko stood balanced on the chairs that occupied much of the lower bridge, her face as close to the glass as she could get it.
Rhys had the comm system open, the distorted grainy screams of the unfortunates in the space around them eerie and sickening. They couldn’t help them. Even if they weren’t trying to get across Reaver space untouched, they wouldn’t be able to help them. One ship against hundreds, it was terrible odds. Ianto shuddered, a chill running up his spine. He really hoped they didn’t wind up like that. Screaming into the night.
“Rhys.” Jack’s voice was soft as he nodded towards the off switch and Rhys nodded, flushing slightly as he realised what he’d done.
Ianto curled himself around the back of the chair as a Reaver ship moved closer, shining a light into the cabin. Ianto started when one of Jack’s hands found his, before he relaxed and squeezed back, his gaze remaining fixed on the Reavers as the ship turned away, disinterested.
It seemed to take an eternity to cross the small section of space that the Reavers had claimed as their own, but eventually they were free of it, their destination the only thing in sight from the bridge.
-
Ianto followed the others through the deserted streets of the city, a city that was more like one of the Central Planets than any of the border planets, all metal, glass and clean edges. Only it was too quiet, too empty, too wrong.
They passed through a tunnel, Martha ranging ahead of them all, shotgun ready, with John and Jack just a few metres behind. Martha was the one to spot something first, moving towards it with Jack close behind even as he signalled for the rest of them to stay put.
Ianto stared at the still form on the ground in front of Martha and swallowed hard. He didn’t need to get any closer to guess what it is, not with Haven so fresh in his mind. It was a body, the first of many if the silence is anything to go by.
“No entry wounds, fractures…” Martha listed off; her hand hovered just shy of the body as she crouched down beside it.
“Poison?” Jack questioned softly.
Martha shook her head, standing again.
They moved on, Gwen and Rhys unconsciously moving closer together, while Owen kept within a few feet of Toshiko at all times, his grip on his medical kit tightening.
John moved off ahead, towards a hovercraft that’s sat in the shadow of the one of the buildings on the other side of the street, lowering his gun as he peered into the interior, “More in here.” He calls back, tapping idly on the glass. “They’re just sittin’ here, didn’t crash…” He stopped shaking his head, brow furrowed as he stepped away from the hovercraft, moving back towards the rest of them.
Ianto glanced sideways at Toshiko who was looking around, her shoulders twitching, nervous energy barely contained, jumper than any of the rest of them. There was something that she knew about that none of the rest of them did, something terrible Ianto thought, watching her.
Gwen moved to the other side of the street, away from the cars, but Rhys reached out to stop her as she took a step closer to the window of an office building, his gaze fixed on something behind her. “Gwen love, you don’t want to….”
She turned, ignoring him, and screamed hands flying up to cover her mouth. Pressed up against the glass was a body, only unlike the others they’d seen so far this one was much better preserved.
John edged closer, pressing a hand to the glass, fascinated, “How come they’re preserved?”
Jack shrugged, “Place must have gone hermetic when the power blew. Sealed ‘em in.”
“There’s no discolouration, nobody’s doubled over or showing signs of pain…” Owen trailed off, mirroring John’s pose.
“There’s gasses that kill painless.” Jack said.
“But they didn’t fall down. None of them. They just…lay down.” Ianto argued, unconsciously taking a step closer to the window.
“More than anything it looks like starvation.” Owen said, pulling back away from the glass as Toshiko took a step away from them all, towards the centre of the street, drawing their attention away from the window and the grisly sight within.
Toshiko whimpered, raising her hands to her head, “Please make them stop, they’re everywhere, every city every house every room, they’re all inside me, I can hear them all and they’re saying nothing!” She sobbed, pulling away from Jack as he tried to calm her, “GET UP, PLEASE GET THEM UP!” She dropped to her knees, tears running down her face, cradling her head in her hands, “please God make me a stone….”
Jack and Owen knelt on either side of her, supporting her as she sobbed, face buried in her arms.
“She’s starting to damage my calm.” John glared down at Toshiko, his grip tightening on his gun.
“John.” Martha warned, as she took a step towards him.
“She’s right! Everybody’s dead, this whole world is dead for no reason.” John yelled at Martha and they all fell silent, unable to argue with him.
“We should get to the beacon.” Rhys spoke up after a moment and they all started to move again, not needing any further prompting. The sooner they reached the beacon, the sooner they could escape this God forsaken planet.
-
The beacon was hidden within a crashed Alliance research and rescue ship, a strange juxtaposition to everything else they’d seen. This at least showed signs of a dramatic ending.
Jack led the way into the darkened interior, Ianto trailing behind with Owen and Toshiko.
“This is the source?” Jack asked and Rhys nodded his confirmation.
“This place is all banged up to hell.” John kicked at a fragment of metal, his gun still held at the ready.
While the others all hovered at the edges of the room, not touching anything, while Toshiko moved forwards, reaching out to touch something on the central console. A holo-screen appeared, the blue light casting strange shadows as a woman’s image appeared and she started to give a report.
“These are just a few of the images we've recorded,” the images showed the same things they’d seen as they had made their way to the ship, of the people dead of no apparent cause, “and you can see it isn't...it isn't what we thought. There's been no war here, and no terriforming event. The environment is stable.”
The woman stopped, visibly gathering herself before she continued. It's the Pax, the G-32 Paxilon Hydroclorate that we added to the air processors well it works...it was supposed to calm the population, weed out aggression. The people here stopped fighting. And then they stopped everything else. They stopped going to work, stopped breeding, talking, eating. There's thirty million people here and they all just let themselves die. They just...most starved. When they stopped working the power grids, there were overloads, fires - people burned to death sitting in their chairs. Just sitting.”
She had started crying part way through, but now there were sounds in the background, banging, “I have to be quick. There was no one working the receptors when we landed, so we hit pretty hard. We can't leave. We can't take any of the local transports because....There are people...they're not people...about a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the Pax. Their aggressor response increased...beyond madness. They've become...they've killed most of us...not just killed, they've done...things.” The woman was shaking, and Ianto wanted so badly to look away but he couldn’t.
“Reavers... they made them...” Rhys whispered, clutching blinding at Gwen’s hand as she moved closer to him, hiding her face in his shoulder.
“I won't live to report this,” The woman continued, even as the background noises grew closer and she became visibly more agitated, “and we haven't got power to....people have to know....we meant it for the best....to make people safer....to....God!” The woman pulled a gun, screaming as shadows appeared, moving closer, before…Ianto turned away, closing his eyes as the woman fired off shoots, emptying her gun before there was a roar and she started to scream in pain.
He didn’t need to look to know what was happening.
“Turn it off.” John said, just as Rhys moved forwards to pull the tape from the player.
Jack turned, walking back out of the craft and Ianto followed, all too happy to get out of that place.
Ianto stopped in the outer doorway, judging how his presence was likely to be taken before he stepped out fully into the light, moving to stand close to Jack as he stared blindly at their surroundings. He needed to be close to him, just while he tried to deal with how he was feeling.
“I seen so much death....I been on fields carpeted with bodies, friends and enemies - I seen men and women blown to messes no further from me than you.” Jack’s voice was soft, just barely audible.
“Jack...”
“But every single one of those people died on their feet. Fighting. Or, hell, running away - doing summat to get through. This is.....”
Ianto shook his head, holding out a hand to stop Jack from continuing. He didn’t need to hear anymore, he’d heard enough about bad things for the time being, he needed something good. “Jack, I need your help with this. I need you to help me, because I can't -
Jack turned his head finally looking at Ianto, his expression softening slightly before he closed the distance between them and pulling Ianto in close. For the first time, Ianto didn’t resist, because at that moment, more than anything, he just needed to be held.
-
part three
Author: weaselett
Prompt: Serenity
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, slight Owen/Tosh
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some mention of injury, minor character death and some mild swear words.
Author's Notes: Beta'd by the lovely charlies_dragon - written for reel_torchwood.
part one
Ianto started, dropping the tunic that he’d just unearthed from the trunk and edging towards the entrance to the shuttle. He could hear voices and hurried footsteps coming from within the ship its self, which couldn’t even possibly be a good sign.
Knowing John, he’d probably decided to take matters into his own hands and had only managed to make the situation worse.
Ianto sighed, moving to step out of the shuttle. It wasn’t worth looking for the others, it was better if he kept an eye out for Toshiko himself, to make sure that she didn’t try to hide, or worse, take control, of one of the shuttles.
“Ianto.” Martha appeared on the metal gangway through the door leading from the kitchen, “Toshiko’s gotten loose, you seen her?”
Ianto shook his head, “No, I’m guessing John…”
Martha nodded grimly, leaning over the railing to look down into the cargo bay, “Who else.”
“Is he…?” Ianto broached, remembering what Jack had told him before, about the first sign of trouble being Toshiko taking out a whole bar of people, uncaring of whether they lived or not.
“Not a clue, first concern is finding her and making sure we don’t find ourselves even deeper in.” Martha said, turning as she caught sight of movement out of the corner of her eye. Gwen appeared on the gangway, hands in the air.
“There’s no sign of her.” Gwen said, glancing back over her shoulder as Rhys joined them, supporting a dazed looking Owen who had a hand to his forehead.
“I think she’s on the bridge.” Rhys said, tightening his grip on Owen as the other man swayed dangerously, “She took out Owen on the way.”
Owen made a disgusted noise, “Teach me to stand in doorways.”
Gwen smiled faintly, opening her mouth to comment only to be cut off by Jack’s voice coming over the com-system, “You’re all gunna want to see this.”
They hesitated, exchanging looks before Owen broke the silence, “We should fetch the idiot, make sure there’s nothing broken that weren’t already missing.”
-
John was the last one of file past Ianto and onto the bridge, holding a cold compress to the back of his head and glaring at Toshiko. He wasn’t likely to forgive anytime soon.
Ianto hung back, leaning on the doorway, letting the others get in closer to the screen as Jack brought up the display, Toshiko perched in the chair beside him, her eyes lowered. It was hard to believe that she could be dangerous, but Ianto had seen evidence of it before he’d left for the Training House.
The image of the planet on the view screen spun as information appeared beside it; name of the planet, location, any details that were stored in the Cortex for all to see, if they knew what to look for. The planet Miranda in all her glory.
Gwen edged closer, hand reaching out and stopping just short of the screen before she turned back to the rest of them, eyes wide, “How can it be there's a whole planet called Miranda and none of us knowed that?”
Jack shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the console, “because there isn't one. It's a black-rock. Uninhabitable. Terraforming didn't take or somesuch. Few settlers died.”
Ianto frowned, there had to be more to it than that. There’d been other planets that the Alliance had failed to settle, other planets that settlers had died on. Something about Miranda was worth killing for, or so the Alliance seemed to think, or maybe this wasn’t what the Alliance was after. Maybe Miranda was just the tip of the iceberg of information that Toshiko had floating around in her head. Ianto glanced at her, only to find her gaze already fixed on him. He shifted is weight, ducking his head, silently apologising to her. He shouldn’t be thinking about her like that.
“Was it right before the war?” Martha asked and Jack nodded.
“Think so.”
Gwen gasped, covering her mouth, eyes wide, “Oh God! I remember.” Rhys reached out, drawing his wife close as she ducked her head for a moment before looking up at them all again, her jaw set, “Some years back, before the war. There was call for workers to settle on Miranda, my daddy talked about going. I should've recalled.”
“But there's nothing about it on the Cortex, history, astronomy...it's not there.” Rhys said, reassuring his wife. None of them but Toshiko had any idea what Miranda’s secret was, but they were all acting like it was something terrible, which it probably was, considering that the Alliance seemed to want it buried so bad. It was just strange to watch; maybe the not knowing made it seem all the more fearsome.
Jack shrugged, “Half of writing history is hiding the truth. There's something on this rock the Alliance doesn't want known.”
Ianto hesitated for a moment, aware that what he was about to suggest might be the worst idea possible, before he spoke, “That's right at the edge of the Burnham Quadrant, right? Furthest planet out. It's not far from here...”
“Whoa, no, no…” Rhys interrupted, easing out of Gwen’s grip and moving to the controls, even as Martha voiced her own concerns. She moved to stand over Rhys watching as he panned out, away from Miranda to show the space around it.
“This is us see?” Martha explained and Rhys moved so that they all had a good view of the screen, “and here's Miranda. All along here, this dead space in between, that's Reaver territory.”
Ianto winced, taking an involuntary step back. Reavers. He shuddered, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing sideways at Jack. Reavers were bad news, more than bad news, they were the closet thing to pure evil that Ianto could imagine.
Reavers didn’t care, about themselves or anything but killing and making people hurt. They weren’t human, they looked human but they weren’t. Ianto swallowed against the bile threatening at the back of his throat, remembering the times when he’d been unfortunate enough to witness the aftermath of a Reaver attack.
“They just float out there, sending out raiding parties.” Rhys said.
“Nobody ventures there, not even the Alliance.” Martha finished, her gaze set on Jack as she turned away from the screen, “You go through that and you’re signing up to be banquet.”
Rhys refocused his attention of the controls, settling into his customary chair and taking the controls, “I'm on board with the run and hide scenario and we are just about..” He trailed off, staring at his instruments for a moment before he looked up, out of the window. “Wait…”
Smoke drifted up in front of the window, drawing them all to look and silence took hold of the bridge, all thoughts of Miranda chased away by the sight in front of them.
Haven burning.
-
The ramp seemed to take an eternity to lower, the stench of smoke of death seeping in as they waited. Ianto had only ever been to Haven twice before, it hadn’t been until after he’d left for the Training House that Jack had taken to using the settlement as a favoured berth, which probably had something to do with the Preacher’s decision to settle down there.
In the end he’d wanted to escape the ship as much as Ianto had, only for different reasons.
Ianto trailed John and Jack as they ran through the settlement, searching the bodies for the one that none of them wanted to see, while Gwen’s voice echoed eerily as she called out, her cries getting slowly more desperate.
There were bodies everywhere, interspersed with debris from the smouldering Alliance ship and the destroyed buildings of the settlement. Ianto winced as he narrowly missed standing on an outstretched hand, hurrying as the other two vanished behind a mound of debris.
“Get the doc.” Jack ordered John just as Ianto rounded the mound, catching sight of the man slumped against it, blood staining the surrounding ground. Ianto winced, closing his eyes and stopping a few metres from where Jack was crouched at his friend’s side. It was Jack’s place, not his.
“Don’t you move now Preacher.” Jack warned, taking the other man’s hand as dark eyes fluttered open and Shepherd Smith smiled.
“Won't go far.”
“Shouldn't've been you. I'm so sorry, it was...they should've hit us, should’ve hit me.” Jack was squeezing the Shepherd’s hand, his gaze jumping from the man’s wound to his face as he struggled to retain his composure.
“That crossed my mind.” The Shepherd coughed, eyes closing for a moment before he swallowed, opening them again to meet Jack’s gaze, a faint smile touching his bloodstained lips, “ I shot him down..”
“I seen.”
“I killed the ship that killed us. Not very Christian of me.”
Jack shook his head, “You did what's right.”
“Coming from you, that means almost nothing,” the Shepherd struggled for breath and Jack shook his again gently making the other man cough painfully, “ah I’m long gone.”
Ianto winced, glancing back towards the ship, wondering what was taking Owen so long, hating how helpless he was. There was nothing he could do to help the Preacher, and little he could do to help Jack. All he could do was stand witness.
“Doc'll bring you round. I look to be bored by many more sermons 'fore you slip, don't move.” Jack slipped a supporting arm under the other man, preventing him from moving any further despite the hand that batted his chest in complaint.
“Can't order me around, I'm not one of your crew.”
“Yes, yes you are.”
“Toshiko.” The Shepherd focused with difficulty, reaching up with both hands to hold Jack’s head and pull him in close, forcing him to listen, “I don't care what you believe! just...believe it. Whatever you have to...” His hands feel lip to his sides, his eyes staring blankly up at the sky even as Jack shook him.
Ianto took a step forward, almost reaching out to pull Jack away but stopping himself short, “Jack.”
Jack’s shoulders slumped and he released the Shepherd’s body, sitting back on his heels staring numbly at a point somewhere in the distance as the others came running, too late.
Jack stood stiffly as the others skidded to a halt, keeping his back to them all for a moment before he turned and walked past them, back towards the ship. Owen took his place next to the Shepherd’s body, hand hovering for a moment before he slumped, closing his eyes and pressing a hand against his forehead.
Ianto followed Jack’s progress but made no move to follow him. He wouldn’t be wanted, he knew that much and there was something Jack was leaving to do. Something that he wanted to do himself.
“How come they ain't waiting? they know'd we was coming, how come they only sent one?” John asked, breaking the silence.
Martha shook her head in reply, expression grim, “They didn't know we'd come here.” She turned to Rhys, her voice rising in volume with each word, “Get on the Cortex, wave the Sanchez brothers, Li Shen - anyone who’s ever sheltered us after a heist. Tell them to get out. Get out now.”
Ianto closed his eyes, lowering his head and muttering a prayer, the image of the downed craft behind him and the Operative walking up the steps to the Training House overlaid in his mind.
If she hadn’t known where they were headed, then any message was likely to be too late to be of any aid.
-
Jack emerged from the ship as they returned from their individual searches for survivors, grouping together in silence, all still too numb to know what to say.
John had gathered all of the weapons that he had seen during his search and he piled them haphazardly, checking each one before adding it to his growing pile. Owen and Martha, with some help from Gwen, had covered some of the bodies, while Ianto and Rhys just watched Toshiko wander.
It was strange, almost disturbing, watching Toshiko wander through the devastation. She looked at bodies, but she didn’t seem to see them, she reacted more to the inanimate objects than she did the dead. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, or at least Ianto hoped it wasn’t because she didn’t care. It was more like she just couldn’t react.
Ianto shuddered and turned away from her to watch Jack approach. He frowned, taking in Jack’s stiff posture and his expression, everything about him screamed purpose.
“Get these bodies together.” Jack ordered, throwing a coil of rope to Martha and nodding towards the covered forms. Martha’s eyes narrowed and she straightened, watching Jack carefully.
“We got time for gravedigging?”
Jack ignored her, continuing as though she hadn’t spoken, “Martha, you and Owen are gonna rope ‘em together. Five or six of ‘em. I want them laid out on the nose of our ship.”
“Are you insane?” Owen grabbed the coil of rope from Martha and threw it back towards Jack, his eyes blazing with anger.
“What do you mean the bodies...?” Gwen edged in closer, eyes wide.
“Gwen, I need you to muck the reactor core, just enough to leave a trail and make it read like we're flying without containment, not enough to fry us.” Jack said, still refusing to hear anything any of them said.
“These people are our friends…” Gwen objected, close to tears.
“Gwen, you've got a day's work to do and two hours to do it in. John, you and Rhys hoist up that cannon mount. Goes right on top, piece or two of the other ship, stick it on. Any place you can tear hull without inner breach, do that too. And we're going to need paint. We're gonna need red paint.” Jack motioned towards the ship as he spoke before turning, searching their surroundings for what he needed.
“Oh merciful Buddha protect us.” Ianto whispered, turning his back on Jack and taking a few steps away. If he argued it was likely that Jack would either shot or leave him with the dead. If he didn’t he would have to help corrupt the only place he had ever really considered home. There didn’t seem to be a good choice.
“Jack, do you really mean to turn our home into an abomination so we can make a suicidal attempt at passing through Reaver space?” Martha asked, her voice taking on the same tone as it did when she was threatening to kill someone and it was she who finally managed to raise a response from Jack.
“I mean to live. I mean for us to live. The Alliance won't have that, so we go where they won't follow.”
“God's balls there's no way we're going out there.” John said, his words soon followed by everyone but Toshiko and Ianto trying to make themselves heard. Ianto took a step away from the main group and closer to Toshiko. Jack’s plan was horrific, but Ianto knew the expression on Jack’s face. It was the look of a man who would not be swayed.
Jack pulled his gun as John stepping into his personal space and the ther man reacted instantly, backing off and reaching for his own gun as Jack started to speak, “This is how it works. Anybody doesn't wanna fly with me anymore, this is your port of harbour.”
Jack moved through the group, his gun held ready, his gaze fixed on the hunk of wrecked Alliance ship and the man that Ianto could now see struggling to escape it. Jack fired a single shot, dropping the man instantly, before turning back to his crew, his expression unchanged, “There’s a lot of fine ways to die. I’m not waiting for the Alliance to decide mine. I mean to confound these bungers, and take my shot at getting to Miranda, maybe finding out what all I'm dying for. That’s the only path I see left and I got to walk it. So I hear a word out of any of you that ain't helping me out or taking your leave, I will shoot you.”
Jack lent down to pick up the discarded coil of rope, tossing it to Martha, “Get to work.”
-
Ianto retreated to his shuttle, or rather, the shuttle that had once been his, when the atmosphere in the kitchen became too much. He had a trunk of things to finish looking through, things that he hadn’t even realised he was missing. Not that it really mattered, all things considered. It wasn’t like he was likely to be whole enough to be thinking of anything in a few hours time.
And anyway, it was sort through the trunk or attempt to wash until he felt clean again, which he doubted he ever would. There were things you shouldn’t ever find yourself forced to do and tying the bodies of good people to a ship was one of them.
Ianto shuddered, lowering himself onto the now bare bench set into one of the walls of the shuttle’s main section and resting his head back against the wall. No matter what he did, he always seemed to end up back here, on this ship, knee deep in whatever trouble Jack Harkness had managed to attract at that particular time.
Ianto started, looking up as someone else stepped into the darkness of the shuttle; Jack, looking as worn as Ianto felt.
“Jack.”
The other man jumped visibly, turning towards the source of the voice, “Didn’t see you.”
Ianto offered Jack a faint smile, “I figured that.”
Jack stood, staring at Ianto for a long moment, clearly lost as to anything to say, before he cleared his throat, nodding towards the trunk set against the far wall. “Anything of use in there?”
Ianto glanced at the trunk automatically, before looking back up at the other man, “There might be.”
Jack hesitated for a moment longer before he moved across the room, easing himself down onto the bench beside Ianto, leaving the smallest gap possible between them, “You don’t have to stay in here. There’s empty rooms, if you wanna sleep awhile.”
Ianto raised an eyebrow, turning slightly so that he could see Jack’s face a little better, carefully not reacting as his leg pressed against Jack’s, “You think anyone’s going to sleep? Owen’s portioning out overdoses of morphine, just in case.” He imitated the doctor as he spoke the last, before shuddering faintly.
Jack shrugged, clearly unsurprised by his medic’s actions, before he glanced around at the dreary space they were sat within, dirty dust sheets and spare engine parts littering the area that Ianto had once used to meet clients, “I bet you didn’t miss this place.”
Ianto hesitated, watching Jack, before deciding that now wasn’t the time to lie, “Sometimes,” he smiled ruefully, “not so much right now.”
Jack snorted, dropping his gaze as he picked idly at a lose seam on his trousers, “Why did you leave?”
Ianto stiffened, dropping his own gaze, idly wondering if they would have ever had this conversation, had they not been staring death in the face so obviously, “Why didn’t you ask me not to?”
Jack’s head jerked up and he stared at Ianto, jaw tight with anger. It was always the same, Ianto thought to himself as Jack pushed himself stiffly to his feet, Jack never seeing what was right in front of him, Ianto refusing to spell it out for him. It wasn’t healthy, for either of them.
“I should check on the others. See how the inevitable mutiny is coming along.” Jack turned sharply on his heel, leaving the shuttle and Ianto’s vicinity as fast as he could without running, something else that hadn’t changed.
Ianto sighed, rubbing his temples before standing and crossing the room to kneel in front of the chest. He really should see if there was anything in it that might be useful, should they make it through Reaver space intact.
-
Ianto waited a few minutes after Rhys’ call before making his way up to the bridge, meeting Gwen as she appeared from the engine room, wiping her hands nervously on an already well oiled stained rag. Neither of them dared speak, scared that even one word might be enough to bring the Reavers down on them.
Ianto edged in, past Martha and John who had taken up positions either side of the door, John’s hand gripped tight around the butt of one of his guns, stopping with his chest pressed against the back of Jack’s chair, not caring what the others might think.
Gwen took up a similar position behind Rhys, one hand resting on her husband’s shoulder, the other gripping the back of his chair hard enough to turn her knuckles white.
Owen stood further back, in the shadows by the instrument boards, barely a foot from John’s position by the door, while Toshiko stood balanced on the chairs that occupied much of the lower bridge, her face as close to the glass as she could get it.
Rhys had the comm system open, the distorted grainy screams of the unfortunates in the space around them eerie and sickening. They couldn’t help them. Even if they weren’t trying to get across Reaver space untouched, they wouldn’t be able to help them. One ship against hundreds, it was terrible odds. Ianto shuddered, a chill running up his spine. He really hoped they didn’t wind up like that. Screaming into the night.
“Rhys.” Jack’s voice was soft as he nodded towards the off switch and Rhys nodded, flushing slightly as he realised what he’d done.
Ianto curled himself around the back of the chair as a Reaver ship moved closer, shining a light into the cabin. Ianto started when one of Jack’s hands found his, before he relaxed and squeezed back, his gaze remaining fixed on the Reavers as the ship turned away, disinterested.
It seemed to take an eternity to cross the small section of space that the Reavers had claimed as their own, but eventually they were free of it, their destination the only thing in sight from the bridge.
-
Ianto followed the others through the deserted streets of the city, a city that was more like one of the Central Planets than any of the border planets, all metal, glass and clean edges. Only it was too quiet, too empty, too wrong.
They passed through a tunnel, Martha ranging ahead of them all, shotgun ready, with John and Jack just a few metres behind. Martha was the one to spot something first, moving towards it with Jack close behind even as he signalled for the rest of them to stay put.
Ianto stared at the still form on the ground in front of Martha and swallowed hard. He didn’t need to get any closer to guess what it is, not with Haven so fresh in his mind. It was a body, the first of many if the silence is anything to go by.
“No entry wounds, fractures…” Martha listed off; her hand hovered just shy of the body as she crouched down beside it.
“Poison?” Jack questioned softly.
Martha shook her head, standing again.
They moved on, Gwen and Rhys unconsciously moving closer together, while Owen kept within a few feet of Toshiko at all times, his grip on his medical kit tightening.
John moved off ahead, towards a hovercraft that’s sat in the shadow of the one of the buildings on the other side of the street, lowering his gun as he peered into the interior, “More in here.” He calls back, tapping idly on the glass. “They’re just sittin’ here, didn’t crash…” He stopped shaking his head, brow furrowed as he stepped away from the hovercraft, moving back towards the rest of them.
Ianto glanced sideways at Toshiko who was looking around, her shoulders twitching, nervous energy barely contained, jumper than any of the rest of them. There was something that she knew about that none of the rest of them did, something terrible Ianto thought, watching her.
Gwen moved to the other side of the street, away from the cars, but Rhys reached out to stop her as she took a step closer to the window of an office building, his gaze fixed on something behind her. “Gwen love, you don’t want to….”
She turned, ignoring him, and screamed hands flying up to cover her mouth. Pressed up against the glass was a body, only unlike the others they’d seen so far this one was much better preserved.
John edged closer, pressing a hand to the glass, fascinated, “How come they’re preserved?”
Jack shrugged, “Place must have gone hermetic when the power blew. Sealed ‘em in.”
“There’s no discolouration, nobody’s doubled over or showing signs of pain…” Owen trailed off, mirroring John’s pose.
“There’s gasses that kill painless.” Jack said.
“But they didn’t fall down. None of them. They just…lay down.” Ianto argued, unconsciously taking a step closer to the window.
“More than anything it looks like starvation.” Owen said, pulling back away from the glass as Toshiko took a step away from them all, towards the centre of the street, drawing their attention away from the window and the grisly sight within.
Toshiko whimpered, raising her hands to her head, “Please make them stop, they’re everywhere, every city every house every room, they’re all inside me, I can hear them all and they’re saying nothing!” She sobbed, pulling away from Jack as he tried to calm her, “GET UP, PLEASE GET THEM UP!” She dropped to her knees, tears running down her face, cradling her head in her hands, “please God make me a stone….”
Jack and Owen knelt on either side of her, supporting her as she sobbed, face buried in her arms.
“She’s starting to damage my calm.” John glared down at Toshiko, his grip tightening on his gun.
“John.” Martha warned, as she took a step towards him.
“She’s right! Everybody’s dead, this whole world is dead for no reason.” John yelled at Martha and they all fell silent, unable to argue with him.
“We should get to the beacon.” Rhys spoke up after a moment and they all started to move again, not needing any further prompting. The sooner they reached the beacon, the sooner they could escape this God forsaken planet.
-
The beacon was hidden within a crashed Alliance research and rescue ship, a strange juxtaposition to everything else they’d seen. This at least showed signs of a dramatic ending.
Jack led the way into the darkened interior, Ianto trailing behind with Owen and Toshiko.
“This is the source?” Jack asked and Rhys nodded his confirmation.
“This place is all banged up to hell.” John kicked at a fragment of metal, his gun still held at the ready.
While the others all hovered at the edges of the room, not touching anything, while Toshiko moved forwards, reaching out to touch something on the central console. A holo-screen appeared, the blue light casting strange shadows as a woman’s image appeared and she started to give a report.
“These are just a few of the images we've recorded,” the images showed the same things they’d seen as they had made their way to the ship, of the people dead of no apparent cause, “and you can see it isn't...it isn't what we thought. There's been no war here, and no terriforming event. The environment is stable.”
The woman stopped, visibly gathering herself before she continued. It's the Pax, the G-32 Paxilon Hydroclorate that we added to the air processors well it works...it was supposed to calm the population, weed out aggression. The people here stopped fighting. And then they stopped everything else. They stopped going to work, stopped breeding, talking, eating. There's thirty million people here and they all just let themselves die. They just...most starved. When they stopped working the power grids, there were overloads, fires - people burned to death sitting in their chairs. Just sitting.”
She had started crying part way through, but now there were sounds in the background, banging, “I have to be quick. There was no one working the receptors when we landed, so we hit pretty hard. We can't leave. We can't take any of the local transports because....There are people...they're not people...about a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the Pax. Their aggressor response increased...beyond madness. They've become...they've killed most of us...not just killed, they've done...things.” The woman was shaking, and Ianto wanted so badly to look away but he couldn’t.
“Reavers... they made them...” Rhys whispered, clutching blinding at Gwen’s hand as she moved closer to him, hiding her face in his shoulder.
“I won't live to report this,” The woman continued, even as the background noises grew closer and she became visibly more agitated, “and we haven't got power to....people have to know....we meant it for the best....to make people safer....to....God!” The woman pulled a gun, screaming as shadows appeared, moving closer, before…Ianto turned away, closing his eyes as the woman fired off shoots, emptying her gun before there was a roar and she started to scream in pain.
He didn’t need to look to know what was happening.
“Turn it off.” John said, just as Rhys moved forwards to pull the tape from the player.
Jack turned, walking back out of the craft and Ianto followed, all too happy to get out of that place.
Ianto stopped in the outer doorway, judging how his presence was likely to be taken before he stepped out fully into the light, moving to stand close to Jack as he stared blindly at their surroundings. He needed to be close to him, just while he tried to deal with how he was feeling.
“I seen so much death....I been on fields carpeted with bodies, friends and enemies - I seen men and women blown to messes no further from me than you.” Jack’s voice was soft, just barely audible.
“Jack...”
“But every single one of those people died on their feet. Fighting. Or, hell, running away - doing summat to get through. This is.....”
Ianto shook his head, holding out a hand to stop Jack from continuing. He didn’t need to hear anymore, he’d heard enough about bad things for the time being, he needed something good. “Jack, I need your help with this. I need you to help me, because I can't -
Jack turned his head finally looking at Ianto, his expression softening slightly before he closed the distance between them and pulling Ianto in close. For the first time, Ianto didn’t resist, because at that moment, more than anything, he just needed to be held.
-
part three