Fic: Torchwood et la Bête (Team. Jack/Ianto PG-13) Chapter 26 / 28
Title: Torchwood et la Bête
by wynkat1313
Pairing(s) Team, Jack/Ianto, Tosh/OC, references to Gwen/Rhys
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Enticements: Some mild violence, a near death, romance, and a whole lot of colored lights
Spoilers: Anything is S1 is fair game as this takes place about mid S2
Prompt: Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) written for Reel_Torchwood round one
Beta’d by the amazing and incredibly patient and geeky temporal_witch , bless you hun!
Summary: When the team is invited to France to assist in a UNIT investigation of unusual Rift Activity, they go with dreams of a quick mission and a chance for a little R & R. Instead they find a wall of roses, an alien, and a mystery. Really, you’d think they would know better by now, they are Torchwood after all, and *nothing* in their world is ever simple.
Author's Note:
Since this got REALLY long, I am going to post it chapter by chapter - a little Romance / Action/Adventure Serial-ness for everyone's viewing pleasure :) There are 28 chapter's total, so this will take a bit. If you really want to know how it ends before then, the PDF is still up at my writing journal :D along with a few surprises related to the story, 'cause i could.
Start at Chapter One
Chapter Twenty-Six
Light flared outside the balcony window, a shimmer of gold and green, followed by the pervasive blue. The barrier walls vibrated back into life. Animals called out throughout the garden, startled by the surge of power around them.
“Looks like they did it,” Owen said.
“Mm-hmm,” Ianto nodded, turning away from the fading glow and back to Beast.
On the bed, Beast surged up, his eyes open and staring towards the ceiling. His breath came in ragged gusts and he shook from side to side. After a moment, the tremors subsided and Beast was left gasping for breath.
“Beast! What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Ianto…” Beast wheezed.
“Yes. Can you tell us what’s happening to you?”
“I can see home!” Beast reached out to grasp at something beyond Ianto’s shoulder. “I can see… but I can’t reach it.”
Ianto looked at Owen, who shrugged.
“I’m almost home, but I’m here.” Beast turned and grabbed Ianto’s arms. “Trapped forever. I can see home, but I can never be home. That’s the cruelest thing they could have done.”
“Who? What did they do to you?”
A shock wave of energy poured over them from the garden, followed by a blast of sound and golden light. Beast reared up again, nearly pushing both Owen and Ianto off the bed as he reached desperately for something outside the bedroom.
“Please! Please…”
A moment later Beast collapsed backward, screaming like his soul was being pulled from his body. When the sound stopped, near-silent words from another world began pouring out of his mouth while his eyes tracked motion that only he could see.
“That blast has to have been them getting into the ship. Shouldn’t that have made things better instead of worse?” Ianto asked.
“I don’t know,” Owen said, pulling equipment from his bag. He ran his scanner through a set of tests and shook his head.
“What?”
“This doesn’t make any bloody sense!”
“Owen!”
“The breakdown of his cells has accelerated.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s almost as though something is tearing him apart on the genetic level.”
“How do we stop it?”
Owen shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Not good enough!” Ianto leaned his chest on top of Beast to keep the alien from throwing himself off the bed and reached up to tap the comm at his ear. “Jack.”
Static crackled along the channel for a moment and then Jack’s voice filled Ianto’s ears. “We found Avenant and the keys,” Jack said. “We’ve opened the ship.”
“We know. Jack, listen… Beast is worse.”
“How is that possible?”
“Something is tearing him apart, Jack,” Owen said, joining the conversation. “There has to be more going on. It’s not just the crystals going missing.”
“Damn.”
“It started when you opened the ship,” Ianto said.
“So he’s tied to the ship somehow,” Jack surmised.
“Seems that way,” Owen added.
“Did he tell you anything about it? How to work the controls or anything?”
Ianto shook his head. “Just that he is trapped here.”
“Not if we can get the ship working, he’s not.”
“I think it’s more than that. He kept saying he could see home but he couldn’t touch it.”
“He could see home but not touch it?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Huh.”
“What are you thinking?” Owen asked.
“Sounds like a Temporal Divider.”
“Meaning what?”
Jack sighed, the sound echoing along the comm link. “I’m not sure. They’re damn hard to create by mistake and they take a hell of a lot of power to maintain. I’ve only seen it done once before and it wasn’t for a joy ride.”
“He said it was it was the cruelest thing that could have been done to him,” Ianto said.
“It would be. It’s probably the nastiest form of prison cell around. Lock someone in one place and tie their essence to another. They’re split in time and space until the lock is released.”
“That’s horrible!”
“Yeah.”
There was a long pause, and then Jack spoke again. “Well, now we know what to look for here in the ship. I think can give Tosh and Gwen enough information to track down the lock. Breaking it is going to be another matter…”
“You’re good at locks.”
“Yeah.” Ianto thought he could hear a tired smile in Jack’s voice before the other man continued. “Let me know if Beast tells you anything else.”
“Will do,” Ianto agreed.
Ianto tapped his earpiece off and looked over at Owen.
“You know,” Owen said. “Just once I’d like an alien to come through on holiday. Stay a few days, share a drink, take a couple of photos and go home. No hassles, no plots to kill humanity or each other. Is that so much to ask for?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve forgotten what going on holiday feels like.”
“Yeah.”
Owen looked at the alien shaking on the bed beneath them and growled. He could almost see Beast coming apart at the seams and that made him angry. He was a doctor who dealt with aliens every day. He should be able to figure out how to help Beast, but he was stuck holding him in place so he didn’t do himself more damage while others hunted for a solution.
Ianto squeezed Owen’s shoulder. Owen looked over at the younger man. He saw the exhaustion that still etched lines around his eyes, but beyond that was determination and a promise that once again they were in this together. Owen nodded and adjusted his hold on Beast’s arm.
by wynkat1313
Pairing(s) Team, Jack/Ianto, Tosh/OC, references to Gwen/Rhys
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Enticements: Some mild violence, a near death, romance, and a whole lot of colored lights
Spoilers: Anything is S1 is fair game as this takes place about mid S2
Prompt: Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) written for Reel_Torchwood round one
Beta’d by the amazing and incredibly patient and geeky temporal_witch , bless you hun!
Summary: When the team is invited to France to assist in a UNIT investigation of unusual Rift Activity, they go with dreams of a quick mission and a chance for a little R & R. Instead they find a wall of roses, an alien, and a mystery. Really, you’d think they would know better by now, they are Torchwood after all, and *nothing* in their world is ever simple.
Author's Note:
Since this got REALLY long, I am going to post it chapter by chapter - a little Romance / Action/Adventure Serial-ness for everyone's viewing pleasure :) There are 28 chapter's total, so this will take a bit. If you really want to know how it ends before then, the PDF is still up at my writing journal :D along with a few surprises related to the story, 'cause i could.
Start at Chapter One
Chapter Twenty-Six
Light flared outside the balcony window, a shimmer of gold and green, followed by the pervasive blue. The barrier walls vibrated back into life. Animals called out throughout the garden, startled by the surge of power around them.
“Looks like they did it,” Owen said.
“Mm-hmm,” Ianto nodded, turning away from the fading glow and back to Beast.
On the bed, Beast surged up, his eyes open and staring towards the ceiling. His breath came in ragged gusts and he shook from side to side. After a moment, the tremors subsided and Beast was left gasping for breath.
“Beast! What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Ianto…” Beast wheezed.
“Yes. Can you tell us what’s happening to you?”
“I can see home!” Beast reached out to grasp at something beyond Ianto’s shoulder. “I can see… but I can’t reach it.”
Ianto looked at Owen, who shrugged.
“I’m almost home, but I’m here.” Beast turned and grabbed Ianto’s arms. “Trapped forever. I can see home, but I can never be home. That’s the cruelest thing they could have done.”
“Who? What did they do to you?”
A shock wave of energy poured over them from the garden, followed by a blast of sound and golden light. Beast reared up again, nearly pushing both Owen and Ianto off the bed as he reached desperately for something outside the bedroom.
“Please! Please…”
A moment later Beast collapsed backward, screaming like his soul was being pulled from his body. When the sound stopped, near-silent words from another world began pouring out of his mouth while his eyes tracked motion that only he could see.
“That blast has to have been them getting into the ship. Shouldn’t that have made things better instead of worse?” Ianto asked.
“I don’t know,” Owen said, pulling equipment from his bag. He ran his scanner through a set of tests and shook his head.
“What?”
“This doesn’t make any bloody sense!”
“Owen!”
“The breakdown of his cells has accelerated.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s almost as though something is tearing him apart on the genetic level.”
“How do we stop it?”
Owen shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Not good enough!” Ianto leaned his chest on top of Beast to keep the alien from throwing himself off the bed and reached up to tap the comm at his ear. “Jack.”
Static crackled along the channel for a moment and then Jack’s voice filled Ianto’s ears. “We found Avenant and the keys,” Jack said. “We’ve opened the ship.”
“We know. Jack, listen… Beast is worse.”
“How is that possible?”
“Something is tearing him apart, Jack,” Owen said, joining the conversation. “There has to be more going on. It’s not just the crystals going missing.”
“Damn.”
“It started when you opened the ship,” Ianto said.
“So he’s tied to the ship somehow,” Jack surmised.
“Seems that way,” Owen added.
“Did he tell you anything about it? How to work the controls or anything?”
Ianto shook his head. “Just that he is trapped here.”
“Not if we can get the ship working, he’s not.”
“I think it’s more than that. He kept saying he could see home but he couldn’t touch it.”
“He could see home but not touch it?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Huh.”
“What are you thinking?” Owen asked.
“Sounds like a Temporal Divider.”
“Meaning what?”
Jack sighed, the sound echoing along the comm link. “I’m not sure. They’re damn hard to create by mistake and they take a hell of a lot of power to maintain. I’ve only seen it done once before and it wasn’t for a joy ride.”
“He said it was it was the cruelest thing that could have been done to him,” Ianto said.
“It would be. It’s probably the nastiest form of prison cell around. Lock someone in one place and tie their essence to another. They’re split in time and space until the lock is released.”
“That’s horrible!”
“Yeah.”
There was a long pause, and then Jack spoke again. “Well, now we know what to look for here in the ship. I think can give Tosh and Gwen enough information to track down the lock. Breaking it is going to be another matter…”
“You’re good at locks.”
“Yeah.” Ianto thought he could hear a tired smile in Jack’s voice before the other man continued. “Let me know if Beast tells you anything else.”
“Will do,” Ianto agreed.
Ianto tapped his earpiece off and looked over at Owen.
“You know,” Owen said. “Just once I’d like an alien to come through on holiday. Stay a few days, share a drink, take a couple of photos and go home. No hassles, no plots to kill humanity or each other. Is that so much to ask for?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve forgotten what going on holiday feels like.”
“Yeah.”
Owen looked at the alien shaking on the bed beneath them and growled. He could almost see Beast coming apart at the seams and that made him angry. He was a doctor who dealt with aliens every day. He should be able to figure out how to help Beast, but he was stuck holding him in place so he didn’t do himself more damage while others hunted for a solution.
Ianto squeezed Owen’s shoulder. Owen looked over at the younger man. He saw the exhaustion that still etched lines around his eyes, but beyond that was determination and a promise that once again they were in this together. Owen nodded and adjusted his hold on Beast’s arm.