Jack and Ianto's Foray Into Troy 2/11
Crossover: Torchwood/The Trojan War
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Achilles/Patroclus, Hector/Andromache, others mentioned
Word Count: Oh, goodness knows.
Number of Parts: 10 plus an Epilogue
Summary: It's the day of Achilles' famous walk-out on the Greek army.
Part 2
When they had first arrived at Troy, Jack had thought that there was nothing better than the sight of Ianto in a wet white toga. However, when the Welshman appeared in front of him two days later, he realised that he might have to revise that opinion.
“Nice,” he said, winking appreciatively. “You know, I never thought of you in armour, but it really looks fantastic on you.”
Ianto smiled cheekily. “You don’t look so bad, yourself,” he said. “I love the sandals too - always thought the lace-ups looked very sexy on you.”
“Well…my ankles are one of my best features.”
“Oh, I won’t argue with that. Mind you, I’d be careful if I were you - you don’t want to end up getting tan-lines, now do you?”
Jack snorted. “Careful with your manners, young man,” he said, before kissing him quickly. “Where’s Achilles then?”
“He went off to speak with Agamemnon a little while ago and they summoned the others. It all seemed pretty civil between them, actually.”
Jack frowned. Although they had only been there for two days, it was already clear that their new friend did not see eye to eye with his leader, the son of Atreus. He respected him as a fighter, that was for sure, but he didn’t like him very much. From what they had heard from Patroclus, as well as from the wise Odysseus, Achilles felt that he wasn’t treated with the respect due to a great hero such as himself. It was said, in fact, that he was the only one who was a match for the Trojan prince, Hector.
Personally, as fond as he was becoming of him, Jack thought that Achilles had a bit of a swollen head, though he had to admit that Agamemnon did not exactly appear to be a favourable character himself.
Ianto shrugged when these opinions were voiced. “You have to consider that this is a very different society to ours, Jack,” he said. “For these men, being the best at what they do is what they know best. They hope to gain fame as heroes by killing other heroes.”
“I know, but,” Jack shook his head. “It just doesn’t seem like much of a life, somehow.”
“No, but it’s what they know. You’ve been in war, Jack; you have a sense of honour.”
“But it’s not really honour to kill men, if they’ve not done anything wrong,” said Jack. “In fact, it’s the worst type of dishonour I can think of. A true hero, Ianto - a true hero isn’t judged on the number -”
“A true hero isn’t judged on the number of lives he takes, but on the number of lives he saves. I know that, Jack, I know, but that’s not the way things work around here.” Ianto flopped down with a sigh. “You don’t have to like it, but while we’re here, we’re just going to have to learn to live with it.”
Jack shrugged. “When we get back, I swear I am going to be having words with the Rift.”
“If we get back, you mean.”
“No - when we get back. Hey,” Jack caught Ianto’s face in his hands. “We will get back.”
“Mmm,” Ianto murmured and rested his head on Jack’s shoulder. “Hey - when did this conversation get so intense all of a sudden?”
“Oh…I was saying that I didn’t think much of Agamemnon from what Patroclus and Odysseus have told us.” Jack sat up with a smirk. “But before that…I believe I was telling you exactly how good you look in that armour.”
“Oh, yeah - and I was warning you about tan-lines, which, by the way, you really should be paying attention to.”
Jack growled at him. “Careful, or I might find a new way of…punishing you. In fact…” and he swooped on his partner and started tickling every inch of skin he could reach, before he leaned further down and kissed him gently. Ianto moaned and wrapped an arm around his neck, his blue eyes shimmering adorably.
Things were just starting to progress, when they were distracted by voices outside. Jack turned round and opened the front of the tent. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the still glaring sun, but he managed to make out the towering figure of Agamemnon, and two other men whom he didn’t know. The king of Mycenae was speaking now, but Jack was too far away to hear what was being said. However, it appeared that Agamemnon was giving orders, because a moment later he walked away with a wave of his hand and his head held high in the air, while the other two exchanged glances and walked miserably up the beach.
Jack and Ianto, who had appeared to see what was going on, frowned as they saw them tentatively approach the black ship of Achilles. Jack urged them closer; not close enough to hear what was being said, but close enough for Patroclus to give them an apprehensive look when, at a command from his companion, had brought from the hut a pretty young woman, whom he led towards the two strange men. Just as reluctantly as they had approached Achilles, she followed them back down the beach.
Ianto frowned then as Jack approached Achilles himself, clearly about to ask what had just happened. Something about this wasn’t right; it was all too familiar, but not in a good way. He realised what it was when Achilles suddenly sank onto the sand and started weeping copiously. Even from a distance, Jack looked rather shocked and reached out to try and comfort him - only to receive a punch in the jaw from the distraught warrior. Patroclus came forwards and rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder, whispering to him and urging him to leave them. Jack looked concerned but did so. At the same time, Patroclus turned towards Ianto and gave him an apologetic look - but Ianto didn’t notice it.
“Oh my God,” he whispered as he realised what had just happened. “It’s starting…I told Jack what was going to happen and…he heard it all there - and he’s done nothing.”
Jack joined him moments later, rubbing his cheek. “Man, he’s got a good right hook.” He did have a rather spectacular bruise, but Ianto wasn’t feeling especially sympathetic towards him at that particular moment.
It was possible that Jack realised this, because he suddenly looked worried. “What is it?” he asked and then blinked in shock as Ianto grabbed his wrist and dragged him away from the scene. “Ianto, what’s going on?”
“Achilles told you who that girl was, didn’t he?” said Ianto when they finally stopped. “He also told you what went on in that meeting, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did,” said Jack. “Ianto…there’s nothing between me and Achilles; sure, I might have flirted with him a little bit, but it’s not like -”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Jack!” shouted Ianto. “That’s not the point! Don’t you remember what I told you yesterday? Don’t you remember me telling you about the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles which culminated in Achilles storming out?”
Jack looked confused. “Yeah, you told me that and - wait, was that it?” He stared at his partner. “Was that the one?” Ianto nodded. “Well, we can’t change what’s just happened. Plus, I think his mother - if that’s who that woman is - will do a better job than I will.”
Ianto shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you, Jack? It’s not what’s just happened that I’m talking about. It’s what’s going to happen if we let this continue.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Jack!” exploded Ianto. “I know you’ve not read the book, but surely you can remember bits of what I’ve told you.” When Jack merely looked baffled, he groaned. “Okay - well, listen to this.” He then proceeded to explain what would happen in a few weeks; how Patroclus would lead the Myrmidons into battle wearing Achilles’ armour and how he would eventually be killed by Hector. He described Achilles’ grief when he would hear the news and his violent return to the fold and finally, the duel with Hector.
Jack frowned. “That’s horrible, but…what can we do?”
Ianto frowned at him. “What do you mean, what can we do? I would have thought that was obvious - we find a way to stop it, while we still can. We talk to Achilles and tell him what’s going to happen if he does leave the Greeks. We might not be able to stop Achilles and Agamemnon fighting - that’s already happened - but at least we might be able to stop the aftermath…and stop Achilles losing someone he cares deeply for.” He looked hard at Jack, silently appealing to his own fear of exactly that.
Jack sighed. “Ianto,” he said gently, “this could be a part of history as we know it. I know you said that the ‘Iliad’ isn’t necessarily a first-hand account of the Trojan War…but it could easily have been what happened. If we meddle in anything, we could change history; we could even change our own future and cause all sorts of problems.”
“But we have to at least try!” cried Ianto desperately. “Listen; if this goes ahead, Achilles will lose Patroclus and the Trojans will lose Hector! We have the power to stop it!”
Jack looked pained. “I know, Ianto, I know; and I don’t want Achilles and Patroclus to be separated any more than you do. I do want to help them, but,” he leaned over and stroked Ianto’s cheek. “If this is history, if this is what really happened, then we can’t risk changing it, even if it may not be accurate. We can’t take that risk, you know that. I’m sorry, Ianto; it’s not that I don’t want to help them…it’s that I don’t think we can.”
Ianto’s beautiful face crumpled for an instant, but before he could speak, a figure appeared from the shadows. He turned round and was immediately greeted by the frowning expression of Odysseus. Jack turned pale and tried to catch his arm, but the Ithacan held them both back. He looked mistrustful, but interested.
“I don’t know what you two were talking about just then,” he said coolly, “but I don’t want to see Achilles lose the one person who understands him and if there’s any way I can prevent that, then I will help you - if you tell me how you know this will happen.”
Jack shook his head sharply, but Ianto, driven by his desire to protect people, found himself becoming reckless. Before he knew what he was doing, he found that he had blurted out the entire story. When he finished, Odysseus stared at him.
“I would almost think that you were mad were it not for the earnest look in your eyes,” he said. “I find myself trusting you and wishing to help you. Just tell me how.”
A broad smile broke out across Ianto’s face, but before he could speak, Jack took the cunning warrior’s arm. “I’ll take it from here,” he said. “Ianto, go back to the hut and wait for me. I’ll handle this myself for now. Don’t worry; I won’t be long.”
Ianto smiled slightly as he walked in the opposite direction and sat down in their small dwelling. It appeared that Jack was coming round already! Suddenly, he was starting to wonder if it was possible. Could they save Patroclus? If they did - and if Hector survived as well - then surely it wouldn’t affect the future too much, would it? He had read Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ well, and he knew the story of Hector’s fellow Trojan Aeneas founding Rome. Well, if this went well, he could be looking at having Hector by his side as well.
Jack was certainly true to his word; less than twenty minutes had passed before he returned. He looked a little tired, but calm.
“Everything all right?” asked Ianto when he came in.
“Fine - Odysseus is just fine.”
Ianto smiled. “So, he’s going to help us?”
Jack sighed. “I didn’t say that, Ianto. Look, there’s nothing we can do; what’s going to happen is going to happen and there’s nothing we can do to change it.”
“But…you said - you said you’d handle this now.”
“I know, and I have handled it. I did what I had to do, Ianto.” He looked hard at his partner and suddenly the implications of those words became all too clear.
“Jack,” he gasped. “Jack, tell me you didn’t.”
“I had to. We can’t risk changing things, Ianto, not when this could easily be history. I know you say that there’s a strong possibility of it being myth, but, especially now that we’re here, it’s too big a risk to take.”
“You gave him Retcon?”
“I’m sorry,” said Jack, and he truly was. “But there’s nothing we can do.”
~*~
Zeus groaned as he watched the scene unfolding from above. “I feared this would come to pass,” he said wearily. “The young one saw too much…what he did could have proved to be extremely dangerous if he had not been stopped.” He shook his head and turned to his wife. “There are difficult times ahead for these two.”
“Will they be strong enough to get through them?”
Zeus sighed. “That is as yet unclear,” he said. “For now, we can only hope.” He stroked his beard grimly. “It’s times like these that I hate being king of the gods.”
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Achilles/Patroclus, Hector/Andromache, others mentioned
Word Count: Oh, goodness knows.
Number of Parts: 10 plus an Epilogue
Summary: It's the day of Achilles' famous walk-out on the Greek army.
Part 2
When they had first arrived at Troy, Jack had thought that there was nothing better than the sight of Ianto in a wet white toga. However, when the Welshman appeared in front of him two days later, he realised that he might have to revise that opinion.
“Nice,” he said, winking appreciatively. “You know, I never thought of you in armour, but it really looks fantastic on you.”
Ianto smiled cheekily. “You don’t look so bad, yourself,” he said. “I love the sandals too - always thought the lace-ups looked very sexy on you.”
“Well…my ankles are one of my best features.”
“Oh, I won’t argue with that. Mind you, I’d be careful if I were you - you don’t want to end up getting tan-lines, now do you?”
Jack snorted. “Careful with your manners, young man,” he said, before kissing him quickly. “Where’s Achilles then?”
“He went off to speak with Agamemnon a little while ago and they summoned the others. It all seemed pretty civil between them, actually.”
Jack frowned. Although they had only been there for two days, it was already clear that their new friend did not see eye to eye with his leader, the son of Atreus. He respected him as a fighter, that was for sure, but he didn’t like him very much. From what they had heard from Patroclus, as well as from the wise Odysseus, Achilles felt that he wasn’t treated with the respect due to a great hero such as himself. It was said, in fact, that he was the only one who was a match for the Trojan prince, Hector.
Personally, as fond as he was becoming of him, Jack thought that Achilles had a bit of a swollen head, though he had to admit that Agamemnon did not exactly appear to be a favourable character himself.
Ianto shrugged when these opinions were voiced. “You have to consider that this is a very different society to ours, Jack,” he said. “For these men, being the best at what they do is what they know best. They hope to gain fame as heroes by killing other heroes.”
“I know, but,” Jack shook his head. “It just doesn’t seem like much of a life, somehow.”
“No, but it’s what they know. You’ve been in war, Jack; you have a sense of honour.”
“But it’s not really honour to kill men, if they’ve not done anything wrong,” said Jack. “In fact, it’s the worst type of dishonour I can think of. A true hero, Ianto - a true hero isn’t judged on the number -”
“A true hero isn’t judged on the number of lives he takes, but on the number of lives he saves. I know that, Jack, I know, but that’s not the way things work around here.” Ianto flopped down with a sigh. “You don’t have to like it, but while we’re here, we’re just going to have to learn to live with it.”
Jack shrugged. “When we get back, I swear I am going to be having words with the Rift.”
“If we get back, you mean.”
“No - when we get back. Hey,” Jack caught Ianto’s face in his hands. “We will get back.”
“Mmm,” Ianto murmured and rested his head on Jack’s shoulder. “Hey - when did this conversation get so intense all of a sudden?”
“Oh…I was saying that I didn’t think much of Agamemnon from what Patroclus and Odysseus have told us.” Jack sat up with a smirk. “But before that…I believe I was telling you exactly how good you look in that armour.”
“Oh, yeah - and I was warning you about tan-lines, which, by the way, you really should be paying attention to.”
Jack growled at him. “Careful, or I might find a new way of…punishing you. In fact…” and he swooped on his partner and started tickling every inch of skin he could reach, before he leaned further down and kissed him gently. Ianto moaned and wrapped an arm around his neck, his blue eyes shimmering adorably.
Things were just starting to progress, when they were distracted by voices outside. Jack turned round and opened the front of the tent. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the still glaring sun, but he managed to make out the towering figure of Agamemnon, and two other men whom he didn’t know. The king of Mycenae was speaking now, but Jack was too far away to hear what was being said. However, it appeared that Agamemnon was giving orders, because a moment later he walked away with a wave of his hand and his head held high in the air, while the other two exchanged glances and walked miserably up the beach.
Jack and Ianto, who had appeared to see what was going on, frowned as they saw them tentatively approach the black ship of Achilles. Jack urged them closer; not close enough to hear what was being said, but close enough for Patroclus to give them an apprehensive look when, at a command from his companion, had brought from the hut a pretty young woman, whom he led towards the two strange men. Just as reluctantly as they had approached Achilles, she followed them back down the beach.
Ianto frowned then as Jack approached Achilles himself, clearly about to ask what had just happened. Something about this wasn’t right; it was all too familiar, but not in a good way. He realised what it was when Achilles suddenly sank onto the sand and started weeping copiously. Even from a distance, Jack looked rather shocked and reached out to try and comfort him - only to receive a punch in the jaw from the distraught warrior. Patroclus came forwards and rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder, whispering to him and urging him to leave them. Jack looked concerned but did so. At the same time, Patroclus turned towards Ianto and gave him an apologetic look - but Ianto didn’t notice it.
“Oh my God,” he whispered as he realised what had just happened. “It’s starting…I told Jack what was going to happen and…he heard it all there - and he’s done nothing.”
Jack joined him moments later, rubbing his cheek. “Man, he’s got a good right hook.” He did have a rather spectacular bruise, but Ianto wasn’t feeling especially sympathetic towards him at that particular moment.
It was possible that Jack realised this, because he suddenly looked worried. “What is it?” he asked and then blinked in shock as Ianto grabbed his wrist and dragged him away from the scene. “Ianto, what’s going on?”
“Achilles told you who that girl was, didn’t he?” said Ianto when they finally stopped. “He also told you what went on in that meeting, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did,” said Jack. “Ianto…there’s nothing between me and Achilles; sure, I might have flirted with him a little bit, but it’s not like -”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Jack!” shouted Ianto. “That’s not the point! Don’t you remember what I told you yesterday? Don’t you remember me telling you about the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles which culminated in Achilles storming out?”
Jack looked confused. “Yeah, you told me that and - wait, was that it?” He stared at his partner. “Was that the one?” Ianto nodded. “Well, we can’t change what’s just happened. Plus, I think his mother - if that’s who that woman is - will do a better job than I will.”
Ianto shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you, Jack? It’s not what’s just happened that I’m talking about. It’s what’s going to happen if we let this continue.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Jack!” exploded Ianto. “I know you’ve not read the book, but surely you can remember bits of what I’ve told you.” When Jack merely looked baffled, he groaned. “Okay - well, listen to this.” He then proceeded to explain what would happen in a few weeks; how Patroclus would lead the Myrmidons into battle wearing Achilles’ armour and how he would eventually be killed by Hector. He described Achilles’ grief when he would hear the news and his violent return to the fold and finally, the duel with Hector.
Jack frowned. “That’s horrible, but…what can we do?”
Ianto frowned at him. “What do you mean, what can we do? I would have thought that was obvious - we find a way to stop it, while we still can. We talk to Achilles and tell him what’s going to happen if he does leave the Greeks. We might not be able to stop Achilles and Agamemnon fighting - that’s already happened - but at least we might be able to stop the aftermath…and stop Achilles losing someone he cares deeply for.” He looked hard at Jack, silently appealing to his own fear of exactly that.
Jack sighed. “Ianto,” he said gently, “this could be a part of history as we know it. I know you said that the ‘Iliad’ isn’t necessarily a first-hand account of the Trojan War…but it could easily have been what happened. If we meddle in anything, we could change history; we could even change our own future and cause all sorts of problems.”
“But we have to at least try!” cried Ianto desperately. “Listen; if this goes ahead, Achilles will lose Patroclus and the Trojans will lose Hector! We have the power to stop it!”
Jack looked pained. “I know, Ianto, I know; and I don’t want Achilles and Patroclus to be separated any more than you do. I do want to help them, but,” he leaned over and stroked Ianto’s cheek. “If this is history, if this is what really happened, then we can’t risk changing it, even if it may not be accurate. We can’t take that risk, you know that. I’m sorry, Ianto; it’s not that I don’t want to help them…it’s that I don’t think we can.”
Ianto’s beautiful face crumpled for an instant, but before he could speak, a figure appeared from the shadows. He turned round and was immediately greeted by the frowning expression of Odysseus. Jack turned pale and tried to catch his arm, but the Ithacan held them both back. He looked mistrustful, but interested.
“I don’t know what you two were talking about just then,” he said coolly, “but I don’t want to see Achilles lose the one person who understands him and if there’s any way I can prevent that, then I will help you - if you tell me how you know this will happen.”
Jack shook his head sharply, but Ianto, driven by his desire to protect people, found himself becoming reckless. Before he knew what he was doing, he found that he had blurted out the entire story. When he finished, Odysseus stared at him.
“I would almost think that you were mad were it not for the earnest look in your eyes,” he said. “I find myself trusting you and wishing to help you. Just tell me how.”
A broad smile broke out across Ianto’s face, but before he could speak, Jack took the cunning warrior’s arm. “I’ll take it from here,” he said. “Ianto, go back to the hut and wait for me. I’ll handle this myself for now. Don’t worry; I won’t be long.”
Ianto smiled slightly as he walked in the opposite direction and sat down in their small dwelling. It appeared that Jack was coming round already! Suddenly, he was starting to wonder if it was possible. Could they save Patroclus? If they did - and if Hector survived as well - then surely it wouldn’t affect the future too much, would it? He had read Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ well, and he knew the story of Hector’s fellow Trojan Aeneas founding Rome. Well, if this went well, he could be looking at having Hector by his side as well.
Jack was certainly true to his word; less than twenty minutes had passed before he returned. He looked a little tired, but calm.
“Everything all right?” asked Ianto when he came in.
“Fine - Odysseus is just fine.”
Ianto smiled. “So, he’s going to help us?”
Jack sighed. “I didn’t say that, Ianto. Look, there’s nothing we can do; what’s going to happen is going to happen and there’s nothing we can do to change it.”
“But…you said - you said you’d handle this now.”
“I know, and I have handled it. I did what I had to do, Ianto.” He looked hard at his partner and suddenly the implications of those words became all too clear.
“Jack,” he gasped. “Jack, tell me you didn’t.”
“I had to. We can’t risk changing things, Ianto, not when this could easily be history. I know you say that there’s a strong possibility of it being myth, but, especially now that we’re here, it’s too big a risk to take.”
“You gave him Retcon?”
“I’m sorry,” said Jack, and he truly was. “But there’s nothing we can do.”
~*~
Zeus groaned as he watched the scene unfolding from above. “I feared this would come to pass,” he said wearily. “The young one saw too much…what he did could have proved to be extremely dangerous if he had not been stopped.” He shook his head and turned to his wife. “There are difficult times ahead for these two.”
“Will they be strong enough to get through them?”
Zeus sighed. “That is as yet unclear,” he said. “For now, we can only hope.” He stroked his beard grimly. “It’s times like these that I hate being king of the gods.”