Fic: Crossing Lines (9/11)
Title: Crossing Lines
Author: arwen_kenobi
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence)
Spoilers: Children of Earth, scattered ones for the rest of the series
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the BBC. Everything you don't is mine.
Summary: It's seven months after the events of "Crossing Back" and the fun begins with a building collapse.
Author's Notes: Sequel to Crossing Back and Crossing Eyes and Dotting Tees. I'd highly recommend reading those first before you attempt this or nothing with make sense. Be warned that Crossing Back is a fix-it fic.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Jack knew something was wrong right away. He knew something was wrong even before the world went black again. He had just finished chasing a crowd of insistent tourists out of the building who, despite his yelling about this being a crime scene and whatnot, seemed to only be encouraged to try harder.
“Admire the nice architecture outside!” He’d bellowed at them. He’d barred the doors and was about to try Ianto again when the world flipped like it had in the flat yesterday. He’d only had the time to think ‘not again’ before he found himself standing next to Ianto. The present Ianto this time, to his relief, though that feeling quickly vanished once Ianto saw him.
“How the hell did you get yourself killed in the Brooke House?” he demanded.
“I’m not dead!” Jack defended and then realised what the implication was in that question. “Wait. Are you?”
“That bastard Hart shoved me in front of a truck,” Ianto seethed. “I am going to kill him when I come back.”
“If you come back, you mean! It’s not a sure thing with you!”
Ianto was ready to challenge that but was stopped by the world flipping again. This time it was almost nauseating. Everything soon solidified their kitchen. Standing in the kitchen was another Ianto, this one looking more than perplexed as he stared at a pen and paper as his hand clenched and unclenched at his side.
“What are you doing?” he asked his Ianto.
“Deciding whether or not I have the ability to write you a note,” Ianto informed him with some measure of ‘you moron’ underlying it.
“You have a hand,” Jack answered in the same tone. It had been a reasonable enough question to him considering the other Ianto seemed to be treating the task like some sort of challenge.
“I’m dead there!” Ianto snapped. “Look, you can see the bloody couch through me. I can’t write you a note because I can’t hold that pen!”
Now that he mentioned it, Jack admitted. He did look transparent. Also the date on the calendar told him that it was the one year anniversary of Ianto’s death.
“Oh fuck,” Jack breathed, knowing what was going to happen next. “Please tell me you don’t remember this.”
“Remember what?” Ianto asked and Jack was not sure if he was being honest or not. No chance to clarify as Jack watched himself barge through the apartment door yelling at someone on his mobile. Gwen, Jack knew. He remembered this conversation
No! Past-Jack yelled lividly. I am not going back there, and I’m not going to any other ones. I can’t do it!
He stumbled into the kitchen, past-Ianto leaping out of the way as if Jack was going to kill him. Past-Jack blasted through past-Ianto’s arm anyway, leaving no reaction on his face while the ghost shook out his hand like he’d banged it against something. No, Gwen, for Christ’s sake it’s... he tried to find words at the same time he rummaged the cupboards one handed for something. No, I’m not. End of discussion....No you can’t come ‘round! Just...just leave me alone, okay? You’ve got nothing to worry about. Anything stupid I do will just come undone anyway. He slammed the mobile shut and took out the battery.
“Memorial service?” his Ianto asked. Curious but unsurprised; it seemed the more Jack remained alive the more predictable he became.
“I didn’t want to go,” Jack admitted, not taking his eyes off his past self ripping the kitchen apart for scotch. “I eventually went because Gwen had some deluded idea that it would help things. Things were going as well as they could be and I didn’t think this was going to help any. I was right.”
“But that really was it was it.” A statement and not a question; Jack was proud in a strange way.
“I’d noticed the days pass without you and today, this one year mark, showed me how easy it had been to adjust to waking up without you, to going to work and not expecting to see you there. As much pain as I was in, I still went on. That bothered me. I’d survived three hundred and sixty-five days without you and if I could do that I could certainly go on forever.” He looked to Ianto for reassurance but there was nothing there to give. “I was worried maybe in spite of myself that I would forget you.” This was something that haunted him to this day. What if things had been different, what if Ianto had stayed dead and each day had become easier and easier. One day there would be no memory left to miss. It had happened to some people already, he knew. Sometimes he had to look in his photo box to be reminded of them, and there were hints of memory. Just like smoke lingering in a room, you knew that it had been there but you couldn’t remember why.
He had never thought he’d be able to forget Ianto. Not of all people. That day told him that one day he would and that there was nothing he could do to stop that.
Ianto said nothing in reply despite the magnitude of this confession. He instead turned back to the scene playing before them. Past-Jack had pounded back what had to have been scotch number five and then started throwing things. Not a good week in his life, some detached part of Jack noted, and that was saying something.
Past Ianto had hit the floor when the glasses started flying and was yelling at Jack to stop it. It’s my fault, okay! he was yelling. I’m the one who insisted on going in with you, remember? It’s my bloody fault. Just stop this. JUST STOP!!
Past-Jack stopped. Past-Ianto looked up in fear from the floor but opened his mouth to speak anyway. Good, he said slowly. Now sit down and let it out. He took a fortifying breath. I’m right here, he said with a voice of iron. If you can hear this you know I am, I swear to whatever there is that I’m real. I’m here. I’m with you. I’ve never left. He laughed bitterly. I’ve never been able to refuse you anything, you know that. You’ve certainly abused it enough. Now sit down before you fall apart.
All this time past-Jack had been frozen to the spot. Jack did not himself remember hearing any of this, though that wasn’t saying much since he really didn’t remember much of this day past the conversation with Gwen. Near emotional breakdowns did that to a man. At any rate, past-Jack took the advice and sat down. Right on top of where Ianto had sat: in front of the fridge. As that broken man drew his knees close to him, and then began to cry into them, Jack saw a pair of ghostly arms wrap around him. It’s okay, past-Ianto’s muffled voice told him. It will be okay. I promise.
Then it seemed that the ghost of Ianto Jones was starting to disappear into past-Jack. He looked over at his Ianto, who seemed to have had an epiphany. “That’s it!” he near cheered. “That’s what happened to Moira!”
“What’s happening to you?” Jack demanded with a frantic gesture at the scene before them. “Explain that and then we’ll get to what’s going on with Moira!”
“I saw part of this,” he explained, talking quickly now. “When you asked me I said I couldn’t tell you yet because I didn’t know what was going on. That was this. Tosh and Owen warned me. One of the first things they warned me about when I met up with them was to not get too close to you. Not try and hug you or anything. Not when I was so newly getting used to moving about.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can get sucked in!” Ianto explained. “That life force that all living beings have, we can feel it and we all want that back or at least want to get close to it. If we get too close we’re just drawn to it like moths are drawn to light, and they we become slaves to that. It’s especially easier if it’s someone you love. Too many emotions going on there.” He paused. “John said, before he killed me, that Moira threw her arms around him and begged him to not let her leave and then she died there. She must have been sucked in right away. She was already hugging him after all.”
“You died in my arms,” Jack reminded him. “Why didn’t that happen to you?”
“I wasn’t holding you. You were holding me. And..” Ianto sighed. “I was in so much pain that I wanted to leave.”
It was a painful thing to hear but it did make Jack feel better that Ianto had fled instead of hanging onto him like that. He didn’t know how he would have felt finding Ianto like that...he thought back to the scene before him. If that’s what was happening here then...
“What saved you?” he asked. “Did you pull yourself out?”
“I pulled him out!” came a well loved, cheerful, female voice. The kitchen scene disappeared and out of the fading colour came a smiling Toshiko Sato. “Sorry about all the flashbacks, Jack,” she apologized. “I wanted to actually tell you about these things but,” she shrugged, “it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to talk to anyone. Bit out of practice.”
Some distant part of Jack filed that away but was much more pleased to see the woman before him instead of her supposed mistakes. He rushed her and grabbed her into a tight hug, which she returned just as fiercely before she was released and then was swept away by Ianto. “Missed you lot too!” she choked out once Ianto let her go.
“You’re alright,” breathed a relieved Ianto. “I was so worried I’d cost you and Owen - is Owen.-?”
“He’s fine,” Tosh assured him. “He’s off doing whatever he does when he’s not with me. Sorry we couldn’t let you know before now. Extreme amount of energy that.” And she looked at Jack again. “Worth it though, wasn’t it? You get him forever! That wasn’t planned.”
Ianto snorted. “This just an unplanned side effect then?”
“Oh it’s his doing,” Tosh replied merrily when a gesture to Jack. “Not intentionally, of course, but there you have it.”
Ianto looked at Jack, Jack shrugged at the other man. “You got any ideas?” Ianto shook his head as well.
“Remember the cliff?” Tosh asked Jack. “We asked you to picture pushing Ianto off a cliff when you ended up on our side?” They nodded and she continued. “You went over with him instead of shoving him.” Jack remembered and nodded at Tosh. “Just like that scene you saw,” she went on. “You were on our side but you still were alive, so to speak. So, not only did Ianto have mine and Owen’s potential energy, but he also got a good helping of yours as well.”
“And my life force is infinite,” Jack concluded. It made sense.
Ianto gripped Jack’s hand and his other was gripping the back of his own head. He let out a breath of awe, exhaustion, and shock. “It’s official then?” he asked. “I’m like Jack?”
Tosh bobbed her head back and forth. Her hand did the same. “More or less, I think. Unlike Jack, though, I think one day you’re going to have a choice about whether you want to leave forever or not. And you could probably keep saying no as long as you like, I reckon. But, that choice isn’t going to come up for a long while yet.” She shrugged again as though to say ‘and there you have it.’ “So you’re mostly like Jack. Does that help?”
That didn’t seem to matter too much to Ianto, who released Jack’s hand and stood to attention. “Okay,” he pressed on. “We’ll deal with that later. We need to help Moira now.” He sighed. “It’s going to have to be me isn’t it?”
Tosh nodded. “Did Jack see her too?”
“Barely,” Jack answered. “Is that bad?”
“No,” Ianto shrugged. “Just means this is strictly on Tosh and me.”
“Why?”
Ianto gestured to Tosh. “Remember I said that I pulled Ianto out?” She began. “I could pull him out because I was the one who found him in the dark. I was the first person to see him after he’d died and I knew where he was supposed to be. That makes you more visible to the person who’s in trouble and makes you a stronger anchor.”
“In Moira’s case no one has seen her or because she never left in the first place,” Ianto continued. He looked over at Tosh. “I’m the only one on this side of things who has seen her and I need Tosh’s help since I’m really not dead. Not for good anyway.”
Tosh nodded. “She also acknowledged you, didn’t you? That’s the thing that seals it.”
“How do you know all this?” Jack asked, ignoring all this troubling talk in favour of something more light hearted.
“I’ve been doing my research, don’t you fret,” Tosh teased. “I do have to keep busy somehow.” She winked.
Ianto groaned. “Remind me to close all doors in the flat from now on.”
“Wouldn’t matter,” Jack reminded him.
“Don’t remind me about that either,” Ianto lamented. Tosh smirked at him and held out a hand.
“Come on,” she urged. “Let’s get her out. I’ll take good care of her.”
Ianto began to follow until Jack grabbed his shoulders. Ianto began to protest but then stopped and turned in Jack’s grip, an eyebrow slowly rising at the display of neediness before him. Jack really didn’t care. “You’re not leaving me.” He wasn’t sure whether it was a question or a statement.
“No, I’m not,” Ianto replied. “I’ll be fine and I’ll be back.” He chuckled, bemused. “For once it’s more than likely that I’ll come back in one piece and you look frantic.” He wrapped his hands around Jack’s elbows and pulled his hands away. “This is my job. For the last time, please let me do it.”
Jack mirrored Ianto’s chuckle. “You’ll have to add doing work while dead to the job description.”
“I’ll get to it right away, sir.”
Jack nodded and then gave him a quick but tender kiss. “Go on,” he whispered.
“I’ll be seeing you,” he whispered back. He stepped back still facing Jack. “Ready, Tosh!”
“Let’s get to it then,” Tosh turned Ianto around and brought him to her side.
Ianto stopped dead. “Wait.”
“Now what?” Tosh moaned.
“Who’s going to get John? He’s probably halfway across Cardiff by now.”
Tosh smirked. “Oh don’t worry about that,” she assured them. “That truck that John shoved you in front of? Guess who the driver was.”
Ianto raised an eyebrow again and Jack burst out laughing. “Rhys?” he laughed. “It’s Rhys isn’t it?” Rhys had not forgotten about John’s previous visit and he was itching for some payback. This was going to be fantastic.
“Save the beatings for when I get back!” Ianto called. He and Tosh were getting further and further away.
“No promises!”
For the first time in a long time, Jack went hurling back to life with a smile.
Chapter Ten
Author: arwen_kenobi
Rating: PG-13 (language, violence)
Spoilers: Children of Earth, scattered ones for the rest of the series
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the BBC. Everything you don't is mine.
Summary: It's seven months after the events of "Crossing Back" and the fun begins with a building collapse.
Author's Notes: Sequel to Crossing Back and Crossing Eyes and Dotting Tees. I'd highly recommend reading those first before you attempt this or nothing with make sense. Be warned that Crossing Back is a fix-it fic.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Jack knew something was wrong right away. He knew something was wrong even before the world went black again. He had just finished chasing a crowd of insistent tourists out of the building who, despite his yelling about this being a crime scene and whatnot, seemed to only be encouraged to try harder.
“Admire the nice architecture outside!” He’d bellowed at them. He’d barred the doors and was about to try Ianto again when the world flipped like it had in the flat yesterday. He’d only had the time to think ‘not again’ before he found himself standing next to Ianto. The present Ianto this time, to his relief, though that feeling quickly vanished once Ianto saw him.
“How the hell did you get yourself killed in the Brooke House?” he demanded.
“I’m not dead!” Jack defended and then realised what the implication was in that question. “Wait. Are you?”
“That bastard Hart shoved me in front of a truck,” Ianto seethed. “I am going to kill him when I come back.”
“If you come back, you mean! It’s not a sure thing with you!”
Ianto was ready to challenge that but was stopped by the world flipping again. This time it was almost nauseating. Everything soon solidified their kitchen. Standing in the kitchen was another Ianto, this one looking more than perplexed as he stared at a pen and paper as his hand clenched and unclenched at his side.
“What are you doing?” he asked his Ianto.
“Deciding whether or not I have the ability to write you a note,” Ianto informed him with some measure of ‘you moron’ underlying it.
“You have a hand,” Jack answered in the same tone. It had been a reasonable enough question to him considering the other Ianto seemed to be treating the task like some sort of challenge.
“I’m dead there!” Ianto snapped. “Look, you can see the bloody couch through me. I can’t write you a note because I can’t hold that pen!”
Now that he mentioned it, Jack admitted. He did look transparent. Also the date on the calendar told him that it was the one year anniversary of Ianto’s death.
“Oh fuck,” Jack breathed, knowing what was going to happen next. “Please tell me you don’t remember this.”
“Remember what?” Ianto asked and Jack was not sure if he was being honest or not. No chance to clarify as Jack watched himself barge through the apartment door yelling at someone on his mobile. Gwen, Jack knew. He remembered this conversation
No! Past-Jack yelled lividly. I am not going back there, and I’m not going to any other ones. I can’t do it!
He stumbled into the kitchen, past-Ianto leaping out of the way as if Jack was going to kill him. Past-Jack blasted through past-Ianto’s arm anyway, leaving no reaction on his face while the ghost shook out his hand like he’d banged it against something. No, Gwen, for Christ’s sake it’s... he tried to find words at the same time he rummaged the cupboards one handed for something. No, I’m not. End of discussion....No you can’t come ‘round! Just...just leave me alone, okay? You’ve got nothing to worry about. Anything stupid I do will just come undone anyway. He slammed the mobile shut and took out the battery.
“Memorial service?” his Ianto asked. Curious but unsurprised; it seemed the more Jack remained alive the more predictable he became.
“I didn’t want to go,” Jack admitted, not taking his eyes off his past self ripping the kitchen apart for scotch. “I eventually went because Gwen had some deluded idea that it would help things. Things were going as well as they could be and I didn’t think this was going to help any. I was right.”
“But that really was it was it.” A statement and not a question; Jack was proud in a strange way.
“I’d noticed the days pass without you and today, this one year mark, showed me how easy it had been to adjust to waking up without you, to going to work and not expecting to see you there. As much pain as I was in, I still went on. That bothered me. I’d survived three hundred and sixty-five days without you and if I could do that I could certainly go on forever.” He looked to Ianto for reassurance but there was nothing there to give. “I was worried maybe in spite of myself that I would forget you.” This was something that haunted him to this day. What if things had been different, what if Ianto had stayed dead and each day had become easier and easier. One day there would be no memory left to miss. It had happened to some people already, he knew. Sometimes he had to look in his photo box to be reminded of them, and there were hints of memory. Just like smoke lingering in a room, you knew that it had been there but you couldn’t remember why.
He had never thought he’d be able to forget Ianto. Not of all people. That day told him that one day he would and that there was nothing he could do to stop that.
Ianto said nothing in reply despite the magnitude of this confession. He instead turned back to the scene playing before them. Past-Jack had pounded back what had to have been scotch number five and then started throwing things. Not a good week in his life, some detached part of Jack noted, and that was saying something.
Past Ianto had hit the floor when the glasses started flying and was yelling at Jack to stop it. It’s my fault, okay! he was yelling. I’m the one who insisted on going in with you, remember? It’s my bloody fault. Just stop this. JUST STOP!!
Past-Jack stopped. Past-Ianto looked up in fear from the floor but opened his mouth to speak anyway. Good, he said slowly. Now sit down and let it out. He took a fortifying breath. I’m right here, he said with a voice of iron. If you can hear this you know I am, I swear to whatever there is that I’m real. I’m here. I’m with you. I’ve never left. He laughed bitterly. I’ve never been able to refuse you anything, you know that. You’ve certainly abused it enough. Now sit down before you fall apart.
All this time past-Jack had been frozen to the spot. Jack did not himself remember hearing any of this, though that wasn’t saying much since he really didn’t remember much of this day past the conversation with Gwen. Near emotional breakdowns did that to a man. At any rate, past-Jack took the advice and sat down. Right on top of where Ianto had sat: in front of the fridge. As that broken man drew his knees close to him, and then began to cry into them, Jack saw a pair of ghostly arms wrap around him. It’s okay, past-Ianto’s muffled voice told him. It will be okay. I promise.
Then it seemed that the ghost of Ianto Jones was starting to disappear into past-Jack. He looked over at his Ianto, who seemed to have had an epiphany. “That’s it!” he near cheered. “That’s what happened to Moira!”
“What’s happening to you?” Jack demanded with a frantic gesture at the scene before them. “Explain that and then we’ll get to what’s going on with Moira!”
“I saw part of this,” he explained, talking quickly now. “When you asked me I said I couldn’t tell you yet because I didn’t know what was going on. That was this. Tosh and Owen warned me. One of the first things they warned me about when I met up with them was to not get too close to you. Not try and hug you or anything. Not when I was so newly getting used to moving about.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can get sucked in!” Ianto explained. “That life force that all living beings have, we can feel it and we all want that back or at least want to get close to it. If we get too close we’re just drawn to it like moths are drawn to light, and they we become slaves to that. It’s especially easier if it’s someone you love. Too many emotions going on there.” He paused. “John said, before he killed me, that Moira threw her arms around him and begged him to not let her leave and then she died there. She must have been sucked in right away. She was already hugging him after all.”
“You died in my arms,” Jack reminded him. “Why didn’t that happen to you?”
“I wasn’t holding you. You were holding me. And..” Ianto sighed. “I was in so much pain that I wanted to leave.”
It was a painful thing to hear but it did make Jack feel better that Ianto had fled instead of hanging onto him like that. He didn’t know how he would have felt finding Ianto like that...he thought back to the scene before him. If that’s what was happening here then...
“What saved you?” he asked. “Did you pull yourself out?”
“I pulled him out!” came a well loved, cheerful, female voice. The kitchen scene disappeared and out of the fading colour came a smiling Toshiko Sato. “Sorry about all the flashbacks, Jack,” she apologized. “I wanted to actually tell you about these things but,” she shrugged, “it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to talk to anyone. Bit out of practice.”
Some distant part of Jack filed that away but was much more pleased to see the woman before him instead of her supposed mistakes. He rushed her and grabbed her into a tight hug, which she returned just as fiercely before she was released and then was swept away by Ianto. “Missed you lot too!” she choked out once Ianto let her go.
“You’re alright,” breathed a relieved Ianto. “I was so worried I’d cost you and Owen - is Owen.-?”
“He’s fine,” Tosh assured him. “He’s off doing whatever he does when he’s not with me. Sorry we couldn’t let you know before now. Extreme amount of energy that.” And she looked at Jack again. “Worth it though, wasn’t it? You get him forever! That wasn’t planned.”
Ianto snorted. “This just an unplanned side effect then?”
“Oh it’s his doing,” Tosh replied merrily when a gesture to Jack. “Not intentionally, of course, but there you have it.”
Ianto looked at Jack, Jack shrugged at the other man. “You got any ideas?” Ianto shook his head as well.
“Remember the cliff?” Tosh asked Jack. “We asked you to picture pushing Ianto off a cliff when you ended up on our side?” They nodded and she continued. “You went over with him instead of shoving him.” Jack remembered and nodded at Tosh. “Just like that scene you saw,” she went on. “You were on our side but you still were alive, so to speak. So, not only did Ianto have mine and Owen’s potential energy, but he also got a good helping of yours as well.”
“And my life force is infinite,” Jack concluded. It made sense.
Ianto gripped Jack’s hand and his other was gripping the back of his own head. He let out a breath of awe, exhaustion, and shock. “It’s official then?” he asked. “I’m like Jack?”
Tosh bobbed her head back and forth. Her hand did the same. “More or less, I think. Unlike Jack, though, I think one day you’re going to have a choice about whether you want to leave forever or not. And you could probably keep saying no as long as you like, I reckon. But, that choice isn’t going to come up for a long while yet.” She shrugged again as though to say ‘and there you have it.’ “So you’re mostly like Jack. Does that help?”
That didn’t seem to matter too much to Ianto, who released Jack’s hand and stood to attention. “Okay,” he pressed on. “We’ll deal with that later. We need to help Moira now.” He sighed. “It’s going to have to be me isn’t it?”
Tosh nodded. “Did Jack see her too?”
“Barely,” Jack answered. “Is that bad?”
“No,” Ianto shrugged. “Just means this is strictly on Tosh and me.”
“Why?”
Ianto gestured to Tosh. “Remember I said that I pulled Ianto out?” She began. “I could pull him out because I was the one who found him in the dark. I was the first person to see him after he’d died and I knew where he was supposed to be. That makes you more visible to the person who’s in trouble and makes you a stronger anchor.”
“In Moira’s case no one has seen her or because she never left in the first place,” Ianto continued. He looked over at Tosh. “I’m the only one on this side of things who has seen her and I need Tosh’s help since I’m really not dead. Not for good anyway.”
Tosh nodded. “She also acknowledged you, didn’t you? That’s the thing that seals it.”
“How do you know all this?” Jack asked, ignoring all this troubling talk in favour of something more light hearted.
“I’ve been doing my research, don’t you fret,” Tosh teased. “I do have to keep busy somehow.” She winked.
Ianto groaned. “Remind me to close all doors in the flat from now on.”
“Wouldn’t matter,” Jack reminded him.
“Don’t remind me about that either,” Ianto lamented. Tosh smirked at him and held out a hand.
“Come on,” she urged. “Let’s get her out. I’ll take good care of her.”
Ianto began to follow until Jack grabbed his shoulders. Ianto began to protest but then stopped and turned in Jack’s grip, an eyebrow slowly rising at the display of neediness before him. Jack really didn’t care. “You’re not leaving me.” He wasn’t sure whether it was a question or a statement.
“No, I’m not,” Ianto replied. “I’ll be fine and I’ll be back.” He chuckled, bemused. “For once it’s more than likely that I’ll come back in one piece and you look frantic.” He wrapped his hands around Jack’s elbows and pulled his hands away. “This is my job. For the last time, please let me do it.”
Jack mirrored Ianto’s chuckle. “You’ll have to add doing work while dead to the job description.”
“I’ll get to it right away, sir.”
Jack nodded and then gave him a quick but tender kiss. “Go on,” he whispered.
“I’ll be seeing you,” he whispered back. He stepped back still facing Jack. “Ready, Tosh!”
“Let’s get to it then,” Tosh turned Ianto around and brought him to her side.
Ianto stopped dead. “Wait.”
“Now what?” Tosh moaned.
“Who’s going to get John? He’s probably halfway across Cardiff by now.”
Tosh smirked. “Oh don’t worry about that,” she assured them. “That truck that John shoved you in front of? Guess who the driver was.”
Ianto raised an eyebrow again and Jack burst out laughing. “Rhys?” he laughed. “It’s Rhys isn’t it?” Rhys had not forgotten about John’s previous visit and he was itching for some payback. This was going to be fantastic.
“Save the beatings for when I get back!” Ianto called. He and Tosh were getting further and further away.
“No promises!”
For the first time in a long time, Jack went hurling back to life with a smile.
Chapter Ten