Lovers Passed 2/3
Title: Lovers Passed part 2/3
Authors: maverick0324 and athousanderrors
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Jack, Jack/Ten, Jack/Ianto, Ianto/Lisa, Gwen, Owen, Toshiko.
Word Count: 5,891 this part.
Rating: R
Summary: The past is in the past, but when time isn't linear, can anything ever really stay gone?
Spoilers: Series 1 of Torchwood.
Author's Notes: Cowriting is good for the soul. But bad for the social life. Concrit loved, feedback adored. Flamers will be fed to Myfanwy.
Chapter One
“Did you get hold of-” Ianto fell silent mid-sentence, peering at the screen, creeping horror in his gut.
“No. That….Jack, tell me I’m not seeing that.” His voice was suddenly hoarse, hands shaking as he tried to zoom in, tried to focus on the dim shapes he could make out under the emergency lighting. Red lights reflected off matt silver, and Ianto almost imagined he could hear the clanking of metal-shod boots against the floors.
********************************
His hands fell away from the keyboard, and it took him a moment to realise he was shaking his head, muttering “no, no, no no…” under his breath. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, panic like a fist clutching tight around his throat, making him gasp and choke.
"Fuck...." Jack breathed as he watched the cybermen forming rank and walking down the hallway. "Tosh. Now!" He barked into his headset as he grabbed Ianto, almost dragging him back up to his office and into his arms. Surviving one cyberman invasion was amazing. Retaining his mental facilities was truly mind blowing; having to watch another attack happening was beyond cruel of fate.
"Ianto. Ianto, look at me." Jack said forcefully, kissing him and looking in his eyes. "This isn't Canary Wharf..." Jack couldn't tell Ianto everything would be okay, couldn't look in his lovers eyes and lie to him.
“No no no no no no…” Ianto was still mumbling, looking at Jack but not really seeing him, clutching at his shoulders.
“They can’t be here. They were destroyed. Th-they were gone. Can’t be here.” He shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “Oh God…why can’t I wake up? S’not real, it’s not. M’safe. It’s not real.” He was nearly rocking back and forth now, struck blind by the mere thought of Cybermen attacking, a nightmare he’d been plagued by for so long, and how it had come horrifically true.
"Ianto... They're here. You're not dreaming." Jack said, hating himself for having to bring the harsh reality home but Ianto kept whispering, saying he was safe and dreaming and they couldn't touch him.
Jack softly ran a finger down Ianto's cheek and pulled him in fiercely to kiss him, his hand slipping around to the back of Ianto's head, hoping to somehow reach the young man.
Ianto sobbed into the kiss, fingers tightening, curling into Jack’s shirt, clutching at pale cotton.
“Make it stop, not real, can’t be. They can’t be here.” He babbled, pressing forward, face buried against Jack’s shoulder. “Oh God…” He was trembling, eyes screwed tight shut as if he could will them away. But it didn’t do any good. He could hear Lisa’s screams, the dull rasp of her voice, talking of upgrading and compatability. The dull clunk of metal boots against the Hub floor, the whine of saws as the Conversion Unit started up, Gwen screaming for help below.
“Jack!” Tosh ran into the darkened up, flinging her bag to the floor as she spotted Jack and Ianto, crouched in the doorway of his office.
“What’s going on? Ianto?” She turned as Jack pointed a shaky hand at the computer screens, one hand flying up to cover her mouth as she processed what she was seeing.
“Oh God…” She whispered, turning back to Jack and Ianto, eyes wide.
"Tosh, trigger the lockdown of the hub, cut them off. Once you've done that try and get the others here as fast as you can." Tosh nodded quickly and ran off to do as she was told. Jack turned his attentions back to his lover who was back in his own personal hell.
No one should have to go through what he did once, let alone twice. Not letting go of the younger man, doubting he could if he wanted to, Jack poured a bit of scotch into a glass and got Ianto to drink it before pulling him down onto the couch and into his lap again. His hands rubbed across his back as Ianto continued to cling tighter to him.
Ianto coughed, eyes streaming from the drink, trembling still as he clung to Jack. His murmurs were slowly subsiding, eyes darting around the room less, being drawn back again and again to the screens, the cybermen slowly moving through the basement.
“It’s real…” He murmured at last, half-question, the words numb and quiet. “They’re here.” He took a shaky breath, managing not to sob, his fingers slowly loosening their death grip on Jack’s shirt, though he still clung to the other man.
“Oh God, Jack…”
Jack held onto him tightly and hoped for a miracle to happen, he didn't know what to do to kill these guys. They had just barely handled one only half cyberised girlfriend, a whole slew of them was... something that Jack was frankly beginning to find impossible.
"Shh Ianto..." Jack kissed him softly. "They won't take you, I promise." Jack said softly, hearing Gwen's voice cackle over his headset.
“We can’t stop them…” Ianto choked out, eyes wide, still shaking hard. He fell silent as Jack reached a hand up to his headset, hearing Gwen’s voice come through on his own Bluetooth.
“Jack? What’s happening? Why’s the Hub in lockdown?” Gwen paced the small stretch outside the tourist office, tugging her jacket straight, looking around for Owen, who was parking his car God only knew where.
Jack's arm slid around Ianto's waist, unconsciously pulling him closer and frowning and racking his brain for what was in the hub and had at their disposal. "Cybermen." Jack answered.
"You mean like that thing that had been in our basement?" Jack pulled Ianto close, his forehead resting on Ianto’s as he silently begged Ianto not to listen. "Sort of." Jack just answered, pulling off Ianto's headset before Gwen said anything else.
"I've faced them before. Won against them before." Jack said, making Ianto look at him. "There is a way."
Ianto shivered, mouth trembling a little as he tried to hold in another sob, ‘Lisa’ barely a whisper as he looked at Jack, pulling back far enough to see him clearly. He shook his head, tears welling up once more.
“We can’t. There’s too many of them. They’re not supposed to be here, they’re supposed to be gone.” His eyes widened suddenly, mention of Lisa triggering an all-too-horrible thought.
“The unit. Oh God.” Nearly tripping over himself, he rushed to his feet, stumbling across to Tosh’s desk. He pulled up the cameras for the storeroom where they’d left all the parts of the unit, soft sound of dismay slipping out as he watched the Cybermen carefully and methodically removing every part, taking it out of the tiny storeroom and along the hallway.
Jack tried to hurry after him, skidding to a stop when he watched what the cybermen were doing. "No, it's not possible." He said, looking from the screen to Ianto and back again.
"We destroyed everything that was down there. The conversion unit, everything.. We destroyed it." Jack looked at Ianto almost afraid to hear the answer. Jack could see Owen and Gwen heading into the hub and Tosh retriggering the lockdown, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Ianto.
“Not enough.” Ianto shook his head. “We didn’t do enough. We dismantled it, but…” Ianto closed his eyes. “I never destroyed the spare parts I brought with me to Cardiff.” His breath hitched again. “Oh God. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” It couldn’t be coincidence that they’d broken through in the dank room where he’d kept Lisa hidden, all those months.
Owen and Gwen hurried over, looking at the images on the CCTV while Jack just stared at Ianto, wanting to ask how he could be so stupid to leave cyber conversion parts laying around but then, he had brought his cyber girlfriend into the hub.
"Oh for fuck's sake..." Owen groaned as he finally saw what it was that was in their basement. "So what, did you bring these one's in too?"
Ianto could see Jack’s look. “I…I forgot they were even there.” He murmured reproachfully. He couldn’t exactly be blamed for that; and he doubted that it would have taken the Cybermen long to build a Conversion Unit of their own anyway. He spun around as Owen appeared, fingers curling into tight fists, just waiting for him to say something. And of course, the man didn’t disappoint.
Jaw clenched, Ianto swung, catching Owen under the chin and knocking him off his feet. Swaying slightly, he stared down at Owen, his legs crumbling underneath him.
“We’re going to die.” He gasped, still trembling faintly.
Jack glared at Owen, letting Gwen help the man nurse his jaw back into proper alignment as he went to Ianto and helped the man stand, not even bothering when he realised that he would have to lean on him to stay upright.
Jack wrapped an arm around Ianto's waist, helping him stay up as he finally turned to the rest of his team. "These things are not unbeatable. We need to work together and get something done before they get that conversion unit finished. Tosh I need you to find a way to run a DC current through any sort of gun or amplifier we may have." She nodded and began to work on it.
"Gwen, help her. Owen? Find out how the hell these things got through the rift."
"And him?" Owen grumbled as he went to his own desk.
"Once you've survived a cyberman attack, you're allowed to freak out. Until then, move!" Jack barked and backed Ianto back to the couch. "Ianto," Jack whispered softly, brushing his hair back. "You can get up to reception, take the car back home..."
Ianto focused on Jack’s face, shaking his head slowly.
“Not leaving.” He murmured firmly, swallowing hard as he forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath. “I won’t leave you.” He was shaking still, breath still a little too fast, pulse racing. He was calmer than before, however, the reality of their situation slowly sinking in.
“What can I do?”
Jack sighed, but he knew it was no use trying to convince Ianto otherwise. Besides, when it came down to it, at least with Ianto here, he could keep an eye on him and protect him himself.
"Go find as many weapons as you can. They can't power the unit up while we're on lock down, as soon as they find that out they'll be up here to fix it. Go." Jack leaned over and kissed Ianto deeply but briefly, feeling a sense of deja vu that he was seeing his lover for one of the last times and having to snap himself out of it.
Hurrying up to his office and then into his own small private quarters beneath, Jack spun the lock on the safe he hid at the back of the room and began to pull things out.
Ianto pressed into the kiss, fierce and desperate and oh God, it felt like a goodbye. Trembling, he broke the kiss at last, nodding to Jack before standing, running out into the main Hub, towards the armoury. Reaching it, he cursed quietly. Lockdown, of course.
Spinning back around, he ran to Tosh’s desk, grabbing the alien reader that they’d used to escape Lisa all those months before. Oh God, Lisa…Ianto swallowed hard, shaking his head as if to clear it of memories, refusing to let himself dwell on that now. He unlocked the armoury door, pulling out as many guns as he could find, supplies of ammo, loading them into a bag. This was merely the earth weaponry; the alien weapons were in the safe in Jack’s office.
Jack continued to pull at out every bit of alien weaponry they had confiscated and held in a safe, teeming it unsafe for human use. At least they might do a bit of damage. The problem, as Jack could see it, was that the things he needed, the things he had used before t defeat the cybermen, he didn't have.
"Fuck." Jack breathed, feeling like he was back on the game station and he was preparing for a slaughter.
Gathering up the bag of weapons, he dragged them into Jack’s office, leaving them on the floor. Taking each one out of the bag, he checked and loaded them, reactions almost automatic, Jack’s gun drills finally paying off. He laid them out, carefully stacking ammo by each one, working out how much they had. Not nearly enough.
“How are we going to stop them, Jack?” He murmured, looking up at the other one.
“I don’t think Myfanwy’s that hungry, and we’ve run out of barbeque sauce…” He tried to joke, tried to smile, the expression falling far short.
Jack appreciated Ianto's efforts, it was heartening to see him reacting at least to the situation. "I don't know..." Jack replied softly, reaching out for Ianto before turning to the rest of his team. "We're facing a group of Cybermen. I don't know how they got here, and I don't know how many there are."
Jack turned a bit to see Ianto's steely gaze. "We're all familiar with them, these should help." Jack tossed each member an alien weapon. "They have to be destroyed, none should be let out of the hub understood?"
Jack slowly turned when he heard the familiar vworp-vworp of a much loved machine.
Ianto nodded, hands running carefully over the weapon Jack had give him, remembering the thing taking a large chunk out of the hillside, never mind what it did to people. But then, hopefully it would be enough to rid them of at least a few of the Cybermen. They’d knocked out more of the cameras, making it impossible to tell.
Ianto looked up sharply at the familiar noise, frown deepening. The Doctor’s help would be appreciated right now, but that didn’t mean he had to be glad to see the man. The alien who had taken his Jack away before.
"I leave you alone for one minute and already your letting cybermen loose everywhere? Honestly Harkness, you’re slipping." The Doctor strolled out of his blue police phone box, jacket on and hands shoved in his pockets.
"You know me, can't stay out of trouble. How did you get here?" Jack clasped the Doctor close, his smile grinning as he felt that maybe, just maybe they would be getting out of this.
"You know how protective of you she can get."
Ianto watched carefully, resisting the urge to just aim the weapon at the Doctor and be done with it; an urge that was not helped by the Doctor’s words. ‘she’? Who was ‘she’? Not the third person that Jack had spoken of, he’d said that she had died. Someone else, then.
“Lovely as it is to watch you two catching up, some of us are a little preoccupied by the fact that there’s a fucking Cyber army in the basement?” Ianto snapped, gesturing towards Tosh’s computer screens, the few that were still working showing Cybermen busily making their way through the lower levels.
"Yes, I was coming to that." The Doctor leaned forward and hit a few commands into Tosh's computer, allowing the destroyed camera's to pick up a signal again. "Well, well, well. Seems we have a bit of a problem on our hands Captain." The Doctor rocked back on his heels, huge grin on his face.
"How did they get in?" He asked, finally turning to the rest of them.
"Through the rift." Tosh spoke up, peering around Owen to see the Doctor better. "They set off the rift alarm when they came through into the basement."
The Doctor's frown deepend. "Then they're not Cybus'" The Doctor murmured, turning back to look at the Cybermen in the basement.
"You mean…there's no way they're from Mondas! They shouldn't have that technology yet!"
"They are. Look." The Doctor zoomed the camera in on the chest plate.
"Fuck."
Ianto fidgeted in the background, still holding the alien…whatever it was…tightly, trying to keep a hold of himself. He didn’t need to break down again now. But just standing around, watching them…he could feel the panic rising up in his chest, sob quietly muffled as he watched the Cybermen work, memories of Lisa’s screams, of their friends dying, all too clear in his mind.
"Right so! You need to dismantle their conversion unit, eliminate them, close the rift they caused and make sure no one in Cardiff gets upgraded. Nothing like a little excitement to brighten your day." The Doctor looked to Jack who was quickly mulling things over in his mind.
"Right. Gwen, you and Owen stay here in the hub, keep out of sight as best you can and make sure none of those things gets out."
"And try not to die." Owen added sarcastically.
"That would help, yeah."
Jack looked between Ianto and the Doctor, his mind whirring as he tried to think of what to do. "Tosh..." He sighed and figured it was the best plan he could come up with. "The Doctor can fix the rift, and you know our technology better than anyone else. Get that rift closed."
"And you?" She asked, nodding and strapping her guns to her belt. "Ianto will help me disable the conversion unit."
Ianto paused, then nodded, swallowing hard. It made sense - he had built one, and dismantled it, after all. He knew exactly how they worked.
But the thought of going near that unit - his hands trembled so hard that he nearly dropped the gun.
“H-how do we get to it without them seeing us?” He murmured, nodding to the dozen or so Cybermen surrounding the Unit. He tugged at his tie, hoping it would help him breath easier, calm down a little.
"That, my gorgeous Ianto, is the brilliance, of a diversion." Jack grinned, feeling a bit more like his old self with the Doctor at his side, or even just knowing that the man was here.
He reached out and grabbed a sonic disrupter, setting it's frequency to interfere with communication between the Cybermen. "Go!" Jack shouted at Owen and Gwen, who were just standing around watching. Jack grabbed Ianto's arm and pulled him up into his office and into a secret doorway behind his bookshelves. Grinning when the door shut and it caused Ianto to be pressed tightly against him in the dark.
Ianto smiled back nervously, clutching his weapon tightly, following where Jack led him obediently. He gasped a little as they were pressed together into the confined space, practically able to taste Jack’s grin.
“Is now really the time, sir?” He murmured, breathless, knuckles nearly white as he held onto the alien gun.
"Probably not." Jack admitted, stealing a kiss anyways as his hand groped for the other button that opened the door behind them. Grinning as he stepped back and Ianto stumbled forward into a small secret room connected to a series of tunnels running under and through the hub.
"Welcome to how we're going to do this Mr. Jones." Jack grinned and turned to the console and pulled up CCTV images of the basement and the hub.
“How…” Ianto looked around, utterly gobsmacked. “Do these tunnels go all over the Hub?” He stood at Jack’s shoulder, watching the flickering images, fingers curling in the back of Jack’s shirt as he watched the silvery figures moving about, handful of fabric at the small of Jack’s back clutched in his fist.
“How did you not find Lisa?” He mused, utterly confused now.
Jack's smile dimmed as he began to pull up some other CCTV images to keep tabs on how the others were doing. "I had no reason to question you Ianto." Jack says softly, not looking at him as he continues his mission, powering up something that looks a lot like a huge wall socket.
"Ianto, close and lock that door." He says softly before turning back around and powering up a huge screen.
Ianto closed his eyes, guilt making his throat tight. He pulled away, hand loosening its grip on Jack’s shirt as he stepped back, turning away. He closed the door they had come through, carefully locking it and placing the key in his pocket. Turning back, he watched Jack carefully, watched the screen carefully.
“What are you doing?” He murmured, eyes darting across the screen, following lines of code, not able to even comprehend most of it.
"I'm building a delta wave." Jack mumbled as he watched the lines of numbers go by and began typing something.
"A what?" Ianto asked, looking at Jack and then the screen and then back again.
"It's a wave of energy that fries the brain of a specific organism. Well, done correctly anyways." Jack gave Ianto a sarcastic grin and pulled out a few tools to begin stripping some wires.
"Can you bring me that pan-dimensional extrapolator?"
“The thing that looks like a surfboard?” Ianto put his gun on the floor, grabbing the thing that Jack had gestured to.
“Wait…aren’t the Cybermen human? In part, anyway?” He pointed out, looking a little worried. If this wave was going to wipe out all the Cybermen, he didn’t want it destroying any human brains. His own, for example.
"The ones you encountered were." Jack grunted, pulling pieces off of the extrapolator and hooking it up to some of the wires. "According to the Doctor," and he knew this because he had specifically asked him about Canary Wharf, "the Cybermen you encountered were from a parallel universe and had been created by a man called Cybus for the sole purpose of extending his life."
Jack continued stripping wires and connecting certain ones together. "But this universe has its own race of Cybermen. They live on Mondas, which had been the eleventh planet in this solar system before it had gotten flung out into outer space." Jack bit down on his wrench and yanked out a whole panel of cords and wires.
"The Cybermen of Mondas were created to be able to withstand the cold and fragility of space, there's was a process of years and are infintely harder to kill then the ones you encountered, the bad news."
Ianto slowly sank into a chair as Jack rolled his sleeves up and continued to work. "The good news, they're not even human." Jack looked up with a huge grin on his face as he finished connecting the wires and had the delta wave device created.
Ianto smiled weakly.
“Oh good.” He murmured, watching Jack work.
“Is there anyth-” He trailed off, head snapping round as he heard a clanking sound in the distance. Not so distant. Running over to the door leading to the tunnel system, he carefully looked through the small peephole.
“J-jack?” He stammered, voice weak and wavering slightly. “Any chance that’s finished?” He backed away from the door, pointing his gun at the window, the gun clattering as it shook in trembling hands. He tightened his grip, aiming through the window at the oncoming Cybermen.
"It's done but it won't be done powering up for ...at least an hour." Jack answered, seeing Ianto's terrified face. "Step back..." He said, grabbing Ianto's hand and jerking him underneath the nearest desk.
"Did you lock the door?" Jack asked hurriedly, Ianto nodding fearfully as he did. "Then duck."
Jack covered Ianto's neck and had him ducking under the table as the door was breached and a surge of electrical energy shot through the doorframe and around the room, exploding Cybermen parts going everywhere.
Ianto cowered under the table, watching as electricity sparked out of the doorframe, annihilating the first Cyberman through the door. He breathed deeply, slowly exhaling, raising the alien weapon to his shoulder. His finger gently rested against the trigger guard, hands steady as he aimed at the door, waiting for the next Cyberman to step through.
Jack grabbed his own gun and rolled out of the way, hiding behind another desk and aiming, shooting at the eye slits of the helmet. Another blast and the Cyberman was in paralytic shock on the floor.
Jack watched as Ianto aimed and shot, totally vaporizing any Cyberman that may have been there at all. A pleased smile came across his face as Jack rushed over to the door, shutting it and barricading it once more, locking it firmly.
Turning to the key code, Jack punched in a few numbers and turned, grabbing Ianto's hand. "Come on."
Ianto scrambled to his feet, wincing at the dirt on his suit.
“Where are we going?” He followed Jack, feeling a little more confident now, after the way his weapon had utterly vaporised the Cyberman. At least he knew he wouldn’t die straight away. Not until his gun died, at least.
"The delta wave has to power up, while it's doing that we might as well dismantle the conversion unit don't you think?" Jack touched his earpiece as he ran down the corridors, Ianto hurrying after him.
"Gwen, Owen, how are you? Where are you? Have they broken through to the Hub yet?"
“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that part…” Ianto murmured, hurrying after Jack, looking around nervously, just waiting for a Cyberman to jump out at them. Thankfully, they made their way down the corridor unchallenged, Ianto close behind Jack. He almost collided with Jack when the other man stopped, Ianto peering over his shoulder, gun at the ready.
“Little busy right now, Captain!” Owen yelled, shoving more heavy units in front of the doors.
“They’re trying, but they’ve not got through yet. We think they’re trying to get in through the ventilation system.”
"They fit in our ventilation system?" Jack said incredulous as he looked down the fork of corridors and grabbed Ianto pulling him down one of the hallways.
"Apparently so." Gwen panted and then there were some crashes along with quite a few yells.
"Gwen? Gwen!"
"She's fine, just... keep going captain, I got her." Jack cursed and ran to a series of doors. Grabbing something that looked like a Walkman, he held it up to the door and cursed louder when the item showed what looked like 6 Cybermen still in the room.
"Someone, I need a diversion!"
Ianto listened worriedly to the conversation, nearly biting through his lip as Gwen screamed. He was only a little relieved to hear Owen’s reassurance.
Shedding his suit jacket, he loosened his tie.
“How much time do you need?” He murmured, looking up and down the corridor, trying to work out how to draw the Cybermen away. Pulling Jack away from the door, he shoved him into an alcove, making sure he couldn’t be seen from the doorway.
“Wait until they all follow me. No dumb heroics, ok?” He kissed Jack hard, brow furrowed, almost pained as he poured everything into the kiss, praying and hoping that it wouldn’t be the last.
"Ianto..." Jack's voice was cut off by the kiss, his fingers scrambling at Ianto's shirt, trying to hold him into the kiss, trying to return it and trying not admit that it felt like good-bye.
"Ianto... Ianto!!" He yelled as the man let go and rushed into the door, drawing the Cybermen out of the room. "Fucking hell Ianto."
"What? What happened?" Tosh's voice was worried and right in his ear. Jack gave a dry humourless chuckle.
"He's the distraction."
Ianto grinned for a moment, pausing at the end of the corridor, letting out a quiet whoop as he watched all six Cybermen give chase. It was working. Oh. Shit. Eyes widening, he ducked around the corner as they followed him, running along the corridor. He turned again, firing at the first, watching as it disintegrated.
“That was for Lisa, you evil piece of shit.” He snarled, backing around the corner, taking out two more before they could even get close.
Jack had to admit, it worked well. Creeping into the room and keeping his gun at the ready, Jack began to dismantle the conversion unit; puling out the panel and ripping out cords. "Doctor, Tosh-- haven't heard from you. A little encouragement on the rift would be great right about now."
"Well, good news and bad news..." Tosh said weakly, her voice tiny and quiet.
"Tosh--"
"The good news is that the Doctor singled out the rift we need to repair. The bad news is that more Cybermen are coming through."
"Where is he? Where are you?" Jack shouted into his comlink, his hands slipping and slicing open on the blades.
"Inside his thing..."
"Your in the Tardis?"
**********************
“Come on, then!” Ianto yelled, backing down the corridor, the Cybermen following him a little more cautiously now. Two left. And he had his gun. He aimed, fired, and took out one more.
“Just you and me.” He grinned, feeling rather cocky now. Aim. Fire. Nothing. He looked down at the gun as it whined quietly, lights fading into nothingness. Cursing colourfully, he looked up to see the Cyberman step forward, quicker now, more confident without Ianto’s weapon threatening him.
Ianto threw the gun, watching as it bounced off the Cyberman’s head with a loud ‘clonk’ sound. He turned, sprinted down the hallway, turning right. No, shit. Left.
Dead end. Oh God. Swallowing hard, he turned to face the mouth of the hallway, hearing the dull clank of the Cyberman’s boots as he slowly walked down the corridor, turning to face him. Lifting a trembling hand to his earpiece, Ianto fell to his knees.
“Jack…” He murmured quietly, closing his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I love you.” Voice quiet, his breath hitched, fingers still pressed against the button on his headset as the Cyberman quietly intoned, “YOU WILL BE DELETED.”
Chapter Three…
Authors: maverick0324 and athousanderrors
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Jack, Jack/Ten, Jack/Ianto, Ianto/Lisa, Gwen, Owen, Toshiko.
Word Count: 5,891 this part.
Rating: R
Summary: The past is in the past, but when time isn't linear, can anything ever really stay gone?
Spoilers: Series 1 of Torchwood.
Author's Notes: Cowriting is good for the soul. But bad for the social life. Concrit loved, feedback adored. Flamers will be fed to Myfanwy.
Chapter One
“Did you get hold of-” Ianto fell silent mid-sentence, peering at the screen, creeping horror in his gut.
“No. That….Jack, tell me I’m not seeing that.” His voice was suddenly hoarse, hands shaking as he tried to zoom in, tried to focus on the dim shapes he could make out under the emergency lighting. Red lights reflected off matt silver, and Ianto almost imagined he could hear the clanking of metal-shod boots against the floors.
********************************
His hands fell away from the keyboard, and it took him a moment to realise he was shaking his head, muttering “no, no, no no…” under his breath. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, panic like a fist clutching tight around his throat, making him gasp and choke.
"Fuck...." Jack breathed as he watched the cybermen forming rank and walking down the hallway. "Tosh. Now!" He barked into his headset as he grabbed Ianto, almost dragging him back up to his office and into his arms. Surviving one cyberman invasion was amazing. Retaining his mental facilities was truly mind blowing; having to watch another attack happening was beyond cruel of fate.
"Ianto. Ianto, look at me." Jack said forcefully, kissing him and looking in his eyes. "This isn't Canary Wharf..." Jack couldn't tell Ianto everything would be okay, couldn't look in his lovers eyes and lie to him.
“No no no no no no…” Ianto was still mumbling, looking at Jack but not really seeing him, clutching at his shoulders.
“They can’t be here. They were destroyed. Th-they were gone. Can’t be here.” He shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “Oh God…why can’t I wake up? S’not real, it’s not. M’safe. It’s not real.” He was nearly rocking back and forth now, struck blind by the mere thought of Cybermen attacking, a nightmare he’d been plagued by for so long, and how it had come horrifically true.
"Ianto... They're here. You're not dreaming." Jack said, hating himself for having to bring the harsh reality home but Ianto kept whispering, saying he was safe and dreaming and they couldn't touch him.
Jack softly ran a finger down Ianto's cheek and pulled him in fiercely to kiss him, his hand slipping around to the back of Ianto's head, hoping to somehow reach the young man.
Ianto sobbed into the kiss, fingers tightening, curling into Jack’s shirt, clutching at pale cotton.
“Make it stop, not real, can’t be. They can’t be here.” He babbled, pressing forward, face buried against Jack’s shoulder. “Oh God…” He was trembling, eyes screwed tight shut as if he could will them away. But it didn’t do any good. He could hear Lisa’s screams, the dull rasp of her voice, talking of upgrading and compatability. The dull clunk of metal boots against the Hub floor, the whine of saws as the Conversion Unit started up, Gwen screaming for help below.
“Jack!” Tosh ran into the darkened up, flinging her bag to the floor as she spotted Jack and Ianto, crouched in the doorway of his office.
“What’s going on? Ianto?” She turned as Jack pointed a shaky hand at the computer screens, one hand flying up to cover her mouth as she processed what she was seeing.
“Oh God…” She whispered, turning back to Jack and Ianto, eyes wide.
"Tosh, trigger the lockdown of the hub, cut them off. Once you've done that try and get the others here as fast as you can." Tosh nodded quickly and ran off to do as she was told. Jack turned his attentions back to his lover who was back in his own personal hell.
No one should have to go through what he did once, let alone twice. Not letting go of the younger man, doubting he could if he wanted to, Jack poured a bit of scotch into a glass and got Ianto to drink it before pulling him down onto the couch and into his lap again. His hands rubbed across his back as Ianto continued to cling tighter to him.
Ianto coughed, eyes streaming from the drink, trembling still as he clung to Jack. His murmurs were slowly subsiding, eyes darting around the room less, being drawn back again and again to the screens, the cybermen slowly moving through the basement.
“It’s real…” He murmured at last, half-question, the words numb and quiet. “They’re here.” He took a shaky breath, managing not to sob, his fingers slowly loosening their death grip on Jack’s shirt, though he still clung to the other man.
“Oh God, Jack…”
Jack held onto him tightly and hoped for a miracle to happen, he didn't know what to do to kill these guys. They had just barely handled one only half cyberised girlfriend, a whole slew of them was... something that Jack was frankly beginning to find impossible.
"Shh Ianto..." Jack kissed him softly. "They won't take you, I promise." Jack said softly, hearing Gwen's voice cackle over his headset.
“We can’t stop them…” Ianto choked out, eyes wide, still shaking hard. He fell silent as Jack reached a hand up to his headset, hearing Gwen’s voice come through on his own Bluetooth.
“Jack? What’s happening? Why’s the Hub in lockdown?” Gwen paced the small stretch outside the tourist office, tugging her jacket straight, looking around for Owen, who was parking his car God only knew where.
Jack's arm slid around Ianto's waist, unconsciously pulling him closer and frowning and racking his brain for what was in the hub and had at their disposal. "Cybermen." Jack answered.
"You mean like that thing that had been in our basement?" Jack pulled Ianto close, his forehead resting on Ianto’s as he silently begged Ianto not to listen. "Sort of." Jack just answered, pulling off Ianto's headset before Gwen said anything else.
"I've faced them before. Won against them before." Jack said, making Ianto look at him. "There is a way."
Ianto shivered, mouth trembling a little as he tried to hold in another sob, ‘Lisa’ barely a whisper as he looked at Jack, pulling back far enough to see him clearly. He shook his head, tears welling up once more.
“We can’t. There’s too many of them. They’re not supposed to be here, they’re supposed to be gone.” His eyes widened suddenly, mention of Lisa triggering an all-too-horrible thought.
“The unit. Oh God.” Nearly tripping over himself, he rushed to his feet, stumbling across to Tosh’s desk. He pulled up the cameras for the storeroom where they’d left all the parts of the unit, soft sound of dismay slipping out as he watched the Cybermen carefully and methodically removing every part, taking it out of the tiny storeroom and along the hallway.
Jack tried to hurry after him, skidding to a stop when he watched what the cybermen were doing. "No, it's not possible." He said, looking from the screen to Ianto and back again.
"We destroyed everything that was down there. The conversion unit, everything.. We destroyed it." Jack looked at Ianto almost afraid to hear the answer. Jack could see Owen and Gwen heading into the hub and Tosh retriggering the lockdown, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Ianto.
“Not enough.” Ianto shook his head. “We didn’t do enough. We dismantled it, but…” Ianto closed his eyes. “I never destroyed the spare parts I brought with me to Cardiff.” His breath hitched again. “Oh God. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” It couldn’t be coincidence that they’d broken through in the dank room where he’d kept Lisa hidden, all those months.
Owen and Gwen hurried over, looking at the images on the CCTV while Jack just stared at Ianto, wanting to ask how he could be so stupid to leave cyber conversion parts laying around but then, he had brought his cyber girlfriend into the hub.
"Oh for fuck's sake..." Owen groaned as he finally saw what it was that was in their basement. "So what, did you bring these one's in too?"
Ianto could see Jack’s look. “I…I forgot they were even there.” He murmured reproachfully. He couldn’t exactly be blamed for that; and he doubted that it would have taken the Cybermen long to build a Conversion Unit of their own anyway. He spun around as Owen appeared, fingers curling into tight fists, just waiting for him to say something. And of course, the man didn’t disappoint.
Jaw clenched, Ianto swung, catching Owen under the chin and knocking him off his feet. Swaying slightly, he stared down at Owen, his legs crumbling underneath him.
“We’re going to die.” He gasped, still trembling faintly.
Jack glared at Owen, letting Gwen help the man nurse his jaw back into proper alignment as he went to Ianto and helped the man stand, not even bothering when he realised that he would have to lean on him to stay upright.
Jack wrapped an arm around Ianto's waist, helping him stay up as he finally turned to the rest of his team. "These things are not unbeatable. We need to work together and get something done before they get that conversion unit finished. Tosh I need you to find a way to run a DC current through any sort of gun or amplifier we may have." She nodded and began to work on it.
"Gwen, help her. Owen? Find out how the hell these things got through the rift."
"And him?" Owen grumbled as he went to his own desk.
"Once you've survived a cyberman attack, you're allowed to freak out. Until then, move!" Jack barked and backed Ianto back to the couch. "Ianto," Jack whispered softly, brushing his hair back. "You can get up to reception, take the car back home..."
Ianto focused on Jack’s face, shaking his head slowly.
“Not leaving.” He murmured firmly, swallowing hard as he forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath. “I won’t leave you.” He was shaking still, breath still a little too fast, pulse racing. He was calmer than before, however, the reality of their situation slowly sinking in.
“What can I do?”
Jack sighed, but he knew it was no use trying to convince Ianto otherwise. Besides, when it came down to it, at least with Ianto here, he could keep an eye on him and protect him himself.
"Go find as many weapons as you can. They can't power the unit up while we're on lock down, as soon as they find that out they'll be up here to fix it. Go." Jack leaned over and kissed Ianto deeply but briefly, feeling a sense of deja vu that he was seeing his lover for one of the last times and having to snap himself out of it.
Hurrying up to his office and then into his own small private quarters beneath, Jack spun the lock on the safe he hid at the back of the room and began to pull things out.
Ianto pressed into the kiss, fierce and desperate and oh God, it felt like a goodbye. Trembling, he broke the kiss at last, nodding to Jack before standing, running out into the main Hub, towards the armoury. Reaching it, he cursed quietly. Lockdown, of course.
Spinning back around, he ran to Tosh’s desk, grabbing the alien reader that they’d used to escape Lisa all those months before. Oh God, Lisa…Ianto swallowed hard, shaking his head as if to clear it of memories, refusing to let himself dwell on that now. He unlocked the armoury door, pulling out as many guns as he could find, supplies of ammo, loading them into a bag. This was merely the earth weaponry; the alien weapons were in the safe in Jack’s office.
Jack continued to pull at out every bit of alien weaponry they had confiscated and held in a safe, teeming it unsafe for human use. At least they might do a bit of damage. The problem, as Jack could see it, was that the things he needed, the things he had used before t defeat the cybermen, he didn't have.
"Fuck." Jack breathed, feeling like he was back on the game station and he was preparing for a slaughter.
Gathering up the bag of weapons, he dragged them into Jack’s office, leaving them on the floor. Taking each one out of the bag, he checked and loaded them, reactions almost automatic, Jack’s gun drills finally paying off. He laid them out, carefully stacking ammo by each one, working out how much they had. Not nearly enough.
“How are we going to stop them, Jack?” He murmured, looking up at the other one.
“I don’t think Myfanwy’s that hungry, and we’ve run out of barbeque sauce…” He tried to joke, tried to smile, the expression falling far short.
Jack appreciated Ianto's efforts, it was heartening to see him reacting at least to the situation. "I don't know..." Jack replied softly, reaching out for Ianto before turning to the rest of his team. "We're facing a group of Cybermen. I don't know how they got here, and I don't know how many there are."
Jack turned a bit to see Ianto's steely gaze. "We're all familiar with them, these should help." Jack tossed each member an alien weapon. "They have to be destroyed, none should be let out of the hub understood?"
Jack slowly turned when he heard the familiar vworp-vworp of a much loved machine.
Ianto nodded, hands running carefully over the weapon Jack had give him, remembering the thing taking a large chunk out of the hillside, never mind what it did to people. But then, hopefully it would be enough to rid them of at least a few of the Cybermen. They’d knocked out more of the cameras, making it impossible to tell.
Ianto looked up sharply at the familiar noise, frown deepening. The Doctor’s help would be appreciated right now, but that didn’t mean he had to be glad to see the man. The alien who had taken his Jack away before.
"I leave you alone for one minute and already your letting cybermen loose everywhere? Honestly Harkness, you’re slipping." The Doctor strolled out of his blue police phone box, jacket on and hands shoved in his pockets.
"You know me, can't stay out of trouble. How did you get here?" Jack clasped the Doctor close, his smile grinning as he felt that maybe, just maybe they would be getting out of this.
"You know how protective of you she can get."
Ianto watched carefully, resisting the urge to just aim the weapon at the Doctor and be done with it; an urge that was not helped by the Doctor’s words. ‘she’? Who was ‘she’? Not the third person that Jack had spoken of, he’d said that she had died. Someone else, then.
“Lovely as it is to watch you two catching up, some of us are a little preoccupied by the fact that there’s a fucking Cyber army in the basement?” Ianto snapped, gesturing towards Tosh’s computer screens, the few that were still working showing Cybermen busily making their way through the lower levels.
"Yes, I was coming to that." The Doctor leaned forward and hit a few commands into Tosh's computer, allowing the destroyed camera's to pick up a signal again. "Well, well, well. Seems we have a bit of a problem on our hands Captain." The Doctor rocked back on his heels, huge grin on his face.
"How did they get in?" He asked, finally turning to the rest of them.
"Through the rift." Tosh spoke up, peering around Owen to see the Doctor better. "They set off the rift alarm when they came through into the basement."
The Doctor's frown deepend. "Then they're not Cybus'" The Doctor murmured, turning back to look at the Cybermen in the basement.
"You mean…there's no way they're from Mondas! They shouldn't have that technology yet!"
"They are. Look." The Doctor zoomed the camera in on the chest plate.
"Fuck."
Ianto fidgeted in the background, still holding the alien…whatever it was…tightly, trying to keep a hold of himself. He didn’t need to break down again now. But just standing around, watching them…he could feel the panic rising up in his chest, sob quietly muffled as he watched the Cybermen work, memories of Lisa’s screams, of their friends dying, all too clear in his mind.
"Right so! You need to dismantle their conversion unit, eliminate them, close the rift they caused and make sure no one in Cardiff gets upgraded. Nothing like a little excitement to brighten your day." The Doctor looked to Jack who was quickly mulling things over in his mind.
"Right. Gwen, you and Owen stay here in the hub, keep out of sight as best you can and make sure none of those things gets out."
"And try not to die." Owen added sarcastically.
"That would help, yeah."
Jack looked between Ianto and the Doctor, his mind whirring as he tried to think of what to do. "Tosh..." He sighed and figured it was the best plan he could come up with. "The Doctor can fix the rift, and you know our technology better than anyone else. Get that rift closed."
"And you?" She asked, nodding and strapping her guns to her belt. "Ianto will help me disable the conversion unit."
Ianto paused, then nodded, swallowing hard. It made sense - he had built one, and dismantled it, after all. He knew exactly how they worked.
But the thought of going near that unit - his hands trembled so hard that he nearly dropped the gun.
“H-how do we get to it without them seeing us?” He murmured, nodding to the dozen or so Cybermen surrounding the Unit. He tugged at his tie, hoping it would help him breath easier, calm down a little.
"That, my gorgeous Ianto, is the brilliance, of a diversion." Jack grinned, feeling a bit more like his old self with the Doctor at his side, or even just knowing that the man was here.
He reached out and grabbed a sonic disrupter, setting it's frequency to interfere with communication between the Cybermen. "Go!" Jack shouted at Owen and Gwen, who were just standing around watching. Jack grabbed Ianto's arm and pulled him up into his office and into a secret doorway behind his bookshelves. Grinning when the door shut and it caused Ianto to be pressed tightly against him in the dark.
Ianto smiled back nervously, clutching his weapon tightly, following where Jack led him obediently. He gasped a little as they were pressed together into the confined space, practically able to taste Jack’s grin.
“Is now really the time, sir?” He murmured, breathless, knuckles nearly white as he held onto the alien gun.
"Probably not." Jack admitted, stealing a kiss anyways as his hand groped for the other button that opened the door behind them. Grinning as he stepped back and Ianto stumbled forward into a small secret room connected to a series of tunnels running under and through the hub.
"Welcome to how we're going to do this Mr. Jones." Jack grinned and turned to the console and pulled up CCTV images of the basement and the hub.
“How…” Ianto looked around, utterly gobsmacked. “Do these tunnels go all over the Hub?” He stood at Jack’s shoulder, watching the flickering images, fingers curling in the back of Jack’s shirt as he watched the silvery figures moving about, handful of fabric at the small of Jack’s back clutched in his fist.
“How did you not find Lisa?” He mused, utterly confused now.
Jack's smile dimmed as he began to pull up some other CCTV images to keep tabs on how the others were doing. "I had no reason to question you Ianto." Jack says softly, not looking at him as he continues his mission, powering up something that looks a lot like a huge wall socket.
"Ianto, close and lock that door." He says softly before turning back around and powering up a huge screen.
Ianto closed his eyes, guilt making his throat tight. He pulled away, hand loosening its grip on Jack’s shirt as he stepped back, turning away. He closed the door they had come through, carefully locking it and placing the key in his pocket. Turning back, he watched Jack carefully, watched the screen carefully.
“What are you doing?” He murmured, eyes darting across the screen, following lines of code, not able to even comprehend most of it.
"I'm building a delta wave." Jack mumbled as he watched the lines of numbers go by and began typing something.
"A what?" Ianto asked, looking at Jack and then the screen and then back again.
"It's a wave of energy that fries the brain of a specific organism. Well, done correctly anyways." Jack gave Ianto a sarcastic grin and pulled out a few tools to begin stripping some wires.
"Can you bring me that pan-dimensional extrapolator?"
“The thing that looks like a surfboard?” Ianto put his gun on the floor, grabbing the thing that Jack had gestured to.
“Wait…aren’t the Cybermen human? In part, anyway?” He pointed out, looking a little worried. If this wave was going to wipe out all the Cybermen, he didn’t want it destroying any human brains. His own, for example.
"The ones you encountered were." Jack grunted, pulling pieces off of the extrapolator and hooking it up to some of the wires. "According to the Doctor," and he knew this because he had specifically asked him about Canary Wharf, "the Cybermen you encountered were from a parallel universe and had been created by a man called Cybus for the sole purpose of extending his life."
Jack continued stripping wires and connecting certain ones together. "But this universe has its own race of Cybermen. They live on Mondas, which had been the eleventh planet in this solar system before it had gotten flung out into outer space." Jack bit down on his wrench and yanked out a whole panel of cords and wires.
"The Cybermen of Mondas were created to be able to withstand the cold and fragility of space, there's was a process of years and are infintely harder to kill then the ones you encountered, the bad news."
Ianto slowly sank into a chair as Jack rolled his sleeves up and continued to work. "The good news, they're not even human." Jack looked up with a huge grin on his face as he finished connecting the wires and had the delta wave device created.
Ianto smiled weakly.
“Oh good.” He murmured, watching Jack work.
“Is there anyth-” He trailed off, head snapping round as he heard a clanking sound in the distance. Not so distant. Running over to the door leading to the tunnel system, he carefully looked through the small peephole.
“J-jack?” He stammered, voice weak and wavering slightly. “Any chance that’s finished?” He backed away from the door, pointing his gun at the window, the gun clattering as it shook in trembling hands. He tightened his grip, aiming through the window at the oncoming Cybermen.
"It's done but it won't be done powering up for ...at least an hour." Jack answered, seeing Ianto's terrified face. "Step back..." He said, grabbing Ianto's hand and jerking him underneath the nearest desk.
"Did you lock the door?" Jack asked hurriedly, Ianto nodding fearfully as he did. "Then duck."
Jack covered Ianto's neck and had him ducking under the table as the door was breached and a surge of electrical energy shot through the doorframe and around the room, exploding Cybermen parts going everywhere.
Ianto cowered under the table, watching as electricity sparked out of the doorframe, annihilating the first Cyberman through the door. He breathed deeply, slowly exhaling, raising the alien weapon to his shoulder. His finger gently rested against the trigger guard, hands steady as he aimed at the door, waiting for the next Cyberman to step through.
Jack grabbed his own gun and rolled out of the way, hiding behind another desk and aiming, shooting at the eye slits of the helmet. Another blast and the Cyberman was in paralytic shock on the floor.
Jack watched as Ianto aimed and shot, totally vaporizing any Cyberman that may have been there at all. A pleased smile came across his face as Jack rushed over to the door, shutting it and barricading it once more, locking it firmly.
Turning to the key code, Jack punched in a few numbers and turned, grabbing Ianto's hand. "Come on."
Ianto scrambled to his feet, wincing at the dirt on his suit.
“Where are we going?” He followed Jack, feeling a little more confident now, after the way his weapon had utterly vaporised the Cyberman. At least he knew he wouldn’t die straight away. Not until his gun died, at least.
"The delta wave has to power up, while it's doing that we might as well dismantle the conversion unit don't you think?" Jack touched his earpiece as he ran down the corridors, Ianto hurrying after him.
"Gwen, Owen, how are you? Where are you? Have they broken through to the Hub yet?"
“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that part…” Ianto murmured, hurrying after Jack, looking around nervously, just waiting for a Cyberman to jump out at them. Thankfully, they made their way down the corridor unchallenged, Ianto close behind Jack. He almost collided with Jack when the other man stopped, Ianto peering over his shoulder, gun at the ready.
“Little busy right now, Captain!” Owen yelled, shoving more heavy units in front of the doors.
“They’re trying, but they’ve not got through yet. We think they’re trying to get in through the ventilation system.”
"They fit in our ventilation system?" Jack said incredulous as he looked down the fork of corridors and grabbed Ianto pulling him down one of the hallways.
"Apparently so." Gwen panted and then there were some crashes along with quite a few yells.
"Gwen? Gwen!"
"She's fine, just... keep going captain, I got her." Jack cursed and ran to a series of doors. Grabbing something that looked like a Walkman, he held it up to the door and cursed louder when the item showed what looked like 6 Cybermen still in the room.
"Someone, I need a diversion!"
Ianto listened worriedly to the conversation, nearly biting through his lip as Gwen screamed. He was only a little relieved to hear Owen’s reassurance.
Shedding his suit jacket, he loosened his tie.
“How much time do you need?” He murmured, looking up and down the corridor, trying to work out how to draw the Cybermen away. Pulling Jack away from the door, he shoved him into an alcove, making sure he couldn’t be seen from the doorway.
“Wait until they all follow me. No dumb heroics, ok?” He kissed Jack hard, brow furrowed, almost pained as he poured everything into the kiss, praying and hoping that it wouldn’t be the last.
"Ianto..." Jack's voice was cut off by the kiss, his fingers scrambling at Ianto's shirt, trying to hold him into the kiss, trying to return it and trying not admit that it felt like good-bye.
"Ianto... Ianto!!" He yelled as the man let go and rushed into the door, drawing the Cybermen out of the room. "Fucking hell Ianto."
"What? What happened?" Tosh's voice was worried and right in his ear. Jack gave a dry humourless chuckle.
"He's the distraction."
Ianto grinned for a moment, pausing at the end of the corridor, letting out a quiet whoop as he watched all six Cybermen give chase. It was working. Oh. Shit. Eyes widening, he ducked around the corner as they followed him, running along the corridor. He turned again, firing at the first, watching as it disintegrated.
“That was for Lisa, you evil piece of shit.” He snarled, backing around the corner, taking out two more before they could even get close.
Jack had to admit, it worked well. Creeping into the room and keeping his gun at the ready, Jack began to dismantle the conversion unit; puling out the panel and ripping out cords. "Doctor, Tosh-- haven't heard from you. A little encouragement on the rift would be great right about now."
"Well, good news and bad news..." Tosh said weakly, her voice tiny and quiet.
"Tosh--"
"The good news is that the Doctor singled out the rift we need to repair. The bad news is that more Cybermen are coming through."
"Where is he? Where are you?" Jack shouted into his comlink, his hands slipping and slicing open on the blades.
"Inside his thing..."
"Your in the Tardis?"
**********************
“Come on, then!” Ianto yelled, backing down the corridor, the Cybermen following him a little more cautiously now. Two left. And he had his gun. He aimed, fired, and took out one more.
“Just you and me.” He grinned, feeling rather cocky now. Aim. Fire. Nothing. He looked down at the gun as it whined quietly, lights fading into nothingness. Cursing colourfully, he looked up to see the Cyberman step forward, quicker now, more confident without Ianto’s weapon threatening him.
Ianto threw the gun, watching as it bounced off the Cyberman’s head with a loud ‘clonk’ sound. He turned, sprinted down the hallway, turning right. No, shit. Left.
Dead end. Oh God. Swallowing hard, he turned to face the mouth of the hallway, hearing the dull clank of the Cyberman’s boots as he slowly walked down the corridor, turning to face him. Lifting a trembling hand to his earpiece, Ianto fell to his knees.
“Jack…” He murmured quietly, closing his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I love you.” Voice quiet, his breath hitched, fingers still pressed against the button on his headset as the Cyberman quietly intoned, “YOU WILL BE DELETED.”
Chapter Three…