Fic: The Oncoming Storm (Slash, AU, Janto 39/40 Act 2/7)
Author: d8rkmessngr
Pairing: Jack/OMC, Jack/?, Jack/Ianto eventually, het and slash
Rating: NC-17
Summary: He left Jack on the game station. Abandoned. But then…he came back…different. An AU look on what happens if things happened differently. Doctor Who 'verse with Torchwood later on.
Warnings: Please read each chapter's individual warnings. Some parts down the road may briefly mention non-con, abuse, and/or violence. Dark in the beginning. Please note there are some dark thoughts as my boys are broken…for now. Each chapter will be labeled for your convenience.
Author's Notes: The events talked here are controversial. I do not condone them, support them. Writing this does not say I do. Note that "the Year That Never Was" was suggested that it wasn't fun. I took it as a challenge to somehow still find a way to instill comfort in it. If it didn't work, I'm sorry. I suck. LOL.
Disclaimer: RTD and BBC owns them. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Warning For This Chapter: strong language, dark, angsty, VIOLENCE, torture (mostly implied, all a matter of reader interpretation), euthanasia
Notes For This Chapter: Note there are events here that was referenced in DW's "The Sound of Drums", TW's "Greeks Bearing Gifts" and "End of Days"
Prologue + Ch , Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36 Ch 37, Ch 38, Ch 39 1/7
Master Fic List: here
Chapter 39 "The Year That Never Was 2.0"
Act II
Valiant
Clive Jones paced the narrow walkway. He made wet circles with his mop aimlessly traveling up and down the walkway.
A guard in his irritating black suit peeked in a crack of the door. He jumped back at the soapy deluge threatening to wet his shoes.
"Sorry," Clive announced loudly, hopefully loud enough to cover the subdued chatter in the room behind him. It was locked, or so everyone should think, but Ms. Toshiko did something brilliant to its keypad and it opened up as if never locked. The small square panel however hung by a screw.
"Lots of water. Careful," Clive boomed loudly and he nudged his bucket so the dirty water spilled closer to the polished shoes.
"Watch it," the pimply-faced guard snapped. He gave the door behind Clive only a glance then a smirk. "Or we’ll string your fat ass up like that thing in there for the Master to play with!" And the youth-Saxon had recruited the disillusioned youth during his reign as Minister of Defense-punctuated his threat by slamming the door before resuming his patrol.
Clive rolled his eyes and mopped as loudly as a wet, slapping mop could. He glanced over his shoulder uneasily at the room. Sweat was beginning to make the back of his shirt to stick to him. Whatever Torchwood was going to do, they better be quick.
That guard wasn't there before.
"I'll do it."
Everyone turned towards Owen. He held up a rusty pocketknife with a black plastic handle in his hand.
"Put that away!" Gwen hissed.
"Owen," Toshiko whispered, her huge eyes were glued to Owen.
Ianto said nothing. He just turned his head away from everyone, but his hand remained on Jack's back.
Owen leveled his gaze at Jack.
"There's an artery and some nerve areas I can sever," Owen said woodenly. He kept the knife in his palm and never tried to grasp it. "It would be painless, I promise."
Jack met Owen's bleak eyes. He nodded.
"Just get those p'ans," Jack rasped. "Do something with them." Jack took a deep breath. "I need you to keep them safe, Owen."
It must have been the wrong thing to say, because Owen's face, hidden from everyone else, blanched and his fingers shook when he took hold of the pocketknife that had always been meant for opening letters and scraping paint not for severing arteries.
"Owen." Gwen grabbed him by the elbow. "You can't!"
"Gwen!" Jack snapped. It was only because steam just then wailed out of a pipe behind him that the echo was concealed.
Gwen halted and gaped at him with the same shocked look as when Suzie shot him. Dimly, Jack wondered just how many things changed that day, how many things will change now.
"You don't have to watch," Owen practically snarled, his face still turned away from the girls.
Jack watched defiance waver in Gwen's eyes. He sighed to himself. Jack coughed. Red spots splattered, but Owen didn't wipe them off his face.
"At least…let us stay then," Gwen said, cowed, her shoulders slumped. She pulled Toshiko tightly to her side and both of them fixed their gazes on Jack's face only.
"Suit yourself," Owen muttered. He stuck his chin out, flipped the blade open and drew near Jack. He schooled a neutral expression, his mouth was a grim line but the hand he curled around the back of Jack's neck betrayed him. It trembled over his skin as the other held the pocketknife so tightly, Jack thought he would cut himself.
Jack closed his eyes when he felt the knife tip pressed on his jugular, just slightly below his Adam's apple. One advantage of a doctor doing this, Jack thought with a morbid sense of humor, he wouldn't miss. He could feel Ianto's hand curled and clutching a fistful of his shirt on his back, Gwen and Toshiko's hitched breathing somewhere beyond everything, and Owen's cool fingers digging into his flesh as if trying to pull himself closer to Jack.
Then suddenly, Ianto spoke in an almost inaudible voice.
"Pills."
Jack's eyes flew open and saw what Ianto spied: Owen's bleeding lower lip, his red-rimmed eyes. Jack turned to Ianto, who looked just as destroyed, who stared at Owen even as his hands held onto Jack like a buoy.
"What?" Owen croaked. He retracted his hand and the blade too quickly and nicked his thumb by mistake. He rubbed a knuckle across his lower lip, cleaning it of the traces of blood. "What?" Owen repeated, his voice stronger.
It didn't look like Ianto could speak any more, so Jack spared him. "If there's an in'irmary," Jack rasped, "there may b-be…p-pills."
"Overdose," Ianto added. He didn't look at Jack, or Owen, or anyone else. "An overdose. He'll simply…go to…" Ianto's head bowed slightly.
"It'll be easier," Owen finished. His eyes narrowed as he studied Ianto. Jack could see a thought must have clicked inside because Owen's head whipped around back to Jack. The medic made the connection no one else could.
Jack stared steadily back at him, daring him to say something. Owen didn't.
"All right," Owen said finally. He seemed calmer now the longer he kept his eyes on Jack. "Tosh, show me where the infirmary is. You and Gwen get those plans. Ianto-"
"I'm staying here," Ianto said, quietly but firmly. He rested back against Jack's shoulder.
Owen never batted an eye. "Right. We'll meet back here in ten minutes."
Owen pivoted around and left with Gwen and Toshiko. Jack saw Gwen and Owen pull out the TARDIS keys out of their shirts to check they were there before they exited the chamber.
The door closed after Clive Jones peered inside to check and indicate he was still outside.
It was a few moments before either of them spoke. A few moments when all Jack wanted to do was hear Ianto breathe, hear the soft inhales and exhales that were comforting to wake up to at night.
"I'm sorry."
Jack felt Ianto start.
"For what?"
Jack closed his eyes briefly, when he reopened them, he stared at Ianto's profile settled against his right shoulder. "For not trying harder to live. I know you hate me doing this."
"I hate a lot of things," Ianto rasped. "The Master, those things out there…" He turned around and studied Jack. "But I could never hate you."
Jack smiled sadly at Ianto. Ianto's eyes were too old for his face. They always were, but Jack had also rejoiced in seeing it recede as time went on. Now, he could only grieve to see it return in full force.
Ianto twisted around. He reached up and caressed Jack's cheek.
"God, I missed you," Ianto whispered. His eyes welled. "I missed you so m-much…" His voice caught. "Every day that I breathed, I missed you."
The fingers that skimmed his face were fragile yet coarse with calluses that told stories Jack knew Ianto would never tell.
"I thought…" Jack sighed as Ianto traced the contour of his face with quiet, undemanding fingers. It had been so long since a touch soothed instead of hurting, invading, humiliating.
Ianto never questioned, he simply stood between Jack's legs. Ianto unbuttoned and opened up his vest and his jacket until a black t-shirt was exposed. He then wrapped his arms around Jack's middle and pressed in his body to offer as much contact as the chains and barrel would allow. Ianto stood there, chest to chest, offering Jack every inch of his body against him, held Jack like a child's favorite toy and buried his face over Jack's throat.
Jack choked at the instinct to cringe warring with the instinct to touch. His arms quivered. He longed to reach out towards Ianto.
"I thought…"
"I know," Ianto said simply. "I'm not. I'm here."
"If you had-" Jack dipped his head and spoke into the cap on Ianto's head.
"Shh," Ianto shushed. "I didn't."
"But you nearly did," Jack whispered. He kissed Ianto's temple, marveled how the coarse stubble against his face could feel so comforting.
Jack could feel the sinewy muscle rubbing against him, the arms around him, but it felt like it wasn't enough. It felt like any minute, he would wake up, Ianto would be gone and someone else would be here, leering.
"Am I hurting you?" Ianto whispered when Jack shuddered.
"No," Jack lied. He didn't want to tell Ianto how his chest felt tight, how his stomach ached and burned each time Ianto held him. He didn't want Ianto to let go. Jack memorized what he could, how solid Ianto felt against him, how his exhales against his skin smoothed away the needles pricking under his skin.
Jack winced as his back spasmed. He covered the groan with a strained chuckle.
"I must s-stink."
Ianto gave his own choked laugh but never looked up from his throat. "I wasn't going to say anything."
"You lo't s-some weight," Jack noted sadly. He could see how the shirt hung on his frame.
"Less takeaway and biscuits these days." Ianto's arms carefully tightened. "You've grown so thin."
"Mira'le diet," Jack wheezed. "Cold s-swede."
"Ah. Dr. Aktins would have been envious."
"Who?" Jack coughed.
Ianto shook his head. His hands traveled up Jack's back, stopping when Jack shivered.
"S-sorry." Jack struggled to keep his voice steady. "I a'ked if they c-can turn up the 'eat, but-"
"We're alone. Jack," Ianto interrupted. He moved his hands around to cup Jack's face. "There's no one here but me." Ianto sniffed but offered Jack a tiny smile anyway. "We're alone. You…you don't have to be the big damn hero all the time."
Jack stared at Ianto. He could feel muscles around his face moving, trembling as they fought to maintain the smile that he could feel growing brittle.
A hand went around the back of his head and guided it down to rest his forehead on Ianto's shoulder.
His neck burned with the strain and his back knotted as soon as his neck bent, but Jack didn't care. He laid his head on the offered shoulder. He listened to Ianto's rhythmic breathing by his ear. Jack thought if he closed his eyes, he could pretend they were back in bed, warm and entangled in each other's arms in the gray morning hours.
A sharp pang in his chest made Jack realize this could only be pretend. That this, these few minutes of solitude, would soon be memory and the pain would begin again and suddenly, Jack couldn't do it. Not again. Not in this soon to be empty, filthy engine room.
The first sound surprised them both. Jack didn't recognize it; the raw, almost animalistic moan stifled by the fear of being heard. The second one escaped before Jack realized he was making the sounds.
"Shh," was Ianto's only response, his voice just as rough, just as unrecognizable and somehow it eased out the next sound, a whimper, into Ianto's shoulder a little easier.
When it finally released, it came out muffled because Jack didn't have the air, his trembles subdued because he didn't have the strength, his eyes dry because he was too dehydrated to form any tears. Dry-eyed, spent, and feeling like he was falling into an endless abyss, Jack tried to gag himself with Ianto's shoulder.
Through it all, Ianto said nothing. He simply held Jack. And stayed.
Gwen stood by the door, feeling a little useless as she watched Tosh dance her fingers across the keyboard.
"State of the art, my ass…" Tosh was muttering.
"…still use Windows…firewall worth shit…blows the mind…prats…idiots…It's true…all the villains use Windows…"
Tosh smirked though as line after line scrolled up the screen. After a moment, a printer in the back of the rows of servers in the tiny space began to beep. It was loud enough that Gwen slipped her hand under her apron for the gun she had tied there. She was beginning to wish she hadn't left her rucksack with Ianto and Jack. Her other weapons were shoved under her dwindling pile of protein bars. Somehow, just wandering the gloomy halls-though unnoticed-with only her handgun left Gwen feeling very exposed.
"Done," Tosh announced as she rolled up the plans from the printer and pass them to Gwen. "Let me clear the printer cache, do what I need to do and we can go."
Gwen studied Tosh's determined face as the computer expert went back to a computer.
"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner, Tosh," Gwen murmured.
"Don't be," Tosh replied simply as she typed something into the computer, tsked when the main navigation page came up and typed some more. Tosh spared her a glance.
"Sorry I wasn't there with you all." Tosh paused then shook her head. "Actually, not really." She squinted at the screen. "I feel a little better knowing someone was up here with Jack." A shadow crossed her face. "Even if I couldn't do anything."
"Looks like you're doing something now," Gwen observed. She knew enough about computers to know it was taking Tosh far too long.
"The less you know, the better," was Tosh's succinct reply.
"You don't trust me?" Gwen asked, a little hurt.
Tosh looked up with a faint smile. "Trust you enough to know you would die rather than tell."
Speechless, Gwen stared at Tosh. She could only manage an "Oh."
"Gwen, the Doctor wants me to do something. That's all I can say. We all have a part. But none of us know everything. Just the countdown."
Something bright flickered close to her chest. "Countdown? So the Doctor has another plan?"
Tosh looked up, her eyes abnormally bright, her smile brighter. "Oh yes." She ducked her head again and continued typing.
Gwen noted the pink ears half hidden under the loose bun her hair was pinned up into.
"Oh my God, you like him," Gwen blurted out.
If anything, Tosh's ears grew pinker.
"He's alright," Tosh muttered. "For an alien." She paused, looking up. "A very old alien."
It was probably inappropriate to laugh, but Gwen couldn't help but giggle.
"Christ, Tosh, what is it with you and aliens?"
Tosh sighed but she offered Gwen a sheepish grin. "I haven't a clue. It's doomed anyway. They either get sent to the sun or get shriveled up into senility."
Gwen surprised Tosh with a hug from behind. "God, Tosh. I missed you."
There was a warm chuckle in response. "I missed you guys, too."
It wasn't fair.
That was all Ianto could think about as he stroked the back of Jack's head and tried not to think about the dried blood crusted there. His right shoulder ached from being up too long but Ianto couldn't bring himself to release Jack.
Jack shuddered every so often but that initial tsunami of emotion in the form of tremors and barely unintelligible sounds had ebbed into the occasional shiver now.
No. It wasn't fair, Ianto decided as he blinked away the burning that threatened to overwhelm him. They couldn't even grieve properly because they feared discovery and because that initial burst had thoroughly exhausted Jack.
Ianto kissed the top of Jack's head and fought the urge to cringe at the smell of neglect, blood and filth on him. Jack was right; he did stink. Then again, Ianto probably didn't smell like a rose garden to Jack right now, either.
It was when Jack stirred that Ianto sensed someone standing by the door, unsure of their welcome. Ianto hastily wiped a hand across Jack's face and his own before turning around.
"We're back," Owen said needlessly at the crack of the door, only one foot in, three fingers visible. He studied Ianto before opening the door wider and let Gwen and Tosh entered the room, their arms laden with wares.
"Opioids." Owen shook an amber bottle of pills in his hand. "Should do the trick. Drug of choice." His smile died quickly. "Got some water we can dissolve it all in."
"I'll do it," Ianto reached for the pills and water bottle.
"Ianto-" Jack's scratchy voice began.
"It's fine," Ianto interrupted. He stared at Jack even as he clutched the items to him. "Let me do this for you."
Jack's eyes were dull with pain and sparked briefly with regret. Jack nodded slowly, but it felt like a poor victory to Ianto.
Ianto never strayed from Jack, both needing to absorb the sense memory the proximity provided. He stayed shoulder to shoulder by Jack, his boots crunching on top of the tarp on the floor, as he uncapped the water. Ianto fought not to react when he offered Jack a sip of untainted water. Jack choked at the first sip. Owen had to tilt his head up a little before the second attempt went down safely.
His fingers shook as he crushed the entire bottle of pills into the rest of the water. He could feel Jack watching him the whole time and Ianto wanted to throw the bottle at the wall. Instead, he shook the bottle with a few flicks of his wrist. He watched with a lump in his throat as the pills slowly disintegrated into a cloudy solution.
"Jack, we'll come back for you," Gwen was promising. She flinched as Ianto shook the bottle, the water sloshing noisily next to her.
"Don't." Jack's voice was calmer than before.
"B-but-"
"Gwen, you re'ind us of our h-humanity…Now you 'ave to r-remem'er what's at stake here: humanity."
"I know," Gwen insisted.
"Then know you c-can't do everything you w-want."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ianto could see Gwen's stunned expression, like being scolded by a teacher for the very first time. Ianto averted his eyes and shook the bottle harder than necessary as Gwen tiptoed and brushed her lips across Jack's.
Tosh approached and she tilted her head up towards him.
"You know what you need to do," Jack rasped.
Tosh nodded and like Gwen, gave him a soft kiss, her hands light on his shoulders.
"I'll come back," Tosh murmured.
"Tosh-"
"I'll be in the neighborhood anyway, I can just-"
"You can't!"
Tosh placed a hand on Jack's chest as he erupted into coughs. Gwen held his left shoulder to still it. His right shoulder bumped against Ianto, nearly upsetting the bottle in his grasp.
"Jack," Tosh sniffled. "You can't expect me to…" She stared at Jack, at his eyes. She gulped then lowered her eyes and nodded.
Ianto looked up at Owen, standing in front of Jack, his arms folded across his chest. Owen scowled.
"I am not kissing you," Owen declared. "You smell funny."
It was a relief to hear everyone, including Jack, laugh, even if it died too quickly.
"Get over 'ere," Jack ordered hoarsely, his eyes tracking Owen as he approached.
Owen's arms unwound and hung to his sides as he leaned into Jack, his ear tilted up to his mouth, his head bowed low towards him. Owen listened, his face the gravest Ianto had ever seen on the medic and he nodded every so often at whatever Jack told him. The only time Owen's face betrayed him was when Owen darted a glance to Ianto before he gave a curt nod.
"Don't worry, Jack," Owen murmured as he straightened. Owen looked worn and old all of the sudden, but his voice was firm. "I-mmpf!"
Before Owen could back away out of reach, Jack stretched his head over and planted a kiss right over Owen's mouth.
"Damn it, Jack," Owen complained. He made a big show of wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"Di'n't w-want you to f-feel left…out," Jack laughed breathlessly.
"Brilliant," Owen spat out before he glared at Jack. "Now I'm traumatized." Owen jerked his head over towards Jack. "Come on, Jonesy, get yours, mate."
Ianto glowered at Owen, but the effort was only half-hearted. Owen's eyes were too bleak to be sincere and the emotion lingering at the edge of Owen's expression was unbearable to look at for too long.
Standing in front of Jack wasn't any better. Before, it was side-glances, faces pressed to faces, but now, standing in front of Jack, the full clarity of what was coming was staggering.
"Just so you know," Ianto said quietly as he clutched the lethal cocktail with both hands, "I am only doing this under protest."
Jack nodded, or tried, and Ianto could see the visible effort it took for Jack not to react to whatever he saw on Ianto's face.
Before he could think about it, Ianto leaned in and gave a chaste kiss over Jack's mouth, lingering longer than he should. He closed his eyes briefly at the sensation of dry, cracked lips on his mouth. It felt like someone had stuck a hot poker in his gut.
Before Ianto pulled away, Jack whispered into his ear.
"Don't you dare d-die," Jack rasped. "Or I s-swear, I'll 'ick your ass."
Ianto bit his lower lip, the words lodged in his throat. He pressed another kiss to Jack's brow and felt Jack sigh.
"Ready?" Ianto asked, his voice breaking. At Jack's nod, Ianto uncapped the bottle and with a hand around the back of Jack's head, tipped the bottle carefully to his mouth.
Ianto wished Jack didn't look like the water quenched his thirst. Jack acted like the bitterness of the cloudy water didn't bother him. Ianto nearly pulled the bottle away when he saw Jack had almost drained it.
Done, Jack blinked sluggishly at everyone. Tosh dabbed moisture from his mouth with the corner of her apron.
"Go," Jack whispered.
Owen placed two fingers on Jack's jugular. "There's still time," Owen murmured. "I think we'll just wait, catch our breath, if you don't mind."
"The p-plans…"
"We have them," Gwen jumped in, her voice cracking.
"And we'll help Martha somehow," Owen promised. "Once we get back to Torchwood, we'll sort it out, Jack."
Jack's head bobbed once.
Ianto came back close to Jack again, close enough for Jack to rest his chin on his shoulder again. Jack dropped his head down with a sigh. Ianto's right shoulder resisted a little and Ianto was forced to use his left to stroke Jack's hair.
"If you want to go to sleep," Ianto murmured into Jack's ear, "It's…it's okay."
"Not yet." Jack's voice was growing wispy. "Talk to me."
His eyes blurred. "About what?"
There was a puff of air against his jaw as Jack tried to laugh.
"Anything. Just w-want to 'ear those beau'ful Welsh v-vowels."
Ianto choked. "Only you can think to flirt at a time like this."
Jack responded with another huff against his ear.
A hand slowly sweeping up and down Jack's back, Ianto began to talk about where they would go on the date, maybe the little restaurant by the docks, or perhaps dinner in his flat. Ianto felt Jack growing heavier and heavier against him as Ianto told him about what he might make, maybe a little pasta, or soup, and the more he talked, the more Ianto found there was so much he wanted to tell him. He wanted to tell Jack about his university days, about his family, about meeting Lisa one day when he tripped over her bicycle, about the things he wanted to do with his flat, about loving him so much, it was impossible to imagine a day when he-
"Enough. You can stop now."
Owen's hand dropped on his right shoulder, interrupting Ianto's monologue. Ianto looked up numbly and saw Owen standing by him.
"You can stop now, Ianto," Owen rasped. "…He's gone."
Ianto stilled. He pulled back and stared at Jack's face, long lashes dark against a white face. Like lying on a morgue slab for days. Jack looked like he was asleep.
"Ah," Ianto could only say. He touched Jack's cooling face. "Ah," Ianto repeated. He pulled Jack back towards him and blinked rapidly.
"Ianto," Gwen half-whimpered from behind.
"Leave him," Owen cut her off. "Let's just get that barrel back into place."
Ianto knew he should be helping them. He couldn't get his limbs to move as he held Jack as tight as he could as they edged the barrel out from under Jack. Jack dropped into his arms as his legs could no longer hold him up.
Eyes shut, Ianto clutched Jack to him, trying to keep his body from sagging completely. He could feel something hot trailing down his face and he rubbed his eyes on Jack's shirt to clear it.
The door opened and everyone froze.
Clive Jones' head popped in.
"I think Saxon's returning. I could hear the engines getting ready to prime for a landing."
No, Ianto thought as he tried to will his body heat into Jack. Not yet. He was still too cold. Jack got cold easily.
"Ianto, we better go." Gwen pulled at his arm.
"Tosh, figure a way to patch a secure line to Torchwood," Owen told her in a crisp voice.
"Shouldn't be difficult."
He needed more time. Ianto stared at Jack's unmoving face beside his own.
"Ianto, sweetheart, we have to go-"
Jack couldn't cry before, but he had trembled in his arms as if he had.
"Mr. Jones-"
"Clive."
All alone, chained, barely fed, left with Saxon. No, he couldn't. Jack had stared at him like he was a ghost.
"Clive, can you take over, just until he wakes up?"
"Is he dead?"
His beautiful Jack, chained and tortured like an animal, his soul treated as less than one. He can't. He can't.
"Not for long. I just don't want those shoulders to pop out again when we leave-"
"I'm staying," Ianto burst out. He buried his face into Jack's cold neck. "I'm not leaving him."
The stunned silence lasted only seconds. Panic erupted all around him.
"Sweetheart, you can't-"
"Ianto, the Joneses and I will be here-"
"Are you out of your flipping mind, Jonesy? If Saxon finds you-"
"I can't let him wake up and find us gone." Ianto pulled away to yank the wrist strap off. He tossed it to Owen. "Here. This button will teleport you back to Torchwood. I'm staying here."
Owen grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and gave him a shake.
"Listen to me. You can't stay here. Saxon will tear you apart. You think he'll leave you alive? Where do you think you can hide?"
"I…" Ianto floundered for an answer. He found now. "I can't leave him. You can't make me leave him."
"Actually," Owen answered in a strange calm voice. "I can."
Ianto looked up in time to see a fist diving towards him. Before he could duck, it snapped his head back and he crashed against Clive Jones and Jack before Gwen caught him.
"Owen!" He heard Tosh cried out.
"Sorry, Jonesy," Owen said before he plummeted into a darkness that matched what was in his heart.
Jack never knew this, but Gwen once had a best friend who was deaf. She taught Gwen how to read lips. They used to mime secret messages to each other in class. No one ever caught them.
Don't let Ianto stay, Jack had whispered into Owen's ear. Owen nodded, promising as seriously as when Jack also told him to help Martha.
So when Ianto declared he wasn't leaving, Gwen was prepared, but Owen beat her to the punch.
Literally.
Ianto was too light against her, when he collapsed neatly into Gwen's embrace without a word.
"Owen!" Tosh gasped.
"If you're leaving, you have to leave now," Clive Jones gritted out as he stood behind Jack. He wrapped his massive arms from behind to hold him up. "There will be too many guards out there to slip away."
"It's fine," Gwen assured as she pulled one of Ianto's arms over her shoulder. "We can leave from here."
"But we should leave now," Owen muttered as he shrugged two rucksacks and kicked a third close to their feet. He shot Tosh a look. "He can't stay here, Tosh."
Tosh seemed to have calmed down. "I know."
"You watch yourself, girlie," Owen rasped as he pulled Jack's wrist strap on. "Get us a line in and that's that. If you can't-"
Tosh scoffed, but her eyes were too bright. "Their computers here aren't worth shit. I'll get it done."
"Christ, Sato. Ship life has corrupted you."
"Oh, piss off." Tosh hugged Gwen carefully. "Take care, you." Tosh carded a hand through Ianto's hair. His head lolled back against Gwen's ear. Tosh tenderly gave the top of his head a kiss.
Owen rolled his eyes as he pressed a button. The strap began to hum. "He's fine. I didn't hit him that hard." As the hum grew louder, Owen sobered.
"Don't get yourself killed, Sato."
Tosh stood a bit away and gazed at him. "You too, Harper." And just as Gwen could feel the air crackle open behind them, Tosh suddenly leaped forward a step and kissed Owen hard right on the mouth. They parted with a loud smack.
Owen gawped at her, his mouth slightly opened.
Gwen could feel the rift opening wider to swallow them whole.
"Good luck," Tosh said in a thick voice.
"Tosh, wait-"
With a muted roar, the rift swooped over them. Gwen thought she could feel herself floating, threw one last look at her friends and everything simply winked out.
Torchwood Three, Cardiff
It was like she blinked and suddenly they were dropped into the dark Hub. There were no lights, no computers lit, nothing even to make the shattered ruins of the Hub sparkle. She thought she heard a caw. Oh thank God. It was still alive. She couldn't believe how much she missed the ruddy beast.
Someone's foot was on her stomach but then it was gone when Ianto groaned.
"What?" Ianto's voice was first groggy then rose with alarm. "No!"
"Easy, Jonesy."
"No, why did you…damn you, Owen!"
It was dark, but Gwen could make out the shadows of the two men grappling in front of her. Owen had a fistful of Ianto's shirt.
"Listen, you stupid prick. What good do you think it'll do to stay there? The only thing that's keeping our captain sane now is knowing that you're not there. You think being there will help him? It'll break him, damn it."
Ianto stopped struggling.
"Are you finished?" Ianto croaked.
Owen let go. "Yeah. I-"
With a loud crack, Gwen saw Ianto's left arm lash out and connect with Owen's jaw. Owen never fought back. He simply dropped.
Gwen got to her feet, but neither one of them made another move.
"Feel better now?" Owen grated out around the hand cupping his jaw.
Gwen could dimly make out Ianto's shoulders as they slumped.
"No," Ianto whispered, "not really." He stood there, over Owen, before twisting around.
Gwen reached out but his sleeve slipped out of her grasp.
"Ianto?"
"I have to convert the rift residuals to some sort of power source," Ianto stammered.
Gwen touched his arm briefly. "Ianto…"
"Not now, Gwen." Gwen couldn't ignore the plea, the wavering voice threatening to break completely. "Not…later. There's…I…work to be done." And before anyone could stop him, Ianto stumbled away from them into the dark.
Gwen stood there. She suddenly didn't know what to do.
"I didn't want to leave him up there. Or Tosh."
Gwen closed her eyes. The darkness made the voices more real, more fraught, more painful to her. She closed her eyes to imagine their faces.
"I know," she murmured. "None of us did."
Owen got up shakily to his feet. He stood there, behind Gwen, out of view, his breathing harsh.
"Next time the world goes to shit, you be in charge," Owen bit out. "I fucking q-quit." And with that, he grabbed the rucksacks around him and staggered away, towards…somewhere.
Gwen sniffled. She raised her eyes to the sculpture. It no longer rained clear water down its once sleek surface. Stale, rusty trickles streaked the structure which had cracked right down the middle like a lightening struck tree. Pieces of its mirrored glass were gone and the entire place smelled like piss and rotten fish.
"Welcome home," Gwen muttered to herself before she stretched out her arms to feel her away around and look for the flashlights they had left behind long ago.
Valiant
With a gasp, Jack woke and the first thing that hit him was that his shoulders longer burned. Oh, that's right, he had died. Ianto-
That was when the second thing hit.
Jack didn't want to look, but he did and it should have been no surprise to find himself alone. No surprise at all, but it still gave him a lump in his throat.
"They couldn't stay," Jack murmured to himself and blinked gratefully at the fact that his chest no longer hurt to talk. Jack sighed again and tried to quell the churning in his gut. He raised his head and paused.
Just above the door of his prison, hidden underneath the shadows of snaking pipes was something new. Jack knew this because he'd memorized every crack, every rust stain to occupy himself during the Master's…visits.
Next to the water stain that looked like a gatarcat from Peloris-he had named it Lewis-was a new stain, darker, probably no bigger than his hand. If he weren't staring at it, he would have thought it was just a shadow.
Except this shadow had a shape.
It was a collapsed T, a rough copy of the emblem that rotated as their screensaver. It was written in blood. And under it, were the letters G, O, T, and I.
Gwen, Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto.
Jack looked at the blood red handwriting and remembered another time, another place, bloody letters and numbers on a birthday card.
Jack smiled. His eyes blurred but he stared up at the crude drawings. The sick feeling in his stomach eased just enough so that he chuckled.
"I have got to get her a pen."
Act III
Additional Notes: Many thanks to soullessminion for betaing this chapter. And trtmx for her magic trick that saved my sanity! LOL.
Pairing: Jack/OMC, Jack/?, Jack/Ianto eventually, het and slash
Rating: NC-17
Summary: He left Jack on the game station. Abandoned. But then…he came back…different. An AU look on what happens if things happened differently. Doctor Who 'verse with Torchwood later on.
Warnings: Please read each chapter's individual warnings. Some parts down the road may briefly mention non-con, abuse, and/or violence. Dark in the beginning. Please note there are some dark thoughts as my boys are broken…for now. Each chapter will be labeled for your convenience.
Author's Notes: The events talked here are controversial. I do not condone them, support them. Writing this does not say I do. Note that "the Year That Never Was" was suggested that it wasn't fun. I took it as a challenge to somehow still find a way to instill comfort in it. If it didn't work, I'm sorry. I suck. LOL.
Disclaimer: RTD and BBC owns them. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Warning For This Chapter: strong language, dark, angsty, VIOLENCE, torture (mostly implied, all a matter of reader interpretation), euthanasia
Notes For This Chapter: Note there are events here that was referenced in DW's "The Sound of Drums", TW's "Greeks Bearing Gifts" and "End of Days"
Prologue + Ch , Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32, Ch 33, Ch 34, Ch 35, Ch 36 Ch 37, Ch 38, Ch 39 1/7
Master Fic List: here
Chapter 39 "The Year That Never Was 2.0"
Act II
Valiant
Clive Jones paced the narrow walkway. He made wet circles with his mop aimlessly traveling up and down the walkway.
A guard in his irritating black suit peeked in a crack of the door. He jumped back at the soapy deluge threatening to wet his shoes.
"Sorry," Clive announced loudly, hopefully loud enough to cover the subdued chatter in the room behind him. It was locked, or so everyone should think, but Ms. Toshiko did something brilliant to its keypad and it opened up as if never locked. The small square panel however hung by a screw.
"Lots of water. Careful," Clive boomed loudly and he nudged his bucket so the dirty water spilled closer to the polished shoes.
"Watch it," the pimply-faced guard snapped. He gave the door behind Clive only a glance then a smirk. "Or we’ll string your fat ass up like that thing in there for the Master to play with!" And the youth-Saxon had recruited the disillusioned youth during his reign as Minister of Defense-punctuated his threat by slamming the door before resuming his patrol.
Clive rolled his eyes and mopped as loudly as a wet, slapping mop could. He glanced over his shoulder uneasily at the room. Sweat was beginning to make the back of his shirt to stick to him. Whatever Torchwood was going to do, they better be quick.
That guard wasn't there before.
"I'll do it."
Everyone turned towards Owen. He held up a rusty pocketknife with a black plastic handle in his hand.
"Put that away!" Gwen hissed.
"Owen," Toshiko whispered, her huge eyes were glued to Owen.
Ianto said nothing. He just turned his head away from everyone, but his hand remained on Jack's back.
Owen leveled his gaze at Jack.
"There's an artery and some nerve areas I can sever," Owen said woodenly. He kept the knife in his palm and never tried to grasp it. "It would be painless, I promise."
Jack met Owen's bleak eyes. He nodded.
"Just get those p'ans," Jack rasped. "Do something with them." Jack took a deep breath. "I need you to keep them safe, Owen."
It must have been the wrong thing to say, because Owen's face, hidden from everyone else, blanched and his fingers shook when he took hold of the pocketknife that had always been meant for opening letters and scraping paint not for severing arteries.
"Owen." Gwen grabbed him by the elbow. "You can't!"
"Gwen!" Jack snapped. It was only because steam just then wailed out of a pipe behind him that the echo was concealed.
Gwen halted and gaped at him with the same shocked look as when Suzie shot him. Dimly, Jack wondered just how many things changed that day, how many things will change now.
"You don't have to watch," Owen practically snarled, his face still turned away from the girls.
Jack watched defiance waver in Gwen's eyes. He sighed to himself. Jack coughed. Red spots splattered, but Owen didn't wipe them off his face.
"At least…let us stay then," Gwen said, cowed, her shoulders slumped. She pulled Toshiko tightly to her side and both of them fixed their gazes on Jack's face only.
"Suit yourself," Owen muttered. He stuck his chin out, flipped the blade open and drew near Jack. He schooled a neutral expression, his mouth was a grim line but the hand he curled around the back of Jack's neck betrayed him. It trembled over his skin as the other held the pocketknife so tightly, Jack thought he would cut himself.
Jack closed his eyes when he felt the knife tip pressed on his jugular, just slightly below his Adam's apple. One advantage of a doctor doing this, Jack thought with a morbid sense of humor, he wouldn't miss. He could feel Ianto's hand curled and clutching a fistful of his shirt on his back, Gwen and Toshiko's hitched breathing somewhere beyond everything, and Owen's cool fingers digging into his flesh as if trying to pull himself closer to Jack.
Then suddenly, Ianto spoke in an almost inaudible voice.
"Pills."
Jack's eyes flew open and saw what Ianto spied: Owen's bleeding lower lip, his red-rimmed eyes. Jack turned to Ianto, who looked just as destroyed, who stared at Owen even as his hands held onto Jack like a buoy.
"What?" Owen croaked. He retracted his hand and the blade too quickly and nicked his thumb by mistake. He rubbed a knuckle across his lower lip, cleaning it of the traces of blood. "What?" Owen repeated, his voice stronger.
It didn't look like Ianto could speak any more, so Jack spared him. "If there's an in'irmary," Jack rasped, "there may b-be…p-pills."
"Overdose," Ianto added. He didn't look at Jack, or Owen, or anyone else. "An overdose. He'll simply…go to…" Ianto's head bowed slightly.
"It'll be easier," Owen finished. His eyes narrowed as he studied Ianto. Jack could see a thought must have clicked inside because Owen's head whipped around back to Jack. The medic made the connection no one else could.
Jack stared steadily back at him, daring him to say something. Owen didn't.
"All right," Owen said finally. He seemed calmer now the longer he kept his eyes on Jack. "Tosh, show me where the infirmary is. You and Gwen get those plans. Ianto-"
"I'm staying here," Ianto said, quietly but firmly. He rested back against Jack's shoulder.
Owen never batted an eye. "Right. We'll meet back here in ten minutes."
Owen pivoted around and left with Gwen and Toshiko. Jack saw Gwen and Owen pull out the TARDIS keys out of their shirts to check they were there before they exited the chamber.
The door closed after Clive Jones peered inside to check and indicate he was still outside.
It was a few moments before either of them spoke. A few moments when all Jack wanted to do was hear Ianto breathe, hear the soft inhales and exhales that were comforting to wake up to at night.
"I'm sorry."
Jack felt Ianto start.
"For what?"
Jack closed his eyes briefly, when he reopened them, he stared at Ianto's profile settled against his right shoulder. "For not trying harder to live. I know you hate me doing this."
"I hate a lot of things," Ianto rasped. "The Master, those things out there…" He turned around and studied Jack. "But I could never hate you."
Jack smiled sadly at Ianto. Ianto's eyes were too old for his face. They always were, but Jack had also rejoiced in seeing it recede as time went on. Now, he could only grieve to see it return in full force.
Ianto twisted around. He reached up and caressed Jack's cheek.
"God, I missed you," Ianto whispered. His eyes welled. "I missed you so m-much…" His voice caught. "Every day that I breathed, I missed you."
The fingers that skimmed his face were fragile yet coarse with calluses that told stories Jack knew Ianto would never tell.
"I thought…" Jack sighed as Ianto traced the contour of his face with quiet, undemanding fingers. It had been so long since a touch soothed instead of hurting, invading, humiliating.
Ianto never questioned, he simply stood between Jack's legs. Ianto unbuttoned and opened up his vest and his jacket until a black t-shirt was exposed. He then wrapped his arms around Jack's middle and pressed in his body to offer as much contact as the chains and barrel would allow. Ianto stood there, chest to chest, offering Jack every inch of his body against him, held Jack like a child's favorite toy and buried his face over Jack's throat.
Jack choked at the instinct to cringe warring with the instinct to touch. His arms quivered. He longed to reach out towards Ianto.
"I thought…"
"I know," Ianto said simply. "I'm not. I'm here."
"If you had-" Jack dipped his head and spoke into the cap on Ianto's head.
"Shh," Ianto shushed. "I didn't."
"But you nearly did," Jack whispered. He kissed Ianto's temple, marveled how the coarse stubble against his face could feel so comforting.
Jack could feel the sinewy muscle rubbing against him, the arms around him, but it felt like it wasn't enough. It felt like any minute, he would wake up, Ianto would be gone and someone else would be here, leering.
"Am I hurting you?" Ianto whispered when Jack shuddered.
"No," Jack lied. He didn't want to tell Ianto how his chest felt tight, how his stomach ached and burned each time Ianto held him. He didn't want Ianto to let go. Jack memorized what he could, how solid Ianto felt against him, how his exhales against his skin smoothed away the needles pricking under his skin.
Jack winced as his back spasmed. He covered the groan with a strained chuckle.
"I must s-stink."
Ianto gave his own choked laugh but never looked up from his throat. "I wasn't going to say anything."
"You lo't s-some weight," Jack noted sadly. He could see how the shirt hung on his frame.
"Less takeaway and biscuits these days." Ianto's arms carefully tightened. "You've grown so thin."
"Mira'le diet," Jack wheezed. "Cold s-swede."
"Ah. Dr. Aktins would have been envious."
"Who?" Jack coughed.
Ianto shook his head. His hands traveled up Jack's back, stopping when Jack shivered.
"S-sorry." Jack struggled to keep his voice steady. "I a'ked if they c-can turn up the 'eat, but-"
"We're alone. Jack," Ianto interrupted. He moved his hands around to cup Jack's face. "There's no one here but me." Ianto sniffed but offered Jack a tiny smile anyway. "We're alone. You…you don't have to be the big damn hero all the time."
Jack stared at Ianto. He could feel muscles around his face moving, trembling as they fought to maintain the smile that he could feel growing brittle.
A hand went around the back of his head and guided it down to rest his forehead on Ianto's shoulder.
His neck burned with the strain and his back knotted as soon as his neck bent, but Jack didn't care. He laid his head on the offered shoulder. He listened to Ianto's rhythmic breathing by his ear. Jack thought if he closed his eyes, he could pretend they were back in bed, warm and entangled in each other's arms in the gray morning hours.
A sharp pang in his chest made Jack realize this could only be pretend. That this, these few minutes of solitude, would soon be memory and the pain would begin again and suddenly, Jack couldn't do it. Not again. Not in this soon to be empty, filthy engine room.
The first sound surprised them both. Jack didn't recognize it; the raw, almost animalistic moan stifled by the fear of being heard. The second one escaped before Jack realized he was making the sounds.
"Shh," was Ianto's only response, his voice just as rough, just as unrecognizable and somehow it eased out the next sound, a whimper, into Ianto's shoulder a little easier.
When it finally released, it came out muffled because Jack didn't have the air, his trembles subdued because he didn't have the strength, his eyes dry because he was too dehydrated to form any tears. Dry-eyed, spent, and feeling like he was falling into an endless abyss, Jack tried to gag himself with Ianto's shoulder.
Through it all, Ianto said nothing. He simply held Jack. And stayed.
Gwen stood by the door, feeling a little useless as she watched Tosh dance her fingers across the keyboard.
"State of the art, my ass…" Tosh was muttering.
"…still use Windows…firewall worth shit…blows the mind…prats…idiots…It's true…all the villains use Windows…"
Tosh smirked though as line after line scrolled up the screen. After a moment, a printer in the back of the rows of servers in the tiny space began to beep. It was loud enough that Gwen slipped her hand under her apron for the gun she had tied there. She was beginning to wish she hadn't left her rucksack with Ianto and Jack. Her other weapons were shoved under her dwindling pile of protein bars. Somehow, just wandering the gloomy halls-though unnoticed-with only her handgun left Gwen feeling very exposed.
"Done," Tosh announced as she rolled up the plans from the printer and pass them to Gwen. "Let me clear the printer cache, do what I need to do and we can go."
Gwen studied Tosh's determined face as the computer expert went back to a computer.
"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner, Tosh," Gwen murmured.
"Don't be," Tosh replied simply as she typed something into the computer, tsked when the main navigation page came up and typed some more. Tosh spared her a glance.
"Sorry I wasn't there with you all." Tosh paused then shook her head. "Actually, not really." She squinted at the screen. "I feel a little better knowing someone was up here with Jack." A shadow crossed her face. "Even if I couldn't do anything."
"Looks like you're doing something now," Gwen observed. She knew enough about computers to know it was taking Tosh far too long.
"The less you know, the better," was Tosh's succinct reply.
"You don't trust me?" Gwen asked, a little hurt.
Tosh looked up with a faint smile. "Trust you enough to know you would die rather than tell."
Speechless, Gwen stared at Tosh. She could only manage an "Oh."
"Gwen, the Doctor wants me to do something. That's all I can say. We all have a part. But none of us know everything. Just the countdown."
Something bright flickered close to her chest. "Countdown? So the Doctor has another plan?"
Tosh looked up, her eyes abnormally bright, her smile brighter. "Oh yes." She ducked her head again and continued typing.
Gwen noted the pink ears half hidden under the loose bun her hair was pinned up into.
"Oh my God, you like him," Gwen blurted out.
If anything, Tosh's ears grew pinker.
"He's alright," Tosh muttered. "For an alien." She paused, looking up. "A very old alien."
It was probably inappropriate to laugh, but Gwen couldn't help but giggle.
"Christ, Tosh, what is it with you and aliens?"
Tosh sighed but she offered Gwen a sheepish grin. "I haven't a clue. It's doomed anyway. They either get sent to the sun or get shriveled up into senility."
Gwen surprised Tosh with a hug from behind. "God, Tosh. I missed you."
There was a warm chuckle in response. "I missed you guys, too."
It wasn't fair.
That was all Ianto could think about as he stroked the back of Jack's head and tried not to think about the dried blood crusted there. His right shoulder ached from being up too long but Ianto couldn't bring himself to release Jack.
Jack shuddered every so often but that initial tsunami of emotion in the form of tremors and barely unintelligible sounds had ebbed into the occasional shiver now.
No. It wasn't fair, Ianto decided as he blinked away the burning that threatened to overwhelm him. They couldn't even grieve properly because they feared discovery and because that initial burst had thoroughly exhausted Jack.
Ianto kissed the top of Jack's head and fought the urge to cringe at the smell of neglect, blood and filth on him. Jack was right; he did stink. Then again, Ianto probably didn't smell like a rose garden to Jack right now, either.
It was when Jack stirred that Ianto sensed someone standing by the door, unsure of their welcome. Ianto hastily wiped a hand across Jack's face and his own before turning around.
"We're back," Owen said needlessly at the crack of the door, only one foot in, three fingers visible. He studied Ianto before opening the door wider and let Gwen and Tosh entered the room, their arms laden with wares.
"Opioids." Owen shook an amber bottle of pills in his hand. "Should do the trick. Drug of choice." His smile died quickly. "Got some water we can dissolve it all in."
"I'll do it," Ianto reached for the pills and water bottle.
"Ianto-" Jack's scratchy voice began.
"It's fine," Ianto interrupted. He stared at Jack even as he clutched the items to him. "Let me do this for you."
Jack's eyes were dull with pain and sparked briefly with regret. Jack nodded slowly, but it felt like a poor victory to Ianto.
Ianto never strayed from Jack, both needing to absorb the sense memory the proximity provided. He stayed shoulder to shoulder by Jack, his boots crunching on top of the tarp on the floor, as he uncapped the water. Ianto fought not to react when he offered Jack a sip of untainted water. Jack choked at the first sip. Owen had to tilt his head up a little before the second attempt went down safely.
His fingers shook as he crushed the entire bottle of pills into the rest of the water. He could feel Jack watching him the whole time and Ianto wanted to throw the bottle at the wall. Instead, he shook the bottle with a few flicks of his wrist. He watched with a lump in his throat as the pills slowly disintegrated into a cloudy solution.
"Jack, we'll come back for you," Gwen was promising. She flinched as Ianto shook the bottle, the water sloshing noisily next to her.
"Don't." Jack's voice was calmer than before.
"B-but-"
"Gwen, you re'ind us of our h-humanity…Now you 'ave to r-remem'er what's at stake here: humanity."
"I know," Gwen insisted.
"Then know you c-can't do everything you w-want."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ianto could see Gwen's stunned expression, like being scolded by a teacher for the very first time. Ianto averted his eyes and shook the bottle harder than necessary as Gwen tiptoed and brushed her lips across Jack's.
Tosh approached and she tilted her head up towards him.
"You know what you need to do," Jack rasped.
Tosh nodded and like Gwen, gave him a soft kiss, her hands light on his shoulders.
"I'll come back," Tosh murmured.
"Tosh-"
"I'll be in the neighborhood anyway, I can just-"
"You can't!"
Tosh placed a hand on Jack's chest as he erupted into coughs. Gwen held his left shoulder to still it. His right shoulder bumped against Ianto, nearly upsetting the bottle in his grasp.
"Jack," Tosh sniffled. "You can't expect me to…" She stared at Jack, at his eyes. She gulped then lowered her eyes and nodded.
Ianto looked up at Owen, standing in front of Jack, his arms folded across his chest. Owen scowled.
"I am not kissing you," Owen declared. "You smell funny."
It was a relief to hear everyone, including Jack, laugh, even if it died too quickly.
"Get over 'ere," Jack ordered hoarsely, his eyes tracking Owen as he approached.
Owen's arms unwound and hung to his sides as he leaned into Jack, his ear tilted up to his mouth, his head bowed low towards him. Owen listened, his face the gravest Ianto had ever seen on the medic and he nodded every so often at whatever Jack told him. The only time Owen's face betrayed him was when Owen darted a glance to Ianto before he gave a curt nod.
"Don't worry, Jack," Owen murmured as he straightened. Owen looked worn and old all of the sudden, but his voice was firm. "I-mmpf!"
Before Owen could back away out of reach, Jack stretched his head over and planted a kiss right over Owen's mouth.
"Damn it, Jack," Owen complained. He made a big show of wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"Di'n't w-want you to f-feel left…out," Jack laughed breathlessly.
"Brilliant," Owen spat out before he glared at Jack. "Now I'm traumatized." Owen jerked his head over towards Jack. "Come on, Jonesy, get yours, mate."
Ianto glowered at Owen, but the effort was only half-hearted. Owen's eyes were too bleak to be sincere and the emotion lingering at the edge of Owen's expression was unbearable to look at for too long.
Standing in front of Jack wasn't any better. Before, it was side-glances, faces pressed to faces, but now, standing in front of Jack, the full clarity of what was coming was staggering.
"Just so you know," Ianto said quietly as he clutched the lethal cocktail with both hands, "I am only doing this under protest."
Jack nodded, or tried, and Ianto could see the visible effort it took for Jack not to react to whatever he saw on Ianto's face.
Before he could think about it, Ianto leaned in and gave a chaste kiss over Jack's mouth, lingering longer than he should. He closed his eyes briefly at the sensation of dry, cracked lips on his mouth. It felt like someone had stuck a hot poker in his gut.
Before Ianto pulled away, Jack whispered into his ear.
"Don't you dare d-die," Jack rasped. "Or I s-swear, I'll 'ick your ass."
Ianto bit his lower lip, the words lodged in his throat. He pressed another kiss to Jack's brow and felt Jack sigh.
"Ready?" Ianto asked, his voice breaking. At Jack's nod, Ianto uncapped the bottle and with a hand around the back of Jack's head, tipped the bottle carefully to his mouth.
Ianto wished Jack didn't look like the water quenched his thirst. Jack acted like the bitterness of the cloudy water didn't bother him. Ianto nearly pulled the bottle away when he saw Jack had almost drained it.
Done, Jack blinked sluggishly at everyone. Tosh dabbed moisture from his mouth with the corner of her apron.
"Go," Jack whispered.
Owen placed two fingers on Jack's jugular. "There's still time," Owen murmured. "I think we'll just wait, catch our breath, if you don't mind."
"The p-plans…"
"We have them," Gwen jumped in, her voice cracking.
"And we'll help Martha somehow," Owen promised. "Once we get back to Torchwood, we'll sort it out, Jack."
Jack's head bobbed once.
Ianto came back close to Jack again, close enough for Jack to rest his chin on his shoulder again. Jack dropped his head down with a sigh. Ianto's right shoulder resisted a little and Ianto was forced to use his left to stroke Jack's hair.
"If you want to go to sleep," Ianto murmured into Jack's ear, "It's…it's okay."
"Not yet." Jack's voice was growing wispy. "Talk to me."
His eyes blurred. "About what?"
There was a puff of air against his jaw as Jack tried to laugh.
"Anything. Just w-want to 'ear those beau'ful Welsh v-vowels."
Ianto choked. "Only you can think to flirt at a time like this."
Jack responded with another huff against his ear.
A hand slowly sweeping up and down Jack's back, Ianto began to talk about where they would go on the date, maybe the little restaurant by the docks, or perhaps dinner in his flat. Ianto felt Jack growing heavier and heavier against him as Ianto told him about what he might make, maybe a little pasta, or soup, and the more he talked, the more Ianto found there was so much he wanted to tell him. He wanted to tell Jack about his university days, about his family, about meeting Lisa one day when he tripped over her bicycle, about the things he wanted to do with his flat, about loving him so much, it was impossible to imagine a day when he-
"Enough. You can stop now."
Owen's hand dropped on his right shoulder, interrupting Ianto's monologue. Ianto looked up numbly and saw Owen standing by him.
"You can stop now, Ianto," Owen rasped. "…He's gone."
Ianto stilled. He pulled back and stared at Jack's face, long lashes dark against a white face. Like lying on a morgue slab for days. Jack looked like he was asleep.
"Ah," Ianto could only say. He touched Jack's cooling face. "Ah," Ianto repeated. He pulled Jack back towards him and blinked rapidly.
"Ianto," Gwen half-whimpered from behind.
"Leave him," Owen cut her off. "Let's just get that barrel back into place."
Ianto knew he should be helping them. He couldn't get his limbs to move as he held Jack as tight as he could as they edged the barrel out from under Jack. Jack dropped into his arms as his legs could no longer hold him up.
Eyes shut, Ianto clutched Jack to him, trying to keep his body from sagging completely. He could feel something hot trailing down his face and he rubbed his eyes on Jack's shirt to clear it.
The door opened and everyone froze.
Clive Jones' head popped in.
"I think Saxon's returning. I could hear the engines getting ready to prime for a landing."
No, Ianto thought as he tried to will his body heat into Jack. Not yet. He was still too cold. Jack got cold easily.
"Ianto, we better go." Gwen pulled at his arm.
"Tosh, figure a way to patch a secure line to Torchwood," Owen told her in a crisp voice.
"Shouldn't be difficult."
He needed more time. Ianto stared at Jack's unmoving face beside his own.
"Ianto, sweetheart, we have to go-"
Jack couldn't cry before, but he had trembled in his arms as if he had.
"Mr. Jones-"
"Clive."
All alone, chained, barely fed, left with Saxon. No, he couldn't. Jack had stared at him like he was a ghost.
"Clive, can you take over, just until he wakes up?"
"Is he dead?"
His beautiful Jack, chained and tortured like an animal, his soul treated as less than one. He can't. He can't.
"Not for long. I just don't want those shoulders to pop out again when we leave-"
"I'm staying," Ianto burst out. He buried his face into Jack's cold neck. "I'm not leaving him."
The stunned silence lasted only seconds. Panic erupted all around him.
"Sweetheart, you can't-"
"Ianto, the Joneses and I will be here-"
"Are you out of your flipping mind, Jonesy? If Saxon finds you-"
"I can't let him wake up and find us gone." Ianto pulled away to yank the wrist strap off. He tossed it to Owen. "Here. This button will teleport you back to Torchwood. I'm staying here."
Owen grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and gave him a shake.
"Listen to me. You can't stay here. Saxon will tear you apart. You think he'll leave you alive? Where do you think you can hide?"
"I…" Ianto floundered for an answer. He found now. "I can't leave him. You can't make me leave him."
"Actually," Owen answered in a strange calm voice. "I can."
Ianto looked up in time to see a fist diving towards him. Before he could duck, it snapped his head back and he crashed against Clive Jones and Jack before Gwen caught him.
"Owen!" He heard Tosh cried out.
"Sorry, Jonesy," Owen said before he plummeted into a darkness that matched what was in his heart.
Jack never knew this, but Gwen once had a best friend who was deaf. She taught Gwen how to read lips. They used to mime secret messages to each other in class. No one ever caught them.
Don't let Ianto stay, Jack had whispered into Owen's ear. Owen nodded, promising as seriously as when Jack also told him to help Martha.
So when Ianto declared he wasn't leaving, Gwen was prepared, but Owen beat her to the punch.
Literally.
Ianto was too light against her, when he collapsed neatly into Gwen's embrace without a word.
"Owen!" Tosh gasped.
"If you're leaving, you have to leave now," Clive Jones gritted out as he stood behind Jack. He wrapped his massive arms from behind to hold him up. "There will be too many guards out there to slip away."
"It's fine," Gwen assured as she pulled one of Ianto's arms over her shoulder. "We can leave from here."
"But we should leave now," Owen muttered as he shrugged two rucksacks and kicked a third close to their feet. He shot Tosh a look. "He can't stay here, Tosh."
Tosh seemed to have calmed down. "I know."
"You watch yourself, girlie," Owen rasped as he pulled Jack's wrist strap on. "Get us a line in and that's that. If you can't-"
Tosh scoffed, but her eyes were too bright. "Their computers here aren't worth shit. I'll get it done."
"Christ, Sato. Ship life has corrupted you."
"Oh, piss off." Tosh hugged Gwen carefully. "Take care, you." Tosh carded a hand through Ianto's hair. His head lolled back against Gwen's ear. Tosh tenderly gave the top of his head a kiss.
Owen rolled his eyes as he pressed a button. The strap began to hum. "He's fine. I didn't hit him that hard." As the hum grew louder, Owen sobered.
"Don't get yourself killed, Sato."
Tosh stood a bit away and gazed at him. "You too, Harper." And just as Gwen could feel the air crackle open behind them, Tosh suddenly leaped forward a step and kissed Owen hard right on the mouth. They parted with a loud smack.
Owen gawped at her, his mouth slightly opened.
Gwen could feel the rift opening wider to swallow them whole.
"Good luck," Tosh said in a thick voice.
"Tosh, wait-"
With a muted roar, the rift swooped over them. Gwen thought she could feel herself floating, threw one last look at her friends and everything simply winked out.
Torchwood Three, Cardiff
It was like she blinked and suddenly they were dropped into the dark Hub. There were no lights, no computers lit, nothing even to make the shattered ruins of the Hub sparkle. She thought she heard a caw. Oh thank God. It was still alive. She couldn't believe how much she missed the ruddy beast.
Someone's foot was on her stomach but then it was gone when Ianto groaned.
"What?" Ianto's voice was first groggy then rose with alarm. "No!"
"Easy, Jonesy."
"No, why did you…damn you, Owen!"
It was dark, but Gwen could make out the shadows of the two men grappling in front of her. Owen had a fistful of Ianto's shirt.
"Listen, you stupid prick. What good do you think it'll do to stay there? The only thing that's keeping our captain sane now is knowing that you're not there. You think being there will help him? It'll break him, damn it."
Ianto stopped struggling.
"Are you finished?" Ianto croaked.
Owen let go. "Yeah. I-"
With a loud crack, Gwen saw Ianto's left arm lash out and connect with Owen's jaw. Owen never fought back. He simply dropped.
Gwen got to her feet, but neither one of them made another move.
"Feel better now?" Owen grated out around the hand cupping his jaw.
Gwen could dimly make out Ianto's shoulders as they slumped.
"No," Ianto whispered, "not really." He stood there, over Owen, before twisting around.
Gwen reached out but his sleeve slipped out of her grasp.
"Ianto?"
"I have to convert the rift residuals to some sort of power source," Ianto stammered.
Gwen touched his arm briefly. "Ianto…"
"Not now, Gwen." Gwen couldn't ignore the plea, the wavering voice threatening to break completely. "Not…later. There's…I…work to be done." And before anyone could stop him, Ianto stumbled away from them into the dark.
Gwen stood there. She suddenly didn't know what to do.
"I didn't want to leave him up there. Or Tosh."
Gwen closed her eyes. The darkness made the voices more real, more fraught, more painful to her. She closed her eyes to imagine their faces.
"I know," she murmured. "None of us did."
Owen got up shakily to his feet. He stood there, behind Gwen, out of view, his breathing harsh.
"Next time the world goes to shit, you be in charge," Owen bit out. "I fucking q-quit." And with that, he grabbed the rucksacks around him and staggered away, towards…somewhere.
Gwen sniffled. She raised her eyes to the sculpture. It no longer rained clear water down its once sleek surface. Stale, rusty trickles streaked the structure which had cracked right down the middle like a lightening struck tree. Pieces of its mirrored glass were gone and the entire place smelled like piss and rotten fish.
"Welcome home," Gwen muttered to herself before she stretched out her arms to feel her away around and look for the flashlights they had left behind long ago.
Valiant
With a gasp, Jack woke and the first thing that hit him was that his shoulders longer burned. Oh, that's right, he had died. Ianto-
That was when the second thing hit.
Jack didn't want to look, but he did and it should have been no surprise to find himself alone. No surprise at all, but it still gave him a lump in his throat.
"They couldn't stay," Jack murmured to himself and blinked gratefully at the fact that his chest no longer hurt to talk. Jack sighed again and tried to quell the churning in his gut. He raised his head and paused.
Just above the door of his prison, hidden underneath the shadows of snaking pipes was something new. Jack knew this because he'd memorized every crack, every rust stain to occupy himself during the Master's…visits.
Next to the water stain that looked like a gatarcat from Peloris-he had named it Lewis-was a new stain, darker, probably no bigger than his hand. If he weren't staring at it, he would have thought it was just a shadow.
Except this shadow had a shape.
It was a collapsed T, a rough copy of the emblem that rotated as their screensaver. It was written in blood. And under it, were the letters G, O, T, and I.
Gwen, Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto.
Jack looked at the blood red handwriting and remembered another time, another place, bloody letters and numbers on a birthday card.
Jack smiled. His eyes blurred but he stared up at the crude drawings. The sick feeling in his stomach eased just enough so that he chuckled.
"I have got to get her a pen."
Act III
Additional Notes: Many thanks to soullessminion for betaing this chapter. And trtmx for her magic trick that saved my sanity! LOL.