Torchwood -- Kin Killing
Title: Kin Killing
dwtwprompts prompt: Lost
Date Written: 6/3/08
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 1,259
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Team (mentioned) John Hart, Grey
Spoilers: Up to Doctor Who Season 03 ender, MAJOR FOR EXIT WOUNDS. You've been warned.
Warnings: Character death, angst and did I mention spoilers for Exit Wounds?
Author's Notes: Okay. So everyone's done it by now. But I haven't. So here it is.
As always, there is the prompt post, drop an idea or two.
And to totally4ryo, my dear, dear friend... because you haven't seen the episode yet, you are NOT ALLOWED TO READ IT. SO THERE. ;-)
'John' stuck around and helped with the aftermath. That had been a major surprise to Jack. He'd fully expected his ex-partner to bolt, but he hadn't.
Maybe he'd known that they'd need the extra help. They'd both seen their fair share of wars, both while working together and apart, and John knew the cleanup that would ensue.
Gwen kept herself busy with the police, rallying her former brothers- and sisters-in-arms in that oh so human way, helping the city pick up the pieces and start hobbling things back together. Crime was virtually non-existent for some reason -- either the criminals were sobered by the strike and gone on holiday, or there was no one left to report the incidents -- but it would bounce back soon enough.
John helped stabilize the Rift (he'd opened it anyway) and they all flinched every time they saw him sitting at Toshiko's desk, her pictures and papers and reading glasses still thrown hastily aside when they'd gotten the alarm those long ages ago.
Ianto seemed to push aside his feud with John and together they fell in, scrubbing the Hub's floors and reverently slotting Toshiko into her drawer. John had asked about burial rites and her parents, but the Welshman had firmly -- but politely -- informed him that Torchwood did things differently, and anyway Tosh's parents were Japanese Buddhist and they would probably have wanted her cremated. A suitable excuse could be given when they handed over an urn with ashes from a fireplace. With a scary proficiency, Ianto contacted Toshiko and Owen's relatives, sent flowers and arranged for transportation into Cardiff for their family and friends.
He was on the phone with a funeral director when, without Jack asking, he quietly set up the alien cryogenics for Grey.
Jack did not allow Ianto to help him put his little brother into the chamber. Grey was his responsibility.
Yet again, it was all his fault. It was the Year that Never Was all over, but there was no magic wand to wave and turn everything back. 2,835 dead -- including Owen and Toshiko -- and they were all because of him.
The voices in his mind were drowned out by the sound of Ianto and John. He'd expected John to have left by now, having given his final kiss and condolences, not lingering in the crypt with his young lover. Ianto, frankly, he'd expected to find here -- predictably with clipboard in hand, filling out the appropriate paperwork, awaiting Jack's signature.
"These cryogenics, they go haywire sometimes?" John was asking.
"On occasion," Ianto's polite -- and neutral -- response.
Jack didn't move, couldn't move. Were they really going to do it?
"We should make sure he never wakes up," John said, crossing his arms. We.
Ianto nodded in agreement, not looking up from his writing.
"He's... he's insane. It would be kinder."
Another nod. Jack felt a flurry of emotions -- anger at the two who could so calmly dole out judgment on his baby brother, pain at the knowledge that their words were right, the hollowness of losing so many -- but mostly he felt relief. Because if anyone could do the one thing he couldn't bring himself to do, it would be them.
Then the guilt washed over him, threatening to drown him again.
"If I had known what he would do..."
"If 'ifs' and 'ands' were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers," Ianto replied, finally looking up at a stunned John. "It's a Mother Goose rhyme."
"O-kay. So. How do you go about sabotaging one of these things?" John asked, his hand reaching for the drawer Grey was in.
Ianto's clipboard slid between the ex-Time Agent's hands and the drawer handle. "We don't."
"What d'you mean we don't?"
"English must not be your first language, you don't have a very good grasp of its concepts." Ianto's blue eyes narrowed. "It is not our decision to make if he should live or die."
"Jack can't do it. He doesn't have the heart to kill his brother." John squared his shoulders, preparing to battle Ianto down. "If we don't do it now, he'll come back and kill more people that Jack love. You could be one of them."
"You'll find I'm rather hard to kill," Ianto replied, his tone even. The quiet fury the Welshman could generate was even more terrifying than seeing him in a rage. When Ianto was in a rage, he was irrational, he got sloppy.
His quiet fury was deadly accurate.
"I imagine that even in Jack's time, kin killing is still very much taboo," he continued, leveling his gaze at John. "Even when said kin has killed your kin as well. None of us are thinking rationally at the moment, we're shell-shocked, grief-stricken. Enraged. To lash out in response to a slight right now, when we're not thinking rationally, would do us more harm than good."
"So you're going to let him live? After he killed half your team, took Jack and buried him alive for two thousand years? Imprisoned you?"
"It is not my decision to make," Ianto repeated. "It's Jack's."
"News flash, Eye Candy, Jack fucks up from time to time."
"We are all fallible," Ianto replied. "He's not the only one who's kept a monster hell-bent on destruction in the basement before, after all."
"What the hell does that -- "
Jack decided it was time to step in before things got ugly. He came around the corner and both men immediately noticed him. John's eyes went big when he realized that the Captain had probably been listening in.
"I should go," he managed, pulling open his Vortex Manipulator and punching in some coordinates before disappearing in a flash of orange and yellow.
Ianto watched Jack as the immortal came forward and put his hand on the drawer that held Grey. The same one he'd slept in for almost a hundred years. "Your signature," he said quietly, holding out the clipboard and pen.
Jack signed it carelessly. "Did you mean that?"
"Mean what, Jack?"
"That it wasn't your decision to make."
"It's not." Ianto's brows pinched a little over the bridge of his nose. "You're the Captain, you make the rules."
Jack gave a humorless smile. "I wouldn't blame you, if you did. I'd..." Be grateful.
Ianto put a padlock on the drawer, noting the combination on the form before he looked at Jack. "We've both lost family. I'm not going to make you lose another brother again today."
The immortal reached forward and pulled his younger lover into a fierce, possessive hug. "Ianto." With those two syllabols he tried to convey everything.
Thank you. So much, for everything. I can't bear the thought of Toshiko and Owen gone, but if I'd lost you too...
The younger man returned the hug, closing his eyes and pressing his face against the crook of Jack's neck. Jack could feel the tears that leaked out and had to fight back his own.
After a few moments, Ianto regained his composure and pulled back, wiping at his cheeks. "We should clean up before Gwen gets in," he said. "I don't know if she can take it." He didn't mean it in a negative way, it was just that both of them had more experience dealing with the deaths of coworkers.
Jack gave him a small smile and nodded. And when Ianto's hand found his as they walked up to the main floor of the Hub, he didn't say anything, just gave an appreciative squeeze.
dwtwprompts prompt: Lost
Date Written: 6/3/08
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 1,259
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Team (mentioned) John Hart, Grey
Spoilers: Up to Doctor Who Season 03 ender, MAJOR FOR EXIT WOUNDS. You've been warned.
Warnings: Character death, angst and did I mention spoilers for Exit Wounds?
Author's Notes: Okay. So everyone's done it by now. But I haven't. So here it is.
As always, there is the prompt post, drop an idea or two.
And to totally4ryo, my dear, dear friend... because you haven't seen the episode yet, you are NOT ALLOWED TO READ IT. SO THERE. ;-)
'John' stuck around and helped with the aftermath. That had been a major surprise to Jack. He'd fully expected his ex-partner to bolt, but he hadn't.
Maybe he'd known that they'd need the extra help. They'd both seen their fair share of wars, both while working together and apart, and John knew the cleanup that would ensue.
Gwen kept herself busy with the police, rallying her former brothers- and sisters-in-arms in that oh so human way, helping the city pick up the pieces and start hobbling things back together. Crime was virtually non-existent for some reason -- either the criminals were sobered by the strike and gone on holiday, or there was no one left to report the incidents -- but it would bounce back soon enough.
John helped stabilize the Rift (he'd opened it anyway) and they all flinched every time they saw him sitting at Toshiko's desk, her pictures and papers and reading glasses still thrown hastily aside when they'd gotten the alarm those long ages ago.
Ianto seemed to push aside his feud with John and together they fell in, scrubbing the Hub's floors and reverently slotting Toshiko into her drawer. John had asked about burial rites and her parents, but the Welshman had firmly -- but politely -- informed him that Torchwood did things differently, and anyway Tosh's parents were Japanese Buddhist and they would probably have wanted her cremated. A suitable excuse could be given when they handed over an urn with ashes from a fireplace. With a scary proficiency, Ianto contacted Toshiko and Owen's relatives, sent flowers and arranged for transportation into Cardiff for their family and friends.
He was on the phone with a funeral director when, without Jack asking, he quietly set up the alien cryogenics for Grey.
Jack did not allow Ianto to help him put his little brother into the chamber. Grey was his responsibility.
Yet again, it was all his fault. It was the Year that Never Was all over, but there was no magic wand to wave and turn everything back. 2,835 dead -- including Owen and Toshiko -- and they were all because of him.
The voices in his mind were drowned out by the sound of Ianto and John. He'd expected John to have left by now, having given his final kiss and condolences, not lingering in the crypt with his young lover. Ianto, frankly, he'd expected to find here -- predictably with clipboard in hand, filling out the appropriate paperwork, awaiting Jack's signature.
"These cryogenics, they go haywire sometimes?" John was asking.
"On occasion," Ianto's polite -- and neutral -- response.
Jack didn't move, couldn't move. Were they really going to do it?
"We should make sure he never wakes up," John said, crossing his arms. We.
Ianto nodded in agreement, not looking up from his writing.
"He's... he's insane. It would be kinder."
Another nod. Jack felt a flurry of emotions -- anger at the two who could so calmly dole out judgment on his baby brother, pain at the knowledge that their words were right, the hollowness of losing so many -- but mostly he felt relief. Because if anyone could do the one thing he couldn't bring himself to do, it would be them.
Then the guilt washed over him, threatening to drown him again.
"If I had known what he would do..."
"If 'ifs' and 'ands' were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers," Ianto replied, finally looking up at a stunned John. "It's a Mother Goose rhyme."
"O-kay. So. How do you go about sabotaging one of these things?" John asked, his hand reaching for the drawer Grey was in.
Ianto's clipboard slid between the ex-Time Agent's hands and the drawer handle. "We don't."
"What d'you mean we don't?"
"English must not be your first language, you don't have a very good grasp of its concepts." Ianto's blue eyes narrowed. "It is not our decision to make if he should live or die."
"Jack can't do it. He doesn't have the heart to kill his brother." John squared his shoulders, preparing to battle Ianto down. "If we don't do it now, he'll come back and kill more people that Jack love. You could be one of them."
"You'll find I'm rather hard to kill," Ianto replied, his tone even. The quiet fury the Welshman could generate was even more terrifying than seeing him in a rage. When Ianto was in a rage, he was irrational, he got sloppy.
His quiet fury was deadly accurate.
"I imagine that even in Jack's time, kin killing is still very much taboo," he continued, leveling his gaze at John. "Even when said kin has killed your kin as well. None of us are thinking rationally at the moment, we're shell-shocked, grief-stricken. Enraged. To lash out in response to a slight right now, when we're not thinking rationally, would do us more harm than good."
"So you're going to let him live? After he killed half your team, took Jack and buried him alive for two thousand years? Imprisoned you?"
"It is not my decision to make," Ianto repeated. "It's Jack's."
"News flash, Eye Candy, Jack fucks up from time to time."
"We are all fallible," Ianto replied. "He's not the only one who's kept a monster hell-bent on destruction in the basement before, after all."
"What the hell does that -- "
Jack decided it was time to step in before things got ugly. He came around the corner and both men immediately noticed him. John's eyes went big when he realized that the Captain had probably been listening in.
"I should go," he managed, pulling open his Vortex Manipulator and punching in some coordinates before disappearing in a flash of orange and yellow.
Ianto watched Jack as the immortal came forward and put his hand on the drawer that held Grey. The same one he'd slept in for almost a hundred years. "Your signature," he said quietly, holding out the clipboard and pen.
Jack signed it carelessly. "Did you mean that?"
"Mean what, Jack?"
"That it wasn't your decision to make."
"It's not." Ianto's brows pinched a little over the bridge of his nose. "You're the Captain, you make the rules."
Jack gave a humorless smile. "I wouldn't blame you, if you did. I'd..." Be grateful.
Ianto put a padlock on the drawer, noting the combination on the form before he looked at Jack. "We've both lost family. I'm not going to make you lose another brother again today."
The immortal reached forward and pulled his younger lover into a fierce, possessive hug. "Ianto." With those two syllabols he tried to convey everything.
Thank you. So much, for everything. I can't bear the thought of Toshiko and Owen gone, but if I'd lost you too...
The younger man returned the hug, closing his eyes and pressing his face against the crook of Jack's neck. Jack could feel the tears that leaked out and had to fight back his own.
After a few moments, Ianto regained his composure and pulled back, wiping at his cheeks. "We should clean up before Gwen gets in," he said. "I don't know if she can take it." He didn't mean it in a negative way, it was just that both of them had more experience dealing with the deaths of coworkers.
Jack gave him a small smile and nodded. And when Ianto's hand found his as they walked up to the main floor of the Hub, he didn't say anything, just gave an appreciative squeeze.