Torchwood -- Before His Time
Title: Before His Time
redismycolour Challenge: Day Twenty-Eight
Date Written: 1/30/09
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 500
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Martha/Tom
Spoilers: Torchwood 02, Lost Souls and Almost Perfect
Warnings: Mentions of character death
Author Notes: I seriously love this prompt. The Deviant Strain is one of my favorite tie-in novels and I had a blast with this quote.
I used to think I was scared of death. Or by facing death - by combat and action and the uncertainty of the battlefield. Not any more. No, now what scares me is the possibility that I live to grow old. I might wake up one day tired and wasted and unable to even open a beer. I might need crutches and a hearing aid and help getting dressed. When and if I get to that point, it'll be my memories that'll keep me going. The fact that I've lived through so much, survived so much, to get there. Do you want to get old? Do you want to end up with only your memories to make up for the loss of your faculties?
--- Jack Harkness, The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards
“Oh, Ianto,” Martha sighed from the doorway.
Ianto Jones let out a gravelly laugh. “Nice to see you too, Martha,” he wheezed, struggling to his elbows.
She was by his side in an instant. “Be careful! I know how much it hurts.”
Ianto laughed again, a wrinkled hand covering hers on his suddenly frail shoulders. “Oh, it’s not that bad,” he said. “Everything aches and I fall asleep at ridiculous times, but otherwise everything else is just about the same.”
Martha chuckled and put some pillows behind his back, helping him prop up. “You have the worst luck, y’know that? Lose your neutrons, turned into a girl, now look at you. Old and wrinkly.”
“I don’t have Tosh and Owen babysitting me,” he replied. A tiny flash of pain crossed his face, and she was sure it mirrored the one that went across hers. “Any chance I can transfer to UNIT, have you looking over me?”
She laughed. “Oh yeah, I don’t have enough with the Doctor and Mum popping in from time to time!” she said. “I need you and Jack too. Although if you promise to make your coffee…”
Ianto’s laugh turned into a dry cough. Martha rubbed his back soothingly until they subsided. “How bad is it?”
“… We don’t know what happened to you,” she admitted. “Jack’s never seen the tech before, and UNIT’s never heard of it either. We called in the big guns.”
“The Doctor.” Ianto’s voice was carefully neutral.
“Jack was frantic when he was on the phone with him,” she said. “He wants you back in tip-top shape. Probably for more of that avant guarde dabbling, eh?”
A smile pulled at the wrinkles on Ianto’s face. The old man had laugh lines. That was surely a good sign. “This is harder on him, I think. Getting a glimpse at a possible future.”
“Don’t say that,” Martha said softly.
“It’s the truth, and you know it. If I don’t die in Torchwood, I’ll die looking like this.”
“Oh, Ianto.” She hugged him gently. “I can’t even imagine what that’s like, what you two go through.”
He chuckled softly. “Yes you do. Your Tom goes off to dangerous places to save the world, and you worry about him every moment he’s away from you. He worries when you go to work.”
“We don’t have that end hanging over us.”
“Everyone has that end,” Ianto said. He sounded exhausted already, just from talking. “One leaves, the other remains. Doesn’t stop us from doing it anyway.”
Martha smoothed the wispy white hair back from Ianto’s brow and kissed his forehead. “Well, you won’t meet this end for a long time to come. You rest, I’ll wake you when the Doctor comes.”
Ianto smiled up at her and leaned back against the pillows again, closing his eyes. Martha brushed his hair back again, watching as he slept.
Martha hoped that Ianto’s bright blue eyes would open again when the Doctor came in.
If only for Jack’s sake.
redismycolour Challenge: Day Twenty-Eight
Date Written: 1/30/09
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 500
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Martha/Tom
Spoilers: Torchwood 02, Lost Souls and Almost Perfect
Warnings: Mentions of character death
Author Notes: I seriously love this prompt. The Deviant Strain is one of my favorite tie-in novels and I had a blast with this quote.
I used to think I was scared of death. Or by facing death - by combat and action and the uncertainty of the battlefield. Not any more. No, now what scares me is the possibility that I live to grow old. I might wake up one day tired and wasted and unable to even open a beer. I might need crutches and a hearing aid and help getting dressed. When and if I get to that point, it'll be my memories that'll keep me going. The fact that I've lived through so much, survived so much, to get there. Do you want to get old? Do you want to end up with only your memories to make up for the loss of your faculties?
--- Jack Harkness, The Deviant Strain by Justin Richards
“Oh, Ianto,” Martha sighed from the doorway.
Ianto Jones let out a gravelly laugh. “Nice to see you too, Martha,” he wheezed, struggling to his elbows.
She was by his side in an instant. “Be careful! I know how much it hurts.”
Ianto laughed again, a wrinkled hand covering hers on his suddenly frail shoulders. “Oh, it’s not that bad,” he said. “Everything aches and I fall asleep at ridiculous times, but otherwise everything else is just about the same.”
Martha chuckled and put some pillows behind his back, helping him prop up. “You have the worst luck, y’know that? Lose your neutrons, turned into a girl, now look at you. Old and wrinkly.”
“I don’t have Tosh and Owen babysitting me,” he replied. A tiny flash of pain crossed his face, and she was sure it mirrored the one that went across hers. “Any chance I can transfer to UNIT, have you looking over me?”
She laughed. “Oh yeah, I don’t have enough with the Doctor and Mum popping in from time to time!” she said. “I need you and Jack too. Although if you promise to make your coffee…”
Ianto’s laugh turned into a dry cough. Martha rubbed his back soothingly until they subsided. “How bad is it?”
“… We don’t know what happened to you,” she admitted. “Jack’s never seen the tech before, and UNIT’s never heard of it either. We called in the big guns.”
“The Doctor.” Ianto’s voice was carefully neutral.
“Jack was frantic when he was on the phone with him,” she said. “He wants you back in tip-top shape. Probably for more of that avant guarde dabbling, eh?”
A smile pulled at the wrinkles on Ianto’s face. The old man had laugh lines. That was surely a good sign. “This is harder on him, I think. Getting a glimpse at a possible future.”
“Don’t say that,” Martha said softly.
“It’s the truth, and you know it. If I don’t die in Torchwood, I’ll die looking like this.”
“Oh, Ianto.” She hugged him gently. “I can’t even imagine what that’s like, what you two go through.”
He chuckled softly. “Yes you do. Your Tom goes off to dangerous places to save the world, and you worry about him every moment he’s away from you. He worries when you go to work.”
“We don’t have that end hanging over us.”
“Everyone has that end,” Ianto said. He sounded exhausted already, just from talking. “One leaves, the other remains. Doesn’t stop us from doing it anyway.”
Martha smoothed the wispy white hair back from Ianto’s brow and kissed his forehead. “Well, you won’t meet this end for a long time to come. You rest, I’ll wake you when the Doctor comes.”
Ianto smiled up at her and leaned back against the pillows again, closing his eyes. Martha brushed his hair back again, watching as he slept.
Martha hoped that Ianto’s bright blue eyes would open again when the Doctor came in.
If only for Jack’s sake.