Reflections, Part Thirty-One
Title: Reflections, part thirty-one
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: none.
Summary: While making upgrades to the hub, Jack & Ianto come face-to-face with decisions past.
A/N: Part Five in the Horizon's Sing generated AU Something that Starts with "S"; written for the new redismycolour challenge, day thirty-one.
PART THIRTY
Ianto was leaning against a crystal wall while Jack comforted the Ianto Jones who basically destroyed his entire reality. He finally spoke quietly, "Everything that happened, all those fractured realities- you did it."
The mainframe's light was dim now, "I don't have much time left, but as long as he wasn't ready to give up I couldn't." Ianto understood the unspoken words, "It was easy enough to share with my other selves and influence certain projects in enough different realities to succeed in getting the fractures opened."
Ianto was alarmed, "Just how many were involved?"
The answer made him shiver, "I approximate one hundred different realities are currently involved in this distortion; but don't worry, I still have enough left in me to seal the cracks. You and Jack will be in your mainframe room when its all said and done."
Ianto truly understood now, "And you and this Ianto?"
"We'll be at rest."
Ianto Jones thought he was still dreaming in the safety of mainframe's arms. He'd had such vivid dreams of he and Jack living in worlds that were always just slightly different than how things really were. Each adventure played in his mind with slightly different results, but it kept his mind entertained while his body slept- waiting for Jack's return. The warm hand on his face was a new sensation as were the words; and as his eyes slowly opened and his gaze fell on his Captain, he hoped that this wasn't a dream.
He looked at his Captain and saw the passage of time in his face, Ianto wasn't sure how long he'd been in the keep of mainframe, but Jack looked different. Some of the old worry lines seemed lessened, and new lines appeared around his eyes. It took a moment for Ianto to register that they were laugh lines. Jack had laughed enough during his time away to leave marks.
His ears registered sounds, conversation in low murmurs and one voice distinctly his own. He turned to look for the voices and spotted himself in the shadows. Now he was confused, maybe he was still dreaming; but Jack's hand on his face hadn't left and now soft lips rest on his forehead. He couldn't stop the sigh of contentment that escaped his lips nor the words that slipped along with it, "You're real."
He heard Jack's voice, "Of course, I came back just like I promised." There was a strange quaver in the words and as the fog lifted from Ianto's mind the meaning became clear. He opened his eyes fully and really looked at Jack.
"You did promise, and you did come back- but not to me." He saw Jack's eyes dart in the direction of the low voices, "To him."
Jack smiled at him, a full honest smile and Ianto let his eyes drop closed as the other Ianto Jones, the Ianto Jones who had claim to this Jack Harkness, came into view. "Thank you for keeping the promise Jack, even if you didn't make it." He looked carefully at his duplicate, and knew "Take care of him Ianto Jones."
Ianto placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and looked at himself, slowly dying on the floor, "I will."
Ianto looked up at himself, and at the bond between he and Jack and smiled, "Good. I'm going to rest now."
Ianto thought it was a bit surreal watching himself be encased in crystal as the mainframe absorbed him into its matrix. He was even more concerned as bits of antiquated technology were suddenly falling from the ceiling, wall and every surface while the crystal turned smokey black and began flaking- mainframe was able to reject all of the hardware now that her mission was complete. "I would suggest that you both return to the safety of the staircase. I'll hold this reality together as long as I can, but there isn't much time."
Ianto and Jack were already pulling their oxygen masks back on as the wall melted for their exit. Ianto paused for a moment and rest a hand on the crystalline surface, "Thank you."
The last spire of amethyst pulsed brightly, "You're welcome Ianto Jones."
Ianto chased after Jack in the darkness, barely able to see him, but sure he was directly ahead and suddenly there was the hatchway, hanging in the black.
Jack was already standing in the stairwell with his hand held out. The voice of mainframe rung loud as her purple light burst like a supernova.
"Paradox complete."
He was standing in front of the old cabin, snow covering everything- but the scratched and flaking red door was inviting and he opened it, then Ianto Jones felt them all. He felt himself let go of life in the warm cocoon of crystal. He felt Jack's arms wrap around him as they kissed for the first time after Jack swanned off with his Doctor, even if there was sadness at having to find a replacement for Gwen who ran away. He felt a cold shiver from the perfectly structured existence of the Ianto drone who maintained the power cell that had been Jack Harkness. And he even felt, for a moment, the peaceful darkness that Lisa's Ianto slept in.
Now there was only him, Ianto Jones, sitting on the cold concrete floor of the staircase as Jack Harkness held him close and murmured nonsense in his ear. His vision was clearing after the blinding light and the first thing he clearly saw was Jack smiling at him. "Please Jack, tone down the teeth."
Jack's chuckles felt good against his side, where they belonged.
Martha studied them both carefully, frowning as she looked between the two men. "So, upgrades goes okay? No troubles?" She focused on Ianto, looking for any tells.
Ianto smiled blandly and placed the mug of coffee on the edge of her desk, "Minor glitches, but we took care of them." Ianto knew she was trying to break him, but Ianto kept his face neutral and was silently relieved when Gwen made her entrance through the blast door. "Sorry, need to retrieve somebody from Gwen's care. Hopefully not dressed in a pink frilly dress." Ianto turned around and headed for the door and waited alongside Jack.
Gwen Williams sighed with relief as Jack collected Branwen and Ianto grabbed the piles of baby and toddler supplies. "Thank you. Next time someone remind me why I agreed to taking another child for the weekend?"
Jack laughed along with his daughter as they spun around and Ianto gave her one of his quirky smiles as he moved out of her way. Gwen dropped onto the sofa with her son and looked at Martha, "They spend the weekend relaxing after a ten minute little job while I spend an entire weekend with a little girl that won't wear a dress and you don't even want to imagine what she did to the cute little pink briar rabbit I bought for her." Gwen looked over to where Jack and the little girl were playing with rubber dinosaurs and huffed, "That child doesn't stand a chance if they don't turn her around soon."
She nearly jumped as Ianto sat next to her and held a coffee mug out, "Oh thanks pet, you should listen to me- that little girl needs ballet or fairy princesses not just rubber dinosaurs and alien bits and bobs." She nudged him on the shoulder, "Think of all the possibilities Ianto."
Ianto looked over to where Jack was now being eaten by a blue rubber allosaurus and smiled, "Yep, plenty of possibilities."
FIN.
A bonus Epilogue
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: none.
Summary: While making upgrades to the hub, Jack & Ianto come face-to-face with decisions past.
A/N: Part Five in the Horizon's Sing generated AU Something that Starts with "S"; written for the new redismycolour challenge, day thirty-one.
PART THIRTY
Ianto was leaning against a crystal wall while Jack comforted the Ianto Jones who basically destroyed his entire reality. He finally spoke quietly, "Everything that happened, all those fractured realities- you did it."
The mainframe's light was dim now, "I don't have much time left, but as long as he wasn't ready to give up I couldn't." Ianto understood the unspoken words, "It was easy enough to share with my other selves and influence certain projects in enough different realities to succeed in getting the fractures opened."
Ianto was alarmed, "Just how many were involved?"
The answer made him shiver, "I approximate one hundred different realities are currently involved in this distortion; but don't worry, I still have enough left in me to seal the cracks. You and Jack will be in your mainframe room when its all said and done."
Ianto truly understood now, "And you and this Ianto?"
"We'll be at rest."
Ianto Jones thought he was still dreaming in the safety of mainframe's arms. He'd had such vivid dreams of he and Jack living in worlds that were always just slightly different than how things really were. Each adventure played in his mind with slightly different results, but it kept his mind entertained while his body slept- waiting for Jack's return. The warm hand on his face was a new sensation as were the words; and as his eyes slowly opened and his gaze fell on his Captain, he hoped that this wasn't a dream.
He looked at his Captain and saw the passage of time in his face, Ianto wasn't sure how long he'd been in the keep of mainframe, but Jack looked different. Some of the old worry lines seemed lessened, and new lines appeared around his eyes. It took a moment for Ianto to register that they were laugh lines. Jack had laughed enough during his time away to leave marks.
His ears registered sounds, conversation in low murmurs and one voice distinctly his own. He turned to look for the voices and spotted himself in the shadows. Now he was confused, maybe he was still dreaming; but Jack's hand on his face hadn't left and now soft lips rest on his forehead. He couldn't stop the sigh of contentment that escaped his lips nor the words that slipped along with it, "You're real."
He heard Jack's voice, "Of course, I came back just like I promised." There was a strange quaver in the words and as the fog lifted from Ianto's mind the meaning became clear. He opened his eyes fully and really looked at Jack.
"You did promise, and you did come back- but not to me." He saw Jack's eyes dart in the direction of the low voices, "To him."
Jack smiled at him, a full honest smile and Ianto let his eyes drop closed as the other Ianto Jones, the Ianto Jones who had claim to this Jack Harkness, came into view. "Thank you for keeping the promise Jack, even if you didn't make it." He looked carefully at his duplicate, and knew "Take care of him Ianto Jones."
Ianto placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and looked at himself, slowly dying on the floor, "I will."
Ianto looked up at himself, and at the bond between he and Jack and smiled, "Good. I'm going to rest now."
Ianto thought it was a bit surreal watching himself be encased in crystal as the mainframe absorbed him into its matrix. He was even more concerned as bits of antiquated technology were suddenly falling from the ceiling, wall and every surface while the crystal turned smokey black and began flaking- mainframe was able to reject all of the hardware now that her mission was complete. "I would suggest that you both return to the safety of the staircase. I'll hold this reality together as long as I can, but there isn't much time."
Ianto and Jack were already pulling their oxygen masks back on as the wall melted for their exit. Ianto paused for a moment and rest a hand on the crystalline surface, "Thank you."
The last spire of amethyst pulsed brightly, "You're welcome Ianto Jones."
Ianto chased after Jack in the darkness, barely able to see him, but sure he was directly ahead and suddenly there was the hatchway, hanging in the black.
Jack was already standing in the stairwell with his hand held out. The voice of mainframe rung loud as her purple light burst like a supernova.
"Paradox complete."
He was standing in front of the old cabin, snow covering everything- but the scratched and flaking red door was inviting and he opened it, then Ianto Jones felt them all. He felt himself let go of life in the warm cocoon of crystal. He felt Jack's arms wrap around him as they kissed for the first time after Jack swanned off with his Doctor, even if there was sadness at having to find a replacement for Gwen who ran away. He felt a cold shiver from the perfectly structured existence of the Ianto drone who maintained the power cell that had been Jack Harkness. And he even felt, for a moment, the peaceful darkness that Lisa's Ianto slept in.
Now there was only him, Ianto Jones, sitting on the cold concrete floor of the staircase as Jack Harkness held him close and murmured nonsense in his ear. His vision was clearing after the blinding light and the first thing he clearly saw was Jack smiling at him. "Please Jack, tone down the teeth."
Jack's chuckles felt good against his side, where they belonged.
Martha studied them both carefully, frowning as she looked between the two men. "So, upgrades goes okay? No troubles?" She focused on Ianto, looking for any tells.
Ianto smiled blandly and placed the mug of coffee on the edge of her desk, "Minor glitches, but we took care of them." Ianto knew she was trying to break him, but Ianto kept his face neutral and was silently relieved when Gwen made her entrance through the blast door. "Sorry, need to retrieve somebody from Gwen's care. Hopefully not dressed in a pink frilly dress." Ianto turned around and headed for the door and waited alongside Jack.
Gwen Williams sighed with relief as Jack collected Branwen and Ianto grabbed the piles of baby and toddler supplies. "Thank you. Next time someone remind me why I agreed to taking another child for the weekend?"
Jack laughed along with his daughter as they spun around and Ianto gave her one of his quirky smiles as he moved out of her way. Gwen dropped onto the sofa with her son and looked at Martha, "They spend the weekend relaxing after a ten minute little job while I spend an entire weekend with a little girl that won't wear a dress and you don't even want to imagine what she did to the cute little pink briar rabbit I bought for her." Gwen looked over to where Jack and the little girl were playing with rubber dinosaurs and huffed, "That child doesn't stand a chance if they don't turn her around soon."
She nearly jumped as Ianto sat next to her and held a coffee mug out, "Oh thanks pet, you should listen to me- that little girl needs ballet or fairy princesses not just rubber dinosaurs and alien bits and bobs." She nudged him on the shoulder, "Think of all the possibilities Ianto."
Ianto looked over to where Jack was now being eaten by a blue rubber allosaurus and smiled, "Yep, plenty of possibilities."
FIN.
A bonus Epilogue