Chapter 5- You Can't Go Home Again
Title: Hidden Identity- Chapter 5/13 + Epilogue
Author: Iantojjackh
Rating: PG
Summary: It began in a bar on a cold fusion cruiser with a stranger named Alonso. From there Jack's life takes a turn he never expected. Now it's time to return home and an old enemy returns.
Characters: Jack Harkness, Alonso Frame, Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Rhiannon Davies, Ianto Jones, Tenth Doctor, Twelfth Doctor,
Spoilers: CoE compliant fix-it and The End of Time (DW)
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I just borrowed them for a short spell. I wish I owned them so there wouldn't be the need to write fix-its like this.
Word Count: ~26k
Beta: timelordshines
Notes: this originally started off as a prompt from jo02 from the torchwood-fest member created fest way back earlier this year. After several starts and stops, I finally finished this. This was written also for longliveianto big bang 2. I want to thank the lurkers that came out and commented yesterday. I hope today will bring more of the same.
Chapter 5- You Can't Go Home Again
Jack and Ianto made the most of their newlywed status, honeymooning on several planets while looking for one to call home. Neither man wanted to admit that the only place that ever felt like home was earth, more specifically Cardiff. They knew they couldn’t go back to live there, but the longer they travelled, the more homesick they became. Eventually they decided that a short visit wouldn’t hurt. What trouble could they cause in just a few short days?
Ianto could not pass on the opportunity to pick up a few mementos that he could not take with him the first time. The urge to check in on his sister and her family almost proved too much for Ianto, but he persevered and fought the overwhelming feeling. The familiar sight and smells of Cardiff brought up so many emotions that Ianto had not expected and he wanted a few hours to himself.
"Are you going to be okay?" Jack asked with obvious worry.
"Just need a little time by myself. Meet you back at the room in about three hours?" Ianto tried to convince his husband with a kiss, but Jack made a face.
"What?" The disguised Welshman asked.
"It's still weird kissing you when you look like that."
"We have no choice. I can't be seen as me or he will take me away." Ianto had no doubt the Doctor could do that just to teach them a lesson, even if it would go against why Ianto had been brought back to life in the first place. Ianto had to have the chip always activated when he was traveling with the Time Lord, but since he had reunited with Jack this was the first time he had to be Alonso.
Jack crinkled his nose. "I'll just have to deal." He gave his husband a playful but somewhat naughty kiss to prove his point. "Hmmm. Hazelnut," Jack licked his lips.
"Do you plan on visiting Gwen? I'm sure she'd like to see you." Ianto really wanted to visit family and friends and it hurt that the option was not available to him but it would give Jack something to do while he went off on his own.
"I don't know. I might head down to the bay and check on things." Jack shrugged. He worried about leaving Ianto alone, but he was not going to push the matter. "Three hours. Our room. No clothes."
"It's a deal." Ianto walked away to find what closure he could in the limited time he had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ianto found it strange visiting his own grave. It made him shiver as he stared at the plain headstone. Just as his name was carved in stone, so was the fact that Ianto Jones was born the nineteenth of August 1983 and no longer had a place on this planet. Suddenly home was not so inviting. Ianto realised that maybe it was time to start a new home, and it didn’t matter where that was, as long as he was with Jack. He placed a single red rose at the base of the headstone.
"Was he a friend of yours?" The voice made Ianto jump and he froze for a moment, not recognising whom it came from.
"We were flatmates for two years at university. Lost touch after that. " It was the first lie Ianto could come up with and one that hopefully would not lead to more questions from the stranger.
"What was he like?" The woman asked.
Ianto's paranoia perked up. "Did you know him?" Ianto asked. 'Because I certainly don't know you,' he said to himself.
"No," she shook her head and took a deep breath. "But your friend was close to someone I used to know...at least I think they were close, and his death did something this person and ever since I've been curious as to the type of man he was to cause my fath...him to make the decisions that he did."
"I don't think I can give you the answers you are looking for," Ianto said unable to look at the woman in the eyes, now knowing the woman was Jack's daughter, Alice, and the decisions she talked about was Jack using his grandson to defeat the 456.
"I'm just trying to understand why he what he did. How can losing one person lead you to make such an inexcusable choice?" Alice had asked herself that question countless times since she learned her father did not die alone in Thames House.
Ianto did not like being reminded of the day he had died. Those final moments in Jack's arms were the most painful, both emotionally and physically, that he had ever experienced. He still had nightmares remembering Jack begging that he would take it all back if it meant Ianto could live and Jack pleading with him not to leave him as he died. Ianto did not know what else to say to Alice. He knew that if Jack had not been grieving for him that there was a good chance that Steven would still be alive and that together they would have come up with another solution. "Some questions are not meant to be answered for the answer might be more painful than the wondering why."
"I'm sorry for bothering you. You came here to pay respect to your friend and I'm bothering you with something you had no part in." Alice knew she would never get the answers she desperately sought because she did not want to talk to her father and if she wanted to ask Jack, it seemed that he vanished off the face of the planet. Alice asked herself countless times if this man had been her father's lover because it was the only thing that made sense why Jack did what he did.
"It's all right. Grief..." Ianto froze as if he fell into some kind of trace. His eyes glazed over and looked straight through Alice.
"Grief, what?" Alice asked and then noticed the vacant expression on the man's face. "Are you all right?"
Ianto stood entranced until a minute later he let out a high pitched scream that lasted thirty seconds before he started speaking in an eerie, monotonous voice. "You said you would fight. Then I take it back, alright? I take it all back-but not him! Don’t go. Don’t leave me, please. They must pay for killing one of our kind." And like that the trance was broken. "It's different for everyone." Ianto finished off his statement as if nothing had happened.
"What was that?" Alice was terrified. She recognised what had just happen and she turned white at the prospect of the 456 being back.
"What was what?" Ianto asked confused. "Are you okay?"
"Last time it was the children now you are doing it. Not again." The distraught woman shook her head, slowly backing away as if Ianto was diseased.
It did not take long for Ianto to realise what Alice was talking about. "What did I say?" It was the Torchwood training to ask questions first before reacting.
Alice repeated almost word for word what Ianto had said and when she finished, Alice added her own commentary. "That bastard. He's not even here. The man is a bloody coward."
Ianto knew he had to find Jack quickly. The 456 were back and obviously looking for revenge and he wondered if them repeating what Jack had said in Thames House was the 456’s way of letting Jack and Ianto know that they knew Ianto was alive. "I've got to go." Ianto started to run off, knowing it was suspicious that he had taken off, but he had to get to Jack.
To be continued... Chapter 6
Previous Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Author: Iantojjackh
Rating: PG
Summary: It began in a bar on a cold fusion cruiser with a stranger named Alonso. From there Jack's life takes a turn he never expected. Now it's time to return home and an old enemy returns.
Characters: Jack Harkness, Alonso Frame, Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Rhiannon Davies, Ianto Jones, Tenth Doctor, Twelfth Doctor,
Spoilers: CoE compliant fix-it and The End of Time (DW)
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I just borrowed them for a short spell. I wish I owned them so there wouldn't be the need to write fix-its like this.
Word Count: ~26k
Beta: timelordshines
Notes: this originally started off as a prompt from jo02 from the torchwood-fest member created fest way back earlier this year. After several starts and stops, I finally finished this. This was written also for longliveianto big bang 2. I want to thank the lurkers that came out and commented yesterday. I hope today will bring more of the same.
Chapter 5- You Can't Go Home Again
Jack and Ianto made the most of their newlywed status, honeymooning on several planets while looking for one to call home. Neither man wanted to admit that the only place that ever felt like home was earth, more specifically Cardiff. They knew they couldn’t go back to live there, but the longer they travelled, the more homesick they became. Eventually they decided that a short visit wouldn’t hurt. What trouble could they cause in just a few short days?
Ianto could not pass on the opportunity to pick up a few mementos that he could not take with him the first time. The urge to check in on his sister and her family almost proved too much for Ianto, but he persevered and fought the overwhelming feeling. The familiar sight and smells of Cardiff brought up so many emotions that Ianto had not expected and he wanted a few hours to himself.
"Are you going to be okay?" Jack asked with obvious worry.
"Just need a little time by myself. Meet you back at the room in about three hours?" Ianto tried to convince his husband with a kiss, but Jack made a face.
"What?" The disguised Welshman asked.
"It's still weird kissing you when you look like that."
"We have no choice. I can't be seen as me or he will take me away." Ianto had no doubt the Doctor could do that just to teach them a lesson, even if it would go against why Ianto had been brought back to life in the first place. Ianto had to have the chip always activated when he was traveling with the Time Lord, but since he had reunited with Jack this was the first time he had to be Alonso.
Jack crinkled his nose. "I'll just have to deal." He gave his husband a playful but somewhat naughty kiss to prove his point. "Hmmm. Hazelnut," Jack licked his lips.
"Do you plan on visiting Gwen? I'm sure she'd like to see you." Ianto really wanted to visit family and friends and it hurt that the option was not available to him but it would give Jack something to do while he went off on his own.
"I don't know. I might head down to the bay and check on things." Jack shrugged. He worried about leaving Ianto alone, but he was not going to push the matter. "Three hours. Our room. No clothes."
"It's a deal." Ianto walked away to find what closure he could in the limited time he had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ianto found it strange visiting his own grave. It made him shiver as he stared at the plain headstone. Just as his name was carved in stone, so was the fact that Ianto Jones was born the nineteenth of August 1983 and no longer had a place on this planet. Suddenly home was not so inviting. Ianto realised that maybe it was time to start a new home, and it didn’t matter where that was, as long as he was with Jack. He placed a single red rose at the base of the headstone.
"Was he a friend of yours?" The voice made Ianto jump and he froze for a moment, not recognising whom it came from.
"We were flatmates for two years at university. Lost touch after that. " It was the first lie Ianto could come up with and one that hopefully would not lead to more questions from the stranger.
"What was he like?" The woman asked.
Ianto's paranoia perked up. "Did you know him?" Ianto asked. 'Because I certainly don't know you,' he said to himself.
"No," she shook her head and took a deep breath. "But your friend was close to someone I used to know...at least I think they were close, and his death did something this person and ever since I've been curious as to the type of man he was to cause my fath...him to make the decisions that he did."
"I don't think I can give you the answers you are looking for," Ianto said unable to look at the woman in the eyes, now knowing the woman was Jack's daughter, Alice, and the decisions she talked about was Jack using his grandson to defeat the 456.
"I'm just trying to understand why he what he did. How can losing one person lead you to make such an inexcusable choice?" Alice had asked herself that question countless times since she learned her father did not die alone in Thames House.
Ianto did not like being reminded of the day he had died. Those final moments in Jack's arms were the most painful, both emotionally and physically, that he had ever experienced. He still had nightmares remembering Jack begging that he would take it all back if it meant Ianto could live and Jack pleading with him not to leave him as he died. Ianto did not know what else to say to Alice. He knew that if Jack had not been grieving for him that there was a good chance that Steven would still be alive and that together they would have come up with another solution. "Some questions are not meant to be answered for the answer might be more painful than the wondering why."
"I'm sorry for bothering you. You came here to pay respect to your friend and I'm bothering you with something you had no part in." Alice knew she would never get the answers she desperately sought because she did not want to talk to her father and if she wanted to ask Jack, it seemed that he vanished off the face of the planet. Alice asked herself countless times if this man had been her father's lover because it was the only thing that made sense why Jack did what he did.
"It's all right. Grief..." Ianto froze as if he fell into some kind of trace. His eyes glazed over and looked straight through Alice.
"Grief, what?" Alice asked and then noticed the vacant expression on the man's face. "Are you all right?"
Ianto stood entranced until a minute later he let out a high pitched scream that lasted thirty seconds before he started speaking in an eerie, monotonous voice. "You said you would fight. Then I take it back, alright? I take it all back-but not him! Don’t go. Don’t leave me, please. They must pay for killing one of our kind." And like that the trance was broken. "It's different for everyone." Ianto finished off his statement as if nothing had happened.
"What was that?" Alice was terrified. She recognised what had just happen and she turned white at the prospect of the 456 being back.
"What was what?" Ianto asked confused. "Are you okay?"
"Last time it was the children now you are doing it. Not again." The distraught woman shook her head, slowly backing away as if Ianto was diseased.
It did not take long for Ianto to realise what Alice was talking about. "What did I say?" It was the Torchwood training to ask questions first before reacting.
Alice repeated almost word for word what Ianto had said and when she finished, Alice added her own commentary. "That bastard. He's not even here. The man is a bloody coward."
Ianto knew he had to find Jack quickly. The 456 were back and obviously looking for revenge and he wondered if them repeating what Jack had said in Thames House was the 456’s way of letting Jack and Ianto know that they knew Ianto was alive. "I've got to go." Ianto started to run off, knowing it was suspicious that he had taken off, but he had to get to Jack.
To be continued... Chapter 6
Previous Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4