Playing With Shadows - Phantoms Never Sleep 6/?
Title: Playing with Shadows - Phantoms Never Sleep 6/?
Rating: I like to swear, so 15.
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Rest of the team, new group of alien nasties.
Chapters: Sequel to “Where Mortals Fear To Tread”
Spoilers: Set series one, post ‘’Cyberwoman”, but anything Torchwood could be hinted at.
Summary: When Ianto suddenly falls very ill, no one in the team can understand why. Who are the “Phantoms”? And why is Ianto living a life that was never his?
Disclaimer: Regrettably I own nothing, none of the characters, zip. Wish I did though. All belongs to the mighty RTD!
Author’s Notes: Welcome back to the wonderful world of ‘Phantoms’! Haha maybe not, but never the less here is another chapter. Big thanks has to go to my beta 2nd_toshiko , the poor person who I owe so much to. Huge thanks to everyone behind the fic too! And yes, as always, all your comments really are loved and adored. :) Thanks
Chapter One: Awakening
Chapter Two: Uncommon Death
Chapter Three: I Cry Softly Into Time
Chapter Four: Ghost Of Mine
Chapter Five: Where Mortals Fear To Tread
As usual, I have to dedicate this chapter to four wonderful readers, you all should know how much you mean to me by now!! So thank you, thank you, thank you 2nd_toshiko , naddypants , skullgirl013 and morgia !!!
Ianto had left him.
And he never even knew…..
“Daddy!!!” Small hands reached out to him, a bright smile welcoming as he opened the door. Ianto laughed stooping down to sweep the small child into his arms, holding him close.
“Someone’s in a good mood.” He cooed, tickling the boy under his chin. “What have you been up today then?”
“Colouring!” The young boy squealed, reaching up to tug at his father’s ear. “I drew you and mummy a picture!”
“You did?”
“Yeah! Mummy’s put it on the fridge!”
“That’s because mummy is very proud.” Lisa was there, arms folded as she stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen. She flashed Ianto a huge grin, stepping forward so she could lightly press a kiss to the boy’s forehead. “He’s been wanting to show it to you all day.”
Small hands were there again, dragging him into the kitchen, little nails digging into his skin from the tight grip. He looked up, eyes resting on the three stick figures sat there on the fridge, held in place by a solitary ‘Rice Krispies’ magnet. They were stood outside a yellow brick house, red roof a thick triangle balanced on top of a wonky yellow square. Two mushroom- like trees sat at each side of the house, with a large grey path leading straight from the bright blue rectangular door. Ianto smiled, looking at the three figures more closely. The tallest stick figure had spiky black hair, a suitcase in one hand and the small three fingered stick hand of a smaller figure in the other. Beside them was a shorter figure, a pink skirt drawn triangularly on at what could have been called the hips.
“Mummy, Daddy and Jack.” Ianto read off the picture, eyes scanning across the perfect hand writing with ease. “Did mum help you with the writing?”
“Yes dad. Is that bad?”
“No, no.” He shook his head, ruffling Jack’s hair with one hand. “It’s perfect. It’s us.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Captain Jack Harkness sighed, propping his head up with a single hand. He felt so useless, so helpless, so in the dark. His eyes flicked back onto his computer monitor in front of him, watching the CCTV images from the autopsy bay as Owen continued to run test after test on his two patients. On Ianto. The Captain swallowed hard, the phantoms words were still fresh in his mind.
An escape? He knew that those two words alone were enough to send him insane. What had the Phantoms meant, what could they have possibly given Ianto that was so incredible, so amazing? And even more worrying in Jack’s mind, if Ianto had been given a choice, then why had he taken it?
His mind had processed every word they had said, and in the following hours he had analysed everything, even written down the snippets of the conversation that he could remember. He needed to find something, to discover any leads, any information that could bring Ianto back. After all, Jack owed it to him to fight the Phantoms. To fight for him….
He’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done.
It hadn’t taken much thought to decipher that. Jack had known as soon as the words left Viridis’ mouth what she had meant. Lisa. He’d killed her, he’d had to but that never made it any easier. He could end another life so easily, telling himself that it was for the good of everything, that it was the right thing to do. But that never stopped his conscience wrestling with him each night. Never let him forget the faces of those he’d destroyed. Never stopped the phantoms gracing his dreams each night……
“Jack?” Owen’s voice rang out from his comm. unit, snapping Jack out from his thought induced haze. He sat up straight, blinking hard trying to force his mind to see sense.
“Owen?”
“You might want to get down here. I think I’ve got something.”
“It’s Rebecca.” Owen paused, thrusting a bunch of papers at Jack. He pointed down to some otherwise meaningless figures with his pen, before glancing back at Jack. “See?”
“See what?”
“Over the last hour her brain signals have become much stronger. They are still erratic as hell, but they’re registering on standard equipment now.”
“And what does that mean?”
“I have no idea. But if what you’ve told us is true, the Phantoms must be losing their grip on her. There’s no other way to explain why she’s slowly coming back to us.”
“So she’s going to be ok?” Jack made no attempts to hide the hope in his voice.
“I doubt it. Her brain signals are so strange; they are obviously putting up a fight. I don’t see why they’d just let go of her.” Owen shook his head, sucking at his pen slightly. “I’m frightened that if she puts up too much of a fight they’ll kill her.”
“How?”
“They are keeping her alive right now somehow. I guess if she becomes too much trouble then they’ll just…………stop.” He shrugged, glancing back to the girl lying outstretched on the table. “I could be wrong……”
“You’re not.” Jack replied quickly reaching out to squeeze his arm. “They are more than capable of that.”
“Then what can we do Jack?”
“We beat them to it.”
“What?”
“We kill her first.” Jack swallowed hard, running one hand through his hair.
“Jack, that’s inhuman! We can’t-”
“Wait. Hear me out, Owen.” The Captain grimaced, eyes locking with the young doctor’s. “They must need her alive to use her mind. So if they think she’s dead they’ll sever the link. Set her loose.”
“But she’ll be dead Jack. It won’t make a difference.”
“Think, Owen!” The older man snapped. “We only have to make them think she’s dead.”
“You mean…………cryogenics?”
“Yes, Owen. We’re going to freeze them back to life.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It never ceased to amaze Ianto how his life could pass in such a blur. To him, it only felt like mere hours since he’d woken up from his coma, since he’d gotten a hold of reality again. He barely even remembered their moving into the new flat, brief recollections of minutes spent at the estate agents whirling through his otherwise peaceful mind. Jack’s birth. The memories of it were there, locked away, he could remember Lisa and her bump, remember driving to the hospital and breaking the speed limits because work had kept him behind. But there was little emotion behind any of these memories, nothing that made him feel as if he had really lived through them. Ianto smiled, turning up the car radio with one hand, shunning the thoughts to one side. He was being ridiculous. How could he be trying to pick faults with perfection?
As the motorway flashed past he found himself thinking of home. Thinking of Lisa, hopefully already brewing the coffee ready for when he got in. Thoughts of Jack, the little boy that brought so much joy into his life with just that small smile. That was one thing he remembered, naming his son. It had required so little thought, the name jumping out at him from nowhere. He had a vague recollection of it somewhere, locked away in his mind, where it felt so familiar, although he no longer knew why. It had simply been a name like any other, one which suited his little boy down to the ground.
Key turning in the lock, Ianto hastily shoved open the door, stepping into the unusually dark apartment. He looked round closing the door behind him before fumbling for a light switch.
“Lisa?! You there?” He called out, but there was no reply. Dropping his suitcase to the floor Ianto took a tentative step forward, the gloom uncomfortable around him. The atmosphere inside the flat was cold, almost iced as he moved towards the kitchen, still yelling out. “Come on you two!” He forced a laugh. “This really isn’t funny.”
The air around him suddenly became heavy, the stale almost putrid smell of Iron choking him as he made his way into the living room. He stopped still, eyes focusing on a form lying strewn across the floor. In the dim light he could see a pool of liquid glisten around the body, shadows thrown across it like statues. His terrified eyes focused on the lifeless face, retina’s still growing accustomed to the gloom.
“Lisa?!!” He felt himself scream fighting the gagging feeling in his throat. He rushed to her side, dampness soaking through his trousers as he cradled her limp body in his arm. He looked to his own hands, seeing the still wet blood staining his fingertips.
And then Ianto remembered.
He’d seen all this before.
Ok, so as always, I shall now beg for your comments. Ok maybe not, but writing isn’t writing without hearing what you lot think, so if you can please drop us a comment! Thank you!!
Just Being Me
xxxxxxx
Click here for the next chapter, "Is This Sex Or Only Violence?"
Rating: I like to swear, so 15.
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Rest of the team, new group of alien nasties.
Chapters: Sequel to “Where Mortals Fear To Tread”
Spoilers: Set series one, post ‘’Cyberwoman”, but anything Torchwood could be hinted at.
Summary: When Ianto suddenly falls very ill, no one in the team can understand why. Who are the “Phantoms”? And why is Ianto living a life that was never his?
Disclaimer: Regrettably I own nothing, none of the characters, zip. Wish I did though. All belongs to the mighty RTD!
Author’s Notes: Welcome back to the wonderful world of ‘Phantoms’! Haha maybe not, but never the less here is another chapter. Big thanks has to go to my beta 2nd_toshiko , the poor person who I owe so much to. Huge thanks to everyone behind the fic too! And yes, as always, all your comments really are loved and adored. :) Thanks
Chapter One: Awakening
Chapter Two: Uncommon Death
Chapter Three: I Cry Softly Into Time
Chapter Four: Ghost Of Mine
Chapter Five: Where Mortals Fear To Tread
As usual, I have to dedicate this chapter to four wonderful readers, you all should know how much you mean to me by now!! So thank you, thank you, thank you 2nd_toshiko , naddypants , skullgirl013 and morgia !!!
Ianto had left him.
And he never even knew…..
“Daddy!!!” Small hands reached out to him, a bright smile welcoming as he opened the door. Ianto laughed stooping down to sweep the small child into his arms, holding him close.
“Someone’s in a good mood.” He cooed, tickling the boy under his chin. “What have you been up today then?”
“Colouring!” The young boy squealed, reaching up to tug at his father’s ear. “I drew you and mummy a picture!”
“You did?”
“Yeah! Mummy’s put it on the fridge!”
“That’s because mummy is very proud.” Lisa was there, arms folded as she stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen. She flashed Ianto a huge grin, stepping forward so she could lightly press a kiss to the boy’s forehead. “He’s been wanting to show it to you all day.”
Small hands were there again, dragging him into the kitchen, little nails digging into his skin from the tight grip. He looked up, eyes resting on the three stick figures sat there on the fridge, held in place by a solitary ‘Rice Krispies’ magnet. They were stood outside a yellow brick house, red roof a thick triangle balanced on top of a wonky yellow square. Two mushroom- like trees sat at each side of the house, with a large grey path leading straight from the bright blue rectangular door. Ianto smiled, looking at the three figures more closely. The tallest stick figure had spiky black hair, a suitcase in one hand and the small three fingered stick hand of a smaller figure in the other. Beside them was a shorter figure, a pink skirt drawn triangularly on at what could have been called the hips.
“Mummy, Daddy and Jack.” Ianto read off the picture, eyes scanning across the perfect hand writing with ease. “Did mum help you with the writing?”
“Yes dad. Is that bad?”
“No, no.” He shook his head, ruffling Jack’s hair with one hand. “It’s perfect. It’s us.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Captain Jack Harkness sighed, propping his head up with a single hand. He felt so useless, so helpless, so in the dark. His eyes flicked back onto his computer monitor in front of him, watching the CCTV images from the autopsy bay as Owen continued to run test after test on his two patients. On Ianto. The Captain swallowed hard, the phantoms words were still fresh in his mind.
An escape? He knew that those two words alone were enough to send him insane. What had the Phantoms meant, what could they have possibly given Ianto that was so incredible, so amazing? And even more worrying in Jack’s mind, if Ianto had been given a choice, then why had he taken it?
His mind had processed every word they had said, and in the following hours he had analysed everything, even written down the snippets of the conversation that he could remember. He needed to find something, to discover any leads, any information that could bring Ianto back. After all, Jack owed it to him to fight the Phantoms. To fight for him….
He’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done.
It hadn’t taken much thought to decipher that. Jack had known as soon as the words left Viridis’ mouth what she had meant. Lisa. He’d killed her, he’d had to but that never made it any easier. He could end another life so easily, telling himself that it was for the good of everything, that it was the right thing to do. But that never stopped his conscience wrestling with him each night. Never let him forget the faces of those he’d destroyed. Never stopped the phantoms gracing his dreams each night……
“Jack?” Owen’s voice rang out from his comm. unit, snapping Jack out from his thought induced haze. He sat up straight, blinking hard trying to force his mind to see sense.
“Owen?”
“You might want to get down here. I think I’ve got something.”
“It’s Rebecca.” Owen paused, thrusting a bunch of papers at Jack. He pointed down to some otherwise meaningless figures with his pen, before glancing back at Jack. “See?”
“See what?”
“Over the last hour her brain signals have become much stronger. They are still erratic as hell, but they’re registering on standard equipment now.”
“And what does that mean?”
“I have no idea. But if what you’ve told us is true, the Phantoms must be losing their grip on her. There’s no other way to explain why she’s slowly coming back to us.”
“So she’s going to be ok?” Jack made no attempts to hide the hope in his voice.
“I doubt it. Her brain signals are so strange; they are obviously putting up a fight. I don’t see why they’d just let go of her.” Owen shook his head, sucking at his pen slightly. “I’m frightened that if she puts up too much of a fight they’ll kill her.”
“How?”
“They are keeping her alive right now somehow. I guess if she becomes too much trouble then they’ll just…………stop.” He shrugged, glancing back to the girl lying outstretched on the table. “I could be wrong……”
“You’re not.” Jack replied quickly reaching out to squeeze his arm. “They are more than capable of that.”
“Then what can we do Jack?”
“We beat them to it.”
“What?”
“We kill her first.” Jack swallowed hard, running one hand through his hair.
“Jack, that’s inhuman! We can’t-”
“Wait. Hear me out, Owen.” The Captain grimaced, eyes locking with the young doctor’s. “They must need her alive to use her mind. So if they think she’s dead they’ll sever the link. Set her loose.”
“But she’ll be dead Jack. It won’t make a difference.”
“Think, Owen!” The older man snapped. “We only have to make them think she’s dead.”
“You mean…………cryogenics?”
“Yes, Owen. We’re going to freeze them back to life.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It never ceased to amaze Ianto how his life could pass in such a blur. To him, it only felt like mere hours since he’d woken up from his coma, since he’d gotten a hold of reality again. He barely even remembered their moving into the new flat, brief recollections of minutes spent at the estate agents whirling through his otherwise peaceful mind. Jack’s birth. The memories of it were there, locked away, he could remember Lisa and her bump, remember driving to the hospital and breaking the speed limits because work had kept him behind. But there was little emotion behind any of these memories, nothing that made him feel as if he had really lived through them. Ianto smiled, turning up the car radio with one hand, shunning the thoughts to one side. He was being ridiculous. How could he be trying to pick faults with perfection?
As the motorway flashed past he found himself thinking of home. Thinking of Lisa, hopefully already brewing the coffee ready for when he got in. Thoughts of Jack, the little boy that brought so much joy into his life with just that small smile. That was one thing he remembered, naming his son. It had required so little thought, the name jumping out at him from nowhere. He had a vague recollection of it somewhere, locked away in his mind, where it felt so familiar, although he no longer knew why. It had simply been a name like any other, one which suited his little boy down to the ground.
Key turning in the lock, Ianto hastily shoved open the door, stepping into the unusually dark apartment. He looked round closing the door behind him before fumbling for a light switch.
“Lisa?! You there?” He called out, but there was no reply. Dropping his suitcase to the floor Ianto took a tentative step forward, the gloom uncomfortable around him. The atmosphere inside the flat was cold, almost iced as he moved towards the kitchen, still yelling out. “Come on you two!” He forced a laugh. “This really isn’t funny.”
The air around him suddenly became heavy, the stale almost putrid smell of Iron choking him as he made his way into the living room. He stopped still, eyes focusing on a form lying strewn across the floor. In the dim light he could see a pool of liquid glisten around the body, shadows thrown across it like statues. His terrified eyes focused on the lifeless face, retina’s still growing accustomed to the gloom.
“Lisa?!!” He felt himself scream fighting the gagging feeling in his throat. He rushed to her side, dampness soaking through his trousers as he cradled her limp body in his arm. He looked to his own hands, seeing the still wet blood staining his fingertips.
And then Ianto remembered.
He’d seen all this before.
Ok, so as always, I shall now beg for your comments. Ok maybe not, but writing isn’t writing without hearing what you lot think, so if you can please drop us a comment! Thank you!!
Just Being Me
xxxxxxx
Click here for the next chapter, "Is This Sex Or Only Violence?"