Hurt Me With Nothing - Phantoms Never Sleep 9/?
Title: Hurt Me With Nothing - Phantoms Never Sleep 9/?
Rating: I like to swear so 15???
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Rest of the team, new group of alien nasties.
Chapters: Sequel to “Don’t You Wish You Were Dead Like Me?”
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: Right, so it’s taken longer than I had hoped, but here is more Phantoms. It’s not my favourite chapter, considering I got the old writers block….(which happens during the middle of every series) but alas I am persevering! Huge thank you to my wonderful beta 2nd_toshiko for being her usual amazing self, and to everyone stick with me with Phantoms! And yes, as ever your comments are adored beyond belief! 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
Chapter Six: Playing With Shadows
Chapter Seven: Is This Sex Or Only Violence
Chapter Eight: Don’t You Wish You Were Dead Like Me?
Dedicated to the usual suspects, all you guys who have stuck with this fic like crazy! 2nd_toshiko , naddypants and skullgirl013 to name but a few.
This fic is especially for the wonderful morgia whose birthday it was on the 8th October! This is a birthday present from me! :D C’est pour vous ma chère!
6 Hours. 360 minutes. 21600 seconds. It was all the time he had left.
He was going to die. There was nothing he could do.
He was going to lose Ianto Jones.
Jack let out a loud growl, his fist painfully meeting the side of the autopsy table in frustration. He didn’t care, ignoring the pain as it seared up through is forearm and into his shoulder. He could feel more tears stinging in his eyes, anger and hate swirling within the liquid. The anger was everywhere, pure wrath knotting and twisting in his stomach, scorching his blood as it ran through his body.
Why Him? Why did it have to be him?
The Captain inwardly kicked himself for being so selfish although the feeling didn’t subside. It got worse. Growing, building, fuelled on by every beat of his heart. He was used to death; it had become almost an everyday occurrence with Torchwood, but not like this. Not when he had to watch someone he loved lying out in front of him, their life ebbing away uncontrollably. Love. The word stuck in Jack’s throat, making him want to gag. It was all so unfair.
Leaning over the younger man, Jack pressed a gentle kiss to his still lips, letting his eyes clamp shut again as he willed them to kiss back. His heart slammed against his chest when he felt nothing. He pulled away, keeping their faces close as he cupped Ianto’s face in both his hands, staring down into his closed eyes.
“Who are you fighting for, Ianto?” The words slipped from his mouth, desperate and uneasy. He waited for the answer, stroking at the younger man’s soft skin with his thumbs. “I need to know.” He paused again, ignoring the sob that erupted past his lips in a flurry of unexpected emotion. “Do you love me?”
Shaking his head, Jack pulled away, his gaze still fixed on Ianto. It no longer mattered anymore. Whether Ianto Jones still hated him and could never forgive him or whether he loved him like Jack dared to hope that he did. It was all for nothing now.
“No.” Jack said bluntly, speaking to his own thoughts. “Not for nothing. You’re fighting to come back to us.” He forced a soft smile, feeling bitter and sickly tears run across his mouth. “You’re fighting for us………….and we owe it to you to fight for you. I owe it to you.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Phantoms had been right.
There was nothing.
Ianto pulled his knees up underneath his chin, wrapping his arms around his legs. The world was still around him, a black canvas, dark shadows creeping in towards him. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls. Nothing. No temperature to make him feel cold, no wind to chill his skin. Just him, alone in the darkness. Lost and abandoned.
Was this death?
At least he still had his own thoughts; whatever comfort they could be to him right then. He was clutching at them, blindly grasping at them in the dark, holding them to his chest in desperation. Determined not to let go, to let them wash over him and make his heart feel that little less alone.
Closing his eyes he could see Toshiko in front of him, her small pretty face crumpling into a gentle smile. He remembered that night when he’d come back from suspension and she had stayed behind, helping him do the dishes. She had been the first to rest her hand on his shoulder, somehow sharing his pain, the first to ask how he was. He loved her for that, and ever since, Toshiko Sato had been the sister that Ianto had never had.
Her image melted away from his vision, replaced by Jack. Ianto opened his eyes, but he couldn’t get the Captain out of his thoughts, couldn’t force him from his mind. He didn’t want to. He smiled, eyes scanning over the handsome features, those crystalline blue eyes that he had become so reliant on. He missed them, missed feeling the security of his arms round his shoulders, missed the feeling of just being with someone. He shook his head, shaking the non existent tears loose. Not just someone. Jack.
He was going to die. That part he could accept. Everything ending? In some ways he considered that to be a blessing.
But Jack not knowing………that was the bitterest pill to swallow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What have you got for me, Tosh?” Jack forced a smile, standing behind her at her workstation. He wiped at his wet eyes, hiding himself behind a blanket of false emotion, distancing himself from his team. Sometimes it was the only way to keep them safe. He reached out, gently gripping her shoulder, watching as she kept her back to him, hands remaining busy at the keyboard.
“Another attack.” She said quickly, bringing up some CCTV footage up onto her screen. “Charles Street again. A Mrs. Madeleine Blakely, 68.” A finger tapped quickly at a key, the footage beginning to play out in front of them. It was almost identical, the Phantoms appearing from nowhere, lifeless voices calling out to the woman as she shuffled past with her shopping bags. Jack watched, horror slowly building in his stomach as they reached out, the woman screaming as her mind was ripped from her. They both watched in silence as the Phantoms laughed, watching the woman’s empty body fall lifelessly to the fall, bags crashing around her.
“When did this happen?” Jack gulped, desperately forcing the image from his mind.
“Half an hour ago. She’s been taken to the hospital. If you want I can get Owen to go and-”
“There’s no point, Tosh.” Jack shook his head, releasing her petite shoulder from his grip. “We can’t do anything more for her here than they can do there.”
“We can monitor her.”
“And what good is that going to do?”
“We have to try, Jack!” Tosh span round to face him, her eyes locked with his as she took off her glasses. “We have a duty to protect people.”
“How?” Jack let out a long sigh, running one hand through his hair. “What can we do?”
“Stop them.” Toshiko smiled, her features softening. She reached out, resting a soft hand on his forearm. “We can still save him Jack. I haven’t given up on Ianto yet. Have you?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then let’s stop them doing this. There has to be something.” Spinning back round to face her monitor, Tosh brought up another screen showing some sort of chart, two large peaks centred in the middle of the graph. “Look.” A manicured finger reached out and tapped at the screen.
“What?”
“I’ve been monitoring Charles Street ever since the first attack for telepathic energy. This was when Madeleine was attacked.” Her finger traced across the first peak. “As soon as the Phantoms appeared this huge field of telepathic energy was generated.”
“We know that though Tosh. It’s how they attack.”
“No.” She shook her head, pointing to the second higher peak. “I cross referenced the times from the CCTV footage, this is when they attacked.”
“Then what’s the first peak?”
“From what I can tell it’s when they first appeared.”
“But why?” Jack paused, rubbing at his tired eyes. “Why would they generate such a large field for nothing?”
“I…….I don’t know.” Tosh paused, turning back to the Captain. “But it would explain how they can hear each other.”
“How do you mean?”
“In the CCTV footage we have of them, they sometimes speak at the same time. You know, all together, like they all know what they are going to say. With such a big telepathic field and the power they have they must be able to communicate like that.”
Communication. Jack’s body froze, a rush of thought rushing through him. He’d been so stupid. It all made so much sense now, the pieces of such an unsolvable puzzle gathering together before his eyes. He felt hope stab him in the gut, the knots untangling as he continued to think. An answer to the impossible…..
“Toshiko!” He laughed reaching out to gently shake her arm.
“What?”
“You’re a genius.” He paused, letting a grin strike out across his features. “That’s it. The answer we’ve been looking for.”
“You’re making no sense Jack, I don’t see how-”
“The telepathic field. We’ve been looking at the Phantoms all wrong, like they are as separate as you and me.” He squeezed her arm tighter. “But they’re not! They are linked, constantly in communication telepathically. That’s why they generate such a big field when they appear.”
“Because they need it to communicate?”
“Because they need it to live!” His eyes met hers, the smile gone in an instant, replaced by something much more serious. “Telepathic beings share such an intense bond that they need it to survive. There brains are so powerful that they have to share that power over a bond, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to contain it themselves.”
“So if we destroy the link…..”
“Then they destroy themselves.” Jack paused, adrenaline pouring through his system. “It will drive them insane.”
“And we can do that?”
“Of course. All we need is to jam their connection; we are able to do that right?”
“I didn’t mean that, Jack.” Tosh gave him a worried look, swiping back a veil of hair with a nervous hand. “I mean can we do that. Kill them?”
“What other choice do we have? They are destroying lives for fun, we can’t negotiate with them.” His eyes meeting hers Jack searched them for understanding. For any indication that she understood the decision that he had to take. “They’ve had their chance. If this is the only way to save Ianto, then I’m taking it.”
Hmmm, is this classed as a cliffie? Well who knows, but still here we are at the end of another chapter with a series that just won’t quit growing! I hope you like this chapter anyway, and as ever, I shall sit here and ask for your comments, because they are just so great! So if you can, leave us a comment! Thank you!
Just Being Me
xxxxxxxx
Click here for the next chapter, Eternus Vestrum
Rating: I like to swear so 15???
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Rest of the team, new group of alien nasties.
Chapters: Sequel to “Don’t You Wish You Were Dead Like Me?”
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: Right, so it’s taken longer than I had hoped, but here is more Phantoms. It’s not my favourite chapter, considering I got the old writers block….(which happens during the middle of every series) but alas I am persevering! Huge thank you to my wonderful beta 2nd_toshiko for being her usual amazing self, and to everyone stick with me with Phantoms! And yes, as ever your comments are adored beyond belief! 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
Chapter Six: Playing With Shadows
Chapter Seven: Is This Sex Or Only Violence
Chapter Eight: Don’t You Wish You Were Dead Like Me?
Dedicated to the usual suspects, all you guys who have stuck with this fic like crazy! 2nd_toshiko , naddypants and skullgirl013 to name but a few.
This fic is especially for the wonderful morgia whose birthday it was on the 8th October! This is a birthday present from me! :D C’est pour vous ma chère!
6 Hours. 360 minutes. 21600 seconds. It was all the time he had left.
He was going to die. There was nothing he could do.
He was going to lose Ianto Jones.
Jack let out a loud growl, his fist painfully meeting the side of the autopsy table in frustration. He didn’t care, ignoring the pain as it seared up through is forearm and into his shoulder. He could feel more tears stinging in his eyes, anger and hate swirling within the liquid. The anger was everywhere, pure wrath knotting and twisting in his stomach, scorching his blood as it ran through his body.
Why Him? Why did it have to be him?
The Captain inwardly kicked himself for being so selfish although the feeling didn’t subside. It got worse. Growing, building, fuelled on by every beat of his heart. He was used to death; it had become almost an everyday occurrence with Torchwood, but not like this. Not when he had to watch someone he loved lying out in front of him, their life ebbing away uncontrollably. Love. The word stuck in Jack’s throat, making him want to gag. It was all so unfair.
Leaning over the younger man, Jack pressed a gentle kiss to his still lips, letting his eyes clamp shut again as he willed them to kiss back. His heart slammed against his chest when he felt nothing. He pulled away, keeping their faces close as he cupped Ianto’s face in both his hands, staring down into his closed eyes.
“Who are you fighting for, Ianto?” The words slipped from his mouth, desperate and uneasy. He waited for the answer, stroking at the younger man’s soft skin with his thumbs. “I need to know.” He paused again, ignoring the sob that erupted past his lips in a flurry of unexpected emotion. “Do you love me?”
Shaking his head, Jack pulled away, his gaze still fixed on Ianto. It no longer mattered anymore. Whether Ianto Jones still hated him and could never forgive him or whether he loved him like Jack dared to hope that he did. It was all for nothing now.
“No.” Jack said bluntly, speaking to his own thoughts. “Not for nothing. You’re fighting to come back to us.” He forced a soft smile, feeling bitter and sickly tears run across his mouth. “You’re fighting for us………….and we owe it to you to fight for you. I owe it to you.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Phantoms had been right.
There was nothing.
Ianto pulled his knees up underneath his chin, wrapping his arms around his legs. The world was still around him, a black canvas, dark shadows creeping in towards him. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls. Nothing. No temperature to make him feel cold, no wind to chill his skin. Just him, alone in the darkness. Lost and abandoned.
Was this death?
At least he still had his own thoughts; whatever comfort they could be to him right then. He was clutching at them, blindly grasping at them in the dark, holding them to his chest in desperation. Determined not to let go, to let them wash over him and make his heart feel that little less alone.
Closing his eyes he could see Toshiko in front of him, her small pretty face crumpling into a gentle smile. He remembered that night when he’d come back from suspension and she had stayed behind, helping him do the dishes. She had been the first to rest her hand on his shoulder, somehow sharing his pain, the first to ask how he was. He loved her for that, and ever since, Toshiko Sato had been the sister that Ianto had never had.
Her image melted away from his vision, replaced by Jack. Ianto opened his eyes, but he couldn’t get the Captain out of his thoughts, couldn’t force him from his mind. He didn’t want to. He smiled, eyes scanning over the handsome features, those crystalline blue eyes that he had become so reliant on. He missed them, missed feeling the security of his arms round his shoulders, missed the feeling of just being with someone. He shook his head, shaking the non existent tears loose. Not just someone. Jack.
He was going to die. That part he could accept. Everything ending? In some ways he considered that to be a blessing.
But Jack not knowing………that was the bitterest pill to swallow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What have you got for me, Tosh?” Jack forced a smile, standing behind her at her workstation. He wiped at his wet eyes, hiding himself behind a blanket of false emotion, distancing himself from his team. Sometimes it was the only way to keep them safe. He reached out, gently gripping her shoulder, watching as she kept her back to him, hands remaining busy at the keyboard.
“Another attack.” She said quickly, bringing up some CCTV footage up onto her screen. “Charles Street again. A Mrs. Madeleine Blakely, 68.” A finger tapped quickly at a key, the footage beginning to play out in front of them. It was almost identical, the Phantoms appearing from nowhere, lifeless voices calling out to the woman as she shuffled past with her shopping bags. Jack watched, horror slowly building in his stomach as they reached out, the woman screaming as her mind was ripped from her. They both watched in silence as the Phantoms laughed, watching the woman’s empty body fall lifelessly to the fall, bags crashing around her.
“When did this happen?” Jack gulped, desperately forcing the image from his mind.
“Half an hour ago. She’s been taken to the hospital. If you want I can get Owen to go and-”
“There’s no point, Tosh.” Jack shook his head, releasing her petite shoulder from his grip. “We can’t do anything more for her here than they can do there.”
“We can monitor her.”
“And what good is that going to do?”
“We have to try, Jack!” Tosh span round to face him, her eyes locked with his as she took off her glasses. “We have a duty to protect people.”
“How?” Jack let out a long sigh, running one hand through his hair. “What can we do?”
“Stop them.” Toshiko smiled, her features softening. She reached out, resting a soft hand on his forearm. “We can still save him Jack. I haven’t given up on Ianto yet. Have you?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then let’s stop them doing this. There has to be something.” Spinning back round to face her monitor, Tosh brought up another screen showing some sort of chart, two large peaks centred in the middle of the graph. “Look.” A manicured finger reached out and tapped at the screen.
“What?”
“I’ve been monitoring Charles Street ever since the first attack for telepathic energy. This was when Madeleine was attacked.” Her finger traced across the first peak. “As soon as the Phantoms appeared this huge field of telepathic energy was generated.”
“We know that though Tosh. It’s how they attack.”
“No.” She shook her head, pointing to the second higher peak. “I cross referenced the times from the CCTV footage, this is when they attacked.”
“Then what’s the first peak?”
“From what I can tell it’s when they first appeared.”
“But why?” Jack paused, rubbing at his tired eyes. “Why would they generate such a large field for nothing?”
“I…….I don’t know.” Tosh paused, turning back to the Captain. “But it would explain how they can hear each other.”
“How do you mean?”
“In the CCTV footage we have of them, they sometimes speak at the same time. You know, all together, like they all know what they are going to say. With such a big telepathic field and the power they have they must be able to communicate like that.”
Communication. Jack’s body froze, a rush of thought rushing through him. He’d been so stupid. It all made so much sense now, the pieces of such an unsolvable puzzle gathering together before his eyes. He felt hope stab him in the gut, the knots untangling as he continued to think. An answer to the impossible…..
“Toshiko!” He laughed reaching out to gently shake her arm.
“What?”
“You’re a genius.” He paused, letting a grin strike out across his features. “That’s it. The answer we’ve been looking for.”
“You’re making no sense Jack, I don’t see how-”
“The telepathic field. We’ve been looking at the Phantoms all wrong, like they are as separate as you and me.” He squeezed her arm tighter. “But they’re not! They are linked, constantly in communication telepathically. That’s why they generate such a big field when they appear.”
“Because they need it to communicate?”
“Because they need it to live!” His eyes met hers, the smile gone in an instant, replaced by something much more serious. “Telepathic beings share such an intense bond that they need it to survive. There brains are so powerful that they have to share that power over a bond, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to contain it themselves.”
“So if we destroy the link…..”
“Then they destroy themselves.” Jack paused, adrenaline pouring through his system. “It will drive them insane.”
“And we can do that?”
“Of course. All we need is to jam their connection; we are able to do that right?”
“I didn’t mean that, Jack.” Tosh gave him a worried look, swiping back a veil of hair with a nervous hand. “I mean can we do that. Kill them?”
“What other choice do we have? They are destroying lives for fun, we can’t negotiate with them.” His eyes meeting hers Jack searched them for understanding. For any indication that she understood the decision that he had to take. “They’ve had their chance. If this is the only way to save Ianto, then I’m taking it.”
Hmmm, is this classed as a cliffie? Well who knows, but still here we are at the end of another chapter with a series that just won’t quit growing! I hope you like this chapter anyway, and as ever, I shall sit here and ask for your comments, because they are just so great! So if you can, leave us a comment! Thank you!
Just Being Me
xxxxxxxx
Click here for the next chapter, Eternus Vestrum