Kryptonite | Chapter 5

[mercury_pheonix]

Title: Kryptonite
Rating: M (NC-17). Strong mentions of sex, suicide, and other angst in a similar vein.
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Martha, Rhiannon, others may crop up as well.
Spoilers: Set after Exit Wounds
Summary: After 2,000 years buried beneath Cardiff, Jack's mind is crumbling. Ianto will do anything to avoid losing him again

Comments

[otrame]

The horrible truth is: Life goes on. You clean up the mess and bind up the wounds and remember that scars are the banners of healing.

Jack is having trouble latching on to his current reality. I know Ianto and Gwen will help him get there but it will not be easy.

As usual, RTD went for MASSIVE and forgot that there is always an afterward, that these are supposed to be humans and that humans HURT and they don't get over it in an hour. On the other hand, he has left it to us to deal with it. And we are much better at it (in our myriad ways) than he could ever be. His one true gift is characters that appeal, that hook us. We just have to accept that gift and then use those characters the way he doesn't seem to be able to.

[firefly124]

Excellent chapter. I think it's only natural that Jack's healing would take a sort of one-step-forward-two-steps-back sort of pattern, as it seems to be doing. And I think you're making the right choice to let it flow more organically.

Also, wow. So his short-term memory has been affected too? I'm very eager to see where you go with that.

As you asked, there's a word-choice thingy about midway through that you might want to look at. Where it says, "obviously disputing whether or not she should see Jack," I think you mean debating rather than disputing.

[mercury_pheonix]

Thank you for reviewing!

I'm not a psychologist, so I am doing my best to portray the trauma that Jack has gone through - not that any psychologist could determine how anyone coudld react after going through what Jack has gone through. I'm trying to show him as having a displaced personality; sometimes he's the vulnerable, quiet Jack we saw at the beginning, sometimes he's angry, sometimes defensive (as in not trusting Ianto and Gwen), sometimes he's childish and sometimes his mind just gives up to try and block out the pain (hence the sudden memory loss). Basically, my Jack here's mind has been completely screwed with.

Thanks for the tip - I'll get onto changing that when my LJ decides to behave.

[mscatmoon]

This has to be very scary for Ianto and Gwen. Their dashing leader, the one they always rely on, is a mess -- and in a situation where they'd be relying on him even more, if he wasn't messed up. I can definitely see where the two of them would get a lot closer now, the way you've set it up. They'll really need to rely on each other now, to help deal with the grief *and* the problem with Jack. I'm glad Ianto is realizing that, hopefully he'll be able to get over his usual reticence and accept help when he needs it.

[mercury_pheonix]

I'm getting quite annoyed with Ianto writing this; I keep screaming at the screen "for goodness sake, you don't have to be the one holding it together, break already" but he's just so damned stubborn...

I'm looking forward to developing Gwen and Ianto's friendship, at least more favourably than it was on screen. I like to think they'd become really close, even if that goes against canon.

Thank you for your review! It's nice to know people appreciate my little bubble of angst enough to leave thought-out reviews.

[helenscho]

Cookie gratefully accepted and one returned as thanks for another wonderful chapter.

I like Jack flawed - for all his bravado, he carries a lot of baggage which he hides behind with laughter and jokes. But we all know he hurts. And we all know who he would turn to when he needs a shoulder to cry on (and it's not "the heart of Torchwood" Gwen Cooper, RTD! You hear me, ya bastard!) Just had to vent there, hun. Sorry!

[mercury_pheonix]

Just remember not to be quite to venty when the nice photography man comes to make your famous...

Oh, and yay review and cookie *munches cookie*.

I love flawed Jack too, and I just felt they missed a major oppurtunity for watch Jack crumble; after what he went through in Exit Wounds, it would have been the perfect point for all that hurt and grief and pain to overtake him, and completely overwhelm him in a way he can't control. And yes, I also think that Ianto would be who he'd go to; we never see what happens backstage, but one scene that springs to mind is in Day In The Death, when Jack's firing Owen. Ianto doesn't need to be there, but he is, and something tells me its not purely business; he's there because Jack needs him to be there (check the little nod Ianto gives Jack, almost a "you can do this, don't lose it," after he takes away Owen's pass and gun.

Woah, look how long my little "thank you for being lovely" comment got. Sorry *munches cookie again*.

[helenscho]

That's OK. I had your cookie to munch on while I was reading! Hee hee :)

[mercury_pheonix]

Ignore all the spelling/grammar errors, the keyboard in this school is weird and my fingers are too big for it.

[missthingsplace]

Oh Jack ... *hugs him tight*