Fic - Remarkable (Part Two)
Title: Remarkable
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Lisa, Tosh, Gwen, Owen, Jack's fairy godfather
Rating: R
Summary: Once upon a time, in a small village in a distant province of a peaceful kingdom, there lived a boy called Ianto...
A/N: For tw-bigbang Part One || Part Three
He surfaced abruptly in a completely different pool, and swam quickly to the bank, hauling himself out of the icy water and crawling, shivering, over crisp, short grass.
In front of him was a huge palace. For a few moments he knelt there, staring, feeling utterly inadequate and ridiculous in his old, faded, worn out clothes, and then he spotted a familiar shape sitting at the top of the steps, in front of the huge main door.
He got to his feet and walked through the beautifully-kept gardens, then up the steps, still shivering.
The vixen stood up as he reached the top.
“Come inside,” she told him. “Let’s find you some dry clothes.”
Ianto nodded and followed her in, the door swinging in at the slightest nudge. She led him into a vast main hall, with corridors and stairs leading off in all directions, and then down one of those corridors, all lined with gold and jewels and fabulous art and valuables.
He followed her into a vast room, filled with clothes of every style and colour imaginable, and the vixen told him, “Take what you like. Jack’s the only other one who can wear any of this, and he won’t mind. I’ll be back shortly to show you around a little more. I’ve got to help calm Jack down a bit first.”
Ianto was shivering too hard to ask what was wrong, though something in him was disappointed to learn that Jack was a human, and she vanished away and left him to strip off as quickly as he could manage, dry off with the ridiculously thick, warm towel draped over the back of the only chair in the room, and pile on a couple of layers of delightfully warm clothes. There was a magnificent, clear mirror standing taller than him near the chair, and he had a look and decided he looked even more ridiculous in rich clothes than he had in his own, falling apart though they may have been, so he went through and found another outfit of plain black, with an undecorated white shirt, and folded it up to change into later, as soon as he’d warmed up again.
“That’s better,” the vixen said from the doorway. “Come along, I’ll show you your rooms.”
“My rooms?” Ianto repeated, but she simply led him out and further into the palace.
His rooms, it turned out, covered the same sort of ground as more than half his village, and before the vixen had finished showing him around he dropped his borrowed clothes on one of the many tables, and told her in a panic, “That’s enough. No, it’s too much. What am I meant to do with all this space? All this stuff? I can’t - I don’t deserve this!”
The vixen regarded him for a moment, then told him, “Personally, I think you’ve earned it, after everything you’ve done. But you can take it up with Jack if you want. He said he’d come by to talk to you tonight.”
Ianto shivered, and she darted around to nudge the back of his legs, pushing him towards the vast couch by the nearest roaring fire.
“Sit,” she told him. “I’ll fetch you some food.”
“Thank you,” he murmured, and she darted away.
He sat there, huddling in his borrowed clothes, wondering why he’d felt warmer outside in the wolfskin cloak, and happier with nothing, minding the sheep.
The vixen returned before long, carrying a basket by its handle in her jaws, with a bowl and a plate inside, bearing a variety of fruits and sweetmeats, which she placed carefully on the table. Then she hopped up on the couch beside him while he picked at it all, lacking appetite, and she pointed out the jug of water and crystal glasses over on one of the tables when he got thirsty.
They sat and talked for a while, and she told him about her life before the curse, until his weariness got the better of him and the warmth and food made him start yawning, and she nudged his hand and pointed him to the bedroom, then left.
He sank onto the soft bed and lay down, intending just to rest for a moment, then look around some more, but it was so astonishingly comfortable he was asleep in moments.
He woke to find the curtains around his four-poster bed drawn shut, and sat up, far too hot. He stripped off one layer of his clothes and reached for the curtains.
“You’re awake,” said a man out in his room, and he froze for a moment. “Don’t open the curtains. You can’t look at me, I’m sorry. If you lay eyes on me it’s all over.”
“Who are you?” Ianto asked. “Are you Jack?”
“That’s me,” the man told him. “Is there anything you need?”
“Just to get out of here,” Ianto muttered. “It’s too hot. I’ve got my eyes closed.”
He fumbled his way out of the curtains, eyes squeezed shut, and a hand caught his wrist.
“Here, come this way. Don’t look.”
“I won’t,” Ianto told him. “I promise.”
“And you always keep your promises,” Jack agreed. “Here, sit down.”
Ianto felt his way down to the couch, and the cushions shifted as Jack sat beside him.
“Who are you?” Ianto asked again, and Jack laughed a little.
“I told you. I’m Jack.”
“I know that’s not your real name,” Ianto told him. “And your name doesn’t answer anything either. What is this place? Why did you come to see me? Why are the others here? Why am I here?”
“You’re here because you chased the wolf,” Jack told him quietly, and Ianto sighed.
“He ran, so I followed. I’ve let him go too many times. This place. Is it yours? Toshiko spoke about you giving them shelter.”
“Yes,” Jack said. “I found them, when she cursed them and cast them out. I brought them here. It’s as safe as anywhere can be. They rest here, when they’re not out hunting a way to break the spell. Or sneaking a look at you, much good that it did them.”
“Why would they want to see me?” Ianto asked, but Jack huffed a laugh and stood up.
“You really are extraordinary. Are these the clothes you were going to wear? Don’t look.”
“Wasn’t going to,” Ianto murmured, eyes closed, smiling a little in the direction of Jack’s voice.
“All that to choose from, and you went for the plainest things you could find. You’re adorable.”
“Where did you get all this?” Ianto asked, letting that one slide.
There was a short pause, and he tried to follow Jack’s movements, listening to his breathing move away from the table, towards the gently crackling fire.
“My godfather is a powerful magician,” Jack said eventually. “He gave me this place when I was cursed and had to leave home. You should take a good look around. It’s much bigger than it appears from the outside. Treat it as your own. Anything you want, it’s yours. If you wish to leave, Toshiko will show you out. I should go, it’ll be dawn soon.”
“Wait,” Ianto said, standing up. “Come here, please. I want to thank you for all this. I don’t deserve any of it.”
Jack grabbed his hands, telling him, “I never met anyone who deserved it more.”
Ianto pulled him into a hug, buried his face in Jack’s neck, and breathed deep. Jack hugged him back, quickly, but when he tried to pull back Ianto wouldn’t let go.
“It’s you,” he said quietly, muffled in Jack’s shirt. “I’d know you anywhere. You sound different, but you smell the same, and I know you. I don’t care what your name is. You’re my wolf.”
“Yes,” Jack whispered, his arms tightening around Ianto again.
Ianto squeezed his eyes tighter shut than ever, aching to see the man his wolf had been.
“I missed you,” he mumbled. “And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never meant to drive you away.”
“I know,” Jack promised him. “I know. I have to go. I’ll come back at sunset.”
Ianto clung to him a moment longer. “I know you’re the wolf. If you’re the wolf by day and a man by night, I don’t mind. You can stay.”
“I don’t want you to see me like that anymore,” Jack told him, and pulled away. “I’ll be back at sunset. Don’t open your eyes until I’m gone.”
“I won’t,” Ianto promised, and waited until the door clicked shut again before he opened his eyes to an empty, candlelit room.
He spent the day exploring the palace, as Jack had suggested, and even found the kitchens and was able to put together an extravagant meal for himself, but as sunset approached he was back in his rooms, getting ready and waiting.
When the door opened, there was silence for a moment, then Ianto stood up and Jack said breathlessly, “You blindfolded yourself. Nobody’s ever... You don’t mind?”
“This way I won’t forget,” Ianto told him. “I won’t be tempted. Can you tell me why I can’t look at you?”
“My curse,” Jack said quietly. “The exact words were that I would be a wolf for the rest of my days, and no human eyes would ever behold me as a man again. My godfather stepped in to allow me to be human by night, as long as no-one ever saw me. He said that wouldn’t violate her terms. She was furious, of course, but it was too late by then.”
“Who is she?” Ianto asked, and Jack went silent again.
“I can’t tell you any more,” he said eventually. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Ianto told him. “I understand. So, have you been following me all this time, or should I fill you in on what happened after I left you again?”
“Tell me,” Jack told him, and took his hand and drew him back down to the couch.
They talked all night, about everything from Ianto’s journey there to their favourite food, until at last Jack said, “It’s almost dawn. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Ianto promised him, finding his arm and squeezing gently. “You don’t need to apologise. I understand.”
“You have no idea how amazing you are, do you?” Jack said quietly, and Ianto laughed a little and pulled away.
“Is there a specific word for an immeasurably small amount?”
Jack caught him, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Don’t talk like that. You are the most remarkable man I’ve ever met. The most loyal, the most kind and generous, the most determined, the most -”
Ianto turned his head at the same time as Jack, and their lips collided.
In a heartbeat, Jack’s hand was cradling the back of his head, fingers buried in his hair, and Ianto was being kissed like it was Jack’s last chance. He wondered fleetingly if it was because he hadn’t been kissed in so long, but it felt warmer and more right than he could remember. He clutched Jack to him and kissed back with everything he had, and they were both breathless when Jack finally pulled away.
“I have to go,” he gasped. “I’m sorry, I have to. I’ll come back tonight.”
Ianto pulled him back and kissed him again, and when Jack groaned and pushed him away he panted, “Stay, please. You don’t have to hide from me.”
Jack scrambled up and ran for the door, and told him quickly, “No. You have to want me, not the wolf.”
The door slammed shut before Ianto could tell him he just wanted to be with him, whatever form he was in, and he yanked his blindfold off and hurled it to the ground with a curse.
He tried to sleep a little while later, once he’d calmed down, but it was difficult to relax and drift off when all he could think about was the feel of Jack’s lips on his, the warmth of his body, that hand in his hair. He ached all over for wanting more, and kept casting glances at the little specks of sunlight at the curtain edges, willing the day to hurry by. Eventually he got back up and roamed the palace restlessly, picking at food in the kitchens, venturing out to pace through the gardens, watching the sun crawl through the sky. As it finally started to descend towards the horizon, he finally started to feel tired, and went back to his bedroom to doze for a while. Even then he was still too keyed-up to sleep, and as the orange light of sunset reached around his curtains, he got up and cleaned up and dressed in the black outfit, and bound the strip of wide black silk over his eyes again.
A few minutes later, sitting waiting on the couch, he heard the door open and stood up.
“You look... incredible,” Jack told him breathlessly, and Ianto held out a hand.
“You kept telling me to trust my heart. My heart needs you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a wolf, as long as you’re with me. Although I can’t kiss you when you’re a wolf, so even if I can’t see you when you’re a man I think I still prefer that.”
Jack took his hand, and Ianto turned towards him, reaching out. Jack stepped into the circle of his arms, and let Ianto pull him close, chest to chest and each other’s breath warm on their mouths.
“I’ve wanted to do this for years,” Jack whispered.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Ianto said quietly, and kissed him.
Jack pulled him in tight and kissed him ardently, his hands bunching in the expensive cloth on Ianto’s back. Ianto slid a hand up to hold the back of his neck, and pressed up against him to get as much from the kiss as possible.
When Jack broke away to breathe, he ducked his head to kiss Ianto’s neck, nuzzling his way inside the collar of his shirt, one hand descending to the small of Ianto’s back, pushing him closer and slipping his shirt untucked.
Ianto unbuttoned his shirt and guided Jack’s hand inside, going in for another kiss. Touching his skin seemed to drive Jack to the edge, and Ianto stumbled back a couple of steps, clutching at Jack to stay on his feet as Jack kissed him frantically. He backed into the couch and sat down with a bump, and Jack came with him, straddling his lap, one hand raking through the hair on his chest, the other at his neck, tipping his head back the better to kiss him dizzy.
For a second or two Ianto put up a half-hearted resistance, afraid of what people would think of him if they knew he’d ever participated in something like this, and then he remembered there was nobody left to tell, and he couldn’t care less what strangers thought of him, and he grabbed the front of Jack’s shirt and hauled on it, surging up to fight Jack for dominance of the kiss, tasting Jack’s mouth and making him moan. Jack broke away with a gasp, pushing back to suck on his neck, his hair brushing Ianto’s cheek, and Ianto started tugging his shirt open too, yanking it loose from his trousers then fumbling for his belt, hands brushing cloth and skin and making Jack give a strangled gasp and clutch at his shoulders.
“Do you want the bedroom?” Jack panted, grabbing Ianto’s wrist, but Ianto pulled free and slid his hands around to Jack’s back, leaning forward to kiss his chest.
“My first time was in a hayloft. I’m not fussy.”
Jack kissed him silent and pushed him down, laying him flat on the length of the couch, fighting out of his shirt as he went. Ianto sat up enough to haul his jacket and shirt off and throw them aside, and let Jack take care of their trousers, since he trailed kisses down Ianto’s chest and stomach while he did it.
He was naked but for the blindfold in moments, and Jack stretched out on top of him and kissed him again, tangling their legs together. He shifted and arched under Jack, groaning, and Jack pinned his wrists to the cushions and set about making him scream.
When they finally finished, panting for breath, Ianto slumped down against the cushions, leg wrapped around Jack’s waist, and told him, “You’re only the second person I’ve ever done that with. I hope you know that.”
“I know,” Jack murmured. “The last?”
“I hope so,” Ianto said, with a smile.
Jack kissed him, leisurely, and when he broke away went trailing kisses down Ianto’s neck.
“Now we should move to the bed,” Ianto told him quietly. “Help me through?”
Jack pushed against him in another deep kiss for a few moments, then slid to his feet and took Ianto’s hands to pull him up and guide him to the bedroom. They clambered up onto the bed together, and Ianto reached out to find Jack and pull him into a kiss, lying back invitingly and encouraging him to start again at a gentler pace.
Secure in his blindfold, with no need to keep quiet in case they were discovered, he relaxed into Jack’s touch and relished every moment.
When they were done again, Jack pressed a kiss to his lips and stretched out beside him, and they talked for a little while about when they’d met, and what they’d really been thinking. Ianto confessed he’d been worried Jack was a demon, and Jack told him how he’d only ever intended to help the poor shepherd boy get home with his sheep, until he’d discovered Ianto’s determination and honesty, and decided he had to stay and learn more. That led to Ianto rolling over on him, asking, “And what else did you learn?” which of course Jack had to answer by demonstrating. They spent the rest of the night like that, talking and laughing and making love, until Jack caught his breath and told Ianto, “Dawn’s coming. I can feel it. I have to go.”
Ianto sighed, but nodded, and Jack kissed him thoroughly once more before he slipped out of bed and went to collect his clothes. Ianto sat up, the thick covers only over his lap, making him shiver in the cool night air, and listened to him rustle about beyond the door for a few moments.
“I’ll be waiting,” he called. “Sunset.”
“I’ll be here,” Jack promised him. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad for it to be winter.”
Ianto smiled down at his blankets, agreeing, and Jack came back to his bedside for one last kiss before he had to hurry away. Ianto curled up under his covers and lay there running his fingers over the blindfold for a long time before he finally took it off and went to sleep, still smiling.
They spent the long winter in similar fashion, Ianto occupying his afternoons exploring the palace and gardens and talking to Toshiko and Gwen when they were home, and then, come sunset, retreating to his rooms to set things up for the night. Sometimes he would lay out food, and they would lie on the couch together and talk and take things slowly while Jack handfed him little pieces of everything, and sometimes he would bring in the miraculous, colourful flowers from the gardens and the air would get heavy and thick with scent until they could almost believe they were out on the hillsides where they’d first met, with summer sun warming their skin, and sometimes he would pay a visit to Jack’s extensive wardrobe, and pick something flattering and expensive for Jack to take off him. A couple of times he even waited in nothing but the blindfold.
Sometimes they spent most of the night simply talking, lying wrapped around each other and swapping stories. Jack never seemed to run out of tales from his past. Other nights they hardly had time for words, and would still be frantically kissing and touching right up until dawn, and Jack would have to tumble out of their bed and run for the door, waiting until the last second for the sake of one more kiss. As the days grew longer and their time together was diminished daily, those nights became more and more frequent, until they reached midsummer and had but a few hours, and Jack swept in that night and hauled Ianto straight to the bed to make the most of it.
As dawn approached they were still going strong, and Jack rolled them over, dumping Ianto onto the pillows, and the blindfold slipped. Ianto blinked on reflex, and caught a fleeting glimpse of Jack as he recoiled, black shadows swirling around him.
“No!” Ianto gasped, lunging after him, but then the shadows contained a wolf, and then the bed was empty.
“It was an accident!” Ianto cried, ripping off the blindfold and desperately patting the sheets where Jack had been, as if he could hope to find any trace of him. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, please come back. Please. Please, Jack. Please.”
He broke down sobbing, huddling over on his knees, and when he raised his head again the room was bathed in glorious sunlight.
Shaking all over and unable to stop it, he dragged himself out of bed, cleaned up, and opened the bottom drawer of the vast chest in his bedroom. With tears still finding their way down his cheeks, he got dressed in his old shepherd’s clothes and went out to the main steps.
Toshiko was waiting for him.
“Where’s Jack?” she asked. “He didn’t come by at dawn.”
Ianto sat down on the top step, shuddering, and stared at the beautiful, colourful gardens in front of him.
“I killed him,” he said quietly, and choked on tears again.
“What?” Toshiko said, getting up and putting a paw on his leg. “Ianto, what happened?”
“Blindfold slipped,” Ianto gulped. “I saw him. I saw him and he... He vanished. He just disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. He’s dead and it’s all my fault.”
“He’s not dead,” Toshiko told him quickly, putting both her front paws on his leg and stretching up to nudge his cheek with her nose. “Ianto, he’s alive. He can’t die. He can’t ever die, it’s part of his curse. You haven’t killed him.”
“I haven’t?” Ianto asked desperately, still shaking. “Really?”
“Really,” Toshiko promised him. “There’s still hope. There’s no power on Earth to bring the dead back, but there’s a slight chance you can still save him. He’ll be with her.”
“What do I have to do?” Ianto asked. “I’ll do anything.”
She climbed into his arms for a moment, and he stroked her fur and managed to take a few deep breaths and get himself under control.
“We need to go and see his godfather,” she told him. “He’ll know what to do.”
Ianto nodded, and she leapt out of his arms as he stood up.
“You should get changed,” she suggested. “If we’re going to try and find her I think you’ll need better clothes. I know she lives a long way away. It could take months to find her, even with Jack’s godfather helping.”
“No,” Ianto told her. “I ruined everything. Jack’ll hate me now, and rightfully so. I don’t deserve anything of his. I’ll take what’s mine and that’s all. Show me the way.”
Toshiko turned and led him down the steps and through the gardens, back to the pool by which he’d first entered. She leapt in, and Ianto took a deep breath, then followed.
On the other side, Toshiko glanced over her shoulder at him, and broke into a run. Ianto raced after her, but after only a few minutes he was starting to pant for breath, feeling the strain already. It was a horrifying feeling, to discover he was that out of shape, but he kept going and kept up with Toshiko, though admittedly she did slow down for him a lot of the time.
They ran for a week, sleeping only for the few hours of darkness every night, and on the seventh day Toshiko slowed to a trot, approaching a small forest, and told him, “Stay close. I’ve only met him once. I need to remember the way in.”
She led him into the trees, right into the centre, and they came to a wide clearing with a single vast oak in the middle. She went up to the trunk, and he hurried to keep up with her as she stood up on her hind legs and pressed a certain spot on the bark.
To Ianto’s brief astonishment, quickly supplanted by the knowledge he should have expected it and, besides that, it was irrelevant and unimportant next to the need to find Jack, the trunk swung open and revealed a flight of stairs. Toshiko led him in and down, and everything spread out as they descended into a vast workshop.
There was a tall, thin man down at the worktables, examining a series of artefacts.
Toshiko scampered down the last few steps, with what Ianto could only describe as a bark, and the man jumped and looked up.
“Oh, hello!” he said, with a broad grin. “What brings you here? And who’s this?”
“This is Ianto,” Toshiko told him, as he gathered her up into his arms and ruffled her ears. “He’s a friend. And we need your help. Jack’s in trouble.”
“That boy,” the man sighed, rolling his eyes. “When is he not in trouble? Honestly, all he has to do is find someone nice and settle down for a year, and then the curse is broken. How hard can it be to spend a year with someone and not let them see you at night?”
Toshiko glanced at Ianto, who looked down at his worn boots and said nothing.
“Anyway, beside the point,” the man said, scratching behind Toshiko’s ears. “What’s the problem?”
“Jack’s gone,” Toshiko said, sounding calm and in control despite the fact she was turning her head to get the best scratch from him. “Ianto saw him while he was human and he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Sound familiar?”
“She’s taken him back,” the man agreed. “But more to the point, what were you lot playing at? You know the conditions of his curse. What on Earth were you thinking, letting a human anywhere near him at night? That’s just asking for trouble.”
“We managed fine for six months,” Ianto told him hoarsely. “It was an accident. How do I get him back?”
Jack’s godfather pinned him with a stare, frowning.
“What makes you think you can?”
Ianto held his gaze. “It’s my fault he’s gone. I have to try.”
“Admirable,” the man told him, “but that doesn’t mean you’ll succeed.”
Ianto narrowed his eyes and stood up a little straighter. “Are you going to help, or are you just going to try and discourage me? Because it’s not going to work. I’m going after Jack whether you help me or not, and I don’t care how long it takes or what I have to do, I will find him, and I will bring him home.”
“Why?” Jack’s godfather demanded.
“Because I love him,” Ianto snapped.
“Oh, really? You love him, and you couldn’t follow one simple rule to keep him safe. Couldn’t resist taking a peek, was that it?”
“It was an accident,” Ianto snarled. “My blindfold slipped. I couldn’t help it. I hate myself for it, but I can’t change what happened. All I can do is get him back.”
“Why bother?” Jack’s godfather asked. “He’s alive. Do you really think he’ll want to see you again when it’s your fault he’s been sent back to her?”
Toshiko started to protest, and he dumped her out of his arms, stepping forward to poke Ianto in the chest.
“Come on. She won’t hurt him, she’ll just keep him. Like a pet. He’ll be fine. He doesn’t need you. He’ll never care for you. He’s suffered for over a hundred and fifty years with this and twelve times he’s come to me saying he’s found the one, he’s in love, he’s found someone he can trust, who’s good enough to break the curse. And you know what? This is the first I’ve heard of you. Whatever you feel for him, he doesn’t love you.”
“He doesn’t have to,” Ianto said flatly. “I know I’m not good enough for him. I know I’m nothing special. I’m not strong, or clever, or brave, or good with a sword, or whatever else you have to be to be a hero. It doesn’t matter. I love him. I’ll find him. And then if he wants me gone I’ll go. All that matters to me is that he’s safe, and happy.”
“You really don’t know when to give up, do you?” demanded Jack’s godfather, stepping in close to glare right into his eyes.
“No,” Ianto told him, not swaying back an inch. “I don’t.”
Jack’s godfather glowered at him for a few seconds longer, then flicked on a grin, said brightly, “Good, that’s just what he needs,” and turned away, darting off to his bookcases.
After a second, Ianto remembered to breathe, and looked down at Toshiko. She was poised on three legs, hackles raised and teeth bared, quite ready to leap, and it was only when she met Ianto’s eyes that she slowly lowered her front paw and hid her teeth again, licking her lips nervously.
“Thank you,” Ianto whispered to her, and stroked her ears for a moment.
“Right,” said Jack’s godfather, wired lenses resting on his nose, returning to his tables with a vast volume which looked, from what Ianto could see of the illustrations, like it described human anatomy gone wrong.
“This is the one you’ll need,” Jack’s godfather told him, dumping the book on the table and leafing over the next couple of pages too, making thoughtful noises. “And maybe this one too. Hmm. With this variation. A little bit of Jack’s, with limits. One in, one out, when you have a child seems fair. She lives a very long way from here. This isn’t going to be easy.”
“I’ll go to the end of the Earth if I have to,” Ianto said quietly.
“Yes,” Jack’s godfather said, still trailing a finger rapidly down the pages, “well, good thing you came to me. Earth’s round, you’d be walking forever.”
Ianto could feel the heat in his cheeks.
“Come here,” he was told, and went around the table, where Jack’s godfather triumphantly planted his finger under one line of black squiggles and said proudly, “How do you feel about that? Eh?”
Toshiko jumped up beside the book and peered at it, then sat down with a yip of surprise. They both looked at Ianto expectantly for a moment, and Jack’s godfather nodded at the page, still grinning. After a second or two more, his grin started to fade, and he said abruptly, “You can read, can’t you?”
Ianto looked down at the page of cryptic markings, and muttered, “Everyone thought I’d be minding the sheep or making bread the rest of my life. Reading was never essential for that.”
Jack’s godfather blinked at him, then looked down at the book. “Really? I thought everyone could read. Toshiko, what have you and Jack been doing with the boy? Why haven’t you taught him to read yet? Everybody should read. Best weapon in the world, books. Good for you, too. Honestly. If you’d been teaching him to read we wouldn’t be in this mess. Can’t read with a blindfold on. Can’t do all that much with a blindfold on, really. Why did you have a blindfold in the first place? If you want to talk to Jack at night, stick him behind a curtain and you’re fine. Honestly, you lot, you just make things difficult for yourselves. Good thing you’ve got me. You know why? ’Cause I’m clever. Sounds like you need a bit of that around at the moment. Toshiko, I expected more from you, at least. Anyway.”
He left the book on the table, and went dashing off grabbing bits and pieces of apparatus, and herbs and bottles of liquid from the shelves, while Ianto looked down at his feet and stayed out of his way.
“He doesn’t mean to be so rude,” Toshiko whispered, coming to the edge of the table beside him. “It’s just how he is. He can’t help it. He’s so much smarter than everyone else in some ways he can’t imagine anyone knowing better than him about anything. He just sort of ignores the things he doesn’t understand and pretends they’re ridiculous to make himself feel like the cleverest man in the world.”
“Well, he’s not going to get much competition from me, is he?” Ianto muttered.
“Reading’s just a skill,” Toshiko said quietly. “You can learn it. Not being able to do one thing doesn’t make you stupid.”
“He certainly thinks so,” Ianto pointed out, and Toshiko snorted.
“He’s been reading for hundreds of years. He forgets most people don’t get that kind of practice. And I learnt as a child. I’ve been doing it my whole life. When we get back, I’ll teach you. You won’t have any trouble. And before you say you’re stupid, I heard how you saved Owen. Not something a stupid man could have done.”
Ianto held out his arms for her, and she jumped up and pressed herself to his chest. He stroked her fur while Jack’s godfather set about concocting some potions, muttering to himself and pouring liquids of all colours into all sorts of different containers, and throwing in herbs and sparkling dusts and dozens of things Ianto couldn’t identify. Occasionally he dashed back to check the big book, and Ianto backed up out of his way and leant against a different table.
“Don’t worry,” Toshiko told him. “He’s a genius really. He’ll give you what you need.”
Ianto sighed, but stayed out of the way while Jack’s godfather worked. It took hours, and Toshiko had made him fetch a small book and sit with her on the stairs and start to learn to read by the time the potions were finally ready.
“Aha!” Jack’s godfather cried. “Perfect! Ianto, get over here and drink this.”
Ianto went over, cautiously, and Jack’s godfather handed him the first in a row of three bubbling potions.
“Drink up,” he was told, “if you really want to help Jack.”
Ianto raised the beaker to his lips, closed his eyes against the steam coming off it, and drained the whole, disgusting thing without pausing. He swallowed the last drop and slammed the beaker back onto the table, slapping a hand to his mouth and fighting not to vomit.
After a few moments he dared to open his mouth and gulp in a breath, then opened his eyes to find Jack’s godfather offering him the second potion.
“Come along. You’ve got the easiest one done, now drink this quickly or they won’t work together.”
Ianto swallowed hard and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, took the second beaker, no longer steaming, and choked it down. He squashed the urge to gag twice, and kept swallowing until it was all gone, not daring to stop in case he couldn’t bring himself to start again.
“One more. Worst one,” Jack’s godfather told him, taking the empty beaker from his hand while he stood with his head tipped back to keep the potion going down despite his throat’s protests.
Ianto squeezed his eyes shut for a second, then took the third beaker, braced himself, and started drinking.
The third potion slid down his throat like liquid silk, tasting rich and sweet and subtly shifting through a range of delightful flavours Ianto couldn’t even begin to place. He drained every drop and put the empty beaker down with a sigh.
“Why couldn’t I have had that one first?” he asked breathlessly, and Jack’s godfather gave him an oddly sad look.
“That’s the worst one. I’m sorry. I had to be sure you wouldn’t back out before you could have that.”
“You still don’t believe me,” Ianto said quietly. “I told you I’d do anything for him.”
“Yes, yes,” Jack’s godfather said, with an impatient wave of his hand, “but everybody says that. Everybody thinks they would. And they all quit when things get difficult, all of them. It takes something special to follow through on grand promises like that. I’m taking a chance on you. I might still be wrong. Even if you get to her, she can be very persuasive.”
“Who is she?” Ianto asked at last. “Why is everyone so scared of her?”
Jack’s godfather stared at him. “You don’t know? You don’t know, and I just let you drink that? Toshiko!”
“I thought Jack told him!” Toshiko cried, backing away across the floor. “Don’t look at me!”
“This idiot has no idea what he’s getting into and you brought him here?” Jack’s godfather hollered, pointing an accusing finger in Ianto’s direction. “Do you think you’re doing him a favour, is that it? Spare him the burden of knowledge? Save his poor little monkey brain the trouble?”
“Leave her alone,” Ianto snapped, shoving his hand out of the way and stepping in front of Toshiko. “Forget I asked. If I’m clearly too stupid to be told what I’m going up against then don’t bother. Just point me in the right direction and leave me to it. I’ll figure it out when I get there.”
Jack’s godfather threw his hands up and grabbed his hair and gave a cry of disbelief.
“South!” he shouted. “South, south, south, across the sea and the sand and anyone who knows anything knows that! Toshiko, what were you thinking? You can’t let him go to her!”
“Thank you,” Ianto told him flatly, and marched up the stairs without a backward glance.
He reached the surface and squinted up at the sun in the sky, then worked out south from there and started walking. A few minutes later Toshiko caught up with him, running as fast as she could and skidding to a halt beside him. When he didn’t stop walking she trotted to catch up again, and panted, “Ianto, wait. You don’t even know what the potions do.”
“I don’t care,” Ianto told her. “He doesn’t want to help me. I’ll have to manage by myself.”
“No,” Toshiko said breathlessly, “I mean, I read the book. I know what they do. Apart from the last one. That must have been a different page. But the ones he tried to show you... Ianto, just stop and listen to me, will you?”
Ianto stopped walking, with a sigh.
“Sorry,” he told her quietly. “It’s just... He was going to try and stop me. He’d’ve cast a spell on me to stop me going after Jack, and he’d’ve said it was for my own good.”
“Yes,” Toshiko told him. “He would have done. That’s why I bit him and stole the root he needed to make it work.”
Ianto blinked and stared at her. “You did what?”
“Stole the root,” she said again. “When he got the book out I read what he needed and I bit him so he couldn’t chase me and I stole the root from his stores. I dropped it in the trees somewhere back there. He’ll never find it, and they’re not in season until spring.”
Ianto got down on both knees and swept her into a hug. She squirmed a little, with a laugh, and licked his cheek.
“I love you,” he told her. “I really do. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
She grinned at him, and batted his chest with one paw.
“Don’t you want to know about the potions?”
“Tell me,” Ianto said, with a smile.
“He destabilised your natural form,” she told him briskly, “but only within the template provided by existing species.”
Ianto raised his eyebrows. “He said like Jack. I can... shapeshift?”
Toshiko grinned again. “I told you you weren’t stupid. You can turn into as many different animals as you choose, whenever you choose, for a year. One year from today it’ll finish, and whatever shape you’re in is the one you’ll stay. If she’s past sea and sand, you’ll need to move fast or you’ll never get there before the potions wear off.”
“Who is she?” Ianto asked again. “It doesn’t make any difference to me, I’m going to go anyway, but I think I should know.”
Toshiko stopped grinning. She wriggled out of his arms and down to the ground so she could pace for a moment, then sighed, and sat, and looked up at him.
“She’s Jack’s mother.”
Ianto stared at her for a few moments. “Jack’s mother. His own mother is the one who turned him into a wolf?”
Toshiko nodded. “He used to live in the distant south, in the desert. When he was young, there was a terrible attack on their city. Fighting in the streets, everything in flames, their citizens cut down where they stood.”
Ianto flinched, and she got up and came over to put a comforting paw on his knee.
“Sorry. Jack’s people won, eventually, but everywhere was overrun, even the palace. Jack’s mother took him and his younger brother and a couple of guards and they fled out into the desert. The guards had to stop and fight off a group that came after them, and the boys got separated from their mother. When the battle was at its height a sandstorm blew up. It turned the tide for Jack’s people, but at the end of everything the King was dead, and when they went to look for the boys they could only find Jack.”
“How do you know all this?” Ianto asked quietly. “He never told me.”
“His mother told me some of it when she cursed me,” Toshiko said. “She was a little bit one-sided though. Jack told me the rest to make me stop thinking he was a monster.”
“So what happened?” Ianto asked, and she sighed.
“Jack’s mother blamed him for her youngest son’s death. Gray was her favourite, and she’d just lost her husband and much of her city and her people too. She went mad with grief. Hid herself away for years and left the rebuilding to the court and Jack’s advisors.”
Ianto blinked at her again. “Jack’s... What? Jack was a prince? Jack was a king?”
“For a while,” Toshiko told him. “He says he wasn’t very good at it. He wasn’t interested in ruling. He’d got a hard lesson in the fact that life is short, and he was busy making the most of his. He left the decisions to his advisors. It worked fairly well until his mother came back out some fifteen years later and it turned out she’d been studying dark magic the whole time. She’d opened her soul to a demon. Nobody could stop her. She destroyed the city and cursed Jack. She laughed at him, said he’d never be loved by anyone, no-one would ever want him enough to last for even a year with him. So far no-one has.”
“In a hundred and fifty years?” Ianto whispered, remembering what Jack’s godfather had said. “Oh, Jack.”
“Jack’s godfather arrived in time for that,” she continued. “It’s impossible to undo someone else’s spells, but he modified her curse. He found the loophole to let Jack be a man again at nighttime.”
“He told me how that worked out,” Ianto said quietly.
“That’s all I know,” Toshiko told him.
“Why would that put me off going?” Ianto asked.
Toshiko shook her head. “Ianto, she’s insane. She has nothing to lose and hundreds of years of experience with the dark powers. She cursed her own son, her only living family. She destroyed an entire city. I love you dearly, but you need to be more cautious about her. We can’t just go in and hope for the best.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to come with me to face her,” Ianto said gently. “You’ve already done more than enough to help me.”
“Don’t be so noble,” Toshiko told him, with a snap of her jaws. “I’m coming with you.”
Ianto stroked her fur for a moment. “Thank you. I have an idea how to get south quicker, but I’ll need your help.”
Toshiko tilted her head, and he told her, “Something Jack told me. About the fastest animal in the world. Sometimes their prey gets away for a while, if it’s faster over a short distance, but it always gets caught in the end, because they just don’t stop running. I need you to teach me how.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, and then, with a swirl of golden smoke, where he’d been was a black-furred wolf.
“Suits you,” Toshiko told him, and set about teaching him to move like a real wolf.
Part Three
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Lisa, Tosh, Gwen, Owen, Jack's fairy godfather
Rating: R
Summary: Once upon a time, in a small village in a distant province of a peaceful kingdom, there lived a boy called Ianto...
A/N: For tw-bigbang Part One || Part Three
He surfaced abruptly in a completely different pool, and swam quickly to the bank, hauling himself out of the icy water and crawling, shivering, over crisp, short grass.
In front of him was a huge palace. For a few moments he knelt there, staring, feeling utterly inadequate and ridiculous in his old, faded, worn out clothes, and then he spotted a familiar shape sitting at the top of the steps, in front of the huge main door.
He got to his feet and walked through the beautifully-kept gardens, then up the steps, still shivering.
The vixen stood up as he reached the top.
“Come inside,” she told him. “Let’s find you some dry clothes.”
Ianto nodded and followed her in, the door swinging in at the slightest nudge. She led him into a vast main hall, with corridors and stairs leading off in all directions, and then down one of those corridors, all lined with gold and jewels and fabulous art and valuables.
He followed her into a vast room, filled with clothes of every style and colour imaginable, and the vixen told him, “Take what you like. Jack’s the only other one who can wear any of this, and he won’t mind. I’ll be back shortly to show you around a little more. I’ve got to help calm Jack down a bit first.”
Ianto was shivering too hard to ask what was wrong, though something in him was disappointed to learn that Jack was a human, and she vanished away and left him to strip off as quickly as he could manage, dry off with the ridiculously thick, warm towel draped over the back of the only chair in the room, and pile on a couple of layers of delightfully warm clothes. There was a magnificent, clear mirror standing taller than him near the chair, and he had a look and decided he looked even more ridiculous in rich clothes than he had in his own, falling apart though they may have been, so he went through and found another outfit of plain black, with an undecorated white shirt, and folded it up to change into later, as soon as he’d warmed up again.
“That’s better,” the vixen said from the doorway. “Come along, I’ll show you your rooms.”
“My rooms?” Ianto repeated, but she simply led him out and further into the palace.
His rooms, it turned out, covered the same sort of ground as more than half his village, and before the vixen had finished showing him around he dropped his borrowed clothes on one of the many tables, and told her in a panic, “That’s enough. No, it’s too much. What am I meant to do with all this space? All this stuff? I can’t - I don’t deserve this!”
The vixen regarded him for a moment, then told him, “Personally, I think you’ve earned it, after everything you’ve done. But you can take it up with Jack if you want. He said he’d come by to talk to you tonight.”
Ianto shivered, and she darted around to nudge the back of his legs, pushing him towards the vast couch by the nearest roaring fire.
“Sit,” she told him. “I’ll fetch you some food.”
“Thank you,” he murmured, and she darted away.
He sat there, huddling in his borrowed clothes, wondering why he’d felt warmer outside in the wolfskin cloak, and happier with nothing, minding the sheep.
The vixen returned before long, carrying a basket by its handle in her jaws, with a bowl and a plate inside, bearing a variety of fruits and sweetmeats, which she placed carefully on the table. Then she hopped up on the couch beside him while he picked at it all, lacking appetite, and she pointed out the jug of water and crystal glasses over on one of the tables when he got thirsty.
They sat and talked for a while, and she told him about her life before the curse, until his weariness got the better of him and the warmth and food made him start yawning, and she nudged his hand and pointed him to the bedroom, then left.
He sank onto the soft bed and lay down, intending just to rest for a moment, then look around some more, but it was so astonishingly comfortable he was asleep in moments.
He woke to find the curtains around his four-poster bed drawn shut, and sat up, far too hot. He stripped off one layer of his clothes and reached for the curtains.
“You’re awake,” said a man out in his room, and he froze for a moment. “Don’t open the curtains. You can’t look at me, I’m sorry. If you lay eyes on me it’s all over.”
“Who are you?” Ianto asked. “Are you Jack?”
“That’s me,” the man told him. “Is there anything you need?”
“Just to get out of here,” Ianto muttered. “It’s too hot. I’ve got my eyes closed.”
He fumbled his way out of the curtains, eyes squeezed shut, and a hand caught his wrist.
“Here, come this way. Don’t look.”
“I won’t,” Ianto told him. “I promise.”
“And you always keep your promises,” Jack agreed. “Here, sit down.”
Ianto felt his way down to the couch, and the cushions shifted as Jack sat beside him.
“Who are you?” Ianto asked again, and Jack laughed a little.
“I told you. I’m Jack.”
“I know that’s not your real name,” Ianto told him. “And your name doesn’t answer anything either. What is this place? Why did you come to see me? Why are the others here? Why am I here?”
“You’re here because you chased the wolf,” Jack told him quietly, and Ianto sighed.
“He ran, so I followed. I’ve let him go too many times. This place. Is it yours? Toshiko spoke about you giving them shelter.”
“Yes,” Jack said. “I found them, when she cursed them and cast them out. I brought them here. It’s as safe as anywhere can be. They rest here, when they’re not out hunting a way to break the spell. Or sneaking a look at you, much good that it did them.”
“Why would they want to see me?” Ianto asked, but Jack huffed a laugh and stood up.
“You really are extraordinary. Are these the clothes you were going to wear? Don’t look.”
“Wasn’t going to,” Ianto murmured, eyes closed, smiling a little in the direction of Jack’s voice.
“All that to choose from, and you went for the plainest things you could find. You’re adorable.”
“Where did you get all this?” Ianto asked, letting that one slide.
There was a short pause, and he tried to follow Jack’s movements, listening to his breathing move away from the table, towards the gently crackling fire.
“My godfather is a powerful magician,” Jack said eventually. “He gave me this place when I was cursed and had to leave home. You should take a good look around. It’s much bigger than it appears from the outside. Treat it as your own. Anything you want, it’s yours. If you wish to leave, Toshiko will show you out. I should go, it’ll be dawn soon.”
“Wait,” Ianto said, standing up. “Come here, please. I want to thank you for all this. I don’t deserve any of it.”
Jack grabbed his hands, telling him, “I never met anyone who deserved it more.”
Ianto pulled him into a hug, buried his face in Jack’s neck, and breathed deep. Jack hugged him back, quickly, but when he tried to pull back Ianto wouldn’t let go.
“It’s you,” he said quietly, muffled in Jack’s shirt. “I’d know you anywhere. You sound different, but you smell the same, and I know you. I don’t care what your name is. You’re my wolf.”
“Yes,” Jack whispered, his arms tightening around Ianto again.
Ianto squeezed his eyes tighter shut than ever, aching to see the man his wolf had been.
“I missed you,” he mumbled. “And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never meant to drive you away.”
“I know,” Jack promised him. “I know. I have to go. I’ll come back at sunset.”
Ianto clung to him a moment longer. “I know you’re the wolf. If you’re the wolf by day and a man by night, I don’t mind. You can stay.”
“I don’t want you to see me like that anymore,” Jack told him, and pulled away. “I’ll be back at sunset. Don’t open your eyes until I’m gone.”
“I won’t,” Ianto promised, and waited until the door clicked shut again before he opened his eyes to an empty, candlelit room.
He spent the day exploring the palace, as Jack had suggested, and even found the kitchens and was able to put together an extravagant meal for himself, but as sunset approached he was back in his rooms, getting ready and waiting.
When the door opened, there was silence for a moment, then Ianto stood up and Jack said breathlessly, “You blindfolded yourself. Nobody’s ever... You don’t mind?”
“This way I won’t forget,” Ianto told him. “I won’t be tempted. Can you tell me why I can’t look at you?”
“My curse,” Jack said quietly. “The exact words were that I would be a wolf for the rest of my days, and no human eyes would ever behold me as a man again. My godfather stepped in to allow me to be human by night, as long as no-one ever saw me. He said that wouldn’t violate her terms. She was furious, of course, but it was too late by then.”
“Who is she?” Ianto asked, and Jack went silent again.
“I can’t tell you any more,” he said eventually. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Ianto told him. “I understand. So, have you been following me all this time, or should I fill you in on what happened after I left you again?”
“Tell me,” Jack told him, and took his hand and drew him back down to the couch.
They talked all night, about everything from Ianto’s journey there to their favourite food, until at last Jack said, “It’s almost dawn. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Ianto promised him, finding his arm and squeezing gently. “You don’t need to apologise. I understand.”
“You have no idea how amazing you are, do you?” Jack said quietly, and Ianto laughed a little and pulled away.
“Is there a specific word for an immeasurably small amount?”
Jack caught him, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Don’t talk like that. You are the most remarkable man I’ve ever met. The most loyal, the most kind and generous, the most determined, the most -”
Ianto turned his head at the same time as Jack, and their lips collided.
In a heartbeat, Jack’s hand was cradling the back of his head, fingers buried in his hair, and Ianto was being kissed like it was Jack’s last chance. He wondered fleetingly if it was because he hadn’t been kissed in so long, but it felt warmer and more right than he could remember. He clutched Jack to him and kissed back with everything he had, and they were both breathless when Jack finally pulled away.
“I have to go,” he gasped. “I’m sorry, I have to. I’ll come back tonight.”
Ianto pulled him back and kissed him again, and when Jack groaned and pushed him away he panted, “Stay, please. You don’t have to hide from me.”
Jack scrambled up and ran for the door, and told him quickly, “No. You have to want me, not the wolf.”
The door slammed shut before Ianto could tell him he just wanted to be with him, whatever form he was in, and he yanked his blindfold off and hurled it to the ground with a curse.
He tried to sleep a little while later, once he’d calmed down, but it was difficult to relax and drift off when all he could think about was the feel of Jack’s lips on his, the warmth of his body, that hand in his hair. He ached all over for wanting more, and kept casting glances at the little specks of sunlight at the curtain edges, willing the day to hurry by. Eventually he got back up and roamed the palace restlessly, picking at food in the kitchens, venturing out to pace through the gardens, watching the sun crawl through the sky. As it finally started to descend towards the horizon, he finally started to feel tired, and went back to his bedroom to doze for a while. Even then he was still too keyed-up to sleep, and as the orange light of sunset reached around his curtains, he got up and cleaned up and dressed in the black outfit, and bound the strip of wide black silk over his eyes again.
A few minutes later, sitting waiting on the couch, he heard the door open and stood up.
“You look... incredible,” Jack told him breathlessly, and Ianto held out a hand.
“You kept telling me to trust my heart. My heart needs you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a wolf, as long as you’re with me. Although I can’t kiss you when you’re a wolf, so even if I can’t see you when you’re a man I think I still prefer that.”
Jack took his hand, and Ianto turned towards him, reaching out. Jack stepped into the circle of his arms, and let Ianto pull him close, chest to chest and each other’s breath warm on their mouths.
“I’ve wanted to do this for years,” Jack whispered.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Ianto said quietly, and kissed him.
Jack pulled him in tight and kissed him ardently, his hands bunching in the expensive cloth on Ianto’s back. Ianto slid a hand up to hold the back of his neck, and pressed up against him to get as much from the kiss as possible.
When Jack broke away to breathe, he ducked his head to kiss Ianto’s neck, nuzzling his way inside the collar of his shirt, one hand descending to the small of Ianto’s back, pushing him closer and slipping his shirt untucked.
Ianto unbuttoned his shirt and guided Jack’s hand inside, going in for another kiss. Touching his skin seemed to drive Jack to the edge, and Ianto stumbled back a couple of steps, clutching at Jack to stay on his feet as Jack kissed him frantically. He backed into the couch and sat down with a bump, and Jack came with him, straddling his lap, one hand raking through the hair on his chest, the other at his neck, tipping his head back the better to kiss him dizzy.
For a second or two Ianto put up a half-hearted resistance, afraid of what people would think of him if they knew he’d ever participated in something like this, and then he remembered there was nobody left to tell, and he couldn’t care less what strangers thought of him, and he grabbed the front of Jack’s shirt and hauled on it, surging up to fight Jack for dominance of the kiss, tasting Jack’s mouth and making him moan. Jack broke away with a gasp, pushing back to suck on his neck, his hair brushing Ianto’s cheek, and Ianto started tugging his shirt open too, yanking it loose from his trousers then fumbling for his belt, hands brushing cloth and skin and making Jack give a strangled gasp and clutch at his shoulders.
“Do you want the bedroom?” Jack panted, grabbing Ianto’s wrist, but Ianto pulled free and slid his hands around to Jack’s back, leaning forward to kiss his chest.
“My first time was in a hayloft. I’m not fussy.”
Jack kissed him silent and pushed him down, laying him flat on the length of the couch, fighting out of his shirt as he went. Ianto sat up enough to haul his jacket and shirt off and throw them aside, and let Jack take care of their trousers, since he trailed kisses down Ianto’s chest and stomach while he did it.
He was naked but for the blindfold in moments, and Jack stretched out on top of him and kissed him again, tangling their legs together. He shifted and arched under Jack, groaning, and Jack pinned his wrists to the cushions and set about making him scream.
When they finally finished, panting for breath, Ianto slumped down against the cushions, leg wrapped around Jack’s waist, and told him, “You’re only the second person I’ve ever done that with. I hope you know that.”
“I know,” Jack murmured. “The last?”
“I hope so,” Ianto said, with a smile.
Jack kissed him, leisurely, and when he broke away went trailing kisses down Ianto’s neck.
“Now we should move to the bed,” Ianto told him quietly. “Help me through?”
Jack pushed against him in another deep kiss for a few moments, then slid to his feet and took Ianto’s hands to pull him up and guide him to the bedroom. They clambered up onto the bed together, and Ianto reached out to find Jack and pull him into a kiss, lying back invitingly and encouraging him to start again at a gentler pace.
Secure in his blindfold, with no need to keep quiet in case they were discovered, he relaxed into Jack’s touch and relished every moment.
When they were done again, Jack pressed a kiss to his lips and stretched out beside him, and they talked for a little while about when they’d met, and what they’d really been thinking. Ianto confessed he’d been worried Jack was a demon, and Jack told him how he’d only ever intended to help the poor shepherd boy get home with his sheep, until he’d discovered Ianto’s determination and honesty, and decided he had to stay and learn more. That led to Ianto rolling over on him, asking, “And what else did you learn?” which of course Jack had to answer by demonstrating. They spent the rest of the night like that, talking and laughing and making love, until Jack caught his breath and told Ianto, “Dawn’s coming. I can feel it. I have to go.”
Ianto sighed, but nodded, and Jack kissed him thoroughly once more before he slipped out of bed and went to collect his clothes. Ianto sat up, the thick covers only over his lap, making him shiver in the cool night air, and listened to him rustle about beyond the door for a few moments.
“I’ll be waiting,” he called. “Sunset.”
“I’ll be here,” Jack promised him. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad for it to be winter.”
Ianto smiled down at his blankets, agreeing, and Jack came back to his bedside for one last kiss before he had to hurry away. Ianto curled up under his covers and lay there running his fingers over the blindfold for a long time before he finally took it off and went to sleep, still smiling.
They spent the long winter in similar fashion, Ianto occupying his afternoons exploring the palace and gardens and talking to Toshiko and Gwen when they were home, and then, come sunset, retreating to his rooms to set things up for the night. Sometimes he would lay out food, and they would lie on the couch together and talk and take things slowly while Jack handfed him little pieces of everything, and sometimes he would bring in the miraculous, colourful flowers from the gardens and the air would get heavy and thick with scent until they could almost believe they were out on the hillsides where they’d first met, with summer sun warming their skin, and sometimes he would pay a visit to Jack’s extensive wardrobe, and pick something flattering and expensive for Jack to take off him. A couple of times he even waited in nothing but the blindfold.
Sometimes they spent most of the night simply talking, lying wrapped around each other and swapping stories. Jack never seemed to run out of tales from his past. Other nights they hardly had time for words, and would still be frantically kissing and touching right up until dawn, and Jack would have to tumble out of their bed and run for the door, waiting until the last second for the sake of one more kiss. As the days grew longer and their time together was diminished daily, those nights became more and more frequent, until they reached midsummer and had but a few hours, and Jack swept in that night and hauled Ianto straight to the bed to make the most of it.
As dawn approached they were still going strong, and Jack rolled them over, dumping Ianto onto the pillows, and the blindfold slipped. Ianto blinked on reflex, and caught a fleeting glimpse of Jack as he recoiled, black shadows swirling around him.
“No!” Ianto gasped, lunging after him, but then the shadows contained a wolf, and then the bed was empty.
“It was an accident!” Ianto cried, ripping off the blindfold and desperately patting the sheets where Jack had been, as if he could hope to find any trace of him. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, please come back. Please. Please, Jack. Please.”
He broke down sobbing, huddling over on his knees, and when he raised his head again the room was bathed in glorious sunlight.
Shaking all over and unable to stop it, he dragged himself out of bed, cleaned up, and opened the bottom drawer of the vast chest in his bedroom. With tears still finding their way down his cheeks, he got dressed in his old shepherd’s clothes and went out to the main steps.
Toshiko was waiting for him.
“Where’s Jack?” she asked. “He didn’t come by at dawn.”
Ianto sat down on the top step, shuddering, and stared at the beautiful, colourful gardens in front of him.
“I killed him,” he said quietly, and choked on tears again.
“What?” Toshiko said, getting up and putting a paw on his leg. “Ianto, what happened?”
“Blindfold slipped,” Ianto gulped. “I saw him. I saw him and he... He vanished. He just disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. He’s dead and it’s all my fault.”
“He’s not dead,” Toshiko told him quickly, putting both her front paws on his leg and stretching up to nudge his cheek with her nose. “Ianto, he’s alive. He can’t die. He can’t ever die, it’s part of his curse. You haven’t killed him.”
“I haven’t?” Ianto asked desperately, still shaking. “Really?”
“Really,” Toshiko promised him. “There’s still hope. There’s no power on Earth to bring the dead back, but there’s a slight chance you can still save him. He’ll be with her.”
“What do I have to do?” Ianto asked. “I’ll do anything.”
She climbed into his arms for a moment, and he stroked her fur and managed to take a few deep breaths and get himself under control.
“We need to go and see his godfather,” she told him. “He’ll know what to do.”
Ianto nodded, and she leapt out of his arms as he stood up.
“You should get changed,” she suggested. “If we’re going to try and find her I think you’ll need better clothes. I know she lives a long way away. It could take months to find her, even with Jack’s godfather helping.”
“No,” Ianto told her. “I ruined everything. Jack’ll hate me now, and rightfully so. I don’t deserve anything of his. I’ll take what’s mine and that’s all. Show me the way.”
Toshiko turned and led him down the steps and through the gardens, back to the pool by which he’d first entered. She leapt in, and Ianto took a deep breath, then followed.
On the other side, Toshiko glanced over her shoulder at him, and broke into a run. Ianto raced after her, but after only a few minutes he was starting to pant for breath, feeling the strain already. It was a horrifying feeling, to discover he was that out of shape, but he kept going and kept up with Toshiko, though admittedly she did slow down for him a lot of the time.
They ran for a week, sleeping only for the few hours of darkness every night, and on the seventh day Toshiko slowed to a trot, approaching a small forest, and told him, “Stay close. I’ve only met him once. I need to remember the way in.”
She led him into the trees, right into the centre, and they came to a wide clearing with a single vast oak in the middle. She went up to the trunk, and he hurried to keep up with her as she stood up on her hind legs and pressed a certain spot on the bark.
To Ianto’s brief astonishment, quickly supplanted by the knowledge he should have expected it and, besides that, it was irrelevant and unimportant next to the need to find Jack, the trunk swung open and revealed a flight of stairs. Toshiko led him in and down, and everything spread out as they descended into a vast workshop.
There was a tall, thin man down at the worktables, examining a series of artefacts.
Toshiko scampered down the last few steps, with what Ianto could only describe as a bark, and the man jumped and looked up.
“Oh, hello!” he said, with a broad grin. “What brings you here? And who’s this?”
“This is Ianto,” Toshiko told him, as he gathered her up into his arms and ruffled her ears. “He’s a friend. And we need your help. Jack’s in trouble.”
“That boy,” the man sighed, rolling his eyes. “When is he not in trouble? Honestly, all he has to do is find someone nice and settle down for a year, and then the curse is broken. How hard can it be to spend a year with someone and not let them see you at night?”
Toshiko glanced at Ianto, who looked down at his worn boots and said nothing.
“Anyway, beside the point,” the man said, scratching behind Toshiko’s ears. “What’s the problem?”
“Jack’s gone,” Toshiko said, sounding calm and in control despite the fact she was turning her head to get the best scratch from him. “Ianto saw him while he was human and he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Sound familiar?”
“She’s taken him back,” the man agreed. “But more to the point, what were you lot playing at? You know the conditions of his curse. What on Earth were you thinking, letting a human anywhere near him at night? That’s just asking for trouble.”
“We managed fine for six months,” Ianto told him hoarsely. “It was an accident. How do I get him back?”
Jack’s godfather pinned him with a stare, frowning.
“What makes you think you can?”
Ianto held his gaze. “It’s my fault he’s gone. I have to try.”
“Admirable,” the man told him, “but that doesn’t mean you’ll succeed.”
Ianto narrowed his eyes and stood up a little straighter. “Are you going to help, or are you just going to try and discourage me? Because it’s not going to work. I’m going after Jack whether you help me or not, and I don’t care how long it takes or what I have to do, I will find him, and I will bring him home.”
“Why?” Jack’s godfather demanded.
“Because I love him,” Ianto snapped.
“Oh, really? You love him, and you couldn’t follow one simple rule to keep him safe. Couldn’t resist taking a peek, was that it?”
“It was an accident,” Ianto snarled. “My blindfold slipped. I couldn’t help it. I hate myself for it, but I can’t change what happened. All I can do is get him back.”
“Why bother?” Jack’s godfather asked. “He’s alive. Do you really think he’ll want to see you again when it’s your fault he’s been sent back to her?”
Toshiko started to protest, and he dumped her out of his arms, stepping forward to poke Ianto in the chest.
“Come on. She won’t hurt him, she’ll just keep him. Like a pet. He’ll be fine. He doesn’t need you. He’ll never care for you. He’s suffered for over a hundred and fifty years with this and twelve times he’s come to me saying he’s found the one, he’s in love, he’s found someone he can trust, who’s good enough to break the curse. And you know what? This is the first I’ve heard of you. Whatever you feel for him, he doesn’t love you.”
“He doesn’t have to,” Ianto said flatly. “I know I’m not good enough for him. I know I’m nothing special. I’m not strong, or clever, or brave, or good with a sword, or whatever else you have to be to be a hero. It doesn’t matter. I love him. I’ll find him. And then if he wants me gone I’ll go. All that matters to me is that he’s safe, and happy.”
“You really don’t know when to give up, do you?” demanded Jack’s godfather, stepping in close to glare right into his eyes.
“No,” Ianto told him, not swaying back an inch. “I don’t.”
Jack’s godfather glowered at him for a few seconds longer, then flicked on a grin, said brightly, “Good, that’s just what he needs,” and turned away, darting off to his bookcases.
After a second, Ianto remembered to breathe, and looked down at Toshiko. She was poised on three legs, hackles raised and teeth bared, quite ready to leap, and it was only when she met Ianto’s eyes that she slowly lowered her front paw and hid her teeth again, licking her lips nervously.
“Thank you,” Ianto whispered to her, and stroked her ears for a moment.
“Right,” said Jack’s godfather, wired lenses resting on his nose, returning to his tables with a vast volume which looked, from what Ianto could see of the illustrations, like it described human anatomy gone wrong.
“This is the one you’ll need,” Jack’s godfather told him, dumping the book on the table and leafing over the next couple of pages too, making thoughtful noises. “And maybe this one too. Hmm. With this variation. A little bit of Jack’s, with limits. One in, one out, when you have a child seems fair. She lives a very long way from here. This isn’t going to be easy.”
“I’ll go to the end of the Earth if I have to,” Ianto said quietly.
“Yes,” Jack’s godfather said, still trailing a finger rapidly down the pages, “well, good thing you came to me. Earth’s round, you’d be walking forever.”
Ianto could feel the heat in his cheeks.
“Come here,” he was told, and went around the table, where Jack’s godfather triumphantly planted his finger under one line of black squiggles and said proudly, “How do you feel about that? Eh?”
Toshiko jumped up beside the book and peered at it, then sat down with a yip of surprise. They both looked at Ianto expectantly for a moment, and Jack’s godfather nodded at the page, still grinning. After a second or two more, his grin started to fade, and he said abruptly, “You can read, can’t you?”
Ianto looked down at the page of cryptic markings, and muttered, “Everyone thought I’d be minding the sheep or making bread the rest of my life. Reading was never essential for that.”
Jack’s godfather blinked at him, then looked down at the book. “Really? I thought everyone could read. Toshiko, what have you and Jack been doing with the boy? Why haven’t you taught him to read yet? Everybody should read. Best weapon in the world, books. Good for you, too. Honestly. If you’d been teaching him to read we wouldn’t be in this mess. Can’t read with a blindfold on. Can’t do all that much with a blindfold on, really. Why did you have a blindfold in the first place? If you want to talk to Jack at night, stick him behind a curtain and you’re fine. Honestly, you lot, you just make things difficult for yourselves. Good thing you’ve got me. You know why? ’Cause I’m clever. Sounds like you need a bit of that around at the moment. Toshiko, I expected more from you, at least. Anyway.”
He left the book on the table, and went dashing off grabbing bits and pieces of apparatus, and herbs and bottles of liquid from the shelves, while Ianto looked down at his feet and stayed out of his way.
“He doesn’t mean to be so rude,” Toshiko whispered, coming to the edge of the table beside him. “It’s just how he is. He can’t help it. He’s so much smarter than everyone else in some ways he can’t imagine anyone knowing better than him about anything. He just sort of ignores the things he doesn’t understand and pretends they’re ridiculous to make himself feel like the cleverest man in the world.”
“Well, he’s not going to get much competition from me, is he?” Ianto muttered.
“Reading’s just a skill,” Toshiko said quietly. “You can learn it. Not being able to do one thing doesn’t make you stupid.”
“He certainly thinks so,” Ianto pointed out, and Toshiko snorted.
“He’s been reading for hundreds of years. He forgets most people don’t get that kind of practice. And I learnt as a child. I’ve been doing it my whole life. When we get back, I’ll teach you. You won’t have any trouble. And before you say you’re stupid, I heard how you saved Owen. Not something a stupid man could have done.”
Ianto held out his arms for her, and she jumped up and pressed herself to his chest. He stroked her fur while Jack’s godfather set about concocting some potions, muttering to himself and pouring liquids of all colours into all sorts of different containers, and throwing in herbs and sparkling dusts and dozens of things Ianto couldn’t identify. Occasionally he dashed back to check the big book, and Ianto backed up out of his way and leant against a different table.
“Don’t worry,” Toshiko told him. “He’s a genius really. He’ll give you what you need.”
Ianto sighed, but stayed out of the way while Jack’s godfather worked. It took hours, and Toshiko had made him fetch a small book and sit with her on the stairs and start to learn to read by the time the potions were finally ready.
“Aha!” Jack’s godfather cried. “Perfect! Ianto, get over here and drink this.”
Ianto went over, cautiously, and Jack’s godfather handed him the first in a row of three bubbling potions.
“Drink up,” he was told, “if you really want to help Jack.”
Ianto raised the beaker to his lips, closed his eyes against the steam coming off it, and drained the whole, disgusting thing without pausing. He swallowed the last drop and slammed the beaker back onto the table, slapping a hand to his mouth and fighting not to vomit.
After a few moments he dared to open his mouth and gulp in a breath, then opened his eyes to find Jack’s godfather offering him the second potion.
“Come along. You’ve got the easiest one done, now drink this quickly or they won’t work together.”
Ianto swallowed hard and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, took the second beaker, no longer steaming, and choked it down. He squashed the urge to gag twice, and kept swallowing until it was all gone, not daring to stop in case he couldn’t bring himself to start again.
“One more. Worst one,” Jack’s godfather told him, taking the empty beaker from his hand while he stood with his head tipped back to keep the potion going down despite his throat’s protests.
Ianto squeezed his eyes shut for a second, then took the third beaker, braced himself, and started drinking.
The third potion slid down his throat like liquid silk, tasting rich and sweet and subtly shifting through a range of delightful flavours Ianto couldn’t even begin to place. He drained every drop and put the empty beaker down with a sigh.
“Why couldn’t I have had that one first?” he asked breathlessly, and Jack’s godfather gave him an oddly sad look.
“That’s the worst one. I’m sorry. I had to be sure you wouldn’t back out before you could have that.”
“You still don’t believe me,” Ianto said quietly. “I told you I’d do anything for him.”
“Yes, yes,” Jack’s godfather said, with an impatient wave of his hand, “but everybody says that. Everybody thinks they would. And they all quit when things get difficult, all of them. It takes something special to follow through on grand promises like that. I’m taking a chance on you. I might still be wrong. Even if you get to her, she can be very persuasive.”
“Who is she?” Ianto asked at last. “Why is everyone so scared of her?”
Jack’s godfather stared at him. “You don’t know? You don’t know, and I just let you drink that? Toshiko!”
“I thought Jack told him!” Toshiko cried, backing away across the floor. “Don’t look at me!”
“This idiot has no idea what he’s getting into and you brought him here?” Jack’s godfather hollered, pointing an accusing finger in Ianto’s direction. “Do you think you’re doing him a favour, is that it? Spare him the burden of knowledge? Save his poor little monkey brain the trouble?”
“Leave her alone,” Ianto snapped, shoving his hand out of the way and stepping in front of Toshiko. “Forget I asked. If I’m clearly too stupid to be told what I’m going up against then don’t bother. Just point me in the right direction and leave me to it. I’ll figure it out when I get there.”
Jack’s godfather threw his hands up and grabbed his hair and gave a cry of disbelief.
“South!” he shouted. “South, south, south, across the sea and the sand and anyone who knows anything knows that! Toshiko, what were you thinking? You can’t let him go to her!”
“Thank you,” Ianto told him flatly, and marched up the stairs without a backward glance.
He reached the surface and squinted up at the sun in the sky, then worked out south from there and started walking. A few minutes later Toshiko caught up with him, running as fast as she could and skidding to a halt beside him. When he didn’t stop walking she trotted to catch up again, and panted, “Ianto, wait. You don’t even know what the potions do.”
“I don’t care,” Ianto told her. “He doesn’t want to help me. I’ll have to manage by myself.”
“No,” Toshiko said breathlessly, “I mean, I read the book. I know what they do. Apart from the last one. That must have been a different page. But the ones he tried to show you... Ianto, just stop and listen to me, will you?”
Ianto stopped walking, with a sigh.
“Sorry,” he told her quietly. “It’s just... He was going to try and stop me. He’d’ve cast a spell on me to stop me going after Jack, and he’d’ve said it was for my own good.”
“Yes,” Toshiko told him. “He would have done. That’s why I bit him and stole the root he needed to make it work.”
Ianto blinked and stared at her. “You did what?”
“Stole the root,” she said again. “When he got the book out I read what he needed and I bit him so he couldn’t chase me and I stole the root from his stores. I dropped it in the trees somewhere back there. He’ll never find it, and they’re not in season until spring.”
Ianto got down on both knees and swept her into a hug. She squirmed a little, with a laugh, and licked his cheek.
“I love you,” he told her. “I really do. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
She grinned at him, and batted his chest with one paw.
“Don’t you want to know about the potions?”
“Tell me,” Ianto said, with a smile.
“He destabilised your natural form,” she told him briskly, “but only within the template provided by existing species.”
Ianto raised his eyebrows. “He said like Jack. I can... shapeshift?”
Toshiko grinned again. “I told you you weren’t stupid. You can turn into as many different animals as you choose, whenever you choose, for a year. One year from today it’ll finish, and whatever shape you’re in is the one you’ll stay. If she’s past sea and sand, you’ll need to move fast or you’ll never get there before the potions wear off.”
“Who is she?” Ianto asked again. “It doesn’t make any difference to me, I’m going to go anyway, but I think I should know.”
Toshiko stopped grinning. She wriggled out of his arms and down to the ground so she could pace for a moment, then sighed, and sat, and looked up at him.
“She’s Jack’s mother.”
Ianto stared at her for a few moments. “Jack’s mother. His own mother is the one who turned him into a wolf?”
Toshiko nodded. “He used to live in the distant south, in the desert. When he was young, there was a terrible attack on their city. Fighting in the streets, everything in flames, their citizens cut down where they stood.”
Ianto flinched, and she got up and came over to put a comforting paw on his knee.
“Sorry. Jack’s people won, eventually, but everywhere was overrun, even the palace. Jack’s mother took him and his younger brother and a couple of guards and they fled out into the desert. The guards had to stop and fight off a group that came after them, and the boys got separated from their mother. When the battle was at its height a sandstorm blew up. It turned the tide for Jack’s people, but at the end of everything the King was dead, and when they went to look for the boys they could only find Jack.”
“How do you know all this?” Ianto asked quietly. “He never told me.”
“His mother told me some of it when she cursed me,” Toshiko said. “She was a little bit one-sided though. Jack told me the rest to make me stop thinking he was a monster.”
“So what happened?” Ianto asked, and she sighed.
“Jack’s mother blamed him for her youngest son’s death. Gray was her favourite, and she’d just lost her husband and much of her city and her people too. She went mad with grief. Hid herself away for years and left the rebuilding to the court and Jack’s advisors.”
Ianto blinked at her again. “Jack’s... What? Jack was a prince? Jack was a king?”
“For a while,” Toshiko told him. “He says he wasn’t very good at it. He wasn’t interested in ruling. He’d got a hard lesson in the fact that life is short, and he was busy making the most of his. He left the decisions to his advisors. It worked fairly well until his mother came back out some fifteen years later and it turned out she’d been studying dark magic the whole time. She’d opened her soul to a demon. Nobody could stop her. She destroyed the city and cursed Jack. She laughed at him, said he’d never be loved by anyone, no-one would ever want him enough to last for even a year with him. So far no-one has.”
“In a hundred and fifty years?” Ianto whispered, remembering what Jack’s godfather had said. “Oh, Jack.”
“Jack’s godfather arrived in time for that,” she continued. “It’s impossible to undo someone else’s spells, but he modified her curse. He found the loophole to let Jack be a man again at nighttime.”
“He told me how that worked out,” Ianto said quietly.
“That’s all I know,” Toshiko told him.
“Why would that put me off going?” Ianto asked.
Toshiko shook her head. “Ianto, she’s insane. She has nothing to lose and hundreds of years of experience with the dark powers. She cursed her own son, her only living family. She destroyed an entire city. I love you dearly, but you need to be more cautious about her. We can’t just go in and hope for the best.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to come with me to face her,” Ianto said gently. “You’ve already done more than enough to help me.”
“Don’t be so noble,” Toshiko told him, with a snap of her jaws. “I’m coming with you.”
Ianto stroked her fur for a moment. “Thank you. I have an idea how to get south quicker, but I’ll need your help.”
Toshiko tilted her head, and he told her, “Something Jack told me. About the fastest animal in the world. Sometimes their prey gets away for a while, if it’s faster over a short distance, but it always gets caught in the end, because they just don’t stop running. I need you to teach me how.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, and then, with a swirl of golden smoke, where he’d been was a black-furred wolf.
“Suits you,” Toshiko told him, and set about teaching him to move like a real wolf.
Part Three