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antigwenallies Apr. 27th, 2014 09:14 pm)
blucougar.livejournal.com posting in antigwenallies Apr. 27th, 2014 09:14 pm)Title: Adaption
Chapter Three: Connections & Confrontations
Summary: A new rift victim proves to be a revelation, and then some, for the Torchwood team.
Author: blucougar57
Rating: M/borderling NC17
Warnings: Some swearing, not quite explicit sex
A/N: There be shower sex in this chapter. I’ve toned it down in terms of descriptiveness and certain words used in deference to the fact that there may be younger folk reading these pages. If there is any concern at all, please let me know and I will cut the scene as necessary.
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Adaption: Prologue
Adaption: Chapter One
Adaption: Chapter Two
Chapter Three: Connections & Confrontations
Ianto had almost always liked the trip out to Flat Holm. The only exceptions were when they were transporting someone who they knew without a doubt was damaged beyond recovery. Sadly, that had so far turned out to be all of the current residents at the facility. Even so, Ianto couldn’t help but take some pleasure in the sensation of the boat moving over the water. The rhythmic motion was soothing to him and he was able to let go of his worries and ignore reality just for a little while. There really was something re-invigorating about standing at the bow of a boat, with the wind in his hair and the spray of water in his face.
And no, he would never, ever be caught out emulating Leonardo di Caprio in Titanic, with his arms spread out and screaming “I’m king of the world”, like some infantile twat. Jack, on the other hand, had done it every time, until the evening they had to traverse the bay in almost cyclonic conditions. Jack had insisted on doing his di Caprio impersonation and had been swept overboard when a massive wave swamped the boat. He’d died three times before Ianto had finally managed to get him back onboard, and that had seen the end of Jack’s Titanic fantasies. As he said later, while soaking in the bathtub in Ianto’s flat, he wanted to relive the romance of the movie – not the scene where the boat sank and the hero drowned.
At that point, Ianto had pointed out that di Caprio’s character actually froze to death rather than drowned, but all that had done was set Jack to reminiscing about the time he went searching for a family of Yetis in the Himalayas. That had given Ianto a few unpleasant memories, and he’d taken great care not to go down that path again.
“Tell me we’re nearly there,” Owen grumbled as he joined Ianto at the bow of the boat. Ianto quirked a half smile at the doctor.
“Seasick again, Owen?”
“Piss off, you smug bastard,” he muttered sourly. “I don’t like boats. So sue me.”
Ianto couldn’t quite suppress a smirk but fortunately Owen had his eyes closed and didn’t notice.
“Look on the bright side. At least you’re not drunk this time.”
“Yeah, because it’s so much better to be sober and aware of the way the fucking boat is threatening to capsize.”
“The water is about as calm as it’s ever going to be,” Ianto told him in amusement. “We are not going to capsize. Just relax, and you might start to enjoy it.”
“Keep telling yourself that, teaboy.”
Again, Ianto rolled his eyes.
“How is the boy? Still safely under?”
“I doubt he’ll wake up within the next twenty-four hours,” Owen mused. “Between the combination of sedatives and painkillers I used, and the trauma his body has sustained, he’ll be out for the count for a while. I’ll be glad when he wakes up, though. Then we can get a name, and stop referring to him as ‘the boy’.”
“What else are we going to call him?” Ianto said with a shrug. “It’s just trite to call him something like John Smith, or John Doe.”
“I know, I was just saying. Oh, thank fuck. There’s the island.”
Sure enough, Flat Holm Island loomed up out of the distance, getting ever larger as the boat approached. As they neared the jetty, they could see Helen waiting there with a couple of orderlies from the facility. She greeted them with a weary but warm smile as they stepped off onto the solid ground of the pier.
“Evening, boys. How are you both?”
“I’m fine,” Ianto murmured as he hugged her briefly. “Owen? Not so much.”
Helen smiled sympathetically at the doctor.
“Seasick again, Doctor Harper?”
He grunted, placated slightly by her use of his professional title.
“It’ll pass.”
“Well, make sure you stop by the infirmary, and get something for the trip back,” she told him. “Now, where is he?”
They didn’t need to ask who Helen was referring to, and the orderlies were soon carrying the boy up the gentle slope to the facility’s entrance. Helen, Ianto and Owen followed, with Owen giving Helen a run-down on the boy’s physical condition.
“I don’t think he’ll be awake before midday tomorrow,” Owen told her. “Because of the physical trauma, I ended up having to use a stronger combination of sedatives and painkillers. Between that and the trauma his body has experienced, it should keep him out for a while.”
“He seems unharmed on the surface,” Helen mused, peering down at the boy as he was lifted with care onto a freshly-made bed. “I know better than to hope that it’ll be the same psychologically and emotionally, though. I don’t suppose you have a name for him?”
“Not yet,” Ianto admitted. “He wasn’t exactly capable of speech when we found him. I don’t think he was lacking his faculties, though. When Jack asked him a few questions, he was able to answer by blinking. I think he was simply in too much pain to be able to speak.”
“Well, that’s something, at least,” Helen murmured. “All right, boys. There’s nothing more any of us can do now until he wakes up and we can see what sort of condition he’s in, both physically and mentally, so come to the dining room, and you can have a light meal before heading back.”
“Jack will be expecting us,” Ianto started to argue, but Helen wasn’t hearing it.
“Nonsense. He’ll just have to wait. Quite honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t come with you.”
“He was going to,” Owen said. “He ended up staying behind so that Gwen wouldn’t have a reason to argue about being left behind.”
“Ah,” Helen said. “She was making a fuss again, was she?”
Ianto and Owen exchanged knowing looks. While Helen had a heart of gold and never seemed to think badly of anyone, Gwen had certainly challenged that good nature almost beyond its point of endurance. Ever since the debacle with Jonah and his mother, Helen had been less than enamoured with the former PC, and had taken particular umbrage when Gwen had criticised the garden that Ianto had set up.
“That silly little girl doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does,” Helen had told Jack forcefully one day after a visit to the Island by the entire Torchwood team had left her good will hanging on by a proverbial thread. “She hurt poor Jonah badly enough with her good intentions and thoughtless behaviour. I dread to think the harm she could do if she really put her mind to it.”
Jack had agreed and while he couldn’t keep Gwen away from Flat Holm entirely, he was at least able to ensure she never went out there alone. Gwen, needless to say, was less than impressed that Jack insisted she always travel with someone, and accepted with a healthy dose of scepticism his reasoning that there was safety in numbers should anything go wrong. He used his own ‘man overboard’ moment as an example, only to be told by her that she had no intention of acting like a loon and re-enacting a silly movie scene.
Nevertheless, Jack had stuck by his rule, which he’d applied to all of them to avoid it looking as though he was specifically targeting Gwen. None of them were to ever travel to Flat Holm on their own. They were to always go in pairs, at the very least.
“She didn’t think he should be brought out to the Island,” Owen admitted as they sat down to bowls of hot Cawl and fresh, thick chunks of buttered bread. “Because he didn’t look physically damaged, she assumed he wasn’t.”
“Silly assumption,” Helen retorted. “Hasn’t she been with you long enough to understand that the worst damage isn’t always visible to the naked eye?”
Ianto thought briefly back to when Jack had returned from his time away, and of the magnitude of emotional pain he’d brought back with him. Gwen hadn’t seen it, blinded as she was by her own agenda, but Ianto had. From that first moment in the Hub, when Jack had been uncharacteristically nervous around them all, right up until after the incident with Gray, Ianto had seen an entirely new side to Jack that had never been on display before. He’d been vulnerable and instead of pushing Ianto away, it had endeared Jack to him all the more.
“She still likes to believe she can fix everyone and everything,” Ianto mused finally. “She still believes in ‘happily ever after’ at the end of the story. Jack doesn’t especially want to discourage her and I can’t really say that I blame him. Gwen can be frustrating, but she does have a fresh perspective that the rest of us were somewhat lacking.”
“Speak for yourself,” Owen retorted. Ianto chose to ignore him.
“It’s one thing to have perspective,” Helen lectured. “It’s another to be bull-headed and refuse to learn from your mistakes. She made a terrible mistake with Jonah, but she hasn’t learned from it. Has she?”
“No,” Owen confirmed before Ianto had a chance to say anything. “She hasn’t.”
Helen looked disappointed, rather than satisfied.
“No, I didn’t think so.”
* * * * *
“Rough trip?” Jack asked as Ianto let himself into his flat. He looked up at his lover and had to smile. Jack had prepared a light supper with a newly opened bottle of red.
“Not as bad as it could have been,” Ianto said as he allowed Jack to help him out of his coat. “I’d be willing to wager that you had it worse with Gwen back at the Hub.”
“She did her fair share of grumbling about being left behind,” Jack admitted. “She couldn’t complain too heavily, though, since I stayed behind. Really, it didn’t need all of us to take him out there. Just Owen to monitor him, and you to give Helen the basics. I assume she fed you both while you were there?”
“She did,” Ianto confirmed, “but I’m feeling peckish again. Is that rarebit?”
Jack smiled, pleased that the result of his cooking was recognisable.
“It is. Up for trying some?”
Ianto chuckled as he sat at the table.
“Daft sod. You make it sound like I’d be risking life and limb. I happen to know for a fact that you’re quite the chef when you want to be.”
“Only for you,” Jack purred seductively, but Ianto shook his head.
“Sorry, cariad. I’m absolutely knackered. Sex is going to have to wait until morning.”
For an instant, Jack looked disappointed. Then, he brightened up.
“Shower sex?” he asked hopefully. Ianto chuckled in response.
“I think I can accommodate that, provided you let me get a good night’s sleep. I’m sorry, Jack, but I really am exhausted.”
“I know,” Jack assured him with a gentle smile. “Travelling to and from Flat Holm is always exhausting, even if it’s just a simple trip there and back. You and Owen probably should have stayed the night, and come back tomorrow.”
“No,” Ianto said decisively. “No, I didn’t want to do that. I needed to come home tonight, and spend the night in my own bed, with you. If I’d stayed there, I would have been awake all night worrying about that lad.”
Jack reached across the table for Ianto’s hand, which the younger man offered unreservedly.
“No worrying tonight, Ianto Jones. I guarantee it.”
* * * * *
Jack was true to his word. There was no innuendo, nothing at all sexual when they went to bed and Ianto slipped gratefully into a deep sleep, comfortably wrapped up in his lover’s arms. When he woke the next morning, the light of dawn was just breaking through the window curtains and he was still ensconced in Jack’s embrace.
Shifting a little, he managed to twist enough to see Jack was awake and watching him with a small, content smile.
“Did you sleep at all?” Ianto wondered. “Or did you stay awake all night watching me?”
“Watching you,” Jack said with the beginnings of a lecherous grin, “and imagining all the things I plan on doing to you now that you’re awake.”
“Not before I’ve used the loo, you won’t,” Ianto teased. “And I suggest you let go now, before we both end up wet and uncomfortable.”
Still grinning, Jack released Ianto and watched him disappear into the ensuite. He waited until he’d heard the toilet flush and the tap run before rolling out of the bed and going to join him in the bathroom for the afore promised shower sex.
* * * * *
Ianto had the shower running hot, a knowing grin on his face and no clothes on his body by the time Jack had shed his own clothes and joined him in the bathroom.
“You took your time,” Ianto remarked tartly, only to yelp when Jack slapped him on his bare arse. “Oi!”
Jack smirked, and backed Ianto into the shower.
“Enough talking. I want my shower sex.”
“Oh, well, should I just leave you to it, then?” Ianto asked all-too-innocently, with an arch of his eyebrow. He made to move past Jack, only to find himself all but thrown against the wall of the shower.
“Don’t even think of walking out on me, gorgeous,” Jack half purred, half growled. “I was very good all night and let you sleep. Now it’s my turn to get what I want.”
The innocent look slid off Ianto’s face and the seductive expression that filled his handsome features set a proverbial fire both in Jack’s heart as well as elsewhere in his body. He draped his arms over Jack’s shoulders, and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched, and they were almost nose to nose.
“Yes, you have been very good, cariad, and it’s time to be rewarded for that. I’m all yours.”
There was more to Ianto’s words than he was saying on the surface, and they both knew it. It was a step they’d never taken, to actually speak their feelings for each other out loud. Whether it was an unspoken agreement, or whether there was a quiet fear that each of them held deep down that to say it out loud would ruin it, neither one had ever stated out loud that they loved the other.
And yet, it didn’t seem to be necessary, either. It wasn’t simply that they were manly men who didn’t say those things aloud. Ianto imagined that Jack might have said those words once upon a time, perhaps to Estelle or maybe even to the Doctor and Rose. He didn’t begrudge Jack that love, or being able to acknowledge it. Of course, he sometimes envied those past loves for it, but that was fleeting.
The fact of the matter was that he knew Jack loved him. He knew this without any doubt, despite the doubts that some people around them occasionally tried to plant in his mind – be it intentional or otherwise. To stand there now, even in a running shower with the love-making that was about to happen, if the look on Jack’s face was anything to go by, saying he was all Jack’s was as close as he could bring himself to saying ‘I love you’.
Judging by the way the lecherous desperation on Jack’s face melted into something deeper and purer, Ianto knew that Jack understood what he wasn’t saying, and returned the sentiment tenfold.
Ianto closed the small space between them and closed his lips over Jack’s. The kiss was long and languorous, and everything that they both needed it to be. It slowed things down sufficiently that neither one felt like utterly devouring the other any longer. The urgency was gone, but not the need – that burned brighter than ever.
“How do you want this?” Jack asked, his voice muffled slightly as he buried his face against Ianto’s shoulder, clinging to him and holding their bodies as close together as he could manage, until it was becoming hard to tell where one man ended and the other began. “Hard and fast? Slow and gentle?”
Ianto shuddered in Jack’s arms. He wanted it to last, but was in the mood for something other than Jack’s gentle treatment. Something told him they would be in for a particularly long day – apparently Gwen had been more than a little pissed that Jack had left early the previous evening, leaving the Hub in her and Tosh’s hands until it was time to go. Ianto had been highly amused to hear that, and he could just picture the expression on Gwen’s face when it sank in that she was not going to be allowed to leave early, as she so often did.
He felt no guilt, though, and knew that Jack didn’t either. If anyone was entitled to an early end to the working day, it was Jack.
“Slow,” Ianto finally answered, knowing that Jack wouldn’t wait forever for an answer. “But hard. I want it hard... and slow.”
“Mm, a challenge,” Jack murmured as he manoeuvred Ianto around to face the wall of the shower. “I like it. All right, Mr Jones. Hard and slow it is. I hope you’re ready to walk bow-legged for the rest of the day, because I am about to fuck you so hard and so long that you won’t be able to walk straight.”
Ianto damn near came right then and there, and he grunted from the effort it took not to.
“Do it,” he gasped, pushing his arse back against Jack. He felt more than heard Jack’s throaty chuckle.
“Don’t worry, gorgeous. I’ve got you.”
Ianto grunted again as Jack began to prepare him. Now that they’d started, he found himself eager to move things along, and Jack’s adherence to his earlier request for slow was already driving him wild.
“Jack, please...”
Jack nipped lightly at Ianto’s earlobe.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured again. “Trust me, this will be worth the wait.”
Ianto let his breath out in a rush. He trusted Jack – of course he trusted him. How could he not? With that thought now in the forefront of his mind, he surrendered himself wholly to his lover’s ministrations.
* * * * *
Jack felt Ianto give himself over finally, and felt a surge of love and passion for his young lover. It took so much trust to place yourself in someone else’s care like this, and Ianto did it again and again with him. Part of him desperately wanted to tell Ianto how much he loved him, but something always held him back from doing so. Whatever the reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say the actual words.
Instead, he told Ianto how much he loved him through his actions – through these actions. The act of sex, which he had learnt while growing up in a remote, isolated colony was something to savour and use as a means of pure pleasure in an existence that was mundane at best, had now become an act of pure love, to be cherished above all else.
Once upon a time, Jack had never imagined in a million years that he would ever consider monogamy. Once upon a time, even the concept of monogamy was as foreign to him as being stuck on one planet with no chance to escape. His conversion to monogamy had not started with Ianto Jones. In truth, it had started when he’d first been stranded on Earth in the late 1800s. Then, he hadn’t known about his immortality and had thought he was stuck on the slow path with no chance of escape. Then, he had actually gone through the whole courting and marriage thing.
Laura, her name had been. She’d been absolutely beautiful, and Jack believed that he had loved her. She knew, though, that his heart had not really been in their union. Ironically, for someone from the future who was used to the freedom to do what he wanted and when, he was too set in his ways to be able to truly adjust to a life of monogamy with one partner.
He’d been given the ultimate out from the marriage when Laura had contracted tuberculosis and eventually died as a result of a lack of medicine that was still decades away from being developed.
Many years later, he’d fallen in love again with Estelle and again, he had baulked at confessing his love for her. He was sure she had known, but by then he had lived on twentieth century Earth for long enough that he was mellowing to the concept of just being with one person. However, at that stage he didn’t know anything about what had happened to him. He didn’t know how long it would last and even if there was a finite point to his life, he couldn’t cope with the idea of committing himself to someone only to watch them grow old and eventually die. He’d watched Laura die before her time and the thought of losing anyone else was simply too painful.
And so, he’d walked away from Estelle. He couldn’t say whether it was the right thing to do for either one of them. He told himself that it was. Even now, long after her tragic death, he still told himself that leaving her had been the best thing for the both of them.
Then there had been Lucia.
By the time Lucia came along, Jack had adapted to life on twentieth century Earth as much as he had ever thought was possible. He had married her willingly, despite it having the feel of a shotgun wedding. After all, Lucia had been pregnant with Melissa by then. Her turning against him, and subsequently turning Melissa against him, had embittered him greatly and set him back considerably in terms of being willing to commit to a relationship. They only caused grief, in one way or another, he decided. It wasn’t worth the pain. Take what pleasure when he could, and live for the moment.
Then along came Ianto Jones.
Jack groaned long and loud as he entered Ianto, the sensations just about doing his head in. Ianto had requested slow, and Jack was determined to give him what he wanted, but damn it all, it was hard as hell to control himself.
When he had pushed in as far as he could, Jack managed to bring himself to a halt, gasping for air as he fought the desire to move. Pinned to the wall by his body, Ianto’s hands were locked flat against the shower wall and the muscles in his shoulders were pronounced and rigid.
Slowly, Jack massaged them gently, encouraging Ianto to relax as much as possible. He knew his lover was in pain from the initial entry. He’d not prepared him enough, and felt a stab of guilt for that, even though he knew Ianto would not hold it against him later on. The least he could do now for the younger man, though, was to give him a chance to adjust to the intrusion.
Seconds passed that felt more like minutes, agonisingly drawn out. Then, Ianto moved ever so slightly, and Jack knew it was time to move. He did just that, forcing a gasp and grunt from Ianto.
“Okay?” he asked hoarsely. He may have once been accused of having atrocious manners in bed, but he had never been accused of being an inconsiderate lover.
Ianto reached back for him, caught him around the head and pulled his head forward for a rather sloppy kiss. It was awkward, messy, and oh so perfect.
“I’m okay.”
They were the only two words he spoke, and it was more than enough. Jack abandoned all caution. The build-up was amazing and by the time they were both done, Jack was sure all of Ianto’s neighbours will have heard them. Personally, he didn’t care. He’d always had an exhibitionistic streak a mile wide, but Ianto was a much more private person. With that in mind, he washed them both off in silence before manoeuvring them out of the shower to dry off. Any concerns he’d had were erased when Ianto looked at him with an appreciative smile.
“You are amazing.”
Three little words – they might not have been the ones that they were both so reluctant to say, but they contained all the meaning and emotion regardless. Jack kissed him long and gently. It was not a kiss to reignite passions, but rather to say that which Ianto assumed would probably never be said aloud.
I love you.
It was enough, at least for now.
* * * * *
They arrived at the Hub to a very unsurprising sight. Tosh, as usual, was already at her desk. Gwen and Owen, as usual, were not.
“Please tell me they’re not shagging again,” Jack muttered to Ianto in a low voice to avoid having Tosh overhear. Ianto rolled his eyes in fond exasperation.
“Give them both a bit of credit. Gwen might have wandering eyes, but she is married. As for Owen, have you not seen the attention he’s been paying lately to Tosh?”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, much to Ianto’s amusement.
“Tosh? Really? Well... He’d better not hurt her. I’d hate to have to kill him.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Not after the effort it took to turn him back into a living human after being a zombie.”
Jack shook his head incredulously.
“Only in Torchwood could a line like that not sound completely insane.”
Ianto smirked, unable to help himself.
“You should know. How long have you been with the organisation?”
Again, Jack shook his head.
“I decline to answer that because you’ll just call me an old man.”
“Would I do that?”
“You would, you cheeky blighter.”
“Ugh. Don’t use British terminology Jack. It doesn’t suit your accent.”
“Are you being insulting?” Jack asked, poking lightly at him, “because you never complain when I talk about shagging.”
“That’s because when you use that god-awful phrase, it’s in front of others and I would not dream of undermining you in front of anyone else.”
The amusement on Jack’s face faded, and he drew Ianto close for a tender kiss.
“Thank you.”
It was for everything, and nothing at all. Ianto smiled and gladly reciprocated.
“Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?”
The two men paused, foreheads resting lightly against each other as they sought to regain their composure. Then, as they drew apart, Jack shot Gwen a look that was full of exasperation.
“As a matter of fact, Gwen, you are.”
She flushed red at the blunt reply, and Ianto gave a silent cheer – not necessarily at her embarrassment, but at Jack’s decision not to sugar-coat the truth. She was interrupting, and she damn well knew she was interrupting. She knew, they knew, and she knew that they knew. That she clearly expected Jack to brush over it suggested strongly to Ianto that she did not see their relationship as something serious that warranted being afforded a modicum of privacy. Or worse, that she continued to harbour feelings for Jack and was unconsciously (or even consciously) still trying to interfere and come between them.
“Sorry,” she stammered, and Ianto took some small pleasure in seeing her squirm. Jack let his breath out in an annoyed huff, and Ianto could understand why. If there was one thing that really got under his skin, it was people who incessantly apologised but never learnt from their mistakes, or didn’t mean it in the first place.
“Stop apologising. Just tell us what you want.”
And that was another reason why Ianto loved Jack. He didn’t forget to include him. Just saying ‘us’ instead of ‘me’ spoke volumes. It was a world away from the days before (and immediately after) Lisa’s psychotic rampage through the Hub when he’d just been the teaboy, and had been utterly invisible to everyone, except when they wanted coffee, or needed their shit cleaned up.
Gwen’s eyes flashed between the two of them and, very briefly, to their joined hands, and Ianto imagined he spotted a hint of envy there. Part of him wished she’d get over it, but a slightly bigger part of him couldn’t help but feel smug, especially when he felt Jack tugging him marginally closer. Her eyes narrowed but to her credit, she didn’t dare to make a comment.
“I, uh... I was hoping to talk to you about the boy.”
And right there, Ianto could feel Jack shutting down emotionally, without having to even spare him a glance. It never ceased to amaze him how the person who Jack had hoped would give Torchwood back its heart was now the same person who challenged him in the worst ways and made him angry and defensive over things that he had no reason to feel defensive over. For that reason alone, Ianto sometimes hated Gwen.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Jack said flatly. “Until there’s been an assessment done, there is nothing to talk about.”
Anyone else would have seen the warning signs. Himself, Tosh or even Owen would have backed off and walked away. Ianto didn’t know whether Gwen was blind, or just blindly stubborn. Either way, it always resulted in grief.
“I think there is, Jack. I’ve not been able to identify him. There is no DNA match in any system we have access to.”
“Which would suggest that he’s from a parallel world,” Jack mused. “What’s your point, Gwen? We knew that was a possibility.”
“But what about his family, Jack? They have a right to know what’s happened to him!”
Jack stared at her wordlessly for so long that even Ianto began to feel uncomfortable. When the Captain finally spoke again, there was an edge to his tone that was unmistakable – even to Gwen.
“Listen to me, Gwen. If... And I do say if, because it’s only one of many possibilities. If he is from a parallel world, I guarantee that there is no way that you or anyone else will be able to let his parents know what happened to him. If he’s from this reality, but a different time or place, and he’s not suffering any lasting physical or psychological damage, then we may be able to reunite him with his family, with the Doctor’s help. There are a hell of a lot of ‘ifs’, though, and I will not make any promises to anyone until we know the full and complete story. So I don’t know what you think you’re going to do, but it isn’t going to happen. I will not let you go charging in like the proverbial bull in a china shop. I will not allow another situation to happen like the one with Jonah Bevin and his mother.”
At that, Gwen flinched as though he’d physically struck her, and she glared at him with an accusing look.
“You’re just not ever going to let that go, are you?”
“No,” Jack snapped, startling her all over again with his apparent willingness to throw her attacks back in her face. “I’m not, and do you know why? Because the moment I do, you’ll just go and do the same thing all over again. Maybe the situation will be slightly different. I don’t know. All I know is that you will wreak havoc out of some deluded sense of self-righteousness and someone will suffer because of it. I won’t let it go because I don’t want history repeating itself.”
“Damn it, Jack, I’m just trying to...”
“Stop!” Jack exploded, and this time Gwen took an involuntary step back in shock at his now visible anger. “Just stop! I let you challenge me on nearly everything, and I’ve given you a free pass over things that the others would never be given leeway over. Not over this, though, Gwen. Not over Flat Holm. You may not like it and you may never agree with me that it’s necessary, but you will accept it.”
Gwen’s eyes narrowed just fractionally and her nostrils flared and for a moment, Ianto was transported back to night some months ago when she’d interrupted them in the hot house. That had been the night that Ianto had given Gwen the means to find Flat Holm, incurring Jack’s real anger for the first time since they’d banded together against him and inadvertently released Abaddon from his subterranean prison.
He vividly remembered the confrontation between Jack and Gwen as the three of them stood outside the hothouse. He and Jack had been barely clothed, having been interrupted in the middle of some pretty serious foreplay, while Gwen had stood there defiantly with a look on her face that positively screamed ‘this is what I’m doing, and you can’t stop me’. She wore the same look now, but this time Ianto knew Jack had no intention of letting her get the upper hand.
“And what if I can’t?” she challenged. Jack didn’t hesitate.
“Then I’ll suspend you and retcon the last two days from your memory.”
The look of shock on her face was priceless, and Ianto wished he were in a position to be able to truly revel in it. As it was, he struggled to keep a smirk from forming on his face.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she growled. Suddenly, the tables appeared to have turned, and it was Jack’s turn to give her a look that fairly shouted, ‘I can, and you can’t do a damn thing to stop me’.
“Do you really want to call my bluff on this, Gwen?”
“You bastard,” she swore.
“Language,” he chided with just the barest hint of condescension in his tone. “Give it up, Gwen. Try and accept for once that you don’t know best for everything.”
“I’m not wrong, Jack,” she argued, but all of a sudden, her resolve seemed to be wavering.
“Your intentions are good and your heart is in the right place, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still being wrong-headed about this,” he said pointedly. “Back off, Gwen. Please. You may not think so, but I do know what I’m doing.”
She looked for all the world like she wanted to argue further. Finally, though, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the office.
“That went well,” Jack retorted sarcastically. Ianto squeezed his hand gently, trying to reassure Jack that he wasn’t alone.
“You handled that well.”
“Did I?” Jack asked tiredly. His previous good mood appeared to have evaporated, and for that Ianto felt a fresh surge of anger towards Gwen. She had no idea of the negative way she affected people. The woman existed inside her own bubble of perceived reality, and no one else registered on her radar.
“Yes, you did,” Ianto insisted. “And if you’re thinking about your threat to retcon her, you should know that I was thinking a lot worse than retcon and suspension.”
Jack glanced askance at Ianto, taking in his deceptively passive features before smiling ruefully.
“My gorgeous Welshman. What would I do without you?”
“Drown in paperwork,” Ianto deadpanned, and Jack laughed.
“All right, I can take a hint. I have paperwork to do. How about I get stuck into it, and you make me a coffee to keep me going?”
“I might consider that a fair and reasonable deal,” Ianto conceded, “provided you get started straight away.”
Showing he was serious, Jack reluctantly detached himself from Ianto, but not before claiming a last, lingering kiss.
“Thank you,” Jack murmured again as they parted. This time, Ianto didn’t need to ask what he meant.
“You’re welcome.”
* * * * *
to be continued....
Chapter Three: Connections & Confrontations
Summary: A new rift victim proves to be a revelation, and then some, for the Torchwood team.
Author: blucougar57
Rating: M/borderling NC17
Warnings: Some swearing, not quite explicit sex
A/N: There be shower sex in this chapter. I’ve toned it down in terms of descriptiveness and certain words used in deference to the fact that there may be younger folk reading these pages. If there is any concern at all, please let me know and I will cut the scene as necessary.
Adaption: Prologue
Adaption: Chapter One
Adaption: Chapter Two
Chapter Three: Connections & Confrontations
Ianto had almost always liked the trip out to Flat Holm. The only exceptions were when they were transporting someone who they knew without a doubt was damaged beyond recovery. Sadly, that had so far turned out to be all of the current residents at the facility. Even so, Ianto couldn’t help but take some pleasure in the sensation of the boat moving over the water. The rhythmic motion was soothing to him and he was able to let go of his worries and ignore reality just for a little while. There really was something re-invigorating about standing at the bow of a boat, with the wind in his hair and the spray of water in his face.
And no, he would never, ever be caught out emulating Leonardo di Caprio in Titanic, with his arms spread out and screaming “I’m king of the world”, like some infantile twat. Jack, on the other hand, had done it every time, until the evening they had to traverse the bay in almost cyclonic conditions. Jack had insisted on doing his di Caprio impersonation and had been swept overboard when a massive wave swamped the boat. He’d died three times before Ianto had finally managed to get him back onboard, and that had seen the end of Jack’s Titanic fantasies. As he said later, while soaking in the bathtub in Ianto’s flat, he wanted to relive the romance of the movie – not the scene where the boat sank and the hero drowned.
At that point, Ianto had pointed out that di Caprio’s character actually froze to death rather than drowned, but all that had done was set Jack to reminiscing about the time he went searching for a family of Yetis in the Himalayas. That had given Ianto a few unpleasant memories, and he’d taken great care not to go down that path again.
“Tell me we’re nearly there,” Owen grumbled as he joined Ianto at the bow of the boat. Ianto quirked a half smile at the doctor.
“Seasick again, Owen?”
“Piss off, you smug bastard,” he muttered sourly. “I don’t like boats. So sue me.”
Ianto couldn’t quite suppress a smirk but fortunately Owen had his eyes closed and didn’t notice.
“Look on the bright side. At least you’re not drunk this time.”
“Yeah, because it’s so much better to be sober and aware of the way the fucking boat is threatening to capsize.”
“The water is about as calm as it’s ever going to be,” Ianto told him in amusement. “We are not going to capsize. Just relax, and you might start to enjoy it.”
“Keep telling yourself that, teaboy.”
Again, Ianto rolled his eyes.
“How is the boy? Still safely under?”
“I doubt he’ll wake up within the next twenty-four hours,” Owen mused. “Between the combination of sedatives and painkillers I used, and the trauma his body has sustained, he’ll be out for the count for a while. I’ll be glad when he wakes up, though. Then we can get a name, and stop referring to him as ‘the boy’.”
“What else are we going to call him?” Ianto said with a shrug. “It’s just trite to call him something like John Smith, or John Doe.”
“I know, I was just saying. Oh, thank fuck. There’s the island.”
Sure enough, Flat Holm Island loomed up out of the distance, getting ever larger as the boat approached. As they neared the jetty, they could see Helen waiting there with a couple of orderlies from the facility. She greeted them with a weary but warm smile as they stepped off onto the solid ground of the pier.
“Evening, boys. How are you both?”
“I’m fine,” Ianto murmured as he hugged her briefly. “Owen? Not so much.”
Helen smiled sympathetically at the doctor.
“Seasick again, Doctor Harper?”
He grunted, placated slightly by her use of his professional title.
“It’ll pass.”
“Well, make sure you stop by the infirmary, and get something for the trip back,” she told him. “Now, where is he?”
They didn’t need to ask who Helen was referring to, and the orderlies were soon carrying the boy up the gentle slope to the facility’s entrance. Helen, Ianto and Owen followed, with Owen giving Helen a run-down on the boy’s physical condition.
“I don’t think he’ll be awake before midday tomorrow,” Owen told her. “Because of the physical trauma, I ended up having to use a stronger combination of sedatives and painkillers. Between that and the trauma his body has experienced, it should keep him out for a while.”
“He seems unharmed on the surface,” Helen mused, peering down at the boy as he was lifted with care onto a freshly-made bed. “I know better than to hope that it’ll be the same psychologically and emotionally, though. I don’t suppose you have a name for him?”
“Not yet,” Ianto admitted. “He wasn’t exactly capable of speech when we found him. I don’t think he was lacking his faculties, though. When Jack asked him a few questions, he was able to answer by blinking. I think he was simply in too much pain to be able to speak.”
“Well, that’s something, at least,” Helen murmured. “All right, boys. There’s nothing more any of us can do now until he wakes up and we can see what sort of condition he’s in, both physically and mentally, so come to the dining room, and you can have a light meal before heading back.”
“Jack will be expecting us,” Ianto started to argue, but Helen wasn’t hearing it.
“Nonsense. He’ll just have to wait. Quite honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t come with you.”
“He was going to,” Owen said. “He ended up staying behind so that Gwen wouldn’t have a reason to argue about being left behind.”
“Ah,” Helen said. “She was making a fuss again, was she?”
Ianto and Owen exchanged knowing looks. While Helen had a heart of gold and never seemed to think badly of anyone, Gwen had certainly challenged that good nature almost beyond its point of endurance. Ever since the debacle with Jonah and his mother, Helen had been less than enamoured with the former PC, and had taken particular umbrage when Gwen had criticised the garden that Ianto had set up.
“That silly little girl doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does,” Helen had told Jack forcefully one day after a visit to the Island by the entire Torchwood team had left her good will hanging on by a proverbial thread. “She hurt poor Jonah badly enough with her good intentions and thoughtless behaviour. I dread to think the harm she could do if she really put her mind to it.”
Jack had agreed and while he couldn’t keep Gwen away from Flat Holm entirely, he was at least able to ensure she never went out there alone. Gwen, needless to say, was less than impressed that Jack insisted she always travel with someone, and accepted with a healthy dose of scepticism his reasoning that there was safety in numbers should anything go wrong. He used his own ‘man overboard’ moment as an example, only to be told by her that she had no intention of acting like a loon and re-enacting a silly movie scene.
Nevertheless, Jack had stuck by his rule, which he’d applied to all of them to avoid it looking as though he was specifically targeting Gwen. None of them were to ever travel to Flat Holm on their own. They were to always go in pairs, at the very least.
“She didn’t think he should be brought out to the Island,” Owen admitted as they sat down to bowls of hot Cawl and fresh, thick chunks of buttered bread. “Because he didn’t look physically damaged, she assumed he wasn’t.”
“Silly assumption,” Helen retorted. “Hasn’t she been with you long enough to understand that the worst damage isn’t always visible to the naked eye?”
Ianto thought briefly back to when Jack had returned from his time away, and of the magnitude of emotional pain he’d brought back with him. Gwen hadn’t seen it, blinded as she was by her own agenda, but Ianto had. From that first moment in the Hub, when Jack had been uncharacteristically nervous around them all, right up until after the incident with Gray, Ianto had seen an entirely new side to Jack that had never been on display before. He’d been vulnerable and instead of pushing Ianto away, it had endeared Jack to him all the more.
“She still likes to believe she can fix everyone and everything,” Ianto mused finally. “She still believes in ‘happily ever after’ at the end of the story. Jack doesn’t especially want to discourage her and I can’t really say that I blame him. Gwen can be frustrating, but she does have a fresh perspective that the rest of us were somewhat lacking.”
“Speak for yourself,” Owen retorted. Ianto chose to ignore him.
“It’s one thing to have perspective,” Helen lectured. “It’s another to be bull-headed and refuse to learn from your mistakes. She made a terrible mistake with Jonah, but she hasn’t learned from it. Has she?”
“No,” Owen confirmed before Ianto had a chance to say anything. “She hasn’t.”
Helen looked disappointed, rather than satisfied.
“No, I didn’t think so.”
“Rough trip?” Jack asked as Ianto let himself into his flat. He looked up at his lover and had to smile. Jack had prepared a light supper with a newly opened bottle of red.
“Not as bad as it could have been,” Ianto said as he allowed Jack to help him out of his coat. “I’d be willing to wager that you had it worse with Gwen back at the Hub.”
“She did her fair share of grumbling about being left behind,” Jack admitted. “She couldn’t complain too heavily, though, since I stayed behind. Really, it didn’t need all of us to take him out there. Just Owen to monitor him, and you to give Helen the basics. I assume she fed you both while you were there?”
“She did,” Ianto confirmed, “but I’m feeling peckish again. Is that rarebit?”
Jack smiled, pleased that the result of his cooking was recognisable.
“It is. Up for trying some?”
Ianto chuckled as he sat at the table.
“Daft sod. You make it sound like I’d be risking life and limb. I happen to know for a fact that you’re quite the chef when you want to be.”
“Only for you,” Jack purred seductively, but Ianto shook his head.
“Sorry, cariad. I’m absolutely knackered. Sex is going to have to wait until morning.”
For an instant, Jack looked disappointed. Then, he brightened up.
“Shower sex?” he asked hopefully. Ianto chuckled in response.
“I think I can accommodate that, provided you let me get a good night’s sleep. I’m sorry, Jack, but I really am exhausted.”
“I know,” Jack assured him with a gentle smile. “Travelling to and from Flat Holm is always exhausting, even if it’s just a simple trip there and back. You and Owen probably should have stayed the night, and come back tomorrow.”
“No,” Ianto said decisively. “No, I didn’t want to do that. I needed to come home tonight, and spend the night in my own bed, with you. If I’d stayed there, I would have been awake all night worrying about that lad.”
Jack reached across the table for Ianto’s hand, which the younger man offered unreservedly.
“No worrying tonight, Ianto Jones. I guarantee it.”
Jack was true to his word. There was no innuendo, nothing at all sexual when they went to bed and Ianto slipped gratefully into a deep sleep, comfortably wrapped up in his lover’s arms. When he woke the next morning, the light of dawn was just breaking through the window curtains and he was still ensconced in Jack’s embrace.
Shifting a little, he managed to twist enough to see Jack was awake and watching him with a small, content smile.
“Did you sleep at all?” Ianto wondered. “Or did you stay awake all night watching me?”
“Watching you,” Jack said with the beginnings of a lecherous grin, “and imagining all the things I plan on doing to you now that you’re awake.”
“Not before I’ve used the loo, you won’t,” Ianto teased. “And I suggest you let go now, before we both end up wet and uncomfortable.”
Still grinning, Jack released Ianto and watched him disappear into the ensuite. He waited until he’d heard the toilet flush and the tap run before rolling out of the bed and going to join him in the bathroom for the afore promised shower sex.
Ianto had the shower running hot, a knowing grin on his face and no clothes on his body by the time Jack had shed his own clothes and joined him in the bathroom.
“You took your time,” Ianto remarked tartly, only to yelp when Jack slapped him on his bare arse. “Oi!”
Jack smirked, and backed Ianto into the shower.
“Enough talking. I want my shower sex.”
“Oh, well, should I just leave you to it, then?” Ianto asked all-too-innocently, with an arch of his eyebrow. He made to move past Jack, only to find himself all but thrown against the wall of the shower.
“Don’t even think of walking out on me, gorgeous,” Jack half purred, half growled. “I was very good all night and let you sleep. Now it’s my turn to get what I want.”
The innocent look slid off Ianto’s face and the seductive expression that filled his handsome features set a proverbial fire both in Jack’s heart as well as elsewhere in his body. He draped his arms over Jack’s shoulders, and leaned forward so that their foreheads touched, and they were almost nose to nose.
“Yes, you have been very good, cariad, and it’s time to be rewarded for that. I’m all yours.”
There was more to Ianto’s words than he was saying on the surface, and they both knew it. It was a step they’d never taken, to actually speak their feelings for each other out loud. Whether it was an unspoken agreement, or whether there was a quiet fear that each of them held deep down that to say it out loud would ruin it, neither one had ever stated out loud that they loved the other.
And yet, it didn’t seem to be necessary, either. It wasn’t simply that they were manly men who didn’t say those things aloud. Ianto imagined that Jack might have said those words once upon a time, perhaps to Estelle or maybe even to the Doctor and Rose. He didn’t begrudge Jack that love, or being able to acknowledge it. Of course, he sometimes envied those past loves for it, but that was fleeting.
The fact of the matter was that he knew Jack loved him. He knew this without any doubt, despite the doubts that some people around them occasionally tried to plant in his mind – be it intentional or otherwise. To stand there now, even in a running shower with the love-making that was about to happen, if the look on Jack’s face was anything to go by, saying he was all Jack’s was as close as he could bring himself to saying ‘I love you’.
Judging by the way the lecherous desperation on Jack’s face melted into something deeper and purer, Ianto knew that Jack understood what he wasn’t saying, and returned the sentiment tenfold.
Ianto closed the small space between them and closed his lips over Jack’s. The kiss was long and languorous, and everything that they both needed it to be. It slowed things down sufficiently that neither one felt like utterly devouring the other any longer. The urgency was gone, but not the need – that burned brighter than ever.
“How do you want this?” Jack asked, his voice muffled slightly as he buried his face against Ianto’s shoulder, clinging to him and holding their bodies as close together as he could manage, until it was becoming hard to tell where one man ended and the other began. “Hard and fast? Slow and gentle?”
Ianto shuddered in Jack’s arms. He wanted it to last, but was in the mood for something other than Jack’s gentle treatment. Something told him they would be in for a particularly long day – apparently Gwen had been more than a little pissed that Jack had left early the previous evening, leaving the Hub in her and Tosh’s hands until it was time to go. Ianto had been highly amused to hear that, and he could just picture the expression on Gwen’s face when it sank in that she was not going to be allowed to leave early, as she so often did.
He felt no guilt, though, and knew that Jack didn’t either. If anyone was entitled to an early end to the working day, it was Jack.
“Slow,” Ianto finally answered, knowing that Jack wouldn’t wait forever for an answer. “But hard. I want it hard... and slow.”
“Mm, a challenge,” Jack murmured as he manoeuvred Ianto around to face the wall of the shower. “I like it. All right, Mr Jones. Hard and slow it is. I hope you’re ready to walk bow-legged for the rest of the day, because I am about to fuck you so hard and so long that you won’t be able to walk straight.”
Ianto damn near came right then and there, and he grunted from the effort it took not to.
“Do it,” he gasped, pushing his arse back against Jack. He felt more than heard Jack’s throaty chuckle.
“Don’t worry, gorgeous. I’ve got you.”
Ianto grunted again as Jack began to prepare him. Now that they’d started, he found himself eager to move things along, and Jack’s adherence to his earlier request for slow was already driving him wild.
“Jack, please...”
Jack nipped lightly at Ianto’s earlobe.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured again. “Trust me, this will be worth the wait.”
Ianto let his breath out in a rush. He trusted Jack – of course he trusted him. How could he not? With that thought now in the forefront of his mind, he surrendered himself wholly to his lover’s ministrations.
Jack felt Ianto give himself over finally, and felt a surge of love and passion for his young lover. It took so much trust to place yourself in someone else’s care like this, and Ianto did it again and again with him. Part of him desperately wanted to tell Ianto how much he loved him, but something always held him back from doing so. Whatever the reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say the actual words.
Instead, he told Ianto how much he loved him through his actions – through these actions. The act of sex, which he had learnt while growing up in a remote, isolated colony was something to savour and use as a means of pure pleasure in an existence that was mundane at best, had now become an act of pure love, to be cherished above all else.
Once upon a time, Jack had never imagined in a million years that he would ever consider monogamy. Once upon a time, even the concept of monogamy was as foreign to him as being stuck on one planet with no chance to escape. His conversion to monogamy had not started with Ianto Jones. In truth, it had started when he’d first been stranded on Earth in the late 1800s. Then, he hadn’t known about his immortality and had thought he was stuck on the slow path with no chance of escape. Then, he had actually gone through the whole courting and marriage thing.
Laura, her name had been. She’d been absolutely beautiful, and Jack believed that he had loved her. She knew, though, that his heart had not really been in their union. Ironically, for someone from the future who was used to the freedom to do what he wanted and when, he was too set in his ways to be able to truly adjust to a life of monogamy with one partner.
He’d been given the ultimate out from the marriage when Laura had contracted tuberculosis and eventually died as a result of a lack of medicine that was still decades away from being developed.
Many years later, he’d fallen in love again with Estelle and again, he had baulked at confessing his love for her. He was sure she had known, but by then he had lived on twentieth century Earth for long enough that he was mellowing to the concept of just being with one person. However, at that stage he didn’t know anything about what had happened to him. He didn’t know how long it would last and even if there was a finite point to his life, he couldn’t cope with the idea of committing himself to someone only to watch them grow old and eventually die. He’d watched Laura die before her time and the thought of losing anyone else was simply too painful.
And so, he’d walked away from Estelle. He couldn’t say whether it was the right thing to do for either one of them. He told himself that it was. Even now, long after her tragic death, he still told himself that leaving her had been the best thing for the both of them.
Then there had been Lucia.
By the time Lucia came along, Jack had adapted to life on twentieth century Earth as much as he had ever thought was possible. He had married her willingly, despite it having the feel of a shotgun wedding. After all, Lucia had been pregnant with Melissa by then. Her turning against him, and subsequently turning Melissa against him, had embittered him greatly and set him back considerably in terms of being willing to commit to a relationship. They only caused grief, in one way or another, he decided. It wasn’t worth the pain. Take what pleasure when he could, and live for the moment.
Then along came Ianto Jones.
Jack groaned long and loud as he entered Ianto, the sensations just about doing his head in. Ianto had requested slow, and Jack was determined to give him what he wanted, but damn it all, it was hard as hell to control himself.
When he had pushed in as far as he could, Jack managed to bring himself to a halt, gasping for air as he fought the desire to move. Pinned to the wall by his body, Ianto’s hands were locked flat against the shower wall and the muscles in his shoulders were pronounced and rigid.
Slowly, Jack massaged them gently, encouraging Ianto to relax as much as possible. He knew his lover was in pain from the initial entry. He’d not prepared him enough, and felt a stab of guilt for that, even though he knew Ianto would not hold it against him later on. The least he could do now for the younger man, though, was to give him a chance to adjust to the intrusion.
Seconds passed that felt more like minutes, agonisingly drawn out. Then, Ianto moved ever so slightly, and Jack knew it was time to move. He did just that, forcing a gasp and grunt from Ianto.
“Okay?” he asked hoarsely. He may have once been accused of having atrocious manners in bed, but he had never been accused of being an inconsiderate lover.
Ianto reached back for him, caught him around the head and pulled his head forward for a rather sloppy kiss. It was awkward, messy, and oh so perfect.
“I’m okay.”
They were the only two words he spoke, and it was more than enough. Jack abandoned all caution. The build-up was amazing and by the time they were both done, Jack was sure all of Ianto’s neighbours will have heard them. Personally, he didn’t care. He’d always had an exhibitionistic streak a mile wide, but Ianto was a much more private person. With that in mind, he washed them both off in silence before manoeuvring them out of the shower to dry off. Any concerns he’d had were erased when Ianto looked at him with an appreciative smile.
“You are amazing.”
Three little words – they might not have been the ones that they were both so reluctant to say, but they contained all the meaning and emotion regardless. Jack kissed him long and gently. It was not a kiss to reignite passions, but rather to say that which Ianto assumed would probably never be said aloud.
I love you.
It was enough, at least for now.
They arrived at the Hub to a very unsurprising sight. Tosh, as usual, was already at her desk. Gwen and Owen, as usual, were not.
“Please tell me they’re not shagging again,” Jack muttered to Ianto in a low voice to avoid having Tosh overhear. Ianto rolled his eyes in fond exasperation.
“Give them both a bit of credit. Gwen might have wandering eyes, but she is married. As for Owen, have you not seen the attention he’s been paying lately to Tosh?”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, much to Ianto’s amusement.
“Tosh? Really? Well... He’d better not hurt her. I’d hate to have to kill him.”
“You wouldn’t dare. Not after the effort it took to turn him back into a living human after being a zombie.”
Jack shook his head incredulously.
“Only in Torchwood could a line like that not sound completely insane.”
Ianto smirked, unable to help himself.
“You should know. How long have you been with the organisation?”
Again, Jack shook his head.
“I decline to answer that because you’ll just call me an old man.”
“Would I do that?”
“You would, you cheeky blighter.”
“Ugh. Don’t use British terminology Jack. It doesn’t suit your accent.”
“Are you being insulting?” Jack asked, poking lightly at him, “because you never complain when I talk about shagging.”
“That’s because when you use that god-awful phrase, it’s in front of others and I would not dream of undermining you in front of anyone else.”
The amusement on Jack’s face faded, and he drew Ianto close for a tender kiss.
“Thank you.”
It was for everything, and nothing at all. Ianto smiled and gladly reciprocated.
“Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?”
The two men paused, foreheads resting lightly against each other as they sought to regain their composure. Then, as they drew apart, Jack shot Gwen a look that was full of exasperation.
“As a matter of fact, Gwen, you are.”
She flushed red at the blunt reply, and Ianto gave a silent cheer – not necessarily at her embarrassment, but at Jack’s decision not to sugar-coat the truth. She was interrupting, and she damn well knew she was interrupting. She knew, they knew, and she knew that they knew. That she clearly expected Jack to brush over it suggested strongly to Ianto that she did not see their relationship as something serious that warranted being afforded a modicum of privacy. Or worse, that she continued to harbour feelings for Jack and was unconsciously (or even consciously) still trying to interfere and come between them.
“Sorry,” she stammered, and Ianto took some small pleasure in seeing her squirm. Jack let his breath out in an annoyed huff, and Ianto could understand why. If there was one thing that really got under his skin, it was people who incessantly apologised but never learnt from their mistakes, or didn’t mean it in the first place.
“Stop apologising. Just tell us what you want.”
And that was another reason why Ianto loved Jack. He didn’t forget to include him. Just saying ‘us’ instead of ‘me’ spoke volumes. It was a world away from the days before (and immediately after) Lisa’s psychotic rampage through the Hub when he’d just been the teaboy, and had been utterly invisible to everyone, except when they wanted coffee, or needed their shit cleaned up.
Gwen’s eyes flashed between the two of them and, very briefly, to their joined hands, and Ianto imagined he spotted a hint of envy there. Part of him wished she’d get over it, but a slightly bigger part of him couldn’t help but feel smug, especially when he felt Jack tugging him marginally closer. Her eyes narrowed but to her credit, she didn’t dare to make a comment.
“I, uh... I was hoping to talk to you about the boy.”
And right there, Ianto could feel Jack shutting down emotionally, without having to even spare him a glance. It never ceased to amaze him how the person who Jack had hoped would give Torchwood back its heart was now the same person who challenged him in the worst ways and made him angry and defensive over things that he had no reason to feel defensive over. For that reason alone, Ianto sometimes hated Gwen.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Jack said flatly. “Until there’s been an assessment done, there is nothing to talk about.”
Anyone else would have seen the warning signs. Himself, Tosh or even Owen would have backed off and walked away. Ianto didn’t know whether Gwen was blind, or just blindly stubborn. Either way, it always resulted in grief.
“I think there is, Jack. I’ve not been able to identify him. There is no DNA match in any system we have access to.”
“Which would suggest that he’s from a parallel world,” Jack mused. “What’s your point, Gwen? We knew that was a possibility.”
“But what about his family, Jack? They have a right to know what’s happened to him!”
Jack stared at her wordlessly for so long that even Ianto began to feel uncomfortable. When the Captain finally spoke again, there was an edge to his tone that was unmistakable – even to Gwen.
“Listen to me, Gwen. If... And I do say if, because it’s only one of many possibilities. If he is from a parallel world, I guarantee that there is no way that you or anyone else will be able to let his parents know what happened to him. If he’s from this reality, but a different time or place, and he’s not suffering any lasting physical or psychological damage, then we may be able to reunite him with his family, with the Doctor’s help. There are a hell of a lot of ‘ifs’, though, and I will not make any promises to anyone until we know the full and complete story. So I don’t know what you think you’re going to do, but it isn’t going to happen. I will not let you go charging in like the proverbial bull in a china shop. I will not allow another situation to happen like the one with Jonah Bevin and his mother.”
At that, Gwen flinched as though he’d physically struck her, and she glared at him with an accusing look.
“You’re just not ever going to let that go, are you?”
“No,” Jack snapped, startling her all over again with his apparent willingness to throw her attacks back in her face. “I’m not, and do you know why? Because the moment I do, you’ll just go and do the same thing all over again. Maybe the situation will be slightly different. I don’t know. All I know is that you will wreak havoc out of some deluded sense of self-righteousness and someone will suffer because of it. I won’t let it go because I don’t want history repeating itself.”
“Damn it, Jack, I’m just trying to...”
“Stop!” Jack exploded, and this time Gwen took an involuntary step back in shock at his now visible anger. “Just stop! I let you challenge me on nearly everything, and I’ve given you a free pass over things that the others would never be given leeway over. Not over this, though, Gwen. Not over Flat Holm. You may not like it and you may never agree with me that it’s necessary, but you will accept it.”
Gwen’s eyes narrowed just fractionally and her nostrils flared and for a moment, Ianto was transported back to night some months ago when she’d interrupted them in the hot house. That had been the night that Ianto had given Gwen the means to find Flat Holm, incurring Jack’s real anger for the first time since they’d banded together against him and inadvertently released Abaddon from his subterranean prison.
He vividly remembered the confrontation between Jack and Gwen as the three of them stood outside the hothouse. He and Jack had been barely clothed, having been interrupted in the middle of some pretty serious foreplay, while Gwen had stood there defiantly with a look on her face that positively screamed ‘this is what I’m doing, and you can’t stop me’. She wore the same look now, but this time Ianto knew Jack had no intention of letting her get the upper hand.
“And what if I can’t?” she challenged. Jack didn’t hesitate.
“Then I’ll suspend you and retcon the last two days from your memory.”
The look of shock on her face was priceless, and Ianto wished he were in a position to be able to truly revel in it. As it was, he struggled to keep a smirk from forming on his face.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she growled. Suddenly, the tables appeared to have turned, and it was Jack’s turn to give her a look that fairly shouted, ‘I can, and you can’t do a damn thing to stop me’.
“Do you really want to call my bluff on this, Gwen?”
“You bastard,” she swore.
“Language,” he chided with just the barest hint of condescension in his tone. “Give it up, Gwen. Try and accept for once that you don’t know best for everything.”
“I’m not wrong, Jack,” she argued, but all of a sudden, her resolve seemed to be wavering.
“Your intentions are good and your heart is in the right place, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still being wrong-headed about this,” he said pointedly. “Back off, Gwen. Please. You may not think so, but I do know what I’m doing.”
She looked for all the world like she wanted to argue further. Finally, though, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the office.
“That went well,” Jack retorted sarcastically. Ianto squeezed his hand gently, trying to reassure Jack that he wasn’t alone.
“You handled that well.”
“Did I?” Jack asked tiredly. His previous good mood appeared to have evaporated, and for that Ianto felt a fresh surge of anger towards Gwen. She had no idea of the negative way she affected people. The woman existed inside her own bubble of perceived reality, and no one else registered on her radar.
“Yes, you did,” Ianto insisted. “And if you’re thinking about your threat to retcon her, you should know that I was thinking a lot worse than retcon and suspension.”
Jack glanced askance at Ianto, taking in his deceptively passive features before smiling ruefully.
“My gorgeous Welshman. What would I do without you?”
“Drown in paperwork,” Ianto deadpanned, and Jack laughed.
“All right, I can take a hint. I have paperwork to do. How about I get stuck into it, and you make me a coffee to keep me going?”
“I might consider that a fair and reasonable deal,” Ianto conceded, “provided you get started straight away.”
Showing he was serious, Jack reluctantly detached himself from Ianto, but not before claiming a last, lingering kiss.
“Thank you,” Jack murmured again as they parted. This time, Ianto didn’t need to ask what he meant.
“You’re welcome.”
to be continued....
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*The banter between Ianto and Owen on the boat and interaction with Helen on Flat Holm.
*The inner musings of Ianto and Jack before, during and after the the shower.
*The smoking HOT shower in itself.
*Jack standing up and slamming down Gwen when she acts as she usually does.
Thank you for the quick update. You are a STAR!
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I'm just glad you're enjoying reading it.
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Jack and his Titanic re-enacting was hilarious, though. *g*
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As for retconning her, as much as I'd love to do that, there is a certain catharsis in keeping her around, provided she isn't allowed to get away with any of her usual crap.
And yes, I could just picture Jack re-enacting that scene, and then getting swept overboard...
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Glad I got the balance right there. The original was a little too explicit in terms of language for what is effectively an open forum.
Oh, there'll be more of Gwen getting put in her place, and not just by Jack. :D
In some things, she might eventually learn, but others? Not so much...
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