Steel And Fire
Word Count: ~1.600
Summary: They sat there, in the middle of the apocalypse, staring at each other, trying to suppress their sobs and only managing to turn them into broken little noises of despair.
Characters: Ianto Jones, Lisa Hallett
Pairing: Ianto/Lisa Hallett
Rating: R
Spoiler: Cyber Woman / Doctor Who: Age Of Steel, Doomsday
Setting: pre-series one
Warnings: Violent images
Author's Note: Written for redisourcolor challenge #16 - Apocalypse. Using the words nonplus, mucilaginous (what is it with those challenges and complicated words lately?) and table-lamp. Also, the phrase "What we need is a (insert item of choice here)."
Disclaimer: I'm not making money with this fanfic. The tv-show Torchwood and the characters appearing within it belong to their producers and creators. Any similarities to living or dead persons are purely coincidental and not intended.
XXX
There was a bang, ripping the thick safety door out of its hinges and slamming it against some desks, raining office supplies, laptops and files on the group of junior researchers huddling among them. Mia screamed.
And just like that, Ianto's world ended.
XXX
Ianto stumbled and fell, hitting the floor with an excruciating impact. Something sharp dug into his ribcage, and just for a second he thought that he'd managed to impale himself on some sort of shard or one of the bent and jagged metal beams that had once been part of the Human Resources Department's decor. But the pain dulled to an ache, and when he sat up carefully, he saw that it had just been the edge of a splintered desk top and that it hadn't even ripped his shirt. Ianto wiped sweat and soot from his brow, not realizing he was smearing it down his cheek in dark smudges. He coughed, feeling the heat and smoke of the small fires caused by several short circuits on this floor choke him, and climbed to his feet.
There, in one corner, staring at him with dead eyes, was Gabriel Hutchinson, Lisa's supervisor. There was no blood. He must have been killed by one of the Daleks. They were so neat when they killed, not leaving a trace behind.
Ianto felt a hysterical giggle claw up his throat and tried to squash it. It came out nevertheless, disguised as a sob. Nothing here was as it had been. He was standing in the middle of the large open-plan office of HR. All the desks were a splintered mess or shoved aside mercilessly to make room for the invaders, the computers and laptops broken, some of the table-lamps still flickering. All of it – his life, his job, his colleagues ... all of it was just gone. He'd seen so many dead while making his way up here. So many broken bodies piled up on the sidelines because they hadn't been compatible or because their brains had been successfully planted into a cyberman's body or because they didn't survive the conversion from their own human body to that of a cyberman. There was so much blood everywhere, too, surrounding half-converted dead people. Lifeless faces Ianto knew from the cafeteria or from a chat on the lift. Even the faces of his friends. Only one person left now he could find. One face he hadn't seen, yet.
"Lisa!" he yelled. Every floor had several conversion units for Torchwood employees. After the cybermen and Daleks had just vanished, just before it had been Ianto's turn to be converted, he'd passed so many of them. He'd seen bodies strapped into them, some still breathing, moaning, screaming ... oh, God, what if Lisa ...
"Lisa!"
"Ianto?"
He ran towards the weak voice, rounding a corner ... two conversion units, one empty, but smeared with blood, the other ... Ianto was beside her instantly. "Oh, my God!" he whispered. His trembling hands touched the cold metal fixed to her body, scarring her beautiful skin. Oh, God, this couldn't be real, he wanted to wake up now ...
Lisa's fingers curled into his hair, pulling him closer. "Ianto ... please ... please ... it hurts ..."
His fingertips traced the patches where metal, mucilaginous where her blood had congealed, was attached to skin. It looked it was bolted into her body ... her bones ... he turned away and threw up.
"Ianto ..." She sobbed. "Ianto, please, help me ..."
He wiped his sleeve over his mouth and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He had to remain focused, he had to think, think, think ... she was half-converted. There was no way they would let her live. As soon as UNIT would respond to what had happened here and take over the building ... they would add to the dead. Lisa ...
"Ianto, help me. Please. I love you."
No, they wouldn't get Lisa!
He turned back around to her, his face set into a determined mask. "I know," he said and kissed her forehead. "Me, too. Okay, let's ..." His hands were still shaking, betraying his fear. "Let's get you out of here." The restraints were already gone, part of the unit was blackened. "It shut itself off ... short circuited ...," he muttered. That was something. At least he wouldn't have to cut her out of the restraints.
"Ianto, we have to leave ..." Lisa's voice was weak, but something hard laced it, some of her strong and fiery spirit still there. "Get me out of here."
He managed to help her stand up. She was so heavy with the metal attached to her body, so tall, cold, bulky and different. Not his Lisa.
He sobbed, but helped her towards the door. They didn't get far. She made three steps, then she cried out softly and collapsed, taking Ianto with her. Ianto felt tears slide down his cheeks and he saw that Lisa was crying, too. They sat there, in the middle of the apocalypse, staring at each other, trying to suppress their sobs and only managing to turn them into broken little noises of despair.
"I ..." Ianto shook his head. "I can't do this."
"Ianto." Again that steely undercurrent in her voice. "Ianto ... please ..." She leaned forward, but it was more of a fall stopped by Ianto's hands grabbling for somewhere to hold on to, to support her. Their foreheads collided, Lisa's eyes – her soulful, dark eyes – staring into Ianto's. "I need you now, Ianto ... I can't survive long in this state. You have to help me."
He wiped his face with his sleeve. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Get me out of here. Get one of the conversion units. With a few modifications, it can keep me alive until we've found a solution."
Ianto closed his eyes. He couldn't look at her and ask this question. "How do you know all that?"
"The conversion ...," Lisa said. "They downloaded things into my brain. I know ... things. We can use them to help me." She gasped and cried out suddenly, clutching her side.
"Lisa ..."
"Ianto, you have to obey me or I'll die!"
They jumped when from below them, the sound of gunfire was to be heard.
Lisa closed her eyes, her voice weakening, "They're coming to kill me."
Ianto grit his teeth in determination. "No," he said and got up. He stepped behind Lisa and wrapped his arms around her chest, dragging her behind him towards the door. "They're not."
Lisa screamed when her legs stretched and Ianto could see blood seeping from underneath the metal plates. He paused, breathing erratically, trying to get himself under control. He couldn't contain his panic and fear and sorrow, so he gathered it all up and screamed it out, "Oh God, somebody help us!" He was sure that nobody would hear him, but he'd needed to let it out either way. Now, he could think a bit better. They needed a plan.
XXX
It was Lisa who came up with the idea of using the refuse chute. It was painful because they landed in a tangled heap in a rubbish container only cushioned with old paper. Lisa cried, but she didn't want Ianto to wait for her pain to calm down – they both knew that there was no time for that.
He helped her into one of the small back alleys that ran through Canary Wharf and hid her between two rubbish containers.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"What we need is a car," he said. He pulled his keys from his suit pocket. "Junior researchers get access to the car park and the company vans." He kneeled in front her and wiped tears and soot from her face. "You'll have to wait here for a while. I think the area's cordoned off, so nobody will come here and find you. Everyone will be busy searching the building. Protocol says that survivors have to get registered. I'll do that. That way, I'll be able to get close to the building. I know every shortcut in the building and I have the codes for all the doors in the archives. I'll go down there and get one of the portable perception filters, then I'll snatch one of the conversion units. No-one will notice me leaving with one of them when I use the filter. I'll get it into the van and get back here and we'll ..." He shook his head, finding a flaw in his plan. "I don't know where we'll go then. But I'll find a solution, I promise. I'll fix this."
She grabbed his hand and a small smile lit up her pained face. "You always keep your promises," she whispered. It was an old joke between them. She thought it was cute how he jumped over hurdles to be on time for dinner when he'd promised he would be there, and she told him every chance she got, leaving him blushing and slightly nonplussed every single time.
"Yes," he whispered and kissed her lips. "Yes, I do."
END
05/11