The Fear and the Game
Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing!
Summary: A simple outing turns dark and a death means emotions are running high. But then, something major happens for Jack and Ianto. Ianto/Jack. Sixty-eighth in the "Immortal Janto" series.
I know what you all are thinking and, believe me, I would not do *that* to you. I promise! As much as that would be gut-wrenching, I don't have the heart to do that to the boys, to you (my loyal readers), or to myself.
Anyway, on with the show.
Ianto Jones cursed himself for his momentary lack of foresight and meticulous planning. He prided himself on being the organized one in his marriage and how he thought this could have gone over without something bad happening was just plain stupid of him.
Oh, he should have seen this one coming from fifty light-years away.
The Doctor had picked up an errant signal from a sector of the galaxy that said rogue signal was not native to, especially in this century. As such, the Time Lord was intrigued and the TARDIS was more than happy to oblige in his interest, steering them towards said signal. It seemed to be fairly innocent, which should have been Ianto's first, warning sign.
Donna absolutely refused to let Jack go out of the TARDIS and explore. He was so close to giving birth and it made no sense for him to go into a situation, even the most seemingly-innocent of them, where he could go into labor. Her logic was sound and Ianto was more than ready to back her up, even if it meant having to refuse the patented puppy dog eyes that Jack was fond of using.
Before he left with the Doctor, Andy, and Annabelle (Donna volunteering to stay behind with Jack), Ianto had smiled, kissed Jack on the lips, and said, "Have I told you how beautiful you look when you're pregnant?"
Jack's face had lit up like a Christmas tree at that, even if a playfully stern look followed quickly. "Hurry back because my back could use some reminding of how wonderful I look," Jack had said, smirking.
"I owe you a back rub," Ianto replied, squeezing Jack's hand tightly.
"I'll hold you to that."
Back rubs tended to lead to other things with them and Jack was especially horny right now.
And that was the promise Ianto held onto as he walked out of the TARDIS, cheerfully ignoring the spectrum of looks he was getting from the rest of the family. Best get a move on, he had mused, so that he could get back to Jack.
However, things always tended to go sideways when the Doctor poked his head into seemingly innocent places – which is why, not three hours after they had landed on the mostly aquatic planet that Ianto, the Doctor, Andy, and Annabelle were running for their lives. A very large band of extremely hostile natives were chasing them, all brandishing prototype laser guns, which would have intrigued the Doctor to no end, if they weren't being chased.
Oh, they had found the source of the signal. It was a transmitter beacon that had gotten knocked off of a passing transport vessel and had managed to survive the fall through the atmosphere, landing on the planet below. Annabelle was toting it back in a rucksack that they had absconded with shortly after their arrival. The Doctor was signaling back to the TARDIS and Donna, informing both of the situation, while Andy and Ianto were turning around every few steps to send off return fire with the lasers guns that they had "borrowed" from a few natives when things went pear-shaped.
Ianto slowed his pace as the TARDIS came into sight, standing in the middle of the meadow that they had landed in.
He knew that they would lose the cover of the trees as soon as they broke onto the meadow. The other three would need as much time and cover as they could in order to make it to the TARDIS.
Annabelle seemed to realize that as she broke through the tree line, ten meters ahead of Andy and thirty ahead of Ianto. She stopped and turned to look back at him. The Doctor, who had been in step with her, paused as well.
"Tad!" she called out.
"Keep going!" Ianto yelled back, as Andy barreled past them, grabbing both the Doctor and Annabelle as he ran past, slowing and pulling them along. "I'll catch up."
"Tad, no!"
Ianto understood what she was trying to say, but someone had to give them cover. He smiled grimly to himself as the three made the last mad dash to the TARDIS, before ducking behind a tree to use as cover.
The hostile natives were so close now.
Twenty-six seconds later, Annabelle, Andy, and the Doctor were safely in the TARDIS, though the door was still open, waiting for him. No doubt, Jack and Donna were freaking out (Jack more so than Donna, but that was to be expected from Jack).
Ianto worried about Jack's stress levels. He was so close to giving birth now that anything could trigger the labor. Ianto would be supremely pissed off at himself if he sent Jack into labor when he wasn't there to hold his hand – or, given that it was Jack, have his hand nearly wrenched off from the pain. Extreme pain did strange things to Jack.
He smiled and quietly said, "I'm coming, Jack."
And then he made a break for it.
As he ran, Ianto made a few blind shots behind him, in an attempt to slow down his followers. It was not working well, he could tell, based on how few shouts of pain there were in comparison to the number of shots that he fired off.
He broke through the tree line and sprinted across the meadow, towards the waiting TARDIS.
Even as he was three-quarters of the way to the time-traveling spaceship, he heard the footsteps and the firing of the laser guns. They had a clear shot of him now and they would not miss. Pain lanced through him as a half a dozen bolts riddled his back.
Ianto stumbled forward a few more steps and collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. The TARDIS was so close but he was down and Ianto didn't know if he could get back up.
He saw Jack's worried face at the door of the TARDIS, tears streaming down his cheek, one hand cradling his stomach.
God, Jack was beautiful like this.
That image was burned into his mind, even as Ianto felt himself slipping into the darkness. He tried to hold on as best he could, but it was a struggle. Ianto's energy was flagging fast, despite seeing Andy burst out of the TARDIS, running towards him.
Andy's hands, dragging him upwards, were the last things that Ianto felt as he went into the dark of death.
And the dark held him tight . . .
. . . until sharp light edged back into his conscious mind and riddles of excruciating pain shot through his body, while his lungs taught themselves how to breathe again and his heart remembered that it was supposed to beat.
He was on the couch in the control room of the TARDIS and Andy was the only one present, the blond Welshman nervously fidgeting with the controls that he was only just how to fly. The TARDIS herself was so full of nervous energy that she was near bursting and that was never a very good sign.
No one else was in sight.
"What's going on?" Ianto rasped out, rolling partially off of the couch.
Andy jumped and turned to look at him.
"Christ, I forgot that you and Jack do that," Andy said, catching his breath. He gave Ianto a half-smile before continuing on, crossing the distance between the two of them, "Thank God, you're awake and alive."
"What's going on?" he repeated, not liking being so far out of the loop. "How long have I been out?"
"Twelve hours," Andy replied holding a hand out for him to grasp, "and Jack's been in labor the whole time."
That got Ianto's attention.
"Jack's in labor?"
Andy nodded and Ianto managed to pull himself up with Andy's help, not particularly caring that he looked like an utter mess. He frowned and started for the infirmary at a run, his daughter's boyfriend keeping pace with him the whole way.
"The Doctor and Donna have been monitoring him the whole time, waiting for the best time to deliver the baby," the blond said, bringing Ianto up to speed. "Jack keeps on insisting that he's going to wait until you're alive again to give birth, though Donna thinks that he's close and that if you didn't show up soon, they'll have to go on without you."
The two Welshmen traded a smirk.
"Good thing it didn't take me long to revive this time."
Andy nodded. "Annabelle's been holding his hand for the last eight hours. She's freaking out too, since this is her father who is in labor." There was some humor in his voice. "I got kicked out after the first hour and a half, once Donna came in to relieve me. Figured I'd baby-sit you, even if the TARDIS would bring you up to speed when you woke back up. Jack almost broke my hand from one bad contraction."
Ianto saw the way that he flexed his hand and felt quite sympathetic.
"Jack tends to be very forceful about these types of things. He was the same way with Annabelle."
They turned the corner and the door to the infirmary came into sight. Jack's painful yell cut through the air.
"Enough chit-chat," Andy said, with a smirk, slapping Ianto on the shoulder. "I think that it's high time you get your arse in there, have Jack crush your hand, and welcome that new baby of yours into the universe."
Ianto gave Andy a smile.
"Thank you, Andy."
"Don't mention it."
And, with that, Ianto went to do as Andy had said because Andy was right. They had a new baby they were welcoming into the universe and Ianto would be damned if he missed this.
What does everyone think? Good? Bad? In the middle?
I know, I left it on something of a cliffhanger, but think about it. Next time, we are going to meet the new baby and all will be revealed. I'm excited and I hope that there are others who share in my enthusiasm.
Anyways, I will put the next story up as soon as the Muse decides to play fair.