Disclaimer: All I own is my muse, I own nothing related to Torchwood, damn it!
Summary: An outside influence wreaks havoc on Ianto and Torchwood.
Rating: R
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, 10th Doctor, Toshiko, Martha, Owen
Warnings: Character death, no, seriously, dude, they're ALL dead. There's also a bit of smut, and a lot of paranoia thrown in.
Four Counts of Madness
Ianto watched the intimate conversation between Jack and Gwen from behind a wall near the new conference room. He sighed as he heard the woman whisper, No one else would have me, and closed his eyes, trying to block out the painful thoughts running through his head.
"No one else would have me either, he couldn't even say that he came back for me," he muttered. The young man shook his head and walked into the boardroom, but all too soon the entire conversation was pushed from his mind as the team became embroiled in a mad race with the lunatic John Hart…
Some weeks later, as Ianto was clearing out a section of the archives to be sent up to Torchwood Two, he came across a curiously innocuous item for an archive of alien technology. The small, soft cornered square was the size of a sand dollar, and covered in circles and straight lines, and to Ianto's organized mind, it seemed vaguely familiar. Unconsciously, the young man slipped the item into his trouser pocket as he walked back up to the main workspace in the Hub. He nodded politely at Gwen as she fairly skipped from Jack's office with an amused grin on her face.
"G'night Ianto, don't let him work you too hard yeah?" she called, grabbing her purse and darting for the doorway.
"Work YOU too hard? Oh, Ianto Jones, if only she knew what she was talking about," came Jack's rich voice from behind him.
Ianto rolled his eyes and turned to face the Captain. "What were you talking about?"
"The sleeper cell, Beth, Gwen's wedding," he answered. "Are you going to stay tonight?"
The young man shook his head, "It's been a rather busy day wouldn't you say? I don't know if I have the stamina for your version of nightly exercise this evening." He gently kissed the older man and walked to the garage.
"A night alone then, been a long time since that happened," Jack mused, watching Ianto walk away. He turned and meandered back to his office to finally tackle the mountain of paperwork threatening to take over his desk…
Ianto opened the door to his flat and stepped inside, taking off his shoes and shucking his jacket. He shuffled down the hall towards his kitchen, marveling at the silence that surrounded had him since he left Jack back at the Hub. Bending down to look into his refrigerator, he felt a tug in his trouser pocket.
"What's this?"
He straightened and pulled out the small square, turning it over in his hands.
Let me out! Let me out, foolish child!
The young man started and shook his head, hoping that he hadn't just heard what he thought he'd heard.
Oh yes, foolish ape, you have indeed heard me.
"What are you?" he asked weakly.
Let me out, let me out, and you will see. You want him to stay, you want him, but he won't stay. He'll never stay, he wants her; he's always wanted her. You're nothing but a body, a warm body. Let me out and I'll make him stay.
"You're wrong," Ianto mumbled. "Why am I even talking to you? I know the rules, and you're going back in the archives tomorrow."
I am not wrong.
"He's never wanted her, never," protested Ianto firmly.
You stupid, stupid boy, of course he wants her. LET ME OUT!
Ianto threw the object from him and wildly ran his hands through his hair. He yanked his mobile from his other pocket and keyed the message function to send Jack a text.
Come over, changed my mind.
Ten minutes, came the short reply.
Jack walked through the door and saw Ianto standing there with a wicked gleam in his eye. He barely had time to hang up his greatcoat before he was slammed against the wall and his mouth was taken in a punishing and biting kiss. He groaned and spun Ianto around so that the young man was pinned against the wall, but just as quickly found himself pinned again, before suddenly finding himself bent over the back of Ianto's sofa with his trousers being yanked down. He heard a zipper being opened from behind him and felt two hands gripping his hips, before Ianto pushed into his body with a hoarse moan.
"You're mine," growled the young man.
"Yours, y-yours," Jack stuttered, pushing back against Ianto's bruising thrusts. "Not that I mind, oh, right there, but what's brought on this, oh God, possessive side?"
"QUIET!" barked Ianto. He bent down and marked the junction of Jack's neck and shoulder with a sharp bite that had the older man groaning out his release and slipping down the front of the couch. "You're mine, mine, you're all mine, MINE!" the Welshman roared as his eyes screwed shut with the strength of his orgasm, and he collapsed against Jack's back in a near catatonic state.
"Ianto? You all right back there?"
"Uhhhhhhhhh."
Jack chuckled and stood up; he turned himself around and took the nearly unconscious man in his arms. "Come on, let's get cleaned up and put you to bed."
"Can't move."
The Captain laughed again, he cleaned Ianto up the best he could manage and walked them down to the bedroom. He dressed the pliable man in his pyjamas and tucked him under the duvet before joining him.
"Sleep well."
Ianto twisted himself so that his head was resting over Jack's heart. He stared up at the older man and then kissed his chest. "All mine?"
Jack nodded and ran his hand across Ianto's back. "I'm all yours, now go to sleep."
"All mine," he whispered, closing his eyes.
Lost in a post coital haze, neither man noticed the forgotten artifact on the floor of the kitchen as it began to glow red and pulse in a rhythmic pattern of four beats…
Ianto awoke the next morning to find himself alone in his bed, save for a folded piece of paper on the pillow next to him. He opened it and smiled upon seeing the note:
Not to worry, I'm all yours. I just stepped out to catch an errant weevil. –Jack
"All mine," whispered Ianto, swinging himself out of bed and suddenly feeling energized enough to start his day. On his way into the kitchen, he found the small alien square on the floor near his refrigerator.
That little stunt won't do anything to keep him with you.
"You're wrong, and you're going back in the archives. I should have never brought you home."
I can make him stay, let me out and I will make him stay. Let me out, open your soul to me. Let me out, LET ME OUT!
Ianto shoved the artifact in his pocket and raced out the door. He drove to work, desperately trying to ignore the hissing whisper in his mind. He made the team their morning coffees; then buried himself in the archives. He spent that day and those that followed cataloging, filing, spurning Jack's amorous advances (repeatedly) and urging the burning knot in his chest to dissolve…
It was the day after finding the alien meat source that Ianto again found himself down in the archives and arguing with the venomous voice that filled his ears.
Let me out!
"No!"
Open your soul! Let me out!
"No!" Ianto snarled, he clamped onto a shelf with both hands and breathed rapidly through his nose in a panic. He barely registered the sounds of footsteps coming up behind him as internally he continued to plead for the voice in his head to disappear.
Stupid ape, he's alive at the end of the universe, and you'll die alone unless you let me out!
"NO!" screamed the young man. He spun away from the shelf and crashed square in to Jack's chest, nearly sending them both to the floor.
"Ianto? What's going on?"
"No, nothing," he stuttered. "Nothing."
Jack reached out to brush his hand across Ianto's shoulder, but found that the Welshman was pulling away from him. Ianto wedged himself into a corner, and shook his head repeatedly. Jack settled back on his haunches and stared over at Ianto, wondering what had come over the other man.
"Ianto," he said softly. "Ianto, can you talk to me? What's going on?"
"It's my head, something's in my head."
"You do know what's a great cure for a headache, right?" Jack said with a grin, hoping to ease the tension.
Ianto growled and stood abruptly. "Christ, Jack! Is that all you think about? If you want a fuck, go find Gwen! She'll give you what you want."
"Excuse me?" said Jack, a low and deadly edge to his voice.
"You heard me, if all you want is a fuck, and you don't care about me, go find the office fuck toy, and leave me ALONE!"
"Okay, I don't know what's going on, but this isn't the Ianto that I know. My Ianto, he knows that I only want to be with him, sleep with him, spend time with HIM. We're going back up to the main work area, and we're going to figure this out, because THIS ISN'T YOU."
Ianto seemed to come back to himself at that, but just as suddenly, he blinked and retreated farther away from Jack. "Help me," he said weakly.
"Come with me, Ianto come back upstairs with me. I can help you."
"Make the rats go away, they're eating at my stomach again. Please Jack, make them go away."
The Captain held out his hand, and beckoned to the young man. "Come with me."
Ianto shuffled forward and grabbed Jack's hand tightly in his own. He choked back a sob before pulling a gun from behind his back and pumping five shots into the older man's chest.
"You'd never have stayed with me."
He watched Jack slump to the floor before letting go of his hand and walking back up to the main Hub.
One hour later, Jack revived with a gasp on the floor of the archives. He sat up and toggled his earpiece, cycling through the frequencies and hearing nothing but a hiss of static. "Tosh? Gwen? Owen?"
The captain up and sprinted through the archives and up into the main level. He raced to his office and drew his weapon from his desk before stalking around the Rift Manipulator, checking for his team, and hoping that he wasn't going to find a repeat of Alex's millennium performance.
"Owen? Toshiko? Gwen?" he shouted again. A faint moan from his left stopped him in his tracks; he turned to find a weak and bloodied Toshiko struggling to pull herself up from the floor.
"Tosh? What happened?" he asked, running over and easily lifting her into his arms. He ran to the medical bay and gently lowered the injured woman to the table. "Tosh?"
"Ianto, it was Ianto. He came out of the archives carrying his gun and told us that he'd shot you. Owen asked him why, and then he went after him. Jack, he just shot him, over and over and over again. He dragged his body in and," Tosh paused and took a painful breath, "locked him into the cell with Janet."
Jack inhaled sharply. "And what did he do to you?"
"I got in his way after he came back up from the cells, but Jack, I wasn't his target. He said something about Gwen and Rhys."
The Captain kissed Tosh on the forehead before urging her to close her eyes and rest. "I'll take care of it," he whispered.
"Jack, try and save him. This isn't the Ianto we know."
"I know Tosh, I know," Jack answered. He watched Tosh close her eyes before running to the computer to track Ianto's mobile.
The black SUV roared to a stop outside of the flat that Gwen and Rhys shared; Jack leapt out and thundered up the stairs. He didn't pause to knock; he just planted his boot on the door and kicked it in.
He walked into the flat and stared around at the destruction facing him. Furniture was overturned, photo frames were shattered and the glass crunched under his feet as he walked through the tiny front room. A trail of bloody footprints led to the bathroom, and Jack followed it to find Rhys lying on the floor in a pool of viscera and blood.
He bent down and closed the man's sightless eyes, "I'm so sorry Rhys."
With a growing knot of fear in his stomach, Jack stood and picked his way through the rest of the flat, desperately hoping that the dead man would be the only casualty that he would find. He cleared the small residence and ran back down to the SUV. He turned on the computer and ran the tracking program again, zeroing in on the blinking dot that he hoped was Ianto.
Not more than fifteen minutes later, Jack found himself pulling up to the ferry dock. He jumped out of the car and ran to the front of the small terminal. He didn't get too far inside the building before hearing a pained whimper from his left. He turned and found Ianto and Gwen backed against the wall. Ianto's red and tear streaked face a distinct contrast with the fact that he was holding Gwen at gunpoint.
"I had to do it."
Jack shook his head, "YOU didn't do anything, you're under the influence of alien tech. Ianto, come on, let Gwen go, we can still fix this."
The beleaguered man swallowed nervously before resting his eyes on the far wall. He tightened his hand on the gun under Gwen's chin, and shook his head. "What of her? I come back with you, and lose my memories back to infancy all so you can take up with her?"
"Ianto, I don't want a relationship with Jack. I just want Rhys, please, tell me he's alive and let me go back to him," Gwen pleaded, tears sliding down her pale face.
"You don't want him, you never, EVER did! He was a place holder, all I did was move him out of the way so you could be with Jack."
Jack growled and stalked towards Ianto, a menacing look sliding across his features in place of the panicky features of a man about to lose his lover. "I've had about all I'm going to take of this shit! You're going to let Gwen go now! You sound delusional Ianto, this is not YOU! Do you realize how pathetic you sound? Do you hear yourself? You sound weak, and completely insane! You sound like a shrieking harpy! The Ianto that I know has more than enough self-confidence to realize that he's the only one that I want."
"Too late!" Ianto hissed, putting a bullet in Gwen and dropping her lifeless body to the floor.
"NO!" shouted Jack, drawing his gun and holding it on Ianto. "Now, I can't let you go."
"You don't have a choice," the young man answered. His eyes grew wild and the gun in his hand wavered as he walked slowly away from Jack. "I checked the computer, there's a Rift spike happening here any minute, and I intend to ride it away from this planet. You want to prove that you truly want me? Come find me." He paused in front of the far wall, watching as a golden light began to bloom from it.
Ianto put one foot inside the light, and turned to face Jack, smiling sadly, he whispered, "But you won't, so this is goodbye."
"Ianto, Ianto, NO!" screamed the Captain. He charged at the Rift spike, and fell flat on his face as it abruptly sealed in front of him. He threw his gun away from him in frustration, "Fuck!" Jack raked his hands through his hair, and paced wildly as his heart hammered in his chest.
"Jack."
Jack started, and spun, staring in shock at Captain John Hart. "YOU?"
"No, not me," the other man said sadly.
"Me," a young man said, stepping out from behind another wall.
Dear Gods, is that Grey? No, no, no, no, it can't be him! I let go of his hand, he's dead.
"You left me alone, left me at the mercy of those horrible creatures, so I took away everything that ever meant anything to you. There's nothing on the end of that Rift spike, he's dead. Your family is gone, and it's all my doing."
"Grey, I'm sorry. I should have never, ever let go of your hand. Can you forgive me?"
"Never," the damaged man spat. "How does it feel to be completely alone?"
Jack closed his eyes against the tears threatening to drip down his face. This isn't my little brother, I can do this. I can subdue him before he hurts anyone else.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Jack whispered, pulling a Taser from the pocket of his greatcoat, and forcing his young brother into submission.
John Hart raced over and pinned the unstable man to the floor, pulling his infamous handcuffs from behind his back and securing Grey's arms. Jack and John allowed the young man to rage and scream; both of them lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes. Jack felt Hart gently touch his arm, and he turned, two pairs of tired and very old eyes meeting each other.
"I'll take him, and put him somewhere that he can't hurt anyone. The Stormcage has a wing for mentally unstable prisoners."
Jack shook his head, "Make sure you let them know that he's not evil, he's just sick."
"No Jack, he's evil. He's been holding me hostage, my vortex manipulator's been chemically bonded to my skin, he rigged it to be a bomb that would have detonated it if I hadn't have helped him. See, it's already dissolving. He made me bring the thing that possessed your Eye-Candy and plant it in the archives. It's a Gallifreyan soul trap, it holds a piece of a Time Lord's soul, and this one held part of one of the worst. Eye-Candy had to have been exposed for many weeks to reach this level of insanity."
"Ianto, his name was Ianto."
"Sorry, Ianto, I knew that. I'll go now, let me take this one away and get him situated in a nicely padded cell. I'm sorry for your losses," Hart said quietly. He pressed a button on the now loose manipulator, grabbed Grey, and vanished in flash of orange light.
Jack bent down and gently lifted the body of former PC Cooper off of the floor. He cradled her against his chest and let the tears that had been threatening finally fall. The captain wept for the brother he had now lost twice. He wept for the courageous woman in his arms, broken up over the fact that Torchwood had claimed her far too soon. Jack had no more tears to weep over what he might have had with Ianto. A hollow feeling filled the heart he had given freely, and been handed back to him in pieces.
My brilliant and brave Toshiko is the only one left. I have to get her out of Torchwood somehow.
Jack gently kissed Gwen's forehead and closed her eyes. He carried her slowly to the SUV and laid her down in the back. Jack drove back to the Hub and began the lengthy process of cleaning up the mess that Grey left behind. After closing the door on two of his friends and colleagues, he wandered back up to where Tosh was lying on the sofa. He lifted her feet before sliding under them to sit down with her.
"How are you feeling?"
"Numb," she said quietly.
"Me too," answered Jack.
The two remaining members of Torchwood sat in pained silence for what seemed like hours. Toshiko was just starting to fall asleep when Jack suddenly spoke.
"Let's get out of here."
"I'm sorry?"
"Toshiko, I'm going to call the Doctor. I want off of this planet, and I want you to come with me. You deserve some happiness and adventure that doesn't involve imminent threat of death or destruction."
"But what about Torchwood?"
"It's done."
"We have a job to do Jack, we can't just leave Earth undefended."
"Yes we can Tosh, it's our turn to be happy, let UNIT deal with the alien crap that falls through the Rift. I have a friend that can take over; she can lead a team from right here in the Hub. It's time that you and I get on with the business of living our lives, and in my case, I've got a lot of living to do."
Toshiko shook her head, "You don't mean that."
Jack nodded and gently patted her knee for emphasis. "Yes I do. I'm tired, and I know you are too. I want to show you that there are good things out there, because we never seem to see them from here."
"My family?"
"The Doctor will make sure that you can contact your family whenever you want, and if there is ever a point when you want to return to Earth, the Doctor will bring you home."
Toshiko nodded, "I trust you."
Jack smiled faintly and stood up. "Then I just have a few calls to make."
Almost one month later, Jack and Toshiko stood by the water tower, having said their goodbyes to Torchwood. They were waiting for the TARDIS and the erstwhile Doctor to appear.
"Is he always late?"
Jack nodded, "Yep, always. Never once have I known him to be on time, but the adventures are worth it."
"I'm glad to hear you say that!" a cheerful voice said from behind the water tower.
Both Jack and Toshiko turned and found a tall and rangy man with wild hair grinning at them.
"Hullo!"
"This isn't the Doctor that I remember."
"Dr. Sato, lovely to see you again. I assure you, it's me, I'm the same man, just a different face. My temperament is far less paternal this time around, and I seem to get in to more scrapes and situations that involve me yelling and shouting…and oddly, I keep finding women who keep falling for me."
Jack coughed, "Uh, not just women."
"Well, Jack, you're just a category in and of yourself. But, enough chit chat, let's get moving," chattered the Time Lord.
The Captain just grinned, "After you Tosh."
The young woman just rolled her eyes and sighed, "What did I sign up for?" She grabbed her rucksack and followed the Doctor around the water tower and into the blue police box. Tosh smiled at the sight before her, "It's wonderful."
"First time I've heard that, most people just tell me that it's bigger on the inside."
"Oh! Is it talking to me?"
"Uh, yes, SHE is," Jack answered coming through the door. "She's alive."
"Amazing," breathed the young woman.
"If you'll just go through that door, and follow the hall to the end, you'll find a room for yourself," said the Doctor.
"Sure," she replied distractedly, staring up around her…
Epilogue
Five months after they left the planet, the 456 landed on Earth, and without Captain Jack Harkness, ten percent of the world's children disappeared. Grey was right, he had indeed stolen everything that mattered to Jack, and the world suffered because of it.
Two years after that, the "miracle" happened, and the world was rendered immortal. Without Captain Jack Harkness, a solution wasn't identified until the ovens were burning, and a haze covered the skies of an already beleaguered planet.
But as the Doctor once famously said, human beings are resilient, and soon enough, the world soldiered on. Jack Harkness was left alone to travel the universe with the Time Lord and Toshiko, until the beautiful and brilliant woman fell in love with someone on a planet far away from Earth, and walked away from Jack forever. For a time, Jack and the Doctor traveled together until one day the Doctor looked at Jack, and told him something that the Captain had actually been thinking about for quite some time.
"It's time for you to go back to Earth."
"Why?"
"Something's gone wrong on Flat Holm. Martha contacted me and asked me to bring you back."
Jack sighed and thrummed his fingers on his knee, "Will you stay to help?"
The Doctor shook his head, "You won't need my help with this, go on, open the door, Martha's waiting for you. I'll be around, you know how to contact me, but something tells me you won't want to leave again."
Jack smiled and drew the Doctor into a tight hug, "Goodbye Doctor."
"No goodbyes, like I said, I'll be around."
Jack raised one arm in a salute and sauntered out the door of the TARDIS. He found himself just over the hill from the main entrance to the secure site for Rift returnees. He walked down the path and was about to buzz the intercom, but instead found the door swinging open to reveal a smiling Martha Jones.
"Martha, the Doctor just dropped me off, he said that there's a problem you needed my help with?"
"Jack, it is so good to see you! And no, there's not a problem; it's the most amazing thing! Come with me," she said happily. She slipped her hand in his and dragged him down the hall towards one of more isolated rooms. "You're never going to believe it!" she exclaimed, swiping her identification card through the reader and entering the room. Martha grabbed hold of Jack's coat and jerked him in the door, pointing ahead of her at the figure sitting in the window seat.
"He appeared about a month ago, looking just as healthy and young as you described him. He said the aliens on the other end of the Rift spike took him to a hospital and they wiped his mind clean of all outside influence. Of course, we can't let him leave the facility because of what he did, and how he was influenced to do what he did, but he's here! And he's been waiting for you."
"Hello Jack."
"Ianto?"