Title: Let's start again
Category: TV Shows » Torchwood
Author: Rebekah Reynolds
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance
Published: 06-15-11, Updated: 11-20-11
Chapters: 16, Words: 28,475
Chapter 1: This wasn't what I wanted
Pairing - Janto
Warnings - Slash
Disclaimer - Obviously I don't own Torchwood, I own the series on DVD but I doubt that means I'll be paid for writing this. Everything but the plot belongs to the BBC and Russell T Davies.
Ianto Jones was numb. He sat, soaked to the bone in the freezing pool of water in the HUB leaning back against the towering plass and staring at nothing.
'How the hell did this happen? This wasn't what I wanted.'
No, when Ianto had brought Lisa to Cardiff he could have never imagined something like this happening. Three people were dead; Dr. Tanazaki - the man who was supposed to be their saviour, the man who was supposed to open the door to his future with Lisa, had been killed by the hands of the person he tried to save. The pizza girl, he couldn't even remember her name – she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Lisa, Lisa had been his everything. She was his only reason for being since he left London; everything he had done had been to keep her safe, to make sure that they would be together. He was going to make her better. Damn Jack and his "there is no cure."
Jack, oh God. Jack was going to kill him, or maybe if he was lucky just RETCON him. Who was Ianto kidding? he had manipulated the entire team from the moment he joined Torchwood three and almost gotten them all killed. He was as good as dead.
It was Jack who caused Ianto to snap out of his far away, almost catatonic state – or rather, Jack's shoes. Captain Jack Harkness, looking every bit the fearless leader of a secret organisation, was stood calf deep in a pool of cold water, ruining his vintage shoes. Ianto would have found it funny if he wasn't terrified to find that he'd never seen anything as cold as those ice blue eyes looking down at him.
"With me." He commanded, turning his back on Ianto and heading up towards the tourist office.
The younger man could practically feel the anger rolling off him as he walked away, and as much as Ianto would have liked to curl up into a ball and disappear, he forced himself to stand, brushing himself off uselessly (his suit was covered in blood and dirt and was beyond the help of even Ianto's laundry skills). Rather than leaving Jack angry for having to wait, Ianto forced himself up and began the walk to the tourist office. It had never seemed such a huge distance in the past. He felt every bit the condemned man on his way to the gallows with the eyes of his co-workers, the team-mates he had betrayed, on his back.
All the way up to the office, Ianto had tried to think, to think of anything that he could say which could make up for this, but he came up blank. At the end of the grey corridor, the young archivist took a deep breath and prepared himself as best he could to face what was coming. As soon as he stepped through the secret door he was faced with his commander, leaning against the tall desk with his arms folded across his chest and his expression unreadable.
Despite his situation, Ianto found himself worrying about the small puddles his dripping suit was leaving on the floor, not so noticeable on the steel and concrete of the HUB below but which created obvious, almost accusing dark spots on the worn red carpet of the office.
Jack turned his back to Ianto for a moment and retrieved a white plastic box that was on the desk amongst the tourist maps and bus timetables.
"Gun. ID. Phone. Keys." he held out the box for Ianto to put them inside, from this angle he could see his name, date of birth and Torchwood agent number written on a small form on the top in Jack's messy handwriting.
Reluctantly, and somewhat confused, Ianto handed over the keys to the SUV and HUB - removing them from his own key chain – his work mobile and Torchwood ID. The gun, he never wanted to see it again so he quickly removed the magazine and placed them both into the box with his other effects. The Captain sealed the box with a piece of tape with TORCHWOOD printed on it (not unlike police evidence tape) and Ianto watched as Jack put the box back on the counter.
When Jack turned back to Ianto he opened his hand to reveal an all too familiar white pill and a plastic cup filled with water. With shaking hands Ianto reached out and took the cup and pill from him. Jack watched him swallow the pill then drink down the rest of the water. Taking one last look at the young man in front of him, soaked, shivering, scared and exhausted, Captain Jack Harkness sent him on his way.
He hoped never to see that young man again.
AN – dun dun duuuuuuun! did I just RETCON Ianto in the first chapter? Yes I did! Because I'm evil!