When red mist falls
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the ideas in my head, the words on my page and the keys on my laptop.
Author's note: Sorry this is so emo but hey we all do stuff like this every now and then.
Sci-fi
It started just after Owen and Tosh had died. Jack's emotions escaped the careful guard he kept of them and they wreaked havoc on him. He blamed himself entirely for what had happened to the pair. Jack couldn't cope with what was happening inside him. So he made it physical.
Ianto and Gwen both noticed the changes in their friend, boss and leader. They saw how what had happened to their team mates was tormenting and destroying their boss. They saw how Jack was starting to lose control of his anger and had a much shorter fuse.
Caring to much for both Jack and Gwen, Ianto put himself straight in Jack's firing line. Whenever he saw Jack start to lose control he sent Gwen home, no matter how strong the protest was, shut everything down for the night and went into Jack's office.
Jack knew when he was starting to lose control and he hated it. Which only made him angrier. He took his anger out on the first thing to hand. Ianto. Whether it was sex so violent Ianto had trouble hiding the blood stains or using Ianto as what could basically be described as a human punching bag.
Gwen was the first to notice the change in her team mate. He carried himself as though he was trying to disappear. The way he lost so much weight that the suits he wore would look better on their hangers than on their wearer. The way his eyes were always wary and how there were dark circles constantly under them. She saw the bruises and scars he tried to conceal. Once she had accidentally walked in on Ianto having a shower after a weevil hunt got nasty and saw the mottled black and blue bruises that covered his back and chest.
Ianto knew what was happening to him wasn't right but he couldn't let Jack hurt himself or disappear again. It was too big of a risk. So he let Jack use his body for relief no matter in which form it came. He lied to Gwen about his broken cheekbone, cracked ribs and countless cuts and bruises. He tried to keep himself healthy but taking in anything other than liquid just came right back up. So he drank coffee and kept doing what he did.
Jack realised what he was doing when he went to stroke Ianto's cheek and Ianto had flinched away. As if he was waiting for a blow instead of a loving touch. Jack looked, really looked at Ianto and was disgusted with what he saw. A barely healed bruise on Ianto's hollow cheek. Sunken in eyes with dark circle underneath. Eyes that no longer held that spark that that showed intelligence and a wit so sharp it could kill. The suit the hung limply over a skeletal frame. After seeing Ianto in the changing room later on that day, Jack saw bindings that could only be there to heal broken ribs. Only then did Jack realise what he'd done.
That night Ianto sent Gwen home without even looking to Jack's office to see of the action was necessary, it was routine now. He shut everything down for the night and walked into Jack's office.
He stood there in front of Jack's desk. not doing anything. Just waiting.
Jack Stared at Ianto. Ianto stared into nothing. After half an hour Ianto met Jack's gaze.
"I see you won't be needing my services tonight, Sir" Jack winced at the cold, empty tone that Ianto's voice had become. Ianto turned and walked to the door. As he turned the door handle Jack spoke.
"I'm sorry, Ianto" Ianto looked over his shoulder and merely 'hnn'ed and left.
With crushing force Jack realised two things. He had destroyed all trust Ianto had ever had in him, and that what Ianto had said the night he'd killed Lisa was true; Jack was a monster.