AUTHORS NOTE: I would like to thank Mewknight and whitecrossgirl for the reviews. I respect and read all of the reviews! (Only two so far.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood! As much as I love Ianto.
The day went by slowly. Too slowly. First thing first, we got Ianto out of there. I didn't know what this was. I didn't know why Ianto was still alive. Was he like me? Was he able to live now, after every death? I wasn't going to test that, but the curiosity was nagging in my head.
He was sitting next to me, watching my facial expressions, while we sat near the red bags. I could tell that he wanted to get out of here. And we still had something to take care of. "What are we going to do about the 456?" He asked. That was my Ianto, getting straight down to business.
I sighed. "Ianto, go check up on your sister. Gwen, I want you and Rhys to go with him." For a second, Ianto looked like he was going to protest. I stopped him.
"No, Ianto, I want you to go. And I know you want to, too. Trust me, your sister needs you."
Ianto sighed, and nodded. "Yes sir. " I looked into his disappointed eyes, and leaned over to kiss his lips softly. He stood up, and Gwen was about to follow. I pulled Gwen into a hug though, stopping her.
Whispering in her ear, so no one could hear, I said, "Keep an eye on him Gwen. Keep him safe." She nodded when I pulled away. She gave a crooked, reassuring smile. Then, they left.
(Ianto POV)
Rhys was in the car when we got there. I smiled at him softly, and he smiled back. I let Gwen climb into the front seat, while I sat in the back. She talked to her husband about small matters, hoping desperately that things would be back to normal soon. With Jack, I assumed that it would be better really soon.
We arrived at Rhiannon's house and I quickly climbed out of the car. I ran inside, and immediately saw more than a dozen kids, all the kids from the neighborhood. Rhiannon saw me and ran into my arms. "Oh Ianto! I was so worried. Are you okay?"
I hugged my sister while Gwen and Rhys walked into the room. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Nothing to worry about." My Welsh accent seemed even more defined around my sister. Looking around, I could see all the other kids, looking at me in hope. Then I heard noises. Gwen looked out the window, her eyes widening in fear.
"Ianto, we need to get these kids somewhere safe."
I walked over to see what she did. Men from the military had started to arrive, prepared to take the children. They were knocking on family's doors, demanding their kids. I turned to Rhiannon. "The warehouse. Get all the kids in the warehouse. We can hide them in there."
She nodded, and started to usher the kids out of the room, through the back, and into a special warehouse. Thankfully, her house was one of the last on the block, so we had gotten the kids out by the time the guys came knocking on our door. We went into the warehouse, and hid.
We hid for a good fifteen minutes. They must have been thoroughly searching each and every house, because it seemed like a pretty decent amount of time. We tried to think of a good way out. Gwen made a small video, but I couldn't listen to her. The words she was saying, they were so true, and yet so painful to listen to, so I blocked her out. The Rhys, who was the look out, turned to us in horror. "They're coming."
I turned to the children. "Quick, get out of here. Run. Gwen, Rhiannon, you help them. Rhys, we're going to hold these men back."
Gwen stepped up, shaking her head. "No, Ianto, you go with the children. We don't want you getting hurt."
I sighed. Jack must have said something to her. But she had a point. I had already died once. I didn't want to do it again. "Fine. But don't treat me like a child." We really didn't have time for pleasantries though, so after that was said, we got to work. I ushered the kids out of the back of the warehouse, and watched as they started to run. Gwen and Rhys stepped out of the front. They started to attack the men from the military. Soon, fathers from the neighborhood stepped in to help. However, there were more than we could handle, and they started to chase after the children.
I ran with the children, falling behind a little to make sure they would all get to safety. We weren't fast enough. The men caught up with us, and started to grab the kids. I tried to stop them, but they grabbed my arms from behind, pushing me to the ground. Even my trained combat couldn't help me. This was all happening so fast.
Then I heard another noise. A screaming noise. A dull screaming, coming from each and every child. My eyes widened. Even my niece was screaming. What was going on? What was the 456 doing? Did it involve Jack? The screaming went on for five minutes. Even the men in the military froze and watched it with horror.
Surely they had kids. They must have been worried for their own children. …Then the screaming stopped. The children stopped. They looked around, eyes wide in fright. They were scared of the men. But the men didn't make any more moves. One man heard a voice in his earpiece. He called off his men.
They all left in a hurry. We still had the kids. I was curious. "Rhiannon, bring the kids back to the house. Lock the door. Don't let anyone in the house until I say otherwise." She gave me a quick nod, before I rushed up to Gwen. She still had in her Torchwood earpiece, and the look she gave me was haunting.
"Ianto. It's Jack." I immediately started to panic. What was going on with Jack? What happened? The look on my face must have given me away, because she put her small hand on my shoulder. "He destroyed the 456… but… but to do so he had to sacrifice a child… Ianto, he sacrificed his grandson."
My eyes widened in the same way hers had been when I first saw her. I was shocked. Jack must be hurting so much right now. He needed someone to comfort him. He needed me. So I grabbed Gwen's hand and started to pull her towards the vehicle. "Gwen, take me to Jack."
She started to protest. "NOW!" I shouted, getting her to jump into the car and start the engine. She pressed the accelerator, and we were on our way. The high way was blocked. Dozens of military vehicles were crowding it, so we took short cuts. She took me to Jack, and she did it quickly. I thank her for that.
I hopped out of the car and ran into the building. I followed Gwen's instructions, turning down various hallways. Finally, I saw Jack crouched down. He was sobbing into his hands. He was crushed. I ran up to him, slightly out of breath. "Jack…" He looked up at me. The tears were spilling over his face.
"It's my fault." He murmured. I shook my head, but he continued. "I killed him Ianto. I killed my grandson. And it's all my fault." I knew how much of a burden this all was for him. Kneeling down, I wrapped my arms around his shoulder.
"Jack, you couldn't have prevented this. There was no other option." I whispered to him, hoping he would see where I was coming from. He didn't. So I wrapped my arms around him completely, adjusting the both of us so his face was buried into my shoulder. Him crying pained me more than anything. What would he have felt if I had actually died as well?
Half an hour passed by. Gwen joined us sometime during that time period, but I didn't notice her. She stood off to the side. There was still business to do, but Jack couldn't handle business right now. Jack couldn't handle anything. So I continued to comfort him. I knew it would take time to mend his broken heart. At least I could be there to help him.
As he cried into my shoulder, I could only say one thing. One thing over and over again. It seemed like a pretty useless thing to say, but I believed it. I wanted him to believe it too.
"It's not your fault."
