Manifest Destiny

here is the next part, I hope everyone enjoys.

Ianto may be a little dark, but at this point, we're still in Lisa-ville. I'm torn about the format, but, I'll see how it plays out.


Part 1: Everything Changes

"Oh hi, sorry I'm late. Someone ordered pizza?"

Ianto watches this woman, this girl, enter the Tourist office with wary eyes.

This could be the one, he thinks, that could change everything; this is the one that could be dangerous. Gwen Cooper is a vivacious and spirited woman, dogged, and she reminds him of Lisa as she had been, when she had pursued him in the Tower; how she had been persistent with gaining his favour, his affection. His attention.

And now this young PC has caught Jack's attention and she's pursuing the Captain and Torchwood with the same determination that Ianto fears. Because, for the first time since Ianto had been in Cardiff, Jack is sitting up and taking notice, no longer distracted, no longer distanced, no longer shut up in his office with the Hand and his thoughts.

No, Jack has finally opened his eyes and is seeing.

And Ianto fears, for as Jack is finally taking notice, how long until he takes notice of what Ianto has hidden in his basement?

It had been so easy, so incredibly easy for him to sneak Lisa into the Hub; it had actually been harder to get Jack to hire him. While he had hidden his own files, he had read all of Torchwood's, and it was what had been implied that had said more than what had actually been written about Jack Harkness that led Ianto into the dance the two of them had performed in that week; give and take of words, sex and coffee, and when that hadn't worked he had resorted to intrigue and a dinosaur.

Months later he still wasn't sure if it was Jack falling for his sudden charms (and suit) that had got him the job, or if it had been the dinosaur.

Compared to Jack the others had been easy to win over: quiet and shy Toshiko, degrading and sharp-edged Owen, and the aloof Suzie. A single day of good coffee and immaculate service and they had been his. And as he had gone about his duties, so familiar as he fell into the patterns of being invisible, he had slowly felt Jack's suspicion fade into acceptance and flirting, and his goal had been accomplished.

And now her.

These are the parts of himself that he hates, that he buries and closes off, and has only let Lisa seen on rare days when Owen's barbs, Jack's innuendos, and Suzie's condescension wear him down to what he was in the Tower; she had been the voice of calm in his rage before, and continued to be even through her pain, and he lets the thoughts of her strength give him his.

Yet the anger still remains, still churns, and if not for Lisa he would delete this existence and walk away. He watches Owen's self-respect crumble and says nothing. He watches Tosh pine and hope and offers no words of comfort. He sees the dying of Suzie's sanity and is silent. When he's alone in Jack's office and the Hand twitches in his direction, he moves away.

The darkest parts of him know how easy it would be to just kill Gwen Cooper, end her possibilities, and how it would simplify everything despite the wrong of such actions. He fears what his mother would think of him for these thoughts.

Somehow he knows that his father would approve.

But the woman who waits in the tunnels of the Hub stills his hand, and on Jack's say so, he opens the door to let her into Torchwood.

Later he will delete all evidence of them from her life.

For now, he will smile.

Cooper stays. Suzie's gone.

Suzie's dead.

He isn't sure how he feels about the fact that Suzie's gone, and Gwen most assuredly is taking her place. Regret, possibly, for the loss of such a vibrant mind, but sadness? If it wasn't for Lisa, perhaps-- Suzie was a threat, but Gwen is the lesser one.

He hopes.

At Jack's instruction he locks the Glove away and watches the interactions of the two, how Jack simultaneously attracts and repels, and how Gwen is succumbing to his charm. He would call it pathetic, but, isn't he the same? He isn't a fool, and he isn't careless, yet there is something about Jack that invites freedom, and freedom is something that Ianto hasn't had for a long time. Jack may be a temptation but Ianto is realistic; Lisa has him, and even if she didn't, he had seen the way that Jack dealt with the aliens that came to Cardiff. Ianto was the one who had to clean up the blood and the intestines and refill the stock in the armoury.

No.

Jack is a temptation that Ianto would do well to avoid.


okay, next time: Day One

I think I'm going to go through the episodes and lead up to Last of the Time Lords.

Let me know if each ep should have a seperate chapter, or if I should start scrunching.