Feeling something warm lightly stroke his cheek, the corner of Ianto's mouth curls in a half grin.
"Jack."
He fights to open his heavy eyelids. Gazing around the hospital room, his tired eyes take a moment to focus on the disheveled figure sitting in a chair beside his bed. Shocked and disoriented by his appearance, a panic spreads through him. "What's happened?"
Jack looks like he's been through hell... clothes dirty and tattered, eyes glassy and bloodshot, cheeks tearstained. Looking away, he shakes his head in shame. "It's all my fault. You, Tosh, Owen,... Steven..." Upon saying his grandson's name, he puts his face in his hands, trying to stop the tears.
Frantic, Ianto reaches over the rail of the hospital bed and pulls one of Jack's hands from his face. "Jack! Talk to me!" He softens a bit... seeing Jack cry makes him want to cry. He entwines their fingers together and gives his hand a gentle squeeze. "What's happened?"
"The 456 is gone. Your sister and her family are safe. And I have to go."
His grin from the good news quickly fades. "Go? Go where?"
Jack smirks, thinking to himself, "We are SO a couple." He takes a deep breath and prepares himself. "Away. So I can't hurt you or anyone else on this planet ever again."
Ianto's forehead furrows and his jaw drops, breath catching in his throat. "Wha.. why?! Jack, this planet won't survive without you to defend it!" His voice drops down a bit softer, "..and neither will I." Exhaling a shaky breath, he tries not to breakdown into hysterics.
Eerily calm, Jack grins down at him, "You'll be fine. You'll find a nice, safe desk job somewhere, marry a nice girl, have lots of babies, grow even more handsome with gray hair, and eventually die warm in your bed of old age."
Shaking his head as the tears stream down his face, he mumbles softly, "I'd rather die young and have you stay with me... even if I only live for one more day."
"Ianto... you have no idea what you're saying. You don't even know me... all of the horrible things I've done. I can't live with myself, knowing I've caused so much pain and death. And yet, that is my curse... to have to live on.. forever.. with the burden of what I've done." He closes his eyes, disgusted with himself. "You were right, Ianto. All this time, I thought that I was the hero, but I'm the biggest monster of them all."
"I was wrong! You've done so much good! Do a couple of mistakes cancel out all the good?!"
"Maybe not, but I can't afford to make any more mistakes. The only good that I can do for you... is give you a clean slate..." Jack reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small white pill. "...a life without the horrors of Torchwood.. the horrors I bring."
Ianto shakes his head frantically, "No! Never! I don't want to forget!"
"I'm not offering you a choice. You either take a Retcon willingly, or I put it in your IV..." he mumbles, "well I guess that kinda is a choice."
"Jack, please!" he sobs. "Please, don't do this! I don't care about your past. Everyone has baggage. I need you! Now more than ever!"
Jack shakes his head, gently placing his hand on Ianto's cheek. "You'll be better off without me. Please trust me on that. I've been around a long.. LONG time. I've got more than just a couple pieces of baggage... I've got a whole storage facility."
Sniffling, Ianto whispers sympathetically, "Sounds like you're the one who needs to forget. Maybe you should give yourself a clean slate."
He gives his head a little shake. "Too dangerous. If you forget your mistakes, you're bound to make them again."
Terrified by the resolve in Jack's eyes, Ianto trembles. "Please, Jack.." he begs through his tears, clutching Jack's hand that's against his cheek.
His eyes shining with unshed tears, Jack whispers, "Goodbye, Ianto." Reaching over to the IV tube, he pushes the tiny pill through the needle port. It dissolves almost instantly.
"NO!" Ianto yells, reaching for the tube attached to the needle in his arm.
Jack reflexively pins his arms down to the bed before he can remove the IV. He continues to whisper as Ianto begins thrashing and sobbing, "I'm doing this for you... to give you a better life... because.. I love you."
Crying inconsolably, Ianto gives up fighting against Jack's restraints, the pill already taking effect. He locks eyes with Jack and whimpers, "I love you. I will always love you. I won't forget. I won't."
Jack grins sadly down at him, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes,
"Yes... you will."
"Never." Ianto's eyelids start to droop, exhaustion from the sedative washing over him. Feeling the gentle pressure of warm lips on his forehead, he mumbles in a half-asleep whisper, "Jack... Jack... Jack..."
