Recall
It was the dead of night. Next to him, Martha slept peacefully exhausted from a long day of travelling. Try as he might, Ianto couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. Rather than tossing and turning, and creating noise that would wake Martha, Ianto crept into the next room. Not turning on the light, Ianto used the dim moonlight to navigate his way through the room.
The cabin itself was in ruins, people having long since scavenged anything useful from the place. The roof was still intact and, remarkably, the water still worked, so he and Martha had chosen it to spend the night. Cold though it was, they'd both still rejoiced when it came time to have a shower. It'd been a long time since they'd had that luxury.
Carefully easing himself down onto the ground beneath the large bay window, Ianto let out a deep sigh. A month. It had been a month since the world had come to an end. It felt like so much longer, but he'd kept track of every single day, and it was only thirty days since the Toclafane had appeared. Ianto didn't want to think about how much longer that month would have been for Jack.
Placing his left arm across his drawn up knees, Ianto flipped open the cover of Jack's vortex manipulator. It was strange to be wearing something he had always associated with Jack. The only time he'd ever sent eh other man without it was the shower. Once, a long time ago, he'd asked Jack about its origin, but, as usual, Jack had been completely evasive, telling him only that it was broken so the rest didn't matter. While that may have been true a few weeks ago, Ianto now knew differently. When everything was back to normal, Ianto planned on asking Jack about the Time Agency. He couldn't guarantee that Jack would give him answers, but no harm would come from asking.
Over the past year, Ianto had seen Jack use his wrist strap countless times, but he'd never paid much attention to it. Martha only knew which buttons to press to make it work. Together they'd been trying to figure out how to make it work properly. Most importantly, they needed to find out how to set the coordinates. Ianto had visions of them materializing in the middle of a mountain or at the bottom of the sea. It was a fear Martha shared as well and was the main reason they hadn't used it yet, even when things became very dangerous.
i"Ianto, what is that?" Martha whispered, nudging him lightly.
Keeping his movements slow and smooth, Ianto reached for his gun. He hoped a quick shot into the air would scare the thing off. Of course, the opposite could always be true: one quick shot could serve as a dinner bell, calling it in to eat.
"Move towards the tree," Ianto said quietly. "Climb up as high as you can."
The thing took a step closer and Ianto wished fervently that he had one of Owen's all-purpose tranquilizers. It looked almost like a wolf, except Ianto had never seen a wolf with such a large, tooth-filled muzzle. He kept his eyes trained on the beast while listening behind him to be sure that Martha was safe.
"Martha?"
"I think I'm high enough."
Taking a deep breath, Ianto stepped closer to the werewolf film reject, his gun levelled at its head. Jack had made sure that he was an excellent shot. After what had happened with the cannibals at the Brecon Beacons, Jack had doubled up on all their field training sessions. Ianto's had been the most thorough, though for entirely different reasons.
When he was only about five paces away from the thing, well within striking distance, Ianto aimed between its eyes and squeezed the trigger. The beast had lunged at the exact same moment, so rather than hitting it where he'd intended, the bullet lodged itself in the alien's throat.
"Ianto!"
Jumping to the side, Ianto was barely able to avoid being tackled by it. He rolled, the motion carrying him back to his feet and he turned quickly to fire a second shot. That shot grazed the beast's shoulder. When it turned completely, Ianto fired again. The final shot was successful, hitting it between the eyes.
As it collapsed in a heap, Ianto staggered briefly, his arm dropping to his side. There was a slight twitch from the carcass so Ianto shot it quickly a final time./i
Though he hadn't realized it at first, the alien had managed to get him with its claws during its initial charge. There were three gashes on his left arm just above Jack's wrist strap that had required stitches. It was only after the adrenaline had worn off that he'd noticed the pain, and even now, three days later, it still ached a bit.
Still, a few cuts hardly mattered compared to what was happening to millions of others out there.
"Why couldn't you have told me how this works, Jack?" Ianto whispered, stroking the buttons. He must have pressed a bit too hard because suddenly the world lurched around him.
It did more than lurch. Ianto felt like he was being stretched and compressed all at once. He couldn't see anything except a strange blue haze before his eyes and his stomach felt as though he'd spun around one too many times on a swivel chair.
Then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
Ianto felt the strange sensation of the world suddenly stopping after one too many rides on the Tilt-a-Whirl. It took a few long moments for his head to stop spinning, and when it did, Ianto found himself in a room that he'd only seen through a television screen.
The control deck of The Valiant.
"What are you doing with that?"
Ianto spun about on hands and knees only to see an old man sitting on the ground in front of a tent. "What?"
"I believe I asked you that first," the old man said. The man, who if his guess was right, was none other than Torchwood's #1 enemy, the Doctor. "What are you doing with something that belongs to Jack Harkness?"
"Captain," Ianto corrected automatically. He then jumped to his feet, looking about the room. "Where is he? Where has that monster taken Jack?"
"You're Torchwood," the wizened old Doctor murmured.
"No, I'm Ianto Jones. Now where's Jack? I'll find him anyway, but please tell me where he is. I'd rather not get caught wandering about."
The Doctor stared heavily at Ianto, who could feel a slight niggling at the edges of his mind. Like an itch that he couldn't quite scratch.
"Jack's down in the boiler room," the Doctor said at last. "I don't... I can't guarantee that he'll be fit for company."
Ianto merely shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I just want to see him. I ineed/i to see him."
The Doctor gave Ianto instructions on how to get down to the boiler room.
"How's Martha?" the Doctor asked as Ianto turned towards the door.
Pausing, Ianto turned back and gave him a tight smile. "She's okay. She's alive."
"Good... Good," the Doctor murmured to himself. Then he smiled at Ianto. "Take care of her, Ianto Jones."
"I will."
He didn't bother to ask the Doctor to do what he could to take care of Jack. He could barely take care of himself.
xxxxxxxxxx
It took Ianto about fifteen minutes to find the boiler room. He had to move quietly and carefully in order to avoid being caught. There were surprisingly few guards, but, given the control the Master had, they weren't entirely necessary. Even with all his training, Ianto wouldn't dare to confront Harold Saxon.
When he stood in front of the door that would take him into the boiler room, Ianto found himself faltering. Jack was on the other side of the door. He was doing it all for Jack. His captain had been missing for nearly three months and now that he was finally there, Ianto was scared to see him. Shaking his head to dispel any doubts, Ianto put his hand on the door and pushed it open.
At first, all Ianto could see were the odd shapes of machinery visible through dense clouds of steam. He crept in further, his eyes scanning about constantly, searching out either guards or Jack. He hoped his luck would hold out and that there'd be none of the former. Ianto didn't have any weapons as he hadn't planned on ending up on the Valiant. There was a small army knife in the pocket of his combat trousers, but he'd left his gun in the bedroom under his pillow.
"I know my internal clock's a little off, but even I know this is too early for a visit."
Ianto's steps faltered momentarily. "Jack?"
Without thinking about it, Ianto rushed forward towards the sound of Jack's voice. It didn't matter any long what could happen to him if he was caught, or what had happened to Jack during the time they'd been apart, all that mattered was that Jack was there. Jack was so very, very close.
"Jack!" Ianto called louder when he couldn't immediately see the older man.
"Ianto?"
Then there he was. Chained up and filthy, but very much alive.
"Jack," Ianto moaned, hurrying across the space that separated them. Uncaring of the dirt, grime, or dried blood, Ianto clasped Jack's face in his hands, mashing their lips together. Jack tasted exactly as Ianto remembered and for a few minutes Ianto forgot everything else but that taste and the feel of Jack's body against his.
"What are you doing here?" Jack demanded breathlessly, his lips moving softly over Ianto's.
Ianto shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'm here. Where are the keys for these things?"
Tilting his head to the side a little, Jack nodded somewhere just over Ianto's shoulder. Turning his head, Ianto saw the key in question hanging from a hook on the wall opposite. Ianto could understand the cruelty in it, keeping freedom within sight, but always out of reach.
Kissing Jack a second time, Ianto took a step back and hurried over to retrieve the key. He knew better than to ask Jack to come with him—if Jack had wanted to escape, he could have at the very beginning of it all—but he wanted to feel Jack's arms around him once. He needed to do something.
"I knew that I should have made those uniforms mandatory for all field missions," Jack mused as Ianto returned with the key.
Cheerful as he tried to be, Ianto could easily spot the pain in his eyes, along with the exhaustion. Jack had died so many times in so many ways over the past month, it was only natural that it would start to takes its toll on him. Even so, Ianto was still startled by the swallowed cry that spilled from Jack's lips when Ianto freed his arms.
"I've got you," Ianto murmured as he lowered himself and Jack to the ground. The floor was a mess, covered with grease, dirt, and what Ianto knew was Jack's blood. So very much of it. They were tangled together, arms and legs twisted about so that they could be pressed as closely as possible.
Jack burrowed his face into Ianto's neck and stayed there for several long minutes. Ianto carded his fingers through Jack's hair while his right hand stroked idly up and down Jack's back. In that moment, Ianto wanted nothing more than to push whatever button on the vortex manipulator that would take him and Jack somewhere safe. Only that was something they couldn't do. Torchwood was meant to keep the world safe. Even at the cost of their own lives.
"You shouldn't be here," Jack said after a while, his voice barely above a whisper. "You should be back at the Hub, safe from all this."
Ianto snorted, pressing a kiss to Jack's temple. "Like you are? You could have escaped, Jack. You all could have escaped."
"No, we couldn't."
The words were barely audible, but there was a definitiveness to the worlds all the same. And even though he wished it were otherwise, Ianto had expected as much. Jack was the distraction. He was keeping Martha's family safe and doing what he could to distract Saxon so that the Doctor had time to do what he needed.
"I know better than to ask you to come back with me," Ianto whispered, squeezing Jack tight as he dared. "I wish that you would, though."
Lifting his head, Jack smiled sadly at Ianto. "Trust me, there's nothing more I want now than to be back at the Hub drinking some of your coffee. I'll even put up with Owen's griping if it means we're back home."
Ianto ran his fingers through Jack's greasy, filthy hair, massaging the back of his skull with his fingertips. He pressed his forehead to Jack's, sliding their noses alongside one another. He didn't care about the dirt, or the smell of death that lingered around Jack. He just wanted to be able to hold onto Jack for as long as possible.
"You can't stay here," Jack murmured, pulling back just enough so that he could meet Ianto's gaze. "You need to get back to Martha and keep doing what you're doing. In the end, the two of you are gonna save us all."
Ianto shook his head. "No. Jack, I can't. Don't ask me to leave you here."
Jack pursed his lips in a thin smile. "You have to, Ianto."
Clasping Jack's face between his hands, Ianto drew him close once again, kissing him desperately. He'd known that Jack would force him to leave alone, but now that the time had arrived, Ianto didn't think he would be able to.
The decision was taken from him.
In the distance there was the echo of footsteps. Quick, pounding footsteps that heralded the approach of soldiers. Ianto knew that he should have checked for CCTV cameras, but it was too late for that. They were coming and Jack would pay the consequences.
Jack flung himself away from Ianto, causing both of them to fall onto the backs. Before Ianto had time to right himself, Jack had hold of his left wrist and flipped open the flap of his wrist strap.
"I'm sorry," Jack said as he punched a quick series of buttons. He leaned in, kissed Ianto one final time and then pulled back at the same moment he pressed the final button.
Ianto vaguely heard the door to the boiler room slam open as the world once again compressed around him.
