A/N: Jack on a mission

Beta-ed: TattoedLibrarian


Jack was unsettled by this version of Ianto. He was unsettled with all of them but this one was out of sync. It just didn't represent the Ianto he remembered well. He wondered why that was, had they mixed in some other personal memories to make it work? The disturbing part was that he didn't know in which way those versions would work on him. What was their purpose? Why did they arrive at this particular moment?

The war with Flesh was hard and unforgiving. It wasn't easy to combat those you love, or yourself in most cases, but the treaty that the Doctor suggested did persist and more and more Flesh chose to partake in ordinary life, choosing different paths than their originals. Like this Ianto would do calmly. Why was he so calm about it?

But the problem with Flesh was that it had been in usage for decades and many parts of it went wild in the process. Especially the ones that worked on poisonous planets and tasks where they would die over and over again. Maybe that was why they chose Jack to negotiate with that kind of crazy Flesh. He understood how annoying dying could get but for the most part he couldn't be replicated, not convincingly at least. Everything that Flesh would produce would die screaming in matter of seconds. Maybe that's why Flesh didn't like to touch him. Even the Iantos that would throw themselves over Jack would wince in pain.

His crew consisted of a few that, like him, weren't easily reproduced by Flesh. Being made by humans, Flesh had the flaw of being too human-like. Memories and values of other species was foreign to Flesh. In matter of speaking, Flesh was really a human child trying to express itself through violence and tricks of all sorts. Ianto was a trick, but Jack couldn't make out what kind.

Jack watched Ianto's profile as he sorted through planets that were offered, non-hostile, alien-friendly and out of harm's way and he couldn't help but wonder how he would get by on any of those worlds, how other the Iantos are getting by.

Jack sighed, trying to focus on their task. Maybe that was the point, maybe Ianto's purpose was to distract him enough to fail. This journey was important enough for a stunt like that. They were approaching the central hive of Flesh in the System of Cascading Stars.

"Wow", the false Ianto approached the screen that showed a swirl of stars moving so rapidly that it looked like a waterfall. Jack imagined that the real Ianto would be amazed accordingly. "Won't it suck us in and squash us to death?" this Ianto frowned and Jack got angry.

"It's a beautiful sight" he snapped at him. "Enjoy it for a moment and give us some credit in steering the ship."

He felt the haul vibrating but Trianca was skilled enough, that's why she was hired by the Shadow Proclamation.

Ianto frowned, not diverting his gaze from the screen. Obviously it wasn't so keen on dying like it seemed at the beginning.

"I really wouldn't like to be stuck out here" he said when the vibration stopped and they approached Loodon-Bun system where there used to be a star harvesting unit. Flesh would be dropped into the swirl and people navigating the Flesh-selves would rocket particles of the purest diamonds out of the gravitational field and just before they would be sucked in, they would leave the Flesh to be squashed alone. Maybe this false Ianto had some suppressed memory of that.

"If we make it out of here alive" said Trianca finally resting her hands on the console as they began their descent towards the station where the factory used to be. "I'll take you to a more approachable place."

"New Earth seems fine" he said absently. "If it weren't for the talking cat business. Is there anywhere just human anymore?"

"What?" Trianca laughed. "A Flesh that's xenophobic? That's a laugh" she shook her head.

"I'm not…" the false Ianto blushed and Jack smiled a bit, if this Flesh Ianto was anything like the original, shame would be in order. "I just… it's a habit thing. I don't know how to address to them, what they are like, what's polite, so I think I would be considered rude soon enough on a planet like that."

Trianca stared at him.

"Well, for now you're not staring at Vren's hands and you didn't poke my antennae so I think you'll be fine" she navigated them through an opening shaft and Jack tried to see hidden shooters at the docking bay.

"Antennae?" false Ianto was confused leaning towards her head.

"It's not hair" Jack murmured. "I think that's our welcoming party."


I wonder how this goes. What's your thoughts of it?