7
Ianto sat in silence after that, jostling back and forth with the Transporter's repetitive, clacking rhythm, thinking of his unborn child and trying not to lose hope.
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Jack, Gray, and Marshal Potts galloped into Caldwell the following morning, just behind the arriving Transporter and the black cloud of coal dust that sputtered out the front chimney.
The hoppers were overheated and so was Jack after riding all night with little time to rest.
It was the price he would pay for a second chance—a second chance he hoped he would receive.
The Transporter, chugging ominously into the station, hissed and blew white steam onto the platform.
The three men trotted alongside, Jack standing up to peer in the windows at the passengers milling about in the aisles, picking up their bags.
His heart ached with the possibility that Ianto was not even on board.
How would he ever find him again?
The Transporter scraped noisily along the platform's edging as it grinded to a halt.
They ran to the back of the Transporter, feet crunching over gravel, and climbed aboard.
Jack led the way up the aisle, pushing his way through the passengers already standing. He and the marshal walked through two cars and found nothing, but when they reached the third, Jack froze, his heart galloping at a frenzied pace.
There it was.
That familiar purple hat.
A noise escaped from deep inside his chest.
He was here. He'd not lost him.
Taking an anxious step forward, he remembered that Lisant was supposed to be here, too. He scrutinized the man beside Ianto, and though he could only see the backs of their heads, he recognized that black top hat.
A new realm of possibilities yawned in Jack's face.
What if he actually wanted to be with Lisant after everything Jack had put him through?
He'd annulled their marriage.
He could only imagine what tales Lisant had told him.
He felt the marshal's hand on his shoulder. "Do you see him?"
Heart racing, Jack pointed. "Yes, that's him. Beside Ianto, the one in the purple hat."
Marshal Potts moved past Jack. "That's some hat."
He walked up the aisle which had, by now, cleared of passengers, and reached their seat near the front. "Are you Lisant Hallet?"
Jack watched from the back, needing to see how Ianto would react.
Ianto turned his head to look up at the marshal, his sweet profile revealing full lips parting in surprise.
Lisant paused, eyeing the marshal's silver badge. "Yes. Is there a problem?"
Marshal Potts reached down and took hold of his arm. "Yes, sir. You're under arrest. You'll need to come with me now."
Ianto stood up in a panic. "No!"
A spark of grief ignited inside Jack.
He wanted to protect Lisant?
In the next instant, he saw clearly what he was yelling about.
Lisant had a pistol.
He pointed it at the marshal and fired.
Jack didn't think.
There was no time.
As the recoil thundered in his ears, he lunged forward.
The marshal fell back into the seats across the aisle. Lisant turned, cocked and pointing the gun at Jack, who heard Ianto's cry, muffled as if from a great distance. "Lisant, stop!"
Jack reached Lisant before he could pull the trigger and tackled him.
They both fell into the aisle. Jack landed on top and his chin impacted with Lisant's forehead.
Twisting and writhing, Jack grabbed for the gun.
Passengers screamed and yelled.
Noise and confusion rebounded off the walls.
The barrel of the gun was jabbing into Jack's gut.
Terror mixed with rage coursed through him.
His life was hanging on a thread.
He grunted as he jerked his hand to turn the barrel away.
Something clicked.
The sound echoed inside his head, and the gun went off.
Lisant and Jack stared at each other in bewilderment, then Lisant's head tipped back and he relaxed on the floor of the Transporter.
His eyes fell closed.
All the chaos and screaming of seconds ago retreated.
A hand touched Jack's shoulder.
He knew that touch.
With a start, he scrambled to his feet, realizing he'd been lying on top of a dead man. Ianto took him by the arm and pulled him around to face him.
"Are you all right?" His face was pale and tight with worry.
"I'm fine." But his hands were shaking.
A groan sounded from the seat behind them.
The marshal.
They turned, just as Gray came running up the aisle. "What happened?"
Jack leaned over Marshal Potts.
Blood had stained his shirt at the shoulder.
The marshal's cheek twitched. "I think I need a doctor."
"Gray, fetch help," Jack said.
White-faced with shock, Gray ran out. Ianto moved in close and took hold of the marshal's hand.
"You're going to be fine," he said. "Thank you so much for coming to my rescue."
He blinked a few times, and worked hard to suck in a breath. "You're welcome.
And that's a very fetching hat, Mr. Harkness. I can't say that I've ever seen anything quite like it."
Then the marshal closed his eyes, said, "I think it's time for me to retire…" and passed out.
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After telling their stories to the Caldwell marshal, Ianto and Jack watched in relief as the doctor took Marshal Potts away on the back of skipper.
Ianto carried his hat in his hand and stepped off the Transporter into the clear light of a sunny day.
He breathed in the scent of coal smoke on the air and the familiar animal smells that told him this, like Boeshane City, was a cow town.
Other passengers milled about on the depot platform, and there was a low hum of conversation, undoubtedly about the recent disturbance.
He felt Jack step down behind him and his heart tightened with longing.
He could not turn around.
He could not look up at him.
He was too afraid to hope.
Gray hopped off the last step and stood on the platform. "That was close. You both could have been killed."
Ianto finally turned around.
Jack stood tall and strong with his hair resting lightly on his broad shoulders, his expression unreadable.
Oh, how Ianto wanted to forget about everything that had gone wrong between them and dash straight into his arms.
Ianto lowered his head, wanting to tell Jack about the baby, but not in front of
Gray.
What if Jack already planned to marry Gwen?
What would happen then?
The three stood in awkward silence for a moment or two, staring at the wood planks beneath their feet. Gray scratched his head. "Maybe I'll go check on the hoppers."
Jack called after him. "Check the Transporter schedule, too, Gray."
"Will do."
Ianto felt his hopes die a little.
Perhaps he meant to see him off.
All of a sudden, Jack wrapped his hand around his good elbow and led him around the side of the building.
"Where are we going?"
Stopping by the depot wall, he faced him, taking both his shoulders in his firm grip.
"Just now, when you told the Caldwell marshal you never intended to leave Boeshane with Lisant, that you wanted him out of your life for good—was that true?"
Ianto gazed at him, seeing the concern in his eyes, the tension in his forehead.
Fighting the urge to reach up and smooth away those deep lines, he answered, "Of course it's true. I told you before. I don't love him."
"I was afraid you might have chosen to leave town with him."
He shook his head. "No. Absolutely not."
Jack shut his eyes. "When I think what could have happened if we hadn't caught the Transporter when we did."
"But you did catch it," he said, "and everything is fine now."
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Ianto's gaze met with his, steady and unyielding.
What was he feeling Ianto wondered, his stomach rolling with doubts and nervous knots.
He had to know.
He had to know before he told him about the child he was carrying.
He parted his lips to ask, but his words were cut short.
His mouth came down upon Ianto's, hard and wet with desire.
Ianto's head began to whirl.
Jack swept him off the ground and into his arms, into the place that had become a fantasy these last agonizing hours.
Feeling Jack's warm tongue mingle with Ianto's, he moaned with pleasure.
Jack broke away and gazed into his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Ianto."
All the possible meanings contained in that single statement swam in his head.
"Sorry for what?"
He shook his head, lowering it, as if in shame. Was he saying he was sorry to hurt him, sorry for going back to Gwen?
Or was it something else?
"I'm sorry for not believing you about Lisant. I should have been able to trust you, and I should have been able to trust my heart, because I believe it always knew you were a good person. Even if you made mistakes in the past—we all have. But when we learn from our mistakes, we become stronger and wiser, less likely to make them again."
Still uncertain, Ianto tried to find the right thing to say. "It's not your fault. I should have trusted you, too. If I'd told you everything from the beginning, things might have turned out differently."
"You had every reason to keep things secret from me," he said. "I was impossible in the beginning. I shut you out when you needed me."
Tears formed on Ianto's lashes when he blinked, glistening, blurring his view of the man before him. He wiped at his eyes, striving to focus on him.
"I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you," Jack said. "But I think we were right to annul the marriage. When we spoke our wedding vows, they meant nothing."
In that moment, hearing those words, Ianto's heart broke in two.
Grasping for strength and dignity, he took a deep breath and held on.
Was he about to tell him he still loved Gwen?
