15 November 2008
Cardiff, Wales
The drive back to the Hub had been nearly silent. The only conversation was started by Jack. "Ianto, what happened?"
"Hmm?"
"You know exactly what I meant."
"Oh." Ianto hesitated. "I woke up in that little shack, then those three made me follow them and the woman held a gun to my head. Then you and Gwen appeared."
"Why did you scream?" Jack asked.
"I didn't."
Jack looked at him searchingly. Ianto looked back at him blankly. "Okay," Jack said. He let the matter go for now, but he knew that something was wrong. Ianto didn't just lie to him.
They stood at the entrance of the Hub. Ianto froze. "Ianto…?" Jack said quietly. Ianto was trembling. "What's up?"
"I'm fine," snapped Ianto. He stepped inside the Hub, but immediately let out a piercing scream, dropping to one knee. Jack grabbed him under the arms and hauled him backwards, then yanked him to his feet and thrust him into the wall, pinning him there. The young man's eyes glowed with a sickly green.
"What did you do to him?!" Jack hissed.
"I...am...not...Ianto...Jones!" he gasped in reply. The inhuman quality of the time travelers' voices suddenly became apparent in his.
Gwen stared wide eyed. "Jack!"
"Gwen, go into the Hub and bring back the all-species sedative," Jack instructed. "Now!" Gwen ran inside. "Obviously," Jack continued. "I didn't ask who you were. I asked WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"
"This body is my host!" the thing possessing Ianto spit.
"Is Ianto still alive?" demanded the captain harshly.
"Yes. But you cannot rid him of me without killing him, too," the thing threatened.
Jack laughed mirthlessly. "We'll see about that." At that moment, Gwen came rushing back out with a syringe in her hand. Jack snatched it without looking and emptied the contents into Ianto's arm, who collapsed instantly, his eyelids coming down to hide the hideous, unnatural green. Jack caught him, lifting him up effortlessly.
"What the hell was that, Jack?!" Gwen exclaimed.
"One of those green smoke things," Jack told her. "They get inside people, possess them. One of them got into Ianto." He shifted the young man's weight in his arms to make him easier to carry. "I knew something was off. I knew it." He shook his head. "We can't take him into the Hub."
"What? Why not?"
"The time energy would rip the creature inside him apart. It started to, as soon as he stepped over the threshold."
"Well," Gwen said, "wouldn't that be good? Would that get rid of it?"
"It would rip Ianto apart, too," Jack corrected her unhappily. "I'm taking him to his flat."
"Have you got a key?" Gwen asked, confused.
Jack just looked at her. She sort of blushed as she realized that her question didn't really need an answer. "Stay here," Jack told her. "I'll call you when I get there. I'm going to need you to do a few things. I think I might be able to get rid of the creature without hurting Ianto. Well...without killing him."
Gwen nodded determinedly. "Just tell me what to do."
Nooo! Ianto! What's Jack got in mind, hey? Thanks for reading! Reviews make me love you even more, hint hint. DFTBA!
~Clare