Title: Hitting the Ground Running
Fandom:Torchwood
Rating: Adult overall.
Pairing: Primarily Jack/Ianto, with other secondary pairings
Chapter: 14/?
Word Count: 3967
Summary: AU. Majorly AU. Ianto Jones first encountered Torchwood as a teenager trying to leave his old life behind. However, when Torchwood Three gets rather violently restructured at the start of the millennium, he's got a new assignment in Cardiff. The only thing he wasn't prepared for was his new boss.
Disclaimer: Torchwood does not belong to me. I'm merely borrowing the characters with the promise to return them when I'm done.
A/N: Yes, we've reached the chapter many of you have been wondering about. And that's all I'm going to say :)
Chapter Fourteen
In Which London Becomes a Battlefield, Ianto Meets an Old Friend of Jack's, and Jack Comes to a Decision that Ianto Really, Really Doesn't Like
In the end, Ianto supposed, Torchwood was Torchwood, which was why he was standing outside of Canary Wharf a little over a year after the incident with the alien ray-gun. He hadn't officially resigned his post in Cardiff yet, although since Jack had made it obvious having Lisa there would be awkward there wasn't much of a choice.
And since now he and Lisa were both kind-of-sort-of spying for Jack it would make it more convincing if he quit.
The Ghost Shifts had startled them all, and Jack had immediately blamed Yvonne for it, so Ianto had asked Lisa to keep an eye on things in London. Of course, despite the many projects she had taken on for Yvonne, this was one the Torchwood One head was only letting her most senior staff in on, so Ianto went to London as well to scope things out.
As it was, he had basically been living in London for the better part of six months, and while they were due to be engaged in just a little over a month, Ianto was starting to have serious second thoughts. Being away from Cardiff and seeing Jack, Owen, Tosh and Suzie only occasionally made him far more homesick than being away from London and seeing Lisa every weekend. And by now he couldn't deny, even to himself, that he had strong feelings for Jack.
A part of him still knew that it could only end in heartache for the older man, or for him, depending on how old he lived to be and when Jack got bored and skipped off to greener, younger pastures, but maybe it was worth it to scrounge whatever time they had together and actually spend it together.
Lisa was wonderful, of course, but she didn't make him feel anything the way Jack did. She was gorgeous and funny and undoubtedly Ianto's best friend, even after all this time, but he couldn't see them as a couple, and more and more he thought that it would only be right for him to break this off before they both got in too deep.
But he kept procrastinating, and the weeks slipped by. It was July, now, and while they'd been busy trying to figure out what Yvonne was up to, he thought that this weekend he'd have to broach the topic with her. Hopefully she'd agree that they made better friends than they ever would lovers, and she could find somebody wonderful who loved her with his whole heart to spend her life with.
So that's what he was going to do, he decided, as soon as she came out for lunch. And then maybe he could figure out what he really wanted, and if it ended up being Jack, he could be with the older man without feeling any guilt.
He was just waiting outside the main tower for Lisa to come on break so they could speak when everything went straight to Hell.
000
He couldn't tell you how he found her, strapped into one of those horrid machines; half-metal and half-human. He couldn't tell you how he dragged her weighted body down to the archives, into a sealed room that would be safe, or how he followed her precise, robotic instructions on how to set up temporary life-support for her half-converted body. And he certainly couldn't tell you how he got back outside, into the deceiving sunlight, with fire and metal and death and blood all around him, but somehow he did, and as he passed out in the rubble part of him thought that it could be the end.
It wasn't, however, and he was shaken awake only moments later by a rather odd looking man wearing a brown suit and rather distracting Converse trainers. "Come on, then! Up you come! There's a lad. Now. Okay? No broken bones? No? Fine? Brilliant!"
Ianto's head was spinning, but he realized that the other man was correct in one thing: he was relatively intact.
"Nasty business, this. Just plain unfortunate, really. But then, Yvonne should have known better than to mess with things beyond her abilities, oh yes, she should have. No matter!" he clapped his hands and turned to Ianto. "Need to move you someplace safe, and then I can get back to work."
"Uh…" Ianto couldn't form whole sentences as the man hooked an arm around his waist and hauled him up, deceptively strong for his rather slender appearance. "Wh-wh…"
"Nasty business," he repeated. "Your little organization here got caught up in a fight between Daleks and Cybermen, and all your people just happened to be smack in the middle."
"Oh." Ianto knew through Jack what both Daleks and Cybermen were, so it made sense, in a way. "And…" he considered the other man closely. There was something familiar about him…something niggling at his brain. It was his eyes, he decided. His eyes were like Jack's: far, far older than his face, and there was the same sense of being out of time around him. A time-traveler, then? But why would a time-traveler be trying to stop? Who…and the realization hit him like a load of bricks, stopping him abruptly. "You're the Doctor!"
"At your service!" the other man proclaimed. "But you haven't introduced yourself, yet, and that hardly seems fair."
"Jones," Ianto cleared his throat. "Ianto Jones."
"Normally I'd say it was a pleasure, but under the circumstances…" he shrugged. "But come on, Mr. Jones. Nearly there."
"What…what are you…"
"I'm going to stop this, send them back to where they belong, of course," the Doctor smiled at him before going off into a discourse on parallel worlds, and Ianto stopped listening until the Doctor lowered him onto a large slab of rock a ways away from the main battle. "Now, you stay here. I'll make sure somebody finds you, but don't come after me."
Ianto nodded, shock beginning to set in, and the Doctor gave him a sympathetic look and gripped his shoulder.
"Stay with me, Mr. Jones. Now, it's over. You're alive. You were brilliant, obviously, and I'd take you on an adventure with me if I could, because you have the right stuff. But not yet, I think. I've a feeling you've still got things to do in the here and now. But take heart, Mr. Jones. We'll meet again, I think," he nodded firmly before straightening up. "Oh, and by the way…I think my timelines are correct…you wouldn't happen to know a Dr. Sato, would you?"
"Tosh?" Ianto blinked.
"I'll take that as a 'yes.' Say 'hello' from me, will you? Lovely girl; huge help. I need to go," he gestured to the remains of Torchwood Tower. "This isn't goodbye, remember that. And good luck," the Doctor flashed him an infectious smile before jogging off toward the Tower, and Ianto blinked after him fuzzily before slumping down and letting the darkness take him once more.
000
He was awakened by a woman screaming, and it took him a few minutes to realize it was Suzie. "Owen! OWEN!"
"What is it? Why have you…oh, God, Ianto!"
Ianto forced his eyes open, staring up at the dark-haired woman and the grim-faced man.
"That's it, mate. Jus'…jus' keep those eyes open fer me, alright? Ianto?"
"Owen. Suzie," he croaked, struggling to sit. He was surprised to see the beginnings of tears in Suzie's eyes, because she never cried, and Owen was pretty far gone already.
"Ianto," Suzie sounded relieved, but made no move to touch him
"Lisa?" Owen questioned softly, but one look in Ianto's eyes was enough for him to know the answer and Ianto found himself grabbed in a firm hug. He let himself sob into Owen's shoulder, touched at the display of outright affection from the doctor but knowing that, out of anyone, Owen would understand what that loss is like. "I'm so sorry, mate. So sorry."
Ianto nodded, but he was unwilling to release any human contact in that moment. He knew deep down that Lisa as he knew her was dead, and that girl was who he was mourning. His only hope now was to somehow get her into the Hub and try to figure out a way to get her off of life support and get her functioning on her own. Maybe eventually they'd have the technology to take away what the Cybermen had added, but if all he could do was bring her a bit of comfort, he'd do it.
She was still his Lisa. Still…human where it mattered.
Owen was still holding him carefully, letting him cry, but as Suzie placed a would-be comforting hand on his back he hissed in pain. "Sorry!"
"Lemme see," Owen relinquished his hold and moved to look, easing Ianto out of his jacket and examining the damage to his back. "You're burnt pretty badly, but nothing good ol' alien technology won't fix. We need to get you back to the SUV, though. Can you walk?"
"I can try," Ianto struggled to his feet, supported by both Suzie and Owen, and they made their way carefully to where the black vehicle was parked.
"We've got a hotel booked nearby…figured it was going to be a long operation, so we planned ahead," Suzie kept talking to him in a low voice, obviously attempting to keep him as calm as possible, and he was grateful for it. "We need to call Jack, too."
"Jack's here?" Ianto looked up, surprised.
"He was afraid," Suzie informed him. "For you, mostly, but he'll be happy you're alright."
"Yeah," Ianto sighed. Now that the adrenalin and shock were starting to wear off, his back was beginning to ache. "Owen? Any chance of some painkillers?"
"Aye, give me a second," Owen was rummaging around in the SUV and finally tossed him a bottle of pills and a water bottle. "Take what you need. I'm going to find Jack and get us back to the hotel. Suzie?"
"I'll keep looking once you're back," she assured him.
"How many…"
"Survivors?" Suzie looked at him warily. "From the main complex…you're it, Ianto."
"I…we weren't inside when it happened," he admitted. "They took her…converted…I…must have been lucky."
"Lucky indeed. Counting those out for lunch and those away for business…twenty-seven including you."
"Twenty-seven out of over eight hundred?" Ianto looked shocked. "But that's…how can they cover it up?"
"Terrorists. Have to," Suzie looked down. "I'm really sorry, Ianto. I can't even imagine…"
"It's alright. I'm just glad you found me."
"Of course. You're still one of us, remember?"
"Right. Where's Tosh?"
"Liaising from the Hub. Somebody had to keep an eye on the Rift, even though I think it'll be quiet for a while," she glanced to the smoking wreckage and grimaced. "How's the back?"
"Painkillers are kicking in," Ianto nodded. "It's getting there."
"Good," she looked relieved. "Jack wasn't that far away, so…"
"Ianto!"
And there was so much in that one word, so much pain and heartache and relief that Ianto felt tears spring to his eyes again as he forced himself to stand, smiling a little as Jack practically vaulted over the rubble to make it to the SUV. Owen was following at a slower pace and, predictably, swearing a blue streak as he tried to keep up.
"Jack!" he smiled through the tears as the older man caught him in a crushing embrace, glad that he'd had the foresight to pop the painkillers. It still stung, but it would have been excruciating otherwise.
"Oh, Ianto, I thought I'd lost you," he mumbled into Ianto's shirt.
"Not yet, sir."
"Oi, Harkness, stop molesting him. We need to get back to the room so I can do something for those burns," Owen waved him off. "I take it you're coming?"
Jack nodded emphatically and Owen sighed and got into the SUV, leaving Jack to help Ianto into the back.
000
"But see, what I don't understand, mate, is how come you're not more banged up? If not from the initial attack, then from when the tower collapsed? You say you were right outside the entrance, but we found you a long way away," Owen was working on his back, Ianto laying face down on the bed with his chin propped on his forearms.
"Honestly, I had help."
"But we didn't find any other survivors."
"You wouldn't find him," Ianto shrugged. "He was probably long gone."
"Ianto, who…"
"The Doctor," Jack supplied, locking eyes with Ianto, who nodded. "I knew it. Why did he help you?"
"Said I had potential to be his Companion someday, but he had a feeling I was still needed 'here and now,' to use his term. He's Regenerated," Ianto added, Jack having told him about that a long time before.
"What's he like?"
"Tall. Skinny. Messy brown hair. Horrible fashion sense: suits and Converse? Really?" Ianto shuddered. "A tad more manic than what I saw of your Doctor, but scarily competent and calm."
"Attractive?"
"Young-looking," Ianto replied. "And yes, rather easy on the eyes."
"Did he…ask about…" Jack paused, looking unsure what to say.
"No, Jack. There wasn't time," Ianto shook his head. "He did tell me to say 'hello' to Tosh, though. Of course, there's probably no way he'd know you were here, is there?"
"No," Jack admitted. "No, there isn't."
"I'm sorry," Ianto looked up at him.
"Not your fault. You have…with…look, Ianto, I'm sorry about Lisa," he blurted.
"I know," Ianto assured him. "I'm still…a little in shock, I think. It hasn't hit me quite yet. Ouch, Owen!'
"It's gonna hurt," Owen sounded completely unapologetic, but Ianto noted his hands got markedly gentler after that. "I'm almost done, though. And then I expect you to sleep. For a good long while."
"Have to…Lisa's family…" Ianto protested, knowing that he couldn't leave her down there for more than two or three days. Lisa had assured him that he had set up the equipment properly, but still…to be alone for so long…
"You sure, mate?" Owen's voice softened now, and his hand was soft on Ianto's shoulder.
"Better me than…anyone else. They knew she worked over at Canary Wharf, and they know about me, so…"
"Well, I expect you to sleep until noon tomorrow, then. And then we'll figure out what to do about Lisa, okay?" Owen sounded genuinely sympathetic, probably because he was. "I'll give Tosh a ring, let her know you're in one piece."
"Thank you, Owen," Ianto said truthfully, and Owen rolled his eyes.
"Like I always say, it's just my job. Jack, make sure he sleeps. Hold him down if you have to, not that I think that'll be a problem for you," Owen instructed. "And I'll bring some food up in a few minutes. You're probably starving."
Ianto nodded in agreement as Owen left, and Jack shifted so that Ianto's head was pillowed in his lap, allowing him to run his fingers through the young man's dark hair. "You tired?"
"A bit. More just…numb," Ianto supplied.
"Well, we're all here for you, Ianto. Remember that."
"Of course, sir," Ianto closed his eyes, breathing in the scent that was entirely Jack and letting it soothe him. He couldn't help the stab of guilt that he was warm and comfortable while Lisa was stuck in a basement, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
Ianto registered Owen coming in a few minutes later and ate the soup and sandwiches offered, thanking him again before he left to head back to Canary Wharf. Jack went off to give Tosh a call and Ianto tried to get to sleep, but after a couple of hours of tossing and turning he gave it up as a lost cause.
"Maybe you just need to relax," Jack suggested. He was standing by the bed, stripped to his trousers and undershirt, and Ianto knew instinctively what he was offering.
"Jack, the woman I was going to marry just died. You can honestly be…"
"Can and am. It's nothing against her, you know that," Jack said softly, perching on the edge of the large bed. "But I think I'd know how to best deal with grief…"
"Yes, because after Evan died us having sex was such a wonderful idea."
"I don't expect anything. I just think you're wound too tight."
"And this is something your mouth on my cock is going to fix how?"
"It will. Trust me," Jack gave him a disarming smile and Ianto, knowing that he could never be with Lisa again (for a variety of reasons), found himself gravitating to this small bit of comfort. Jack wasn't asking for anything in return, and just the thought of Jack going down on him here already had him hardening. The day had been horrible, and the loss of life staggering, and Ianto realized Jack was right: sometimes you just needed something to make you feel alive. "Okay. I shouldn't, but…"
"Right," Jack nodded. "But you will?"
Ianto didn't answer, but Jack took that as his reply and pressed him to lay gently back, tugging down the pajama pants he had put on and leaning to nuzzle the base of Ianto's cock, breathing in the musky scent of the man. Ianto watched him through half-lidded eyes, a startled gasp breaking from his lips as Jack took him in without warning, working his mouth until Ianto was completely aroused.
"Good?" he chuckled.
"Mm," Ianto agreed, tangling a hand in Jack's hair and forcing him back down.
"Oh, so now we're impatient."
"This is supposed to be relaxing, remember?" Ianto growled. "You can tease me some other time."
"That a promise?"
And Ianto realized that it had to be. Jack expected that, now that Lisa was 'gone,' eventually he and Ianto would pursue whatever had been brewing between them for the last six years. And he would grow suspicious if Ianto put him off for too long, so unless Ianto got a sense that he could safely tell Jack about Lisa, he would have to play along with this 'relationship.' He couldn't admit to Jack that he was thinking of leaving Lisa and coming back to Cardiff; especially not now. The other man would think it was an echo of his grief and not take him seriously, after all, and the thought of that had his erection withering almost instantly. Of course, Jack noticed.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I can't," he forced out, and while Jack would think it meant that he couldn't because the grief was still too fresh, he really couldn't because he wouldn't lie to Jack; wouldn't use him like that. Not until he could be sure Jack would believe he wanted him for him, and not just as a replacement for Lisa.
"Ianto, just trust me," Jack was practically pleading, and finally Ianto gulped through the tears and nodded, throwing an arm over his eyes. He'd let Jack do this, but that was it. That had to be it. "And look at me."
Ianto uncovered his eyes and looked, seeing Jack staring up at him with obvious concern. Jack bent to close his mouth around Ianto once more, gently sucking until he was hard again. Ianto kept his eyes open but forced himself to relax, watching Jack with veiled interest.
Jack met his eyes and grinned rather evilly before abruptly opening his throat and taking Ianto in completely, and Ianto moaned and reached to grip the older man's hair again. Jack wasn't moving, so Ianto took that as his cue and began to thrust his hips gently, amazed as always at Jack's complete lack of a gag reflex. Even with his troubled mind, it didn't take long for him to get close, and Jack pulled off almost all the way, sucking the very tip of Ianto's cock into his mouth and laving the leaking slit with his tongue.
"God, Jack," Ianto grunted as Jack started to stroke him with one hand, keeping his mouth firmly over the crown of Ianto's erection. The sucking and stroking combined had him writhing in pleasure, and all too soon his eyes opened wide and he came with a cry, Jack coaxing him through the orgasm and continuing to suck gently even after. Ianto sighed and his hand loosened its grip on Jack's hair, instead stroking through the strands as Jack finally let his softening cock slip from his lips. "Wow."
"Glad you enjoyed," Jack's mouth was red but he was smirking, and Ianto pulled him up and kissed him. "Never feel guilty for wanting pleasure, Ianto Jones. You're alive for a reason, so take heart in that."
"Thank you," Ianto mumbled into his mouth, reaching down to note that Jack was, unsurprisingly, also incredibly aroused. He rubbed with the heel of his hand through Jack's trousers, undoing the fly one-handed and slipping his hand in to find that, like normal, Jack had foregone pants again.
Continuing to kiss, he began to work his hand quickly over the taut flesh, guessing that Jack had to be close already, and it only took a few minutes before Jack moaned his release and came with three long pulses, gasping Ianto's name.
"Ugh," he moaned, wrinkling his nose at the state of his trousers. "I need to change."
Ianto laughed, then, the sound free and clear in the room, and it felt good. "You do that. You've made quite a mess."
"Me?" Jack looked offended. "You wait, boy. You'll get yours," he promised, kissing Ianto slowly once more before standing. "Now get some rest. I've got some more phone calls to make and then I'll join you."
"Okay," Ianto pulled his pajama bottoms back on the scrambled under the covers, falling asleep to the soothing tones of Jack's voice.
000
He woke up to Jack speaking urgently to Suzie, and what he heard only confirmed his worst fears. Keeping utterly still, he tried to hide the fact he was awake, and it seemed to work. Jack and Suzie were talking about Cybermen.
"Jack, we can't just…"
"We have to, Suzie. I've seen it before: let even one survive and it's over. They're programmed to do one thing: create more Cybermen."
"But Jack, they're only half converted! They're still people!"
"No," Jack sounded stern. "As soon as the conversion starts; as soon as their emotions and feelings are stripped from their bodies, they're no longer human. That's the first thing the Cybermen do; they create mindless drones to do their bidding. Sure, they may still act human for a while: their memories and ghosts of feelings remain intact, but it's all a ruse."
No it isn't! Ianto's mind screamed silently. Lisa's still herself.
"So we…"
"Disconnect the conversion chambers. It's the only peace we can give them," Jack said, sounding remorseful, and Ianto knew that Suzie wasn't going to argue with him.
"Alright. I'll let Owen know."
"Do that. I'm sorry, Suzie, but it has to be this way. For the good of the human race," he added softly, and a second later Ianto heard her leave and Jack clambered back into bed, wrapping himself around Ianto like a vise and seemingly taking comfort just in his presence.
Ianto couldn't sleep, though. Now, he knew what he had to do, and his heart clenched at the thought. But nobody was going to help him save Lisa; he knew better than to try and change Jack's mind when he got like this. So for now, he had to keep living a lie: pretend that he still loved Lisa and had no plans to be with Jack, at least until he could either help her move and breathe on her own, or until he could find a way (and not that he was very hopeful) to convince Jack that she had to be saved. But for now…
For now, he was on his own.