Torchwood Files
Chapter 25: Cyberwoman, part 8
Ianto stood in darkness. Blackness, really. He blinked, but nothing changed. No light, no color, nothing but unending black. Was he even standing? Did he have feet?No sound, either. No scents on the air. Was he breathing? Was there air around him?
He shuddered. So this is death, he thought. This is what Jack sees every time he dies.He tried to flex his fingers. Nothing. He couldn't feel them. He couldn't feel his body. Do I even have a body anymore? he asked himself.
He tried to remember what had happened to get him there. Everything was fuzzy, blurry. He remembered. Lisa betrayed me. I betrayed Jack. I should've told him that she wasn't always herself.
Jack!
I can't die now, he cried. I can't leave him alone like this, to clean up after my shit.
I can't leave him alone.
Jack! he called, willing his thoughts to spread out beyond himself. Jack! I'm sorry!
Light. Golden light burned into the darkness, hurting his eyes, making him flinch. A blond woman, with time in her eyes, crying, surrounded by a haze of gold, looked at him. Measured him. Found him wanting. Found him suitable.
Bad Wolf. The words popped into Ianto's mind even as he stared in wonder at her. She was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.
Bad Wolf, across time, across space. Everywhere and everywhen. Bad Wolf sees everything, all that has been, all that is, all that may yet be. The Child of Time, forever alone. Alone no longer.
"I bring life," she whispered.
Ianto jerked awake to find himself in Jack's arms, Jack's lips pressed to his in a kiss that was anything but CPR. Their eyes locked. Jack shushed him, demanding quiet. The Hub's alarms blared in his ears and he looked around in confusion.
"What's Bad Wolf?" he whispered. Jack's eyes widened, but he just shook his head, shushing Ianto again. Ianto shook his head to clear it, the image of the golden woman already fading. In the distance, he heard Owen and Gwen screaming. Lisa screaming.
Ianto pushed away from Jack and ran towards her.