Vengeance - Chapter Fifty-Four

Author: Milady Dragon


4 February 5193 (Earth Standard Date)

London Island

As glad as Jack was that this whole shitshow seemed to be almost over, he couldn't help but worry the longer Ianto had that damned sword in his possession.

The immortal had held the Dragon Killer before. Hells, he'd used it before. And, because he had, he was so very aware of just how evil that thing truly was. After the last time, he'd felt unbelievably relieved that Ianto had been happy to put it away for good.

But then, they'd had no idea that the reincarnation of its previous owner would be back, coming after their very family, taking one of their own away and almost causing them to lose two more. And that didn't count Henry, which they really should do because, while immortal, Henry had felt the very real pain of dying before resurrecting in the middle of the southern Pacific Ocean, out in the middle of nowhere. Henry hadn't deserved that, any more than Sabrina had deserved death, and Rowena and Skylar the pain they were currently suffering from their run-in with the so-called knight who had stalked them.

Currently, Ianto had the Dragon Killer's worn sheath looped over an equally worn leather belt. It didn't go along at all with his mate's suit, let alone Jack's own, personal, scruples. He could tell that he wasn't the only one to feel that way; Detective Walsh, whom Ianto seemed to be willing to trust with carrying the blade, had handed it back as soon as he possibly could get rid of it. Every single member of the family had taken to standing a little bit away from their own patriarch, but it was because of the sword and not for any other reason.

Ianto seemed to understand that. At least, he didn't seem all that bothered by the wide berth they all seemed to be giving him. It was taking all of Jack's formidable will power to keep him as close as he, himself, was standing, and that wasn't within reaching distance.

That wasn't the only thing wrong about his mate. Ianto seemed…implacable, as if nothing would be allowed to stand in his way of using that damned sword on the Dragon Slayer. Yes, Ianto could be that way naturally, but this was…well, it was unnatural. It was as if his Vow of Vengeance had, somehow, gained physical form, and had taken his mate's place. It was disturbing, to say the least.

The sooner that sword got back to the Torchwood Archives and buried forever, the better Jack would feel. In fact, the immortal was hoping he could convince the Doctor to take him to the same star they'd flung the Darkhold into and let Jack toss the Dragon Killer in after it.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. All of that concentrated evil might very well destroy the star. Jack had better choose a different one, just in case.

Even now, as they stood outside the abandoned UNIT base, where he and Ianto had once met a traumatised Toshiko Sato and had saved her from lifetime imprisonment, there was a about a ten foot radius around Ianto where no one was standing. The dragon looked very much alone, although every member of their family who could be there – minus their first strike team who'd gone inside to rescue Alyce and Detective Shraeger and to take down as many HYDRA agents as possible – was surrounding them. Jack couldn't help but watch his mate as Ianto stood there, as still as a statue, one hand resting on the hilt of the Dragon Killer and his eyes on the wreckage of the building that they'd come to invade. There was something hard about him, and not in a good way, and Jack shivered unconsciously.

Yes, that sword needed to go. And soon.

Deliberately, Jack took four steps toward his mate, needing to be close outweighing his uneasiness where that damned blade was concerned. He rested a hand on Ianto's shoulder, concerned by the unnatural stiffness of the muscle. "It'll be anytime now," he murmured, almost afraid to break the hush that surrounded them.

Torchwood, under Melinda's direction, had cleared the area, knowing that anything could possibly happen once they began their attack on the building…unless Phillip and the people he was leading – which included Steve's hand-picked First Shieldsman, Brant Charlton. There was something about that man that had Clint relaxed and Phillip slightly tense, and it had taken Nathan to clue him in on just who the Shieldsman truly was. Jack didn't remember much about the stories Clint had told about his brother, but he seemed to recall they hadn't been good ones.

Still, Steve trusted him, as did Clint, Nathan and Phillip…in his own fashion, and so no one had kicked up a fuss when Steve had requested that Charlton go with them when they breached the bunker's defences, to hold the security centre until Steve could get techs in there to look over everything. There were Shieldsmen and Torchwood Security forces onsite, and ImpSec was just waiting in the wings.

Waiting for Ianto to call out the Dragon Slayer.

There was a crackle in Jack's comm. "We're on the way out," Phillip's cool voice said. "We have both Alyce and Detective Shraeger. They're just fine."

Nearly every bit of tension that had been in Jack's body was released with those three words. Alyce was fine, as was Casey Shraeger. They could let Steve take over and root out the rest of the HYDRA cell that had taken over the former UNIT base.

It was time for the Jones Clan to finish up their business with HYDRA.

Ianto turned, his eyes meeting Jack's. There was something cold and terrible in them, but at the same time the immortal could make out the sheer relief that this was almost over, and they could go home with their vow fulfilled.

Ianto's eyes changed into their dragon aspect, and he gave Jack a single, emphatic nod, as if he was reading his mate's very thoughts and agreeing with them.

Straightening his spine, Ianto took several, long steps toward the wrecked bunker. Without anyone giving any sort of signal, the entire family present there moved forward as well, leaving their patriarch out in front, to call out to the one they'd all sworn to destroy.

Everything that they'd done, had led them to this.

A soft, ephemeral breath brushed against the back of Jack's neck, and knew it wasn't physical. It was magic, curling around them all, as they all stood in witness as Ianto shouted toward the bunker.

"Guy de Marigny!" Ianto Jones, the Torchwood Dragon, once known as the Last, Patriarch of the Star Dragons, roared out his challenge in his human voice, and yet there was a rumbling undercurrent to the words that was very, very draconic. "I command you to show yourself to me!"

The ritual words rang across the rubble-scattered ruins. It had amazed Jack that the place hadn't been rebuilt, that it hadn't been covered once more, but Adam had wanted this to remain, a visible sign of the past.

A soft breeze rushed through the broken concrete, whispering words of magic against Jack's exposed skin. He didn't need to look to see that, at the very least, Merlin and Rory were reacting to the power being raised in that place, all in the name of vengeance.

This hadn't happened at Avalon, but then this was the man who'd killed Sabrina, and who had hurt Rowena and Skylar. While Morgause had damaged Lisa, there was something different in these circumstances; it was the culmination of everything they'd gone through, the circle drawing together like a closed electrical circuit.

Ianto called out for the Dragon Slayer once more. It was perfectly silent, except for that magic-driven wind, whipping the tails of Jack's coat about his legs and ruffling his hair almost playfully.

As he watched, the sun went behind a cloud, and the wind got even colder than it had been before. Jack didn't want to shiver, but he couldn't help himself.

It wasn't just from the cold.

Ianto ordered the Dragon Slayer to appear a third time. He stood perfectly still, Jack at his shoulder in the place where Ianto usually stood when dealing with official matters, and it felt right for him to be supporting his mate through this, just as Ianto had often supported him throughout their centuries with Torchwood.

Had they been wrong about the Dragon Slayer being there? Adam had claimed he was, but the formula he'd been given wasn't a truth serum, really. It only worked on those who wanted to reveal whatever secrets they had, and it had been obvious that the rogue immortal had, all along, meant to lead Ianto into a trap…

Which meant that the Dragon Slayer, the knight once called Sir Guy de Marigny, had to be there, if he'd been tasked with taking the Torchwood Dragon out of the picture.

A single, tapping foot was the only thing that gave away Ianto's impatience. Jack took the couple of steps forward, close enough to rest his hand on his mate's shoulder, hoping to ground him and to keep him calm. It seemed to work, and the tapping stopped.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see Anwyn standing a little behind them, Gwaine at her side, his own sword drawn and ready for anything that might happen. Although he didn't turn, the immortal knew that Clint was off to his side, with Nathan beside his Dad, holding Daisy, the littlest dragon child as silent as everyone else. It was jarring; she was such a laughing, happy child, but she'd shown she was good at picking up on the emotions around them.

The rest of the family was spread out behind them, supporting their patriarchs. The children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; Samara and Rhys; everyone had a stake in what was about to happen.

There were ones missing: the members of the strike team that had gone within the bunker, and those they'd left behind in Ddraig Llyn. They would be awaiting news of what transpired, and Jack wanted this to be over, so they could all go home, with the news that their war was over, and that their vows had been fulfilled.

They'd been joined by others: Owen, and Suzie, and Diane; Melinda, and Jemma and Fitz; Sir Leon and Commander Mar-Von. They were also family, in their own way, and deserved to be there at the end, as some has been from the beginning.

Ianto shifted under Jack's hand, and the immortal just knew he was going to call out again.

But there was no need.

A figure strode from the side of the bunker, where the entrance was located. He was a non-descript man, but he was wearing armour that looked like something out of a medieval drama, with sword that was still resting in its sheath. He walked up to within a couple of feet from Jack and Ianto, eyes trailing up and then down Ianto's human form, pausing when he caught sight of the slitted pupiled eyes staring at him coldly. Then, as if he'd somehow received some sort of confirmation, the man smiled widely.

"We meet again, dragon," the Dragon Slayer smirked. "And, as the rest of your craven kind, you hide behind a human disguise."

"We meet again, Sir Knight," the Torchwood Dragon sneered. "And, as the rest of your craven kind, you only feel strong when you're attacking innocents."

The smirk vanished. "You're no innocent, creature."

"Perhaps not," Ianto allowed, "but my children are. They did nothing to you, Dragon Slayer, and yet you struck against them instead of coming after me directly." He moved forward a little, his shoulder dragging out from under Jack's hand.

"They were damned from the moment that were born, by the nature of their blood. They deserve death, just as you do."

Jack knew the Dragon Slayer was attempting to rattle his mate, and while the immortal couldn't actually see Ianto's face, he could tell by the set of his shoulders that it actually wasn't working. That Sir Guy de Marigny was trying his best to bother Ianto, but that he was perfectly calm.

"Sir Guy de Marigny," Ianto said, his voice dark with threat and pleasure, "you are guilty of the murder of my daughter; the attempted murders of another daughter, her mate, and my grandson; and the kidnapping of another of my children and a friend of my clan. As such, you are subject to our vengeance. Nothing you say or do will mitigate this sentence and, as Patriarch of my clan, it is my right to carry out the Rite of Vengeance against you. Do you submit?"

As Ianto finished, the wind intensified around them, whipping up Jack's greatcoat and ruffling his hair. There it was once more: a tension in the air, as if the very planet was waiting to see what was going to happen next.

It was in that moment when Jack realised that this went beyond Sabrina and Rowena and Henry and Skylar and Alyce and Casey Shraeger.

This was about all the other dragons that this man and his ilk murdered over the years they crusaded against dragonkind. That, with this man regaining his memories, it had reawakened something within the Earth itself, and not only were they there to mete out vengeance for their own family, they were there for vengeance against generations of dragons whose lives were cut short, their children hidden away until River Song had decided to go on a quest to find the ones she could and bring them home.

Jack was surprised that the Great Dragons weren't hanging around somewhere.

Maybe they were…a person never knew with those four.

"I do not recognise your vengeance," the man denied.

"Then, I challenge you."

With a single, smooth movement, Ianto drew the Dragon Killer from its sheath.

"Perhaps you recognise this?" the dragon taunted, sounding almost bored. "I took this from your cold, dead hand…after I burnt you like you burnt my family."

Sir Guy's face went red with rage. Ianto had succeeded in what the knight hadn't: royally pissing him off.

"That is mine! You will return what you stole, demon!"

"You're going to need to take it."

A soft, pervasive hum started up from all of the spectators, the single note quiet and yet so very powerful. Jack could feel the pulse of magic against his exposed skin, the energy being brought into being mingling with the magic in the air, whipping up motes of dirt from the partially destroyed bunker.

Jack found himself joining in. He couldn't have stopped himself if he tried. The vibration in his larynx travelled from his throat into every cell in his body, tingling swamping his extremities. The magic they were calling forth was also affecting the Vortex energy that made him immortal, bringing into the mix that very power, creating something new.

The Dragon Slayer stared at the gathered dragons and their mates, their friends and allies, and shouted, "Stop it!"

Ianto didn't speak a word, nor did the humming cease. Instead, the dragon took a single step toward the former knight, which seemed to whip the man into a frenzy.

He swung his own sword up.

Ianto parried with the Dragon Killer.

The screeching of metal against metal echoed over the ruins as a battle that had been long in coming was joined.