Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 15
By the time they found an open space far enough from populated areas to execute their plan, both Jack and Ianto were feeling the nearly debilitating anxiety the Sanctum was causing. Harkness drove as far as he dared, intending to let Ianto out with the Gallifreyan artefact and an explosive device, then drive back to a safe distance. He still wasn't comfortable with the solution, but he'd had time to think on the silent trip out past Penarth, and realised there really wasn't any other viable choice.
"Okay…" he breathed as he put the SUV in park. "Let's decide the best way to work this."
"What did you bring?" Ianto queried, cringing involuntarily as the item they'd come to destroy generated another wave of gut-twisting malice when they exited the vehicle and moved around to the boot.
"Four inches of nitro enhanced C-4," the Captain began, drawing each choice from the carryall as he named it. "A Silurian land mine, a USMC thermal grenade circa 2112, and one of our last Tregennan demolition charges."
"Not strong enough," the twenty-six-year-old beside him critiqued in the same order. "Too much dangerous radiation, proven to be unreliable, Goldilocks. The Tregennan's plenty powerful, but has a nice small blast radius with a built-in containment bubble option and I can trigger it myself before I open that. I don't want you to feel like you're to blame in any way. This is my choice, Jack… please don't shoulder it. Torchwood needs to neutralise the threat this item poses, and I'm the only team member who can safely do what has to be done in this case. I'm not sure how long it will take the Scieron to piece me back together and return me from the Dark, but I will come back to you… always."
Harkness reached out and pulled the shivering younger man into a tight embrace, then kissed him long and hard. His eyes were over bright and lashes damp when he finally released his lover, and he pressed one hand to the Welshman's scarred right cheek.
"I'll be waiting," Jack managed breathlessly.
Ianto put his hand over the Captain's and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath that he let out slowly as he branded the man's touch on his memory. Then he blinked, reached into the back of the SUV to take the selected explosive in his right hand and opened the glycol gel container to pull out the no longer lead coated or frozen Sanctum with his left. His partner closed the vehicle up, hurried through the ice crusted snow to get back in the driver's seat and move to a safe distance.
The strange pocket watch sent pain shooting up the Changeling's arm and roiled his guts with dread as he took a few steps closer to the cliff edge. But he gritted his teeth and waited until he was sure Jack was far enough away not to get caught by the contained blast when the explosive detonated. He saw a familiar red glow begin to pool beneath his feet and managed a slight smile as he took a final deep cleansing breath. Then he slid the switch to activate the one hundred metre shield bubble, pushed the button to trigger the bomb, tucked the cylinder into his waistcoat over his heart, and opened the Sanctum. A few thin tendrils of energy swirled from the device now clutched tight in both hands so it pressed against the explosive, the unpleasant force coiling around him, burrowing into him. Ianto could feel the malevolent presence clawing at his mind, agony searing every nerve as it vied for control of his body, and he closed his eyes. Five seconds and counting down…
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Jack had driven to a safe distance, then stopped and got out. The last thing he wanted to do, was see the one he loved die in such a horrible way, but he couldn't not watch. He owed Ianto that… a witness to his sacrifice. By the light of the SUV's headlamps on high-beam, Harkness could just make out the movements of the young Welshman as he activated the Tregennan demolition bomb, then opened the Sanctum. Energy swirled out and he could see Ianto shudder, knew he must be in horrific pain as it burned into his body and mind. Even at this distance, the Chronon energy made the undying Captain's head ache, his heart race, and his stomach turn with nausea. And as much as he hated to admit it, it was probably true that he wouldn't survive what his lover was now doing.
Unconsciously, Harkness was counting. Five… four… three… two… one… An eye-searingly bright flash split the night with a muffled roar, the heat laden shockwave from the contained explosion buffeting him even as far back as he was and making him close his eyes for a moment against the glare. So, he missed the brief flare of familiar red light that expanded out to bathe the entire blast zone like glowing blood before disappearing once more. The aching void that had haunted him after Thames House opened in his heart and soul, and he knew that Ianto was dead as he blinked the explosion's corona from his vision. The pain was so intense he couldn't move, could barely breathe.
For several minutes, the great coat clad brunette stood in the snow, simply staring at the steaming, smoking expanse of scorched and tumbled earth where his beloved Welshman had been standing, morbidly wondering if there were any recognisable remains scattered there. He started to walk that way, not conscious of the headlamps that approached from behind. The toe of one boot had just crossed into the blackened ground, heading for the small crater at the centre, when a hand grabbed his arm and tried to haul him back the way he'd come.
"Jack!"
The sound of Gwen shouting his name finally penetrated, and Harkness turned to look down at the woman dragging on his coat sleeve.
"Turlough called me," Cooper explained, her eyes wide and worried. "He told me what you and Ianto intended to do. God, Jack… you should have had us come with you."
"He's gone," the American stated flatly, a few tears winning free to sluggishly trickle down his wind chilled cheeks. "Ianto's gone."
The former PC looked at the expanse of still hot soil they were standing on the slushy border of, knew that whatever the young Archivist in question had detonated must have practically vapourised him on the spot. There would be no remains for the Scieron to collect and repair… so how would they ever be able to bring him back?
"We need to start watching for a Hell portal," Jack breathed. "He said they'd have to open a full neutral singularity to send him back from something like this. I want to set up a camera out here, keep an eye on the cemetery he first arrived in too."
"I'll see to it," Gwen promised, still trying to get her friend to return to the vehicles even as she fought the urge to cry. "Right now, you need to come back to the Hub. Come on… I'll drive you back, Rhys'll follow and we'll get you settled, yeah?"
"Go home," the Captain advised evenly. "I'm fine. Go enjoy your evening with Rhys and the baby, let your bruises heal. I promise I'll head back to base. But I expect you in first thing tomorrow and a camera rolling out here before lunch time."
He started to trudge through the snow toward the SUV, the former constable hurrying along at his side.
"If you don't want to be alone…" she began, her concern obvious.
"Actually, I do," Harkness countered bluntly. "I appreciate the offer, Gwen, but I'd honestly rather just be by myself at the Hub right now. The less I have someone asking if I'm okay, the better I'll be."
He stopped as they reached the big black Torchwood vehicle, gave the woman a quick hug then opened the driver's door.
"Thanks for coming to check on me," the immortal American stated quietly, his eyes dark and haunted.
"Call me if you change your mind, yeah?" Cooper insisted, able to see the terrible black flames in her friend's eyes that Ianto had described in his diary entry about the 456. "Rhys understands."
"Tell him 'Thanks' for me," Jack half-smiled, climbing into the SUV. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Harkness closed the door, waited for his teammate to get into the nearby sedan with her husband, then steered for the road. All he wanted to do at the moment, was get back to the Hub, stow the gear from the rear of the vehicle, and close himself in the office with one of the bottles of one hundred-year-old Scotch whiskey he had hidden in the farthest reaches of the Archives. He couldn't get drunk anymore, but sometimes the slow burn of the alcohol was the only thing between him and emotional collapse. He needed that tonight… badly. Later, he'd take some blankets out to bunk on the couch, because there was no way he'd be able to get near the bed knowing his lover wasn't there, not when the slightest whiff of the Welshman's cologne on the pillows was likely to make him lose it completely.
The Captain wanted to be ready when the Scieron sent Ianto back, and the only way to stay sane while he waited was to let the ice creep into his heart and soul, become cold and brutally efficient the way he'd been in the past. And he'd likely stay that way until Ianto was safe in his arms again, because only the Changeling's love and warmth would ever melt that self-protecting core.
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AN: Ianto made the sacrifice needed to destroy the last evil bits of the Master in that fob-watch… and Jack is going to suffer first-hand the aching uncertainty and grief he's put others through in the past, while he waits for the Scieron to send his love back to him. Not the best lead in to Christmas.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM