CHAPTER SIX

The safety lockdown is lifted, and Ianto is once again leading Jack through the winding halls of the station. They've figured out where the electricity is coming from; now Ianto wants to show Jack where it's going.

"Remember the coral on your desk? Look in here," he says as he opens the door to the transformer room. There, as before, is the coral floating in front of the transformer, which is covered with shiny bits and wires, boxes and things that go ping. She's still glowing, and seems to have grown since he last saw her. Ianto can feel her welcome and pleasure at seeing Jack.

"That's my coral?" Jack's voice is full of wonder. "It's huge!"

"She wasn't that big when I was in here before. She's growing," Ianto says with pride.

"That's where the Vortex energy is going!" Jack says excitedly. He explains how he came to find the Battersea plant in an area drained of Vortex energy. "The Master is somehow using the power to force Vortex energy into the coral to make it grow. Ianto, that coral is the start of a Tardis. I've no idea how she got it, or how she figured out how to feed it, but the Master is growing a Tardis! Shit, we've got to stop her! The Master with a Tardis of her own- "

"Well it's hurting her!" snaps Ianto without meaning to. He's feeling her discomfort, like being stretched until his skin might burst. "She's frightened. She wants to go home, though I can't tell if she means your desk or someplace else."

"You can tell that? She's awake already? She talks to you?"

"Not talk, exactly, but I can feel her in my head. We need to get her out of here, Jack. Not only to keep Missy from having a Tardis, but for her sake." Ianto knows what a Tardis is and what it can do from having worked at Torchwood One, where the Doctor was Enemy Number One. He knows from Jack what happened the last time the Master had his hands on the Doctor's. He can't let that happen.

"We will. I just haven't figured out how yet."

"Can we have an actual plan this time, please? One with contingencies and realistic expectations? This rushing in without thinking may be okay for you, but it gets me killed." Shit. Thoughtless, and his remark has hit Jack hard.

"I'm sorry. I've been sorry for five years. I'll be sorry for the rest of eternity. I can't undo it, not any of it. It broke me. And do you know what happened the next day?

Ianto knows. He asked about the 456 when Torchwood Four brought him back, and Director Nguyen showed him all the files they'd found, including what happened in the warehouse, what Jack had to do. Steven. And here's Ianto poking at Jack like it's nothing. He feels terrible. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No. But you're right, it was my fault. My fault the aliens were here, my fault Torchwood was targeted, and my fault you were in that building. So yes, a plan."

"With contingencies."

"And reasonable expectations. And no pointless heroic deaths."

"It will be a nice change. Any ideas?"

"We could call UNIT?"

Jack sounds as uncertain as Ianto feels. UNIT has the resources for a frontal assault, but that may not be the best scenario here. The coral could be damaged in the cross-fire, and Ianto is really feeling quite protective of her. Besides-

"They can't know about me, Jack. Not about Torchwood 4 or the Boot Chip. I'd have to go, and I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone with them."

"They can contact the Doctor, send her with him."

"NO!"

Now Jack is looking at him strangely. "The Doctor has a Tardis," Ianto tries to explain, but no, that's not really the problem. "They don't belong together, not like that. They don't fit. She's too young for the sort of danger he'd get her into. And UNIT, they'd want to study her. Take her apart. You know how that feels."

That seems to make an impression. "What about Gwen?" Jack asks.

"What about her? Last I knew, she was in Cardiff living a decidedly cozy domestic life. What use would she be to us? And what would getting pulled back in do to her?"

"Good point. What about your Torchwood? If you can handle Cybermen, rescuing a baby Tardis shouldn't be a problem, and you'd be able to keep watch over what happens to her."

Even this makes Ianto bristle, and he doesn't know why. "Can't we do it ourselves? Not tell anyone about her?"

"I don't think we can. She's already too big to carry, and this mess of wires is going to need a specialist. I don't suppose any of this looks familiar to you? From your tour?"

"I was eleven, Jack! They didn't teach me how rewire the bloody place!"

While Jack looks at the transformer panel, Ianto moves to inspect the interface between the system and the coral to see if there's an obvious way to disconnect it. Nothing makes sense, and he's starting to feel uneasy. Like the clock is ticking. Like any minute everything is going to go to hell. Jack's hesitancy isn't making him feel any better. "Do you think anything will explode if we start yanking random wires?" he asks.

Jack looks at him dubiously. "I thought you wanted a plan?"

The pressure in his mind is increasing. "I changed my mind! I want to get her safe. Quickly. Please, do something quickly!"

It's too late. The door, which Ianto realizes they haven't been watching, slams shut with the solid thwump of industrial steel. His heart sinks. They weren't fast enough, and now Missy has them all. There she stands with her back to the closed door aiming a gun directly at Ianto. His own this time; apparently she's abandoned the symbolism of Jack's Webley for the greater penetration and rate of fire of Ianto's HK45C.

Jack stops talking mid-sentence. Dread settles over Ianto. Missy speaks, her patronizing tone scraping Ianto's nerves raw.

"Oh, well done, Jack! I was afraid you wouldn't come, and when you triggered the lockdown I thought maybe I should have marched you down here myself instead of letting you get yourselves loose, but I knew loyal Mr. Jones wouldn't leave my little one behind. So now you're both exactly where I need you to be: Jack near the transformer, Jones in line for a bullet if you don't do exactly what I say."

Suddenly Ianto sees it. What she wants from Jack. Her plan. "Vortex energy," he breathes.

"Clever Mr. Jones! This trickle I can glean from London is nothing compared to what Jack contains. With him hooked to the transformer, I can advance my time table by days."

She's wanting to rip the Vortex out of Jack and force feed it to his coral, a process that will surely be excruciating to them both. And what will happen to Jack? He once explained to Ianto that the Vortex energy that keeps him alive is an endless source, but what if it's drained in that critical instant when Jack dies? Siphoned away? Will it still revive him when it returns, or will that be the end, a permanent death?

She's walking slowly toward Ianto with her eyes trained on Jack, who is clearly wanting to charge at her, but not willing to risk Ianto. Missy sees it too. "Don't do it, Jack. I'll shoot him, you know I will. You've watched him die twice, and you'll do whatever I say not to lose him again."

"And what's to say you won't kill him as soon as I've done what you want?"

"Oh, I probably will, eventually. Maybe I'll keep him around for a while, though. I've taken quite a liking to your Mr. Jones. We're very much alike, you see. No self-preservation. Willingness to do anything for those we love. Incredible fashion sense."

In the midst of it all, that is the thing that pisses him off. "I'm not his, you know," snaps Ianto. "I'm not a pet. I'm my own man, and I'm nothing like you. "

Missy spares him a glance full of something like pity. "Oh, you poor dear. I know a thing or two about obsessive devotion, and trust me on this, you belong to him and he belongs to you. There's no point in fighting it, it will only drive you to madness."

Ianto takes a step forward, stopping when he sees the telltale tightening of Missy's wrist that indicates that she's ready to fire. He pauses. She relaxes only slightly. He's not going to be able to disarm her, then. He has two options: die in an attempt to distract her enough for Jack to escape, or wait and see. A warm pressure in the back of his mind soothes him, urges him to wait, tells him it will be all right. Ianto chooses to trust it.

Missy moves slowly forward until the barrel of Ianto's gun is pressed firmly against his forehead.

"Go on, Jack," she urges, "I've rewired the transformer for you. Put one hand on the shiny plate, then grab the wire by the thing that goes ping. I put that in just for you, you know. PING! You'll die quickly, more's the pity, but it will work even when you're dead, drawing out every bit of Vortex that tries to revive you. Then I'll take Mr. Jones, and we'll go find the Doctor and whoever he's distracting himself with these days."

Jack hesitates. "Don't hurt him," he begs. "I'll do what you want, just… don't hurt him."

"Jack, you can't! You won't come back!"

Jack purses his lips. "I have to. I can't let you die again. Not if I can save you."

"Oh, Jack. Poor Jack." She pushes the barrel hard and twists. "I'll treat him better than you did. I promise."

Ianto wants to call out. He wants to tell Jack not to do it, that he doesn't mind dying if it will save Jack and the young Tardis, but he's held firm. He can't move, can't speak as he watches Jack place his hand where Missy indicated. Her hand is shaking with excitement, the gun vibrating against his skull.

"Now the ping. Don't forget the ping."

Jack takes the wire. The room goes dark, the station's entire output diverted through Jack, to feeding the coral. Jack's body is alight with it, rigid with eyes rolled back. There's the sharp smell of electricity in the air. Jack's skin cracks under the strain; purple light emanates from him, matching the bright pulsing of the coral as she absorbs the Vortex.

The reassuring presence in Ianto's mind turns to a spike of agony, and he's drowning in it. He feels himself surrounded, pulled away from Missy and Jack and everything in the world. He loses himself in it. He's expanding to fast to be contained; the atmosphere is trying to restrain him. It burns. His skin is molten. Stretching. Tearing. His insides balloon out. He is transforming, and there's nothing he can do to escape the pain. Light blinds him, the rushing roar deafens. All senses overloading, he can taste the Vortex, smell the universe. What's left of Ianto tries to picture the stone in the stream, but it's ripped away like a pebble in a flow of lava, melting and absorbed by the current. He's subsumed, no longer himself, but a part of something more. They slam their door shut (when did Ianto grow a door?) The last pieces of Ianto retreat, until suddenly-


The pain is gone, reduced only to a throbbing ache Ianto can feel in every cell. He's himself again, all parts in their correct place (no door), and he's in a glowing chamber with indistinct boundaries. It's oddly silent, enough that he can hear the rushing of blood in his ears. He's in the new Tardis; she has saved him, claimed him, grown herself around him. He feels her rumbling her approval, promising him safety, offering her help and companionship.

"Right then," he says into the silence. "Defeat Missy, save Jack, and get us out of here. And some coffee wouldn't go amiss."

It all seems more manageable now. He doesn't need to call UNIT or anyone else, he has exactly what he needs to do what needs to be done. He pictures the transformer room, estimates the size, wills his Tardis to become something new, knowing she'll understand. Everything shifts and changes. There's a loud thump from outside. It's worked. Ianto imagines a door and one appears, a large steel cog bearing the stamp 'Made in Wales'. Ianto chuckles as it rolls open.

The outside of the Tardis is not at all what Ianto expected. Instead of a larger police box or a vehicle, or anything at all that makes sense, she's chosen to become a small, rundown farmhouse. He doesn't understand until he sees Missy's feet sticking out from under the edge. He steps over them, smiling a bit at her ridiculous striped socks and restraining the urge to steal her lace-up boots. Jack is lying in the corner, dead but only slightly singed around the edges. He's healing, then, and he'll be back. Ianto sighs in relief. He drags Jack back into the house/Tardis, ignoring Missy for the moment. She won't be going anywhere until the Tardis moves.

It's changed inside. No longer an amorphous space, the Tardis has created him a control room of polished wood and gleaming brass, with a centre console covered in levers and dials, gauges and nozzles. Ianto smiles fondly; it's clearly based on his beloved espresso machine. It's beautiful. There's a nook tucked in the side with pillows and blankets, so that's where Ianto takes Jack, cradling him close while he heals. His burns are closing over, his skin is smoothing out, his hair starting to regrow.

Everything is different now. Somehow more than it was, yet Ianto knows the change is within himself. Ianto can feel it, the flow of time around him. He can feel Jack pulsing bright like a beacon. The Doctor called him wrong, but Ianto thinks him beautiful. Steady and eternal. Comforting. He settles Jack against his chest as he always had while waiting and ruffles his hair, touches his lips. It's taking longer than usual for Jack to revive, but Ianto can be patient; minutes- even hours- seem inconsequential. They're safe in here in Ianto's Tardis.

While he waits, he thinks. It's going to be awkward. Ianto can never again doubt the depth of Jack's feelings for him; whether they can put the past aside or not, it's clear now that Jack loves Ianto. That doesn't make it easy. Because while Ianto loves Jack too, no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, there's a lot of history. They have a lot to work though before they can be what they were. No, not what they were, something new. The dynamic has changed. Jack isn't Ianto's boss anymore, and Ianto isn't a young man who needs to be lead and protected. But they will be together. Ianto can now see that he's incomplete without Jack.

When Jack comes to slowly, quietly, Ianto can feel that too. He knows the instant Jack's heart starts beating, when the rush of Vortex retreats as if pleased at a job well done.

Jack remembers him this time. He looks up at Ianto adoringly. "You're safe," he whispers.

"Yeah."

When Ianto helps Jack to his feet, Jack tries to kiss him. Ianto pulls away. There's an awkward conversation they need to have before things go any further.

"We need to talk," he says, knowing it's the most cliché opening ever, but not knowing any other way. Maybe that's why it's a cliché.

Jack's shoulders hunch in defeat. "I know. I'll leave."

"What? That's not-"

"Isn't it? It's too dangerous for you to be around me. I've gotten you killed twice. Three times almost. I don't think I could bear it again. I was so glad to have you back that I forgot what being around me does to people, then I saw the Master aiming a gun at you and-"

Jack is babbling now. As much as Ianto wanted to sort things emotionally before anything physical, sometimes kissing Jack is the only way to get him to shut up.

It does. The problem is that once he's started, Ianto doesn't want to stop. Jack's lips are every bit as soft as he remembered, every bit as demanding. It's a bad idea and he knows it. He pulls away reluctantly to see Jack staring at him with something like wonder tinged with regret.

"Ianto, I-"

"Damnit, stop talking! I have to get through this so you understand and you keep talking. How am I supposed to tell you what I need to tell you if you won't shut up?"

Jack's jaw is twitching, he's clenching his teeth, but he's silent. Now Ianto needs the words to say and the courage to say them. What will Jack think? Will his happiness at Ianto's survival extend to acceptance of his new circumstances? He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and starts the best way he can. "I've changed."

"Of course you have. It's been five years. So have I."

"Not that."

"You died. You came back and you're five years older. That would change anyone, but you're still Ianto Jones, and the man I see now is even more amazing than the man I never stopped loving. I want you, whoever you are now, but I don't want you to get hurt. Not because of me. Not again."

Last time, before, Jack was Ianto's boss. He was older and more experienced, and Ianto was willing to follow his lead. He was willing to accept protectiveness as one of the few gestures of affection Jack was willing to offer. Not anymore. Ianto isn't an employee or a sidekick. Jack is still older and always will be, but Ianto has enough life experience to make up his mind. And as gestures of affection go, Jack is going to have to come up with some that don't involve treating Ianto as if he's a child.

Ianto grabs the front of Jack's shirt and shakes him. "Now look here, Jack Harkness. I walked into this under my own power, eyes open. I led the way, even. I've chosen Torchwood and danger and the ability to serve humanity every time it's come up, so don't you dare act like I'm some innocent bystander caught up in your story. I may someday be a martyr, but I will never be collateral damage. Do me the courtesy of letting me decide what I'm willing to risk."

"You have changed," Jack says, looking a bit surprised. "I like it."

"It's not that. It's only-" Ianto pauses, not sure how to explain, not sure if this is the deal-breaker. "I can see you."

"Of course you can, you're looking right at me."

Ianto rolls his eyes. "No, see you. Like the Doctor does." Jack's face falls, and Ianto would do anything to take it back, to not bring up the Doctor in any way. He rushes to reassure Jack. "No, I like it! You're always there somewhere in time. Everything swirls around you. As long as you exist, forever and always, I can't get lost. We'll always find you."

"We? Who?"

"Me and the Tardis. We're linked somehow. She likes you."

"You're a Time Lord now?" Jack looks crestfallen. Ianto understands: Jack's been tortured by one Time Lord, abandoned, used, and dismissed by another.

Ianto hadn't thought about it, so he considers it now. No, it doesn't feel right; he's as human as ever, only more. He takes Jack's hand, placing it on his chest. "One heart, Jack. I won't be regenerating or running off to find Gallifrey. I won't be leaving you."

"Then you'll age and you'll die, won't you? You're not like me? I don't want that for you. It's horrible."

"I- maybe? I don't know. The Tardis- who wants a proper name of her own, by the way- seems to have bonded to me. We were somehow joined telepathically while she grew, and I think it's permanent. And the energy that fed her came through you, so it's almost like we're her parents. I have no idea what that means, except that she'll take us anywhere we want to go. Where do you want to go, Jack?"

"Anywhere in the whole universe?"

"All of time and space, actually. Well, with a few exceptions. No Cardiff or London in this time. And we should probably avoid anywhere one of us has been, to avoid paradox, but other than that? I think we can go anywhere. I don't know how to use the controls, but she designed herself for me. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to fly her."

Jack runs his fingers lightly over the console. "I should be able to help, if she'll let me."

They settle in to a comfortable debate over what each dial and level must do, Jack basing his opinion on the Doctor's Tardis, Ianto arguing from the perspective of a barista.

"She's really beautiful, isn't she?" Ianto murmurs somewhat paternally.

"The Doctor's is bigger," Jack says.

Ianto knows he's teasing, but it stings nonetheless. "It's not about size, Jack!" he snaps defensively.

Jack winks. "What about the Master?" he asks.

"We dropped a house on her." Ianto grins at Jack's snort of amusement. "But she's still alive out there. I think we'd have felt it if she died or regenerated."

Jack looks at him sharply. We, he had said. He hasn't stopped thinking of himself and the Tardis as a single entity, at least in some contexts. Maybe they are, maybe that's how it's going to be from now on? Only time will tell, and time doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.

"Anyway, I don't think she's our problem. We'll give UNIT all the data on Missy, give Torchwood everything I learned about the Cybermen, and we'll leave this all behind. I haven't thought yet what we should do about Torchwood. I can't go back there, at least not permanently. Should I quit? Let them think I died? Just go missing? Tell them I'm running away with you and hand off my duties to someone else?"

"That last one leaves you the most options," Jack says thoughtfully.

Feeble kicking is heard from outside. Ianto purses his lips. "I still feel like we should be doing something about her."

"You got what you wanted on the Cybermen, we foiled her dastardly plot," Jack wiggles his eyebrows melodramatically, "and we rescued your fair maiden. I'd say we've done our bit."

Ianto nods slowly, saying, "We can't wait for them to come get her or they'll see the Tardis, and if we kill her and she regenerates, they won't know her face. As long as we make sure there's nothing here for them to find we should be safe." He means himself and the Tardis, but realizes that it includes Jack too. Jack needs to be kept safe from UNIT's demands on his time and from his own willingness to be disposable. "Right. Best to tell them what they need to know, not a single thing more, and then leave."

That's it. They have a plan.


Author's Apology: I have never had as much trouble with a story as I did with this chapter. 80% of this was written when I posted the previous bit, leading me to believe that I'd have it done quickly. Yeah, not so much. I considered splitting it at the obvious cliffhanger, but I really wanted to keep this part intact. Many thanks as always to my beta Gmariam, who is also the chief-fire-under-arse-lighter. Also thanks to the readers who stick with me, especially the ones who review. I often find myself rereading reviews when I'm stuck to get an idea of what touches people, so it helps my process in a very tangible way.