Creator's Note:
Pip, the beta reader with the mostest, is back! She dutifully finished all of this (informing me that she thought I was in fact trying to kill her with the next two chapters of content) and then begged for an epilogue. Her wish is my command, I suppose.
You should know that I love Ianto. And that I'm posting chapters 5 and 6 together (seperately, but at the same time). You'll see why.
The song in the last chapter is by Celine Dion. It was the first song I ever heard that really captivated me, and that chapter seemed like a perfect excuse. Pip advises (and I agree) that listening to the song extends the chapter beautifully. If you don't have it; you should anyways.
--On With the Show!--
"Where's Ianto?"
"Manners, Mr. Harkness. You've been on board long enough without them. I'd suggest you'd acquire some, quickly."
"Where's Ianto?"
"Come, come Jack. You aren't the least bit curious where you are?" Jack's shoulders surged forward with anger, but the gravitational force of the anxiety and the tension of the anger itself forced them down. "That's better."
The darkness gave way to the dimmest of light. Somewhere near Jack, a mechanical gear was whirring and something in front of Jack was being pulled downwards. Something was coming.
She was beautiful, so beautiful that she was ugly and ghastly. Her nose was sharp, as was her tongue, and her hair flowed like liquid oil. Her skin was the color of snow's infestation. At least, if it was a her. There was something frightening and androgynous in the way she dressed.
"Who are you?" Jack looked down and clenched his fists, leaving both his trademark charm and his cool nature in the entryway.
"Tsk, tsk. Is this any way for a Captain to act? Surely you have more than a three word vocabulary."
"Where is Ianto? I won't ask again."
"Fine, then." She sighed, giving up the witty and warped conversation she had hoped for. "My name is Executioner Deirdre. And I'm here to dispose of you and your little, how did Owen refer to him, tea boy?"
"Don't you dare talk about Ianto."
"How quaint. You're attached to him." Jack rushed forward, but bounced off of a shield surrounding a chair.
"Ah, ah. Mr. Harkness. One brutal assault at a time. I'll have to get replacements for the mirrors you broke, by the way. Now, Let's not go breaking my chair with a view."
Jack raised his gun from his boot and aimed it, nostrils flaring. "Release us or I shoot."
"I don't think you'll be doing that either."
"And why not?"
"Because." Deirdre swiveled in her chair, pressing a button. The wall slid, revealing that they were hovering over the Earth. "Then you'd kill him too."
Behind Jack, a light glowed down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ianto's hand, struggling through manacles chained to a wall.
"What do you want?"
"First, Put the gun back where it belongs, Captain Harkness." Jack begrudgingly did so, and then bore up to his full height.
"Delightful. Since you've asked a new question, thankfully, I will inform you. I am what you would call attuned with the so called Time Lords. I was hired to act as mercenary for them and their companions. Funnily enough, your name came up. Can you imagine why?"
Jack thought of the Game Station, the Master, various scenarios on multiple earths he had been involved in, and his stance became less easy. Was Ianto in all this trouble because of him?
Deirdre continued unmercifully with her verbal assault. "Con man to reformed hero to immortal. Oh, it's a sweet story isn't it? A cozy ending becoming leader of Torchwood. Everything was going to so well, wasn't it?" She paused for dramatic effect, drinking in the horrid emotions seeping through the men. "Well, that do-gooding cousin of mine Bella Rosa just had to get involved. Luckily though, that brought you to my attention. After you, that leaves Donna, Martha, Rose, and her kin. Then, the last of the Time Lords and affected companions will drown in the pages of history."
"Why?" Jack's jaw tightened. He had no repertoire, no witty comeback ready. He just wanted Ianto out.
"Because the Creator pays well."
"Who is this Creator? Why does he want to extinguish the last of the Time Lords?"
"To orchestrate a purging of the systems. You all seem to think living in a grey world is completely acceptable. He finds this to be a minor inconvenience of altruism. He wishes to restore a purely black and white order. As such, he adopted the name Othello, after your charming Earth game."
"Then you want me. Let Ianto go and you can have me."
"Jack, no!" Ianto struggled feverishly.
"How sweet. He returns the sentiment. No, see, to capture you, I needed bait. And the one who would give of himself for Captain Jack Harkness seems like perfect bait to me!"
At least she didn't cackle, Jack thought to himself, villains that cackle are so passe.
"What now, then?"
"Why Ianto!" Her voice chortled in mock delight, chased by rage. "How brave of you to speak to me, you worthless terrestrial worm. I destroy your beloved then bring you to Othello as a pet. Then you will spend your life using your organizational abilities in the court of the Majestic New Creator."
"That won't be happening."
"And how do you plan to stop me, Harkness?"
"Give me a minute. I'll find a way."
"Bold words. Too bad, she reached to the side of her chair, that I'm the only one with weapons that work on an airborne star ship."
Ianto worked feverishly to free himself. He bit his manacles, he bit on his wrists, he tried taking running leaps from the wall and only ended up stretching himself farther and farther to the brink of madness. Seeing a weapon being pulled on Jack was the last straw. He'd regenerate yes, but to what cost? Millions upon millions of deaths? This had to stop before it even began.
"You can't kill me. You said so yourself."
"Yes. I do understand the unfortunate circumstances of your unique position in the circle of life and death, but do not fear. This gun is packed with the fusion star pellets of Althacian Order Planet Number Six. They specialized in weaponry to destroy the Time Lords. This will stop your heart dead, not even making your brain or blood aware it can regenerate. Even if you were to come back, you'd be so dumb that you wouldn't even be able to breathe properly."
Jack gasped, fear gripping his eyes.
"So, you see, Captain Jack Harkness, everyone can die of something. It's only a matter of what."
Deirdre pulled her weapon and aimed straight for Jack's head. He froze.
"Pleasant dreams, Captain."
"Jack, no!" Ianto freed himself of his restraints. Jack saw him running, but couldn't stop him in time. Little drops fell from his wrists and beneath his pants, blood creating a trail from where he ran to the place where he had been shackled.
The world stopped in a single breath and Dierdre pulled the trigger.
Ianto jumped in the way as the pellets collided with his body. There was a burst of air and a tremendous blue shock wave. Ianto Jones, front man and organized tea bringer of Torchwood, was vaporized into a thousand tiny crystals.
They fell before Jack in a sea of tears. The only thing that was not vaporized was the pocket watch.
Jack hit the floor, his composure knocked completely through.
Deirdre would have cackled horridly if it weren't for the watch beginning to glow. Bella Rosa must have accounted for such an unfortunate situation. If that were the case, Jack would never know. But the watch and the ring were magnetized to each other and his hand fell over Ianto's "ashes".
The space where Jack and Ianto were lit gold, like a righteous fire, burning with all the indignation the Tardis showed the Daleks and the Cyber men, all evil alike. He screamed as the torturous affects of sadness, hope, and vengeance all flowed through him. To lose someone he loved, but someone who had endured so much sorrow, it was vindication and a raw nerve of pain in the same blurring blend of emotion.
He looked up at Dierdre and didn't even bother to stand. She gulped, tasting the sentient version of fear she had never before known.
Jack rolled back his fist as it glowed bright yellow.
He destroyed her in one punch that went right through her head and stopped short of the window showing the shadow of Earth.
The home world of Torchwood Three.
