Chapter rating: T, and a happy unbirthday to you :D
A/N: I fail at life… and at death too I think… anyway, I'm not going to finish this for NaNoWriMo, that's for sure :sighs: ah well, I'll finish it anyway. Maybe sometime before Christmas if I'm not too lazy. My muse is a sadist. Do you know that writing on a bus can be quite fun for the imagination? I spent 4 hours in total riding buses today and what did that give me? A full chapter written on paper XD
Spoilers: If you don't know Torchwood: Children of the Earth, you might not get some of the stuff in here. As I said before, I don't have a perfect recall of everything in the series so some facts might be switched or even wrong. Just point them out and I'll iron it out a bit.
The Doctor's Child
Chapter 15: A Change In Pace
Ianto listened distantly as Jack explained his side of Clem's story. The baby in his arms was keening softly, apparently sensing the dramatic shift of mood around him.
The Welshman turned away, occulting everything else and went to prepare some milk to feed Evan, humming to him under his breath.
Then suddenly, the explosive noise of a gunshot rang behind him, making him jump slightly before crouching down. His grip on Evan tightened as he tried to cover his fmall, fragile body with his bulk.
Evan was wailing loudly now and Ianto had to take several quick, calming breaths before allowing himself to move. The infant's touch-telepathy had kicked in again and he had the hardest time dissociating Evan's mixed pain/fear/stress, from his own.
Turning around after what felt to him like hours, his heart sank when he saw Jack's inert body lying on the dirty ground, a red stain on his chest.
He immediately ran to his lover's side, carefully handling the little Gallifrean who was still wailing in distress.
The Welshman couldn't help feeling torn. He wanted nothing more than to take the infuriating American in his arms and cling to him until he revived, but with Evan still crying, there was nothing he could do but hold the small baby and try to calm him.
So he just knelt there, waiting with a baited breath. Even if he knew Jack would revived eventually, each one of his deaths (particularly the ones he'd witnessed) felt to him like a stab to the heart. Because for all Jack's brashness, his secrecy and his certitudes, something might go wrong this time and he might not stand back up after that one.
Even with the explosion and how he'd come back from just pieces of him, Ianto still feared the worse, especially with how casually Jack always treated his deaths.
So he stayed kneeling next to his lover's corpse, paying no mind to Gwen as she negotiated with Clem, soothing him into giving up the gun.
And then Jack Harkness, Immortal extraordinaire, pain in his bloody arse and maybe even love of his fucked up life, took an explosive breath, coming back from wherever he went when he died. Ianto couldn't help it, he justed smiled a bit brokenly, down at Jack, one hand on his renewedly beating heart, the other still keeping Evan safe against him.
Thus, Jack was back on his feet, taking Evan from Ianto, as the baby kept wailing and crying. The man was trying to calm him down, knowing instinctively that it was his presence the baby needed right then.
But they kept on talking for another hour, Clem keeping very clear from the Immortal as they discussed the possibilities, the ends and the means of this whole mess.
Evan seemed to calm down as he nuzzled keenly against the slightly bloodied shirt, held securely in Jack's arms. And for a moment, Ianto couldn't suppress the surge of love that coursed through him, like everytime he saw Jack's behaviour when he had the child in his arms.
The quietly tensed discussion was broken when a beep from one of their appropriated laptops rang. It signalled an update on the camera/contact lenses status. Alice had put on the lenses.
Ianto and Gwen immediately went to work. After a few encouraging words, they followed her path in the Thames House with baited breaths.
Evan had finally quieted down, nearly as if aware that the best thing to do at the moment was, not to bother the adults.
There was a proverbial bump on the road, when they realized that they could'nt ge the lip-reading program to work on something they couldn't see. And the poisonous fog inside the glass compartment obstructed any chance at seeing the 456. Lois came up with a solution when she started transcribing the alien's answers in stheno, with Ianto delivering the translation to his teammates.
It left them all palling in horror when they finally grasped the enormity of the situation. The children were an easy-fix, a drug for the 456 and they were demanding more of them. So many of them.
Clem was starting to act up again. They could all see that the old man was getting more and more upset as the situation was clarifying. Then suddenly, the tone of the negotiations changed, the aliens became frantic, talking about removing the "defective one". It was glaringly obvious that they were refering to Clem, especially with how the old man started rocking on himself and screaming, his head in his hands. It took a mere few minutes before the man stopped thrashing, stopped moving, stopped breathing and just stopped living altogether. Gwen held on brokenly to him, ignoring the blood still dripping from his face.
Jack for his part was trying not to let himself fall into a whirlwind of self-flagelation and distress. He couldn't do much to change his own past, but he was a changed man now, not the one he was all those years ago. And maybe, just for this once, he would stop avoiding his past, if only long enough to try and save the world in the process.
The baby in his arms reminded the Immortal of his presence by a short keening noise and Jack had to repress a flinch. Even with the constant reminder in the form of his honorary nephew, thoughts of the Doctor sometimes evaded him. He'd been getting so used to relay only on his team and on his Torchwood, that relaying on the Doctor (for all his brilliant mind and nearly magical affinity to save the day) sometimes took a backseat on the rest. But as the negotiations in the Thames House were adjourned, Jack quietly asked Ianto to try and contact the Time Lord (who had seemed quite fond of the Welshman in the time he'd mooched around in Torchwood, so maybe he wouldn't get the brunt of the alien's anger). Sure he had the hopes that this situation could be resolved without the help of the Doctor, even 'till now; but he knew enough to know that the Gallifreyan would find a way to kill him permanently if Jack didn't alert him, that there was a threat to his only child's life.
Ianto for his part couldn't help but feel like he was waiting for the blade to fall, as he listened intently to the dialling tone of his stolen phone.
Even then, the overwhelming sense of relieve that sped through him when a quiet "Hello" finally rang, was staggering. But then reality crashed down on him as he listened to the Docto's next words.
"Hello? Is this Jack? Of course it's Jack, he's the only one who has the number. Does that mean I've been gone too long again?" The alien asked quietly, dread seeping in his voice.
"Only a few days." Ianto replied, automatically. "And it's Ianto, Ianto Jones. Jack's… teammate."
And by God, it had only been a week and a half since the first announce by the 456.
"Oh! Good, good! I hoped I didn't miss too much!" The Time Lord continued as loud noises could be heard around him, sending Ianto in high alert.
"Doctor? Is everything all right?" He just had to ask.
"Ah… it will be, Ianto, it will… as soon as Rory and I get Amy and her baby back, everything will be okay!"
"What do you mean?" Even as he asked, Ianto couldn't help but feel himself fearing the answer.
"Oh, long story, really. No need to dread, just – I realized that the Amy we've been around was a clone, linked to the real one's mind, because the real one was kidnapped and replaced and pregnant and this one wasn't and now Amy has gone into labour and Rory and I, plus a few friends, are going to storm the castle as you so aptly say and get them both back! Oh the baby could meet Evan when we get back! Wouldn't that be amazing!"
Ianto opened his mouth. He wanted to scream at the Doctor to come back and help them. To order the man to stop gallivanting around the galaxy, playing knight in shiny armour. But the memory of the young woman with the fiery red hair and a stubborn streak that could outdo even Owen's, stalled his words.
With difficulty, he finally spoke through his suddenly tight throat.
"Of course, sir, that would be nice. You should probably go back to it then." He finally said in a rough voice.
"Yes! Yes! I should be back by, hm, tomorrow for you, I think!" The Time Lord quipped.
"Yes, sir. Be quick and be safe, then. Evan is in good hands."
Each word felt like a punch in the gut, but the Welshman couldn't ask the Doctor to chose between his best friend and his family, that was just too cruel.
And that was it. A few seconds later, the Torchwood 3 employee was left listening to the dial tone again.
He knew the Doctor well enough by then, to know that the alien was certainly not going to thank him for his subterfuge. He was probably going to ripe the results of his decision for a long time. But he couldn't bring himself to regret it either.
A renewed feeling of determination surged in him as he glanced back at Jack and Evan. The little boy was going to be fine. Evan was going to get out of this without a single strand of his inexistent hair ruffled. And in ten years time, they would look back at the events of these last few days and be amused by how utterly panicked they'd been over this. Yes, there was no other issue possible.
Galaxies away, the Doctor was maneuvering the T.A.R.D.I.S. to fly them to Dorium Maldavar, while Rory, in full Centurion glory, looked on with a grim expression.
"Doctor, was it Torchwood? Everything okay?" The Last Roman asked him, hesitant.
"What? Oh yes. It was Ianto checking up on us. Apparently, a few days have passed since we left and they were getting worried." The Time Lord replied, not looking up from his task.
Rory felt anguish and torn. He wanted to reassure the Doctor and tell him that maybe, they could swing by Earth quickly, so he could spend some time with Evan before going back to their quest for Amy and the baby (oh my god! They had a baby!). But another, louder, part of him was screaming at him to shut up, because they had to find Amy and their child. And they had to make sure the both of them were all right, and that as soon as possible. Evenmore, they had to find the captoprs and destroy them, utterly. He'd waited too long, lived too many outrageous things with Amy and her Raggedy Doctor, for it to have meant nothing, and to end in such a encompassing heartache. He would not let this happen again! She was never supposed to be away from him, again.
He started opening his mouth, reluctantly, but was cut off by the sudden jerk of the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"We are getting her back, Rory." The Time Lord said, before he could recover his bearings.
"I know, Doctor." Came the slightly hollow reply from the other man.
"Everything is going to be okay, Rory. We get her and the baby back, then we go to Earth after justanother day as passed for them and we present your child to Evan and hope they don't plan to take over the world." The alien continued, sounding confident.
But even as usually oblivious as he was, Rory could clearly hear the underlying darkness in his voice, and see it in his profiled face.
Nodding, more to himself than the Doctor, Rory took a deep breath, cleansing his mind from any thought not concerning Amy's retrieval. They still had a long way to go before they could return to Earth, but he'd make damn sure that they did. All of them.
Light years from there, even millenias in the past, the Torchwood team, plus Rhys, were listening in abject trepidation as the leaders of the powerful counties of Earth started bargaining with the lives of millions of innocent children.
Evan was again unnervingly quiet, but the adults couldn't tear their eyes from their screens as the protocols were decided, that would scarify a third of the planet's children to their fate.
Then the steel came back in Jack's eyes and Gwen, though pale, looked back with resolve, Ianto with fury and an equal dose of determination and Rhys appeared both angry beyond belief and a bit lost. And they started to plan, like only their team did. Knowing the consequences of their acts and desperate to save humanity from its own folly.
Their plan, ingenious plan, desperate, was set into motion quickly. Habiba became their mouthpiece in the Thames House, as Jack and Ianto prepared to leave after Rhys and Evan.
Jack was giving the little baby to the other Welshman, when the infant started crying. Jack tried to soothe him, shushing him quietly, but the baby wouldn't stop. And they didn't have time for this atall. He finally quieted down, nearly instantly, when Ianto took him from Rhys' arms, and started up again when he moved to place him back into the other man's arms.
"We really don't have time for this! Ianto, stay with Rhys and Evan, you'll be our fall-back with them. You both stay together and guard Evan. I'm going in, alone." Jack finally stated, frustrated and angry.
And then he was off, waiting to be a block away from the warehouse before calling Frobisher. But then he called Ianto's sister, Rihannon. As a first impression, this was really not how he'd planned to ever get in touch with his new in-laws. Rihannon took time (nearly too much) to convince, but soon, he had her promise to get away from their houses as soon as possible.
And then came the Thames House. The run up the stairs to that last floor, was oddly uneventful. And soon, he was in the room, facing those abominations. When he realized what the 456 had done to the ventilation and security systems, and that the glass was impervious to bullets, a part of him couldn't help but be bitter. He should have known better. He'd been on the wrong side of the fence, long ago, if he hadn't changed so much and buried so much of himself, maybe he would have realized the double-crossing before it could happen. As it was, the poisonous gazes made his head go light. Too soon after, it was just darkness again.