"How you doing down there, Ianto?"
"Fine, sir." The quiver in his voice was an amazing lie detector.
"How many times must I tell you..."
"Sorry, sir. It's just that staring at your bum for a solid ten minutes makes me lose my concentration a bit."
"I can accept that." Jack looked into the eyes of the man clinging a few rungs below him on the ladder on the side of the missile silo. After being chased by the farmer's rabid rottweilers, Jack and Ianto felt it was their duty to find a sneakier way into the farm. Okay, there was an echo. But, you had to admit, it was sneaky.
Earlier that day, Tosh had caught a snippet of news online about a crop circle appearing in the farmlands of England. Well, it turns out, Jack saw the "circle" as an alien message. An alien message that read, in jagged terms, "help needed". So the team had packed some gear and headed out to the countryside. Tosh was providing light dimming support, Owen was driving and Gwen was distracting the farmer and his wife. Well, hopefully.
As they reached the top, they saw the weevils. They might still have been relatively frightening for the Torchwood crew gnashing with teeth and claws, but only an idiot would have missed the fact that they were malnourished to the point of insanity.
"Bloody hell, Jack. Not even they deserve this."
"I agree."
"Jack, I couldn't hold the farmer off anymore." Jack's comm beeped to signal the end of the message.
"We're gonna have company."
"Great."
"You dang-blasted government reporters just don't give up, do you?! You have ten seconds to get down off my missile silo before I come up there with my 12-gauger!"
"Does he actually think that would work?"
"He was stupid enough to starve these guys and, if their claws are any indication, put them to work, so I'm gonna go ahead and say yes."
"You've been warned!"
"And so have you." Ianto pulled his stun gun on the guy's neck the second his head floated up on the ladder. If Jack hadn't have caught the guy; he would have probably fell to his death.
"Why don't you humans learn you can't just take advantage of aliens?" He was still groggily muttering about his property as Jack said this. His fat belly and balding head disgusted Jack, just a little. Living off the production of enslaved beings often did that to him. "First pharmaceuticals and now this! I'm tempted to just leave him to them!"
"You know we can't do that."
"Just this once?"
"Jack."
"Okay, okay. What if we leave him just in reach of them?" Jack made a dangling gesture with his arms.
Ianto rolled his eyes. "We'll take him into custody. I'm afraid, however, these two weevils don't look like they'd make the trip." Jack was amazed at how empathetic Ianto could be toward strange species. He was so brave and wise. It was a real turn-on; too bad Ianto had been turned off even after Jack had told him he loved him. This was the second week of near silence. Jack was beginning to think Ianto didn't believe him. He'd come around though; he had talked Ianto into staying with him a few nights.
"Tosh, can you hear me?"
"Reading, Ianto."
"Are these weevils healthy enough to travel?"
"Bio-scanners indicate that they have very weak signatures in comparison to the one at the Hub. Tell Jack that I know how much he hates to..."
"You won't have to Tosh." The look on Ianto's face was enough to confirm Jack's grim fears. Poor bastards probably got lost and deserted in the Rift. No one deserved this kind of treatment. With an uncharacteristic grimace; Capt. Jack Harkness shot two beings. And no, he didn't enjoy it. Ianto began to prepare the two to go back down the ladder, using a basket system, while Jack tied the farmer with his chains. Ianto didn't think commenting would be a good idea.
Ianto's eye caught the blink of a small object atop a pole linking the chain to the silo.
"Jack, what do you think this is?" Ianto curiously picked up the nearly translucent yellow gem. It was shaped like a rose.
"I'm not sure. Could be weevil technology, although it is quite strange. Almost gem-like." Jack raised an inquisitive eyebrow as Ianto placed it toward the moon and watched the dazzling light cascade from its surfaces.
"Ow! Thing's bloody hot, Jack!" Ianto dropped it, but it didn't crack or shatter. It was incredibly sturdy. Jack used the bottom of his jacket to place the thing in his gun's holster before they began to work their way down.
"You don't think it's radioactive?"
"I'm sure I don't know. But its better for me to find out than you."
The specimens "Alex" and "Ariana" provided much entertainment for Owen that night, but most of the activity centered around the mysterious gem that had appeared.
"I've got no record of any weevil, or any alien for that matter, with technology that matches this. As far as analysis goes", Tosh clicked away at her keyboard while she talked to Jack, who hovered over her shoulder and Ianto who paced around the object, lit from below by a holding pillar, "the item appears to be incredibly sturdy and yet would break very easily if cut along one of its faces."
"Which would be hard to do", Ianto muttered.
"Right, because after all, it's hot." Tosh confirmed. "The heat itself emanates from the core of the "rose", but everything about that is a contradiction."
"Why?", Gwen asked as she lounged on the couch.
"Topaz isn't supposed to be pure yellow at this temperature," Ianto muttered and Jack looked up, visibly impressed. Is there anything he isn't knowledgeable on?
"Right Ianto, Topaz at this temperature should be pink or red. It's very off."
"Well, I guess that's why we call it alien technology. Any possible uses, Tosh?"
"I'm afraid that's all I have, Jack."
"Sounds fine to start with. Why don't you and Gwen head home? I'm sure we can find out a lot more in the morning."
"Sounds good to me." Owen, joined the circle, seemingly dipped in Weevil goo.
"What did you find out, Owen?"
"Just as you suspected, wasn't it? They were starved to the point of death. Mercy killing is what it was you performed."
"Well, we've done good work today team. Let's all get rested up bright and early for tomorrow!" Jack rubbed his hands together; transparent eyes fixated on the man hovering about the contained gem.
"And what about me?"
"You know I'd want you to stay, Ianto."
"I think that would be alright."
Ianto continued his cleaning up and organizing as Jack pretended to do paperwork. His thoughts, though, were concentrated on the new artifact they housed. The color of the topaz rose was of the same as what flashed on his wrist. He wondered if the power source itself might short out the technology his wrist held. He sighed as he undid his cuffs and looked at his wrists for the umpteenth time this week. He cursed the thing that kept Ianto drawn near to him, out of whatever it was that went through Ianto's mind when he thought of it.
"What is it Jack?" His mind traveled back to that awkward conversation after he had told Ianto his real, frightening feelings.
"As far as Tosh can tell, it's a controlled device that was implanted into my bones and set to go off at this point in my life. It must be from my time; just something I was never told about."
"And what is this technology supposed to do?" Ianto's face couldn't hide the etched lines of worry. Some days Ianto reminded Jack of the Doctor, except one was more sweet and the other eccentric beyond belief.
"That's just it. You see, in the future, beings can be omni sexual to a certain date. They could have as many lovers of either gender as they wanted, but once this flasher goes off; they are supposed to pair off with someone of the opposite gender. Each wrist is embedded with a code that can only be deactivated by embedding one code with another after the moment of copulation."
"So, you have to give birth or..."
Jack's face turned dark. "We don't know the or. The system was put into place so that we wouldn't self-destruct like the Greeks of ancient times. And now, I just..."
"It's okay, Jack."
"It's not okay, Ianto. I don't want to just have sex and have children and not have it be with you."
"But you may not have a choice."
Ianto's cough at the door broke Jack's train of thought as he seemed mesmerized by the inside of his coffee cup. "Are you done with that sir? I could wash it up tomorrow. Oh, I see you were thinking."
Jack blushed, well insomuch as he actually could blush, and quickly covered his wrists with his sleeve.
Ianto sighed. "You don't have to do that. We're sleeping in the same bed."
"You know I don't want to decide this."
"Just come to bed when you are ready Jack." Jack nodded as Ianto headed toward their room. God, that gave Jack such a feeling, calling it "their room". He cursed whatever it was that gave him such luck. To lose Ianto now, even with everything at stake and all the what-ifs. It made the captain downright depressed if he thought of it.
Ianto had already covered himself with a sheet when Jack came in and was already halfway asleep. His semi-folded clothing hovering near the hamper waited for Jack to join it. He also noted Ianto was still wearing his briefs and sighed. He loved Ianto so much, but didn't blame Ianto for any of this. Jack removed his shirt in a fluid motion, followed by his trousers. He contemplated briefly and then climbed over Ianto to his favorite spot next to the wall. Jack slid into the sheets and then removed his boxers underneath. His hand draped itself automatically over Ianto's chest, but Ianto was already snoring. Jack didn't care. Actually, he wanted to have sex. He always wanted sex. But just the scent of Ianto was enough, had to be enough to placate him. Ianto hadn't had the drive since he'd returned. Jack was beginning to wonder if he wasn't just a charity cause. He knew Ianto loved him, otherwise he wouldn't stay or allow Jack to be this close.
Something called to Jack as he tried to snuggle in. The gem's tone was warm and luxurious and Jack found himself compelled to move forward. A hand of golden glass beckoned him forth and he followed; bothering only long enough to retrieve his trousers. A shirtless Jack stood gazing, wide-eyed before the topaz rose. Then he entered the code and the veil of glass lifted. He poked the gem and nothing happened. Then he took it into his hands and brought it up closer to his chest.
He could feel the warmth immediately. It wasn't searing, but it was as though a lamp had been left on too long. He could hear Ianto's voice groggily asking for him. "Just getting water," Jack called back to the room, slightly panicked. The gem began to glow and Jack was feeling the effects of being encompassed in golden swirls of topaz. He didn't know if it was good or bad, but he couldn't let go. Not if it meant saving himself and being close to Ianto again.
Ianto caught the scene as he skidded into the threshold. He held the grip of office door before he bolted for the encompassed Jack.
"No, Jack! Not without me!" Ianto jumped and grabbed hold of Jack just as the gem bound his sight with light. There was a swirly orange afterglow, but it wasn't incredibly unpleasant. Ianto's fingers raked Jack's chest. But he couldn't help but smile. Ianto hadn't been this close in a very long time. He looked back to see Ianto, but instead his mind found a very odd memory.
Cardiff Bay, six months after the new Torchwood had been formed. Capt. Jack Harkness strolled Millennium Plaza eating an ice cream cone when he came across Ianto, doing the same but staring out at the water.
"Come here often?"
"Sir!" Ianto looked as though he might drop his cone out of fright.
"As you were, Ianto. Don't lose your treat on account of me."
Ianto returned to staring at the sea. "Lisa loved coming to this spot and watching the crashing waves. It made her feel like a part of something."
"I can understand that." Jack leaned over the rail, breathing in the fresh scent of the bay.
"You know I'm just a flirt, right Ianto?"
Ianto sighed. "I know, sir, I know."
Ianto found himself in a dark room, lit only by a large amount of light coming from the door. In his eyes were the Master. He had never met the man, but somehow knew him and knew fear because of him. He looked down at his cracked hands shackled in servitude and then looked back into the wild and fierce eyes. Absent tears blinked as he felt the heat of a plasma torch spark to life. The scream that echoed from his lips was not his voice. It was Jack's voice; Jack's scream. Jack enduring the first of many torturing the Master would inflict on him. And Ianto cried and grabbed Jack closer; beginning to breach some level of understanding.
Jack flew into a new memory. He recognized nothing except that he was in the Hub, and well dressed. He stood in the mirror examining a brand-new white tuxedo-style suit and how well it was tailored. He left the confines of his office and found Ianto waiting for him. Ianto had become old. His hair was mostly gone and he stooped considerably more, but Jack bent down to kiss him. It was so loving it hurt. It was Jack's turn to cry. But he couldn't bear the memory and so he pushed it away. Ianto fell as Jack pushed him as the circuit of power completed itself. Ianto awoke on the floor of the Hub with Capt. Jack Harkness gone. For the second time in his life, Ianto huddled into a ball and cried with shaking tears.