Chapter Fifty-Eight
On Monday, I managed to get smacked between the eyes by a cricket ball, and got concussion. :-/ Hence no writing last week.
Then I was at a friend's all weekend, so got zero writing done – although I did see the Harry Potter film, 'The Life of Brian' and 'Twilight'. :-)
But I can now present to you chapter fifty-eight...
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Torchwood.
Jack was hunched over some paperwork on his desk, a coffee-mug sitting empty at his elbow. The office was dark but for his desk-lamp, which threw oversized shadows up against the brick wall.
Ianto knocked on the door and entered, careful to be as unobtrusive as possible. "Coffee," he said, swapping the empty cup with the full one in his hand.
"Thanks," Jack muttered, not looking up as he scrawled a signature on the bottom of an expenses form.
"Maybe you should take a break?" Ianto suggested tentatively.
"Can't," Jack said distractedly, picking up another sheet from the pile, holding his pen in his mouth as he scanned the sheet.
"Just for an hour?" Ianto reached out and rested a hand on Jack's shoulder, noting absently how tense his neck was.
"Busy," Jack mumbled around the biro in his mouth, although he did cover Ianto's hand with his own and give it a brief squeeze.
"It's not like you to want to work," Ianto said, trying to sound casual. Are you okay?
Jack tipped his head up to look at Ianto, taking the pen out of his mouth and half-smiling, the edges of his mouth turning up slightly and his eyes crinkling with soft blue amusement. "There's a lot of stuff to go through," he said. "I want to get up to date." I'm fine. I just need to get back in control, get back to work.
Ianto smiled back, wondering when they started having conversations without actually having conversations. "I'll be around if you need me."
"I won't be much longer," Jack said. "Have the others gone home?"
"Not yet." Ianto checked his watch with a smart twist of the wrist. "It's only half six."
"I thought Gwen and Rhys were going out tonight?" Jack said, looking back down at his desk. "She was talking about that new French place in the centre."
"Their reservation's for eight-fifteen," Ianto explained. "She'll probably head off in a bit."
"What about the others?" Jack scribbled on another signature.
"They're going to see a film—" Ianto said, and before Jack could open his mouth added, "—with their phones set to vibrate."
"So we're Hub-sitting tonight, then?"
"Yup."
"Can we—?"
"Later."
"So that's a yes?"
"Maybe." Ianto patted Jack's head, smiling as Jack snagged his wrist and kissed the palm. "I'll bring the stopwatch."
"Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch," Jack agreed, tipping his head back again to grin lasciviously up at Ianto.
Ianto kissed him, upside-down and messy, and made a hurried exit before he got roped into anything he might regret.
-T-
Ianto's eyes took a moment to adjust to the gloom as he stepped through the heavy iron door to the vaults. He shivered involuntarily at the cool, clammy air, and made a mental note to get hold of a heater sometime before the winter.
The Doctor was propped against the back wall of his cell, knees drawn up under his chin and his eyes vacant, staring off into the middle distance.
Ianto cleared his throat, awkwardly straightening his tie with one hand and tugging on the bottom of his suit jacket with his other.
The Doctor looked up, startled, quickly covering his surprise with a mad grin. "Ianto!" he greeted him in delight. "I was beginning to think that you'd all forgotten me."
Ianto rolled his eyes. "No, sir. I was working."
The Doctor let his feet slide across the floor, his knees lowering. "What is it exactly that you do?"
Ianto restrained the urge to say 'Jack', and instead said evasively, "A bit of everything, really."
"Jack said that you make the coffee," the Doctor said, fixing Ianto with a deceptively casual look. Ianto knew that he was probing, trying to figure him out. He himself did the same thing.
Ianto kept his face carefully blank, not letting the time-lord see how much that dismissive job description stung. "That's one of my duties, yes," he said.
"Do you do tea, too?" the Doctor asked hopefully.
"I'll bring one down right away," Ianto said, already turning to leave.
"I was wondering if I could come up with you...?" The Doctor didn't meet Ianto's eyes; his fingers were playing over his thigh, long digits pattering to and fro as he watched them with apparent fascination.
Ianto raised an eyebrow. "That would involve letting you out of your cell, sir," he reminded the Doctor. "That's against protocol."
The Doctor's fingers stilled. "You broke protocol with Lisa."
Ianto swallowed, only just remembering to keep his mask in position. "Not on this occasion," he said, willing his voice to stay impassive. To show emotion is to show weakness, he reminded himself, his fingers convulsively curling around the hem of his suit jacket.
The Doctor shrugged, tipping his head back and staring up at the ceiling. "I guess Jack wants me out of sight," he said quietly, his eyes half-closed and dark.
"That isn't my place to comment on, sir," Ianto said stiffly. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a job to do." He headed back out through the door again, once more feeling as if he had been through an intense interrogation. He left the door open, however; even the Doctor didn't deserve to be shut away any more than he already was.
"Milk and two sugars, please!" the Doctor called after him, his voice echoing emptily down the corridor.
Janet uttered a throaty moan, dangerous and low.
-T-
Ianto breathed out a sigh as he reached his workstation, picking up the kettle, filling it with water and setting it to boil.
Just as he was picking out a mug – there only seemed to be pink ones at the moment – he felt two arms snake around his waist, pulling him flush against a muscled body.
"Jack..." he warned.
Jack chuckled, the vibrations tingling through Ianto's body, and rested his chin on Ianto's shoulder. "What?" he asked innocently.
"I said later," Ianto said, dropping a teabag into the only not obscenely-Barbie-pink mug that seemed to be in the cupboard.
"I say now," Jack replied, the mischief evident in his voice.
"Later," Ianto reiterated, trying to ignore the little voice whispering dirty thoughts into his ear.
Jack turned his head and planted a kiss beneath Ianto's ear. "Please?" he asked, his warm breath tickling Ianto's neck.
"The others are still here," Ianto said.
"No they're not," Jack said, sounding smug. "I sent them all home just now."
Ianto rolled his eyes. "You're insatiable."
"C'mon..." Jack wheedled. "It's been ages."
Ianto switched off the kettle. "Fine," he said, letting a wicked smile creep onto his face. The little voice's whisperings grew filthier, and Ianto shivered slightly at some of the suggestions.
Jack grinned brightly, his eyes dark, and tugged Ianto, by the tie, up to his office.
-T-
Jack waited for Ianto to drift off before he carefully slid himself out from between the sheets and collected his clothes from where they lay scattered across the floor.
He was missing a button, Jack noted as he quickly did his shirt up. Better get Ianto to sew that back on tomorrow. After all, it is his fault I lost it.
"Jack?" Ianto asked sleepily, his eyes half-open and his cheeks flushed, his hair testament to their antics of the past hours.
"Just need to check something," Jack said casually, bending down to lace up his boots. "Won't be long."
"Rift?"
"No – doesn't matter. Go back to sleep." Jack gave him a smile.
Ianto frowned at him, still dozy, not quite escaped from the muggy warmth of dreams. "Why are you dressed?"
Jack shrugged, trying to come up with an excuse. "That cat's been hanging around the water tower again."
"The tabby?"
"Yeah. Pusska."
"Pusska?" Ianto was awake enough to raise an eyebrow, his expression a mix of disapproval and amusement.
"It's on her collar," Jack said defensively. His hands were on the ladder, ready to climb up as soon as the conversation was over.
"Mmm," Ianto said, rubbing his face with a hand. "Can't it wait 'til morning?"
"No, sorry."
"Whatever." Ianto's eyes were already closed, his breathing evening out once more.
-T-
"Jack," the Doctor said coolly, his expression guarded. "Finally decided to come visit?"
"Do you want to get out of here?" Jack asked, ignoring the Doctor's question. His arms were folded across his chest, his stance defensive. Before the Doctor could reply, he asked, "Do you want to get back to travelling the stars?"
"What sort of question is that?" the Doctor frowned at him. "Jack, what's wrong?"
Jack looked away, biting his lip. His heart was thumping in his chest.
"Jack. Talk to me."
Jack suddenly locked gazes with the Doctor, feeling his mouth go dry as he saw the tumult of emotions storming in the time-lord's eyes. "Did you kill Ianto?"
The Doctor swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. His eyes didn't leave Jack's. "Yes."
Jack felt something in his heart snap. "Why?" he whispered, barely noticing as his voice cracked.
"I had no choice."
"What?"
The Doctor looked down, his face expressionless. "It wasn't intentional. It was give them the technology or let the last of their race die."
"I don't under—"
"The technology would infect a person with a virus set to copy their DNA. The DNA would be used to make a ... long-term form for the aliens, so that they didn't have to constantly shape-shift all the time." The Doctor tugged at his earlobe, clearly uncomfortable with what he was telling. "They only wanted to experience life properly."
"Then why not an animal – why a human?" Jack asked. Why Ianto?
The Doctor shrugged. "Sentience? Compatibility? I don't know."
Jack felt a slight glimmer of hope rekindle in his chest. "So you didn't kill him on purpose?"
"No – just let me explain. In copying the DNA, the virus also be attacking it. It would seem that the person has leukaemia," the Doctor said. "Only... I didn't think that it would kill anybody. They promised that they'd cure the leukaemia before the person even noticed."
"Then why—"
"They were attacked. By the rogues. The rogues stole the technology."
"Only the rogues weren't bound to the promise," Jack said slowly, understanding beginning to dawn. "They didn't cure them."
"I'm sorry, Jack. It's my fault. I should have seen this coming," the Doctor said softly. "I should have told you before."
"Why didn't you?"
The Doctor turned away, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Guilt, I guess. Some lingering hope that maybe this wasn't connected."
"But it is."
"It is," the Doctor confirmed, still not facing Jack. "And I need to get out. I need to stop it from going any further."
Jack narrowed his eyes at the time-lord's back. "I can let you out for an hour," he said. "No longer. And no using the TARDIS."
"Agreed," the Doctor said instantly, swivelling round on his heel and fixing Jack with an intense look.
Ianto's gonna kill me for this... Jack thought morosely as he aimed his Vortex Manipulator at the cell front. A mechanism clicked somewhere in the ceiling, and the cell front shuddered.
The Doctor pushed it away, letting it crash to the floor, and grabbed his coat from the hook beside the cell. "Well, then," he said brightly. "Let's get down to business."
I hope this made sense... I may well re-post this chapter tomorrow morning, when my brain agrees to make sense again. My head is killing me. To bed, I think. Sleep is very welcome to this exhausted 13-year-old.
Did anybody see JB crash on Fifth Gear this evening? 0.o
Remember, reviews are snuggled and fed chocolate biscuits. I'm really sorry if I haven't replied to your review – I've been trying but real life has been getting in the way. :-(
*staggers off to bed*