Title : Flame beneath ashes - Chapter 3 : Those little things that change everything
Summary : AU. After the events of Countrycide, Ianto was retconned and allowed to start a new life in London. Intervening accidentally in a burning building, it's a very different man Jack meets four years later. But can Ianto really escape his own destiny?
Rating :T
Characters: Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Myfanwy, Original characters.
Pairing : Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, Gwen/Rhys (mentioned), Ianto/Lisa (past)
Genres: Alternate universe/action/romance.
Warnings: Violence, swearing, sexual situation (nothing graphic), character's death (temporary)
Spoilers: Spoilers for seasons 1 and 2. Exit wounds and Children of Earth are only mentioned as incidents and Miracle Day, of course, never happened
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes : Special thanks to my wonderful beta reader welsh_scotsman. This chapter is a shorter than the previous one. It is mostly used to show how Ianto's departure has altered the events of the two first seasons for the others characters. Considering I'm hopelessly romantic, things are a lot different from the canon. I hope you'll like the changes.
TW TW TW TW TW
Chapter 3 :Those little things that change everything
Cardiff, June 23rd 2010
"We need to talk to Jack," said Toshiko, stretching lazily, as the last beams of the setting sun were bathing the bedroom with gold.
She turned on her side and pressed her back against Owen's chest, who wrapped his arms around her waist and smothered her bare shoulder with kisses.
"Owen...," she insisted when he didn't answer.
He breathed in the scent of her hair and let out a sigh of contentment. "We're gonna talk to him," he finally mumbled against her tanned skin still dampened from their love-making.
Tosh half turned her head towards him.
"When?"
Owen groaned, eyes closed, his forehead resting on the crook of her neck.
"Tomorrow. We'll talk to him tomorrow."
Tosh settled back and entwined their fingers. "I love you, Owen."
"I love you too," he whispered in return with another lingering kiss on her hair.
A few minutes later, Tosh was deeply asleep in his arms. Staring at the ceiling, Owen didn't sleep. He didn't know how Jack would react when he would hear the piece of news, and honestly he couldn't care less.
Tosh and he had been so close to death over the last couple of months, that his vision of life had been radically changed and nothing could force him to give up what they had.
The shattered scar adorning his chest was there to remind him, for the rest of his life, how everything could have ended on the car park of the Pharm. If it hadn't been Jack pushing him aside at the last moment and Martha stopping the haemorrhage from his perforated lung, he wouldn't be here anymore, let alone in the arms of this marvellous woman.
The palm of his hand stroked Tosh's perfect belly tenderly and he felt her skin shivered unconsciously under his touch. No scar was there to help him remember, but he didn't need it.
Owen wasn't a religious man. Though his mother had been a fervent Catholic, he hadn't put one foot in a church since he was a child. He didn't believe in God. The only things in which he believed were Science, his gun and most of all himself. Nevertheless, that day, when he had finally made his escape from Turnmill Nuclear Power Plant, after Tosh had told him how to vent the system into the control room to avoid the meltdown, he had prayed with all his strength. All along his way back to the Hub, whilst he was talking to her after she had been shot by Jack's brother, her voice becoming weaker at any minute, he had literally begged God to spare her and to give him another chance.
He would never forget the horrific vision he had seen, when he had hurtled down the medical bay at the same time Jack, Gwen and John Hart had emerged from the vaults, finding Tosh at the bottom of the stairs, in a pool of her own blood and scarcely breathing. The simple fact of thinking of it was enough to give him cold sweat.
Engulfed in his vain attempts to save her, he hadn't noticed Jack was gone until he had seen him coming back with a strange canister. Owen had never seen it before, and he had assumed it was something Jack had retrieved from the secured archives. Since Abaddon the two men had reached a certain level of mutual understanding and one look at Jack's face had been enough to stop Owen from asking questions. However, Gwen hadn't shown the same restraint and, in spite of the circumstances, had bombarded the Captain with questions.
"Nanogenes" had been the only word that had escaped Jack's lips, before he opened the canister and took a step back as a sparkling cloud of tiny golden fireflies escaped from it. Owen had looked in wonder whilst the so-called nanogenes slowly surrounded Tosh's body in a glowing aura, healing her wounds and leaving her alive and totally unharmed, before they retrieved meekly into the canister.
He hadn't a clue what those "nanogenes" could be nor where they came from and he didn't give a toss. He was just grateful to Jack for having used them, no matter how many protocols he had breached for that. From the moment Tosh had regained consciousness and raised her eyes towards him, he had sworn he wouldn't waste the chance which was given to him and wouldn't be a prat any longer.
A smile spread on his lips as he remembered how clumsy he had felt when he had finally asked her out on a date, two days after Gray's incident. He had felt like a perfect idiot, mumbling and stammering as if he was still fifteen years old. The result had been so appalling that he had half expected a refusal. Instead, she had contented to shake her head and chuckle, before asking him who he was and what he had done with the real Doctor Owen Harper. After she had finally agreed to go out with him, he had kept a dumb smile on his face for so long, that Jack had worried he had been poisoned by one of the plants of the lighthouse.
Surprisingly their first date at one of the best restaurants of the city, had gone like clockwork. At best, he had expected it to be awkward, if not a total disaster. He had been convinced he would mess up at some point, make one of his usual offensive remarks and kill the mood. But Tosh wasn't only a smart girl, she was also endowed with a dry-wit which could easily match his own. Something he could have known a lot sooner, if only he had gone to the trouble of scratching beneath the surface. All things considered, they had had a good time, and they had learnt more about each other in one evening than during the whole time they had worked together.
All he had planned, after that, had been a chaste kiss goodnight at the threshold of her flat, but he should have known things couldn't be so easy.
Throughout the years since Katie's death, he had obstinately refused to let anyone in. Sex just meant sex, No feelings, no emotions, no commitments. He didn't make love, he fucked. It was clear and unambiguous, almost… clinical, for lack of a better word.
If he was honest, Diane hadn't counted as much as he had wanted to pretend. Though he had tried to deny it, he had known from the beginning it wouldn't led anywhere and let it happen exactly for that reason. As for his sex-romps with Suzie and Gwen, they didn't even deserved the name of 'affairs'.
But Tosh was different, she wasn't only a potential girlfriend, she had also become one of his closest friends. Someone he could rely on and he didn't want to hurt.
As they were standing there, face to face in the dim light of the her entrance, questions had started to whirl in his head : was he ready to risk their friendship for something else? What could be that something else? Was it love? Was he ready to love again? What if he took the gamble and lost again? Was he ready to be hurt again? What if he disappointed her? What if…?
He had been about to chicken out and turn on his heel, when he had suddenly felt something click into place and realized that he already had all the answers. With one exception, though : wasn't it too late?
So, instead of letting her go, he had taken her face in his hands and tenderly kissed her lips, pouring into that kiss all the emotions he had held on for so long. Then, his eyes still closed, he had waited. But instead of the slap he was expecting, he had felt her taking a hold of his tie and giving him a fierce kiss that had left him breathless. His last restraint had fallen down and he had returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her, as she fumbled to open the door and they stumbled inside the flat.
It hadn't only been their first night together, it had also been the night he had freed himself from his past.
After that, one thing had led to another, and they spent most of their spare time together. He couldn't even remember the exact moment he had finally moved into her flat or the last time he had slept in his. It had just felt… natural. In fact, the hardest part of it had been to keep their distances at work and pretend they were just friends.
Not that intimacy between colleagues was forbidden by Torchwood's regulations. There had been a plethora of cases in the past and Owen had himself crossed the line twice. No, the problem was mainly that sex at work wasn't something Jack looked favourably. And for a man with so few boundaries as regards to sex, that was quite something.
After Jack's discovery of Ianto's "secret" in the basement, the Captain had made it his duty to keep his hyperactive sexuality out of the Hub, with no exception. He had even stopped his flirtation with Gwen and it had been clear that he expected the same behaviour of his team by the way he had sent her back to Rhys' bed, after having found out she'd been sleeping out she was sleeping with Owen. Which, all things considered, was rather a good thing, given that Gwen and Rhys were now happily married, with a wonderful baby girl.
Moreover Owen had to admit that, after his disastrous affairs with Suzie and Gwen, he wasn't really keen on broadcasting his relationship with Tosh and that this situation had suited him until then. But now, he was aware things couldn't be left as they stood.
Of course Jack wouldn't jump for joy, but he wasn't really worried about his reaction. The immortal was now a very different man from the one he had met for the first time and if someone had asked him who Jack Harkness was to him, he would have willingly used the word 'friend' instead of 'boss'.
After they had opened the Rift and released Abaddon, it hadn't been a real surprise that Jack had left them without warning and none of them had expected him to come back. They had betrayed him, shot him and endangered the entire world, if not the whole universe. Who could have blamed him?
When he had finally shown up three months later in the middle of a stand-off with a blowfish, he wasn't the same man anymore. The bright smile and the leered comments were still there, for the facade, but something had been broken and looking into his eyes was now like looking in an abyss. None of them had dared to ask questions and even Gwen 'nosy' Cooper had kept her mouth sealed.
Even if he had never confided in them about his disappearance, Owen knew Jack had tried his best to be more open and honest with his team, since he had come back. That was one of the reasons he wanted to return the favour and tell him the truth face to face.
Soon things would became more complicated. Changes would have to be made. God knew he loved his job, but if he was forced to choose between Tosh and Torchwood, he would. With no regrets.
To be continued