Title : Flame beneath ashes - Chapter 5 : A discreet hero
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 for her unwavering support, to Jess729 for her help with the medical stuff and to all the readers who sent me so wonderful comments. Sorry, that it took me so long to update this fic. Real life has been really hard these days and for a moment, I experienced a writer's block :(. Anyway, this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Hope it's worth the wait.
Chapter 5 : A so discreet hero
As the invisible lift began its descent, three faces turned simultaneously towards him. Their expressions went from concern to disapproval and Jack felt a wave of weariness washing over him.
They were standing in the main area, Owen ahead, his arms crossed and frowning.
From where he was standing, Jack could see CCTV footage of the Plass still running on the screen of Owen's workstation. Although the video was on mute, he had no doubt they hadn't missed one single word of his argument with Ianto, thanks to Tosh's latest invention that allowed them to translate instantly lip movements on videos. Well, at least, it would spare him the trouble of having to relate the whole story to them.
Conspicuously ignoring them, he headed towards the workstation, his fists thrust into his pockets and a blank mask on his face.
Pressing a few keys, he flipped through the channels, until he found a camera directed towards where Ianto was sitting, puffing angrily on another cigarette whilst staring at the sea. Eyes locked on the screen and without bothering to turn around, he started to throw orders, in a cold and professional tone that he hoped would conceal his inner turmoil.
"Okay. Tosh, I want you to find everything you can about him, since he left Torchwood. Gwen, I want you to bug his mobile, his landline, any computer he could use at home and at work, his hotel room or wherever he's staying. I want to know how long he's been in Cardiff. If and or when he had planned to go back to London. I want also to know how he found me and if we had a security breach. In short: if he caught a cold, I want to hear him sneezing."
The silence that answered to him was deafening. Taking a deep breath, he turned slowly around and leant against the workstation with a heavy sigh, bracing himself to face the music.
As expected, it was Owen who opened fire.
"When did you intend to tell us?" the medic asked sternly.
Jack lifted his chin defiantly and frowned.
"Honestly? I didn't."
"Come on Jack. For God's sake," burst out Gwen. "How could you keep to yourself that you had met Ianto? You should have told us, as soon as you came back."
Jack shrugged noncommittally.
"There was nothing to say."
Gwen's eyes got wide. "Are you kidding?" Getting no answer, she took a deep breath and pressed her fingers into her temples.
"Jack, after the 456, I thought we had reached an agreement and there shouldn't be any secrets between us."
He nodded reluctantly and the young woman gave him an encouraging smile.
"Alright. So could you, at least, tell us, with simple words, what happened between the two of you in London? Because I have to admit that your little conversation was a bit… well, confusing for us."
Jack looked down at his feet and took a deep breath.
"There isn't much to say. I was on my way to the hotel, when I came across firemen trying to contain a fire in a building about to collapse. One of the firemen was trapped inside and I helped him to exit. We were both slightly injured and it was only once we were at the hospital that I realized this man was Ianto."
Owen raised an eyebrow. "A fireman?"
Jack snorted, "You look surprised."
"No offence, but I didn't actually see him as an action man."
"And you were wrong. Besides, you'll be happy to hear that, at first, he wanted to be a doctor."
Owen narrowed his eyes.
"How do you know?"
Jack fidgeted, uneasy and finally answered: "We…talked… a little, before I left."
"You talked? What need did you have to talk to him?" barked Owen.
Jack cringed, his eyes still locked on the floor.
"I had to be sure he didn't remember anything… And he didn't."
Owen ran a hand in his hair with frustration ant started to pace furiously.
"Sure, and that's the reason why he's at our threshold now."
Jack tightened his jaws and sighed.
"He didn't show any sign of recollection. What was I supposed to do?"
Owen stopped pacing and glared at him.
"You could have started by keeping him under surveillance when you came back to Cardiff. And first of all, you should have told us, fucking hell!"
Jack rubbed his eyes wearily.
"Yes, I should have. Happy now?"
Owen sighed and shook his head.
"No, Jack," he said in a subdued tone. "I'll be happy when he is back in London, and I'm sure he doesn't remember anything about Jack Harkness, Torchwood and everything in touch with that bloody Rift."
Jack winced and Gwen pulled a face. Since the case with Max Tresilian and Suzy's second death, retcon had become a sensitive issue and they now only used it sparingly. Jack closed his eyes and clapped his hands together, resting the tip of his fingers against his forehead.
"I don't think we should worry ourselves. All he had are weird dreams and vague feelings of déjà-vu. Nothing tangible. It doesn't mean he's remembering."
Owen thrusted his hand into his jean pockets and slowly shook his head.
"Jack. I'd like to be as confident as you are, but he has already started to have flashbacks. Sooner or later, we're gonna have to retcon him anyway."
Jack sank into a chair and took his head in his hands. Yeah. This way, he'll forget me. Once again. And once again, I'll remember.
"It doesn't need to be a huge dose," added the medic. "All we have to do is to erase the last two weeks, from the moment you ran into him. I know this isn't easy for you, Jack, but this is for Ianto's own good. We can't afford to let him remember."
"I can do it, if it's easier for you," proposed Gwen, placing her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture.
Jack didn't answer and a thick silence fell between them, only disturbed by the soft humming of the computers. He knew that Owen was right and he was taking a huge risk. But a part of himself still hoped that maybe all of it wasn't due to chance, that maybe... maybe…
"I got him!" Tosh's voice bounced against the walls of the main area, startling them.
Jack jumped onto his feet and hurried to join her, Owen and Gwen on his heels.
"All you have always wanted to know about Ianto Jones, without daring to ask," announced Tosh proudly, leaning back into her seat and making room for them.
"What did you find?" asked Jack, leaning over her shoulder.
"Well, first of all… it appears that his current address is at Canary Wharf."
"This guy is nuts," snorted Owen behind her.
"Hey!" scolded Gwen, giving him a light slap behind the head.
"What's your problem Cooper?" retaliated the medic. "Honestly, you'd live near the place where Rhys would have been killed?"
"It's not as if he can remember that," she replied. "Maybe it's just a way for him to stay near her. Personally, I find it rather romantic."
Owen sniggered. "Romantic… Whatever."
"Stop it," cut off Jack sternly. He wasn't in a mood for bearing another of their usual arguments. "What else, Tosh?"
She lifted her glasses on her nose and typed on her keyboard. A series of forms and official documents appeared in the screen.
"Well, after he left Saint Helen's hospital, he worked for three months as a barista in a very select club called 'The Ambassador'. It seems to be a sort of private club frequented by diplomats and politicians. According to his personal file, he was very appreciated as employee and the letter of recommendation they gave to him was eulogistic."
Jack nodded but didn't make any comment. This explained the friend in a ministry.
"What did he do after that? »
"That's where it starts to become interesting. On December 2006, he applied for the London Fire Brigade, where he was accepted. After four months of professional fire fighter's training at the LFB's specialist training centre in Southwark, he was posted to a fire station in the Southern Division, where he served his one-year period of probation. Then, he passed national examinations before being promoted to Crew Commander."
"No kidding," said Gwen, nudging Owen with a mischievous smirk. "Seems that actually he's not only an 'action man', but also a 'leader of men'."
Jack heard Owen muttering under his breath, but didn't pay attention to it. Suddenly things became a lot clearer. The young bewildered fireman he had seen before entering the building in fire had never been the man in charge; it was Ianto. And from what he had seen at the hospital, he wasn't only a leader, he was also appreciated by the men under his command.
Skimming through Ianto's eulogistic service records on the screen, he absently heard Gwen rolling her seat to her workstation and starting to type on her keyboard.
"Wow! Seems he was also a hero," she suddenly exclaimed.
"Sorry?" said Jack, dragging himself away from his reading.
She turned towards him and pointed at her screen.
"I found a short article about him in the Times, dating back to one and half years ago. It says he was decorated with the Queen's Gallantry Medal."
"I thought QGM was only awarded for exemplary acts of bravery," asked Owen, looking sceptical.
"It is," replied Tosh, dryly enough to make him cringe. "Why?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering... That's all," stammered Owen, holding his hands in a defensive gesture.
She scowled at him, then adjusted her glasses on her nose once again and resumed her researches.
More than anyone else, the young Japanese woman knew the courage Ianto was able to show when needed. Though, at the end, it was Jack who had saved them all from the cannibals, Ianto was the one who had risked his life to give her a chance to escape. She would never forget that and her worst regret would always be that she had never had a chance to thank him properly.
Gwen cleared her throat and moved on.
"According to the article, he was decorated for having rescued at risk to his own life, an illegal immigrant and her two children trapped in a warehouse in fire."
She opened a new window and the whole article showed up, illustrated by the photograph featuring Ianto wearing his ceremonial uniform and receiving his decoration. Jack approached in order to have a look at it and couldn't help noticing that the young man seemed a bit stiff and pale and wondered why he looked almost… sad.
Tosh's voice interrupted his musings.
"I've got the official report about the incident." As he came back to her, she started to give him an abridged version of the report.
"Apparently his team had a shout about a disused warehouse in flame. It was supposed to be abandoned and the building was already partially destroyed when they arrived on the premises, so they decided to contend with containing the fire and preventing it from spreading to the adjacent warehouses. But one of the firemen heard cries coming from the building. In fact, the warehouse was used as an illegal workshop. The owner had been informed of an imminent raid of the police and found it more practical to erase all proof by the fire, immigrants include."
Gwen winced and Owen shook his head with dismay. Jack remained stoic. He was too used to human's turpitude to react anymore.
"Ianto and four other men hurried inside the warehouse, but most of the victims were trapped in the basement and it was too late for them. They died suffocated by the toxic smoke. The whole place going up rapidly, the firemen were about to evacuate, when they heard a call for help from a sort of mezzanine above them. Ianto retraced his steps and found a woman and her two young children hidden in a technical room. It says he dragged them towards an emergency exit nearby and pushed them into the fire escape just before the floor collapsed… Oh no…"
Tosh looked up at Jack with wide eyes. His face was ashen and for a second, she thought he was about to be sick.
"What?" asked in chorus Owen and Gwen, who couldn't read what was on the screen from where they were standing.
As Jack didn't answer them, Tosh turned around and said grimly: "He didn't manage to escape before the floor collapsed under him. There aren't many details. All it says is that he was transported by helicopter to the nearest burns unit."
Owen stifled a curse and Gwen lifted her hand to her mouth.
"Can you get the medical report?" asked Jack with a hoarse voice.
"Of course. Give me one minute," answered Tosh, her fingers resuming their typing, as she was making her way through the healthcare system network.
"Here we are," she said as she broke through the last password protecting Ianto's medical file and opened it.
"Let me see."
Owen gently pushed her aside and started to flip through the medical reports, grunting and muttering under his breath.
"So?" asked Jack after a moment.
Owen leant back, took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"In short, he ended up with two broken ankles and third degree burns on about 15% of his body, mostly on his upper back and right shoulder and arm, needing a series of skin grafts. Oh, and he had also a couple of broken ribs into the bargain."
Jack sighed and closed his eyes.
'I've never had dreams like these before. Never. Even after…'
Even after, he nearly died in this warehouse. Even after, he spent months in a bed of pain. No need to wonder why he hadn't swallowed his story about PTSD. A sprained ankle could hardly be compared to what he had gone through.
"But he's fine, now isn't he?" asked Tosh with concern.
Owen nodded.
"Yep, except for the scars caused by the burns and grafts. According to the file, he got clearance after six months of intensive rehabilitation and convalescence. Which, by the way, is very short, given the severity of his injuries, but could be explained by…" He put his glasses and peered at the notes of Ianto's therapist, "I'm quoting…'the remarkable fighting spirit and exceptional responsiveness of the patient'."
Jack felt his heart swelling with pride.
He might be immortal, but Ianto finally seemed to be unbreakable. Falling again and again and every time, standing up, stronger than he was.
Gwen's computer emitted a 'bip', informing them that Ianto was making a call with his mobile. Almost immediately, a voice with a thick cockney accent rose in the air:
"Sherman."
"Hi, Mike. It's Ianto."
"Hey! How're you, man?"
Ianto chuckled.
"Fine, fine. And you? You get to survive without me?"
"It's hard, but we manage. And you? How is your pilgrimage to Cardiff? Did you find the guy you were looking for?"
"Yeah, I found him."
"And?
"Seems it leads nowhere." He paused for a second. "I don't know. It's... weird. Two days ago, I'd have sworn I knew this man, but now... I'm not sure of anything."
"I'm sorry. What are you going to do, now?"
Ianto sighed.
"Given that he must take me for a madman and that he made it very clear that he no longer wanted to hear from me... Well, I think I may as well go home."
"Are you sure? You still have one week of vacation to take."
"Yep. I... I think I'll take the opportunity to visit my sister and the kids this afternoon and then I'll take the road again."
"As you wish. See you tomorrow, then."
"Yes. Bye, Mike."
"Bye."
There was so much defeat and deception in Ianto's voice that Jack had to force himself not to rush out and tell him he wasn't crazy at all and there was nothing in the world that he wished more than to have him back in his life and his team. But he knew it was impossible. Ianto had a new life now and he had to go back to it.
"I guess it makes things easier," Jack whispered finally.
"Jack..." started Owen.
"No, Owen. I won't retcon him, unless it becomes absolutely necessary."
Owen opened his mouth to argue, but eventually changed his mind and merely nodded.
With one last glance at the CCTV footage of Ianto leaving the Plass, Jack turned on his heel and headed to his office.
"Keep an eye on him."
"Jack! Where are you going?" called out Gwen.
He stopped at the threshold of his office and gave her a weary look over his shoulder.
"Nowhere, Gwen. I'm going nowhere."
Then he slowly closed the door behind him.
Once alone in his office, he sank down his chair with a heavy sighed and absently switched on the CCTV from the main area, where his team had gathered around Tosh's workstation.
He didn't mean to spy on them, but they're his only family and he had already seen them die once, killed one by one by the Master. So, since he had come back from his disastrous trip with the Doctor, it had become a habit for him to keep an eye on them, whenever he could. Just to be sure they were safe.
"What are we doing now?" he heard Gwen ask.
Owen shrugged, leant against the desk and crossed his ankles.
"Wait and see what will happen, I suppose."
Tosh cleared her throat.
"Hmm. It's absolutely irrelevant… but, I've found something else about Ianto."
"What else?" grunted Owen, rolling his eyes with fake annoyance. "Don't tell me he's also a secret agent from MI6 and has saved the Queen's life from a terrorist attack."
Tosh shook her head and smirked mischievously, whilst Jack leant over, intrigued.
"Not that I know. But… according to his insurance agent, he's also the happy owner of a Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Sport."
Owen raised an eyebrow. "No kidding?"
"Wow. That's quite a monster," marvelled Gwen. "Rhys' friend, Scott, treated himself to one for his 40's birthday and offered me a ride. Believe me, it was mind-blowing".
Tosh nodded and winked at her.
"You can say it again. Look at that."
A video popped up on Tosh's screen. At the same time, Jack hit a key of his computer and his screen split in two, allowing him to watch it directly.
He had barely time to read the title, My friend Ianto testing his new sextoy!, before it started. However, he only needed few seconds for being reassured about its contents, when the face of a man appeared, which he recognized as being Ianto's colleague, Mike Sherman. The fireman waved at the camera with a grin, before panning and showing bleachers and a race circuit. The lens stopped on a group of men and women settled in the bleachers, who waved in turn at the camera.
Jack looked at the date on the bottom of the screen and found that it had been made only few weeks ago.
Mike turned the lens towards himself once again :
"Ok, guys. So, here we are. Freezing our ass off too early in the morning, because my friend, Ianto, has a new toy and wants to find out what's in its guts. "
He burst out laughing and glanced over his shoulder, before adding in confidence:
"I shouldn't say it out loud, because he's also my boss, but I persist in thinking he'd rather be digging up a girlfriend for himself."
The camera turned once again towards the circuit. As Mike went slowly downstairs and headed to the starting line, Ianto finally appeared in the screen and Jack's breath caught in his throat.
Looking so hot definitively shouldn't be allowed.
Wearing a black Kevlar® overall, the young man was straddling a huge and gleaming black motorbike. His forearms resting on the helmet put between his thighs, he was staring intensely at the asphalt ribbon stretching in front of him, all his being radiating earnestness and concentration. Obviously already engulfed in his forthcoming race, he didn't react at his friend's arrival.
Jack glanced at his co-workers on the other side of the screen and couldn't help chuckle, when he saw them gaping like goldfishes. Honestly, he couldn't blame them for that. The confident man standing before their eyes at that moment couldn't be further from the shy young man they had known a few years earlier.
"Hey Boss!" shouted Mike.
Ianto snapped out of his reflection and turned towards him. His face broke into a bright smile and he lifted his hand to greet him.
In spite of himself, Jack couldn't help feeling a bit jealous and found himself wondering what kind of relationship was between the two of them. After all, Ianto had denied having a girlfriend, but what about a boyfriend?
Immediately, he pushed those thoughts away. Who was he to be jealous? He wasn't a part of Ianto's life anymore. Never had been. Shaking his head, he brought his attention back on the screen where a man wearing a boiler suit had approached Ianto. The young man put his helmet and made one last waving, before starting the engine and making it roaring. At the signal, the motorbike dashed out, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.
Jack watched with amazement how Ianto rode his machine, negotiating each curve with control, accelerating all the way into the straights. His heart skipped a bit when the motorbike suddenly swerved into a hairpin bend and Ianto was forced to decelerate to regain control, before reaccelerating more than ever.
It shouldn't have surprised him, though. Whatever he undertook, Ianto seemed always eager to achieve excellence and determined to give himself the means for it. Following the camera's movements, Jack made an effort to silence the little voice in his head, which was whispering what an asset such a driver would be to his team.
As Ianto's finally crossed the arrival in a deafening roaring, the camera focused briefly on the display panel over the finish line, proudly announcing in luminous letters: "Record of the Year: 4' 38 '52.". An explosion of joyful shouts saturated the loudspeakers and Jack couldn't repress a faint smile. Mike's camera followed the young man as he made an abrupt U-turn and came back to his friends who were going down the bleachers to congratulate him and celebrate his victory. The video froze on an image of Ianto taking off his helmet and yelling his joy, a bright smile on his face.
Jack felt a stab of pain in his chest.
This was what Ianto's life should be: filled with a reasonable amount of thrill and danger, surrounded by friends. This was what Ianto needed, what he deserved. And the only way for Jack to provide it to him was to let him go, once again.
With a sigh, he switched off the CCTV, leant back into his chair and closed his eyes.
To be continued
Guest : You're right : Ianto is a bit daredevil. The events that happened to him after he took retcon, certainly helped him to relativize and dare more things.