Same Ianto, Different Jack

Chapter 15

by Gracefultree

A/N: I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter, so I'm slightly concerned that people didn't like it very much... But I'm still writing, and here's the next installment. I only have one or two more chapters planned before we find out what happened to Ianto's Jack.

I hope you enjoy.

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New Jack was, as Ianto suspected, already in the shooting range by the time he got down there. He watched for a few minutes, his practiced eyes seeing how out of sorts New Jack was by the number of missed targets. He waited until New Jack threw down his safety equipment with an angry scowl after holstering his gun before approaching him with a full glass of scotch.

"This might help, sir," he murmured, extending it.

"I thought I told everyone to leave," New Jack replied, taking the glass and swallowing half the contents immediately. He shook off the burn and swallowed the rest, handing the empty glass back to Ianto. "Though I'm kind of glad you're here."

"Yeah?"

New Jack sighed sadly. "Yeah. Do you mind roofs?"

"No, but I'd like to get my coat before we go," Ianto said with a small smile. That New Jack was inviting him to one of his roofs indicated an increased level of trust. His Jack had only rarely asked Ianto to join him up there, and each time His Jack had revealed some bit of his past that both floored Ianto in its intensity and awed him by how much His Jack trusted him to tell him about it.

On the way to New Jack's chosen roof, he had Ianto call New Tosh and New Owen to go back to the Hub to man the computers and phones. Neither of them seemed surprised at the call and promised to be back in ten minutes.

Though Ianto didn't go to the very edge of the building like New Jack did, he felt a certain peacefulness on the roof. He stood there, a silent presence behind New Jack, simply waiting, alternating between watching the clouds and watching New Jack. After two hours, New Jack turned to him and motioned towards the door back into the building. They climbed down the stairs to the top floor, and New Jack lead him on a roundabout way through the corridors and cubicles and several office suites until he stopped in front of a locked door. He pulled out his keychain and selected one, unlocking the door.

Inside Ianto discovered a mini-hideaway, complete with comfortable-looking sofa and coffee table, a small refrigerator, and a very large collection of alcohols and liquors.

"This is where you come when you need to get shitfaced without an audience?" Ianto asked, handing New Jack his coat so he could hang it next to New Jack's greatcoat on a hook on the back of the door.

"Basically. Care to join me?"

"I think one of us needs to be sober," Ianto pointed out. "If there's a call of some kind," he explained. "I can drive while you flush it from your system."

"Good point," New Jack said, pouring them both drinks anyway. "Have one, though." Ianto accepted the glass and clinked it against New Jack's. They settled onto the sofa, the soft cushions making them lean towards each other. Ianto put an arm around New Jack's shoulders and kissed his temple.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ianto asked softly. New Jack shook his head and snuggled closer to Ianto, sipping his drink. Ianto understood. New Jack needed silence to be able to process what had just happened and what New Gwen reminded him of.

"A Time Lord named the Master tortured me while I was away," New Jack said after twenty minutes and three drinks. "The Doctor didn't do anything to stop it. He didn't even protest. Not once."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah? Me, too." New Jack gave a pained laugh. "I thought he was my friend. I thought he cared that I died for him. But, no. He ran away from me. Twice. Three times, actually, by the end of it all." New Jack poured a fourth drink and downed it quickly. He poured another. "Did that other me ever tell you this, Ianto? Did he tell you about dying for that man, really dying, knowing I wouldn't come back? That I let the Daleks kill me when I ran out of bullets to fight them with? Did he tell you about waking up in a deserted space station full of dead bodies and ghosts? With the sound of the Doctor running away the only thing I could hear for an entire week? I couldn't sleep, because every time I closed my eyes I saw the Daleks killing me again. Either that or heard the damned TARDIS leaving."

In a sudden fit of rage, New Jack threw his glass at the wall. Instead of shattering, it bounced off to roll around the floor, the liquor splashing everywhere. He regarded it all with hatred. Ianto remained silent, though some of what New Jack said was new to him. His Jack never mentioned how he'd died the first time, though Ianto knew from his nightmares that he hated and feared Daleks more than just about anything else.

"He left me, Ianto. He left me. Just like my father left. Only my father had a good reason. He was dead. The Doctor? No, he was very much alive. He left on purpose." New Jack grabbed the bottle and started drinking, having decided that a glass wasn't quick enough. "My brother got taken. Did you know that? My little brother, Gray. I was supposed to take care of him, and he got taken by monstrous aliens. I failed him. I failed them both. Then I failed my mother. I didn't know she was depressed, I was so angry myself. I couldn't keep her from killing herself. So she left me, too. She chose to leave me, Ianto. Just like everyone else."

"Depression is —"

"You don't get it, Ianto," New Jack interrupted. "She left because I wasn't a good enough son. She loved my brother more, and I wasn't a good enough replacement. No matter what I did. I lied about my age so I could join the war against those aliens, but it wasn't enough. Instead, I got my best friend killed. And when I got back, she wouldn't look at me. I joined the Time Agency to prove I was as good as him, but it didn't help. First one from my colony, and that wasn't good enough for her. I was a poster boy, for God's sake, and it wasn't good enough for her! I didn't even make it off-planet for my training before she killed herself."

Ianto carefully extricated the empty bottle from New Jack's hand, placing it on the floor. New Jack grabbed another.

"Out of curiosity, how often do you drink like this?" Ianto asked.

New Jack turned red-rimmed eyes on Ianto, frowning. "Why?"

"So I can gauge when you're going to start vomiting," Ianto replied. "I'd rather you do it into a rubbish bin than all over my shoes."

"He drinks that much, your Jack?"

"On occasion. Mostly when he first got back. I just want to know where your tolerance levels are compared to his."

"You think he's drinking now? Because you're gone?"

"I hope not," Ianto said softly. "It's only been a few days. I hope the adrenaline of searching for me hasn't worn off yet, because that's when he'll start. But I worry that he is. I worry that he's killing himself, too, to take the pain away."

"You're that important to him?"

"He did it once, when we had a huge row. Threw himself off one of his buildings because he had no idea what he'd done wrong and couldn't deal with the pain of me leaving him. I wasn't going to leave him, but he'd convinced himself I was. It took weeks for us to get over that one, between my guilt and his recriminations and apologies and both of our pain. It wasn't even his fault, it turns out, because there was a shape-shifting alien involved."

"You really love him. I hope he knows that."

"I said before, I doubt it. But he might figure it out with me gone, from reading my diary." Ianto snorted. "He might even figure out that he loves me."

"That's a damned painful way to learn you love someone," New Jack commented, swallowing a quarter of the bottle in his hand without breathing.

"Took lessons from John to do that?" Ianto asked, amused.

New Jack almost choked on his drink. "Fuck John!"

"No, thanks, I'd rather not," Ianto replied.

New Jack sloshed some of his drink into Ianto's mostly full glass. "Drink more," he ordered. Ianto took a hesitant sip, grimacing at the combination of scotch and tequila. "I won't get sick," New Jack declared suddenly. "I'll drink myself to death first."

"So you'll get sick when you come back with it still in your stomach? Not my idea of a good date, Jack."

"Are we dating?"

"Once you're sober again, maybe."

New Jack handed Ianto the empty tequila bottle and selected a bottle of rum. He started guzzling that, too. "I didn't think she'd been with so many people," he admitted when he stopped to breathe. "I thought it was only one or two. I justified it in my head, that, since she's slept with others, it's ok for me to do it, too. Fucked up logic, but it got me a few shags."

"You're not built for fidelity, Jack. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just who you are."

"You would want me to be faithful. You wanted him to be."

"Only if he made the choice on his own. I'd never ask for it. And I wouldn't ask you for it, either. I know how miserable you can get. Hell, I'm seeing it right now."

"You really wouldn't mind? If I needed to fuck a woman every so often?"

"No, Jack. As long as it's not Gwen."

"But it could be Tosh?"

Ianto paused, thinking. New Tosh wasn't His Tosh, just like New Jack wasn't His Jack. They had a different relationship. A different history together. A very different history.

If New Tosh wasn't His Tosh… she was a virtual stranger. If New Tosh wasn't His Tosh, he'd only known her a few days, just like New Jack.

Tosh was an attractive woman…

But, no, Ianto couldn't do it. He couldn't sleep with New Tosh. Too messy. It wasn't the same as sleeping with New Jack. New Jack was still Jack. New Jack was still, sort of, his lover. He doubted he'd be able to go back to his universe after having slept with New Tosh and be the same with His Tosh.

Would it be all right for him if New Jack did it, though?

"I think so," Ianto finally answered. "I'd have to think about it a little more."

"Ok," New Jack said. "Gotta pee," he declared in his usual, blunt way, weaving as he stumbled to his feet and into the bathroom Ianto hadn't noticed attached to the room. Ianto listened as New Jack took care of his business, with an ear out to the vomiting he expected to come next. He wasn't disappointed, unfortunately.

"Jack, you're a mess," Ianto muttered, climbing to his feet and tossing his disgusting drink into the sink as he went to clean up his soon-to-be lover. "I really hope this gets it out of your system," he added, wiping New Jack's chin and hauling him to his feet. "Come on, Jack, let's sleep it off."

"He hates me!" New Jack shouted, struggling feebly. "I loved him, and he hates me. He abandoned me. Three times! What's so wrong with me that no one will stay with me? Why doesn't anyone ever love me back?" He burst into tears, curling into a ball on the sofa. Ianto insinuated himself under him, and New Jack wrapped both arms around Ianto's waist, trapping him.

New Jack passed out, his head still in Ianto's lap, crying about the Doctor.

Ianto sighed to himself and stroked New Jack's head, hoping to soothe away his nightmares but knowing it was a losing battle, given the drama of the day.

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New Jack's mobile started ringing a few hours after he drifted off. He didn't wake up from his alcohol-induced stupor. Ianto fished the phone out of his trouser pocket.

"Owen?" he asked, answering the call.

"Ianto? Why are you answering Jack's mobile?"

"Ah, that would be because Jack's sleeping."

"Didn't waste any time, did you? Would've thought he'd have more stamina than four hours, though."

"He's passed out drunk, Owen," Ianto said. "I might be actively trying to steal him away from Gwen, but I have some morals about it. I'm not going to sleep with him an hour after they break up."

"No? Maybe it'd do Jack some good. You know, have a shag without the complications of Gwen."

"While the thought's crossed my mind, he's unconscious. And even if he weren't, he's had far too much to drink. He wouldn't be able to preform."

"How much has he had?"

"Half a bottle of scotch, most of a bottle of tequila, and four or five shots of rum. He was guzzling the stuff."

"Huh. If it were anyone else, I'd say he should be dead, right about now."

"He drank all of it in the first hour and vomited most of it up," Ianto added. "I've seem My Jack do this. He'll be fine in a few more hours."

"Bring him back here when he's able to move again. I have the results of Gwen's blood tests. He needs to see them."

"Your Torchwood has the usual lack of concern about protected health information that I'd expect from mine, I see," Ianto said drolly. "Is it wise to prepare him?"

"No, it's wise to contain him. We'll need to take his firearm, I think, before I talk to him."

Ianto sighed, shifting so that he could stroke New Jack's hair as he slept. "She's pregnant, isn't she?" he asked. "I don't know why it's surprising, given that she slept with twelve people aside from Jack and Rhys."

"What? Rhys, too?"

"Yeah. I figured it all out this morning. I wasn't sure if I should tell him or not, but Gwen beat me to it."

"Well, bring him back when you can. It's unlikely she knows, and it's too early for me to do genetic testing, so we're going to have to ride this for a while until we can find out who supplied the sperm."

"I'll help as long as I'm here," Ianto promised.

"All right, then. See you in a bit."

Ianto hung up the phone and sighed again. "Jack, what are we going to do?" he asked the sleeping man.

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tbc...