Same Ianto, Different Jack

Chapter 24

by Gracefultree

A/N: Please enjoy the latest chapter.

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Ianto was literally buried in files in the Archives when New Lisa's Owen called him about a problem that 'needs all of us.' He pulled himself off the floor and tried to make a semi-neat stack of the files from a box labeled '1940's' that fell on him from on top of a shelving unit he accidentally bumped with his shoulder while trying to keep the box in his hands from falling when it revealed itself that it was weighted heavily on only one side in a way he didn't expect. The 1940's box falling had created a cascade, and two more boxes fell, spilling their contents (mostly files) all over Ianto and the floor of the room he was trying to organize.

Just as he concluded that he'd have to sort and refile the whole lot of it when he got back from New Lisa's Owen's summons, a photograph caught his attention. He picked it up, blowing off the dust. 'January 20, 1941,' the caption on the back read, and he blinked in surprise. Unlike the simple picture of His Jack and His Tosh standing with Billis and the real Captain Jack from his universe, this was a picture of the two men dancing. He scrambled around to find the rest of the file, which included several eye-witness descriptions of the events of the night, including how the real Captain Jack deliberately took 'Captain Harper's' hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.

Captain Harper was heard to complain that this wasn't a funny joke and that he had a girl back home, and would Captain Jack please take his hand off his arse? After the blinding flash of light that Captain Harper and the mysterious 'Toshiko' disappeared into, Captain Jack winked at one of his men and extended his hand to collect the money for going through with the bet of kissing the strange captain. The soldier in question swore to the Torchwood of the time that he'd made no such bet, and that their Captain Jack had been seen drinking more than his usual amount of whiskey that night. Captain Harper and Toshiko were unavailable for questioning, having completely disappeared. A side note indicated that eye witnesses had put Torchwood's Captain Jack, who resembled the mysterious Captain Harper so closely, exactly where he was supposed to be, flying a fighter plane over Germany.

Ianto gathered the rest of the file together and carried it with him upstairs, dropping it on his desk in the Archives before going to see what New Lisa's Owen wanted. He could hear raised voices as he approached the main Hub.

"You can't open the Rift!" New Lisa shouted. "That's the first thing we learn here! Don't mess with the Rift!"

"The Rift took my captain and my lover," New Lisa's Owen shouted back. "We have to get them back!"

"Diane left you! She chose to leave! When will you see that?"

"The Rift took her!" New Lisa's Owen barked.

"She left because you came to help me and Ianto and she was angry that work came before her!"

Ianto closed his eyes in pain. He knew what was coming. Soon, the team would betray New Lisa's Jack and open the Rift fully. Abbadon would arrive, and someone would sit with New Lisa's Jack's body while the days ticked away, waiting for him to revive. With New Lisa's Gwen fired and retconned for drugging him and New Lisa, it would either be him or New Lisa.

The worst part of it all was that he couldn't do anything to stop it. He hadn't been with New Lisa's Jack's Torchwood long enough for his retina to be part of the requirement for Emergency Protocol One, and how could he interfere with the future anyway?

"Ianto! Tell Owen he can't open the Rift!" New Lisa demanded, catching sight of him.

"Opening the Rift is beyond dangerous," he replied. "What's the situation?" he asked.

"Jack and Tosh are trapped in 1941," New Lisa's Owen declared. "We have half of Tosh's equation to use the Rift Manipulator to get them back."

"But without the rest of the equation, without the precise numbers, we'd be opening it blind," Ianto pointed out. "It would cause chaos and destruction."

"That's why I'm going to go find the equation. They'll have left us a note with it. Or something." New Lisa's Owen said, gathering his bag and rushing out of the Hub.

New Lisa turned to Ianto, her face a mask of concern, sadness and determination. "We've lost them, haven't we?" she asked. "We can't bring them back."

He walked over and enfolded her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head the way he always did when she (or His Lisa) was upset. "We'll get them back. The Rift gets opened, and they make it back. Or at least they walk into the light. I just found a file from that time, indicating that they disappeared into a haze of white light and are never seen again."

"What? You mean we actually do it? Why?"

"If Owen finds the equations, we'll have a better chance of getting them safely."

"What happened in your universe?" she asked, cuddling against him.

"I can't tell you," he answered. "We'll have to let it play out here and now."

In the end, no one shot New Lisa's Owen because they were able to talk it through better than Ianto and His Team. They didn't have the final three numbers, like in his own universe, so they'd used the Rift Manipulator to figure out the rest. The equation was different from the one he remembered, so he couldn't even help with that. (His Tosh had told him what the missing numbers had been, once.) They opened the Rift and their two time-displaced colleagues made it back safely, though Ianto could already feel the new cracks forming. He'd become strangely sensitive to the Rift since he'd been taken by it, and the larger Rift spikes made his skin crawl.

New Lisa's Jack sent everyone home as soon as New Lisa's Owen had checked them out for consequences of traveling the Rift. Ianto and New Lisa stayed behind, fielding phone calls with Her Jack. At one in the morning, New Lisa fell asleep at her station and Ianto lovingly carried her to the couch to be more comfortable. Her Jack came up behind him, watching Ianto's tender treatment of her.

"You've come to love her," he said when Ianto straightened.

"Yes."

"But you haven't slept with her yet."

"That's right. We've made out a bit, we've slept in the same bed, but that's it."

"Why?"

Ianto shook his head. "The same reason I haven't slept with you. I'm not ready." He glanced sideways at Her Jack. "But I think tonight would be a good time to start," he murmured, watching New Lisa's Jack's reactions closely.

"The world's falling apart around us, so let's get a shag in?" New Lisa's Jack suggested. Ianto nodded in confirmation. "I can do that."

"It's not a guarantee of more," Ianto quickly clarified. "Just the once for now."

"I understand."

They covered New Lisa with a blanket and silently went down to Her Jack's bunker. Ianto hadn't been down there yet, and he was surprised to find some feminine touches. He fingered the soft light blue blanket before tossing it to the foot of the bed. "Lisa's been down here," he commented.

"She's added a few touches. Her condition for being willing to come down here."

Ianto grunted. He sat down heavily. "I feel so nervous. I don't know why, though. It's not like I haven't slept with you before."

"You slept with other Jacks," New Lisa's Jack said, sitting next to him. "You and me? This'll be the first time." Ianto nodded and accepted Her Jack's hand on his knee, covering it with his own to hold it in place. "Any particular way you want to start?"

"Hold me. Kiss me. We can take it from there."

"Maybe I can give you that blow job you wanted?"

"Yeah," Ianto agreed. "That would be good."

New Lisa's Jack smiled, pushing Ianto gently down on the bed. He climbed over him, kissing him with an ardor Ianto remembered from when he and His Jack kissed the first time after his suspension. It didn't take long for things to progress, for clothing to be discarded, for sweat to break out on their skin as they caressed each other. Ianto half-expected New Lisa's Jack to move straight to the blow job he promised, but he took his time, getting to know Ianto's body in a way Ianto definitely appreciated. That Ianto already knew New Lisa's Jack's body from his previous Jacks was a bonus, New Lisa's Jack declared happily when Ianto found that one perfect spot on his neck he loved being kissed without having to be told and without needing to experiment.

Ianto groaned aloud when New Lisa's Jack took his erection in his mouth for the first time since the aborted blow job the month before. New Lisa's Jack gave him all the attention he was used to with the other Jacks, cementing his belief that whichever universe he ended up in, whichever Jack he was with at any given time, that Jack would be good at sex and attuned to his partner. New Lisa's Jack took his time, giving Ianto an excellent blow job that showcased his skills.

They spent hours together, doing as much as they could, knowing their time was short. By the time both of them were sated and ready for a little doze, dawn broke over the Bay. New Lisa's Jack stayed with Ianto, stroking various parts of his skin and kissing him, until Ianto fell asleep in his arms. Ianto woke slightly when New Lisa's Jack slipped from bed, relaxing into the pillow and the pheromones as soon as he heard the familiar sound of the shower.

When Ianto woke for real, with loose muscles from the workout with New Lisa's Jack the night before, he smiled. Five hours of excellent sex did wonders for his mood. He got out of bed and went to the shower. Dressing carefully in his spare suit that New Lisa's Jack had thoughtfully gotten from his locker, he wondered how the last night would effect his relationship with New Lisa. He made the bed and neatened the room, taking the time to soothe his anxiety with the simple actions of cleaning.

"Ianto."

Ianto turned at the voice, startled. From the darkness of the corner of the bunker, New Lisa's Jack emerged. He looked tired, with large dark spots under his eyes. Ianto blinked. This wasn't New Lisa's Jack… This Jack looked almost emaciated. He looked ill. Haunted, as if he'd lost everything. Sad, lonely. He looked old.

"Ianto, have you forgotten about me already?"

"Jack?" Ianto asked softly.

"I've been trying so hard to get you back! I know you were taken by the Rift. I have a plan."

"You know how to get me back? Tell me! Tell me what it is! I'll do anything!" Ianto took a step forward, reaching out for His Jack's hand. His Jack took it and squeezed. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Ianto's hand as he used to do.

"You have to open the Rift."

"No, Jack, that won't work. What about Abbadon?"

"I wouldn't ask you to do something that hurt people, Ianto. You should know me better than that. I do my own dirty work. There's no Abbadon where you are. Opening the Rift is the only way to come back. Once you open it, I'll feel the vibrations through time and space and open mine to bring you back. We did all the calculations. It'll work!"

"No, I can't risk it. There has to be another way!" Ianto shouted, pulling his hand free.

"There's nothing else you can do, Ianto. You need to open the Rift if you're going to get back to me."

"Jack —"

"I miss you so much, Ianto. I'm not eating. I'm not sleeping. I need you. I need you more than I ever knew. It's so hard to keep going, knowing you're out there somewhere, knowing I lost you. I didn't even tell you —"

"I miss you, too," Ianto whispered when His Jack didn't finish his sentence. "I —"

"Please, Ianto, if you ever had feelings for me, open the Rift and come back to me."

Ianto closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Jack —" When he opened his eyes, His Jack was gone. He crumpled onto the bed.

"Ianto! I know you're awake. I need you up here," New Lisa's Jack shouted down the hatch. "I need to input your retina pattern to the computers before everyone else gets here."

Ianto scrubbed his hand over his face and sighed. He knew that the only reason to have his retina scan was for Emergency Protocol One. That was the only way to open the Rift fully, and now he'd be a part of it. If he opened the Rift… and there was no Abbadon to worry about… If he opened the Rift… he could get home.

He had to get home, and he had to use whatever opportunity that was offered. Seeing His Jack like that, like he was falling apart… it broke Ianto's heart to see him so destroyed. He had to get back to him. He had to.

He climbed the ladder to offer himself to New Lisa's Jack for the retina scan.