Linger - Part V

[sariagray]

Title: Linger, Part V/X
Author: sariagray 
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen, OCs
Rating: PG? 
Word Count: ~800
Spoilers: I spoil EVERYTHING. Which isn't much, actually, seeing as I have completely run amok at this point.
Warnings: I don't think you need to be warned....Kind of innocuous at this point. Kind of.
Author’s Note: *Fanfare* Here is the next installment. I think this is where I am going to lose you all as you run for the hills. I promise I have been plotting this for a while, now. There is a purpose. No, really. There is. *Nervous glancing*

Previous Chapters: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV 

Linger
Part V

     Gwen stared skeptically at the steaming mug set just to the right of her keyboard. She sniffed around it like a cat, curiosity winning out over her cautiousness. It smelled like coffee, which meant that (unless it was a very poor attempt at tea) it was not Jack's handiwork. She sniffed again and amended her original assessment; it smelled like very good coffee. She glanced at the Starbucks cup she had carried in and then looked back to the mug. She placed the paper cup down and picked up the waiting substance. Hesitantly, she took a sip.
     There was no way in Hell (or Heaven or Earth or anywhere in any universe) that Jack had anything to do with the beverage now in her hands. She took another happy sip. Interestingly, it was even less sweet than she liked. Since Jack indulged her with copious amounts of sugar (he had to, or else she would never swallow the bitter, burnt atrocity), it could only have been from one man.
     One very disembodied man.
     What the hell? She contemplated as she reverently inhaled the steam. Did he emote instructions?
     Jack strode in, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of paperwork awaiting him, when he saw Gwen. More accurately, he saw Gwen's scrunched up face, closed eyes, and serious expression. She was clutching the mug as if she were trying to crush it.
     "What's the matter?" he asked, a little concerned.
     "I'm trying to figure out how to emote 'You know perfectly well I like my sugar, thank-you-very-much.'"
     "Blasphemer! Wanting to ruin a perfectly good cup of coffee...."
     Still holding her coffee protectively, Gwen jumped at the familiar, low muttering. She looked up and saw...a very solid looking Ianto.
     "Jack!" She hissed, not removing her wide eyes from the man in front of her. "I can see him! I can hear him! I concen-"
     She was cut off by the raucous duet of laughter that filled the office.
     "What?! What is it?"
     "Sorry!" Jack managed to get out. "The look on your face...okay, okay. I think we need to explain."
     "Yes, I think you’d better!"

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     He was a little peeved that he had let Jack convince him to Appear. It started out as an occasional request he had tried, once, to deny. Jack’s eyes were so sad, so defeated, that he gave in (all the while cursing the unfathomable weakness he had in Jack’s presence. The man could make him do anything). He kept giving in. And now, he was stuck.
     Which, of course, had led him to this point. Sitting next to a wide-eyed, overly enthusiastic Gwen, trying to explain why he was suddenly…real.
     "So you're a Guardian?" She raised her eyebrows.
     "Yes."
     "And they sent you to Guard Jack?"
     "Yes."
     "And they expected you to stay in the background and just send little sparks of feeling?"
     Ianto nodded and sighed. "That's the job."
     "Are they idiots?"
     He grinned at that. She had a way of putting things that was somehow simultaneously blunt and sympathetic.
     "They're Watchers. They aren't human," he explained. “Maybe they don't understand human emotions, need, love...."
     "Okay," she relented. "But you're human, then?"
     "Human enough," he shrugged.
     "So," she grinned. "An Angel?"
     "NOT an Angel," he mumbled.
     "Right, okay, fine. Why Jack?"
     "He's important for...something. Something in the very distant future. I don't even know what it is yet."
     Gwen didn’t have too difficult a time accepting all of this. She worked for Torchwood; of course she accepted it! And she had to admit that she was grateful. Jack seemed happy. Even at his most cheerful, even back when the whole team was alive, there was a darkness to him that frightened her. Now it was the other way around; there was a light of hope in his eyes that even the most difficult experiences did not seem to extinguish.
     "Yes," Ianto smiled at her. "He has gotten better, hasn't he?"
     Her eyes came back into focus and she giggled. "Oh! So you can still do that thought thing!"
     Affection.
     Warmth.
     She smiled. "Good. Though I prefer you and Jack continue to keep 'Coffee' to yourselves, yeah?"
     Ianto laughed. Gwen realized just how much she had missed the sound.

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      Garunsal smiled as he wiped the Vision from his eyes. He hummed an appreciative note to himself as he wrapped a cloak around his broad shoulders. He reached for the crooked wooden staff to his side and, drawing a dagger from beneath his garment, carved a notch into its flesh.
     Fremenka glanced at him, taking in his tired form, looking for any clues in his deep-set garnet eyes. She sighed, foiled again by the Da'al’s defenses.
     "Well?" She finally asked, masking her eagerness.
     "He has finally taken form. He is trapped."
      Her body eased and she chuckled. "I was beginning to worry."

Part VI

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As all things, some good, some bad. Evil calculating aliens, though, often get in the way! :-D