Linger - Part IX
Oct. 18th, 2010 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sariagrayTitle: Linger, Part IX/X
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sariagray
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Andy, John Hart, OCs; Slight John/Ianto (onesided)
Rating: PG13
Word Count:1426
Spoilers: I spoil EVERYTHING. Which isn't much, actually. Takes place post CoE.
Warnings: Slight swearing, innuendo
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. No monetary compensation is gained. This is purely for entertainment purposes (mainly, the entertainment of the author).
Beta: Thanks to the lovelybadly_knitted again for all of the help! Once more, that said, all mistakes are mine. Point and laugh.
Author's Note: Not much to note, really, other than to say thanks to all of you who've been keeping with me. One chapter left, in which all is...explained? Resolved? Concluded? Something to that effect. And please, feel free to feed the author with comments. She is is hungry. :)
Previous Chapters: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII
Author:
sariagray Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Andy, John Hart, OCs; Slight John/Ianto (onesided)
Rating: PG13
Word Count:1426
Spoilers: I spoil EVERYTHING. Which isn't much, actually. Takes place post CoE.
Warnings: Slight swearing, innuendo
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. No monetary compensation is gained. This is purely for entertainment purposes (mainly, the entertainment of the author).
Beta: Thanks to the lovely
badly_knitted again for all of the help! Once more, that said, all mistakes are mine. Point and laugh.Author's Note: Not much to note, really, other than to say thanks to all of you who've been keeping with me. One chapter left, in which all is...explained? Resolved? Concluded? Something to that effect. And please, feel free to feed the author with comments. She is is hungry. :)
Previous Chapters: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII
Linger
Part IX
Part IX
“I’m sorry,” Ianto heard Rhys intone. “The Captain is out right now. If you leave your calling card, we’ll be certain he receives it with his morning tea.”
He was grateful that Rhys had momentarily taken over, his capacity for speech reduced to a few choice curses and his emotions straining to find anything other than Anger, Frustration, Hatred, and Revulsion.
Three guns were trained on John as he stood in a practiced slouch in front of them, exuding something casually elegant and dangerous. It was familiar to Gwen and Ianto, causing their hackles to rise in immediate suspicion. Andy had simply trusted instinct and followed suit.
Hart chuckled and looked at each of them in turn, finally resting his gaze on Ianto.
“Torchwood has a thing for resurrection, huh? Bloody Messiah complex, you lot. Makes killing you all a little more interesting. Which one stays dead? Which one will come back? Didn’t think it’d be you, Eye Candy.”
“What do you want with Jack?” Gwen asked as her finger tightened on the trigger.
“I have something for him. Found, really. No bombs, promise.” He turned back to Rhys. “When do you expect your master’s return?”
“To you? Never,” Ianto muttered under his breath through the boiling rage.
Hart opened his mouth to speak as the proximity alarms sounded and Jack’s voice boomed through the Hub.
“Just a Weevil. Told you it was nothing to wo-Oh. Am I interrupting something good?”
Jack came around to stand next to Ianto, disturbing the phalanx they had fallen into naturally. He rested his hand on Ianto’s arm, forcing him to lower his weapon. Ianto was about to protest when he realized that he ignored Gwen’s and Andy’s guns.
“Back so soon?” Jack purred to John.
“Couldn’t stay away.”
Jack sighed dramatically and threw a sidelong glance toward Ianto. “They never can.”
Hart laughed and Ianto could sense the twinge of nervousness in the sound. It eased him a little. Jack thrust his hands in his pockets and sauntered up to his former lover like a panther.
“You know I never meant for them to die. Hell, I never meant for you to die, either.”
“I know,” Jack smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But I doubt you came here to apologize. It isn’t your style.”
“Ah,” Hart grinned. “You do remember.”
“Of course I do.”
“Something’s coming, and it’s big. ‘S Eye Candy’s fault, really, going all visible and chatty. The Zeltasya, the Watchers, are furious.”
“Well,” Ianto chuckled hollowly, “then that’s sorted. They’ll come, take me away, and be done with it.”
He barely registered the flicker of anguish and panic on Jack’s face before he was hit with a wave of pain and protectiveness. He would have keeled over from the blast if Andy hadn’t reached out a steadying hand.
“We’re not going to let them take you,” the former PC whispered.
“No, that’s not what they’re going to do. What did they tell you?” There was mirth in Hart’s eyes and it was terribly unsettling.
“They said,” he whispered, realization slowly dawning over him, “that the consequences to me would be dire.”
“Ah!” Hart smirked. “And taking you away from Jack is dire? Or is that simply an inconvenience? What would really be dire to you, Eye Candy?”
Ianto gasped as images flooded him; his teammates, his family, falling apart and dying. Knowing that his selfishness, his need, was the cause of it all. The world ending, blinking out of existence, and all because he disobeyed a simple, easy instruction.
Game of cat and mouse completely forgotten, Jack hastened to Ianto’s side and wrapped an arm around him, kissing his temple in the process.
“It doesn’t happen like that,” he whispered into Ianto’s ear. “I promise. That’s not what happens.”
John simply leaned back against the wall and smirked wickedly.
“So they’re coming here to destroy the world?” Jack asked with a wicked smirk of his own.
“Oh, no. They aren’t coming. But they are sending some ugly, nasty beast to do their dirty work.”
“You?” Rhys asked innocently.
Hart laughed. “Oh, I like him. No, it isn’t me.”
“Then why are you here?” Gwen asked.
“Because I found out and thought I’d be the good guy and warn you all. You know, save the day and that. I like this planet. Can’t have all the poodles die, now can we?” He winked at her.
“Yes, because being the hero worked so well for you all those other times,” Ianto reminded, rolling his eyes.
“Look, I’m warning you. That’s got to count for something.” He glanced at his wrist. “You’ve got about an hour to prep and get to Splott.”
“Do we know what we’re dealing with?”
“No idea. I just happened to intercept the communication. The strap’s set to specific keywords. Came as soon as I could, but then your guard dog here threw me out with his psychic projection bollocks.”
“Right,” Jack nodded, “Gwen and Andy with me. Ianto, you and Rhys stay-“
“Not happening, Jack,” Ianto interrupted through clenched teeth. “I caused this. I’m going.”
He could tell Jack wanted to argue, but held his tongue. Ianto knew it was killing him, he could feel the anxiety, the fear, rolling off him. Jack nodded once, and then turned to Rhys.
“Hold down the-“
“No.”
“Rhys,” Gwen warned, frowning. “You have to stay.”
“No, I don’t. You lot aren’t facing the end of the world alone. I’m going, too. For you, for our child, for Jack, for Ianto, for the rest of the world. I’m not letting these creatures,” he shot a look of disgust at Hart, “or their lapdog ruin everything.”
Jack threw his hands up in the air and sighed in resignation. He wanted to be angry; their nobility was misplaced and foolish, and he knew it was dangerous. Still, he couldn’t quite quell the overwhelming sense of pride that warmed him.
“Fine,” he growled. “Everyone grab your weapons and get in the SUV. You, too,” he said, turning to Hart.
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for anything. Lead the way, Captain.”
----
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” Hart grinned from his place between Gwen and Ianto.
Rhys sat in the front, next to Jack, to better navigate them. As John had predicted, the rift alarms had begun blazing right on cue. At least it made things a lot easier for Rhys to track. Andy followed them from his own car, providing backup.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” Gwen admonished as she shifted closer to the door.
“So,” Hart murmured, shifting closer to Ianto and resting a hand on his thigh. “You’re completely physical now, hmm?” The hand casually inched further up.
Disgust.
Hatred.
Fury.
Hart chuckled and removed his hand, allowing Ianto to pursue more important courses of action.
“Jack, can we trust him?”
He watched for Jack’s eyes in the rearview mirror and noticed the slight shake of his head.
“Right. Dumb question. Listen, I’m sor-“
He was interrupted by an onslaught of emotions, too varied and quick to make out accurately. Underlying all of them, though, was a powerful current of Love and Hope. He finally caught Jack’s eye and sent the two emotions back with vigor, buoying them both momentarily.
“I’m not going anywhere. We can fix this.”
Jack nodded and a smile ghosted over his features.
“Uh,” Rhys stammered. “I think we’re here.”
“How can you tell?”
“This thing stopped. Oh, and that.”
Five pairs of eyes followed his pointed finger and simultaneously widened. Even Hart was speechless; when he released the “monster,” he hadn’t expected it would grow to such proportions. And it had fangs and claws now. If he didn’t know it was relatively harmless to anyone but Ianto, he would have been terrified, too.
Andy’s voice crackled through the comms. “Jesus bloody Christ. Go on, I’ll come round the back.”
“Good,” Jack agreed. “We’ll try to distract it. Weapon charged?”
“Charged and ready, waiting on your orders.”
Jack pulled the SUV up in front of the creature. Ianto noticed that it didn’t quite surpass five stories. Its turquoise leathery skin was stretched over obscenely large muscles, its teeth and claws were jagged, and its eyes were a menacing, malicious purple. As he pondered the beast, he heard the door open and saw Jack run out to taunt it in typical Harkness fashion. Whatever it was seemed to anticipate as much and loped over towards Jack.
Without hesitation, Ianto flung himself out of the SUV and sprinted to Jack’s side. Hart smiled contentedly. Everything was going according to plan.
He was grateful that Rhys had momentarily taken over, his capacity for speech reduced to a few choice curses and his emotions straining to find anything other than Anger, Frustration, Hatred, and Revulsion.
Three guns were trained on John as he stood in a practiced slouch in front of them, exuding something casually elegant and dangerous. It was familiar to Gwen and Ianto, causing their hackles to rise in immediate suspicion. Andy had simply trusted instinct and followed suit.
Hart chuckled and looked at each of them in turn, finally resting his gaze on Ianto.
“Torchwood has a thing for resurrection, huh? Bloody Messiah complex, you lot. Makes killing you all a little more interesting. Which one stays dead? Which one will come back? Didn’t think it’d be you, Eye Candy.”
“What do you want with Jack?” Gwen asked as her finger tightened on the trigger.
“I have something for him. Found, really. No bombs, promise.” He turned back to Rhys. “When do you expect your master’s return?”
“To you? Never,” Ianto muttered under his breath through the boiling rage.
Hart opened his mouth to speak as the proximity alarms sounded and Jack’s voice boomed through the Hub.
“Just a Weevil. Told you it was nothing to wo-Oh. Am I interrupting something good?”
Jack came around to stand next to Ianto, disturbing the phalanx they had fallen into naturally. He rested his hand on Ianto’s arm, forcing him to lower his weapon. Ianto was about to protest when he realized that he ignored Gwen’s and Andy’s guns.
“Back so soon?” Jack purred to John.
“Couldn’t stay away.”
Jack sighed dramatically and threw a sidelong glance toward Ianto. “They never can.”
Hart laughed and Ianto could sense the twinge of nervousness in the sound. It eased him a little. Jack thrust his hands in his pockets and sauntered up to his former lover like a panther.
“You know I never meant for them to die. Hell, I never meant for you to die, either.”
“I know,” Jack smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But I doubt you came here to apologize. It isn’t your style.”
“Ah,” Hart grinned. “You do remember.”
“Of course I do.”
“Something’s coming, and it’s big. ‘S Eye Candy’s fault, really, going all visible and chatty. The Zeltasya, the Watchers, are furious.”
“Well,” Ianto chuckled hollowly, “then that’s sorted. They’ll come, take me away, and be done with it.”
He barely registered the flicker of anguish and panic on Jack’s face before he was hit with a wave of pain and protectiveness. He would have keeled over from the blast if Andy hadn’t reached out a steadying hand.
“We’re not going to let them take you,” the former PC whispered.
“No, that’s not what they’re going to do. What did they tell you?” There was mirth in Hart’s eyes and it was terribly unsettling.
“They said,” he whispered, realization slowly dawning over him, “that the consequences to me would be dire.”
“Ah!” Hart smirked. “And taking you away from Jack is dire? Or is that simply an inconvenience? What would really be dire to you, Eye Candy?”
Ianto gasped as images flooded him; his teammates, his family, falling apart and dying. Knowing that his selfishness, his need, was the cause of it all. The world ending, blinking out of existence, and all because he disobeyed a simple, easy instruction.
Game of cat and mouse completely forgotten, Jack hastened to Ianto’s side and wrapped an arm around him, kissing his temple in the process.
“It doesn’t happen like that,” he whispered into Ianto’s ear. “I promise. That’s not what happens.”
John simply leaned back against the wall and smirked wickedly.
“So they’re coming here to destroy the world?” Jack asked with a wicked smirk of his own.
“Oh, no. They aren’t coming. But they are sending some ugly, nasty beast to do their dirty work.”
“You?” Rhys asked innocently.
Hart laughed. “Oh, I like him. No, it isn’t me.”
“Then why are you here?” Gwen asked.
“Because I found out and thought I’d be the good guy and warn you all. You know, save the day and that. I like this planet. Can’t have all the poodles die, now can we?” He winked at her.
“Yes, because being the hero worked so well for you all those other times,” Ianto reminded, rolling his eyes.
“Look, I’m warning you. That’s got to count for something.” He glanced at his wrist. “You’ve got about an hour to prep and get to Splott.”
“Do we know what we’re dealing with?”
“No idea. I just happened to intercept the communication. The strap’s set to specific keywords. Came as soon as I could, but then your guard dog here threw me out with his psychic projection bollocks.”
“Right,” Jack nodded, “Gwen and Andy with me. Ianto, you and Rhys stay-“
“Not happening, Jack,” Ianto interrupted through clenched teeth. “I caused this. I’m going.”
He could tell Jack wanted to argue, but held his tongue. Ianto knew it was killing him, he could feel the anxiety, the fear, rolling off him. Jack nodded once, and then turned to Rhys.
“Hold down the-“
“No.”
“Rhys,” Gwen warned, frowning. “You have to stay.”
“No, I don’t. You lot aren’t facing the end of the world alone. I’m going, too. For you, for our child, for Jack, for Ianto, for the rest of the world. I’m not letting these creatures,” he shot a look of disgust at Hart, “or their lapdog ruin everything.”
Jack threw his hands up in the air and sighed in resignation. He wanted to be angry; their nobility was misplaced and foolish, and he knew it was dangerous. Still, he couldn’t quite quell the overwhelming sense of pride that warmed him.
“Fine,” he growled. “Everyone grab your weapons and get in the SUV. You, too,” he said, turning to Hart.
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for anything. Lead the way, Captain.”
----
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” Hart grinned from his place between Gwen and Ianto.
Rhys sat in the front, next to Jack, to better navigate them. As John had predicted, the rift alarms had begun blazing right on cue. At least it made things a lot easier for Rhys to track. Andy followed them from his own car, providing backup.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” Gwen admonished as she shifted closer to the door.
“So,” Hart murmured, shifting closer to Ianto and resting a hand on his thigh. “You’re completely physical now, hmm?” The hand casually inched further up.
Disgust.
Hatred.
Fury.
Hart chuckled and removed his hand, allowing Ianto to pursue more important courses of action.
“Jack, can we trust him?”
He watched for Jack’s eyes in the rearview mirror and noticed the slight shake of his head.
“Right. Dumb question. Listen, I’m sor-“
He was interrupted by an onslaught of emotions, too varied and quick to make out accurately. Underlying all of them, though, was a powerful current of Love and Hope. He finally caught Jack’s eye and sent the two emotions back with vigor, buoying them both momentarily.
“I’m not going anywhere. We can fix this.”
Jack nodded and a smile ghosted over his features.
“Uh,” Rhys stammered. “I think we’re here.”
“How can you tell?”
“This thing stopped. Oh, and that.”
Five pairs of eyes followed his pointed finger and simultaneously widened. Even Hart was speechless; when he released the “monster,” he hadn’t expected it would grow to such proportions. And it had fangs and claws now. If he didn’t know it was relatively harmless to anyone but Ianto, he would have been terrified, too.
Andy’s voice crackled through the comms. “Jesus bloody Christ. Go on, I’ll come round the back.”
“Good,” Jack agreed. “We’ll try to distract it. Weapon charged?”
“Charged and ready, waiting on your orders.”
Jack pulled the SUV up in front of the creature. Ianto noticed that it didn’t quite surpass five stories. Its turquoise leathery skin was stretched over obscenely large muscles, its teeth and claws were jagged, and its eyes were a menacing, malicious purple. As he pondered the beast, he heard the door open and saw Jack run out to taunt it in typical Harkness fashion. Whatever it was seemed to anticipate as much and loped over towards Jack.
Without hesitation, Ianto flung himself out of the SUV and sprinted to Jack’s side. Hart smiled contentedly. Everything was going according to plan.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 03:11 am (UTC)Last part is written, so it should be up relatively soon! :)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 03:12 am (UTC)And yes, he could be. If he wasn't such a sociopath. I guess that's why I love him so dearly! lol
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 03:13 am (UTC)*More lip-zipping*
Although I had better be careful, or you'll all gang up on me!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 04:55 am (UTC)oh and the way you did hart was perfect... spot on. :) nicely done.
really really can't wait for more. need this like breath right now.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 08:26 am (UTC)I'm glad Hart came out well! I love him lots in a twisted sort of way.
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Date: 2010-10-19 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 06:47 am (UTC)I can't look! *hides under her blankets*
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 08:22 am (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 12:10 pm (UTC)Had to say, I love Rhys in this chapter - from his opening snark (must be from being around Ianto and Andy) to his determination to help protect everything he holds dear, that man will go far with Torchwood!
Going to beta the last chapter now - not that I expect to need to actually DO anything to it! Want to find out what the big Turquoise beastie will do 0_0 *iz slightly worried*
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 09:24 pm (UTC)I really love working with Rhys and Andy. They're so underused in canon; I think they'd BOTH be good for TW, but Jack is all protective and wary. And, I guess it really SHOULDN'T turn into the "We Love Gwen Show."
And you DID have to do stuff to it!
Thanks a million! :)