Chapter 4

He could feel the texture against his skin, moving slowly with every breath he took, he could almost grab it between his fingers, almost, it covered his ears and his eyes but it was so thin that he could see right through it; he could see him. The tears that ran down his face, the blood that was drying on his forehead and his name being said against his lips, because although it let him see, it didn't let him hear, it was like being in a soundproof room. And he remembered when he was sixteen and he looked across the park at Carys and her friends, he watched as her lips move hoping that she said his name, hoping that she was talking about him and running to his house and telling his mother he wanted to learn how to read lips, and his mother's shock face at his strange declaration.

And now he wished she had heard him, because this must be the last time Captain Jack Harkness talked to Ianto Jones.

He heard a woman scream first, one of those screams that you only hear in a horror movie and when he turned his head it was the only thing that came to his mind, because there she was frozen in a single moment of terror, she was suspend in the air, held up by nothing, like she had jumped in the air and someone had taken a picture of that perfect moment.

The people around her watched in horror at the scene but they did nothing; he could see a teenager boy pointing his cell phone at her and taking a picture, showing it to his friend with a smile on his face like it was a magic's trick, while the woman hanged there without moving, only the eyes moved from one side to the other, like broken doll.

While he stood there frozen like the woman who was in front of him, he could see a coat flying at his left, it was Jack. He walked right there and moved between the people that were watching the 'show'; he stood under the woman who was suspend in the air by the invisible hands that held her, but Ianto Jones didn't know how right he was when that thought crossed his mind.

Jack looked at the woman who was right above him, like a contortionist from a circus, he could see the terror on her eyes and he looked at them, until she posed hers on his own and he spoke.

'Everything will be all right' and he smiled.

Katie looked at the blue eyes that watched her, she saw as the lips moved and formed the words that she had hoped to hear.

Once again she was sitting there, moving her food around her plate, forming happy faces while the man who was in front of her talked about… something, she lifted her head to looked at him and she took in his features, he seemed handsome at first sight but when he opened his mouth that was the problem. Since she could still see his lips moving, she went back to her plate once again and looked at the happy face that was there and smiled. And she realized that two potatoes and a stick of carrot were more interesting than the man who was having dinner with her, and she cursed at her parents and her own inability to say no to them when they tried to mess with her life, she could hear her mother's voice screaming in her head – you could do something for us, just marry the rich guy so we could live a comfortable life – and the fork scratch the plate's surface like nails on a blackboard.

'Katie?' She lifted her head at hearing her name being called and she glanced at the man's annoyed expression at being interrupted.

'Sorry,' She said and put her best 'I'm an idiot smile' that for some reason the man's bought and continued with his story, she had patented several of that ones over the years to made them believe that they were superior to her somehow while the only thing she wanted to do was to throw the happy smile that was resting on her plate over his head.

So she lowered her head and continued with the art work that could make his father proud, time passed and she kept on drawing with the little food that was on her plate, smashing the potatoes very slowly to create new forms and she remembered her parents expressions when she told them that she wanted to study art and how they laughed at her.

Suddenly something interrupted her thoughts, cold fingers that grabbed her waist, she turned fast to look behind her but nothing was there, she moved her head to the sides in confusion but as she looked down to her waist she realized that the feeling was still there.

She put both of her hands around her waist and she could feel the cold in her hands too, like putting them in the freezer when she looked for the ice cubes. She lifted her head to look at the man who was in front of her and the frown on his face and the first thought that crossed her mind was - I think he won't call me again - before something yanked her from her chair while the cold froze her in a single moment.

And now she watched at the beautiful man that was under her and she believed him.

Jack put his hand inside his pocket and grabbed the comm that was resting there, and very calmly he put it on his ear without breaking the eye contact between him and her.

'Tosh.' He called but instead of the answer he was waiting for, a noise was heard; thump thump thump... and it bounced in every phone that was there, making itself stronger.

Bouncing in every surface it could find, higher and higher until the only thing they could do was to cover their ears, glasses broke and the woman who hanged in the air screamed.

Time passed and suddenly silence reigned… and the woman fell from the sky.

Jack opened his eyes and looked at her lying there on top of the table while the dirty plate with a happy face fell in slow motion to the floor. He knew she was dead but he couldn't help but bend over and touched her neck looking for a pulse that he knew wasn't going to find, he lifted his head to look at the clock that was against the wall and remembered the time for the woman who laid dead in front of him. 22:10.

He closed his eyes and took a big breath, preparing himself for the next round; he turned around to look at Ianto but the sight that was waiting for him it became one of the images that he could never forget.

Ianto stood there frozen like Katie with both hands against his chest, so white and pale and he smiled with so much acceptance that Jack wanted to scream. Ianto's hands fell from his chest to the sides and he could finally see the horror that was behind them. Blood.

He ran while Ianto started to fall to the floor, but he wasn't fast enough or strong enough to catch him, he lowered himself to the floor with his eyes wide opened and place Ianto's head on top on his lap, he grabbed the tablecloth and yanked it from the table without a second thought, plates, food and glasses flew through the air ending with a crash against the wooden floor, but Jack didn't pay attention to the noise or the mess he could do, the only thing that matter was the man who was in front of him.

He put the tablecloth against the blood because he couldn't see where the wound was, it was only blood that it seemed to get bigger and bigger against Ianto's shirt. He pressed the comm. and tried again and this time he screamed.

Ianto looked at Jack across the room and he couldn't help but to be amazed at the man he loved, at his ability to take charge so easy without fear at the situation that was throw to him. And in spite of everything he smiled, but suddenly he felt something cold on his chest and he looked down but nothing was there except a little red stain.

As he lifted his head everything changed and he wasn't in the restaurant anymore, he was in someplace in another time and space.

He took in the man who was in front of him, looking at him in surprise and he knew who he was but the name couldn't leave his lips so he said the word he could never forget.

'Jack' And the man looked deeper into his eyes while he got near to him and greeted him in what he knew was his ship. But he couldn't help to look down at his chest and at the stain that he knew it was going to be there and he understood.

He lifted his head and told the words that didn't leave his lips before.

'You're the doctor' While he put his hands against his chest, hoping for one minute that he could stop what was going to come.

And he saw a little recognition in those old eyes that glanced at him, and he wanted to say so much, so many, he want to tell him everything he thought about him, about Jack. But only a few words left his lips.

'He's not wrong, he is just only human' And he smiled going back once again to the restaurant, and there he was in front of him, running to him, the man he loved and Ianto Jones fell.