Title: Echoes
Rating: R (for dark themes)
Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Owen, Toshiko, 10th Doctor, Master, John Hart
Spoilers: Everything from TW 1 to CoE, DW to S4, in particular for "Cyberwoman", "Sound of the Drums/Last of the Time Lords", "Turn Left" and CoE "Day Four" and "Day Five".
Disclaimer: If I owned Jack, Ianto and everything Torchwood, I would treat them all right. Since fics like this need to be written, then it's definitely not mine and making no money from this. This is a work of love and giving Jack and Ianto the respect they deserve.
Warning: AU, Dark themes, past character deaths, torture, slash, male/male
Notes: The first chapter is in the 5 Times format. I started to write this one immediately after CoE last summer because losing Ianto is UNACCEPTABLE. I'm not saying all events in chapter one is canon - it's just my take on how they happened.
Summary: Nothing lasts forever, everything changes, even when you don't realize it's happening.
OoOoOoO
1 – Cyberwoman
Jack came back to life after having been electrocuted by the Cyberman that Ianto hid deep in the Torchwood basements. Ianto insisted it was still his girlfriend, who was partially converted during the Battle of Canary Wharf, and that he still loved her.
Where did that love get him, Jack had to wonder as he looked around the Hub. Toshiko made it out of the Hub, and on her way up to Reception. Gwen and Owen were no where in sight, and Jack hoped it was because they were hiding well and not because they were deleted. Jack shook off the last vestiges of his recent death. Being deleted was not fun, even for someone who can come back from the dead.
He could hear Lisa down in the autopsy bay as he glanced down. Only a few feet from him, was Ianto. Face down in the water that pooled at the base of the Rift Manipulator, disguised above ground as a water tower. Jack scrambled the few feet to him and turned him around to his back. Jack was certain Ianto was dead, but it might not be too late.
He found he had to save Ianto if he could. Despite his threats earlier, Jack was not ready to lose Ianto yet. He did not quite understand what that meant. Jack had to admit the reasons why he had hired Ianto was part persistence on the Welshman's behalf (now Jack understood the desperation to be hired and realized that he had been duped, conned, by the rather quiet, unassuming young man), part because of the pteranodon that Ianto had led Jack to, and part attraction to the Welshman. Jack didn't understand it that night in the warehouse when they captured Myfanwy so Jack could bring her to Torchwood. That moment when they had ended up with first Jack on Ianto after Jack came crashing down from being dragged around the warehouse by the pteranodon, and Ianto decided to attempt to catch him. Moments later, Jack flipped them over to get out of the way of being crushed by the flying dinosaur as she fell from flight, knocked out by the shot Jack managed to administer. They ended up laughing, with Ianto now on top of him. And for a moment, Jack was certain they were going to kiss. Not that Jack needed an excuse to kiss a good looking man, especially when said good looking man was laying on him, but there was something about Ianto that made Jack feel like a moth being drawn to a flame. Since the day Ianto came to work for Torchwood Three, the two settled easily into a pattern of flirting. Several times they came close to kissing again. Jack knew he wanted to feel his lips on Ianto's, know how it felt to undo Ianto's tie, remove his jack and strip down to how nature intended man to be. His ultimate goal was to know what it felt like to have sex with Ianto. It was purely lust, Jack convinced himself. He lusted after Ianto, the way he talked, the way he walked, and Jack realized even the efficient way the younger man handled all the Admin duties, while tackling the Archives and cleaning up after them during missions.
It was only lust, Jack thought as he started to kiss Ianto, transferring whatever it was that kept Jack coming back to life time after time again over for over 100 years.
Then why did it hurt so much when he realized he had been betrayed, that the half-converted Cyberman loose in the Hub was Ianto's girlfriend. It hurt when he heard Ianto declare he loved her, and his loyalty was to her. He could just leave Ianto dead. It would be one less problem, since the younger man seemed intent to stop them from killing what he believed was his girlfriend, but in reality was a monster that would bring the universe to its knees if they did not kill her. Yet Jack continued to kiss Ianto, sharing more energy that he seemed to have until Ianto's eyes popped open as he gasped taking in a breath.
Jack quieted him. Ianto Jones was alive again. Jack did not understand why he did it or how he was successful. He knew he had to try, not give up. For what, he did not understand. He had no time to figure it out as he pulled Ianto up to his feet.
He still had a job to do, a monster to kill, and the world to save. He hoped that Ianto would manage to keep himself alive in the meantime.
OoOoOoO
2 – Sound of the Drums/Last of the Time Lords
Same routine, day in and day out – chained, tortured and killed. Killed so many times, Jack had lost count. There were days when he wanted to give up, but he could not. He held onto his faith that Martha Jones would succeed in her quest. That they would succeed. It had been months now, with even more months to go. Months of whenever he was conscious, he fought the urge to momentarily break down and cry, just to let it out, to find release from the pain and mental agony. Lately, the Master was prolonging the time before he was killed again. In that time, he would be beaten and injured, but never enough to push him into the darkness, not until the Master decided it was time. Jack had to wonder if the Master would eventually run out of ways to kill him.
Even when left alone in pain within the depths of the Valiant's engine room for long periods of time, sometimes so he would slowly die of starvation or dehydration, Jack did not dare let down his defenses. He was certain he was being watched, and he would not give that bastard the satisfaction of seeing him break. He had his faith in Martha, but what drove his faith, kept him from giving up, filling him with hope, and the strength to go on was the team he had left behind – Gwen, Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto. Especially Ianto. There was so much he should have done before he went off after the Doctor. What he shared with the seemingly quiet young Welshman had just taken a major turn from having fun to something else. He felt it in Ianto's kiss when we had finally returned from the dead after Abaddon. He knew Ianto felt the same in his. Jack wanted the chance to find out what that was, where it would lead them. He wanted to be with his team again, and he wanted to slowly start to court Ianto Jones.
He continued to hold onto those thoughts, those dreams, the places he would take Ianto on dates. Then the fantasy Jack indulged in to keep from breaking started to come apart.
One by one.
First it was Owen. The aster played the torture session that lead to the medic's death repeatedly for days. Even when he finally had to close his eyes, he could not block out the screams. Owen's screaming echoed in his ears for days after, and every time he closed his eyes, he could see the images again. He eventually managed to push Owen's death to the back of his mind. Not forgotten, but bearable.
Next was Gwen, again the Master replaying her death for days. Then Toshiko. Jack's heart broke more with each member of his team. At least there was one more. The one. He clung to Ianto being safe, invested all his hope into the life of his lover.
One day Tish came to feed him. He could tell she had been crying. He asked what was wrong, but all she finally said before she left was, "I'm sorry, Jack."
Hardly a minute went by after Tish's departure when the Master arrived, flanked by two men who carried a large bag.
The Master grinned at Jack. "Your precious team thought they were so smart. Especially the one left. He wasn't smart at all, Jack Harkness. But I heard things, so I decided to be generous this time."
Jack's eyes went to the bag, realizing it was a body bag. The one left. Oh God, no, Jack thought. Not him. Please not him.
"You've been so entertaining to me, I thought to give you a companion to keep you company for a few days." He grinned, as he watched Jack's face. Satisfied, he realized he had finally found Captain Jack Harkness' breaking point.
"Go ahead boys. Give the good Captain his boy toy," the Master said.
The bag was opened and the pulpy remains of Ianto Jones was dumped at Jack's feet. Jack looked down, noticing flesh missing on the unclothed corpse. The only place where there was minimum damage was the face. Just a few bruises. Worse than what had been done to the body – Jack did not want to think about whether Ianto was still alive while it was being done – were the wide open eyes, the horror and terror. Now frozen on the cold, stiff face.
"Ianto…" Jack croaked out, feeling the bile rise before he found himself throwing up, apologizing to his dead lover at his feet for throwing up on him. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," Jack started to cry when he was done.
The Master was happy. It was the reaction he had waited so long to get from the freak. Captain Jack Harkness had finally broke.
"I'm glad you approve, Freak. Enjoy!" The Master turned and left, the men following him.
Ianto's body was left at his feet for a day, before the Master arrived, ordering that the corpse be dumped out with the trash. That was the last Jack saw of Ianto Jones. He did not get to dwell too much on it, because the Master had a few more innovative ways of killing someone and that took several days.
A month later, when they had succeeded in overcoming the Master and when Jack destroyed the paradox machine, time reverted upon itself, going back a year. Jack was thankful that most of the team was killed on Earth and left there. He was relieved that Ianto's body was dropped from the Valiant to go crashing down to Earth. Jack knew because he had seen the video footage a week after they had removed Ianto's body from his feet.
It meant that they were all alive. All of them, including Ianto. When he returned to Cardiff with the Doctor and Martha, he was glad to see everything as he had left it, and not what the world had become. He found it easy to turn down the Doctor's offer to continue traveling with him. Jack knew where he belonged. For the first time in a long time, Jack felt as if he was coming home. To his team. To Ianto.
OoOoOoO
3 – Turn Left
Carefully making his way through the air ducts of the Sontaran warship, Jack paused to get his bearings and work out his time away from his designated position. Not far away was the hatch to the duct that would put him closer to his position. Anxious as he was, he paused by the hatch, taking readings on his wrist strap to scan for any Sontarans in the area beyond the grate, that he would be able to eliminate the Sontarans before they got an alert out of intruders.
It was quick work for Jack. He downed the two guards with his blaster that he appropriated from another guard when they first arrived on the ship. He sealed the area to keep anyone to go in, aware of the inner room he was preparing to enter.
Touching his Bluetooth, he said, "Status."
He received one blast of static before he heard Gwen's voice, reply, "I'm almost in position. Ianto is in already, but he had to hide, which is why he's not replying."
Jack nodded, even though he knew Gwen and Ianto could not hear him. They had come up with the static signals should one of them not be able to respond, using pre-determined number of static blasts to get messages across. One was radio silence but situation under control. Two was situation about to get out of control, and three was the equal to an S.O.S. Jack was relieved to get that one blast signal. Ianto had been through worse than this, even if this was the first time they had left the Earth. He would have been more concerned with no reply.
"I'm in position," Jack said, lifting another blaster from one of the fallen guards and quickly checking and confirming no sign of life. "Remember, Plan A is to do this with time to get to a teleport pad."
Gwen did not ask about Plan B. They had all discussed it before heading to Rattigan Academy where earlier Jack had discovered the teleport pad. If they were caught, then they would do whatever it took to blow the Sontaran ship up even if it took them along. The explosion of the warship was also designed to burn away the ATMOS gases in the atmosphere.
"I'm in position," Gwen informed him. The team had managed to crawl through ducts after arriving on the ship using the teleport pad. Thankfully they appeared in a less populated area and quickly took out the Sontarans in the area. They were certain no alert got out about their surprise attack.
"My location is clear now," Jack heard Ianto softly say through his ear piece.
"Right then. Everyone knows what to do. So let's get it done and out of here."
The team went to work digging up a device to take out the ship, which would burn up the gases in the atmosphere. Mission completed, they made their way to the teleport pad at the far end of the room.
Jack noticed Ianto was the first to reach it, with Gwen right behind him. Jack felt relieved because at that moment, Sontarans started to storm the area. Ianto and Gwen would be back at Rattigan Academy before the Sontarans had a chance to get a shot at the two.
Jack knew he was not going to have the same luck, but he reasoned it was better him than then. Believing his lover and his best friend were safe, he pushed a button on his wrist strap to engage the detonator. It was then that he felt himself being shot and he went down.
Ianto was pulling Gwen into the teleport pad and turning to activate it when his eyes fixed on Jack going down. "Jack!" he yelled out. Instead of activating the teleport, he started to rush out, drawing his weapon.
"Ianto, no!" he cried out, but not as loud as he wanted. He watched in horror as Gwen followed Ianto's lead and the two ran toward him, firing at the Sontarans. Jack knew he was dying and as much as he wanted, could do nothing to help them. With his dying breath, he watched as first Gwen, then Ianto went down.
He came to with a gasp, but instead of loving arms holding him, he stirred a commotion around him. Other than the claxons going off, alerting the Sontarans that the ship was in danger. It was mostly black and red in the room, but he could make out the body next to his.
"Ianto," he moaned.
"He's alive!" a Sontaran announced, in surprise. "He was dead. But he's alive."
"Take him then. Leave the others," he heard another Sontaran order.
And he was being carried into the teleport pad, leaving Gwen behind. Leaving, "Ianto…." Jack mournfully uttered. He couldn't see either of them. And then they were gone from the ship.
Jack found himself on a Sontaran transport, left in the teleport pad with one guard aiming a weapon at him as the transport put further distance between them and the warship. The transport still rocked when the warship blew, the sky around the earth seeming to burn up as the ATMOS fumes were extinguished.
Jack dropped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. They were successful in their mission, but he was now a prisoner. They managed to blow up the warship.
With Gwen and Ianto, still on it. Their bodies, Jack's mind cruelly decided to remind him. Not that it made a difference now. They were gone. Both of them. The last of his team gone, leaving him alone. Again.
He would grieve for Gwen and miss her as much as he still missed Toshiko and Owen. And then Ianto….
Jack wanted to die then. He found the strength to make a sudden threatening move toward his guard, roaring with his despair. It worked because he was shot and would be dead again soon.
He knew how it would end, but he still had to try. Because at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to never wake up again. At least he was a prisoner, and he lost all will to get away. There was nothing to escape to. There was nothing to live for. Not without Ianto as part of his life.
Jack never knew that time had once again reverted on itself. That the thin veils between infinite possibilities of universes became thinner as his consciousness moved from one universe to another. The more his mind became aware of his new surroundings the further the memories faded, until to Jack they did not exist. Jack on the Sontaran ship no longer existed as he found himself in the Hub, staring blankly at a monitor. On each side, he was flanked by Gwen and Ianto.
They had the Hub in lockdown. Reports from UNIT assured them that the Doctor was working on the situation, aided by Martha Jones. There was not much for Torchwood Three to do, except make sure they were safe. That the Hub was not open in case of any stray bands of Sontarans appearing in Cardiff.
"He did it," Ianto was saying. "I don't know what, but it worked." They watched on CCTV as the sky turned into waves of fire and as it traveled and past, it left behind clear blue skies.
"Is this it then?" Gwen asked. "It's over?"
Ianto nodded. "It would appear so." His eyes fixed on the screen. "Such a shame that standard Cardiff weather means it will be cloudy again by nightfall."
Gwen chuckled and smiled at Ianto, who returned the smile. They both looked at Jack.
"Jack, are you okay?" Gwen asked.
Jack felt Ianto's arm go around his waist. "Maybe you should sit down for a while. Since it's over, I'll make us some coffee."
Jack's gaze went first to Gwen, then Ianto, first in amazement and suddenly the look left his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said to Gwen before smiling at Ianto. "And coffee sounds heavenly. It's been a long day."
"It has."
"Gwen, why don't you go home and check on Rhys?"
"Soon Jack. I need to make a few calls to the police and let them know it's going to be okay now." She traded a concerned look with Ianto, but the Welshman managed to wave it off without any movements.
Jack always wondered how he would manage that. "I'll be in my office, starting up the reports then. Ianto, when the coffee is ready, do you mind giving me a hand." He lightly ran his hand down Ianto's arm before taking a step away.
Ianto flushed ever so slightly, but Gwen caught enough to start to grin as both men started to head in opposite directions. "Is that what you're calling it these days."
Jack paused halfway to his office and grinned at Gwen. "I did ask him to give me a hand." He winked at her as she started to blush and giggle.
"Jack!" Ianto called out, making Jack and Gwen laugh.
As the team set on their tasks, Jack was no longer away of what had happened. He was no longer away that this time, the third time they went through this, it was close, but not exactly the same way as they first time they went through it.
He was also unaware that in a parallel universe he had lost Ianto and would never get him back.
Jack smiled as Ianto entered his office with his coffee and closed the door behind him, as he set the coffee on the desk.
"You were saying something about needing a hand?" Ianto asked, the look on his face leaving no doubt what he meant.
"Yeah. Let's drink this and then go down to my bunk," Jack said, returning Ianto's leer.
"So hurry now, and drink up."
Jack lifted his mug to his mouth and started to drink his coffee, the barely started report as forgotten as his losing Ianto and Gwen on the Sontaran ship was.
OoOoOoO