#85-Topaz (Hello!)

[tigerstriped86.livejournal.com]

My first tamingthemuse prompt: #85 Topaz

Title: Someone (To Watch Over Me): Chaps. 5 and 6 (Cause 5 got like giant rat big)
Author: tigerdust (fanfiction.net) or me (here)
Fandom/Pairing: Torchwood; Janto
Rating: M (for Mature: slash, some gore, bad language, beware all you childrens)

Summary: The continuing saga of Janto after the night of their first date.  How come love at Torchwood has so many addendums to it?!  Now featuring a cameo by our Rose (from the world of Doctor Who!)

Find Chapters 1-4 Here:  http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4101658/1/Someone

“How you doing down there, Ianto?”

“Fine, sir.” The quiver in his voice was an amazing lie detector.

“How many times must I tell you...”

“Sorry, sir. It's just that staring at your bum for a solid ten minutes makes me lose my concentration a bit.”

“I can accept that.” Jack looked into the eyes of the man clinging a few rungs below him on the ladder on the side of the missile silo. After being chased by the farmer's rabid rottweilers, Jack and Ianto felt it was their duty to find a sneakier way into the farm. Okay, there was an echo. But, you had to admit, it was sneaky.

Earlier that day, Tosh had caught a snippet of news online about a crop circle appearing in the farmlands of England. Well, it turns out, Jack saw the “circle” as an alien message. An alien message that read, in jagged terms, “help needed”. So the team had packed some gear and headed out to the countryside. Tosh was providing light dimming support, Owen was driving and Gwen was distracting the farmer and his wife. Well, hopefully.

As they reached the top, they saw the weevils. They might still have been relatively frightening for the Torchwood crew gnashing with teeth and claws, but only an idiot would have missed the fact that they were malnourished to the point of insanity.

“Bloody hell, Jack. Not even they deserve this.”

“I agree.”

“Jack, I couldn't hold the farmer off anymore.” Jack's comm beeped to signal the end of the message.

“We're gonna have company.”

“Great.”

“You dang-blasted government reporters just don't give up, do you?! You have ten seconds to get down off my missile silo before I come up there with my 12-gauger!”

“Does he actually think that would work?”

“He was stupid enough to starve these guys and, if their claws are any indication, put them to work, so I'm gonna go ahead and say yes.”

“You've been warned!”

“And so have you.” Ianto pulled his stun gun on the guy's neck the second his head floated up on the ladder. If Jack hadn't have caught the guy; he would have probably fell to his death.

“Why don't you humans learn you can't just take advantage of aliens?” He was still groggily muttering about his property as Jack said this. His fat belly and balding head disgusted Jack, just a little. Living off the production of enslaved beings often did that to him. “First pharmaceuticals and now this! I'm tempted to just leave him to them!”

“You know we can't do that.”

“Just this once?”

“Jack.”

“Okay, okay. What if we leave him just in reach of them?” Jack made a dangling gesture with his arms.

Ianto rolled his eyes. “We'll take him into custody. I'm afraid, however, these two weevils don't look like they'd make the trip.” Jack was amazed at how empathetic Ianto could be toward strange species. He was so brave and wise. It was a real turn-on; too bad Ianto had been turned off even after Jack had told him he loved him. This was the second week of near silence. Jack was beginning to think Ianto didn't believe him. He'd come around though; he had talked Ianto into staying with him a few nights.

“Tosh, can you hear me?”

“Reading, Ianto.”

“Are these weevils healthy enough to travel?”

“Bio-scanners indicate that they have very weak signatures in comparison to the one at the Hub. Tell Jack that I know how much he hates to...”

“You won't have to Tosh.” The look on Ianto's face was enough to confirm Jack's grim fears. Poor bastards probably got lost and deserted in the Rift. No one deserved this kind of treatment. With an uncharacteristic grimace; Capt. Jack Harkness shot two beings. And no, he didn't enjoy it. Ianto began to prepare the two to go back down the ladder, using a basket system, while Jack tied the farmer with his chains. Ianto didn't think commenting would be a good idea.

Ianto's eye caught the blink of a small object atop a pole linking the chain to the silo.

“Jack, what do you think this is?” Ianto curiously picked up the nearly translucent yellow gem. It was shaped like a rose.

“I'm not sure. Could be weevil technology, although it is quite strange. Almost gem-like.” Jack raised an inquisitive eyebrow as Ianto placed it toward the moon and watched the dazzling light cascade from its surfaces.

“Ow! Thing's bloody hot, Jack!” Ianto dropped it, but it didn't crack or shatter. It was incredibly sturdy. Jack used the bottom of his jacket to place the thing in his gun's holster before they began to work their way down.

“You don't think it's radioactive?”

“I'm sure I don't know. But its better for me to find out than you.”

The specimens “Alex” and “Ariana” provided much entertainment for Owen that night, but most of the activity centered around the mysterious gem that had appeared.

“I've got no record of any weevil, or any alien for that matter, with technology that matches this. As far as analysis goes”, Tosh clicked away at her keyboard while she talked to Jack, who hovered over her shoulder and Ianto who paced around the object, lit from below by a holding pillar, “the item appears to be incredibly sturdy and yet would break very easily if cut along one of its faces.”

“Which would be hard to do”, Ianto muttered.

“Right, because after all, it's hot.” Tosh confirmed. “The heat itself emanates from the core of the “rose”, but everything about that is a contradiction.”

“Why?”, Gwen asked as she lounged on the couch.

“Topaz isn't supposed to be pure yellow at this temperature,” Ianto muttered and Jack looked up, visibly impressed. Is there anything he isn't knowledgeable on?

“Right Ianto, Topaz at this temperature should be pink or red. It's very off.”

“Well, I guess that's why we call it alien technology. Any possible uses, Tosh?”

“I'm afraid that's all I have, Jack.”

“Sounds fine to start with. Why don't you and Gwen head home? I'm sure we can find out a lot more in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me.” Owen, joined the circle, seemingly dipped in Weevil goo.

“What did you find out, Owen?”

“Just as you suspected, wasn't it? They were starved to the point of death. Mercy killing is what it was you performed.”

“Well, we've done good work today team. Let's all get rested up bright and early for tomorrow!” Jack rubbed his hands together; transparent eyes fixated on the man hovering about the contained gem.

“And what about me?”

“You know I'd want you to stay, Ianto.”

“I think that would be alright.”

Ianto continued his cleaning up and organizing as Jack pretended to do paperwork. His thoughts, though, were concentrated on the new artifact they housed. The color of the topaz rose was of the same as what flashed on his wrist. He wondered if the power source itself might short out the technology his wrist held. He sighed as he undid his cuffs and looked at his wrists for the umpteenth time this week. He cursed the thing that kept Ianto drawn near to him, out of whatever it was that went through Ianto's mind when he thought of it.

“What is it Jack?” His mind traveled back to that awkward conversation after he had told Ianto his real, frightening feelings.

“As far as Tosh can tell, it's a controlled device that was implanted into my bones and set to go off at this point in my life. It must be from my time; just something I was never told about.”

“And what is this technology supposed to do?” Ianto's face couldn't hide the etched lines of worry. Some days Ianto reminded Jack of the Doctor, except one was more sweet and the other eccentric beyond belief.

“That's just it. You see, in the future, beings can be omni sexual to a certain date. They could have as many lovers of either gender as they wanted, but once this flasher goes off; they are supposed to pair off with someone of the opposite gender. Each wrist is embedded with a code that can only be deactivated by embedding one code with another after the moment of copulation.”

“So, you have to give birth or...”

Jack's face turned dark. “We don't know the or. The system was put into place so that we wouldn't self-destruct like the Greeks of ancient times. And now, I just...”

“It's okay, Jack.”

“It's not okay, Ianto. I don't want to just have sex and have children and not have it be with you.”

“But you may not have a choice.”

Ianto's cough at the door broke Jack's train of thought as he seemed mesmerized by the inside of his coffee cup. “Are you done with that sir? I could wash it up tomorrow. Oh, I see you were thinking.”

Jack blushed, well insomuch as he actually could blush, and quickly covered his wrists with his sleeve.

Ianto sighed. “You don't have to do that. We're sleeping in the same bed.”

“You know I don't want to decide this.”

“Just come to bed when you are ready Jack.” Jack nodded as Ianto headed toward their room. God, that gave Jack such a feeling, calling it “their room”. He cursed whatever it was that gave him such luck. To lose Ianto now, even with everything at stake and all the what-ifs. It made the captain downright depressed if he thought of it.

Ianto had already covered himself with a sheet when Jack came in and was already halfway asleep. His semi-folded clothing hovering near the hamper waited for Jack to join it. He also noted Ianto was still wearing his briefs and sighed. He loved Ianto so much, but didn't blame Ianto for any of this. Jack removed his shirt in a fluid motion, followed by his trousers. He contemplated briefly and then climbed over Ianto to his favorite spot next to the wall. Jack slid into the sheets and then removed his boxers underneath. His hand draped itself automatically over Ianto's chest, but Ianto was already snoring. Jack didn't care. Actually, he wanted to have sex. He always wanted sex. But just the scent of Ianto was enough, had to be enough to placate him. Ianto hadn't had the drive since he'd returned. Jack was beginning to wonder if he wasn't just a charity cause. He knew Ianto loved him, otherwise he wouldn't stay or allow Jack to be this close.

Something called to Jack as he tried to snuggle in. The gem's tone was warm and luxurious and Jack found himself compelled to move forward. A hand of golden glass beckoned him forth and he followed; bothering only long enough to retrieve his trousers. A shirtless Jack stood gazing, wide-eyed before the topaz rose. Then he entered the code and the veil of glass lifted. He poked the gem and nothing happened. Then he took it into his hands and brought it up closer to his chest.

He could feel the warmth immediately. It wasn't searing, but it was as though a lamp had been left on too long. He could hear Ianto's voice groggily asking for him. “Just getting water,” Jack called back to the room, slightly panicked. The gem began to glow and Jack was feeling the effects of being encompassed in golden swirls of topaz. He didn't know if it was good or bad, but he couldn't let go. Not if it meant saving himself and being close to Ianto again.

Ianto caught the scene as he skidded into the threshold. He held the grip of office door before he bolted for the encompassed Jack.

“No, Jack! Not without me!” Ianto jumped and grabbed hold of Jack just as the gem bound his sight with light. There was a swirly orange afterglow, but it wasn't incredibly unpleasant. Ianto's fingers raked Jack's chest. But he couldn't help but smile. Ianto hadn't been this close in a very long time. He looked back to see Ianto, but instead his mind found a very odd memory.

Cardiff Bay, six months after the new Torchwood had been formed. Capt. Jack Harkness strolled Millennium Plaza eating an ice cream cone when he came across Ianto, doing the same but staring out at the water.

“Come here often?”

“Sir!” Ianto looked as though he might drop his cone out of fright.

“As you were, Ianto. Don't lose your treat on account of me.”

Ianto returned to staring at the sea. “Lisa loved coming to this spot and watching the crashing waves. It made her feel like a part of something.”

“I can understand that.” Jack leaned over the rail, breathing in the fresh scent of the bay.

“You know I'm just a flirt, right Ianto?”

Ianto sighed. “I know, sir, I know.”

Ianto found himself in a dark room, lit only by a large amount of light coming from the door. In his eyes were the Master. He had never met the man, but somehow knew him and knew fear because of him. He looked down at his cracked hands shackled in servitude and then looked back into the wild and fierce eyes. Absent tears blinked as he felt the heat of a plasma torch spark to life. The scream that echoed from his lips was not his voice. It was Jack's voice; Jack's scream. Jack enduring the first of many torturing the Master would inflict on him. And Ianto cried and grabbed Jack closer; beginning to breach some level of understanding.

Jack flew into a new memory. He recognized nothing except that he was in the Hub, and well dressed. He stood in the mirror examining a brand-new white tuxedo-style suit and how well it was tailored. He left the confines of his office and found Ianto waiting for him. Ianto had become old. His hair was mostly gone and he stooped considerably more, but Jack bent down to kiss him. It was so loving it hurt. It was Jack's turn to cry. But he couldn't bear the memory and so he pushed it away. Ianto fell as Jack pushed him as the circuit of power completed itself. Ianto awoke on the floor of the Hub with Capt. Jack Harkness gone. For the second time in his life, Ianto huddled into a ball and cried with shaking tears.

Jack was startled to hear a female voice as he opened his eyes. As it happened, he awoke naked and disoriented for the second time in his life. Although, this time, there were no makeover robots. There was a hooded woman, in robes of topaz yellow and haunting red. She giggled just slightly as he didn't try to scurry around and hide himself.

“Where am I?”

“You're awake.”

“I certainly am.”

“Come now, Jack, this isn't the first time you've woke up naked and not known where you are.” She slid the hood down and smiled.

“Rose?” Jack leaped up to give her a big hug.

“You're still naked, although I do appreciate the warm welcome. Here, I've brought you a robe.”

“Appreciate that. So, do tell, how have you been?”

“Still not worried about where you are?”

“I'm sure you'll tell me.”

“Well, you're right about that. As usual.” Her eyes rolled around a bit as they left the cave. Jack took notice of the semi-barren landscape dotted with grass and trees. He thought of the place in terms of a canyon with dark sand. He was about right.

“First thing you should know is that you are in a parallel universe.”

“But how?”

“Long story; of course, the Doctor is involved. But we've got time for that later. You'll be allowed to go back, but only after you've done what's necessary here.”

“Where is here?”

“A parallel universe. You were paying attention, weren't you?”

“Right. So, the rose thing was actually pretty clever.”

“I thought so. You know, the Doctor didn't think I remembered anything about the Time Vortex, but as we left, I thought on it and I came to the conclusion that something had happened staring into the Tardis' heart.”

“The Tardis is controlled by the Time Vortex.”

“My thoughts exactly. So, much like Bad Wolf, which was a brilliant idea if I may say so.”

“You may.”

“I created a world here for refugees of Earth. Mostly women, but a few men that want to live dedicated to simple principles and exploration. Kind of a thing I dedicated to the Doctor.”

“Another long story?”

“Not as long. Oh, watch your step. You wouldn't want to fall in there.”

“Why not?” Jack peered over the edge of the smooth silver lake.

“We call it the Lake of Death.”

“Ah. I'll remember that. So, enlighten me as to what I'm doing here?”

“I want to give you a chance to make things right with Ianto. I want to help you get rid of those things on your wrists.”

“How'd you know about...”

“The Tardis is quite chatty once you allow it to get over its jealousy phase. It told me a lot about you Jack. I must say, Ianto must be quite a man.”

“He is. But how will you help me?”

“The Chamber of Testing. Normally, it's reserved for the beginners learning mediation, but for you it will be the answer.”

“I don't fully understand.”

“I didn't expect you to right away. Let's just say there are two people you need to learn to trust your love with. Here we are.” Jack and Rose stood before a large pagoda, rustling from an invisible breeze.

“You aren't coming with me?”

“Isn't not my test, now is it? You'll be fine, Jack. All you have to remember is to trust two things: love and your instincts.”

“That sounds rather cryptic.”

“I think there's some rule around here that it has to be.” She patted his left bicep. “Well, good luck Jack.”

Jack stepped forward alone and entered the pagoda. A steaming pile of coals and a water bag were the only occupants of the elm-lined sanctuary. Jack stood tense before the emptiness and then a thunderous quake came his way.

Menacing eyes bared down on him as more booms followed in rapid succession. The face of a topaz spider bearing thirteen eyes filled the large pagoda and made a beeline for Jack. He reached for his absent pistol and cursed just a bit. He took a hot coal in his hand and screamed as he jetted it towards the eye of the creature. The creature had a scream that could only be described as sonic.

Unfortunately, as Jack dropped to his knees in bone-shattering pain from the scream, the topaz spider turned and another head faced him. This was not good. And then Rose's words came. He had tried trusting his instinct. What else was there to trust in? He thought of Rose, the Doctor (when he first came aboard the Tardis and then after), and then of Ianto. Ianto, who trusted and loved him until he had been strained to snapping. He imagined Ianto physically being snapped into two and shuddered. Then, an idea dawned on him. Trust Rose to leave him a clue by tapping his bicep. He faced the creature on his knees as it came, bearing down upon him. Stingers of pure topaz encapsulated his hands and he did indeed scream, without remorse. The monster shook him and the last thing he remembered was seeing his left arm completely rent of its socket.

“Well, I guess we know the answer to that question.”

“What's that?” He groaned groggily.

“That you don't exactly die when dismembered.”

“Did I just pass out? And why am I so cold?”

“That was Rina. She has become a master of some healing properties and stopping the bleeding with the snow flower that grows wild on this planet. Her poultices should be world-famous. We are glad its not.”

“Some test.”

“You did well. Now, it's time for you to head back.”

“What about all that I've seen in the gem?”

“Those visions either were or shall come.”

“Then Ianto will grow old and I'll be alone again.”

“Will that stop you from loving him today?”

“No.”

“Good. Because imagine how he must of felt having to think about you having a baby with someone else. A baby that you would love, but that he almost certainly could not. A daily reminder of all the risks of loving someone like the Doctor, or Capt. Jack Harkness.”

“Point well taken. What are we doing here?”

“This is your way home.”

“The Lake of Death is my way home?”

“We can only be reborn with what we acquire here.”

“What about my arms?”

“Patience, Jack. And trust. What, you haven't learned anything?”

Jack jumped into the pool and found the water only came up to his waist. “What now?” He shrugged his invisible arms.

“Just wait. And good look Jack.”

Jack noticed an increase in his breathing. It was becoming more erratic as well. The pool of liquid silver began to surge and tide around him. The silver began to crawl up his sides and encompass him in streams up to his neck. His eyes searched for Rose in panic.

She tossed the topaz slowly and it came to a halt in front of him. There was a flash of light and suddenly Rose became translucent and green. The world around him turned into what could only be described as a flying saucer. Outside his window was the Milky Way. She spoke a language he did not understand, but he knew. They meant him no harm. The gem must have shown him a world he could comprehend.

That flash ended and more of the silver had covered him, but still only to his neck. The sheen of silver grew around his muscles tight and began to drip from his soldered sockets. They began to extend and grow; twist like sinewy tissue does. Silver biceps and fingers began to grow. The topaz rose showered the water with sparks and soon again the arms were human in nature and the water dissipated around him. Everything fell away but the glow of the gem. Jack reached for it, intrigued once more, and found himself atop Cardiff Bay.

He crawled down through the hatch and nearly hit Tosh with the bottom of his foot as she set off to investigate the noise.

“Jack!”

“Tosh, how long have I been gone?”

“Two weeks.”

“Jack, what's happened to you?” Gwen had joined the conversation.

“Send him over to Ianto first. The man hasn't eaten in two weeks.” Owen piped in, still not bothering to tear his eyes from his console.

“Jack, answer me.”

“I'm not sure, Tosh, but this I do know.” He turned over his bare wrist to show Tosh. The glowing was gone and he just knew that something inside him had been changed.

“But how, Jack?”

“The gem; is the gem still working?”

“No, the glowing stopped a minute before you came down that hatch.” Ianto stood at the doorway; looking skinnier than ever. Jack ran for him.

“Ianto!”

“No Jack, Ianto raised his arm and braced himself. Just stop. We can't do this anymore?”

“But, but I just got myself cured for you, for us.”

“You pushed me away Jack. You went off, again, without me. Why?”

“Because of the...”

“Because you don't think I'm strong enough. I get it. Damn it all, I finally get it.”

“Ianto, what do you think you get? That I wouldn't have done anything to save you, to save us?”

“No, that I'll love you for the rest of my life. But that it's not enough. That whatever this thing we have is; that it's tearing me up on the inside in an unholy way. And I can't make this decision because I love you.” Ianto's tears were raking and visible. Jack just stood above him, speechless. “You have to decide how much you want me. “

“I saw you old, Ianto, and I looked as though nothing had changed for me.”

“And I saw it too! I saw you being tortured by the Master. I saw you thinking of me to get you through that. But its all rubbish.”

“No, it's not! Look! This isn't rubbish. I'm free. We're free.”

“How do you know? How do you know something more extraordinary and more painful won't come up? How do you know?”

“I can't know. What I do know is this.” He took Ianto's cheeks into his hands and massaged gently, and he brought Ianto into a firm kiss. Ianto lost all thought and all he could feel was Jack's firm lips pressing his cracked ones and him needing Jack's lips and Jack's hands. Damn it, Ianto thought. Just damn it.

Comments

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

Welcome to Taming the Muse.
I do like Jack/Ianto, they make such an pretty pair. Rose's appearance was a surprise, until I realised that the visuals were supplied from Jack's own mind. And of course his return wouldn't immediately make everything alright with Ianto. Poor Jack, he's trying so hard, isn't he.
There's obviously a lot of back story here, it being chapters 5and 6, which I will have to go and read when I get a moment, to really understand this. I kind of didn't read the header, so I didn't realise until I had almost finished *sheepish grin*