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Tue Aug 11 22:18:04 PDT 2009
slowly slid closed. He punched several more buttons, activating the stasis
field, sealing Stephen in a deep state of suspended animation.
Jack opened a second bed and retraced his steps to the trolley, gently
gathering Ianto into his arms and carrying his lover's body to the waiting
crypt. His hands lingered, reluctant to release the beautiful husk that had
housed Ianto's spirit. "I won[t forget you, Angel." he promised once more.
"Not ever."
He kissed Ianto's cold lips one last time, then sealed his body into its
eternal place of rest.
Jack didn't know how long he stared at the closed portal. Time stood still
inside him.
Bristol
The anniversary of Ianto's death
It began as a niggling feeling that something was wrong at the base of
Mitchell's skull. An itch inside his primal brain that refused to be soothed
by common sense. Words slowly formed out of thatpersistent itch, first
soft, almost soundless, but growing in intensity until the words formed
screaming red strobes of color reeking of old blood and tasting of
nightmares.
Jack....
Jack, are you there?
Jack!
The voice grew more and more desperate, slamming into Mitchell's conscious
with the impact of a jackhammer rattling his teeth.
Jack!
Jack?
Where are you?
The words rose to a terror that surged through Mitchell, infecting him. And
just as quickly surged to a black, bleak loneliness.
Jack....
Oh, God...You promised....
Don't... forget... me..."
The pain in that voice cut deep inside Mitchell, tearing him up. He slumped
against the hospital wall, crumbing slowly down the stark white surface and
let the tears fall.
George was just rounding the corner as Mitchell finished his heart-broken
descent. "Mitchell?"
Mitchell covered his ears with fisted hands, screwing his eyes shut and
moaning softly as he rocked from side to side.
George was at his side instantly, grasping his forearms and speaking his
name softly. Urgently.
"Am I dead?" Whispered in Mitchell's head, and he whispered back, "It's all
right. Don't be afraid."
"Jack....?"
"You're not Jack...." worried the voice in his head. "Jack, where are you?"
"Not here." Mitchell soothed the voice. "Im Mitchell. Can you hear me?"
"Not...here?" Mitchell felt a stronger rush of tears sweep over him. "Oh,
God, don't forget me.... You promised, Jack. You promised..."
"Come back for me."
"Jack...Please...I don't want to be...alone..."
"Where are you?" Mitchell sent back. "Tell me how to find you."
"Can't..."
"Don't be afraid. I can help."
"No one can help. I ...died."
"Yes, I know." Mitchell assured the voice in his head, knowing without doubt
that he communicated with a new born of his own species. "Tell me where to
find you. I can teach you our ways."
"What....What year is this?"
Mitchell hesitated "2010."
The voice in his head's breath hitched. "It's so dark. And cold. So very
cold."
"Tell me so I can come to you."
"Torchwood." A bitter laugh whispered through their silent communication.
"Bloody Torchwood."
"I don't understand..."
"Wales. Cardiff. Torchwood."
Mitchell unscrunched his dark eyes, staring deep into George's gaze. "I have
to go to Cardiff," he whispered.
"What?" George croaked. "No....I...I mean...Why?"
Mitchell stumbled to his feet, "I have to go..."
"But..." George followed him up, hustling after his best friend and lover.
"Mitchell, this is...crazy."
Mitchell rounded on him, his eyes narrowed. "I have to go.... Now."
"Yeah, okay..." George hurled at his quick moving back."But.... Not without
me, you're not." Mumbling that this was the stupidest thing they'd done
since he'd taken on Eric, he scurried after Mitchell, struggling to keep up
with the vampire he adored beyond his own life.
Cardiff
Several hours later
On the trip from Bristol, Mitchell had withdrawn into himself, barely
responding to either George or Annie's bombardment of questions and
whispered fears.
George was still muttering about how insane this whole sudden trip was as
Mitchell directed them through Cardiff traffic to a wharf on the Bay with a
series of guttural grunts and finger pointing.
"A tourist center?" Annie asked, staring at the tiny office. "We drove
allthis way to visit a tourist center?"
Mitchell hurled a scowl her way. "The new born is close." He slid out of
the car and walked quickly to the building, pushing inside with George and
Annie hot on his heels.
A dark haired woman looked up from the computer screen she'd been scanning
on the reception desk. Her dark eyes ghosted over them, sizing them up and
finding them harmless. "Can I help you?"
"Gwen Cooper?" Mitchell asked softly, approaching the desk on silent feet.
"Williams," she corrected. Her glance roamed over his face more carefully
this time, and he body coiled for any trouble he might be bringing in with
him. "Do I know you?"
"I'm looking for...." He tipped his head, listening to the voice inside his
head. "For Captain Harkness. Jack Harkness."
Gwen's dark eyes narrowed, flicking toward the two with him. "Captain
Harkness is not here."
He nodded, listening again, then said. "I'll wait."
"Could be a long wait," a blond child walked in from the back room. "Granda
hasn't been here for about six months."
"Stephen, go back inside." Gwen said, knowing the boy wouldn't obey. He had
too much of Jack in him to listen to anything he didn't want to. She heaved
a silent sigh and turned back to the three strangers. "I'm afraid you made a
wasted trip. Jack has left the...country."
"Ianto Jones," the name erupted from Mitchell's lips. "I am here about Ianto
Jones."
Gwen's brows furrowed in remembered pain. "Ianto died a year ago."
"Not so much" George grumbled, earning himself a sharp glare from Gwen and a
dark glower from Mitchell.
"Please," Annie stepped forward, her hands reaching out imploringly to Gwen.
"We would like to see Mr Jones' grave. Our friend," she turned her head
toward Mitchell, a silent plea in her eyes. "Mitchell needs to see where
your friend is buried." She offered a tiny, wavering smile. "It's important.
Gwen shook her head, "I don't think..."
"Please..." Mitchel's eyes seemed almost to glow, capturing Gwen's dark
gaze. "You do want to take us to see the grave, don't you?"
Gwen's body relaxed visibly as she paraphrased, "I'd love to take you to see
Ianto's body." She moved to the secret entrance to the Torchwood complex,
accessing the codes and pushing the door open. "Please follow me quickly."
"Aunt Gwen...?"
"Watch the front, Stephen," Gwen told him as the three strangers passed into
the inner workings of Torchwood.
As the door closed behind them, George crinkled his nose against the vauge
smell of damp and mildew permeating the dark corridor. "Could stand a good
bleaching here, couldn't it?"
"Someone died here." Mitchell's eyes seemed to glow darkly. "Ianto?"
Gwen shook her head, "Jack."
"thought you said he left the country?" Annie commented.
"He did. Jack doesn't like to stay dead very long."
"Happens more than you would think, that." George assured her glumly.
"You would never believe it." Gwen clamped her hand over her mouth. "Why am
I telling you these things."
Annie sighed, "Mitchell can be quite...compelling."
Gwen's gaze roamed over the tall rugged featured man, reassessing her
opinion of him, seeing the cloaked predator beneath his safe facade. "What
are you?"
"The same as your Ianto, it would seem." Mitchell growled. "I would like to
see..."
"His grave, yes. I know. This way, please."
The Crypt
"Ianto's here."
Mitchell scanned the stark white chamber. "How many bodies are entombed
here?"
"I would have to look that up."
Shaking his head, Mitchell asked, "Show me his ...body."
Gwen hesitated, a confused frown tugging at her brow.
Mitchell closed the space between them and tipped her chin up, capturing her
eyes. "Show me."
"Yes."
Gwen moved to the computer and her fingers moved quickly over the keyboard.
A soft mechanical hum rose and the center drawer slid open, revealing Ianto.
Ianto leaned up on his arm, beating a fist against the glass coffin. "Help
me," he screamed. "Oh, God, get me out."
"He's alive," George cried out, scrambling to the coffin and trying to find
a release catch to free the frantic man inside.
Gwen's hands moved over the keys again and the coffin lid and walls vanished
into the platform.
Ianto tried to sit up, but a year's inactivity had taken its toll on him,
leaving him weak and dizzy. George rushed to help support him, wrapping his
arm around Ianto's waist to steady him. "It's all right, now. I've got
you."
Ianto's hands rested on George's chest. His eyes filled with sadness and he
murmured, "I', so very sorry."
George had no time to wonder what he meant. Ianto moved with the deadly
speed of a cobra, latching onto George's neck and gulping down the man's
blood before anyone could react to what was happening.
Mitchell was the first to get his mind around the horror being acted out
before them. He sprang forward, wrenching George from Ianto's deadly
embrace. Too late, he realized. George hung limply in his arms his breath
stuttering in his throat.
Seeing what he had done, Ianto's expression was one of absolute horror.
Tears slipped down his pale cheeks. "Oh, God....What have I done? What
have I done? He looked to Mitchell. "Do something. Please, save him.
Please...."
Mitchell fell to his knees, George still in his arms. "Forgive me," he
whispered then ripped open his wrist with his fangs, pressing the open wound
to George's lips.
George drank greedily, clutching Mitchell's wrist in a death's grip as his
strength returned.
Mitchell felt suddenly light headed with the loss of his blood. "Enough" He
croaked, wrenching his wrist away. "Sleep, now, my love. I'll be here when
you awake." He bent low over George and brushed a gentle kiss on his
bloodless lips.
Smiling, George managed a soft, "Love you, Mitchell." before he stopped
fighting the sleep drifting like a grey fog over him.
Mitchell rose gracefully with George in his arms. He tenderly laid his lover
on crypt platform where Ianto had slept for three hundred and sixty-five
days.. That done, he turned to Ianto. "Now, newborn, we have much to
discuss. Will you agree to live in peace with the humans?"
Ianto wiped tears from his cheeks, smearing his face with George's blood in
the process. "I don't want to kill."
Mitchell smiled, nodding. "Looks like it..." He leaned forward and licked
Ianto's face clean.
Ianto's mouth fell open, gaping in surprise.
When he was satisfied that Ianto was once more immaculate, MItchell pulled
back and tilted his head. "You are a pretty bit, aren't you. Make a new
father proud." He laughed softly. "Who turned you, newborn?"
"Turned me?" Ianto shook his head. "No. No one. No person, anyway."
Mitchell's brow puckered and his eyes narrowed a bit, studying the newborn.
"You don't remember your creator?"
"The virus," Gwen blurted out, shaking free from the stunned disbelief that
had held her quiet through this waking nightmare till now. "Ianto died in
the 456 attack when the aliens released a virus on the building he was in."
Her gaze swept the three strangers. "Who...what...are you?"
"Mythology." Mitchell told her with a lazy shrug. "Folklore....The stuff of
nightmares...take your pick."
"I remember the 456 thing," Annie said softly. "Happened at the same time
Eric came after us."
Mitchell nodded. "Ah, them....Losing a few kids didn't seem so important
with the vampires rising up in Bristol, did it?"
"Vampires...?"
"Mmmm. Planned to turn the entire human race...well, they were leaving a
few for food, but...Annie went all vengeful spirit over the brood. And
George went lycan and took out their leader. They've been laying low
since." Mitchell turned his attention back to Ianto and smiled reassuringly.
"So... no Sire. Is this virus in danger of turning more?"
Gwen shook her head. "I hacked Disease Control's computers to find out what
was turning up in the rest of the dead. The autopsy reports seemed to point
to the virus running its course in a week, then dying in the host body."
"So..." Ianto's voice was shaky. "Why is this happening to me?"
"Ianto, the bodies of the other victims were cremated within days after they
died." Gwen said softly. "Its likely the virus mutated in your body,
changing you as it did."
"Jack..." Ianto rasped,his breathing speeding up in panic. "Where's Jack?"
His eyes flew about the crypt. "I want Jack...." Tears tracked his cheeks.
"I ...need Jack."
Mitchell turned to Gwen, once more hearing her words. "Jack left the
country."
Ianto blanched, his eyes seeking out Gwen's confirmation. "He's gone?"
Gwen moved closer, but Ianto cringed away and she stopped walking. "Jack was
in a bad way after he...lost you. He said that the entire planet was a
graveyard. He ..I asked him to stay, but...I wasn't enough. I begged him to
return. He asked me what for. He ....he loved you Ianto. He couldn't live
here without you." she shrugged. "He left."
"Is that supposed to make it all right?" Ianto gave a wild laugh. "Why am I
surprised? It's what he does, isn't it? He leaves." His body suddenly went
weak and he slid to the floor. "He always leaves."
Ianto's words reached into Gwen's soul and broke her heart. She moved
quickly, dropping down beside him and wrapping her arms around him.
Ianto cringed a bit but she held on, caressing his back and murmuring words
of support.
"Don't," Ianto whispered, fear rolling through hin and carrying on that
single word.
"What's going on in there, Ianto?" She brushed a finger against Ianto's
temple, drawing back slightly. "Why are you afraid of me?'
He lifted haunted eyes toward the slab where George lie. "Not afraid of you,
Gwen. For you."
She followed his gaze. "You wouldn't hurt me, Ianto." Her smile warmed him.
"You silly thing, you love me."
A smile tugged at Ianto's lips, growing into a low chuckle. "Silly thing?"
His brow arched a bit. "I know you did not just say that."
tongue-in-cheek, Gwen smiled. "You can't deny it."
Ianto sighed, dropping his forehead to hers. "Love is highly over rated."
"Ianto..."
"It's okay, Gwen," Ianto said pushing himself away and to his feet. "I was
stupid, falling in love with him. I knew Jack wasn't able to love me back.
Not in his nature. Have only myself for getting hurt. He tried to let me
know I was taking the whole relationship thing to seriously." He gave bitter
laugh. "He got skittish every time I mentioned the word couple. Should have
known...." his words dwindled off.
"So now what? I'm a vampire? Is that right?" He looked to Mitchell for an
answer.
Mitchell threw a glance at Annie before he nodded. "I can teach you to keep
your humanity, if that is what you want."
"Or I could walk out into the sun and end it all."
"You're welcome to try." Mitchell said through a dry chuckle. "For all the
good it will do. You take too much for reality, you do."
Annie added. "Mitchell actually likes the occasional day in the sun." She
wandered ove to the platform where George lay and took his cold hand in
hers. "How long before he ...wakes, do you think?"
Mitchell pursed his lips, considering his friend's body. "Hard to tell. I
think he may be the first lycan ever turned. Mostly my kind like to beat
and drain 'em. Natural enemies competing for prey."
"Lycan?" Gwen stared at the pale young man...creature who lie in Ianto's
crypt. "Are seriously saying this man is a...werewolf?" She turned her
curious gaze on Annie. "I suppose you're some kind of succubus or
something."
"A ghost, actually." Mitchell tossed at her, his eyes narrow. "We have a
house in Bristol."
Gwen shook her head, "I must be going mad."
Ianto shrugged. "What? You can accept weevils and aliens and all the fucked
up things we deal with on a day to day but a little supernatural tosses you
into a tailspin."
"Point taken." She was struck by the enormity of what these creatures
actually were and wondered if she should order in a stock of crosses and
silver bullets, but figured if she was in any danger from them, she'd be
dead already. All she felt from them was mild amusement, and a deep desire
to help Ianto through the changes he was going through. "So, a ghost, a
werewolf and a vampire take up house-keeping? Sounds like a fairy tale."
"Complete with the big bad ...vampire out to rule the world as nemisis,"
Annie grumbled. "Not so romantic as we would have hoped." She lifted on
shoulder, grinning at Mitchell, "But we take care of each other. That's what
counts."
"Yeah," Ianto whispered, "Until someone leaves."
"Ianto...."
"So, Gwen," Ianto cut her off, moving to one of the computers. His fingers
click click clicked over the keys, bringing up...access denied. "I'm locked
out."
"Jack did that before he left."
Ianto tilted his head toward Gwen, questions burning in his eyes.
"He shut us down, Ianto. Said no one else was going to die for Torchwood if
he could help it. Only reason I'm still here is because he needed a
custodian to keep things running smooth. Someone to make sure Janet and the
rest in the cells were cared for. To make sure the systems were kept up, and
no one managed to get inside the confidential areas."
Ianto didn't need to think on long that. Jack had been worried about Gwen
dying and leaving behind her child. He'd always tried to make sure her life
with Rhys was strong and protected. Of course he would take steps to keep
her safe after he had left.
"How is your child? Boy? Girl?" he asked suddenly.
Gwen beamed, "Would you believe one of each?"
Ianto chuckled. "Rhys must be over the moon." He moved across the room and
clasped her hands in his. "I don't want you to take this wrong, but jack was
right. Torchwood is closed for business. You should go home and take care of
those sweet wee ones and that man of yours. I can handle the maintenance
here now."
"But..."
He silenced her with a finger across her lips. "Think about it, Gwen. You
have a life. Me, I have..." He swept his arm about the room. "Well, I have
this." His gaze gave nothing away. "Go home to your family, Gwen."
Helpless against his soft spoken words that seemed almost as mesmerizing as
Mitchell's had been before, she nodded.
"What about Stephen? He needs someone to take care of him."
"Jack's grandson? He's here?"
Another nod. "He can't seem to stay dead any better than Jack could."
"He died?"
"Saving the children." Gwen said, leaving out the fact that jack had used
him to broadcast the signal that destroyed the 456, and Stephen.
Ianto knew there was something dark in the evasive way Gwen glossed her
explanation over. He chose to let the rest of the story go. For now.
"His Mother? Alice, wasn't it? Why doesn't she have the boy?"
"She died a month after the attack. She didn't have Jack's restorative
genes." Gwen told him. "Jack left before Stephen revived. A week before.
Stephen was dead for six and a half months."
"And you've been caring for him ever since."
"What else could I do?"
"Thank you, Gwen." Ianto whispered. "But it should be me taking care of the
boy. I was Jack's ...family. I ...I want to take the boy."
"Are you sure?"
He laughed softly, the sound carrying the tinkle of broken glass. "Yeah.
Yeah, I'm sure. Jack would have wanted it that way."
Gwen reached out a hand towards him but he stopped her with a look.
"Please, not now. I know.....but ....not now." His lips turned up into a
brittle smile. "Let's go meet my...son, okay? I always wanted to be
a...father, did I ever tell you that?"
A dark frown drew Gwen's brows together, but she simply gave him a quick
nod. "Okay. Got it. Stephen is in the tourist shop."
Later
Ianto glanced over at the young boy sprawled out in the swivel chair at what
used to be Tosh's station. And found the boy's watchful gaze stabbing into
him.
"You my granddad's whore?"
Ianto froze, his hands suddenly shaking. The dimmly lit room blurred as
tears filled his eyes. He blinked rapidly, fighting them off and bit down
hard on his lip. A rush of blood filled his mouth and he swallowed it down,
then ran his tongue over the pulsing wound "No," he managed after swallowing
past the tightness of his throat.
Stephen tilted his head slightly, tongue-in-cheek. "I think you're lying,
mate."
Sighing, Ianto turned his attention toward a near-by computer. "You are
welcome to think what you want, Stephen. I won't argue the point with you."
Annie ambled into the room, pausing at the door as the tension slammed into
her. Drawing a deep breath she no longer really needed, she padded over to
stand by Ianto. he curious gaze wandered over the words that flashed at a
lightening speed over the monitor. "What are you doing, Ianto?" she asked
finally.
"Jack locked Gwen out of the secured areas of Torchwood," he told her, not
looking up. "I can only imagine he wanted to keep her safe. Too much death
already. Humans are fragile. Should have left this sort of work to people
like me, like Jack. People who don't die easy." He gave a sudden bark of
laughter. "I'm in."
Around them there was a deeper droning hum as Torchwood powered up, the
system coming to life. He went back to work, digging deeper into the files.
"Jack gave me everything I need to access Torchwood finances. Guess he
wanted to know that if anything ever happened to him that I would be able to
carry on."
"What are you doing, now?"
"Someone has been making inquiries about buying up the Torchwood complex."
He pointed to some figures as if that explained it all, then quickly input
some more data. "I'm creating a dummy corporation....Using the moneyJack
squirreled away to buy the land for a couple miles around the complex." He
said softly.
"You can do that? From here?"
"With the knowledge and enough money a good hacker can just about do
anything they might imagine. Jack left me more money than even Torchwood
could spend in a thousand years."
"Okay, so you buy the land, then what?"
"Gonna rebuild. May not have the rift manipulator anymore, but that isn't
going to stop the bad things coming through. When they come, I'm going to
send them back to hell."
"Want some help with that, newborn?"
Ianto turned from what he was doing to see Mitchell and George wandering
into the room, grinning. "Seems like you all fit the first requirement for
hiring on, so what the hell? Why not?"
Dawn
The Tourist Shop
George found Ianto brooding alone in the tourist shop, standing before te
large window and staring at the rising sun. "How are you holding up, Ianto?"
George asked, coming to stand next to the taller man. "Checking out the sun
can't kill ya after all?"
"I miss him." Ianto raked a hand through his dark hair and George couldn't
help but notice how it trembled. "I died. I ...Died. And... he left. And
now I'm alive. And he's gone." His eyes drifted shut, hoding in the agony of
Jack's desertion. "He's gone."
George held his tongue, waiting.
"I know it seems crazy to the rest of you. To Gwen and Stephen, Jack's been
gone six months. But to me. To me, I died yesterday, in his arms. And today
I wake up alone." he laughed bitterly. "I want to crawl back into the crypt
and close the thing up. I want the darkness. I want...I'm so bleeding pissed
off I want to tear him limb from limb for going away"
George gathered him in his arms, letting Ianto cry against his shoulder.
In the year of our god 2509
Three AM.
The hour of the dead.
The witching hour.
His hour.
He padded across the roof on silent feet, stopping with the tips of his
shoes protruding an inch or so over the edge of the fifteen story building.
His lips held the spectre of a dark smile as he surveyed his city.
The towering building, his building, had been built over the five hundred
years gone Torchwood Complex two years after the bombing that had destroyed
it. His birthright. Or rather, his rebirth-right.
His lips twitched at his silent joke. No more than a mere twitch that could
well have been mistaken as an illusion of darkness and shadow.
He drew a deep breath, clasping his hands behind his back and let his gaze
pan over the spectacular vision of Cardiff in the early hours. It was a city
where the lights never went out. Where people never slept. Where you could
hide in plain sight and never be discovered over a hundred lifetimes.
After all, that was exactly what he and his clan had done, wasn't it? Lived
several hundred years and counting. Truth to tell, on his last birthday, he
had turned 525 years old. Considering he had not aged a day past 25, he was
quite satisfied by that quite remarkable fact.
He tilted his head slightly, picking out the soft erotic moans of a pair of
young lovers in the park two blocks to his left. The music of a pub several
blocks away shuffled into his range of hearing as he continued to listen.
A frown tugged at his dark brows suddenly. His sharp hearing had picked up
the rough and rowdy hoots of a gang of bully boys heading towards the
exclusive club housed on the main floor of his building.
He swept the area, spotting the burly band several blocks down. They were
indeed heading toward the club. And from their words he had no doubt that
they intended no good.
He tensed, coiling his body as if to leap from the roof, stopping as the
front door burst open far below and two men exited in a passionate clasping
of bodies, spinning to a stop against the rough hewn door.
His lips twitched again, this time into a dark smile. Mitchell and George,
his lieutenants, were aware of the approaching problem and very much capable
of handling the mob of a dozen or so miscreants.
3 A.M.
Across the street from Torchwood
He'd come home. Or what had at one time been home. A place of family. Of
friends. Of a love that would never end. That haunting, still burning love
for a man he had lead to his death.
The door of the club standing like the dark Gothic castle it replicated
sudden;y slammed open, spewing out a couple locked in a torrid embrace.
Once, many years past, he would have been hard put not to cross the street
and charm his way into that heated embrace.
But that was five or six life times ago. His over active libido had withered
with his lover's death. He'd sworn he would never forget. And he hadn't. Not
in five hundred years. Would not.... Not in five million years. Not as long
as memory lived in him. Not while his arms ached to hold that one, that
only, lithesome body.
Loud shouts and taunts coming down the street to his left captured his
attention and he pulled his gaze away from the couple blissfully unaware of
the trouble brewing.
He palmed his Webley and started across the street at a loose-limbed trot.
The couple making out in the doorway of the obviously popular club gave no
inclination of ending their games, In fact the smaller, brown haired guy
actually popped his taller, dark-haired companion's shirt buttons and
playfully began to suckle the guy's nipples to attention.
"Ahhhh, George, baby," the taller guy rasped, holding his lover's head
against his chest.
Jack gave pause when a trick of the light made the smaller man's face appear
to elongate and distort, seeming to beard up in seconds. He shook his head,
putting it down to an adrenalin illusion.
The guttural growls, more animistic than human were a little harder to
dismiss, though, but before he could bring his mind to its natural, or
supernatural end conclusion, the gang was upon them.
The couple broke apart and moved into the approaching bully boys with a
speed that denied their humanity.
Bodies flew from the center of the mob, clearly alive if the moaning and
whimpering were any sign, but badly bloodied just the same. A big brute
moved in on Jack and he raised his gun to fire.
"No," a voice boomed, floating from above, and then his gun flew from a
strangely numb hand. He blinked, knowing there had been no one close
enough to disarm him, and yet...His gaze lingered on his gun where it lie a
few feet away.
As quickly as the battle had broken out, it ended.
Jack shook himself, breaking out of the amazed spell he'd fallen under. His
glance moved to the two men standing in the middle of the bloodied street.
His eyes widened at the sight of the man wolf who was wrapping himself into
the fanged creature's hungry embrace.
His eyes darted toward his weapon once more. So close. So damn far away.
And yet, it didn't seem like the exotic creatures were taking any interest
in him anyway. They were too busy licking the blood off each other.
"You dropped this." The lilting Welsh tones coming from behind him were a
soft brush against his soul, so very like the voice of his long gone lover.
A hand appeared in front of him, holding the Webley. So familiar, those
beautiful slender fingers.
He gripped the weapon in a white knuckled strangle hold.
"Jack..."
He shook his head, knowing he would take that final step into the darkness
of his mind when the man at his side proved to be just another familiar
voiced stranger.
The creatures, once more appearing quite human, moved toward him, then.
"It's all right. You're safe now." the sandy haired man told him accepting a
pair of old fashioned glasses from his lover.
"Safe," Jack gave a bitter laugh, taking a backward step. And found himself
in a cradling embrace.
"Jack..."
Hot breath warmed his neck and a sucking kiss had his head reeling.
"Ianto, the man is gonna pass out if your not careful," the dark haired
man...vampire...man-creature...teased. "This can't be the Jack Harkness
you've been pining over for ever....can it?"
Jack felt himself being turned in strong arms...far stronger than he
remembered. He blinked into a face he thought never to see again. "Ianto?"
Ianto cupped his cheeks, smiling darkly. "You took your fine time coming
home, didn't you?"
"How...?"
Ianto shrugged, his face instantly a bland mask that was impossible to read.
"The virus had some interesting side effects."
"This can't be happening." Jack's hands shook as he laid them on Ianto's
chest. Ianto's solid, cold chest. "I've finally gone insane."
"Then we're both insane, Jack," Ianto said, pulling Jack into his hard
embrace. His lips crashed down on the stunned man in his arms, releasing all
his passion and anger into that one harsh kiss. Keeping control of the
embrace, Ianto pushed Jack back a bit and glared into his diamond bright
blue eyes. "Are you going to stay, Jack? Or are you going to run away
again? Because if you're going to leave again, go now. And don't come back.
I need to know I can depend on you to be here when I need you. When Stephen
needs you."
"So, what? You still want to be a," Jack did an air brackets motion
""Couple'? Is that it? After five hundred years, you still want that?"
"What do you want, Jack?" Ianto sighed, turning his back on the disheavaled
man. "You're the one who came back. So what are you doing here?"
Shoulders slumping, Jack whispered. "You waited. All this time? You
waited...for me?"
"Like I told you ...Love you, bastard."
"And I said I would never..could never ...forget you." Jack grabbed his arm
and whirled him around,. He captured Ianto's chin, smiling ruefully into his
eyes. "Believe me, Ianto. I never could. I love you too damn much. More
important, I need you. Need you like I need to breath. Need you to be there
when I die and come back. Need to have something...have you...to come back
to." A tear slid down his cheek. "I would die if I lost you again. Die in
all the important ways, you understand? Die in my heart. In my soul.
I...Need.... You."
Ianto's lips brushed Jack's gently, then surged forward once more, devouring
him with a need that had never died.
Never would die.
Never could.
end for now
--
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Five Hundred Years Gone<br>by PEJA<br><br>Fandom: Torchwood/Being Human<br>=
Universe: Phoenix Fire - This is an Open Universe, so write me a story back=
in this one<br>Genre: slash<br>Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Mitchell/Ge=
orge<br>
Portrayed by John Barrowman/Gareth David-Lloyd,<br>Rating: FRM<br>Summary: =
Another post CoE fic. Ianto survives, but he has changed in the last 500 ye=
ars without Jack. Can Jack and Ianto reclaim what they once had?<br>Warning=
: angst, AU<br>
First a shout out thank you to all the kind folks who helped me out with Ia=
nto's age. You're all great.<br>General thanks to all of you folks =
who are requesting short fics and improvs in the various fandoms. You'r=
e keeping the words flowing.<br>
Comm/List Written for: <a href=3D"http://community.livejournal.com/cardiff_=
tales">http://community.livejournal.com/cardiff_tales</a><br>Permission to =
archive to WWOMB: Y<br>Author's websites:<br>ttp://<a href=3D"http://pe=
ja.dreamwidth.org">peja.dreamwidth.org</a><br>
<a href=3D"http://peja.insanejournal.com">http://peja.insanejournal.com</a>=
<br><a href=3D"http://peja1956.livejournal.com">http://peja1956.livejournal=
.com</a><br><a href=3D"http://www.squidge.org/peja/cgi-bin/viewuser.php?uid=
=3D1">http://www.squidge.org/peja/cgi-bin/viewuser.php?uid=3D1</a><br>
Disclaimer. Dr Who and Torchwood do not belong to me. no money made in this=
<br>Acknowledgments/Notes: The Idea of Ianto being resurected because of th=
e virus he was infected with intrigued me. The rest is just cuz I like dark=
themes and creatures of the night.<br>
<br><br><br>London<br>The day after the 456 are defeated<br><br>In an attem=
pt to calm the tensions of an angry population, the surviving government of=
ficials secretly covered up the real cause of so many deaths and decreed th=
e bodies of the victims in Thames House bequarantined and secretly autopsie=
d before they were cremated.<br>
<br>Unwisely, they also refused to allow Jack's daughter, Alice, to cla=
im Stephen's body, citing family history and the method of his passing =
as the reason. Which easily translated into they wanted to dissect and stud=
y the body of an innocent boy who had already given his life without his co=
nsent in hopes of discovering what might lead to the question of Jack's=
immortality.<br>
<br>When Jack learned of this final outrage against his family, his fury kn=
ew no end. Tight-fisted, he stalked into Thames House, violently shrugging =
off anyone who tried to stop his progress through the government halls and =
his voice low and sharp spoken through drawn lips, demanded to see the Prim=
e Minister.<br>
<br>Jack wasn't fooled by the nervous "He's out for the day,&q=
uot; from the prim, middle-aged receptionist.=A0 He simply narrowed his blu=
e eyes slightly and smiled a dangerous smile before pushing past her. He bu=
rst into the Prime Minister's offices, coat tails flopping like a comic=
book version of a heroic vigilante.<br>
<br>The ill-fated politician quickly discovered just how dangerous a man Ja=
ck really was when pushed.<br><br>He had been the picture of serenity, lips=
curved in a mock smile that never quite reached his narrowed eyes.=A0 In s=
oft, almost melodic tones, smiling the smile of a angel from heaven, he des=
cribed unimagined horrors he would inflict on the man before him, hinted th=
at Torchwood's arsenals held things that made God tremble as he added, =
"You see, I am a patient man with nothing left to lose." He grinn=
ed then, making it quite clear that he would have no qualms about using the=
se weapons on those who had dared oppose his desires.<br>
<br>If he had raised his voice, perhaps the pallid politician would have at=
tempted to bluster his way around the man towering over him for all the wor=
ld like some great avenging angel, but Jack Harkness' quite spoken word=
s and eyes ablaze with the very fires of hell had the man sweating a tsunam=
i.<br>
<br>Jack's dead were released to him with haste. Along with a vehicle t=
o transport the bodies wherever he wanted.<br><br>Jack was no fool. He took=
careful pains to check the SUV for bugs and GPS, removing any he found, th=
en setting up a perception device that intercepted and blocked any unfound =
transmission devices.=A0 He would take no chances of his kin being recovere=
d by those he now considered his enemy.<br>
=A0<br>On the endless drive back to Cardiff, Jack's thoughts focused on=
the bodies in the back of his SUV.<br><br>First on Ianto.<br><br>His preci=
ous Ianto.<br><br>Lost to him forever.<br><br>And he had only himself to bl=
ame.<br>
<br>His own arrogance. His carelessness.<br><br>His fault.<br><br>In his va=
nity he had ignored the fragility of human life. Forgotten that men died so=
easily. Like delicate sugar-spun figurines, crumbled with a careless flick=
of a finger.<br>
<br>And Stephen.<br><br>He had sacrificed his grandson for the ten percent.=
<br><br>The children had not been worth the loss. Not worth Stephen's p=
recious life. If only he had thought it out, realized the end result....But=
he'd not seen the cost in the heat of the moment and now he was alone.=
<br>
<br>Alone.<br><br>Twice damned by the very God that had damned him with imm=
ortality.<br><br>Soulless.<br><br>God forgive him.<br><br>For Jack never wo=
uld forgive himself.<br><br>Or Alice, for that matter. Why should she?<br>
<br>He, himself, had judged his actions and found himself responsible for t=
oo many deaths. Judge, Jury. Executioner. He imprisoned his grief inside hi=
s mind, never releasing it. Thedagger thrust of loss was his ever-lasting p=
unishment. He would not allow himself the luxury of grief. He would not all=
ow even one single tear, not one blessed morsel of internal forgiveness. Oh=
, no, not him. He would bear his guilt through eternity.<br>
<br>But first he had to get his precious cargo back to where they would res=
t in tranquility.<br><br>Drowning in his never-ending guilt, his eternal gr=
ief, Jack drove onward. Always onward, with only one goal in mind. Only one=
end in sight.<br>
<br>He had to get them home.<br><br><br>Several hours later<br>Cardiff<br>I=
n the deep bowels of Torchwood 3<br><br>Home.<br><br>A place of peace.<br><=
br>A place of safety.<br><br>So long ago.<br><br>Only five days gone.<br>
<br>He shuddered.<br><br>Once upon a time in a land far away....<br><br>Fiv=
e days gone, his soul ripped asunder from the inside.<br><br>His piece of m=
ind assassinated.<br><br>His body bled agony like none other.<br><br>His si=
lent screams echoed in his ears.<br>
<br>He was dead.<br><br>He was undead.<br><br>Alive.<br><br>Unalive.<br><br=
>Still he survived.<br><br>He always survived.<br><br>No matter how much he=
prayed he wouldn't.<br><br>And surviving, Jack had done the only thing=
he had left in this life to do. He brought his kin home.<br>
<br>Home to the Hub. Home to the only place he knew his loved ones would be=
allowed to rest in peace. A peace they deserved more than any other living=
soul on this inhuman planet.<br><br>Jack had known that the Hub would surv=
ive the assassin's bomb. In the last seconds, waiting for the bomb insi=
de him to pulverize his being, he'd activated the protective seals and =
perception filters and cutting of the central hub from the rest of the comp=
lex. He knew from past experience the safe guards could easily withstand th=
e force of a simple explosion. The Hub had been built to stand firm under a=
lien attack using alien artifacts and his own 25th century science. The enh=
anced perception filters could easily hide the inner corridors and vaults t=
hat spiraled out from the central hub, concealing them from prying governme=
nt thieves out to plunder Torchwood's resources. Any snooping officials=
who took the destruction of this base of operation as an opportunity to in=
filtrate Torchwood security would be doomed to disappointment. Their attemp=
ts of theft would go no farther than that unsecured section of the complex =
where he'd died that last horrific death.<br>
<br>Died in a kaleidoscope of searing, unfathomable horror.<br><br>And mayb=
e, just maybe, he uttered a prayer that this time he would receive the bles=
sing of a final death.<br><br>Breaking away from his silent contemplations,=
Jack eased the SUV through the concealed entrance that led onto the Torchw=
ood wharfs and parked. For a long moment he just sat there, staring out int=
o the dimly lit tunnels with his fingers curled so tightly around the wheel=
that they lost all circulation.<br>
<br>Memories of his disintegrating death swept over him and Jack shuddered,=
wrapping his arms around his waist as he re-lived the searing heat, the un=
speakable sensation of his bodyexploding i nto a wet mist of pink. Once mor=
e he tasted the morbid ecstasy of doubt and wonder. Once more he knew the h=
orror of feeling his body dissolving, scattering in a fiery ball.<br>
<br>Caught up in the horror of the euphoric nightmare spinning out in his h=
ead, Jack scrambled out of he SUB and fell to his knees, vomiting up an emp=
ty stomach until his ribs ached and his head throbbed.=A0 Exhausted by the=
=A0 memories, the emotions cascading through his mind, he rolled onto his s=
ide in a fetal ball and closed his eyes, rocking himself in an attempt the =
calm the terrors that assailed him.<br>
<br>Jack lost track of time as he lie there. He could have laid on the cold=
, graying boards for mere moments or it could have been hours. He neither k=
new or cared. The memories held him in a tight hold.<br><br>He came back to=
himself only when the cold damp seeped deep into his bones, demanding he g=
et up, finish what he had come to do.<br>
<br>He staggered clumsily to his feet. On unsteady legs, he made his way to=
the boathouse he'd shown Ian months ago and grabbed a waiting trolley,=
steering it toward the waiting SVU with grim determination.<br><br>His han=
d trembled as he wrenched open the SUV doors. The vision of=A0 those two he=
avy duty black scrim PVC body bags slapped him in the face. An insult to th=
e lives so recently lost.=A0 What they represented careened past his tightl=
y restrained emotions, diving deep and brutal into the center of his gut.<b=
r>
<br>Lips pressed into a tight line as he grabbed one webbing handle and pul=
ling the bag containing Stephen's body closer. For a moment he stared a=
t the bleak package, then with a curt nod and a grim "Man up, Harkness=
.", he quickly pulled open the zip and peeled back the edges. His gaze=
roamed the angelic perfection of his grandson's features.<br>
<br>Grimly, he lifted Stephen's body from the bag. The boy was so light=
in his arms. Jack laid his precious burden tenderly on the trolley. His ha=
nds lingered a moment and his throat tightened. Gritting his teeth against =
the howl that warred against its captivity, he drew back fisted hands.<br>
<br>He turned back to the SUV, bundling the body bag and stuffing it into t=
he far back of the SUV before he freed Ianto's body from its morbid wra=
p. A whimper sounded in his ears as Ianto's head tumbled onto his shoul=
der. "My precious boy." slipped from his lips. "Please, God,=
I don't want to be alone."<br>
<br>Only the silence of the grave spoke back to him as he laid Ianto's =
body next to the boy's.<br><br>Jack's legs trembled under him, thre=
atening to bring him down. He leaned heavily on the trolley push bar, breat=
hing deeply until the weakness passed. He had done this. This death was his=
to bear. No mercy, Jack Harkness. Claim your work.<br>
<br>He nodded in response to his internal judge. His fault. His.<br><br>He =
drew a deep breath and began to push the trolley deeper into Torchwood.<br>=
<br>This deep in the bowels of the complex, his footsteps echoed in the aba=
ndoned corridors, the sharp click click click of heel to flooring accompani=
ed by theoccasional scrunch scrunch scrunch of glass crushing under his fir=
m step.<br>
<br>His bleek gaze never strayed from=A0 the corridor ahead. His only thoug=
ht was on the next step. The next turn. He would not allow himself to refle=
ct on the man and boy lying on the trolley. If he did, he feared he would n=
ever move again.<br>
<br>His robotic steps lead him to the unlit morgue, then wavered, slowing t=
o a stop. His diamond bight glance swept the darkness and he swallowed thro=
ugh the tightness lodged in his throat. "Oh, God," he croaked, wr=
apping his mind around the reality of what he was doing. "Oh, my God..=
."<br>
<br>Grinding his teeth, he moved to a computer console and activated the in=
ner workings that had gone into sleep mode with the locking down of the cen=
tral hub.=A0 He spent a moment running a quick overview of the complex, che=
cking the cells and dark storage corridors, making sure all the automated s=
ystems were up and running. Once he walked out of the Hub, the automated sy=
stem alone would govern the working sections of the base.=A0 Would keep Ian=
to's body from its natural progression to dust.<br>
<br>Jack could not accept that final natural life's blow. Would not acc=
ept Ianto's beauty lost forever in death.<br><br>The lights suddenly ca=
me up, along with the soft usual background hum.=A0 His fingers flew over t=
he keyboard. The soft hum gathered speed and a morgue bed slid out from the=
wall.<br>
<br>Jack crossed to the trolley and lifted Stephen into his arms then carri=
ed him to the gently glowing slab. He laid the body down, combing through h=
is blond hair with shaking fingers. "I am so very sorry, Stephen."=
; He leaned over, pressing a kiss to the boy's cool forehead. "So =
very sorry."<br>
<br>From the head of the morgue bed, he punched several buttons and the lid=
slowly slid closed. He punched several more buttons, activating the stasis=
field, sealing Stephen in a deep state of suspended animation.<br><br>
Jack opened a second bed and retraced his steps to the trolley, gently gath=
ering Ianto into his arms and carrying his lover's body to the waiting =
crypt. His hands lingered, reluctant to release the beautiful husk that had=
housed Ianto's spirit. "I won[t forget you, Angel." he promi=
sed once more. "Not ever."<br>
<br>He kissed Ianto's cold lips one last time, then sealed his body int=
o its eternal place of rest.<br><br>Jack didn't know how long he stared=
at the closed portal. Time stood still inside him.<br><br><br>Bristol<br>
The anniversary of Ianto's death<br><br>It began as a niggling feeling =
that something was wrong at the base of Mitchell's skull. An itch insid=
e his primal brain that refused to be soothed by common sense.=A0 Words slo=
wly formed out of thatpersistent itch, first soft, almost soundless, but gr=
owing in intensity until the words formed screaming red strobes of color re=
eking of old blood and tasting of nightmares.<br>
<br>Jack....<br><br>Jack, are you there?<br><br>Jack!<br><br>The voice grew=
more and more desperate, slamming into Mitchell's conscious with the i=
mpact of a jackhammer rattling his teeth.<br><br>Jack!<br><br>Jack?<br>
<br>Where are you?<br><br>The words rose to a terror that surged through Mi=
tchell, infecting him. And just as quickly surged to a black, bleak lonelin=
ess.<br><br>Jack....<br><br>Oh, God...You promised....<br><br>Don't... =
forget... me..."<br>
<br>The pain in that voice cut deep inside Mitchell, tearing him up. He slu=
mped against the hospital wall, crumbing slowly down the stark white surfac=
e and let the tears fall.<br><br>George was just rounding the corner as Mit=
chell finished his heart-broken descent. "Mitchell?"<br>
<br>Mitchell covered his ears with fisted hands, screwing his eyes shut and=
moaning softly as he rocked from side to side.<br><br>George was at his si=
de instantly, grasping his forearms and speaking his name softly. Urgently.=
<br>
<br>"Am I dead?" Whispered in Mitchell's head, and he whisper=
ed back, "It's all right. Don't be afraid."<br><br>"=
Jack....?"<br><br>"You're not Jack...." worried the voic=
e in his head. "Jack, where are you?"<br>
<br>"Not here." Mitchell soothed the voice. "Im Mitchell. Ca=
n you hear me?"<br><br>"Not...here?" Mitchell felt a stronge=
r rush of tears sweep over him. "Oh, God, don't forget me.... You =
promised, Jack.=A0 You promised..."<br>
<br>"Come back for me."<br><br>"Jack...Please...I don't =
want to be...alone..."<br><br>"Where are you?" Mitchell sent=
back. "Tell me how to find you."<br><br>"Can't..."=
<br>
<br>"Don't be afraid. I can help."<br><br>"No one can he=
lp. I ...died."<br><br>"Yes, I know." Mitchell assured the v=
oice in his head, knowing without doubt that he communicated with a new bor=
n of his own species.=A0 "Tell me where to find you.=A0 I can teach yo=
u our ways."<br>
<br>"What....What year is this?"<br><br>Mitchell hesitated "=
2010."<br><br>The voice in his head's breath hitched. "It'=
;s so dark.=A0 And cold. So very cold."<br><br>"Tell me so I can =
come to you."<br>
<br>"Torchwood."=A0 A bitter laugh whispered through their silent=
communication.=A0 "Bloody Torchwood."<br><br>"I don't u=
nderstand..."<br><br>"Wales. Cardiff. Torchwood."<br><br>Mit=
chell unscrunched his dark eyes, staring deep into George's gaze. "=
;I have to go to Cardiff," he whispered.<br>
<br>"What?" George croaked. "No....I...I mean...Why?"<b=
r><br>Mitchell stumbled to his feet, "I have to go..."<br><br>&qu=
ot;But..." George followed him up, hustling after his best friend and =
lover. "Mitchell, this is...crazy."<br>
<br>Mitchell rounded on him, his eyes narrowed. "I have to go.... Now.=
"<br><br>"Yeah, okay..." George hurled at his quick moving b=
ack."But.... Not without me, you're not."=A0 Mumbling that th=
is was the stupidest thing they'd done since he'd taken on Eric, he=
scurried after Mitchell, struggling to keep up with the vampire he adored =
beyond his own life.<br>
<br><br>Cardiff<br>Several hours later<br><br>On the trip from Bristol, Mit=
chell=A0 had withdrawn into himself, barely responding to either George or =
Annie's bombardment of questions and whispered fears.<br><br>George was=
still muttering about how insane this whole sudden trip was as Mitchell di=
rected them through Cardiff traffic to a wharf on the Bay with a series of =
guttural grunts and finger pointing.<br>
<br>"A tourist center?" Annie asked, staring at the tiny office.=
=A0=A0 "We drove allthis way to visit a tourist center?"<br><br>M=
itchell hurled a scowl her way. "The new born is close."=A0 He sl=
id out of the car and walked quickly to the building, pushing inside with G=
eorge and Annie hot on his heels.<br>
<br>A dark haired woman looked up from the computer screen she'd been s=
canning on the reception=A0 desk. Her dark eyes ghosted over them, sizing t=
hem up and finding them harmless. "Can I help you?"<br><br>"=
Gwen Cooper?"=A0 Mitchell asked softly, approaching the desk on silent=
feet.<br>
<br>"Williams," she corrected. Her glance roamed over his face mo=
re carefully this time, and he body coiled for any trouble he might be brin=
ging in with him. "Do I know you?"<br><br>"I'm looking f=
or...." He tipped his head, listening to the voice inside his head. &q=
uot;For Captain Harkness. Jack Harkness."<br>
<br>Gwen's dark eyes narrowed, flicking toward the two with him. "=
Captain Harkness is not here."<br><br>He nodded, listening again, then=
said. "I'll wait."<br><br>"Could be a long wait," =
a blond child walked in from the back room. "Granda hasn't been he=
re for about six months."<br>
<br>"Stephen, go back inside." Gwen said, knowing the boy wouldn&=
#39;t obey. He had too much of Jack in him to listen to anything he didn=
9;t want to. She heaved a silent sigh and turned back to the three stranger=
s. "I'm afraid you made a wasted trip. Jack has left the...country=
."<br>
<br>"Ianto Jones," the name erupted from Mitchell's lips. &qu=
ot;I am here about Ianto Jones."<br><br>Gwen's brows furrowed in r=
emembered pain. "Ianto died a year ago."<br><br>"Not so much=
" George grumbled, earning himself a sharp glare from Gwen and a dark =
glower from Mitchell.<br>
<br>"Please," Annie stepped forward, her hands reaching out implo=
ringly to Gwen. "We would like to see Mr Jones' grave. Our friend,=
" she turned her head toward Mitchell, a silent plea in her eyes. &quo=
t;Mitchell needs to see where your friend is buried." She offered a ti=
ny, wavering smile. "It's important.<br>
<br>Gwen shook her head, "I don't think..."<br><br>"Plea=
se..." Mitchel's eyes seemed almost to glow, capturing Gwen's =
dark gaze. "You do want to take us to see the grave, don't you?&qu=
ot;<br>
<br>Gwen's body relaxed visibly as she paraphrased, "I'd love =
to take you to see Ianto's body." She moved to the secret entrance=
to the Torchwood complex, accessing the codes and pushing the door open. &=
quot;Please follow me quickly."<br>
<br>"Aunt Gwen...?"<br><br>"Watch the front, Stephen," =
Gwen told him as the three strangers passed into the inner workings of Torc=
hwood.<br><br>As the door closed behind them, George crinkled his nose agai=
nst the vauge smell of damp and mildew permeating the dark corridor. "=
Could stand a good bleaching here, couldn't it?"<br>
<br>"Someone died here." Mitchell's eyes seemed to glow darkl=
y.=A0=A0 "Ianto?"<br><br>Gwen shook her head, "Jack."<b=
r><br>"thought you said he left the country?"=A0 Annie commented.=
<br>
<br>"He did. Jack doesn't like to stay dead very long."<br><b=
r>"Happens more than you would think, that." George assured her g=
lumly.<br><br>"You would never believe it." Gwen clamped her hand=
over her mouth. "Why am I telling you these things."<br>
<br>Annie sighed, "Mitchell can be quite...compelling."<br><br>Gw=
en's gaze roamed over the tall rugged featured man, reassessing her opi=
nion of him, seeing the cloaked predator beneath his safe facade. "Wha=
t are you?"<br>
<br>"The same as your Ianto, it would seem." Mitchell growled. &q=
uot;I would like to see..."<br><br>"His grave, yes. I know.=A0 Th=
is way, please."<br><br><br><br>The Crypt<br><br>"Ianto's her=
e."<br>
<br>Mitchell scanned the stark white chamber. "How many bodies are ent=
ombed here?"<br><br>"I would have to look that up."<br><br>S=
haking his head, Mitchell asked, "Show me his ...body."<br><br>
Gwen hesitated, a confused frown tugging at her brow.<br><br>Mitchell close=
d the space between them and tipped her chin up, capturing her eyes. "=
Show me."<br><br>"Yes."<br><br>Gwen moved to the computer an=
d her fingers moved quickly over the keyboard. A soft mechanical hum rose a=
nd the center drawer slid open, revealing Ianto.<br>
<br>Ianto leaned up on his arm, beating a fist against the glass coffin. &q=
uot;Help me," he screamed. "Oh, God, get me out."<br><br>&qu=
ot;He's alive," George cried out, scrambling to the coffin and try=
ing to find a release catch to free the frantic man inside.<br>
<br>Gwen's hands moved over the keys again and the coffin lid and walls=
vanished into the platform.<br><br>Ianto tried to sit up, but a year's=
inactivity had taken its toll on him, leaving him weak and dizzy. George r=
ushed to help support him, wrapping his arm around Ianto's waist to ste=
ady him.=A0 "It's all right, now. I've got you."<br>
<br>Ianto's hands rested on George's chest. His eyes filled with sa=
dness and he murmured, "I', so very sorry."<br><br>George had=
no time to wonder what he meant. Ianto moved with the deadly speed of a co=
bra, latching onto George's neck and gulping down the man's blood b=
efore anyone could react=A0 to what was happening.<br>
<br>Mitchell was the first to get his mind around the horror being acted ou=
t before them. He sprang forward, wrenching George from Ianto's deadly =
embrace.=A0 Too late, he realized. George hung limply in his arms his breat=
h stuttering in his throat.<br>
<br>Seeing what he had done, Ianto's expression was one of absolute hor=
ror. Tears slipped down his pale cheeks.=A0 "Oh, God....What have I=A0=
done? What have I done?=A0 He looked to Mitchell. "Do something.=A0 P=
lease, save him.=A0 Please...."<br>
<br>Mitchell=A0 fell to his knees, George still in his arms. "Forgive =
me," he whispered then ripped open his wrist with his fangs, pressing =
the open wound to George's lips.<br><br>George drank greedily, clutchin=
g Mitchell's wrist in a death's grip as his strength returned.<br>
<br>Mitchell felt suddenly light headed with the loss of his blood.=A0 &quo=
t;Enough" He croaked, wrenching his wrist away. "Sleep, now, my l=
ove. I'll be here when you awake." He bent low over George and bru=
shed a gentle kiss on his bloodless lips.<br>
<br>Smiling, George managed a soft, "Love you, Mitchell." before =
he stopped fighting the sleep drifting like a grey fog over him.<br><br>Mit=
chell rose gracefully with George in his arms. He tenderly laid his lover o=
n crypt platform where Ianto had slept for three hundred and sixty-five day=
s..=A0 That done, he turned to Ianto. "Now, newborn, we have much to d=
iscuss. Will you agree to live in peace with the humans?"<br>
<br>Ianto wiped tears from his cheeks, smearing his face with George's =
blood in the process. "I don't want to kill."<br><br>Mitchell=
smiled, nodding. "Looks like it..." He leaned forward and licked=
Ianto's face clean.<br>
<br>Ianto's mouth fell open, gaping in surprise.<br><br>When he was sat=
isfied that Ianto was once more immaculate, MItchell=A0 pulled back and til=
ted his head. "You are a pretty bit, aren't you. Make a new father=
proud." He laughed softly. "Who turned you, newborn?"<br>
<br>"Turned me?" Ianto shook his head. "No. No one. No perso=
n, anyway."<br><br>Mitchell's brow puckered and his eyes narrowed =
a bit, studying the newborn. "You don't remember your creator?&quo=
t;<br>
<br>"The virus," Gwen blurted out, shaking free from the stunned =
disbelief that had held her quiet through this waking nightmare till now.=
=A0 "Ianto died in the 456 attack when the aliens released a virus on =
the building he was in." Her gaze swept the three strangers. "Who=
...what...are you?"<br>
<br>"Mythology." Mitchell told her with a lazy shrug.=A0 "Fo=
lklore....The stuff of nightmares...take your pick."<br><br>"I re=
member the 456 thing," Annie said softly. "Happened at the same t=
ime Eric came after us."<br>
<br>Mitchell nodded. "Ah, them....Losing a few kids didn't seem so=
important with the vampires rising up in Bristol, did it?"<br><br>&qu=
ot;Vampires...?"<br><br>"Mmmm.=A0 Planned to turn the entire huma=
n race...well, they were leaving a few for food, but...Annie went all venge=
ful spirit over the brood. And George went lycan and took out their leader.=
=A0 They've been laying low since." Mitchell turned his attention =
back to Ianto and smiled reassuringly. "So... no Sire. Is this virus i=
n danger of turning more?"<br>
<br>Gwen shook her head. "I hacked Disease Control's computers to =
find out what was turning up in the rest of the dead. The autopsy reports s=
eemed to point to the virus running its course in a week, then dying in the=
host body."<br>
<br>"So..." Ianto's voice was shaky. "Why is this happen=
ing to me?"<br><br>"Ianto, the bodies of the other victims were c=
remated within days after they died." Gwen said softly.=A0 "Its l=
ikely the virus mutated in your body, changing you as it did."<br>
<br>"Jack..." Ianto rasped,his breathing speeding up in panic. &q=
uot;Where's Jack?" His eyes flew about the crypt. "I want Jac=
k...." Tears tracked his cheeks. "I ...need Jack."<br><br>
Mitchell turned to Gwen, once more hearing her words. "Jack left the c=
ountry."<br><br>Ianto blanched, his eyes seeking out Gwen's confir=
mation. "He's gone?"<br><br>Gwen moved closer, but Ianto crin=
ged away and she stopped walking. "Jack was in a bad way after he...lo=
st you. He said that the entire planet was a graveyard. He ..I asked him to=
stay, but...I wasn't enough. I begged him to return. He asked me what =
for. He ....he loved you Ianto. He couldn't live here without you."=
;=A0 she shrugged. "He left."<br>
<br>"Is that supposed to make it all right?" Ianto gave a wild la=
ugh. "Why am I surprised? It's what he does, isn't it? He leav=
es." His body suddenly went weak and he slid to the floor. "He al=
ways leaves."<br>
<br>Ianto's words reached into Gwen's soul and broke her heart. She=
moved quickly, dropping down beside him and wrapping her arms around him.<=
br><br>Ianto cringed a bit but she held on, caressing his back and murmurin=
g words of support.<br>
<br>"Don't," Ianto whispered, fear rolling through hin and ca=
rrying on that single word.<br><br>"What's going on in there, Iant=
o?" She brushed a finger against Ianto's temple, drawing back slig=
htly. "Why are you afraid of me?'<br>
<br>He lifted haunted eyes toward the slab where George lie. "Not afra=
id of you, Gwen.=A0 For you."<br><br>She followed his gaze. "You =
wouldn't hurt me, Ianto." Her smile warmed him. "You silly th=
ing, you love me."<br>
<br>A smile tugged at Ianto's lips, growing into a low chuckle. "S=
illy thing?"=A0 His brow arched a bit. "I know you did not just s=
ay that."<br><br>tongue-in-cheek, Gwen smiled.=A0 "You can't =
deny it."<br>
<br>Ianto sighed, dropping his forehead to hers.=A0 "Love is highly ov=
er rated."<br><br>"Ianto..."<br><br>"It's okay, Gwe=
n," Ianto said pushing himself away and to his feet. "I was stupi=
d, falling in love with him. I knew Jack wasn't able to love me back. N=
ot in his nature. Have only myself for getting hurt. He tried to let me kno=
w I was taking the whole relationship thing to seriously." He gave bit=
ter laugh. "He got skittish every time I mentioned the word couple. Sh=
ould have known...."=A0 his words dwindled off.<br>
<br>"So now what? I'm a vampire? Is that right?"=A0 He looked=
to Mitchell for an answer.<br><br>Mitchell threw a glance at Annie before =
he nodded. "I can teach you to keep your humanity, if that is what you=
want."<br>
<br>"Or I could walk out into the sun and end it all."<br><br>&qu=
ot;You're welcome to try."=A0 Mitchell said through a dry chuckle.=
"For all the good it will do.=A0 You take too much for reality, you d=
o."<br>
<br>Annie added. "Mitchell actually likes the occasional day in the su=
n."=A0 She wandered ove to the platform where George lay and took his =
cold hand in hers. "How long before he ...wakes, do you think?"<b=
r>
<br>Mitchell pursed his lips, considering his friend's body. "Hard=
to tell. I think he may be the first lycan ever turned.=A0 Mostly my kind =
like to beat and drain 'em. Natural enemies competing for prey."<b=
r>
<br>"Lycan?" Gwen stared at the pale young man...creature who lie=
in Ianto's crypt. "Are seriously saying this man is a...werewolf?=
" She turned her curious gaze on Annie. "I suppose you're som=
e kind of succubus or something."<br>
<br>"A ghost, actually." Mitchell tossed at her, his eyes narrow.=
"We have a house in Bristol."<br><br>Gwen shook her head, "=
I must be going mad."<br><br>Ianto shrugged. "What? You can accep=
t weevils and aliens and all the fucked up things we deal with on a day to =
day but a little supernatural tosses you into a tailspin."<br>
<br>"Point taken." She was struck by the enormity of what these c=
reatures actually were and wondered if she should order in a stock of cross=
es and silver bullets, but figured if she was in any danger from them, she&=
#39;d be dead already. All she felt from them was mild amusement, and a dee=
p desire to help Ianto through the changes he was going through.=A0 "S=
o, a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire take up house-keeping? Sounds like a f=
airy tale."<br>
<br>"Complete with the big bad ...vampire out to rule the world as nem=
isis," Annie grumbled. "Not so romantic as we would have hoped.&q=
uot; She lifted on shoulder, grinning at Mitchell, "But we take care o=
f each other. That's what counts."<br>
<br>"Yeah," Ianto whispered, "Until someone leaves."<br=
><br>"Ianto...."<br><br>"So, Gwen," Ianto cut her off, =
moving to one of the computers. His fingers click click clicked over the ke=
ys, bringing up...access denied.=A0 "I'm locked out."<br>
<br>"Jack did that before he left."<br><br>Ianto tilted his head =
toward Gwen, questions burning in his eyes.<br><br>"He shut us down, I=
anto.=A0 Said no one else was going to die for Torchwood if he could help i=
t.=A0 Only reason I'm still here is because he needed a custodian to ke=
ep things running smooth. Someone to make sure Janet and the rest in the ce=
lls were cared for. To make sure the systems were kept up, and no one manag=
ed to get inside the confidential areas."<br>
<br>Ianto didn't need to think on long that. Jack had been worried abou=
t Gwen dying and leaving behind her child. He'd always tried to make su=
re her life with Rhys was strong and protected. Of course he would take ste=
ps to keep her safe after he had left.<br>
<br>"How is your child? Boy? Girl?" he asked suddenly.<br><br>Gwe=
n beamed, "Would you believe one of=A0 each?"<br><br>Ianto chuckl=
ed. "Rhys must be over the moon."=A0 He moved across the room and=
clasped her hands in his. "I don't want you to take this wrong, b=
ut jack was right. Torchwood is closed for business. You should go home and=
take care of those sweet wee ones and that man of yours. I can handle the =
maintenance here now."<br>
<br>"But..."<br><br>He silenced her with a finger across her lips=
. "Think about it, Gwen. You have a life. Me, I have..." He swept=
his arm about the room. "Well, I have this." His gaze gave nothi=
ng away. "Go home to your family, Gwen."<br>
<br>Helpless against his soft spoken words that seemed almost as mesmerizin=
g as Mitchell's had been before, she nodded.<br><br>"What about St=
ephen? He needs someone to take care of him."<br><br>"Jack's =
grandson? He's here?"<br>
<br>Another nod. "He can't seem to stay dead any better than Jack =
could."<br><br>"He died?"<br><br>"Saving the children.&=
quot; Gwen said, leaving out the fact that jack had used him to broadcast t=
he signal that destroyed the 456, and Stephen.<br>
<br>Ianto knew there was something dark in the evasive way Gwen glossed=A0 =
her explanation over. He chose to let the rest of the story go. For now.<br=
>=A0<br>"His Mother? Alice, wasn't it?=A0 Why doesn't she have=
the boy?"<br>
<br>"She died a month after the attack. She didn't have Jack's=
restorative genes." Gwen told him. "Jack left before Stephen rev=
ived. A week before. Stephen was dead for six and a half months."<br>
<br>"And you've been caring for him ever since."<br><br>"=
;What else could I do?"<br><br>"Thank you, Gwen." Ianto whis=
pered. "But it should be me taking care of the boy. I was Jack's .=
..family. I ...I want to take the boy."<br>
<br>"Are you sure?"<br><br>He laughed softly, the sound carrying =
the tinkle of broken glass. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Jack would have=
wanted it that way."<br><br>Gwen reached out a hand towards him but h=
e stopped her with a look.<br>
<br>"Please, not now. I know.....but ....not now."=A0 His lips tu=
rned up into a brittle smile. "Let's go meet my...son, okay? I alw=
ays wanted to be a...father, did I ever tell you that?"<br><br>A dark =
frown drew Gwen's brows together, but she simply gave him a quick nod. =
"Okay. Got it. Stephen is in the tourist shop."<br>
<br><br>Later<br><br>Ianto glanced over at the young boy sprawled out in th=
e swivel chair at what used to be Tosh's station. And found the boy'=
;s watchful gaze stabbing into him.<br><br>"You my granddad's whor=
e?"<br>
<br>Ianto froze, his hands suddenly shaking. The dimmly lit room blurred as=
tears filled his eyes. He blinked rapidly, fighting them off and bit down =
hard on his lip. A rush of blood filled his mouth and he swallowed it down,=
then ran his tongue over the pulsing wound "No," he managed afte=
r swallowing past the tightness of his throat.<br>
<br>Stephen tilted his head slightly, tongue-in-cheek. "I think you=
9;re lying, mate."<br>=A0<br>Sighing, Ianto turned his attention towar=
d a near-by computer. "You are welcome to think what you want, Stephen=
. I won't argue the point with you."<br>
<br>Annie ambled into the room, pausing at the door as the tension slammed =
into her. Drawing a deep breath she no longer really needed, she padded ove=
r to stand by Ianto. he curious gaze wandered over the words that flashed a=
t a lightening speed over the monitor. "What are you doing, Ianto?&quo=
t; she asked finally.<br>
<br>"Jack locked Gwen out of the secured areas of Torchwood," he =
told her, not looking up. "I can only imagine he wanted to keep her sa=
fe. Too much death already. Humans are fragile. Should have left this sort =
of work to people like me, like Jack. People who don't die easy." =
He gave a sudden bark of laughter. "I'm in."<br>
<br>Around them there was a deeper droning hum as Torchwood powered up, the=
system coming to life.=A0 He went back to work, digging deeper into the fi=
les. "Jack gave me everything I need to access Torchwood finances.=A0 =
Guess he wanted to know that if anything ever happened to him that I would =
be able to carry on."<br>
<br>"What are you doing, now?"<br><br>"Someone has been maki=
ng inquiries about buying up the Torchwood complex." He pointed to som=
e figures as if that explained it all, then quickly input some more data. &=
quot;I'm creating a dummy corporation....Using the moneyJack squirreled=
away to buy the land for a couple miles around the complex." He said =
softly.<br>
<br>"You can do that? From here?"<br><br>"With the knowledge=
and enough money a good hacker can just about do anything they might imagi=
ne.=A0 Jack left me more money than even Torchwood could spend in a thousan=
d years."<br>
<br>"Okay, so you buy the land, then what?"<br><br>"Gonna re=
build. May not have the rift manipulator anymore, but that isn't going =
to stop the bad things coming through. When they come, I'm going to sen=
d them back to hell."<br>
<br>"Want some help with that, newborn?"<br><br>Ianto turned from=
what he was doing to see Mitchell and George wandering into the room, grin=
ning.=A0 "Seems like you all fit the first requirement for hiring on, =
so what the hell? Why not?"<br>
<br><br>Dawn<br>The Tourist Shop<br><br>George found Ianto brooding alone i=
n the tourist shop, standing before te large window and staring at the risi=
ng sun. "How are you holding up, Ianto?" George asked, coming to =
stand next to the taller man. "Checking out the sun can't kill ya =
after all?"<br>
<br>"I miss him." Ianto raked a hand through his dark hair and Ge=
orge couldn't help but notice how it trembled. "I died.=A0 I ...Di=
ed. And... he left. And now I'm alive. And he's gone." His eye=
s drifted shut, hoding in the agony of Jack's desertion.=A0 "He=
9;s gone."<br>
<br>George held his tongue, waiting.<br><br>"I know it seems crazy to =
the rest of you. To Gwen and Stephen, Jack's been gone six months. But =
to me.=A0 To me, I died yesterday, in his arms. And today I wake up alone.&=
quot; he laughed bitterly. "I want to crawl back into the crypt and cl=
ose the thing up. I want the darkness. I want...I'm so bleeding pissed =
off I want to tear him limb from limb for going away"<br>
<br>George gathered him in his arms, letting Ianto cry against his shoulder=
.<br><br><br><br>In the year of our god 2509<br>Three AM.<br><br>The hour o=
f the dead.<br><br>The witching hour.<br><br>His hour.<br><br>He padded acr=
oss the roof on silent feet, stopping with the tips of his shoes protruding=
an inch or so over the edge of the fifteen story building. His lips held t=
he spectre of a dark smile as he=A0 surveyed his city.<br>
<br>The towering building, his building, had been built over the five hundr=
ed years gone Torchwood Complex two years after the bombing that had destro=
yed it. His birthright. Or rather, his rebirth-right.<br><br>His lips twitc=
hed at his silent joke. No more than a mere twitch that could well have bee=
n mistaken as an illusion of darkness and shadow.<br>
<br>He drew a deep breath, clasping his hands behind his back and let his g=
aze pan over the spectacular vision of Cardiff in the early hours. It was a=
city where the lights never went out. Where people never slept. Where you =
could hide in plain sight and never be discovered over a hundred lifetimes.=
<br>
<br>After all, that was exactly what he and his clan had done, wasn't i=
t? Lived several hundred years and counting. Truth to tell, on his last bir=
thday, he had turned 525 years old.=A0 Considering he had not aged a day pa=
st 25, he was quite satisfied by that quite remarkable fact.<br>
<br>He tilted his head slightly, picking out the soft erotic moans of a pai=
r of young lovers in the park two blocks to his left. The music of a pub se=
veral blocks away shuffled into his range of hearing as he continued to lis=
ten.<br>
<br>A frown tugged at his dark brows suddenly. His sharp hearing had picked=
up the rough and rowdy=A0 hoots of a gang of bully boys heading towards th=
e exclusive club housed on the main floor of his building.<br><br>He swept =
the area, spotting the burly band several blocks down. They were indeed hea=
ding toward the club. And from their words he had no doubt that they intend=
ed no good.<br>
<br>He tensed, coiling his body as if to leap from the roof, stopping as th=
e front door burst open far below and two men exited in a passionate claspi=
ng of bodies, spinning to a stop against the rough hewn door.<br><br>His li=
ps twitched again, this time into a dark smile. Mitchell and George, his li=
eutenants, were aware of the approaching problem and very much capable of h=
andling the mob of a dozen or so miscreants.<br>
<br><br>3 A.M.<br>Across the street from Torchwood<br><br>He'd come hom=
e. Or what had at one time been home. A place of family. Of friends. Of a l=
ove that would never end. That haunting, still burning love for a man he ha=
d lead to his death.<br>
<br>The door of the club standing like the dark Gothic castle it replicated=
sudden;y slammed open, spewing out a couple locked in a torrid embrace. On=
ce, many years past, he would have been hard put not to cross the street an=
d charm his way into that heated embrace.<br>
<br>But that was five or six life times ago. His over active libido had wit=
hered with his lover's death. He'd sworn he would never forget. And=
he hadn't. Not in five hundred years. Would not.... Not in five millio=
n years. Not as long as memory lived in him. Not while his arms ached to ho=
ld that one, that only, lithesome body.<br>
<br>Loud shouts and taunts coming down the street to his left captured his =
attention and he pulled his gaze away from the couple blissfully unaware of=
the trouble brewing.<br><br>He palmed his Webley and started across the st=
reet at a loose-limbed trot.<br>
<br>The couple making out in the doorway of the obviously popular club gave=
no inclination of ending their games, In fact the smaller, brown haired gu=
y actually popped his taller, dark-haired companion's shirt buttons and=
playfully began to suckle the guy's nipples to attention.<br>
<br>"Ahhhh, George, baby," the taller guy rasped, holding his lov=
er's head against his chest.<br><br>Jack gave pause when a trick of the=
light made the smaller man's face appear to elongate and distort, seem=
ing to beard up in seconds. He shook his head, putting it down to an adrena=
lin illusion.<br>
<br>The guttural growls, more animistic than human were a little harder to =
dismiss, though, but before he could bring his mind to its natural, or supe=
rnatural end conclusion, the gang was upon them.<br><br>The couple broke ap=
art and moved into the approaching bully boys with a speed that denied thei=
r humanity.<br>
<br>Bodies flew from the center of the mob, clearly alive if the moaning an=
d whimpering were any sign, but badly bloodied just the same. A big brute m=
oved in on Jack and he raised his gun to fire.<br><br>"No," a voi=
ce boomed, floating from above, and then his gun flew from a strangely numb=
hand.=A0=A0 He blinked, knowing there had been no one close enough to disa=
rm him, and yet...His gaze lingered on his gun where it lie a few feet away=
.<br>
<br>As quickly as the battle had broken out, it ended.<br><br>Jack shook hi=
mself, breaking out of the amazed spell he'd fallen under. His glance m=
oved to the two men standing in the middle of the bloodied street. His eyes=
widened at the sight of the man wolf who was wrapping himself into the fan=
ged creature's hungry embrace.<br>
<br>His eyes darted toward his weapon once more. So close. So damn far away=
.<br><br>And yet, it didn't seem like the exotic creatures were taking =
any interest in him anyway. They were too busy licking the blood off each o=
ther.<br>
<br>"You dropped this." The lilting Welsh tones coming from behin=
d him were a soft brush against his soul, so very like the voice of his lon=
g gone lover. A hand appeared in front of him, holding the Webley. So famil=
iar, those beautiful slender fingers.<br>
<br>He gripped the weapon in a white knuckled strangle hold.<br><br>"J=
ack..."<br><br>He shook his head, knowing he would take that final ste=
p into the darkness of his mind when the man at his side proved to be just =
another familiar voiced stranger.<br>
<br>The creatures, once more appearing quite human, moved toward him, then.=
<br><br>"It's all right. You're safe now." the sandy hair=
ed man told him accepting a pair of old fashioned=A0 glasses from his lover=
.<br>
<br>"Safe," Jack gave a bitter laugh, taking a backward step. And=
found himself in a cradling embrace.<br><br>"Jack..."<br><br>Hot=
breath warmed his neck and a sucking kiss had his head reeling.<br><br>
"Ianto, the man is gonna pass out if your not careful," the dark =
haired man...vampire...man-creature...teased. "This can't be the J=
ack Harkness you've been pining over for ever....can it?"<br><br>
Jack felt himself being turned in strong arms...far stronger than he rememb=
ered.=A0 He blinked into a face he thought never to see again. "Ianto?=
"<br><br>Ianto cupped his cheeks, smiling darkly. "You took your =
fine time coming home, didn't you?"<br>
<br>"How...?"<br><br>Ianto shrugged, his face instantly a bland m=
ask that was impossible to read. "The virus had some interesting side =
effects."<br><br>"This can't be happening." Jack's h=
ands shook as he laid them on Ianto's chest. Ianto's solid, cold ch=
est. "I've finally gone insane."<br>
<br>"Then we're both insane, Jack," Ianto said, pulling Jack =
into his hard embrace. His lips crashed down on the stunned man in his arms=
, releasing all his passion and anger into that one harsh kiss.=A0 Keeping =
control=A0 of the embrace, Ianto pushed Jack back a bit and glared into his=
diamond bright blue eyes.=A0 "Are you going to stay, Jack? Or are you=
going to run away again? Because if you're going to leave again, go no=
w.=A0 And don't come back. I need to know I can depend on you to be her=
e when I need you. When Stephen needs you."<br>
<br>"So, what? You still want to be a," Jack did an air brackets =
motion ""Couple'?=A0 Is that it? After five hundred years, yo=
u still want that?"<br><br>"What do you want, Jack?"=A0 Iant=
o sighed, turning his back on the disheavaled man.=A0=A0 "You're t=
he one who came back. So what are you doing here?"<br>
<br>Shoulders slumping, Jack whispered. "You waited. All this time?=A0=
You waited...for me?"<br><br>"Like I told you ...Love you, basta=
rd."<br><br>"And I said I would never..could never ...forget you.=
"=A0 Jack grabbed his arm and whirled him around,. He captured Ianto&#=
39;s chin, smiling ruefully into his eyes. "Believe me, Ianto. I never=
could. I love you too damn much. More important, I need you. Need you like=
I need to breath.=A0 Need you to be there when I die and come back. Need t=
o have something...have you...to come back to."=A0 A tear slid down hi=
s cheek. "I would die if I lost you again.=A0 Die in all the important=
ways, you understand? Die in my heart. In my soul.=A0=A0 I...Need.... You.=
"<br>
<br>Ianto's lips brushed Jack's gently, then surged forward once mo=
re, devouring him with a need that had never died.<br><br>Never would die.<=
br><br>Never could.<br><br><br>end for now<br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>The =
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