Fic- Blue Moon's Child
Title: Blue Moon’s Child 1/4
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Jack/OMC (past)
Rating: Teen- dark themes, sexual mentions.
Spoilers: Mild for COE
Summary: Cardiff 1993 and Jack Harkness is investigating some odd readings.
Disclaimers: I own nothing.
Notes: This is finished and will be posted once a day for the next three days, assuming I can fit it into 3 posts! COE doesn’t exist here but again, I’m using details from it to create a story. Plot!fic here! Comments please!
Jack Harkness strolled along the streets of Cardiff’s City Centre. He knew these streets. They were his streets and he looked after them, protected the naive inhabitants of Cardiff from alien threats. He was their hero. Well, him and the rest of Torchwood.
Jack’s phone rang. He stopped and answered the call. “Jack Harkness.”
“Jack, have you found the source of those readings yet?”
Jack tried not to sigh. He hated all this boring detective work. He’d much rather they just let him do the heroic stuff.
“Not yet, Alex. Working on it!”
“I’m sure you are, Jack. Just, hurry up with it, will you?”
Jack had to admit, Alex was a good boss, but he was also far too strict at times.
“You know, Alex, this would go a lot quicker if you sent Elaeth to come and help me,” said Jack, with his typical grin.
Alex sighed. “You two take twice as long to do everything when you’re together. It’s beyond me how you manage that.”
Jack chuckled. “We just understand how to have fun.”
“Save the fun for after work. We need you back by five, all right?”
“Yeah, okay, whatever.”
Alex tutted. “I should have you for insubordination.”
“You can have me for anything, Alex. Any time. Any place. Any excuse.”
Alex laughed. “Goodbye, Jack.” He hung up.
Jack cheerfully put away his phone, turning down the next street as he did so.
“Come on, Rhi!” a young voice shouted and the next thing Jack knew, something collided hard with him and dropped to the ground.
He kept his balance and looked down. A boy had been knocked to the pavement right in front of him. He gazed up at Jack with big blue eyes. He was a skinny boy, wearing jeans and a rugby top. He looked as though he’d be crushed if he ever tried to actually play rugby. He looked about ten years old and had a startled look about him. Jack held out a hand to help him up.
“You all right, soldier?” he asked.
The boy blinked at his hand, then ignored it and scrambled to his feet by himself. “S…sorry.”
“Ianto!” called a young teen girl, running up to them. “That’s why you should watch where you’re going.”
“Sorry,” the boy, Ianto, mumbled in a rather pouty voice.
Jack frowned. The little scanner in his coat pocket was vibrating against his thigh. “That’s all right. No harm done.”
The girl took hold of Ianto’s arm. “Come on. We’ve got to get back to da. He’s doing his nut.”
Jack watched as the girl steered the boy away. Ianto turned his head back to Jack as he was hurried away.
Jack took out his scanner and saved its readings. There was something peculiar going on. The scanner had definitely reacted to the boy. There was no doubt about it. But now he had the information he needed. He could analyse the scans, including physical details of the boy and find him again if needed.
Jack returned to the hub. Alex was in the office, Elaeth was at his computer and Maggie and Scott were no where to be seen. Jack went straight up to Elaeth, hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek.
“Tried to get you out there with me. We could’ve found a quiet alley again.”
Elaeth glanced at him and smiled, blushing a little as always. “Not in the daylight! Someone could see.”
Jack beamed. “Tonight then! It’s a date.” He let go and turned towards the office, knowing that Elaeth would be watching him leave.
Jack sauntered into Alex’s office and sat on the desk. Alex looked up at him, his eyebrows raised.
“Well? Did you find anything?”
“Think so. But, I need Elaeth to help me analyse my scans.”
Alex gave him a look. “You know perfectly well that Scott is the tech expert.”
“Yeah, but Scott…”
“Scott won’t shag you.”
Jack didn’t have the grace to blush. He grinned. “Just making work fun, Alex.”
“Fine, take Elaeth. Just, try not to take up work time with your exploits, hmm?”
“Oh, I’ll try,” said Jack, standing and grinning lasciviously.
Alex rolled his eyes. “Just get some work done, and don’t corrupt that boy.”
Jack walked backwards to the door, grinning. He winked at Alex. “Oh, I already have. Don’t you worry about that.”
Alex just rolled his eyes and went back to his work. Jack strolled back out to the main hub and over to Elaeth.
“Guess what?” he asked, throwing an arm around Elaeth’s shoulders.
Elaeth looked up at him, his eyes wide. “What?”
“You get to help me with these scans, analysing them and everything.”
Elaeth wrinkled his nose. “I’m no good at that stuff.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“You should ask Scott to help.”
“Nope. I want you.” He dug the scanner out of his pocket. “Look. You know how I was out looking for the source of those readings.”
“Last night’s readings?” Elaeth asked, taking the scanner and frowning at it.
“Yep. I was just coming off the High Street when this kid ran into me and the scanner went mad. Now, it could be the street. It could be the kid. It could be something else entirely. But we need to find out.”
Elaeth hooked the scanner up to his computer and frowned at the screen. “The readings are very strong,” he said peering closely at the screen and trying to ignore Jack’s hand massaging his shoulder. “The source matches what we detected here. Erm, how long was the boy there for?”
“Only a couple of minutes. The scanner started vibrating when he arrived and stopped when he left.”
“That tallies with the readings I’ve got here. Only…”
“What?”
“It could be something at the scene though.”
“Right, I suppose we’d better go and investigate then. You reckon Alex would mind if we took the SUV?”
Elaeth smiled. “Yes, I think he would mind.”
“Guess we’re walking then. Come on.”
* * *
“I’ve told you again and again not to run off, Ianto,” Iestyn Jones snapped, taking his son’s hand firmly. “You stay with me or you’ll get lost.”
Ianto pouted but didn’t argue.
“Honestly, I can’t trust you for one minute to stay put.”
“No harm done, Da,” Rhiannon put in.
Iestyn smiled at her, the tension leaving his body. “No. No harm done. Come on, let’s get home. Your mam will be worried.”
“No, she won’t,” said Ianto. “She never worries about anything. She never even notices.”
Iestyn sighed. “Must you argue with every single thing I say, Ianto?”
“I don’t argue with everything! That’s not fair. You always say that!” Ianto whined.
“Can’t you behave for once? You’re making a scene.”
Ianto opened his mouth to argue but Iestyn held up his hand. “One more word and you’ll be in big trouble, my lad.”
Ianto closed his mouth and scowled at his sneakers.
Rhiannon put her arm around his shoulders. “Just do as you’re told,” she said gently. Ianto ignored her.
They went home, on the bus to Newport. Ianto sulked all the way home, glaring sullenly out of the window.
When they got home, he ran straight inside the house and edged into the front room, chewing his lip. His mam was sitting in her armchair by the window, gazing outside at their little patch of lawn.
“Mam?” he whispered, slowly going closer. Maybe she would be better. Every time he came home he thought she might be better.
She didn’t turn to look at him. He went up to her and patted her hand.
“Mam? We’re back.”
She didn’t speak, just continued to stare out of the window. Ianto climbed onto her lap and cuddled her. “We went to the bay. I watched the boats. There were some really big ones!” he said, looking into her face.
She turned to him, blinked, then looked away.
Ianto’s hopes fell. He sighed deeply and rested his head on her chest. He felt a sob rising up in his throat but he swallowed it down. He breathed in her sweet scent and listened to the steady beat of her heart. All he wanted was for her to wrap her arms around him and cuddle him, like she used to when he was little, before that day. But she didn’t and somehow he knew she never would.
“Ianto, leave your mam alone,” said Iestyn at the door.
“She won’t cuddle me.”
“Leave her alone, now.”
Ianto slid off his mam’s lap and glared at his dad. “You don’t care! You could make her right again but you don’t care!” he screamed and rushed past his dad. Iestyn tried to grab hold of him but Ianto wriggled away, ran up to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
“Ianto!” Iestyn called up.
Rhiannon put her arms around his waist. “Leave him, da. He’s just upset, ‘cause of mam.”
“We’re all upset, Rhiannon. Being a brat about it isn’t going to help.”
“He’s just a kid.”
“He needs to start behaving himself.”
In his room, Ianto lay on his bed and put his hand underneath his pillow. He held onto to the little blue orb he kept there. He couldn’t remember where he’d got it but he liked it and there was something about it which always comforted him.
He held it tight and rubbed his thumb over the smoothness of it. He thought it was glass but he wasn’t sure. He withdrew it and held it to his cheek. It was cool against his skin and he felt his tears easing. He wiped his face. His da was cross with him but Ianto didn’t care. All he wanted was his mam back. That was all he’d wanted for almost as long as he could remember.
* * *
Jack walked a little behind Elaeth and enjoyed the view. They’d walked back to the street where the scanner had reacted. It wasn’t that Jack wasn’t interested in what was going on. He was just more interested in the way Elaeth’s ass looked in those tight jeans. Elaeth always wore tight blue jeans and a t-shirt. Always. Sometimes he wore a hooded jacket over the top but only when it was particularly cold. He wasn’t the type to worry much about his appearance. He was just a little too geeky for that.
“So, here was it?” Elaeth asked, stopping.
Jack caught up with him and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Yep. Here. No readings now, are there?”
“Nothing.” Elaeth wriggled out of Jack’s embrace and pointed the scanner ahead. “There’s a residual trace of something. I can’t really pin it down.”
Jack peered over his shoulder. “Like the source was here but is now gone?”
“Not quite. Look at the patterns of the signal. It’s like…something has touched the source, then been in this area.”
“Right. So, the boy then?”
“Maybe. Do you think you can find him, Jack?”
“Sure. No problem.”
Elaeth rolled his eyes. “You always say that.”
Jack grabbed hold of Elaeth and grinned. “It’s always no problem.” He kissed Elaeth full on the mouth and enjoyed the blush which coloured those smooth, pale cheeks.
Elaeth glanced around, smiling a little though he was terribly embarrassed. “Exhibitionist,” he mumbled and Jack laughed out loud.
* * *
Ianto thundered down the stairs, heading for the front door. “Da, I’m going out!” he yelled.
He reached the door and had it half opened before Iestyn came out into the hallway. “Hold on a minute, Ianto.”
“Oh, but, Da I wanna go and play.”
“Just a minute.” He sat down on the stairs and patted the space next to him. Ianto sighed and joined his dad on the stairs, a few steps above him so their eyes were almost level.
“Your sister says I need to talk to you.”
“What about?”
“About how things are. I know things have been difficult for the last few years. You miss your mam. I do too.” He patted Ianto’s shoulder. “But this is how things are and we’ve got to deal with that. We should try and get on a bit better.”
Ianto wrinkled his nose. “You’re always shouting at me.”
Iestyn frowned. “If you’d behave I wouldn’t have to shout at you.”
Ianto shrugged sullenly and didn’t say anything.
Iestyn sighed. “Ianto, I’m trying to talk to you here. Communicate a little, you know?”
Ianto still didn’t say anything.
Iestyn put a hand on his back. “Ianto, come on. Give me a little effort here. I am your dad.”
Ianto glared at him. “I don’t want HehHe jsaopdj you. I want Mam!” he shouted. And before Iestyn could stop him, he was up and out the door.
Rhiannon came out of the den where she’d been listening to the conversation. “It was a good try, Da.”
Iestyn pulled her into a hug. “Why is he so difficult? He didn’t used to be like this. Just these past few years…”
“Da…maybe we should do something about mam.”
“Do something?”
“Get her some help. We…we can’t look after her properly here.”
Iestyn held her close. “You’re right. Just…I don’t think Ianto would ever forgive me if I sent her away.”
“I know but…I think we have to. She’s got worse over the years. Maybe if she got the right help, she’d get a little better.”
Iestyn kissed the top of Rhiannon’s head. “You’re right, cariad. I just don’t know how Ianto’s going to cope with it. And I don’t know how we’d ever afford it.”
* * *
It was early evening when Jack and Elaeth got back to the hub. Scott and Maggie had both gone. Alex was working in his office. Jack wasn’t sure if he ever left.
Jack squeezed Elaeth’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s find out about that boy.”
“How?”
Jack held up his scanner. “With this. I love this thing. Remote DNA sensors.”
Elaeth looked suitably impressed. Jack grinned. That was one of the things Jack liked about Elaeth. He was easily impressed, especially by Jack.
Jack swung down towards the computers and hooked up the scanner. He input the data into the search on the database and waited. Elaeth came up behind him.
“Do you really think this boy is the source of the readings?” he asked, smoothing down Jack’s lapels.
“Looks like it. Probably had some exposure to some sort of alien artefact. Something coming through the rift. Like that Johnson bloke last year. Remember? He found that collection of marbles and ended up losing his centre of gravity and bashing his head on the ceiling.”
Elaeth giggled. “Yeah. He was so cross!”
Jack grinned, leaning back in his chair as the computer conducted its search. “Hey, look.”
“What?”
“We’re alone.”
Elaeth chewed his lip. “No we’re not. Alex is still here.”
“He’s always here,” said Jack, dismissively. “He doesn’t care.”
“I don’t wanna do anything in front of him.”
“We could nip off downstairs somewhere. Ten minutes?”
Elaeth shook his head. “Not here,” he whispered. “You’re not mad at me?”
Jack shrugged. “No. We’ll get together later instead. At my place.”
Elaeth blushed, his cheeks almost matching his dark red hair. Jack smiled affectionately. Every time he gazed at Elaeth’s hair, he was reminded of the passion they shared in bed, reminded of the flush he brought to Elaeth’s body.
“Do you think they know?” said Elaeth, fiddling with one of Jack’s buttons. “The others, I mean?”
“Probably. Does it matter?”
Elaeth ran his hand through his fiery hair. “Dunno. Just don’t say anything, will you?”
Jack smiled and hugged Elaeth to his side. “I won’t.”
Elaeth smiled. “Thanks. I’m not…embarrassed or anything. I just don’t want them to know…that we’re…”
“They won’t care, you know. But don’t worry. I won’t talk about it.”
The computer beeped smugly. It had finished the scan. Jack leaned forwards and looked at the information it presented.
“Found it.”
“Really? Wow.” Elaeth’s deep green eyes went wide.
Jack glanced at him and grinned. Impressed again. “Yeah. Hmm. Ianto Jones. Ten years old. Mum, dad, sister. Looks normal. Lives in Newport.” He took Elaeth’s hand and squeezed it. “Come on, beautiful,” he said and Elaeth beamed.
“Let’s go find this kid! Sooner we find him, the sooner we can head back to my place and get it on!”
Elaeth giggled as he was led back out of the hub.
* * *
Ianto wasn’t going to think of anything but running. He ran as fast as he could, listening to the pounding of his heart and the thudding of his sneakers on the pavement. He didn’t want to think about his mam. He didn’t want to think about what his Da had said. He didn’t want to think about anything. He just ran.
He clenched his fist around his blue orb as he ran. He’d reached the park now and he smiled when he saw there was nobody else there. Well, it was nearly tea time. Ianto hardly ever ate his tea and he hated having to sit there staring at his food until everybody else had finished. He avoided it as often as possible.
Ianto sat on the swing, one hand clutching his orb and the other clinging onto the slippery grey metal of the swing’s chain. He pushed off with his feet and began to swing lazily.
It was church tomorrow. Da would make him go to confession, because they’d argued. Ianto didn’t like it. He didn’t like talking to the priest. Sometimes, Ianto kept back all his sins from the priest and confessed them to only God.
He turned his orb over and over in his hands as he swung gently. There was nobody about. It was just him and God.
He clasped his hands together, the orb in between his palms. He focused on his knuckles and spoke in a whisper.
“Dear God, I’m sorry for running away from Da today. I’m sorry for shouting at him. I’m sorry for…not being the right kind of son for him. Please…please help mam get better, God. If you do, I promise I’ll behave. I’ll be a good boy. And God, bless Mam and Da and Rhiannon.” He paused and made the sign of the cross. “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”