Fic: Vizzini's Rule (101/105)
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 101
Rating: R
Warnings: Language and character death (again!)
Spoilers: Season One thru End of Days (1x13)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Chris Chibnall for dialogue and situations borrowed from End of Days - no infringement, only worship intended.
Summary: In which Jack is dead and then not and then dead again (although we don’t really know that yet!)…
Notes: Here is the next chapter. (Finally!) Sorry for the wait, real life has been kicking my arse lately. Seriously thinking of moving to Guam with teachwriteslash! Big *hugs* to thrace_adams for all her help with this story (and *squeeeee* - she knows why!) Oh! And I got the Welsh off the internet, so apologies if I got it wrong!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter One Hundred and One
Jack.
Ianto couldn’t breathe.
Jack.
He grasped Jack’s wrist, searching in vain for the strong pulse he’d felt against his lips a hundred times.
Jack.
Blue eyes stared at him, unseeing, unblinking.
Jack.
Never again. Never again, I said, never again… God, I didn’t mean this!
“Ianto.”
Jack.
“Ianto! Come on, we need you.”
It was Tosh, he realized fuzzily. He looked up.
“Come on, Ianto, just… just come here.”
He took Tosh’s outstretched hand and let her lead him away from Jack.
Jack.
“We need your retinal scan,” Gwen said quietly.
Ianto just stared at her. After an uncomfortable moment, she moved towards him hesitantly and raised the scanner. He didn’t blink. She took his scan and then stepped back quickly with muttered thanks. He still didn’t blink or move. He was vaguely aware that the others were completing the program, working to open the rift while he stared blindly at the monitors. Once Gwen had entered in all the information, the computer was ready to execute the protocol with one final warning: PROTOCOL ACTIVATION WILL ENDANGER TORCHWOOD INFRASTURCTURE.
Endanger Torchwood, Ianto read. Endanger Torchwood. No, no, nonono this isn’t right, this isn’t -
But Gwen had already hit OK.
The sound of the klaxon filled the Hub again. The ground began to shake beneath them. The lights dimmed then brightened, and then dimmed and brightened again.
We’re dead, Ianto thought dully and wished he had it in his heart to care.
But then Gwen screamed.
Jack was clutching at her leg.
Jack!
“What have you done?” Jack asked them all.
Ianto’s heart was in his throat as he stared at Jack, wondering if he’d well and truly gone mad.
JackohmygodjackyourealivehowhowyourealiveJACK!
Ianto felt all the hair on his body stand up as the smell of ozone filled the Hub. He turned, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from Jack to look at the water tower. The blue streaks of lightning he’d seen before ripped up the sides of the tower, but this time it didn’t stop. The electricity built in the room until Ianto could feel it in his teeth. The unbearable tension finally broke when the bolts of lightning coalesced into one solid beam of blue that tore along the tower and shot into the sky.
They stood dumbfounded and watched as the rift opened.
Suddenly, the shaking intensified, rocking the very foundations of the Hub. Ianto ran to Jack who was trying to get to his feet, hampered by Gwen’s ineffectual help.
“Help me move him!” Gwen begged.
Ianto didn’t bother to reply, he just grabbed Jack and pulled him up, wrapping a strong arm around his waist. Tosh and Owen had gone on ahead and were trying to get the doors open as Ianto and Gwen half carried, half dragged Jack along with them. When they reached the stairs, Ianto spied Jack’s coat hanging on the wall. Without even thinking about it, he reached his arm out to grab it as they passed. He had to let go of Jack to get down the stairs since they weren’t wide enough for three people. Those few seconds they were separated were more than enough for Ianto. As soon as Jack was near him, Ianto pulled his arm back around his shoulder and swore he’d never let go again.
It took some time to get up the stairs to street level. No one wanted to risk the elevator, not even Jack though he could still barely walk. He sent Gwen on ahead as Ianto helped him into his coat and then he sat on the step for a few seconds to catch his breath.
“This is always the hardest time,” he said between gasps.
Ianto’s mind reeled as he realized what Jack was really saying. “You’ve done this before, then?” he asked quietly as he pulled Jack to his feet once again. The stairs were starting to shake now as well and Ianto wanted to get outside as quickly as possible.
“Yeah,” Jack grimaced.
“So it’s nothing to do with the rift?”
“No, ‘fraid this is all me.”
“That’s… interesting,” Ianto said.
“Really?” Jack groaned as they started up another flight. “That’s not the response I usually get.”
“Do you usually go around telling people you can come back from the dead?” Ianto asked dryly. He paused for a second to let Jack catch his breath, wondering where this quiet acceptance had come from. Shock, he thought calmly, only explanation.
“Don’t make a habit of it, no,” Jack panted.
Ianto thought of something. “Did Owen know when he -?”
Jack shook his head. “No one knows. Well, Gwen, but -” Jack said.
“Gwen knew?” Ianto spoke carefully, trying very hard to keep the hurt out of his voice, but was sure he didn’t succeed.
“Long story,” Jack said as they reached the top of the stairs. Ianto helped him through the Tourist Office and out the door. Once there, Gwen immediately clung to Jack again, pulling his arm across her shoulders.
“We have to get away from the rift,” she said as she began to pull Jack along the boardwalk.
No shit, Ianto thought unkindly as she lurched against Jack and knocked him into Ianto’s side.
The team made their way through the streets, putting as much distance between them and the rift as possible. As they staggered along, Gwen tried to persuade them all that everything was going to be all right again. Ianto wished she’d just shut it. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as Jack.
Suddenly at the end of the alley, a tall thin figure appeared out of nowhere.
Bilis.
Gwen dropped Jack’s arm and walked a few paces beyond them, leaving Jack to clutch at Ianto so he didn’t fall.
Bilis stared at the Torchwood team, joy and triumph written across his features. “From out of the darkness,” Bilis intoned. “He is come!”
Oh God, Ianto thought. I’ve read those words before. It’s - oh God, what was its name?
“What is he talking about?” Gwen yelled.
Bilis answered as though she had addressed the question to him. “Son of the Great Beast, cast out before time, chained in rock and imprisoned beneath the rift.” The words had the feel of an incantation to them.
“What?” Gwen yelled again.
“All hail Abaddon,” Bilis said reverently, looking over their heads, into the sky behind them. “The Great Devourer, come to feast on life.”
Slowly, everyone turned to look. Ianto blinked hard, trying to clear his vision because he obviously couldn’t be seeing what he thought he was seeing. It’s not real, it’s a trick, another vision, he thought as he gaped at the beast, towering one hundred stories high, the devil himself, curled horns framing its terrifying face.
“The whole world shall die beneath his shadow.” Bilis’s words were almost a caress. The sound of screams filled the air as the beast began to stomp across Cardiff. “I look upon you, my god, and know my work is done.”
And Bilis was gone.
Ianto couldn’t tear his eyes from the beast. Oh God, what have we done?
“How do we stop it?” Gwen hurried back to her Captain, a loyal little soldier once again. “Tell me what to do, Jack.”
Jack glanced around at the team and Ianto wondered for an instant if he was just going to tell them all to go to hell. We deserve it, all of us, Ianto thought. He tightened his grip on Jack, holding on for as long as he could.
“Just you,” Jack said, looking right at Gwen. “Get me to an open space.”
Ianto felt Jack’s hand tighten on his shoulder and, as Gwen pulled Jack’s arm around her and led him away, his eyes met Ianto’s for one brief second. As he watched Jack hobble away, aided and hindered equally by Gwen’s overenthusiastic assistance, Ianto suddenly wondered if that look would be his only goodbye.
“Will someone please tell me what the fuck that is?” Owen muttered quietly.
“Abaddon, the Great Devourer, Son of the Beast. He’ll lead the world into shadow. Don’t you ever listen?” Ianto said testily.
“It can’t be… This, this is wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Owen yelled.
“Supposed to happen? What the hell are you talking about?”
“The rift! I was just trying to… to get…”
“Oh my God,” Ianto said as Owen’s voice trailed off. “You were still trying to get Diane back, weren’t you? God, I’m such a twll dîn. I never should have listened to you.”
“Well, no one forced you. You volunteered, remember?”
“Yeah,” Ianto said hollowly. “I remember. I just thought… I thought it was the only way to stop it.”
“Me too.” Tosh finally spoke up, turning from the vision of Abaddon still stomping through the city. “I saw… I thought we were stopping the darkness, not helping it escape.”
“Who did you see?” Ianto asked Tosh.
She looked up at him, startled. “My mother,” she whispered.
Ianto nodded. “I… Lisa told me that thousands of people would die if I didn’t open the rift.” He swallowed hard. “I should have listened to Jack, it was just… so…”
“So real,” Owen said. “I saw Diane, touched her. She was a real as you. She said she was lost… in the rift.”
“Bilis,” Tosh said firmly. “He showed Gwen that vision of Rhys, too. He played us.”
“Just like Jack said,” Ianto sighed. “And now he’s…” He couldn’t finish that thought.
They all dropped their eyes, staring at the ground as guilt overwhelmed them. Ianto looked up and watched as Abaddon changed direction, wondering where it was going now, where Jack was, what he could possibly do to put things right. And even if he can, how can I? How can he ever forgive me? Any of us?
“Look!” Tosh breathed.
Something was definitely happening. Abaddon’s roar had changed to a scream. They could just make it out over the tops of the buildings, flailing and thrashing, tiny cracks of light appearing on its body like wounds. Then, with a thud that shook the ground they stood on, Abaddon fell.
Tosh, Ianto and Owen all stumbled and fell as the earth heaved beneath them. Ianto felt a tremendous pressure in his head, like all the worst hangovers of his life were happening simultaneously. He cried out and then it was gone - the pressure, the shaking, the roars of the ancient beast, it was all gone.
He shook his head and stood up, reaching down to help Tosh to her feet as well. Owen was still scrambling up when Tosh and Ianto shared one speaking look and then took off at a run.
“Hey! Where’re you going?” Owen hollered as he tried to catch up.
“Hub,” Ianto shouted succinctly without turning around.
“Comms!” Tosh added. “We need to find Jack!”
Jack, Ianto thought.
Jack.
TBC in Chapter One-Hundred and Two
*twll dîn = arsehole
Rating: R
Warnings: Language and character death (again!)
Spoilers: Season One thru End of Days (1x13)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Chris Chibnall for dialogue and situations borrowed from End of Days - no infringement, only worship intended.
Summary: In which Jack is dead and then not and then dead again (although we don’t really know that yet!)…
Notes: Here is the next chapter. (Finally!) Sorry for the wait, real life has been kicking my arse lately. Seriously thinking of moving to Guam with teachwriteslash! Big *hugs* to thrace_adams for all her help with this story (and *squeeeee* - she knows why!) Oh! And I got the Welsh off the internet, so apologies if I got it wrong!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter One Hundred and One
Jack.
Ianto couldn’t breathe.
Jack.
He grasped Jack’s wrist, searching in vain for the strong pulse he’d felt against his lips a hundred times.
Jack.
Blue eyes stared at him, unseeing, unblinking.
Jack.
Never again. Never again, I said, never again… God, I didn’t mean this!
“Ianto.”
Jack.
“Ianto! Come on, we need you.”
It was Tosh, he realized fuzzily. He looked up.
“Come on, Ianto, just… just come here.”
He took Tosh’s outstretched hand and let her lead him away from Jack.
Jack.
“We need your retinal scan,” Gwen said quietly.
Ianto just stared at her. After an uncomfortable moment, she moved towards him hesitantly and raised the scanner. He didn’t blink. She took his scan and then stepped back quickly with muttered thanks. He still didn’t blink or move. He was vaguely aware that the others were completing the program, working to open the rift while he stared blindly at the monitors. Once Gwen had entered in all the information, the computer was ready to execute the protocol with one final warning: PROTOCOL ACTIVATION WILL ENDANGER TORCHWOOD INFRASTURCTURE.
Endanger Torchwood, Ianto read. Endanger Torchwood. No, no, nonono this isn’t right, this isn’t -
But Gwen had already hit OK.
The sound of the klaxon filled the Hub again. The ground began to shake beneath them. The lights dimmed then brightened, and then dimmed and brightened again.
We’re dead, Ianto thought dully and wished he had it in his heart to care.
But then Gwen screamed.
Jack was clutching at her leg.
Jack!
“What have you done?” Jack asked them all.
Ianto’s heart was in his throat as he stared at Jack, wondering if he’d well and truly gone mad.
JackohmygodjackyourealivehowhowyourealiveJACK!
Ianto felt all the hair on his body stand up as the smell of ozone filled the Hub. He turned, reluctantly dragging his eyes away from Jack to look at the water tower. The blue streaks of lightning he’d seen before ripped up the sides of the tower, but this time it didn’t stop. The electricity built in the room until Ianto could feel it in his teeth. The unbearable tension finally broke when the bolts of lightning coalesced into one solid beam of blue that tore along the tower and shot into the sky.
They stood dumbfounded and watched as the rift opened.
Suddenly, the shaking intensified, rocking the very foundations of the Hub. Ianto ran to Jack who was trying to get to his feet, hampered by Gwen’s ineffectual help.
“Help me move him!” Gwen begged.
Ianto didn’t bother to reply, he just grabbed Jack and pulled him up, wrapping a strong arm around his waist. Tosh and Owen had gone on ahead and were trying to get the doors open as Ianto and Gwen half carried, half dragged Jack along with them. When they reached the stairs, Ianto spied Jack’s coat hanging on the wall. Without even thinking about it, he reached his arm out to grab it as they passed. He had to let go of Jack to get down the stairs since they weren’t wide enough for three people. Those few seconds they were separated were more than enough for Ianto. As soon as Jack was near him, Ianto pulled his arm back around his shoulder and swore he’d never let go again.
It took some time to get up the stairs to street level. No one wanted to risk the elevator, not even Jack though he could still barely walk. He sent Gwen on ahead as Ianto helped him into his coat and then he sat on the step for a few seconds to catch his breath.
“This is always the hardest time,” he said between gasps.
Ianto’s mind reeled as he realized what Jack was really saying. “You’ve done this before, then?” he asked quietly as he pulled Jack to his feet once again. The stairs were starting to shake now as well and Ianto wanted to get outside as quickly as possible.
“Yeah,” Jack grimaced.
“So it’s nothing to do with the rift?”
“No, ‘fraid this is all me.”
“That’s… interesting,” Ianto said.
“Really?” Jack groaned as they started up another flight. “That’s not the response I usually get.”
“Do you usually go around telling people you can come back from the dead?” Ianto asked dryly. He paused for a second to let Jack catch his breath, wondering where this quiet acceptance had come from. Shock, he thought calmly, only explanation.
“Don’t make a habit of it, no,” Jack panted.
Ianto thought of something. “Did Owen know when he -?”
Jack shook his head. “No one knows. Well, Gwen, but -” Jack said.
“Gwen knew?” Ianto spoke carefully, trying very hard to keep the hurt out of his voice, but was sure he didn’t succeed.
“Long story,” Jack said as they reached the top of the stairs. Ianto helped him through the Tourist Office and out the door. Once there, Gwen immediately clung to Jack again, pulling his arm across her shoulders.
“We have to get away from the rift,” she said as she began to pull Jack along the boardwalk.
No shit, Ianto thought unkindly as she lurched against Jack and knocked him into Ianto’s side.
The team made their way through the streets, putting as much distance between them and the rift as possible. As they staggered along, Gwen tried to persuade them all that everything was going to be all right again. Ianto wished she’d just shut it. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as Jack.
Suddenly at the end of the alley, a tall thin figure appeared out of nowhere.
Bilis.
Gwen dropped Jack’s arm and walked a few paces beyond them, leaving Jack to clutch at Ianto so he didn’t fall.
Bilis stared at the Torchwood team, joy and triumph written across his features. “From out of the darkness,” Bilis intoned. “He is come!”
Oh God, Ianto thought. I’ve read those words before. It’s - oh God, what was its name?
“What is he talking about?” Gwen yelled.
Bilis answered as though she had addressed the question to him. “Son of the Great Beast, cast out before time, chained in rock and imprisoned beneath the rift.” The words had the feel of an incantation to them.
“What?” Gwen yelled again.
“All hail Abaddon,” Bilis said reverently, looking over their heads, into the sky behind them. “The Great Devourer, come to feast on life.”
Slowly, everyone turned to look. Ianto blinked hard, trying to clear his vision because he obviously couldn’t be seeing what he thought he was seeing. It’s not real, it’s a trick, another vision, he thought as he gaped at the beast, towering one hundred stories high, the devil himself, curled horns framing its terrifying face.
“The whole world shall die beneath his shadow.” Bilis’s words were almost a caress. The sound of screams filled the air as the beast began to stomp across Cardiff. “I look upon you, my god, and know my work is done.”
And Bilis was gone.
Ianto couldn’t tear his eyes from the beast. Oh God, what have we done?
“How do we stop it?” Gwen hurried back to her Captain, a loyal little soldier once again. “Tell me what to do, Jack.”
Jack glanced around at the team and Ianto wondered for an instant if he was just going to tell them all to go to hell. We deserve it, all of us, Ianto thought. He tightened his grip on Jack, holding on for as long as he could.
“Just you,” Jack said, looking right at Gwen. “Get me to an open space.”
Ianto felt Jack’s hand tighten on his shoulder and, as Gwen pulled Jack’s arm around her and led him away, his eyes met Ianto’s for one brief second. As he watched Jack hobble away, aided and hindered equally by Gwen’s overenthusiastic assistance, Ianto suddenly wondered if that look would be his only goodbye.
“Will someone please tell me what the fuck that is?” Owen muttered quietly.
“Abaddon, the Great Devourer, Son of the Beast. He’ll lead the world into shadow. Don’t you ever listen?” Ianto said testily.
“It can’t be… This, this is wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Owen yelled.
“Supposed to happen? What the hell are you talking about?”
“The rift! I was just trying to… to get…”
“Oh my God,” Ianto said as Owen’s voice trailed off. “You were still trying to get Diane back, weren’t you? God, I’m such a twll dîn. I never should have listened to you.”
“Well, no one forced you. You volunteered, remember?”
“Yeah,” Ianto said hollowly. “I remember. I just thought… I thought it was the only way to stop it.”
“Me too.” Tosh finally spoke up, turning from the vision of Abaddon still stomping through the city. “I saw… I thought we were stopping the darkness, not helping it escape.”
“Who did you see?” Ianto asked Tosh.
She looked up at him, startled. “My mother,” she whispered.
Ianto nodded. “I… Lisa told me that thousands of people would die if I didn’t open the rift.” He swallowed hard. “I should have listened to Jack, it was just… so…”
“So real,” Owen said. “I saw Diane, touched her. She was a real as you. She said she was lost… in the rift.”
“Bilis,” Tosh said firmly. “He showed Gwen that vision of Rhys, too. He played us.”
“Just like Jack said,” Ianto sighed. “And now he’s…” He couldn’t finish that thought.
They all dropped their eyes, staring at the ground as guilt overwhelmed them. Ianto looked up and watched as Abaddon changed direction, wondering where it was going now, where Jack was, what he could possibly do to put things right. And even if he can, how can I? How can he ever forgive me? Any of us?
“Look!” Tosh breathed.
Something was definitely happening. Abaddon’s roar had changed to a scream. They could just make it out over the tops of the buildings, flailing and thrashing, tiny cracks of light appearing on its body like wounds. Then, with a thud that shook the ground they stood on, Abaddon fell.
Tosh, Ianto and Owen all stumbled and fell as the earth heaved beneath them. Ianto felt a tremendous pressure in his head, like all the worst hangovers of his life were happening simultaneously. He cried out and then it was gone - the pressure, the shaking, the roars of the ancient beast, it was all gone.
He shook his head and stood up, reaching down to help Tosh to her feet as well. Owen was still scrambling up when Tosh and Ianto shared one speaking look and then took off at a run.
“Hey! Where’re you going?” Owen hollered as he tried to catch up.
“Hub,” Ianto shouted succinctly without turning around.
“Comms!” Tosh added. “We need to find Jack!”
Jack, Ianto thought.
Jack.
TBC in Chapter One-Hundred and Two
*twll dîn = arsehole