Fic: The Sea After a Storm (41/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 41
Rating: R
Warnings: Bit of language
Spoilers: Season Two thru To the Last Man (2x03)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Helen Raynor for situations borrowed from To the Last Man. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which the time shift begins and Torchwood has to say goodbye to Tommy...
Notes: Sorry I didn't get this chapter up yesterday - late work thing. Ugh. We're closing in on the end of TTLM - hope you enjoy! You can find all the previous chapters to The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta, wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Forty-One
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: There was much naughtiness...
Ianto tried to catch Jack's eye in the rear view mirror, but the Captain was glaring out the windscreen with a frown on his face. Dropping his gaze to the box on his lap, Ianto sighed. He was in charge of Tommy's wardrobe for his trip home as they drove to St. Telio's Hospital. Owen and Gwen were in the SUV with them, but Tosh had rung earlier to say she would bring Tommy directly to St. Telio's and not to expect them at the Hub. Jack was worried that Tosh had let her heart overrule her head and was about to do something catastrophically stupid, but Ianto had calmed him down before Gwen and Owen arrived. He knew most of Jack's fears were stemming from the guilt he felt over Torchwood's part in Tommy's tragedy. Ianto sighed again and fiddled with the strap on the box and tried to think of something else. Not surprisingly, his thoughts drifted to the night before...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
After they'd cleaned up a bit from their love-making, Jack wrapped Ianto in his arms and they both drifted off to sleep. However, only an hour or so later, Ianto was pulled from his slumber by the sheer tension in the warm body next to him.
"What is it?" he whispered, not moving his head from where it was resting on Jack's chest.
The arm around Ianto's shoulders tensed even further. "Sorry," Jack said roughly. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't," Ianto lied and snuggled a little closer. "Jack, I've been thinking..."
"Uh-oh." Jack softened the tease with a chuckle.
Ianto rolled his eyes. "What if we..." He ground his teeth against the name, hardly able to believe he was about to suggest this. "What if we called... the Doctor, asked him to help? Not interfere with the time-shift, but he could be waiting for Tommy in 1918 and bring him back before - what?"
Jack was shaking his head just as he had done earlier that day.
"I know you said Tommy's fate has been written," Ianto argued. "But why can't we change it? He's just one man, just one more soldier to the slaughter," he added bitterly.
"Hey," Jack said soothingly, turning slightly so he could hold Ianto in both arms. "First off, if you take anything away from what's happening to Tommy, it should be that there's no such thing as 'just one man'. Secondly, I don't know that I could even reach the Doctor. And if I did, he'd probably take one look and find some way to blame Torchwood for the whole mess and refuse to help. And third... Ianto, Tommy won't remember us, not really. As soon as he goes back through the time shift, he'll start reverting back to who he was when Gerald and Harriet took him. Even if we could convince the Doctor to help, the Tommy he'd find after the breach is closed wouldn't be the man we know."
Jack's voice had dropped to a whisper and the last few words were tight with sorrow. Ianto could tell that Jack was fighting to stay detached, to be the Captain who could order Tommy to his death and not the man who shared Ianto's anger at the whole situation.
Ianto sighed. He had to accept that there was nothing he could do for Tommy and focus on Jack. "What can I do?" he asked.
Jack shrugged. "Nothing to do but see it through."
"Doesn't make it any easier, does it?"
"No. No, it never does." Jack dropped a kiss on the top of Ianto's head and then got out of bed. "Sleep a little longer," he said.
Ianto wanted to call Jack back to bed, but stopped himself. He wrestled with the desire to follow Jack up the ladder but knew his lover well enough to leave him alone. He listened to Jack moving around in his office for a while, muttering to himself, shuffling through papers on his desk. At one point, Ianto heard a tell-tale clunk and knew that Jack had pulled the rift key from its metal box again. He fell asleep imaging Jack leaning back in his chair, staring at the key with unseeing eyes as he tortured himself over Tommy's fate.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ianto was jolted from his reverie when the SUV came to a halt outside St. Telio's Hospital. It appeared they were the first to arrive since there was no sign of Tosh's car.
Jack yanked on the handbrake and muttered, "Goddammit."
Ianto caught Jack's glance in the rear view mirror. "They'll be here," he murmured.
The look in Jack's eyes softened. His lips parted, but before he could say anything, the sound of tyres on gravel distracted him and his eyes went shuttered and cold. Tosh and Tommy had arrived.
"Show time," Jack said as he opened his door.
Gwen and Owen, each carrying a portable rift-monitor kit, piled out of the SUV after Jack, leaving Ianto to bring up the rear. Once they were inside the hospital, Jack asked Ianto to take Tommy to get changed. As they left the main hall where the team was waiting, Ianto looked back to see Jack pull Tosh aside and hand her the rift key, saying something in urgent tones that Ianto couldn't quite make out.
Ianto led Tommy to one of the smaller rooms off the hall and waited while he changed, packing up Tommy's new clothes as he exchanged them for his t-shirt and striped pyjama bottoms. When he was ready, Ianto held up Tommy's uniform jacket just as he had done a thousand times for Jack. He smoothed the shoulders of the brown wool and suddenly found himself with a lump in his throat. When Tommy turned and gave him a sad smile, Ianto impulsively reached out to shake his hand.
"Everything I can think of sounds trite and stupid," Ianto said earnestly. "So I'll just say thank you and... and good luck, Tommy."
"I'm glad I got a chance to know you, Ianto. Remember what you promised, yeah?"
Ianto swallowed hard and nodded. "I will," he said roughly.
"She deserves a good life," Tommy said. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "I guess this is it," he added.
With a nod, Ianto picked up the box of clothing and followed Tommy out to rejoin the others.
"You know we can't be here when it happens," Jack said as Tosh handed Tommy the rift key.
Tommy nodded. Then, as if Jack's words had heralded the start of the shift, the rift monitors began to blare. Tommy flinched, but Ianto couldn't tell if it was from the sound of the alarms or from the time-shift itself. His own head was aching already. Nothing like his experience with Abaddon or in the Himalayas, but the pressure was building behind his eyes.
Tosh gave Tommy a worried glance and then led the team back into the hallway with a brusque, "Come on."
They meandered through the halls for a few minutes, Tommy growing more and more agitated as the shift gained momentum. They had just entered another ward when Tommy broke, running from the room as if the devil himself were on his heels.
"Tommy!" Tosh called as she ran after him.
Owen gave Ianto a pained look and then turned to follow Tosh.
"Stay here," Jack ordered, but Owen didn't listen and the two men hit the door at the same time.
"Bugger off," Owen growled when the Captain grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
"What are you gonna do, Owen? How're you gonna help? She doesn't need your sympathy right now, neither of them do. Stay here and monitor the shift."
Owen looked like he wanted to argue but Jack stared him down. After Jack left the room, Owen slammed his hand on the wall and shouted, "Fuck!" He took a second to get himself back under control and then set the monitor he was carrying on the floor and started doing his job.
Gwen looked over at Ianto, her bottom lip trembling. "This is just awful," she whispered.
Nodding, Ianto stepped closer to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. His head was pounding and he wasn't surprised by Owen's findings a few minutes later.
"It's getting stronger. This isn't the centre, though. Wonder why Tommy brought us here?" He looked up and Ianto shrugged.
"The tear couldn't have been in his ward or Gerald and Harriet wouldn't have been able to get him out of bed without him seeing himself. Did you ever figure out where Tosh and Tommy were when Torchwood saw them, Gwen?" Ianto asked.
"Um..." Gwen sniffed hard and tried to concentrate. "It wasn't a ward, you're right, Ianto. If I'm remembering right, it had to have been one of the smaller rooms, an operating theatre or something like that."
"What do you - " Owen broke off his question when Jack strode back into the ward. "Where's Tosh?"
"She's still talking to Tommy, he's... balking, just like Gerald's notes said."
Ianto closed his eyes and let his arm drop to his side when Gwen stepped over to Jack. He could only imagine what Tosh was going through right at that moment.
"This is a big one!" Owen called. His eyes were glued to the monitor which was blinking faster than Ianto had ever seen it. "Jack, if he doesn't use the key..."
"He'll use it," Jack ground out between clenched teeth. "Even if I have to go back with him to 1918 and make him use it." Jack ignore the startled glances the rest of the team shot at him and glanced at his watch and then back at the monitor. "That's it. Come on," he said.
Jack stalked down the hall with the rest of the team on his heels. Ianto was wondering if Jack would have to make good on his threat to force Tommy to cooperate, when Tosh appeared from around a corner ahead of them.
"Go! Go!" she shouted, waving them back.
They ran for the exit, not stopping until they were at the cars. Jack tossed Ianto the keys and shouted, "Blue lights! I'll get Tosh back."
Ianto nodded and tossed the box with Tommy's clothes on the back seat as he got in the SUV. He heard a brief discussion between Owen and Jack as he got the car started, but couldn't make out the details. He was surprised when Jack climbed in behind Gwen and gave him a terse, "Go."
"Yes, sir," Ianto said simply. He wanted to know why Jack had changed his mind about driving Tosh, but knew he wouldn't need to ask.
Less than thirty seconds after they'd pulled away from the hospital, Gwen turned in her seat and looked back at Jack. "Why didn't you go with Tosh?" she asked.
Jack glared at her. "Owen said he'd drive her and Tosh was all too happy not to be stuck in a car with me."
"Oh, Jack," she sympathised. "You know she doesn't blame you, not deep down."
Jack just snorted and looked out the window.
Ianto just drove a little faster.
TBC in Chapter Forty-Two
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/96172.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Rating: R
Warnings: Bit of language
Spoilers: Season Two thru To the Last Man (2x03)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Helen Raynor for situations borrowed from To the Last Man. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which the time shift begins and Torchwood has to say goodbye to Tommy...
Notes: Sorry I didn't get this chapter up yesterday - late work thing. Ugh. We're closing in on the end of TTLM - hope you enjoy! You can find all the previous chapters to The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta, wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Forty-One
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: There was much naughtiness...
Ianto tried to catch Jack's eye in the rear view mirror, but the Captain was glaring out the windscreen with a frown on his face. Dropping his gaze to the box on his lap, Ianto sighed. He was in charge of Tommy's wardrobe for his trip home as they drove to St. Telio's Hospital. Owen and Gwen were in the SUV with them, but Tosh had rung earlier to say she would bring Tommy directly to St. Telio's and not to expect them at the Hub. Jack was worried that Tosh had let her heart overrule her head and was about to do something catastrophically stupid, but Ianto had calmed him down before Gwen and Owen arrived. He knew most of Jack's fears were stemming from the guilt he felt over Torchwood's part in Tommy's tragedy. Ianto sighed again and fiddled with the strap on the box and tried to think of something else. Not surprisingly, his thoughts drifted to the night before...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
After they'd cleaned up a bit from their love-making, Jack wrapped Ianto in his arms and they both drifted off to sleep. However, only an hour or so later, Ianto was pulled from his slumber by the sheer tension in the warm body next to him.
"What is it?" he whispered, not moving his head from where it was resting on Jack's chest.
The arm around Ianto's shoulders tensed even further. "Sorry," Jack said roughly. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't," Ianto lied and snuggled a little closer. "Jack, I've been thinking..."
"Uh-oh." Jack softened the tease with a chuckle.
Ianto rolled his eyes. "What if we..." He ground his teeth against the name, hardly able to believe he was about to suggest this. "What if we called... the Doctor, asked him to help? Not interfere with the time-shift, but he could be waiting for Tommy in 1918 and bring him back before - what?"
Jack was shaking his head just as he had done earlier that day.
"I know you said Tommy's fate has been written," Ianto argued. "But why can't we change it? He's just one man, just one more soldier to the slaughter," he added bitterly.
"Hey," Jack said soothingly, turning slightly so he could hold Ianto in both arms. "First off, if you take anything away from what's happening to Tommy, it should be that there's no such thing as 'just one man'. Secondly, I don't know that I could even reach the Doctor. And if I did, he'd probably take one look and find some way to blame Torchwood for the whole mess and refuse to help. And third... Ianto, Tommy won't remember us, not really. As soon as he goes back through the time shift, he'll start reverting back to who he was when Gerald and Harriet took him. Even if we could convince the Doctor to help, the Tommy he'd find after the breach is closed wouldn't be the man we know."
Jack's voice had dropped to a whisper and the last few words were tight with sorrow. Ianto could tell that Jack was fighting to stay detached, to be the Captain who could order Tommy to his death and not the man who shared Ianto's anger at the whole situation.
Ianto sighed. He had to accept that there was nothing he could do for Tommy and focus on Jack. "What can I do?" he asked.
Jack shrugged. "Nothing to do but see it through."
"Doesn't make it any easier, does it?"
"No. No, it never does." Jack dropped a kiss on the top of Ianto's head and then got out of bed. "Sleep a little longer," he said.
Ianto wanted to call Jack back to bed, but stopped himself. He wrestled with the desire to follow Jack up the ladder but knew his lover well enough to leave him alone. He listened to Jack moving around in his office for a while, muttering to himself, shuffling through papers on his desk. At one point, Ianto heard a tell-tale clunk and knew that Jack had pulled the rift key from its metal box again. He fell asleep imaging Jack leaning back in his chair, staring at the key with unseeing eyes as he tortured himself over Tommy's fate.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ianto was jolted from his reverie when the SUV came to a halt outside St. Telio's Hospital. It appeared they were the first to arrive since there was no sign of Tosh's car.
Jack yanked on the handbrake and muttered, "Goddammit."
Ianto caught Jack's glance in the rear view mirror. "They'll be here," he murmured.
The look in Jack's eyes softened. His lips parted, but before he could say anything, the sound of tyres on gravel distracted him and his eyes went shuttered and cold. Tosh and Tommy had arrived.
"Show time," Jack said as he opened his door.
Gwen and Owen, each carrying a portable rift-monitor kit, piled out of the SUV after Jack, leaving Ianto to bring up the rear. Once they were inside the hospital, Jack asked Ianto to take Tommy to get changed. As they left the main hall where the team was waiting, Ianto looked back to see Jack pull Tosh aside and hand her the rift key, saying something in urgent tones that Ianto couldn't quite make out.
Ianto led Tommy to one of the smaller rooms off the hall and waited while he changed, packing up Tommy's new clothes as he exchanged them for his t-shirt and striped pyjama bottoms. When he was ready, Ianto held up Tommy's uniform jacket just as he had done a thousand times for Jack. He smoothed the shoulders of the brown wool and suddenly found himself with a lump in his throat. When Tommy turned and gave him a sad smile, Ianto impulsively reached out to shake his hand.
"Everything I can think of sounds trite and stupid," Ianto said earnestly. "So I'll just say thank you and... and good luck, Tommy."
"I'm glad I got a chance to know you, Ianto. Remember what you promised, yeah?"
Ianto swallowed hard and nodded. "I will," he said roughly.
"She deserves a good life," Tommy said. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "I guess this is it," he added.
With a nod, Ianto picked up the box of clothing and followed Tommy out to rejoin the others.
"You know we can't be here when it happens," Jack said as Tosh handed Tommy the rift key.
Tommy nodded. Then, as if Jack's words had heralded the start of the shift, the rift monitors began to blare. Tommy flinched, but Ianto couldn't tell if it was from the sound of the alarms or from the time-shift itself. His own head was aching already. Nothing like his experience with Abaddon or in the Himalayas, but the pressure was building behind his eyes.
Tosh gave Tommy a worried glance and then led the team back into the hallway with a brusque, "Come on."
They meandered through the halls for a few minutes, Tommy growing more and more agitated as the shift gained momentum. They had just entered another ward when Tommy broke, running from the room as if the devil himself were on his heels.
"Tommy!" Tosh called as she ran after him.
Owen gave Ianto a pained look and then turned to follow Tosh.
"Stay here," Jack ordered, but Owen didn't listen and the two men hit the door at the same time.
"Bugger off," Owen growled when the Captain grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
"What are you gonna do, Owen? How're you gonna help? She doesn't need your sympathy right now, neither of them do. Stay here and monitor the shift."
Owen looked like he wanted to argue but Jack stared him down. After Jack left the room, Owen slammed his hand on the wall and shouted, "Fuck!" He took a second to get himself back under control and then set the monitor he was carrying on the floor and started doing his job.
Gwen looked over at Ianto, her bottom lip trembling. "This is just awful," she whispered.
Nodding, Ianto stepped closer to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. His head was pounding and he wasn't surprised by Owen's findings a few minutes later.
"It's getting stronger. This isn't the centre, though. Wonder why Tommy brought us here?" He looked up and Ianto shrugged.
"The tear couldn't have been in his ward or Gerald and Harriet wouldn't have been able to get him out of bed without him seeing himself. Did you ever figure out where Tosh and Tommy were when Torchwood saw them, Gwen?" Ianto asked.
"Um..." Gwen sniffed hard and tried to concentrate. "It wasn't a ward, you're right, Ianto. If I'm remembering right, it had to have been one of the smaller rooms, an operating theatre or something like that."
"What do you - " Owen broke off his question when Jack strode back into the ward. "Where's Tosh?"
"She's still talking to Tommy, he's... balking, just like Gerald's notes said."
Ianto closed his eyes and let his arm drop to his side when Gwen stepped over to Jack. He could only imagine what Tosh was going through right at that moment.
"This is a big one!" Owen called. His eyes were glued to the monitor which was blinking faster than Ianto had ever seen it. "Jack, if he doesn't use the key..."
"He'll use it," Jack ground out between clenched teeth. "Even if I have to go back with him to 1918 and make him use it." Jack ignore the startled glances the rest of the team shot at him and glanced at his watch and then back at the monitor. "That's it. Come on," he said.
Jack stalked down the hall with the rest of the team on his heels. Ianto was wondering if Jack would have to make good on his threat to force Tommy to cooperate, when Tosh appeared from around a corner ahead of them.
"Go! Go!" she shouted, waving them back.
They ran for the exit, not stopping until they were at the cars. Jack tossed Ianto the keys and shouted, "Blue lights! I'll get Tosh back."
Ianto nodded and tossed the box with Tommy's clothes on the back seat as he got in the SUV. He heard a brief discussion between Owen and Jack as he got the car started, but couldn't make out the details. He was surprised when Jack climbed in behind Gwen and gave him a terse, "Go."
"Yes, sir," Ianto said simply. He wanted to know why Jack had changed his mind about driving Tosh, but knew he wouldn't need to ask.
Less than thirty seconds after they'd pulled away from the hospital, Gwen turned in her seat and looked back at Jack. "Why didn't you go with Tosh?" she asked.
Jack glared at her. "Owen said he'd drive her and Tosh was all too happy not to be stuck in a car with me."
"Oh, Jack," she sympathised. "You know she doesn't blame you, not deep down."
Jack just snorted and looked out the window.
Ianto just drove a little faster.
TBC in Chapter Forty-Two
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/96172.html. Please comment there using OpenID.