A New Calling
Title: A New Calling
Series: Angels and Aliens
Fandom: Torchwood/Supernatural
Characters/Pairing: Ianto, Gabriel
Spoilers/Warnings: Changing Channels,
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or Supernatural
Summary: Ianto snorted, "A pagan god hanging out in a church?"
Ianto had only ever been to church a couple of times with his dad and never after he died but he felt compelled to go that night. He didn't know what drew him to the small Catholic Church on the outskirts of Cardiff. Maybe it was the fact that it was small and wouldn't see many people, maybe none at all while he was there. Maybe it was because it was so different from the ones his dad had taken him too. Whatever it was, Ianto walked in after a slow day of work and took a seat in the back pew.
He didn't feel like going up to the front, didn't feel comfortable praying to a god he didn't really believe in. Too many years of working with Torchwood had virtually destroyed what belief he once had.
What was he doing here? Why had he come? This place held no meaning to him and although empty, he felt like he didn't belong. He felt like he was being judged and found unworthy.
"I think you'll find you are more worthy than you realize."
Ianto jerked around in his seat, but there was no one, not even a priest. His hand automatically trailed to his hip before he realized he's left his weapon in the car out of respect.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
"Definitely not one of your aliens," the voice said mockingly.
Ianto frowned, "Who are you?"
"Gabriel." there was a pause, "well, some call me Gabriel. Others know me as the Trickster, a pagan god."
Ianto snorted, "A pagan god hanging out in a church?"
"I'm not really a god," was the reply and Gabriel sounded annoyed. "I just pretended to be one."
"Oh that makes it so much better," Ianto deadpanned.
Gabriel chuckled and Ianto looked around again, trying to find the source of the voice. Was Gabriel just invisible?
"I like you Ianto Jones. It's a good thing you're perfect for me."
Ianto frowned, "What do you mean? What are you?"
"I'm an Archangel," Gabriel answered. "You're my vessel."
"Really," Ianto said disbelieving. "Wow."
"Ianto Gareth Jones, second child of Gareth Daffyd Jones and Anwen Elizabeth Black. I met your grandparents actually, a hundred years ago in London. You grew up in Cardiff but moved to London when you dad was murdered, you never knew what did it…and yes I said what because it wasn't a human and it most certainly wasn't an alien. You use to be engaged to a Lisa Marie Hallet but she died after being converted into a cyberman. That's Torchwood for you."
Ianto was paling at hearing Gabriel spew random facts about his life and family. Not even Jack, who'd "apparently" read his file knew this.
Gabriel continued, "You've worked for Torchwood for five years, an impressive feat since most don't make it past their third, especially those operatives who worked for Jack Harkness. You're sleeping with Harkness now, you love him but you never say it because you know you're just a shag to him. Poor little shag."
"Shut up," Ianto snapped. "Shut up about my life, you don't know anything."
"But I do know Ianto," Gabriel replied softly. "You're my vessel, so I made a habit of knowing just in case."
Ianto looked down at his hands in shame. There was something that told him to believe, though Gabriel being an Archangel was preposterous. If Gabriel really did know everything, and was an angel, then he knew Ianto's deepest sins.
"Just in case?"
"In case I needed you to actually be my vessel, duh!"
Ianto frowned, Gabriel wasn't very angel like.
"Hello," Gabriel over exaggerated, "I pretended to be a pagan god for two thousand years. Of course it's not very angel like."
Ianto looked up above him, "Are you reading my mind?"
Gabriel was silent for a moment, "It's kind of automatic."
"Like spying on me?"
Gabriel laughed, "A little easier."
Ianto rolled his eyes, "Are all angels like you?"
"They're all dicks," Gabriel replied seriously. "Except for two and they both Fell."
Ianto shook his head, "This is all screwed up."
"You're telling me. The body I fashioned for myself 2000 years ago just got destroyed by Lucifer, Michael's bitching over the angel radio about how his vessel won't say yes, God's missing, Castiel's screwing Michael's vessel and Lucifer's true vessel keeps making moon eyes at me. You damn mud monkeys would really be annoying if you weren’t so useful."
"If your body was destroyed then why are you here?" Ianto asked.
Gabriel groaned, "Because you're my vessel; my meat suit; my not so holy civil servant. You're my new body."
Ianto flinched, stood and left the church as quickly as he could. He may have been warming up to Gabriel, but he wasn't going to let the 'angel' have his body. No way.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.
Ianto was alone in the Hub while the others were out tracking down an unknown being that had come through the rift. That had been two hours ago during which Ianto had cleaned and organized. Now though he was at loose ends, and it wasn't that he didn't have anything do to - there was plenty - it was just that he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to catalogue the archives and he certainly didn't want to complete half of Jack's paperwork.
"You could always say yes and not have to put up with their shit anymore."
Ianto jumped and sent one of Gwen's desk ornaments flying. "God dammit, do angels not know the meaning of knocking?"
"Funny," Gabriel replied. "That's what Dean says all the time. Are you sure you're not related."
Ianto shook his head and left Gwen's ornament to collect dirt. He honestly couldn't care less and he bet she wouldn't even miss it. She tended to be that way when it came to things Rhys had given her."
"I'm not saying yes."
He took a seat at Tosh's desk and angled it so that the CCTV didn't catch him speaking. Jack, or anyone else rarely went through the log unless it was needed but he was always cautious.
"But you want to," Gabriel countered. "And you will because you know it's the right thing to do."
"Reporting you to Jack is the right thing to do," Ianto said annoyed.
"Ah Jack," Gabriel said merrily. "I like Jack. Killing him is fun too and I don't have to reverse time just to be able to do it again."
Ianto cringed. He hated the thought of Jack dying, knew that Jack himself didn't like dying especially since coming back. Gabriel was so damn callous sometimes. It might be one of the few reasons he still refused to say yes.
"Do you think he'd come back if I let your pterodactyl eat him?"
"Fuck you," Ianto snapped. "Don't you care about anyone? Don't you care about what you do to them?"
"Course I do. I'm the Angel of Judgment."
"Doesn't mean you care." Ianto said. "You don't care about anyone do you?"
"I do."
"You don't!" Ianto yelled. "How can you say you do when you talk about how much fun it is to kill someone?"
Gabriel was silent for a long time and Ianto thought he'd left. It was kind of what they did. When one pushed the other too hard they ran, not wanting to face what had been said. Ianto was about to get up and leave when Gabriel finally spoke.
"Because it hurts." There was pain and sorrow in his voice and it was so powerful Ianto wanted to cry. "My brothers are destined to kill each other. They keep fighting, pulling the rest of us in, going against our Father's plan and they're dying. So many of my brothers have already died and I just want it to end. You don't know how it is for us."
Ianto bowed his head to hide the tears that were slipping from his eyes. He stilled when something brushed his shoulders and then again. And then a great peace washed over him and he knew that Gabriel was comforting him, him when it was Gabriel who needed it.
"I don't do mushy," Gabriel told him.
Ianto chuckled as he wiped the tears off his face. "Doesn't mean you don't need it."
Gabriel snorted, "Nah, I'll leave the neediness to my brother Castiel. Besides, I'm not completely sure that if I showed myself to you your eyes wouldn't burn. I'm pretty sure they're the only reason Harkness sleeps with you."
Ianto scowled, "Get the fuck out of here Gabriel."
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.
Ianto dashed through the Hub gathering supplies and handing them off to either Tosh or Owen. Jack and Gwen needed back up and they needed it fast. They'd gone out on a minor rift alert, Gwen because she'd been the one on monitor duty that day and Jack because he was bored and she had asked. It annoyed Ianto to no end that Jack usually just dropped everything for Gwen, but Gwen needed the back up, they all did except for Jack really.
"Hurry up," Owen growled, grabbing a specially modified weapon and the medical bag before making his way to the garage.
Ianto handed Tosh one of the weapons, keeping another for himself and followed. They were on a time constraint, he understood that but they needed to go into the situation prepared and rushing wouldn't accomplish that. It also didn't help that what they need to combat this particular species wasn't part of the standard kits.
"If you don't get in this car right now I'm leaving without you," Owen snapped, starting up the engine.
"Oh shut up," Ianto grumbled getting into the back seat beside Tosh.
"God your concern makes me wonder if you're still sleeping with Gwen," he mumbled under his breath.
From the look Tosh gave him he realized he hadn't said that soft enough and cringed. Gabriel was beginning to rub off on him, and not in a good way. He'd noticed lately that he'd been eating an absurd amount of sweets, thanks to the angel, and now he was starting to freaking sound like him. Wonderful.
He ignored Tosh and checked his gun and other supplies again to make sure they were in working order. Anything to keep him from looking at Tosh and facing her questions. At least she wouldn't push them like Gwen.
Their rescue mission took them to Splot, down by the river. Jack and Gwen were between a rock and five Grasys, large humanoid beasts with thick hides and wide frames. They were unnaturally agile and had technology only marginally superior to Earth's presently. Torchwood's first encounter with them had not gone well, but they'd been vastly unprepared despite the acquired alien technology.
Jack and Gwen were running out of amo and they immediately charged into action. It was amazing that they'd survived so long already. Grasys weren't dangerous because of their technology, but because of their ability to control the elements. The team's modified weapons, however, didn't work as planned. The plasma rounds didn't penetrate the hide but it didn't seem to cause them some pain.
With the playing field evened out now three of the Grasys turned from Jack and Gwen and advanced on Ianto and the others. They split up, isolating their targets even though it isolated them as well.
Ianto led his opponent to the left and drew back so that he could duck behind a tree if needed. He wasn't taking any chances. Jack may be able to come back from the dead but he didn't and God, that sounded more like Gabriel than he wanted. He was going to have to put a stop to the Archangel visiting if this kept up.
He fired off three plasma rounds at the advancing Grasys, but it only stopped and gave him a look. Ianto flinched. The most dangerous part of them were the eyes, which were also the most protected. A Grasys' eyes could alter any kind of natural element if they focused on it long enough. Some scientists had theorized that it wasn't they eyes, per say, but that they had to see what they were doing in order to do it. That theory certainly proved true when, in order to defeat the Grasys the first time they'd thrown every weapon they had at the eyes.
The report had mentioned the creation of fires, earthquakes and storms. Ianto feared any number of these and more, because the elements had so many different ways of being used. He shot two more plasma bursts, directed at the eyes, meant more as a distraction than anything else.
What Ianto didn't anticipate were the other four Grasys turning on him as well. "Oh shit," he muttered when he noticed they were all standing still and focusing their eyes, two towards the sky, two towards the earth and one directly at him.
Ianto looked around, but there was really nothing he could do. The tree would probably be used against him and the ground could swallow him up. Unless by some miracle happening he was a goner.
The ground shook, the sky rumbled as clouds gathered and heat gathered round Ianto. The others tried shooting the Grasys, but they'd reacted too late, always too late and always with Ianto in the face of death. Ianto seriously contemplated his place on the team. He was accepted by them, that he'd learned while Jack was away but ever since Jack had come back he'd been the odd man out. Jack had come back and things had fallen to the way they'd been before with few exceptions.
The wind picked up, the Earth shuddered making him unsteady on his feet, the tree beside him moved as if waking from a long sleep and the rumbling in the sky grew.
"Ianto get out of there!" Jack yelled, firing off his weapon again and herding the others away.
Why? Ianto wondered. Are you gonna rescue me if I don't? Ianto snorted. He only did that for Gwen, the idiot without common sense.
"You're the one with no common sense."
Ianto looked up and just beyond the clouds eh could see the edges of a brilliant pure light shining through.
"Ianto!" Jack yelled.
Ianto ignored him, focused on the angel. He had a choice to make. He doubted Gabriel would let him die, he was the being's vessel but he didn't think he could just ignored it. Gabriel cared and not just because he was a meat suit, and not like Jack. Gabriel cared for him more than that, Ianto had interacted with him long enough to learn that.
The head that had been building up around him flared as he was knocked to the ground. He cried out in pain and that was when Gabriel struck. Burning holy fire rained down, filling the expanse with light and purity. Ianto screamed, closed his eyes and covered his ears and managed to utter one single word.
"Yes."
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.
'Put. The. Suit. On.' Ianto growled.
'I'm not putting on a suit.' Gabriel replied annoyed. 'It does nothing for my image.'
'You don't have an image,' Ianto deadpanned. 'I like suits, so put it back on.'
Gabriel sighed in annoyance but snapped his fingers and Ianto's favoured suit magically replaced the casual dress he'd been wearing. He hadn't realized Ianto would be so tetchy about his suits. Least it was reasonably fashionable and not like Castiel's mish mash.
'It's smart looking,' Ianto stated. 'I would think you'd want to look intelligent at least.'
'I'm an Angel, I don't care.'
Ianto shrugged and receded into the background so Gabriel could focus on finding the Winchesters. He felt a small pang of regret for leaving Jack and Torchwood like this, but he reminded himself that this was for a more immediate cause, one that mattered a little more than aliens at the moment. If Lucifer won there wouldn't be anything left for humans to defend and the aliens to try and take over.