Torchwood -- Coming Back
Title: Coming Back
horizonssing Challenge: Day Twenty
Date Written: 7/26/08
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 533
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen and Martha and Francine and Mickey (mentioned)
Spoilers: Torchwood 02 and Doctor Who 04
Warnings: None
Author Notes: Waiting on the Dollhouse panel. Never read Dean Koonz, but he's funny!
But I was in search of love in those days, and I went full of curiousity and the faint, unrecognized apprehension that here, at last, I should find that low door in the wall, which others, I knew, had found before me, which opened on an enclosed and enchaned garden, which was somewhere, not overlooked by any window, in the heart of that grey city.
- Evelyn Waugh,
Brideshead Revisited
Jack left Martha and Mickey in London, at her mother's with an apology, but he had to get back to Cardiff, back home to his team. Francine loaned him her car -- she understood the need to get back to family.
Jack had pulled ever single trick in the book to get back as fast as he could, using every name he knew -- including the Doctor's -- to get through the road. Entering Wales had made his heart sing, but when he'd seen Cardiff he had to slam on his brakes to get a better look, to make sure that the view was real.
Cardiff wasn't in ruins. Power, of course, was out, but most people had invested in personal generators after the bombings a few weeks ago, but for the most part it looked... normal.
The Plass was torn up, Dalek casings littering the ground as they'd tried to break into the Hub from above. Jack felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw the Information Booth blown to pieces. He had to climb over rubble to get them, losing his coat in the process for fear of snagging it.
A Dalek armor casing was thrown to the side at the roll door entry, but otherwise the Hub was just the same as he'd left it in, maybe in even better condition. He let out a sigh of relief. Beautiful, brilliant Toshiko had saved them one last time with her Time Bubble. He'd been counting on that to make sure Ianto and Gwen were safe.
"Gwen?" he called out, carefully stepping around a pile of rubbish. "Ianto? Anyone?"
He heard shuffling in his office and headed to the door, catching Ianto popping his head up out of the hatch down to his quarters. When the younger man caught a look at Jack he let out a relieved smile and hurried out of the hatch to hug him tight. "You came back."
"I told you I would," Jack replied, burying his face in Ianto's hair. "Where's Gwen?"
"She went home to Rhys after we cleared up some of the mess," he said, squeezing him a little harder. "Are -- are they -- "
"They're gone," Jack reassured him, running a hand down his back, remembering the way Ianto had paled at the Dalek message, how he'd shivered and clutched at the back of his shirt. "For good."
Ianto took a deep shuttering breath, then another one, relaxing against him. "I was scared," he admitted.
"So was I," Jack replied, kissing his forehead. "Daleks killed me the first time around. Did I ever tell you that?"
Ianto shook his head and looked up at him. "No, but that's not what I was worried about." He rested his head on Jack's shoulder again before whispering, "I thought you'd go away with him again. With the Doctor."
Jack closed his eyes and kissed his forehead again. He knew he deserved that, but it hurt a little to find that Ianto doubted him. "If I leave again with him, I'll tell you about it first, and I won't be gone for long."
Ianto pulled back and Jack touched his face. "I'm back. I'm home."
horizonssing Challenge: Day Twenty
Date Written: 7/26/08
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 533
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen and Martha and Francine and Mickey (mentioned)
Spoilers: Torchwood 02 and Doctor Who 04
Warnings: None
Author Notes: Waiting on the Dollhouse panel. Never read Dean Koonz, but he's funny!
But I was in search of love in those days, and I went full of curiousity and the faint, unrecognized apprehension that here, at last, I should find that low door in the wall, which others, I knew, had found before me, which opened on an enclosed and enchaned garden, which was somewhere, not overlooked by any window, in the heart of that grey city.
- Evelyn Waugh,
Brideshead Revisited
Jack left Martha and Mickey in London, at her mother's with an apology, but he had to get back to Cardiff, back home to his team. Francine loaned him her car -- she understood the need to get back to family.
Jack had pulled ever single trick in the book to get back as fast as he could, using every name he knew -- including the Doctor's -- to get through the road. Entering Wales had made his heart sing, but when he'd seen Cardiff he had to slam on his brakes to get a better look, to make sure that the view was real.
Cardiff wasn't in ruins. Power, of course, was out, but most people had invested in personal generators after the bombings a few weeks ago, but for the most part it looked... normal.
The Plass was torn up, Dalek casings littering the ground as they'd tried to break into the Hub from above. Jack felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw the Information Booth blown to pieces. He had to climb over rubble to get them, losing his coat in the process for fear of snagging it.
A Dalek armor casing was thrown to the side at the roll door entry, but otherwise the Hub was just the same as he'd left it in, maybe in even better condition. He let out a sigh of relief. Beautiful, brilliant Toshiko had saved them one last time with her Time Bubble. He'd been counting on that to make sure Ianto and Gwen were safe.
"Gwen?" he called out, carefully stepping around a pile of rubbish. "Ianto? Anyone?"
He heard shuffling in his office and headed to the door, catching Ianto popping his head up out of the hatch down to his quarters. When the younger man caught a look at Jack he let out a relieved smile and hurried out of the hatch to hug him tight. "You came back."
"I told you I would," Jack replied, burying his face in Ianto's hair. "Where's Gwen?"
"She went home to Rhys after we cleared up some of the mess," he said, squeezing him a little harder. "Are -- are they -- "
"They're gone," Jack reassured him, running a hand down his back, remembering the way Ianto had paled at the Dalek message, how he'd shivered and clutched at the back of his shirt. "For good."
Ianto took a deep shuttering breath, then another one, relaxing against him. "I was scared," he admitted.
"So was I," Jack replied, kissing his forehead. "Daleks killed me the first time around. Did I ever tell you that?"
Ianto shook his head and looked up at him. "No, but that's not what I was worried about." He rested his head on Jack's shoulder again before whispering, "I thought you'd go away with him again. With the Doctor."
Jack closed his eyes and kissed his forehead again. He knew he deserved that, but it hurt a little to find that Ianto doubted him. "If I leave again with him, I'll tell you about it first, and I won't be gone for long."
Ianto pulled back and Jack touched his face. "I'm back. I'm home."