Shivering 1/1
#012 in my jack/Ianto prompt table "Shivering"
Synopsis - Once in a while Jack Harkness makes a mistake.
Rating - Gen OH and fluff!
Spoilers: none
Pairing - Jack/Ianto
Note: fic for shamazipan cos she rocks my ficcy world! love u!!
also... i'm trying to get my writing confidence and get out of a block im in so please please comment. thanks.
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Jack pulled the collar of his coat up and sat down in the corner, wrapping the material tightly around him. They had been there for an hour and fifteen minutes now, sitting at opposite sides of the large metal cell trying to contain their body-heat. Ianto had exhausted every possibility of escape, but seven inches of metal sealed tight and soldered from the outside wasn't exactly the easiest place to escape from, especially when it was being gradually frozen by the slow and steady stream of liquid Nitrogen being pumped through the ventilation system.
“Well,” Ianto said, removing his earpiece, “I think we've found out what liquid Nitrogen does to our communication systems. They're dead.” He slumped down on the ground as far away from Jack as he could get and wrapped his coat around him, then slipped on the pair of leather gloves he always kept tucked away in his inside pocket. “No thanks to you.”
“How many times do I have to say sorry?”
“Don't bother.” He wrapped his coat around him and tried to look dignified at the same time as shivering so violently that he seemed to be vibrating. “I don't have the energy to fight with you.”
“It was a simple mistake. Anyone could have made it. Me, You--”
“I would have never made that mistake, never!” He pulled up his collar. “I'm not that stupid.”
“You gotta hit the big red button, it's the rules. You gotta press it to see what it does!”
The Welshman turned his back to the wall and glared at him. “Or you could try not hitting the big red shiny button for once in your life.”
“What's the fun in that?”
“Surviving?”
“Don't worry about that.” Jack walked over to the other side of the room and sat down beside him. “Tosh'll fix it.”
“How?”
“She always finds a way, she's a genius.”
Ianto stood up and looked up at the ceiling; the metal had started to freeze and now the tops of the walls were slowly beginning to frost over. The air was getting colder and his mouth felt dry, he could sense his exposed skin starting to turn numb.
“Do you see this Jack?” he said. “In another few hours we're going to be encased in a block of ice, the oxygen will disappear and by the time Toshiko finds a way to get us out of here we're going to be two life-size ice-sculptures!”
Jack smiled. “You would make a cute ice sculpture, I'd love to get my tongue stuck on you.”
“Why are you not taking this more seriously?” Ianto stood in front of Jack and looked down at him. “This isn't a joke Jack.”
“I know.” Jack stood up and wrapped his arms around him, then kissed Ianto softly. He let his lips linger for a moment, basking in the warmth. “It's going to be fine. I promise.”
“My point still stands.” Ianto stayed close and allowed Jack's lips to stray to his jawline. “And I'm only letting you do that because it's warm.”
“Point noted.”
He looked up at the walls as they slowly started to freeze over, every surface was white now and the air was turning gradually colder. “It's getting worse Jack. What if we don't get out?”
Ianto finally moved away from him and stared to pace around, blowing warmth into his hands. The cold air was starting to make his skin hurt, and he could feel the cold getting to his hands through the leather.
“We will. It's cold, but we have plenty of time as long as we try to conserve body-heat.”
“I mean this is a security protocol Jack, but not just any flimsy half-arced attempt at a security protocol. This is a Torchwood security protocol. Do you have any idea how difficult they are to override?”
“Difficult, not impossible.” Jack smiled. “Anyway, it could be much worse.”
“How?” Ianto looked at Jack for a moment before sitting back down on the cold floor before his cold legs buckled. “How could it be any worse?”
“Well we set up dates all the time and then something happens and we have to cancel. At least we're spending Saturday night alone together for once.”
“And you think that's a consolation?”
“I dunno about you, but there's nobody I would rather be stuck in a rapidly forming cube of ice with.”
Ianto rolled his eyes the way only he could. “I'm flattered.”
“I'm sure we could have a much nicer time warming each other up if we huddled together,” Jack suggested, “It's supposed to help.”
“Fine.” Ianto sighed and sat down beside him. “Y'know, I had plans tonight and because of you I'm stuck in here.” Ianto tried to wrap his coat even further around him.
“You had plans?” Jack eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of plans?”
“It doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“Dinner.”
“Dinner with who?”
“Nobody you know.” Ianto continued to shiver and blew into his hands then rubbed them together. It was cold, too cold and his lips were starting to feel as though they were starting to lose circulation; they had certainly been a lot warmer when they had been covered by Jack's hot breath. His head was starting to thud and it felt as though someone had put marble into his joints. Ianto was starting to lose the fight to keep his eyes open.
“Should I be jealous?”
“Do you even do jealous?”
“Sometimes I do.” Jack moved a little closer to him. “If I feel the need for it.”
Ianto smiled inwardly, happy for a moment that his lips were too cold to show it. He shifted a little closer and tucked himself under Jack's arm. “It's my sister,” he said, “today is her birthday. I had plans to take her, Johnny and the kids out for dinner.”
“Oh.” Jack sighed. “I'm sorry Ianto.”
“That's okay, it's not like you planned it.”
“Y'know, I wasn't jealous.” Jack unfastened his coat and wrapped it around both of them. “I was just curious.”
“If you say so.” Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack and lay his head against his chest.
“Your lips are turning blue.”
“Well we are trapped in a 7inch steel cube being pumped with liquid Nitrogen.” Ianto closed his eyes. “If Tosh doesn't fix this pretty soon there's a real possibility that we could start to lose consciousness.” Ianto's words slurred a little. “I feel like I'm drifting off.”
“I wouldn't let that happen to you.”
“I don't think you would have much of a choice to be honest. Torchwood designed this as a deep-freeze death chamber, and there's not a lot that you can do to stop it.” Ianto opened his eyes briefly to look at him “The Victorians were bastards.”
“They certainly were. Torchwood has come a long way since then, the world is different now,” Jack said, “Don't you think?”
Jack looked at Ianto, noticing the steady breaths of cold air escaping from his slightly parted lips.
“Ianto?” He shook him a little until his eyes opened. “Am I boring you that much?”
“No.” Ianto closed his eyes again. “I feel warmer when I'm asleep.”
“You can't go to sleep.” Jack rubbed Ianto's back to try and find some heat. “You gotta talk to me instead.”
“I talk to you every day and quite a few nights. I think I'm allowed a nap.”
“No, no. Not today.” Jack tiled Ianto's chin and kissed him softly. “You can sleep later, right now you have to stay awake.”
“I just feel a little tired”
“You're just cold.” Jack took off his coat and wrapped it around Ianto. The cold air sunk through the thin material of his shirt and burned his skin almost instantly. “This should keep you warmer for a little longer.”
“What about you?”
“If I die I'll come back to life, you don't have that luxury.” Jack wrapped his arms around him and held him as close as he could. “I don't have the luxury of losing you and then getting you back.”
“I thought you said it was a curse?”
“Not always.” Jack kissed him softly. “I'd die a thousand times if it meant having you around to make my coffee every morning.”
“A coffee machine does that.”
“You can't love a coffee machine.”
Ianto let the comment pass. “I will die one day.”
“But not today.” Jack closed his eyes and rested against the wall. “Today you're going to be fine.”
A loud noise came from the direction of the sealed door; a series of heavy clicks and clunks, followed by a ear-piercing screech. The door opened slowly and the rusted hinges made a noise that cut through the air like nails down a blackboard.
“Bloody hell it's freezing in here!” Gwen stood in the doorway in what looked like an Eskimo's coat and walked towards them. “And I thought my Aunt Mildred's house was a little on the chilly side.”
“You took your time,” Ianto said.
Owen followed Gwen into the room. “Well you know what they say, there's no rescue like a dramatic rescue.”
“Nobody says that.” Ianto managed to open his eyes.
“It took me twenty minutes to get that bloody door open, I was working on a slogan.” Owen crouched down beside Ianto. “And it looks like I got here just in time.”
Gwen motioned to Jack. “Is he dead?”
Owen touched Jack's neck, feeling the sluggish pulse. “Not yet.”
“Tosh is going to pump some hot air through the vents to thaw the room out and then disable it completely. We better get you two back upstairs.” Gwen helped Ianto to his feet. “Especially you.”
“You go ahead,” Owen said, “I'll follow with Jack.”
“Can you manage?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. We'll go and put on a brew.”
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Gwen gave Ianto a hot cup of coffee and a blanket when she got him back upstairs, and sat him next to a two bar heater. It was simple and not at all technically advanced, but it did the trick.
“It's not as good as yours,” she said, “but it should help warm you up.”
“Thanks.” Ianto smiled and took a sip. “It's fine.”
“You were lucky. If you had been in there half an hour longer you would have been dead.”
“I wasn't though.”
“No.” Gwen smiled. “I don't know what we would all do without you.”
Ianto smiled slowly over the rim of his coffee cup. “Starve and shrivel up due to dehydration?”
“You can't think that's all you're good for?”
“Of course not.”
“Jack would miss you y'know?” Gwen sat down beside him. “He would be lost.”
“Where is he?”
“He's taking a hot shower, He did want to take you in for therapeutic purposes, but we thought that you had just about enough excitement for one day.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “So he's feeling better then?”
“Right as rain.” Jack's voice came from the doorway.
“I'll leave you two alone.”
Gwen passed Jack in the doorway, then shut it behind her.
“How are you?”
“Warmer,” Ianto said, “I can't wait to get home to bed. I feel like I could sleep for days.”
“I'll drive you home when you're all warmed up.” He walked over and sat beside him. “It's the least I can do.”
“Your coat kept me conscious. It's a good job you can't die otherwise I might not be here now.”
“Wanna know a secret?” Jack wrapped his arm around him and pulled Ianto close, then pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I would have always given you my coat, whether I was capable of dying or not.”
“Why?”
“Because my life would be shit without you.”
Synopsis - Once in a while Jack Harkness makes a mistake.
Rating - Gen OH and fluff!
Spoilers: none
Pairing - Jack/Ianto
Note: fic for shamazipan cos she rocks my ficcy world! love u!!
also... i'm trying to get my writing confidence and get out of a block im in so please please comment. thanks.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jack pulled the collar of his coat up and sat down in the corner, wrapping the material tightly around him. They had been there for an hour and fifteen minutes now, sitting at opposite sides of the large metal cell trying to contain their body-heat. Ianto had exhausted every possibility of escape, but seven inches of metal sealed tight and soldered from the outside wasn't exactly the easiest place to escape from, especially when it was being gradually frozen by the slow and steady stream of liquid Nitrogen being pumped through the ventilation system.
“Well,” Ianto said, removing his earpiece, “I think we've found out what liquid Nitrogen does to our communication systems. They're dead.” He slumped down on the ground as far away from Jack as he could get and wrapped his coat around him, then slipped on the pair of leather gloves he always kept tucked away in his inside pocket. “No thanks to you.”
“How many times do I have to say sorry?”
“Don't bother.” He wrapped his coat around him and tried to look dignified at the same time as shivering so violently that he seemed to be vibrating. “I don't have the energy to fight with you.”
“It was a simple mistake. Anyone could have made it. Me, You--”
“I would have never made that mistake, never!” He pulled up his collar. “I'm not that stupid.”
“You gotta hit the big red button, it's the rules. You gotta press it to see what it does!”
The Welshman turned his back to the wall and glared at him. “Or you could try not hitting the big red shiny button for once in your life.”
“What's the fun in that?”
“Surviving?”
“Don't worry about that.” Jack walked over to the other side of the room and sat down beside him. “Tosh'll fix it.”
“How?”
“She always finds a way, she's a genius.”
Ianto stood up and looked up at the ceiling; the metal had started to freeze and now the tops of the walls were slowly beginning to frost over. The air was getting colder and his mouth felt dry, he could sense his exposed skin starting to turn numb.
“Do you see this Jack?” he said. “In another few hours we're going to be encased in a block of ice, the oxygen will disappear and by the time Toshiko finds a way to get us out of here we're going to be two life-size ice-sculptures!”
Jack smiled. “You would make a cute ice sculpture, I'd love to get my tongue stuck on you.”
“Why are you not taking this more seriously?” Ianto stood in front of Jack and looked down at him. “This isn't a joke Jack.”
“I know.” Jack stood up and wrapped his arms around him, then kissed Ianto softly. He let his lips linger for a moment, basking in the warmth. “It's going to be fine. I promise.”
“My point still stands.” Ianto stayed close and allowed Jack's lips to stray to his jawline. “And I'm only letting you do that because it's warm.”
“Point noted.”
He looked up at the walls as they slowly started to freeze over, every surface was white now and the air was turning gradually colder. “It's getting worse Jack. What if we don't get out?”
Ianto finally moved away from him and stared to pace around, blowing warmth into his hands. The cold air was starting to make his skin hurt, and he could feel the cold getting to his hands through the leather.
“We will. It's cold, but we have plenty of time as long as we try to conserve body-heat.”
“I mean this is a security protocol Jack, but not just any flimsy half-arced attempt at a security protocol. This is a Torchwood security protocol. Do you have any idea how difficult they are to override?”
“Difficult, not impossible.” Jack smiled. “Anyway, it could be much worse.”
“How?” Ianto looked at Jack for a moment before sitting back down on the cold floor before his cold legs buckled. “How could it be any worse?”
“Well we set up dates all the time and then something happens and we have to cancel. At least we're spending Saturday night alone together for once.”
“And you think that's a consolation?”
“I dunno about you, but there's nobody I would rather be stuck in a rapidly forming cube of ice with.”
Ianto rolled his eyes the way only he could. “I'm flattered.”
“I'm sure we could have a much nicer time warming each other up if we huddled together,” Jack suggested, “It's supposed to help.”
“Fine.” Ianto sighed and sat down beside him. “Y'know, I had plans tonight and because of you I'm stuck in here.” Ianto tried to wrap his coat even further around him.
“You had plans?” Jack eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of plans?”
“It doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“Dinner.”
“Dinner with who?”
“Nobody you know.” Ianto continued to shiver and blew into his hands then rubbed them together. It was cold, too cold and his lips were starting to feel as though they were starting to lose circulation; they had certainly been a lot warmer when they had been covered by Jack's hot breath. His head was starting to thud and it felt as though someone had put marble into his joints. Ianto was starting to lose the fight to keep his eyes open.
“Should I be jealous?”
“Do you even do jealous?”
“Sometimes I do.” Jack moved a little closer to him. “If I feel the need for it.”
Ianto smiled inwardly, happy for a moment that his lips were too cold to show it. He shifted a little closer and tucked himself under Jack's arm. “It's my sister,” he said, “today is her birthday. I had plans to take her, Johnny and the kids out for dinner.”
“Oh.” Jack sighed. “I'm sorry Ianto.”
“That's okay, it's not like you planned it.”
“Y'know, I wasn't jealous.” Jack unfastened his coat and wrapped it around both of them. “I was just curious.”
“If you say so.” Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack and lay his head against his chest.
“Your lips are turning blue.”
“Well we are trapped in a 7inch steel cube being pumped with liquid Nitrogen.” Ianto closed his eyes. “If Tosh doesn't fix this pretty soon there's a real possibility that we could start to lose consciousness.” Ianto's words slurred a little. “I feel like I'm drifting off.”
“I wouldn't let that happen to you.”
“I don't think you would have much of a choice to be honest. Torchwood designed this as a deep-freeze death chamber, and there's not a lot that you can do to stop it.” Ianto opened his eyes briefly to look at him “The Victorians were bastards.”
“They certainly were. Torchwood has come a long way since then, the world is different now,” Jack said, “Don't you think?”
Jack looked at Ianto, noticing the steady breaths of cold air escaping from his slightly parted lips.
“Ianto?” He shook him a little until his eyes opened. “Am I boring you that much?”
“No.” Ianto closed his eyes again. “I feel warmer when I'm asleep.”
“You can't go to sleep.” Jack rubbed Ianto's back to try and find some heat. “You gotta talk to me instead.”
“I talk to you every day and quite a few nights. I think I'm allowed a nap.”
“No, no. Not today.” Jack tiled Ianto's chin and kissed him softly. “You can sleep later, right now you have to stay awake.”
“I just feel a little tired”
“You're just cold.” Jack took off his coat and wrapped it around Ianto. The cold air sunk through the thin material of his shirt and burned his skin almost instantly. “This should keep you warmer for a little longer.”
“What about you?”
“If I die I'll come back to life, you don't have that luxury.” Jack wrapped his arms around him and held him as close as he could. “I don't have the luxury of losing you and then getting you back.”
“I thought you said it was a curse?”
“Not always.” Jack kissed him softly. “I'd die a thousand times if it meant having you around to make my coffee every morning.”
“A coffee machine does that.”
“You can't love a coffee machine.”
Ianto let the comment pass. “I will die one day.”
“But not today.” Jack closed his eyes and rested against the wall. “Today you're going to be fine.”
A loud noise came from the direction of the sealed door; a series of heavy clicks and clunks, followed by a ear-piercing screech. The door opened slowly and the rusted hinges made a noise that cut through the air like nails down a blackboard.
“Bloody hell it's freezing in here!” Gwen stood in the doorway in what looked like an Eskimo's coat and walked towards them. “And I thought my Aunt Mildred's house was a little on the chilly side.”
“You took your time,” Ianto said.
Owen followed Gwen into the room. “Well you know what they say, there's no rescue like a dramatic rescue.”
“Nobody says that.” Ianto managed to open his eyes.
“It took me twenty minutes to get that bloody door open, I was working on a slogan.” Owen crouched down beside Ianto. “And it looks like I got here just in time.”
Gwen motioned to Jack. “Is he dead?”
Owen touched Jack's neck, feeling the sluggish pulse. “Not yet.”
“Tosh is going to pump some hot air through the vents to thaw the room out and then disable it completely. We better get you two back upstairs.” Gwen helped Ianto to his feet. “Especially you.”
“You go ahead,” Owen said, “I'll follow with Jack.”
“Can you manage?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. We'll go and put on a brew.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gwen gave Ianto a hot cup of coffee and a blanket when she got him back upstairs, and sat him next to a two bar heater. It was simple and not at all technically advanced, but it did the trick.
“It's not as good as yours,” she said, “but it should help warm you up.”
“Thanks.” Ianto smiled and took a sip. “It's fine.”
“You were lucky. If you had been in there half an hour longer you would have been dead.”
“I wasn't though.”
“No.” Gwen smiled. “I don't know what we would all do without you.”
Ianto smiled slowly over the rim of his coffee cup. “Starve and shrivel up due to dehydration?”
“You can't think that's all you're good for?”
“Of course not.”
“Jack would miss you y'know?” Gwen sat down beside him. “He would be lost.”
“Where is he?”
“He's taking a hot shower, He did want to take you in for therapeutic purposes, but we thought that you had just about enough excitement for one day.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “So he's feeling better then?”
“Right as rain.” Jack's voice came from the doorway.
“I'll leave you two alone.”
Gwen passed Jack in the doorway, then shut it behind her.
“How are you?”
“Warmer,” Ianto said, “I can't wait to get home to bed. I feel like I could sleep for days.”
“I'll drive you home when you're all warmed up.” He walked over and sat beside him. “It's the least I can do.”
“Your coat kept me conscious. It's a good job you can't die otherwise I might not be here now.”
“Wanna know a secret?” Jack wrapped his arm around him and pulled Ianto close, then pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I would have always given you my coat, whether I was capable of dying or not.”
“Why?”
“Because my life would be shit without you.”