Work Text:
He didn’t know how long he’d been here. After they knocked him out, he’d woken up in a cell. If you could even call it that. Four rough cement walls with a tiny window about six and a half feet off the floor. There was what could be comparable to a camp bed. He was a prisoner . It was clear. UNIT had claimed Ianto Jones as their own prisoner. Better than being a lab experiment. Though he was sure that would come eventually.
The camp bed squeaked and creaked as he sank onto it. He ran his hands over his face. How had this happened? How had he come to this? He knew what Jack was, or as much as Jack knew. They’d spent nights when neither of them could sleep talking. Jack sharing stories of his travels, with the time agency and with the Doctor. Telling Ianto about the year no one else could remember. Ianto sharing stories of his childhood, of Torchwood One. The two of them twisted on Jack’s bed or Ianto’s - whichever they’d gone to. Or for those few months, the bed they shared in Serenity Plaza. Those had been the weeks where they spoke the most. It was like it was sacred, their time there.
Jack had the time vortex to thank for his immortality, but Ianto had never come in contact with it. So how was he here? How had he survived when no one else had? He groaned, leaning back and cursing when his head only hit the hard concrete.
He wanted Jack. The want was a gaping ache echoing out from his gut to every other part of his body. He had no idea how long it’d been since he’d woken up, but all he wanted to do was curl up with Jack and pretend none of this had ever happened. Just for a little bit. But they still had the 456, and the children, and so so many other things to do. Always things to do. There was never a moment’s rest for them. He just wanted to rest. For a day, for a week. Not for long. He did love Torchwood. He’d learned to love it, to understand what Tosh had meant when she said it was worth the risk. Because they saved so many, and there weren’t many people who would be able to handle the job.
But just a vacation. For a week - hell , for a weekend.
There was an echo, almost like a gunshot. Ianto shook his head. He was probably just close to wherever they tested weapons, or maybe their gun range. The gun range in the hub wasn’t - hadn’t been far from the cells.
Another gunshot, this one closer. No, that was definitely a gunshot and it was moving. Ianto stood, hesitating as he debated pushing himself further into the cell or closer to the door.
He could hear it clearer now. Raised voices, their words muffled as they were still too far away. More gun shots. Steps. Pounding. Running .
“Ianto Jones.”
Ianto knew that voice. His heart jumped to his throat, clogging it up. Jack . That was Jack’s voice. Ianto moved towards the cell door, wishing that there was some kind of crack or slit he could peer out of. Instead, he pressed his ear to the cold metal.
“I don’t -” someone else said.
“You do not want to mess with me today. Now tell me where Ianto Jones is.”
“We don’t -”
A gunshot and a cry of pain.
“Tell me where he is, or the next shot won’t land in your leg.”
“IN THE CELLS! He’s in the cells. The keycard - it’s on the desk. Code 5432”
Ianto could hear footsteps. Heavy boots landing on concrete floors.
“Ianto!” Jack called.
“Jack!” Ianto pounded on the door, pleading. Oh please please .
He could hear the footsteps stop outside of the door, the beep as a card swiped. Buttons being pressed. And then the door swinging open and light flooding in. Ianto swayed backwards at the sudden light. At the sight of Jack.
He was standing in all his glory. Ianto could see him taking him in. The disbelief Ianto felt played out on Jack’s face. Ianto took a step forward, eyeing the gun in Jack’s hand.
“Ianto - how?”
“I don’t know.”
Jack took the next step forward, tucking his gun away. He reached out, and Ianto stayed frozen. Jack touched him, cupping his face. His thumb ran over Ianto’s cheekbone and Ianto’s eyes fluttered shut as he swayed forward.
“You’re alive.”
“It appears so. I don’t know how. But it’s me. I promise - it’s me.”
“Tell me something. Something only the real Ianto would know.”
Ianto blinked his eyes open, staring into Jack’s. There was hope there, but it was weighed down by grief. By a sorrow that Ianto had never seen in Jack’s eyes. Not even after Tosh and Owen. Ianto reached out, clinging onto the lapels of Jack’s coat.
“Javic Piotr Thane.”
A single tear fell down Jack’s cheek. Ianto moved to brush it away, but Jack moved faster. He crushed Ianto into him, wrapping his arms around the welshmen. Ianto melted into Jack’s embrace, burying his nose into Jack’s shoulder.
“I’m here. I’m here,” he whispered over and over again as Jack clung to him.
He didn’t know how long they stayed there. Likely only seconds, but it could have been hours for all Ianto knew. Jack pulled back, pressing a kiss to his lips before stepping back fully.
“We need to go. Security has likely been alerted.”
“You didn’t -”
“I didn’t kill any of them.” There was a growl to Jack’s voice. Unspoken words. They deserve to be dead . Ianto could hear them, could feel them.
Something had happened. He could see it in the way Jack held himself, in the way Jack pulled his gun back out. But now wasn’t the time. Instead, Ianto followed Jack out. The immortal man seemed to know where he was going, taking Ianto through the maze of hallways. Back hallways, where no one seemed to be going down.
They headed up a flight of stairs and Jack ducked into the first room on the left. Some sort of lab, filled with tables and tech scattered around. Jack ignored it all, going straight for the window. Without hesitation, Jack shot.
One. Two. Three.
The window shattered. Ianto could hear footsteps coming towards them - running towards the room. Jack was already climbing out the window, and Ianto didn’t hesitate before following him.
Jack still didn’t say anything, and Ianto didn’t press still. He lead Ianto down alleyways and side streets, until he stopped in front of a small black car. Only then did Jack turn back to Ianto. He still looked at Ianto with a mixture of hope and relief, but with a sorrow laying on him.
Ianto reached out, pressing his palm to Jack’s face. “What happened?”
Jack stepped away, opening the passenger side door for Ianto. “Call Sarah Jane. She’s mad enough that I told her not to come.”
“She didn’t come anyway?”
“She knew she wouldn’t want to.” There was a heaviness again in his voice. Ianto thought of the gun shots. Jack had said he’d left everyone alive. But there was a darkness hanging around.
Ianto climbed into the car and waited until Jack was in as well. Jack started up the engine and pulled out.
“The 456?”
“Dealt with.”
“Jack.”
He took a left a little too hard, and Ianto grabbed onto the the edge of his seat. He watched Jack, watched as his resolve broke down.
“We found a way to destroy the 456. Take their signal, distort it, and send it back at them. But we needed a way to send it to them.”
Ianto knew. He could feel it in his gut, could see it in the guilt on Jack’s face. Because that’s what it was. Anger and sorrow all mixed up into one. “One of the kids?”
“Steven. My - Alice’s son.”
It hit him. Ianto could feel the cold wash over him. The sorrow. For Jack . Jack hadn’t deserved to do that, hadn’t deserved to be the person who made that decision. After everything Jack had been through, could the universe be so cruel that it made him do this too? Destroy his own family.
Ianto reached over, resting his hand over Jack’s that still rested on the gearshift. Jack glanced over at him and Ianto could see the tears slipping down Jack’s cheeks.
“Pull over.”
Jack did. Once he put the car in park, Ianto reached across the center panel, coaxing Jack to look at him. He reached out, wiping Jack’s tears away before leaning to rest his forehead against Jack’s.
“I’m sorry.”
“I can’t. I thought I’d lost you. I killed him. I can’t.” Jack took in a ragged breath.
Ianto wished they weren’t in a car. That he could pull Jack fully against him and just let him cry it out. “Let’s find a hotel, yeah? I’ll call Sarah. She’ll make sure UNIT backs down. You call Gwen too, make sure she doesn’t start a campaign trying to find you. We can spend the night - the week. However long. Yeah?”
Jack nodded and took a slow breath. Ianto could see him piecing himself back together. He’d never seen this. He’d seen more of Jack than anyone else had, he knew that. But he’d never seen the man this broken. Even when he’d told Ianto of the horrors he’d seen, enduring. It’d never been like this. He’d never seen Jack so broken.
But it would be alright. Because they were together, and they could always be together. And whatever Jack needed to heal - whatever they both needed to heal, they could find.