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Title: The Angel of Death (19/20)
Author: Emma
Characters: Jack Harkness, others
Rating: Starts PG. It didn't stay there
Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Summary: Far in the future, Jack meets someone he never expected to see again
Author's Note: I don’t know where this came from. I really don’t.
Chapter Eighteen is here; Chapter Seventeen is here; Chapter sixteen is here; Chapter fifteen is here; Chapter fourteen is here; Chapter Thirteen is here; Other chapters here
Jack sat with his back pressed against the cold metal of the observation deck bulkhead, watching supply freighters stream out of the 456 ships. He felt detached, as if part of him had become simply an observer. He knew that part was preparing to lose Ianto again, and he resented it, but he couldn't push the thought away.
“It will be worth it.”
“Will it?” He kept his eyes on the ships. “Will it really?”
Ianto sat down next to him in the graceful sprawl he seemed to have retained from his previous incarnation. “The more the 456 feeds the more energy he needs, Jack. If it keeps on it will destabilize the Universe.”
Jack shook his head. “I've been to the end of the Universe. It dies cold and dark and the last humans become horrible monsters.”
“The Toclafane. Don't look so surprised, cariad. The Ylnagii have been gathering... Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jack's fingers shook as he traced Ianto's jaw. “You called me cariad.”
“The memory trigger was quite thorough.” Ianto kissed Jack's palm. “What you saw was only one possible future, Jack. There are others. And you're the one who can make them happen.”
“People keep saying things like that to me. I signed on to be dumb muscle, Ianto. The doc was the brains, I just followed his orders.”
“That was a very long time ago.” The teasing emphasis made Jack scowl and Ianto chuckle. “Don't worry, Jack. You're as beautiful as ever.”
Jack tangled his hand into the curls at Ianto's nape. “You are the beautiful one, Ianto Jones. Always were. The warrior with the face of an angel. No wonder that nameless bastard wanted to harvest you.”
He saw Ianto's eyes flare right before being pulled into a passionate kiss. Ianto's hands framed Jack's head to hold it in place. Jack's hands moved automatically to mirror the gesture. A sudden flash of memory brought back the face of a very young, doomed soldier. As they broke the kiss, gasping, Jack rubbed his thumbs across Ianto's lips.
“The first time you kissed me like this...”
“Was the night before we sent Tommy back. It was the first time you told me you loved me.”
Jack shook his head. “I never said the words.”
“I know.” Ianto bit the pad of Jack's thumb. “But that night, when you said you wouldn't have missed the people you had loved for the world, you looked at me with so much love in your eyes and I knew. You always spoke your deepest truths indirectly.”
“Then you may not believe this now, but I swear to you it is the truth. I love you, Ianto Jones and I always will. Even if I live until the stars die away.”
“We'll need to do something about that, love.” Ianto said lightly. “I don't like the idea of your being lonely after I'm gone.”
Jack shuddered. “Don't say that. Not yet.”
“All right.” Ianto jumped to his feet and extended his hand down. “Come on, Jack. We have an Universe to save.”
Jack let Ianto leverage him up.“Same old, same old.”
They walked hand in hand into the command center. One of Galthorpe's servos floated near one of the screens, watching impassively as data scrolled upwards. At the far end of the room, Marcus and Ai-Shi were whispering. From the body language, Jack knew they were having one of their famous knock-down drag-outs. He decided he valued his own hide too much to get in the middle of it.
“Time, Captain.” Galthorpe said, swiveling slightly towards them. “They are fully connected to the station's systems.”
“Did they notice anything?”
“Not a thing, sir.” Galthorpe was definitely amused. “The 456 are worse than the Freemen when it comes to noticing Tech.”
“I am going, grandmother!”
The exasperated growl made them all turn. Marcus was striding towards them. Jack knew what was coming. But before he could say anything, Ianto stopped him with a light touch to the wrist.
“Let me.”
For a moment, Jack wondered if he was the only one who noticed the change as Ianto shifted into his Angel persona. Then he heard Galthorpe's quiet whistle and saw Ai-Shi's eyes widen slightly.
“You are not going with us,” Ianto said before Marcus had a chance to open his mouth. “If I fail, you will have to take over the Freemen and fight off the 456. They cannot take Freeman's Dream. It would give them a nearly impregnable base. It cannot happen.”
The authority in his voice staggered Jack. It seemed to cut the ground out from under Marcus, who still managed a retort. “You need someone to watch your back!”
“I'll take care of that.”
Toshiko's voice seemed to echo in the room. A bit confused, Jack tapped the implant behind his ear. “Tosh?”
The air sparkled as a column of light formed in the space between the command console and the viewscreen. It whirled and spun, tighter and tighter, solidifying until the Toshiko avatar stood in front of them. She had traded her usual jeans and jumper for a tight-fitting catsuit and heeled boots. Jack grinned. He had always known that sweet, brainy Toshiko had a badass alter-ego hidden away.
“I don't care what the classic vids say, that's never going to catch on as a way of travel. Ugh. I could feel my back teeth dissolving,” the avatar said conversationally, “though it probably helps that I have my own power source. Galthorpe, I've placed copies of my research notes in your medical database. I think it'll help with your power fluctuation issues.”
She patted the clearly bemused servo and passed on. “Ai-Shi, you look stunning. We need to exchange beauty tips, you and I.”
Jack decided it was time to step in. “Tosh? Care to share?”
Her smile was pure deviltry. “It's a long story, but it boils down to this. While we waited for Tech to finish rewiring the 456 habitat right under their noses, I decided to do a little research into cybernetics. Specifically I was looking for some mechanism that would allow my avatar to function independently of the ship's systems.”
“And you managed to find it in a few hours?”
“Well, it actually took sixty years.”
He gaped. “How...? Never mind. A timey-wimey thing?”
“Exactly. Marcus, if we don't make it, I've left all the command control sequences for the Toshiko in a triple-locked time pocket. Leah knows how to open it. I also left a personality kernel implanted in the secondary memory, just in case. I have no idea what would happen to ship-me if this body gets killed.” She turned back to Jack. “Now can we go kick 456 arse?”
Ai-Shi was studying the screens. “The service tunnels haven't been flushed clean of all the poison gases the security service pumped into them, so you'll have to go above-ground. The way is clear to the Zocalo. After that it gets a little dicey.”
Jack shrugged. “ Doesn't it always?”
They kept to the maze of secondary corridors. Ai-Shi had been right. As they got closer to the Zocalo they began to hear the shrill whine of plasma rifles and the bark of the old-fashioned projectile guns some of the miners preferred. Closer still, they began to see bodies. Several of them wore a kind of uniform – gray fatigues with a black patch resembling an eye on the left shoulder. Jack's lip curled with disgust. A Freeman never wore an uniform. Even the Security lifers preferred their own clothes and were identifiable only by the breast patch that doubled as their link to the comm net. These were bastards who had sold their services to the 456.
The Zocalo itself was remarkably quiet. A Security squad was pinned down behind overturned tables by gunfire coming from the mezzanine. A couple of them were bellowing into their communicator patches. Jack snickered, wondering how long it would take them to figure out they were cut off.
“Keep your back to the wall.” He told Ianto and Tosh. “We're heading for that door over there.”
They door obviously doubled as an ad for the business beyond, promising untold fleshly delights to anyone of any race visiting the Peony Palace. Beyond it was a small circular foyer with heavy red and gold curtains framing a glass door with .
“This was your idea,” Ianto sighed. “Of course it was.”
Laughing, Jack pushed two of the curtain panels aside to press his hand into a depression shaped vaguely like a hand. He felt a slight tingle in his palm as the chameleon circuit verified his identity. The wall disappeared to show a short service tunnel. Through the opening at the far end, they could see the gyroscope.
Ianto pressed a hard kiss on Jack's mouth, then sprinted down the corridor. “Allons-y!”
Author: Emma
Characters: Jack Harkness, others
Rating: Starts PG. It didn't stay there
Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Summary: Far in the future, Jack meets someone he never expected to see again
Author's Note: I don’t know where this came from. I really don’t.
Chapter Eighteen is here; Chapter Seventeen is here; Chapter sixteen is here; Chapter fifteen is here; Chapter fourteen is here; Chapter Thirteen is here; Other chapters here
Jack sat with his back pressed against the cold metal of the observation deck bulkhead, watching supply freighters stream out of the 456 ships. He felt detached, as if part of him had become simply an observer. He knew that part was preparing to lose Ianto again, and he resented it, but he couldn't push the thought away.
“It will be worth it.”
“Will it?” He kept his eyes on the ships. “Will it really?”
Ianto sat down next to him in the graceful sprawl he seemed to have retained from his previous incarnation. “The more the 456 feeds the more energy he needs, Jack. If it keeps on it will destabilize the Universe.”
Jack shook his head. “I've been to the end of the Universe. It dies cold and dark and the last humans become horrible monsters.”
“The Toclafane. Don't look so surprised, cariad. The Ylnagii have been gathering... Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jack's fingers shook as he traced Ianto's jaw. “You called me cariad.”
“The memory trigger was quite thorough.” Ianto kissed Jack's palm. “What you saw was only one possible future, Jack. There are others. And you're the one who can make them happen.”
“People keep saying things like that to me. I signed on to be dumb muscle, Ianto. The doc was the brains, I just followed his orders.”
“That was a very long time ago.” The teasing emphasis made Jack scowl and Ianto chuckle. “Don't worry, Jack. You're as beautiful as ever.”
Jack tangled his hand into the curls at Ianto's nape. “You are the beautiful one, Ianto Jones. Always were. The warrior with the face of an angel. No wonder that nameless bastard wanted to harvest you.”
He saw Ianto's eyes flare right before being pulled into a passionate kiss. Ianto's hands framed Jack's head to hold it in place. Jack's hands moved automatically to mirror the gesture. A sudden flash of memory brought back the face of a very young, doomed soldier. As they broke the kiss, gasping, Jack rubbed his thumbs across Ianto's lips.
“The first time you kissed me like this...”
“Was the night before we sent Tommy back. It was the first time you told me you loved me.”
Jack shook his head. “I never said the words.”
“I know.” Ianto bit the pad of Jack's thumb. “But that night, when you said you wouldn't have missed the people you had loved for the world, you looked at me with so much love in your eyes and I knew. You always spoke your deepest truths indirectly.”
“Then you may not believe this now, but I swear to you it is the truth. I love you, Ianto Jones and I always will. Even if I live until the stars die away.”
“We'll need to do something about that, love.” Ianto said lightly. “I don't like the idea of your being lonely after I'm gone.”
Jack shuddered. “Don't say that. Not yet.”
“All right.” Ianto jumped to his feet and extended his hand down. “Come on, Jack. We have an Universe to save.”
Jack let Ianto leverage him up.“Same old, same old.”
They walked hand in hand into the command center. One of Galthorpe's servos floated near one of the screens, watching impassively as data scrolled upwards. At the far end of the room, Marcus and Ai-Shi were whispering. From the body language, Jack knew they were having one of their famous knock-down drag-outs. He decided he valued his own hide too much to get in the middle of it.
“Time, Captain.” Galthorpe said, swiveling slightly towards them. “They are fully connected to the station's systems.”
“Did they notice anything?”
“Not a thing, sir.” Galthorpe was definitely amused. “The 456 are worse than the Freemen when it comes to noticing Tech.”
“I am going, grandmother!”
The exasperated growl made them all turn. Marcus was striding towards them. Jack knew what was coming. But before he could say anything, Ianto stopped him with a light touch to the wrist.
“Let me.”
For a moment, Jack wondered if he was the only one who noticed the change as Ianto shifted into his Angel persona. Then he heard Galthorpe's quiet whistle and saw Ai-Shi's eyes widen slightly.
“You are not going with us,” Ianto said before Marcus had a chance to open his mouth. “If I fail, you will have to take over the Freemen and fight off the 456. They cannot take Freeman's Dream. It would give them a nearly impregnable base. It cannot happen.”
The authority in his voice staggered Jack. It seemed to cut the ground out from under Marcus, who still managed a retort. “You need someone to watch your back!”
“I'll take care of that.”
Toshiko's voice seemed to echo in the room. A bit confused, Jack tapped the implant behind his ear. “Tosh?”
The air sparkled as a column of light formed in the space between the command console and the viewscreen. It whirled and spun, tighter and tighter, solidifying until the Toshiko avatar stood in front of them. She had traded her usual jeans and jumper for a tight-fitting catsuit and heeled boots. Jack grinned. He had always known that sweet, brainy Toshiko had a badass alter-ego hidden away.
“I don't care what the classic vids say, that's never going to catch on as a way of travel. Ugh. I could feel my back teeth dissolving,” the avatar said conversationally, “though it probably helps that I have my own power source. Galthorpe, I've placed copies of my research notes in your medical database. I think it'll help with your power fluctuation issues.”
She patted the clearly bemused servo and passed on. “Ai-Shi, you look stunning. We need to exchange beauty tips, you and I.”
Jack decided it was time to step in. “Tosh? Care to share?”
Her smile was pure deviltry. “It's a long story, but it boils down to this. While we waited for Tech to finish rewiring the 456 habitat right under their noses, I decided to do a little research into cybernetics. Specifically I was looking for some mechanism that would allow my avatar to function independently of the ship's systems.”
“And you managed to find it in a few hours?”
“Well, it actually took sixty years.”
He gaped. “How...? Never mind. A timey-wimey thing?”
“Exactly. Marcus, if we don't make it, I've left all the command control sequences for the Toshiko in a triple-locked time pocket. Leah knows how to open it. I also left a personality kernel implanted in the secondary memory, just in case. I have no idea what would happen to ship-me if this body gets killed.” She turned back to Jack. “Now can we go kick 456 arse?”
Ai-Shi was studying the screens. “The service tunnels haven't been flushed clean of all the poison gases the security service pumped into them, so you'll have to go above-ground. The way is clear to the Zocalo. After that it gets a little dicey.”
Jack shrugged. “ Doesn't it always?”
They kept to the maze of secondary corridors. Ai-Shi had been right. As they got closer to the Zocalo they began to hear the shrill whine of plasma rifles and the bark of the old-fashioned projectile guns some of the miners preferred. Closer still, they began to see bodies. Several of them wore a kind of uniform – gray fatigues with a black patch resembling an eye on the left shoulder. Jack's lip curled with disgust. A Freeman never wore an uniform. Even the Security lifers preferred their own clothes and were identifiable only by the breast patch that doubled as their link to the comm net. These were bastards who had sold their services to the 456.
The Zocalo itself was remarkably quiet. A Security squad was pinned down behind overturned tables by gunfire coming from the mezzanine. A couple of them were bellowing into their communicator patches. Jack snickered, wondering how long it would take them to figure out they were cut off.
“Keep your back to the wall.” He told Ianto and Tosh. “We're heading for that door over there.”
They door obviously doubled as an ad for the business beyond, promising untold fleshly delights to anyone of any race visiting the Peony Palace. Beyond it was a small circular foyer with heavy red and gold curtains framing a glass door with .
“This was your idea,” Ianto sighed. “Of course it was.”
Laughing, Jack pushed two of the curtain panels aside to press his hand into a depression shaped vaguely like a hand. He felt a slight tingle in his palm as the chameleon circuit verified his identity. The wall disappeared to show a short service tunnel. Through the opening at the far end, they could see the gyroscope.
Ianto pressed a hard kiss on Jack's mouth, then sprinted down the corridor. “Allons-y!”
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