Title: Hungry Heart, Part Four of Four

Author: Emma

Characters: Canonical Torchwood Three members… sort of.

Rating: Some chapters definitely not safe for work.

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: The team races to save Ianto’s life… and his soul
Author’s Note: Tosh’s perfume www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Guerlain/Samsara-55.html

Part One is here; Part Two is here; Part Three is here
 

           “Now.”

            Ianto had been waiting for Jack’s order, but it still chilled him to the soul. Lisa had been right in one thing; power was his for the taking. Sometimes the temptation was overwhelming. And now he would break his vow, and be damned, and he would do it willingly. His was the sin, and his the punishment.

            He dropped all his wards and fully opened his senses. They were all around him, and in the fashion of his father’s people he classified them: delicate Toshiko, an aspen in the wind; tough Owen, a Wych elm surviving the most hostile territory; supple Gwen, a silvery beech with her roots deep in the soil of South Wales; and Jack, a mighty sassile oak, standing strong against the storms.

            And Lisa. Tears ran down Ianto’s cheeks as he saw Lisa truly for the first time and saw the thing she had become. Powerful adult minds had fractured in Elaine de Cussac’s world; what could a sheltered, innocent sixteen-year-old have done? But now there was nothing there but the monster Elaine had created.

             In a way it made it easy. Her mind had been kept in a strange half-open state, ready to receive instruction. It was child’s play to go in and tweak Lisa’s reality into something just slightly different.

            “All right. Right now she believes she really did run away from Elaine because she was afraid. I can hold her for a while, but Elaine has done a great deal of… damage.” He turned away from them. “Once Elaine is close enough to try to influence Lisa directly I don’t know if it will hold. I’ve never done it, except…”

            He felt Toshiko’s hand on his back, a gentle caress that broadcast sympathy and support. He inhaled her spicy sweetness.  He had bought her the perfume one year for Christmas and she had loved it so much it had become “hers” in that odd way women had of reading their personality into a scent. It made him want to curl into her lap and cry. But he couldn’t touch her now. He was unclean.

            Lisa came upstairs with Gwen, looking scared and lost. Gwen’s quick nod told Ianto that she understood what was happening; well, Jack didn’t hire slow tops.

            “Ianto?”

            “We’re all right, Lisa. Jack is going to help us.” He hugged her to his side and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go.”

             They emerged into a moonlit Plas. A small group of people, cloaked and masked, made a semicircle beyond the columns. In the center, a woman stood, holding a leash attached to the beaten and bloody body of a man sprawled at her feet. She was almost six feet tall, and her long red hair cascaded down her back to her waist. She wore a dress that hadn’t been seen in the British Isles in a thousand years.

            “Captain Harkness. I have wanted to meet you for a long time.”

            “I, on the other hand, could have done without ever knowing you. Let’s get this over with. Your servant in exchange for mine.”

            “This?”

            She jerked the chain. Andy’s head flopped back. Ianto could see one of his eyes had been nearly torn out of his socket, and the lower left side of his face had caved in. This was also his responsibility.

            “Yes.”

            “Only if I get Ianto also.”

            “Why?”

            “Don’t play the naïf, Captain, it doesn’t become you. His power will keep him alive for another thousand years. I want him.”

            Jack shrugged. “You can have him. But I warn you, he betrays masters and lovers with equal ease.”

            “I’ll deal with that. Trade?”

            “Trade.”

            She kicked at Andy. “Go to your master, dog.”

            Andy started crawling across the Plas. Ianto waited a minute then started towards him, dragging Lisa along with him. He knew the moment the glamour he had cast on Lisa’s mind banished. She started to struggle.

            “It’s a trap, Master! It’s a trap!”

            Ianto threw himself sideways, pulling her along with him into the shadows. At the same time the lights in the Plas flared up. Tosh had set them to mimic daylight. The screams of the vampires could be heard as the lights washed the columns in pure white. Then the lights died down and the Plas was again illuminated only by moonlight.

            “Elaine de Cussac!” Jack’s voice sounded a challenge in the sudden darkness. “Leave. Leave us alone and do not return here. There’s nothing here for you.”

            “I think not, Jack Harkness.” The master vampire replied in similar tones. “I think I will end this here and now and take my prizes with me after I have killed you.”

            She threw off her cloak and raised her arms. “I am Elaine, daughter of kings. I bring the storm and the lightning.”

            Thunderheads built behind her as she chanted. The water in the bay hissed and reared as the wind whipped around the columns. The sound of ghostly footsteps thundered across the flagstone. Gwen moaned and covered her ears.

            “This is who I am, Jack Harkness. This is what I bring. Show yourself!”

            “I am Jack, of the Harkness clan in the land of Dumfries. I come to stand for the land. And this I bring. Caledfwlch, the sword of kings. And the red dragon of Wales to guard my steps.”

            He brought the sword out from under his coat. As the moonlight caught the blade it seemed to catch on fire. Elaine screamed and covered her eyes. Above her, Myfanwy screeched a challenge.

            “Now, coward, let’s end this.” Jack mocked. “So afraid that you couldn’t even issue a challenge in your own name. Or is it because you know the land disowned you a thousand years ago?”

            “It can’t be! I buried it with him!”

            He laughed. “It’s in the nature of a loan, vampire. I went to his house and asked nicely.”

            She cowered as he approached. Some of her band tried to run to her side, but they were met by a hail of bullets from Owen, Tosh, and Gwen. The others ran into the dark streets beyond the Plas. Ianto struggled to control Lisa who fought him with all her strength. The master vampire tried to run too but it was as if the ground itself held her in place. The sword swung in a mighty arc and her head rolled onto the flagstones.  Ianto felt Lisa’s body shudder as her scream nearly shattered his eardrums. He rolled away from her.

            Jack dropped the sword and ran towards Andy. “Owen!”

            The doctor was already there, kneeling at Andy’s head. “He’s in bad shape, Jack. Move away, ok? Your energy is not in a good place right now. Tosh, come hold him.”

             Placing his hands on Andy’s chest, he began his examination. At each point of injury he smoothed and straightened and joined; Ianto could see the bones resetting and the skin closing with each pass of Owen’s hands. Finally, the Doctor sat back, shivering. “He’ll live. Jack, watch out!”

            Jack whirled around in time to see Lisa pick up the sword and give it to Ianto. He took it before he realized what she was asking. “Lisa, no.”

            “My mind is free for the very first time in years, Ianto. I know what I am. Please.”

            “Don’t ask him to carry the guilt.” Jack said. “There’s a better way.” He pointed upwards. “I can summon her to you. Dragon fire cleanses all, even sin. And it is quick.”

            She pushed Jack in Ianto’s direction. “Take him.”

            Jack dragged Ianto away as Myfanwy wheeled and then plunged, throat arching upwards and then down. A tongue of flame burst from between her jaws and washed over Lisa as she stood waiting, a smile on her lips. She threw her arms up as if to embrace her executioner. In a few seconds, there was nothing on the Plas but a very small pile of white ash.

            Ianto fell to his knees, offering Jack the sword, pommel first. “I do not deserve cleansing, but I do have the right to ask that you do this yourself.”

            Jack lifted the sword. As he did, a bell rung somewhere distant, almost like an echo. Tosh and Owen tried to run towards them, but Gwen pulled them back, pointing at the red glow that washed across the sky. Slowly, Jack brought the sword to touch Ianto’s neck, flat resting on the bone. Another bell joined the first, and then another.

            “Jack, no,” Ianto whispered. “Don’t do this.”

            “Ianto Jones, do you accept me as your liege lord?” When Ianto didn’t answer, jack pushed the blade just a little closer to the artery. “Ianto Jones, do you accept me as your liege lord?”

            Ianto wanted to scream denial, but the words wouldn’t come. Finally he bent his head in submission. “I accept you, Jack Harkness, as my liege lord. I am your vassal, of life and limb, to the end of my days. And may God have mercy on my soul.”