thoughtformed

Entry tags:

LOG

WHERE: Torchwood New Moore
WHEN: Saturday, April 28th
WHO: Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones
WHAT: Jack does his job and Ianto tries to make him not.. do that.
WARNINGS: It's Jack and Ianto. It's probably gonna get steamy. Just on the safe side, nsfw.

Despite the beaches and the lovely weather, and even lovelier locals, the Time Agent known as Jack Harkness was busy at work when there was a perfectly good vacationing spot just nearby. Upon arriving, he'd picked up many fragments of evidence on his vortex manipulator that suggested the presence of time travelers here on the island, and in a surprising amount as well. Scans had suggested one of them would be easier to track down and arrest than the other two, though that could have potential in of itself. But no, for now, fun would have to wait.

He tracked the lone traveler, having spoken with him a bit, to an odd building. It was a large warehouse with a weird little coffee shoppe attached to it that he had been led to. There was evidence of the man everywhere in the shoppe, but nowhere was he to be found. The trail of evidence sprawled into another room, which, while locked, was easily taken care of with a few careful maneuvers with his vortex manipulator. With his sonic blaster at the ready, Jack pushed into the warehouse with ease and stealth, looking about carefully for him.

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Ianto knew that lilt, and he was doing his best not to hear it. He was not going to fall for Jack. Not this time. Not now, especially.

"I did not come to this destination by choice, as you may recall if you paid any attention at all." The dinosaur comment made a memory of he and Jack working togetherto catc Myfawny and he quickly shoved it from his mind.

"Doyou really need to train a gun on an unarmed and non-threatening individual? Seems a bit like you're compensating."

"You wish. I'm only doing my job, sweetheart." A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. He lowered his weapon and moved forward to pat Ianto down, starting at his chest and moving down his waist and hips. He dove into his pockets, one by one, digging out his belongings; the pocketwatch, a small diary or planner, and a gun that Jack deposited heavily on the desk.

"Unarmed? Nice try. Now turn around." Jack kept his weapon trained on Ianto as he fished a pair of handcuffs from his coat. "Anything else you'd like to volunteer before I find it myself?"

Ianto turned. Slowly. He still appeared unconcerned despite the way his heart was rabbiting in his chest. Keeping his tone as light and dry as he could, Ianto trained his eyes on the ceiling.

"If it was loaded I would have used it by now. You are not going to find any time traveling devices on me, sorry offisir."

Jack's eyes narrowed at the back of Ianto's chest. He didn't like the way he was being talked to, and the ferocity by which he grabbed one of Ianto's wrists and twisted it down and behind his back to cuff him, clearly showed his frustration.

"Then what? Kicked out of the taxi for not having fare? If you haven't got means of travel, how'd you get here, then? And don't try to tell me you didn't travel. I've got scans that can tell otherwise."

All his false bravado and outward appearance aside, the action makes Ianto groan and arch back to lessen the tension on his arm.

"If I knew I would not be here. I was not trying to go anywhere. Or when. It just happened." It was not the entire truth, but it was close. He was trying to return to Mairwyn and somehow wound up stuck here with no trace of the device.

Jack was unsympathetic. He set his gun down to grab Ianto's other wrist and loop it behind his back to lock it with the other. "That's not usually how it works." He raised an eyebrow and tugged Ianto over to the office chair, pushing him into it. "So then tell me your story. You've got a little time to kill." Jack sat on the desk, picking up his gun and lazily aiming at Ianto. "Convince me why I shouldn't call the Time Agency right now."

Ianto's eyes went briefly to the gun as he sonsidered whether or not he would be able to grab it. Not likely with his hands behind his back. He couldn't tell Jack his story, either. He would have to make something up.

"Have you heard of Torchwood?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at him and cocked his head. "Never heard of it. What is it? Something you're a part of?" He lazily tapped his gun against his leg, but looked interested nevertheless. "What's it got to do with anything?"

"It's an organization created to protect humans on Earth from the threat of hostile aliens." Ianto tilted his head down, his shoulders dropping ever so slightly with the weight of memories. Gestures that were symbolic, automatic, and in his case, a bit emphasized.

"We were attacked by Cybermen, overpowered. We never stooda chance." He let his breath hitch just the slightest, like a man holding back far too much emotion. It was easy to draw on the memories of the very real pain and fear.

"Lisa-." He stopped. Swallowed. And for a moment that pained silence was all too real.

"I just wanted to fix it. To make it right again."

Jack's face fell. This was why he was partnered with John. John was unhinged, unsympathetic, totally, and completely heartless. He knew about Cybermen, of course. Who didn't? This was a man who had seen a lot... seen people he loved die, or worse. How he managed to get away was beyond him, but Jack could feel that he was very lucky to have escaped.

"And how, exactly, were you planning on doing that? You said you time traveled by accident."

"I said I traveled here, by accident." Ianto was careful not to raise his voice, his tone shaky, soft, eyes still on the floor as though he did not want to be seen this way.

"There was this person." He tried to place what he could remember of Jack's Doctor. No way he was going to give up Mairwyn. "A man from another time. He offered me a chance to save her. I thought if I could just warn them not to turn the machine on again..." He shook his head.

"All those people... I had to try something."

And there he lets his voice crack. Ianto Jones. The man who lies. He had been doing it for so long now, he had no qualms about using it again if it meant he could escape.

"But I was afraid." He dropped his voice to a whisper of shame. "I could not do it. I never meant to use it. I tried to give it back. To ask him to tell them. Why would they ever believe me? It just happened. And then I was here. No where near London."

Jack's frown drew deeper into his face. "If that's what it was... why were you being so hostile before?" He knelt down in front of him, setting his gun up on the desk. "I would have offered to help. People messing about with the timeline, enslavement, genocide... that's the sort of thing that I work against. Listen..." He lifted a hand to his face to lift the Welshman's gaze to him. "I'm sorry that this happened to you... but I'll do my best to help you, all right?" He smiled kindly at him.

"Could you tell me your name?"

Damn. There was more than one reason he had been avoiding Jack's bright, kind eyes. So much younger than he had ever seen them. He swallowed, felt like he was drowning in Jack's gaze. He could feel his traitorous hear flip in his chest. It hurt.

Damn him.

"Because I know you. I know who you are. What you are. What you're willing to do. I've been warned about you, Jack Harkness."

Jack drew back, his brow furrowed. Warned? About him? That all seemed... somewhat unlikely, considering he was just another Time Agent. He searched Ianto's face, trying to discern some kind of probable answer to this question.

"I... I don't understand. How do you know me? I've never seen you before in my life."

Ianto gave a low, unamused laugh, averting his eyes, a sinking weight in the pit of his stomach. No! No. Damn him. Jack deserved all of his anger.

"You travel through Time, Jack. Did you really think you would never meet people who had already met you from your future?"

He didn't think he'd be travelling forever. "It's messy crossing time streams." He was curious, however...

"So when you know me..." He gave a playful little smile. "What am I like? Are we friends?"

Ianto just stares at him for a moment. What in any of how he responded to the man, would make him think they were friends.

"You are arrogant, reckless with the lives of others, flippant with your loyalties and a bastard who likes to pretend he's a hero.."

No charming lies here. Just the obvious bitter sting of truths, some real and others imagined or forcefully convinced.

The smile was gone in a flash. Why would he say such hurtful things? "I'm... sorry. I don't think I understand. Are you sure that you've got the right guy?" He laughed a little, uneasy, "I don't even know who you are, and you're telling me things about someone who might not even be me."

Jack adjusted the way he was sitting, genuinely curious about this. "I've never pretended to be a hero a day in my life. There's other people for that. I'm just trying to help out."

This was not helping his purpose. He needed Jack to let him go, and upsetting him would not do that. The handcuffs clinked as he shifted and he sighed heavily.

"Trust me, your face is one I will never forget." He hated how true that was. A part of his mind would always hold onto Jack. Hope for the life he could never have had. He shook his head, trying to resolve himself against letting those locked away feelings emerge.

"But you are clearly not him, yet. Maybe not ever in this timeline." He spoke softly again, seemingly chastised, glancing up at Jack from under his eyelashes, head still tilted down.

"I'm sorry."

Jack sighed heavily and rose to his feet, stretching his legs. He seemed placated, at least for the time being, and so Jack circled round him and with a few taps on his wrist strap, the handcuffs clacked to the floor, releasing the other's wrists. "Don't get me wrong. I'm cocky, but it helps me do my job. I call it 'confidence', but 'arrogant' works too. Can't argue with the results, though. Now."

He placed his hands on Ianto's shoulders to keep him in place for a moment longer. "Was any of that true? You're not going to regret my decision to do this, are you?"

This was it. This was the moment that gave Ianto his chance. Jack's gun was right there on the desk, right next to his own. A quick shove and a lunge and he would not even need to overpower the Time Agent. He could just shoot him and be done with it.

Whatever had changed about Ianto, however, he was still not a murderer. He would never pull that trigger. And maybe it would be enough to keep Jack from overpowering him, but somehow Ianto doubted it.

So he made no sudden movements. He had gotten what he wanted so far. The handcuffs were off. He just needed to wait for Jack to leave him be. Then he could slip away and escape. Mairwyn would come for him, eventually. And there were other time travelers to distract Jack.

Instead he just pulled his arms forward and rubbed his wrists, quietly.

Jack found himself smiling a little bit. He could trust him after all. He bent down, picking up the handcuffs and setting them back inside his pocket, and then taking his seat back on the desk. There was a playfulness that was back on his lips as he considered the other man. "So how about that name, hm?" He leaned forward and slid a finger under Ianto's chin, tilting his head up. "I'd like to know who the handsome man is that I'm ordering drinks for later is. Or what name I might want to be moaning later. Whichever suits you best."

Trust was a strong word. Ianto was an intelligent man. He knew when to press his luck and when to bide his time. Right now was the time to wait and watch. He needed Jack to trust him. To let his guard down. And there were very few times Jack ever let his guard down.

Resisting the urge to glower darkly at the ~~immortal~~ time agent, he stared up into Jack's eyes with fiery defiance in his own.

"Ianto. Ianto Jones. And you're going to have to work harder than those lines for anything of that sort. I don't go off drinking with random strangers who just had me handcuffed."

"Oh, I never said I wanted to go just yet. I've only just started working you over." He flashed him his rather handsome smile and sat back up straight, looking at him at a sort of angle and taking in the lovely man before him. "Don't work much with your hands, do you? They're soft. It's quite nice, actually." He crossed his ankles and swung his feet idly.

"So. Tell me about Lisa. More about her, I mean. What was she like?"

"Lisa." Okay. Time had not hardened him as much as he wanted to believe. He still sounded seconds from a choked sob when he said her name. As soon as Jack's hand was gone he stopped looking into those far too deep eyes. Younger than he had seen them but just as frustratingly captivating. No.

"Lisa was sweet and kind and beautiful. She was so brilliant. I have never known anyone like her." His head fell slightly, eyes fixing on the ground. And when he had a hard time finding the strength to say the next words, it was no act.

"I loved her."

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