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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"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."

Jack watched Ianto, the playful smile fading slowly from his lips. He hadn't quite meant to hurt him like that... but it was something else to talk about. Something that clearly still held a strong place in Ianto's heart. "What did you like best about her?" He did seem genuinely interested in this aspect of his life. This Lisa lady intrigued him.. she must have been quite a person to get such a handsome man interested in her. "Describe her to me."

Ianto could feel the bitter sting of tears in his eyes. He could not talk to Jack about Lisa. He remembered all too well that day in the hub. And now memories were flooding back, unwanted and painful.

"No." It was a weak protest, his tone revealing that pain far too easily. He tried to correct it too late, and settled for swallowing his emotions to add. "Please. Anything else."

Yikes. Bad move. He gave a single nod and leaned forward, clasping his hands together in his lap. "All right, then. All right. I'm sorry. How about we talk about something that you wanna talk about." He smiled once again and actually scooted a little closer to him, reaching a hand out briefly to run though Ianto's hair with a gentle touch. "Anything you like, and I'll do my best to answer. Ask away."

Why. Why did Jack have to be so friendly and warm. So... concerned.

Ianto groaned inwardly. It was not fair. He was done with Jack. He had made his choice and left Jack behind before he cold be left behind instead.

And his hands felt strong. Reassuring. Warm. Exactly how he remembered them.

He took a deep breath. Remember, Ianto. Remember why you are here. He just had to focus. If he could get Jack to try to make a move on him, a not so difficult task, without being suspicious of Ianto's sudden compliance, a not as simple task, he could get the other man to lose focus. At least for long enough to restrain him, so Ianto could escape.

His shoulders shook slightly, eyes on the floor. Another deep breath. He was using this pain to his advantage. Somehow.

"I'm sorry. I just can't... It hurts too much."

Jack knew the pain of loss. He knew what it was like to lose someone that he cared about very much... someone he was responsible for. It may not have been exactly the same, but there was a similar sting in his heart that struck whenever he'd think of his poor lost younger brother. "I'm sorry I brought it up." He slid his hand down his face and lifted his head up to look at him again. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It sucks losing someone you love so deeply." He tried to give him a somewhat courageous smile. They were kin in one way or another after all, and from the sound of it, Ianto didn't even want to be there in the first place. It was all a mistake. He could hardly blame him. "but you've made it this far. That's gotta count for something, right?"

It was difficult. Hating Jack. It had been hard enough the first time. He had been angry at finding Jack had been flirting with Gwen behind his back. More intentioned than the usual amount he did. And even then it had been a difficult decision to follow through with. Because he had been falling hard for the immortal. And now being faced with him again, before Jack had been involved in all that... it was hard.

Especially knowing that this Jack... would age normally, if he never ran across whatever had made him immortal. Less hollowed by the lack of hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths.

"It's fine." He needed to get out of her. Fast.

"Made it this far, and failed." He let his shoulders drop again. Slumping into the chair, eyes on the floor. Anything to break that eye contact. Possibly garner some more sympathy and let down Jack's guard further.

Come on Jack.

This poor man... was there nothing that he could say that would give him a smile? He could almost hear John's voice in the back of his head, telling him to stop and that he wouldn't believe him. Jack always had a harder time discerning scams from actual distress. "Hey, hey.." Jack slid from the desk and moved in close to Ianto and let his fingers slide in over his cheek affectionately, bending to try and get some form of eye contact. "Listen to me. I will get you home, and I will get you there safely, okay? I'll find a way to do it, I swear."

He needed to give Ianto confidence and reassurance in the only way he really knew how. So it wasn't any surprise that Jack's other hand came to lift the man's head so that Jack could move in and kiss him full on the lips. A sweet and romantic gesture, he thought.

That- Well, it was actually what Ianto had expected to happen eventually. What he had not expected was the flash of warmth that flooded through his veins and the way he could already feel himself melting into the kiss. No! No no no. He had to keep focused. Had to keep control of his mind or he would lose track of what he needed to do. He could not fall for Jack. It would ruin everything.

Ianto's inner conflict was surprisingly helpful. It had him unresponsive to the kiss, on most levels at first. He felt his heart starting to race in his chest. Damn Jack. Why was it so easy to slip into this.

Slowly, he began to relax into this kiss, letting himself respond to it, pressing just enough into it to encourage Jack to continue and still seem hesitant. This was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought.

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