Torchwood fic: Mythology (6/?)

[hel_bee]

Title: Mythology (6/?)
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R/NC17
Warning: None

Spoilers: Set after 2.13. Spoilers for both series 1 and 2, and a bit of DW: Last of the Time Lords and The Shakespeare Code

Summary: With mythical beasts turning up all over Scotland, Torchwood Two thought they were in charge; however, so did Torchwood Four. Unfortunately for both parties their main suspect was refusing to talk to anyone other than Torchwood Three’s Ianto Jones.

Beta: rakina

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em – unfortunately. And I ain’t Shakespeare!

A/N: Set after my stories Lynchpin and Constant. Okay folks... time to investigate the other side of Ianto’s family tree! This one is lighter in tone to Constant – time to have a bit of fun!
Lynchpin here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/21730.html
Constant here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/23390.html
Mythology chapter 1 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/25464.html
Mythology chapter 2 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/25667.html
Mythology chapter 3 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/25892.html
Mythology chapter 4 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/26608.html
Mythology chapter 5 here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/26851.html



Chapter Six

Snippet:
“You should grasp every opportunity – living is painful, love monstrous, but nothing is worse than being continually alone.”




Ianto had managed to convince Henshaw and the rest of his team that Kelis really wasn’t a threat – at least to him. And now they were walking arm in arm over Millennium Bridge, leaving the others to cope with another flurry of calls from the local police. Ianto didn’t envy the twins, who’d been sent out after a chimera which was prowling around the tarmac of Prestwick International Airport, in the slightest.

He’d tried to explain his relationship with Torchwood Four to Kelis, but his great aunt had at first looked horrified that Ianto had been held prisoner; then incensed that Ianto didn’t appear to have a problem with being a ‘lackey for a bunch of lacklustre psychic wannabes’, and finally annoyed that Ianto wouldn’t let her have a ‘special talk’ with Philip Henshaw.

“Please tell me it’s not because you’re sleeping with him,” said Kelis, her hands on her hips and looking indignant.

Ianto was thankful that during his adult life he’d never really had to answer questions about his sex life to older relatives. His grandfather had, on the whole, adopted the ‘if I don’t see or hear about it then it’s not happening’ approach. However, Great Aunt Kelis appeared to take the more direct option.

“Not anymore,” Ianto admitted sheepishly.

She raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I used to sleep with him, but I don’t any more. We had a rather interesting couple of months after I’d help recruit him to Torchwood Four, but I wasn’t prepared, at the time, to risk a serious relationship with someone who I’d have to watch get old and die.”

“He’s clearly still very fold of you,” she replied with a small smile full of innuendo.

“And I of him. But I’ve learnt the hard way that I was right not to get involved with normal people.”

“I sense there’s a story behind that.” Kelis saw the shutters come down across Ianto’s face. “And one you don’t want to talk about at the moment. But, darling, that’s no life for a beautiful man like you. You should grasp every opportunity – living is painful, love monstrous, but nothing is worse than being continually alone.”

Ianto was surprised how easy it was to talk to Kelis. He wasn’t sure what he had expected having not seen her since he was a child, and her appearance of looking only a few years older than him hadn’t help. But he needn’t have worried; her sharp wit and effortless charm won him over immediately. Strangely, she reminded him of Jack for a second.

“I’m not lonely,” Ianto insisted, and Kelis pulled a face that told him that she didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. “Honestly, I’m seeing someone.”

“Seeing? What do you mean seeing? I’m seeing you at the moment, but that means nothing.”

Ianto rolled his eyes which earned him a slap. “Ow!” he cried, rubbing his arm. “That hurt!”

“It was supposed to. Now explain.”

“I don’t exactly know what to call him exactly. Lover, I guess, would be the closest,” he said honestly. “Neither of us fit into the standard categories, to be honest.”

“Lover is a good term. So much more exciting than boyfriend or husband.” Kelis patted Ianto on the forearm. “Tell me about him.”

Once Kelis had started this line of questioning, Ianto had dreaded her asking about Jack. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed or annoyed, just unsure about how to describe someone as indescribable as Jack. “He’s my boss.”

“Oh, an office romance. How very 21st century Earth.”

“Torchwood isn’t exactly a normal employer, and Jack isn’t your usual boss. You could say he is one of a kind.”

Kelis raised an eyebrow. “Now that does sound intriguing. In what way?”

“He can’t die.”

Kelis stopped in mid stride. “Well, that is different. And does this immortal have a name?”

“Captain Jack Harkness.”

“Harkness,” she repeated, sounding like she’d just stepped in something objectionable.

“You know him?” asked Ianto, aghast and concerned at the expression on Kelis’s face.

“I know of him,” she spat. “He’s an intergalactic lothario, and that’s the nicest thing I’ve heard him called. He left a rather dear friend of mine heartbroken. Mind you, he wasn’t immortal at the time… I found that out later.”

She looked angry, and Ianto was relieved for Jack’s sake that he was safe in Cardiff. He wasn’t sure which was worse, the fact that Kelis had heard of Jack or the fact she’d obviously taken the time to track Jack’s activities. “I’m sure he’s changed since your friend was involved with him.”

“Hmm,” said Kelis, unconvinced. “So you’ve not witnessed that side of him?”

Ianto doubted Kelis would be impressed were he to explain the initial basis of his and Jack’s relationship, or the manner it had continued for the months between Lisa’s death and Jack’s disappearance with the Doctor. “No relationship is perfect,” he admitted cagily, “but I can honestly say that how it stands now I am more than happy.”

“You were always a tight-lipped little bugger.”

“Good thing, considering my job.” Ianto hoped Kelis would let the matter of his love life drop. “Come on, we’d best get back. The hordes of mythological monsters won’t disappear on their own.”

“I don’t see how that’s my problem,” she grumbled, although she allowed Ianto to lead her back towards the Armadillo.

An uneasy feeling settled on Ianto’s shoulders as they rounded a corner and saw the members of Torchwood Two and Four who weren’t out chasing monsters gathered around a very familiar item. Although he’d never seen the TARDIS in person before, two weeks of obsessively watching and rewatching the CCTV footage of Jack’s disappearance made him feel almost intimately acquainted with the Doctor’s time machine.

The door to the blue box opened and a man, who Ianto assumed to be the Doctor, stepped out, closely followed by Jack. “I see you’ve sent a welcome party,” proclaimed the Doctor with a grin.

The Doctor appeared to be searching for someone, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet as he craned his neck. From out of the corner of his mouth he asked Jack: “Which one is he?” But before Jack could answer Ianto saw the Doctor stare straight at him and smile a smile so wide that he made Ianto’s jaw ache just looking at him. “Ah, there he is! I recognised the family cheekbones.”

Ianto didn’t believe it possible for someone to move with so much energy. The Doctor bounded towards him, Jack following in his wake. “Ianto Jones,” he said in awe. From his breast pocket he removed a pair of dark-framed glasses and pushed them on his nose. “I wasn’t sure what to make of the story that Jack here told me about your heritage, but look at you! You’re... remarkable.”

Kelis tutted loudly and Ianto wasn’t sure if he should say something to warn the Doctor. His gut feeling, one honed by an absconding boyfriend and the skewed ideas of his grandfather, made him want to do nothing more than punch the Doctor firmly in the mouth. However, the man was now enthusiastically pumping his hand in greeting and stating what a pleasure it was to meet him.

“Jack’s told me all about you.”

Ianto managed to extract his hand. “You don’t want to be believing everything he tells you, Doctor. Jack has a propensity to exaggerate.”

“Perhaps we should take this inside,” suggested Jack, who nodded his head in greeting towards Dunston and Henshaw.

“Maybe later, I’d like a few words with the wonderful Mr Jones here first.” The Doctor grabbed Ianto by the elbow and began to lead him away. “Don’t worry, Jack. I’ll return him in one piece.”

Kelis moved to stand next to Jack as the Doctor dragged Ianto away from the TARDIS. Jack noticed her immediately, recognising her from the video Torchwood Two had sent of her in the cells. He flashed her the smile, the one calculated to show just the right amount of teeth and ooze enough charisma to ingratiate himself to anyone.

“You must be Ianto’s great-aunt.”

“Yes, and you’re Jack Harkness. Ianto has mentioned you – in passing.”

“I hope it’s all been good.”

She didn’t answer; instead she turned to look at Ianto and the Doctor as they walked away. “There go two very special men.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“I can understand the Doctor’s attraction – Ianto does seem to have something about him.”

Jack frowned. “The Doctor’s not attracted to Ianto, he’s just excited about meeting him.”

“If you say so,” Kelis replied dismissively. “But you’ll be telling me next that Philip no longer pines after the relationship they had.”

“I beg your pardon,” Jack said, surprised.

“You didn’t know?” she asked innocently. “Surely you can tell just by the way Philip’s looking him?” She nodded at Henshaw who was also watching Ianto walk away.

Jack didn’t consider himself the kind of man who indulged in such trivial things as jealousy, but he found himself unable to shrug off Kelis’s comments. He and Ianto hadn’t discussed their past relationships in detail, which, until this point, Jack had thought was a good thing considering his back catalogue.

Kelis leaned closer. Raising herself onto her tiptoes, she whispered into his ear: “Trifles light as air, are to the jealous confirmations strong, as proofs of holy writ.”*

A bitter taste lingered in Jack’s mouth as he watched his lover walk away. Ianto was his, not the Doctor’s, his so-called friend fawning over a man he had no right to. And God help Henshaw if he even dared touch his Ianto again.

** ** **


Ianto wasn’t happy about being frogmarched away by the Doctor, but he’d read enough about the Time Lord in the archives, and heard so many of Jack’s stories, that he thought resistance would be pointless. If the Doctor was anything like his grandfather then it would be best to let him get whatever it was out of system first and then try to fire fight any disasters afterwards.

“I suppose you’re here to find out about Koschei,” said Ianto frostily as the Doctor stopped, his back against a railing.

“Now there’s a name I’ve not heard for a long time,” replied the Doctor with an air of reminiscence. “There’s not many who call him that.”

“I’m not about to call my grandfather the Master. It’s bad enough other people calling him it.”

“Yes, I suppose that would be a little awkward,” the Doctor conceded, looking slightly unsure of himself. “I have to admit I really can’t see him as much of a family man, but here you here – living proof!”

Ianto sighed long-sufferingly. “I wouldn’t start thinking of him as at all domesticated; he was hardly what my mother wanted as a role model for me.”

“No, I can only imagine the kind of birthday presents you got.”

Despite himself, Ianto couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory of his mother confiscating a lurid purple object that turned the neighbours washing into atoms with an accidental shot. “He was never boring to be around. But then you know that... that’s why you’re here, to find him.”

“Yes, well, initially. But you’re not exactly uninteresting yourself, are you? I can see the mix of Carrionite and Time Lord buzzing around you... so unique.”

The Doctor was reaching out to touch him, but Ianto automatically took a step back. “I’m sorry, but you’ve had a wasted journey. I don’t know where he is at the moment,” he said stiffly.

“You remind me of him. When he was younger, when I first knew him.” The Doctor dropped his hand, placing it on the railing. He turned away to look at the river.

“I’ve been told that there is a resemblance between myself and his original appearance, though that’s where the similarity ends. You’ll be glad to know I’ve not inherited his megalomaniacal traits.”

The Doctor laughed. “And a good job too, I doubt the universe would survive with two of him about.” He turned to look at Ianto over his shoulder, his mood more sombre than seconds before. “If you weren’t going to tell me where he was, why bother telling me he was alive?”

Ianto moved to stand next to the Doctor, mirroring his posture Ianto watched the waters of the Clyde. “Because while he might listen to me occasionally, only you have ever been able to stop him once he’s gone too far.”

“Thank you for telling me,” the Doctor said with a small smile. “But it’s not just Koschei, Ianto. You’re part Time Lord, and even if it’s just a small fraction of what makes you who you are, it makes me feel a little less alone in the universe.”

Ianto didn’t reply, knowing only too well the history of Gallifrey and the Time War. The Doctor straightened up. He put a foot onto the railing and hoisted himself up, looking confused as he stared at the water. “From what Jack told me, isn’t there meant to be a bloody great plesiosaur in there somewhere?”

“Torchwood Four said they’d captured the Loch Ness Monster,” confirmed Ianto. “From what Dunston said she should’ve been around here.”

“I can’t see her, or any sign that a large prehistoric creature has been swimming around.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have my thistle whistle on me at the moment,” said Ianto dryly.

The Doctor didn’t give Ianto any indication that he’d heard his comment as he stroked his chin in contemplation. “And there are others?”

“Not is the same league as Nessie, but there’s meant to be several other supposedly mythological creatures in the Armadillo,” Ianto explained. “I haven’t seen them myself – apart from Floxy.”

“Floxy?”

“The three-headed dog which my great aunt claims to belong to a friend of hers.”

“Three-headed, you say?” Ianto nodded, and without warning the Doctor started walking back in the direction of the TARDIS. “Hmmm. I think I’d like to have a look at these other beasties.”


TBC


*William Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, sc. 3


A/N: Thistle whistle – am I the only one who remembers the cartoon The Family Ness? And of course thank you for your comments and your patience.


Chapter seven here: http://hel-bee.livejournal.com/27245.html

Comments

[ldycat1170.livejournal.com]

Great Aunt Kelis certainly gives a new spin to "frosty". And I love the jab at Jack. He needs them upon occasion.

[hel-bee.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think it never hurts for jack to have his ego deflated from time to time...

Kelis is a harsh lady when she feel she needs to be. There's not an awful lot about in cannon about Carrionites but since they're a completely female race and the way they acted in the Shakespeare code I think I can get away with playing the dangerous woman card :)