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English
Series:
Part 2 of 101 Resurrections of Ianto Jones
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Completed:
2023-03-12
Words:
1,529
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2/2
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23
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1,299

It's About Love

Summary:

Jack has been tearing the universe apart, getting into trouble and trying to find a way to undo the horrible things done when the 456 returned. Is he about the pay the price for his misbehaving, or does he have a way out? Some things are worth the risk.

Notes:

I think this was my first TW story. I wrote the first part of this in 2009, and it was originally posted online in a slightly altered version. I have edited it to the new version with the second chapter added.

Chapter 1: It's About Love

Notes:

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.  The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Spoilers for Children of Earth!

A/N: I've never written TW before, just a little something that grabbed me and wanted to be written down. I just got into the show with CoE, which is either rotten timing or great timing, I’m not quite sure... at least I know what I’m getting into beforehand. I have since watched the 2nd series (season). Never seen Dr. Who except for some clips on YouTube and reading some fanfic, (and I don’t intend to, since I’m not masochistic enough to knowingly get into shows where they regularly kill the main, loved characters off) so I’ve done the best I can with him. Oh, and I’m not Brit, either. Hopefully I've managed well enough. This could be a fix it, or not, depending on how you're inclined. I'm a sucker for a captivating slash pairing, so I had to do it.

Chapter Text

IT'S ABOUT LOVE

 

Jack Harkness looked up as the footsteps that had been echoing down the long, dark hallway stopped in front of his cell. He showed no surprise at the visitor. Actually, there was no emotion at all on the once-expressive face.

"Jack," the Doctor greeted with a nod, trying to gauge his old friend's mood and failing.

"You know," Jack began with a slight grin. "For a man who's supposed to be in solitary lockdown, I'm sure getting a lot of visitors."

"Who else has visited you?" The Doctor asked suspiciously.

Jack said nothing, merely fiddled absently with the vortex manipulator on his wrist.

"Shouldn't you be on earth? In Cardiff protecting the planet from hostile aliens and working with that Torchwood team you created in my honor?" The Doctor was baiting him for a reaction of course; he knew exactly what had transpired the past year of Jack's life. He was trying to find a way to reach his old friend, to pull him out of the apathy he'd obviously fallen into.

"I don't do that anymore," Jack answered, some fire returning to his dead eyes. "Let the planet go to bloody hell for all I care."

"Why didn't you contact me, Jack?" he asked more gently.

Harkness pinned him with an intense and knowing gaze. "Would you have helped me?" He broke eye contact almost immediately and shook his head. "I wouldn't ask you to compromise the precious timeline just for my petty problems," he bit out scathingly.

"You know how that works," the Doctor said, not unkindly.

It wasn't that the Doctor didn't understand; he knew all too well the pain that being immortal caused Jack. Harkness had lived with it for several lifetimes, lost countless lovers to old age or early death. He'd made more impossible decisions than any man or even hero should have to make, watched people die because of those decisions, and survived. It had never broken him, not like this. He'd always bounced back and kept on fighting the good fight. Even when his old Time Agency partner, John Hart, had tempted him to return to a life of cons and debauchery, he'd held fast to the things he believed in. Yet something fundamental had changed in the man now. Over the past few months, he'd gotten into more than one spot of trouble and been single-mindedly determined to threaten the stability of the universe by getting involved in schemes that were forbidden. Ones that involved messing about with time.

"This is the way it's always been," the Doctor reminded him. "You've always known that. Why now?” What made this time so different?

Jack's eyes rose to meet the Doctor's, red-rimmed and filled with a depth of pain that was inexplicable. "I don't think you're asking me why I'm mourning the fact that I killed my own grandson. So, why him? Ianto," Jack whispered. "I don't know." And the naked pain and bewilderment in his voice were genuine.

"Why is he so different from all the others?" The Doctor asked, trying to figure out the puzzle in front of him now that they'd both abandoned the pretense of it being about anything – or anyone else. Just one young Welshman, someone Jack had only known for a few years. Nothing remarkable, someone who would be quickly forgotten as time marched on. To risk so much for so little didn't seem like Jack at all.

Not that it would stop there. That was the dangerous lure of time travel. Once you succeeded in changing one thing, it became so much easier to go back, do more damage. Change the bigger things. It could be like a drug. Especially when you had as many things to wish you could do over as Jack Harkness.

Jack rose gracefully to his feet, grabbing the bars of his cell in a white-knuckled grip. "Maybe because it's too much. Maybe because I'm tired and sick of it all, and I never signed up for all this!" his voice had gotten progressively louder. "I never asked for immortality!" he spat it out like a dirty word. "I did everything I was supposed to do, and I'm just…tired of the right thing always hurting. Okay, I probably deserve to lose my family by my own hand; if I'm wrong then they must be too, right Doc? But not him… He didn't deserve to die."

Jack slowly sank back down onto the floor. "I want Ianto back," he said so quietly the Doctor almost missed it. "Maybe then I could make sense of everything…" he said, rubbing his forehead as if he was trying to rid himself of confusion or pain.

"I guess there's nothing else to say then, Jack," the Doctor noted with sadness. He'd hoped he would be able to get through to the immortal, but it wasn't to be. There didn't seem to be anything rational left in Jack to reason with. He started to turn away.

Jack unexpectedly spoke up again. "He's the first one I told my secrets to in… a long time. He stood loyally by my side, no matter how I treated him or any of them. He understood. He believed in me. And because of his trust and faith, I got him killed."

"Is that what this is all about then?" The Doctor queried, a small kernel of hope returning. "Guilt?"

Jack laughed, but it was more chilling than pleasant. "It's about love."

Love. The most unpredictable force in the universe, the one that often made no logical sense. With no rhythm or reason, yet once in its hold, most people were vulnerable to committing any crime, any betrayal, or sacrificial act in its name. The most dangerous power in the entire universe, yet there was no weapon against it. Some people believed it to be mankind's ultimate salvation; others its final destruction. Yet if a Time Lord knew the answer, he would keep the knowledge to himself forever.

“What would you do if I helped you get out of here?” he asked Jack. He needed to know how much risk Jack was now to make his decision.

“Don't ask, don't tell,” Jack smirked belligerently.

The Doctor didn't stop to wonder why Jack hadn't lied. All he knew was regret that his friend would have to remain in prison for the length of his sentence. Hopefully, it would give him time to think, put the past behind him and stop his self-destructive behavior. All of it.

"I'm sorry, Jack." The Doctor started walking down the hallway again, regret weighing heavily on his mind. If there was a way to 'fix' the immortal, he didn't know what it was. Sometimes… the losses were just too much to recover from.

He wasn't sure why, but something made him turn back one last time for one final look at the man he'd known.

The cell was empty.

 

The end of chapter one