Keeping Face

The next day Domino, Gwen and Martha stood outside the shopping centre.

“This is Cardiff’s biggest shopping centre and has every high street shop under the sun here.” Said Gwen

“Now let’s go shop!” Said Martha excitedly.

These girls may be defenders of the world but they were still girls and they wanted to shop.

“I don’t have any Earth money, I can’t buy anything.” Said Domino looking at her feet.

“Darling, didn’t we tell you, Jack gave us his credit card.”

Domino’s features instantly changed into a huge smile.

“Then what are we waiting for?”

They went all over the centre, Clair’s Accessorise, New Look, M ‘n’ C, Jane Norman, Accessorize, Monsoon, Top Shop, and Debenhams. All in all they brought about twenty different outfits, not including accessorise and shoes. Domino was so please Jack was going to flip his lid. Like everyone else at Torchwood she had her own style. And that was plane strap top, skinny jeans, long necklaces’ and flats. That was what she got in about ten different shops and Martha and Gwen often saw things they just couldn’t pass up the chance to buy. How was Jack ever to know? Oh these girls were evil.

They were in Starbucks for a coffee and looking at what they had all brought. Between them it had gone okay but Domino had been very short with Gwen all day, but she seemed to like Martha or at least she talked properly talked to her.

Martha had gone to get there orders and an uncomfortable silence fell across the table.

“You don’t like me do you?” Gwen asked Domino conversationally.

“No I don’t.” her reply was short and clipped.

“Why not, have I offended you in some way because if I have I’m very sorry.”

“It’s not that, it’s just, I don’t know. Too motherly. I’m not used to it and I know you are really close to Jack and I can’t help but hate him. Sorry. I’m just trying to get used to everything. Maybe in time yer?”

“Yer. In time.”

By the time the girls got back to the Hub it was dark Mickey had gone home, Ianto was working doing paper work and Jack was being Jack doing something Jack like.

“Would it kill any of you to file you’re paper work properly?” He asked annoyed as the girls, laughing, walked in.

“Come on Yan. Lighten up.” Laughed Gwen as she went to her desk.

“I promise I will do all mine properly tomorrow.” Smiled Martha sweetly.

“Sure, sure, like I’ve haven’t heard that one before.”

Domino was feeling quite tired from yesterday and then the days shopping.

“Where am I meant to sleep tonight?” she asked no one in particularly. “Jack said you can have his room again and that he’d stay at mine.” Said Ianto still looking at all the paper work he had to do.

This sent the girls into fits of laughter. Ianto just rolled his eyes and got on with his work.

“Okay then, night everyone.” Said Domino as she went into Jack’s office and his little hole of a bed.

“Aww, where is Jack at the moment?” asked Gwen.

“Where else?”

They all nodded in understanding.

“So Martha what do you think of Domino.” Asked Gwen as she applied some lip gloss.

“She seems nice, just very confused and obviously had a very hard childhood. I think Jack’s expecting too much from her and if he’s not carful enough he’s going to end up pushing her away because she’s already resentful to him anyway.”

“God you should be a physiologist instead of our doctor, not that we don’t think you’re wonderful.”

Martha laughed.

They carried on in this fashion for ten more minutes till Ianto had had enough and told them to shut up and go home.

“Oooo, touchy.” Said Gwen as she grabbed her bag.

“Nah he just wants Jack to come back and us to leave.” Laughed Martha as they walked out the Hub.

Ianto sighed, finally peace and quite while he finished their paper work.

Mickey walked into the pub and saw the Trinity again. She had long blonde hair and soft blue eyes. She was training to be a doctor and one of the nicest people he had ever met. She was so sweet and innocent and yet she had a strong fire in her, fierce. She reminded him quite a bit of Rose, and maybe that was one of the reasons for him liking her but she also had her own individuality in her which made her very different from Rose.

“Hey,” she smiled. “I thought you wouldn’t make it today.” She had a beautiful smile.

“Paper work.” He laughed. This was a lie as he barley ever did paperwork and what kept him was Myfanwy had gone on the war path and they were trying to clear up after her. Ianto managed to do it with dark chocolate, but man did she leave a mess.

They ordered their usual drinks and started on there usual talks.

They talked and talked until closing time and then she kissed him on the lips. Her lips were soft and sweet. Then blushing profusely she asked him back to hers.

“I would love to.” He smiled.

They decided to walk by the Bay because her apartment wasn’t too far away.

“You realise we have been going out drinking for nearly three months now?” she smiled as she held his hand.

“Yer it’s nice, normal compared to my life the last couple of years, even when it was normal it was completely insane.”

She smiled at this. He often talked like he had two lives and he was holding back on what he would tell her, but that was okay because when he was ready he would tell her and she wasn’t going to push it.

“This is me.” She looked up at the tall block of buildings.

“Lets go up then.” Smiled Mickey and returning his smile with her own dazzling one she pulled him upstairs.

Jack was on the roof of --------- standing looking over the city of Cardiff. This was his favourite place in the universe it was so beautiful, the people bustling around underneath him, going to parties and clubs, people meeting up with each other, people together. These times it made him realise why the Doctor loved him, them, humans so much. their, his, amazing ability to keep living when only a month ago they had been abducted by Daleks to destroy the very fabric of humanity, they just carried on through it. They were incredible and he loved them for it.

While he was standing he starting of the predicament he was in. Domino seemed exhausted still and was asleep in his bed. She was his daughter, his flesh and blood and he didn’t know what to think, it was too overwhelming. It was one more pressure already on the pressure he already had.

The Twenty First Century is when it all changes; and Torchwood was ready.

They were weren’t they?

He didn’t know anymore, no Tosh, no Owen, complete genocide of an entire race, people burning, Rose gone, Donna gone, the Doctor around saving the universe some were. Could he really cope with all this, all this pressure?

“And it’s only just beginning.”

That’s when Rose had said and was right the stars had gone out and it was to be the end of reality but Donna, the Doctor Donna had stopped it. But maybe, maybe there was more, more just to this world, or to both. He was scared; he didn’t want to admit that, even to himself. Him, the mighty Jack Harkness was scared of something that only might happen.

He left a few hours afterwards to go back to the Hub, and although his place on the roof wasn’t secret it was an unsaid agreement that no-one would ever go up there, except Jack; because everyone needed a place to be alone.

Back and the Hub Ianto was still there working at some paper work. When he heard the round door open he turned around to smile at Jack.

“Mickey around is like having another Owen, there both rubbish at paper work, God forbid he could ever file anything away properly. Tosh was the only person, except me of course, who could ever put anything away, Martha, Gwen, yes you Captain, would it kill any of you to put anything in its right place?”

“Well this way we keep you on your toes, we wouldn’t want you to get lax.” Laugh Jack at Ianto’s strange need for order in the files, and although he would never admit it he knew they would be stuffed without him.

“Anyway, Jack, I wanted to talk to you.”

Jack noticed the use of his first name that barley ever happened unless Ianto wanted to be serious.

“Okay Ianto shoot.”

Ianto melted at the way Jack said his name; he couldn’t help it, it was like chocolate melting on your tongue.

“Jack, what do you want from me now? Because I’m confused whether it’s just sex, or sex and comfort, or is it sex and love?”

Jack stood there silently, that never happened often, and took in all Ianto said.

“Ianto I will always love you, I want you to know that, I love you from now until I’m a billion years old.”

He screwed his eyes up and clenched his nose and let out a small grunt of frustration.

“I don’t, can’t, do commitment, it’s too much for me, I come from a place were freedom is always. But in saying that never ever think it was just sex, never. I do love you and I want to be with you, but not just you. I know that makes me sound like the biggest slut this side of the millennia, but I can’t change who I am. I’m sorry.”

Ianto looked at him for a second, consuming what he had just said.

Not truly making up his mind he walked over to Jack not sure whether to kiss him or smack him. He ended up what just felt right and put his arm out and grabbed the back of Jack’s neck, pulled his head towards his own and made his lips have the wonderful contact of Jack’s own soft purple ones.

Jack stood there shocked for a moment then coming back into the picture grabbed Ianto and started kiss fiercely back. Suddenly he started to attack Ianto’s shirt pulling buttons so they pinged around the Hub. Ianto started on Jack’s shirt and soon the two men were naked.

Ianto loved this it was one of the small pleasures, well he said small; there was nothing small about Captain Jack Harkness, in a life in such confusion and turmoil, going into a place and not knowing whether you were going to come out to have your next cup of coffee, yes he was aware that the whole Hub were addicted to caffeine.

Things had just started to get interesting when Ianto’s phone started playing S.O.S by Abba that signalled Rift activity, after Tosh had…well Ianto had found that she had developed this spike that the computer could tell that if it was a Weevil, Ianto had finished it and had put them on all their phones. And yes they all played S.O.S by Abba. It was one song it was very unlikely they would confuse for anything else.

Jack and Ianto got into the SUV, fully clothed, and start to the place that there was to be activity. There was only one or two so it should be an easy job, nothing they couldn’t handle.

Running down the darkened ally, Jack’s great coat flapping behind him, Ianto running beside him and slightly back in his sexy suit chasing Weevils, how could life get any better then this?

“Ianto stop.”

Both men stopped and look right at a blocked end with a deep growl and shining dark beetle black eyes which only Owen ever understood was staring at them. Carefully the two men started stop walk slowly towards it.

Slowly, Slowly. They were quite near it now and Ianto went into his pocket for the Weevil spray, it was the new one, testing it. They were developing a new one because ever since Jack had met the two Doctors his mind had started to work faster and tried to find nicer way to capture the aliens on the rampage, including Weevils. They had the old one in case this didn’t work, which he hoped it did. But he felt mean to use them on Janet, that would be alien testing and about 100000 steps back from what he was trying to achieve; he wasn’t one to think one was okay when in could help millions. The thought of Owens’s ‘Rat Jam’ had really put him of as well.

As Ianto went to use the spray something grabbed him from behind and pulled him to the ground. He felt claws dig into his back.

The claws and teeth were persistent as they dug into his back and made there way to his neck. They pulled back layers of skin and bit out large chunks of flesh. They left Ianto in immense pain lying on the cold, wet ally blood gushing from every cut, bite, gash, and gap. He was just waiting, waiting for Jack to save him as he always did. Jack who would never leave him, Jack who would always save him from every problem and Jack who had said he loved him.

Jack acted as quick as he could and shot the monster as fast as he could get his gun out the holster and shoot. The body fell onto Ianto’s with a dull thud. Jack killed the other one and rushed over to him and pulled him of the bleeding Ianto.

“Ianto, Ianto hunny can you hear me?”

Jack pulled of his greatcoat and rapped it around Ianto to try and stem the harsh flow of blood. After doing that he got out his phone and phoned Martha.

“Jack, what are you doing phoning so late?”

“Martha please it’s Ianto he’s really hurt, it was a Weevil. Please come, were on that small ally by the Chinese you like.”

“Cho Lings?” asked Martha.

“Yer, that’s the one. Please Martha, hurry.”

Slamming his phone shut he looked at Ianto and pulled him closer to him.

“Come on Ianto, come on Yan. You have to stay with me, come on we never got to finish having our makeup sex.” Tears started to fall from his eyes but he tried to hold them back.

A fait flicker of a smile went across Ianto’s face.

“Do-don’t change Jack. Be-be you. I love you.”

“I love you to; now stay with me so that we can carry on loving each other. How am I supposed to deal with a kid without you?”

“You’re Captain Jack Harkness, you’ll manage. Kiss me?”

Jack let the tears fall freely down his face as he kissed Ianto’s bloody lips.

Ianto smiled and closed his eyes.

Martha jumped out of bed and grabbing her phone chucked on a pair of trainers and a jumper. She was already wearing a bra and some little shorts. She was not going to waste time Ianto obviously didn’t have by putting on clothes. Grabbing her flat and car keys she left the little flat for her car, which was fully equipped with most things she would need in an emergency, thanks to Ianto. While starting up her engine and reversing she started to call Gwen.

“Pick up, pick up fool.” She shouted down to the phone while she waited for Gwen to answer.

“Hello?” Gwen laughed at the other end.

“Gwen…”

“Oh Martha.” She half sighed and half laughed some more. “Look I’m really busy, Rhys stop that, look can I call you back tomorrow?”

“NO YOU CAN NOT!” Martha screamed down the phone. “Ianto is seriously hurt, phone Mickey, get your ass out of bed and meet me at the small ally by Cho Ling’s, the SUV should be there hurry up!”

With that Martha put the phone down and floored it all the way to where the SUV was.

Gwen pushed Rhys of her and grabbed her jeans which she and thrown across the floor.

“Gwen, darling, what’s going on?”

“It’s Ianto, he’s hurt.”

Rhys got out of bed and got dressed also grabbing his wife’s phone to hand to her.

“Need a lift?”

She gave him a smile of great gratitude. She couldn’t drive in this state and really didn’t want to attempt it. Grabbing the phone she started to call Mickey.

“Hey.” His voice sounded forced and out of breath.

“Mickey Ianto’s hurt you have to come to the Chinese Cho Ling’s now!”

There was a grunt and a girl’s voice in the back ground, something about why they were stopping.

“Eww, Mickey you’re having sex?”

“Not anymore, its okay Gwen I’m coming, like now meet you there.”

Gwen and Rhys’ car and Rhys drove as fast as he could while Gwen tried not to think the worst.

“I’m sorry Trinity I’ve got to go, work.”

“Work phones in the middle of the night and you just have to go?” She sounded incredulous, her blonde hair flipped over her shoulder.

“Jack’s normally good at not making us go in unless it’s an emergency, and this is a massive one.”

As he pulled his trousers over his legs Trinity started to dress as well.

“What’s happened, do you know?”

“All I know is that one of the guys who work there, Ianto, is hurt. I don’t know how badly or how but I have to go. Crap!”

Mickey had just realised that he and Trinity had walked to her place, he didn’t have his car and they were good fifteen minute walk from the Chinese and from the way Gwen sounded they didn’t have that time.

“I’m so sorry to be rude but can I borrow you’re car?”

“Absolutely not, I’ll drive.” With that she grabbed her leather jacket and went to head out the door. Mickey grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“You can’t come, it’s too dangerous. I’m sorry.”

“Shut up Mickey, my car is a girls car and I can drive it better then you cause I have smaller feet now shut up and let go of me!”

With that she pulled out of his grip and went for her car. Mickey had no choice but to follow her.

About three minutes later they all arrived at the ally by the Chinese. Martha rushed over to Jack and Ianto.

Gwen and Rhys went to try and pry Jack of Ianto’s still body. Mickey went to move the Weevils into the SUV because if someone was to come down, this was not a sight they should see.

Trinity went over to Mickey and gasped at what she saw.

“What are they?”

“Trinity there Weevils, there aliens. Look I can’t explain it all right now but you’re just going to have to trust me please?”

Looking at her, even in the dark he could see her looking frightened but gave a determined nod.

“Go tell Martha you training to be a doctor and see if you can help.”

“Okay.”

Mickey carried on heaving the heavy lumps when Rhys came over and said something about Jack.

Gwen was leaning by Jack talking softly to him.

“Come on Jack, it’ll be okay. Martha is brilliant; she’ll be able to help him. Come on lets get back so she can work. We’re no help.”

Jack was a lump he was barley responding just staring blankly at Ianto as Martha got to work. The blonde girl, that Mickey came with, went over to help. Jack didn’t even register that someone else was trying to help all he saw was a person he didn’t know trying to touch his Ianto. He lashed out at her. She stood no chance with Jack’s weight against her petite form.

Mickey dropped the Weevil he was carried with Rhys and ran over to get Jack of her. Gwen started to help as well as did Rhys.

“Jack get of her, she’s trying to help!” Mickey shouted in his ear. It seemed to make no difference and he just kept lashing out hitting Mickey around the face.

“Jack, come Jack she’s helping Ianto.”

At the sound of Ianto’s name he turned to face Gwen then his eyes slid over to Ianto, lifeless on the floor. Getting of her he gave the terrified girl a glare and simply said. “You better help.”

Giving a small nod she went over to Martha and asked what she could do.

Five minutes later Jack was sitting in a ball staring at the doctor and her assistant at work. Gwen was sitting with him as was Mickey and Rhys. They all were waiting in a wet ally with the sky turning from inky black to a grey haze.

Martha walked up to them her face impassive but behind her Gwen could see the blonde, Trinity, she had tears streaming down her face. She looked pale and gaunt, both were covered in blood. Gwen started to cry when she saw her. “NO! It can’t be true. Tell me it isn’t true.” She was at Martha’s feet begging her, pleading with her that it wasn’t true. Martha went down to her knees and grabbed her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” They then both looked at Jack. He wasn’t there.

“Jack!” They were all looking for him. “Jack!”

Then suddenly they heard a loud echoing BANG!

Oh God!

Running round the corner they saw him on the floor blood seeping out of his temple. Trinity started to scream. Mickey put a hand over her mouth to quieten her down and he did till it was just shuddering sobs. Gwen and Martha ran forward and held him up as.

“Uhhhhhhh.” Jack pulled in a deep shuddering breath.

Sitting up he was still crying and his arm was crawling around looking for his gun. Rhys went forward and grabbed his gun out of reach. Jack carried on crying and grabbed onto Gwen’s jumper burying his head into her chest like a child in need of a mothers comfort. Because at this moment he felt truly alone.