zazajb | Lost inside of you Part 25b/? Sequel to No place to hide

Title: Lost inside of you Part 25b/?
Author: zazajb
Rating: NC-17 overall, adult concepts, occasional language, M/M
Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Martha/Tom, The Doctor [10] Lois/Peter
Spoilers - TW anything is possible - via memories, inc DW
Summary: Sequel to No place to hide. Sometimes I don't know where I end and he begins...

Previous chapters: http://zazajb.livejournal.com/6286.html

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters - just like to dabble with them from time to time
This is for the wonderful wise_n_witty

A/N Sorry it’s late – was manic last week and the bunnies kept distracting me with oneshots... Warning – repeated and multiple character death: Exit Wounds episode

X-posted Jantolution & jackxianto
Thanks to wykling for the awesome banner *hugs*

Chapter 25b

He revived, painfully, as he was flung away from death, to find himself chained two feet off the floor, comms and weapons removed...what the... John circled menacingly, complaining he’d been belittled...that Jack didn’t want to spend time with him...

“What’ve you done with Gray? Where’s my brother..?”

“You don’t realise...actions...ramifications...ripples in the pond...beyond my control...” John was rambling...

“Out of your control? Oh, please!”

“It is...you have to understand that...” he activated the rift manipulator, sending agonising electric shocks to Jack’s cuffs when he protested, threatening more for any further outbursts...

“Whatever you’re planning...we’re going to stop you...” through gritted teeth

“I hope you can...really...now, let’s go get ourselves a good view...” He took Jack up to the top of Cardiff Castle, more punishing shocks when Jack resisted...”I told you – no struggling...”

“I can make this right with you...” Jack pleaded.

“You don’t understand – you can’t ever make this right... He ordered the other members of Torchwood to go up to the roofs of their buildings. They watched in horror as fifteen explosions crippled the city...

“What’ve you done..?” Oh, God...what have you done, John...why...where’s Gray?

“Don’t worry...it’s going to be alright...” John activated his wrist strap and the two of them vanished into the cosmos...Jack protesting wildly, “...stop...get off me...” as the rift swallowed them up.

They materialised on a grassy plain under a cloudless sky... ”we made it...now before you do anything ra...” his words were cut off as Jack’s fist made contact with his jaw.

“...take us back now...” I have to get back...Ianto...the others...are they ok?

“...no way...we have to be this far to escape the trigger signal...”

“What?” just what is going on here...where’s Gray...we need to go back...

John held up his arm. “Look at it...it’s bonded to my skin – won’t come off – go on, open it...”

Jack flipped the cover of the strap...”...ninth generation detonator...”John shuddered as the horror and realisation reflected in Jack’s face, “...you’re a walking bomb..!” what the...

“...add that to a surveillance loop to monitor everything I say and he has me doing everything I’m told...’cause if I don’t – boom – I’m not my own man...” earnest, insistent...a ring of truth to it...”I thought you’d see that...but oh, no, you’re so self obsessed you thought I’d want to blow up your stupid city...” he looked over Jack’s shoulder, an expression of horror crossing his face...

“Oh, no, that’s the oldest trick in the book...”

“Jack..?” a different voice...Jack spun round to see his brother walking towards him... Gray...it’s really him... “...I never stopped believing...I always knew we’d find each other again...” as he threw himself into Jack’s outstretched arms... Gray...it’s him...my brother’s alive...safe...Gray...

Jack hugged him tightly, flashbacks of that terrible day rattling through his mind...”I’m sorry...” he whispered.

“Well, sorry’s not good enough...” Gray dragged a curved knife from behind his back and plunged it up to the hilt into his brother’s chest... Jack clutched at the knife, his life slipping away...he died.

Ianto gasped as the blackness threatened his mind, slamming his shields up automatically to prevent himself being pulled under, knowing that being there when Jack revived was far more important...come back to me Jack...

Jack took a huge agonising breath in as the blackness threw him back. His arms flailed around, searching...Ianto... He opened his eyes to find himself meeting the cold hard gaze of his brother. Gray..? What..?

Brutal hands hauled him to his feet and fixed shackles around his ankles. “I looked for you...I searched for you for years...” he implored to Gray’s retreating back, unprotesting as John cuffed his hands, “...you were my first thought every day...”

Gray swung round, “what are you expecting...” he muttered bitterly, “...a loving reunion..? absolution..? You want me to say it’s ok, brother...I forgive you..?” he moved closer, his lips twisting into a snarl, “...those creatures – they lived to torture, they kept us just on the verge of life... I’d lie there, hemmed in by corpses, praying to become one...”

Gray...I’m so sorry...it’s my fault...I’m sorry...

Grief and guilt hit Ianto in the stomach so hard it made his eyes water and he reached out instinctively towards his Captain...halting only when the Doctor sent a gentle warning don’t...he needs to do this... Blinking back the tears, he retreated, squeezing the hand clasped firmly in his, drawing strength from the comforting presence of the Timelord’s mind resting against his.

“...because you...let go...of my...hand...” suppressed fury punctuated his words.

They were nose to nose now. The look in Grey’s eyes was chilling...they were lifeless pits of darkness... Jack’s blood ran cold...Gray...I’m sorry...let me fix this...bring you back...Gray...

“Remember?” the challenge was clear.

I’m so sorry...“If I could swap with you, I would...” those frantic scenes running through his head once more...the look of fear in his mother’s eyes...I failed her...I failed dad...I failed you...

“I believed you’d come...but you never did...” Gray’s hands here on his chest now, his eyes boring into Jack’s... ”How long before you gave up....weeks...months...years...decades?”

Jack trembled, biting down the sobs, I’m sorry...if I could change it, I would...Gray... He took a breath, “What do you want from me?” his heart breaking...

“I want you to suffer, I want your life!” Grey hissed malevolently, taking a step back. He spread his arms. “This is Cardiff, 27AD...”

Jack glanced around at the rolling countryside, noting for the first time the deep hole in the ground behind him...the grave...

Gray continued, “...the city will be built here over the next two thousand years...and your grave will be its foundations – your blessing of life becomes a curse...” he smiled thinly, “each time you revive with a throat full of earth...each time it chokes you afresh and you thrash on the edge of death...” he grasped Jack’s arms tightly and glared into his eyes, “...you think of me...”

John stepped forward, his face troubled, this was too much even for him to just stand by and watch, “ok, that’s enough, I’m calling a halt – I can’t let you do this...”

Gray ignored him, grabbing Jack by the throat and shoving him violently, backwards into the deep pit where he landed with a thud, the air knocked out of him...no way to break his fall with arms and legs bound... He looked up into the face of his brother, the brother he no longer recognised...Gray...

“Fill the grave!” he barked at John

“No way...” John protested

“Then the detonator on your arm gets activated...” Gray’s tone was menacing.

John looked down at Jack, meeting his sad gaze, surprised when Jack nodded minutely. There was silence, both knowing what this meant... John slid a ring off his finger and pressed his lips to it before tossing it into the grave to land on the Captain’s chest. Jack stared up at John, his face expressionless, wondering...

“What’s that?” Gray was suspicious

“Nothing...” John shrugged, “...it’s sentimental value...” He turned and picked up the shovel, sending fresh earth showering down on Jack as Gray watched... Jack closed his eyes as he was slowly buried alive, resisting his body’s urge to struggle...he deserved this...this is my penance...my punishment for failing my family...I’m sorry, so very sorry... His throat was full of earth and he choked, his mind searching frantically for a way out, desperate for air...every attempt at breath serving only to drag more earth into his respiratory system... Finally, his lungs burning, every nerve ending screaming...he suffocated and blackness claimed him.

Ianto gasped as the pain hit him, his knees buckled and tears streamed down his face as Jack revived and the instinctive deep breath in brought nothing but more choking earth, the oppressive darkness and weight of the ground pressing down on him without end...Ianto...my Ianto...a flash of the young Welshman laughing, his head thrown back – a vision to keep Jack hoping...he would find a way to get back to him...Ianto...I’m coming back for you...

The earth moved further down his windpipe with every revival, the agony of brief respite from the darkness became a friend, a minute moment in time for him to hold on to the one thought that kept him fighting...he paid for his failure...over and over...choking afresh until his lungs were full of earth, his hands remained clenched and the agony was stuck in a loop...choke painfully, lungs on fire...blackness descends...thrown back from the welcome darkness into useless revival to burn in purgatory once more with the briefest glimmer of light as his Welshman’s face flashed before him and he surrendered once more...year followed year...followed century...as the city grew above him...

on to part c http://zazajb.livejournal.com/13615.html