Lost inside of you Part 18/? Sequel to No place to hide

 

Title: Lost inside of you Part 18/?
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...
Masterlist 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 who continues to inspire and encourage me 

X-posted Jantolution & jackxianto

A/N This is DW heavy and covers the ‘year-that-never-was’. Mentions of torture.

 Thanks to wykling for the awesome banner *hugs*

Chapter 18

“This country is sick...this country needs healing...in fact, what this country needs most, right now...is a Doctor...” the smug words of Harold Saxon in his first address to the country as their new Prime Minister were aimed directly at the Doctor and his two companions, taunting them...

Then he arrested Martha’s mum, dad and sister.

Then he tried to blow them up with a bomb attached to Martha’s TV. Martha was no longer the sweet, rather naive young woman of yesterday...overnight, she grew up...

Then he made them outcasts, soldiers of fortune, by naming them as Britain’s most wanted: numbers one, two and three...he drove them underground and they fought back...

Three TARDIS keys, modified, on string around their necks gave them a cloak of invisibility – a perception filter so they blended into the background...became unnoticeable – quite a feat for three such dynamic and charismatic individuals...

Over chips – rather nice chips – the Doctor told them a little about The Master...in turn Jack confessed to Torchwood when a file about the Archangel network was sent to him on his wrist-strap. The Doctor was furious – he hated Torchwood and what it stood for but Jack defended his Torchwood, built from the ruins of the past in honour of the Doctor... However, there would be no help for them from Torchwood now...the Master had got there first and sent them away on a wild goose [alien!] chase in the mountains of Tibet... 

A truce followed, the three friends united against The Master, keeping to the shadows, like ghosts...as they drew up plans to defeat the rogue Timelord and the unknown Toclafane whom the Doctor insisted couldn’t exist...

Using Jack’s wrist-strap as a teleport, they transported onto the Valiant, a modern ship for a modern age...defending the skies far above the earth’s surface...

They found the TARDIS, cannibalised into a paradox machine, set for 08:02 am...

As the world held its breath, at 08:02, the Toclafane, spherical metal orbs with child-like voices and vicious knives and firepower burst through the paradox, six billion of them streaming down to carve one tenth of the population out of existence. The world watched in horror as the President of the USA was executed and Harold Saxon took over.

The three extra guests in the main arena were thwarted...the Doctor was captured and aged 100 years by The Master’s laser screwdriver and Jack was killed by it, reviving to secretly hand Martha his wrist-strap so she could escape, the Doctor whispering instructions to her...instructions that caused tears to fall unchecked down her face. With a final look at her fellow warriors, she was gone, leaving Jack, the Doctor and her family as prisoners...

Jack was hauled off and chained up in the engine room, forgotten for the moment whilst The Master taunted the Doctor, showing him the destruction the Toclafane had inflicted on the world and the rockets he planned to build to start wars in space so he could recreate Gallifrey and its place of power in the universe.

“And so it came to pass the human race fell and the earth was no more, and I look down on my new domain as Master of all and I thought it...good...” 

The Doctor refused to speak and The Master grew bored with him...but he had other toys...

Ianto gasped as the pain seared through him and he sank to the floor as his legs buckled. “Jack...” he whispered...

The Master stood, staring with malicious satisfaction, at the man chained spread-eagled to the wall before him. His face was dirty, the grime of the engine room caked on his skin, his head bowed. His clothes were ripped and bloodied from the razor-sharp knives of the Toclafane and trails of blood dripped down his shredded skin into puddles on the floor... This death had been swift...brief agony from the blades until one had pierced his heart...

The Master watched, waiting impatiently for the revival...this new toy was so much fun...

Jack took that agonising first gasp as the blackness threw him back into the horror that was his current existence and his shredded body repaired itself for the tenth time that day, taking a little longer each time, hurting that bit more...

He raised his head to stare defiantly at his captor, his eyes shining against the filth on his face...Ianto...Ianto smiling as he wakes up beside me...that little-boy-lost look in his beautiful eyes...you won’t break me, you bastard...I’ve got something you’ll never take from me...my Ianto...

Anger surged through The Master and he aimed his laser screwdriver between Jack’s eyes, firing in short bursts to inflict as much pain as possible before the inevitable and his head slumped forward once more... As each burst hit him and white hot agony shot through his aching body, Jack held his head high...Ianto singing ‘Fame’ in the shower, unaware Jack was watching, Ianto’s eyes gleaming with passion as he pressed him against the ladder in his room, Ianto...and death claimed him again.

Ianto’s face was streaked with silent tears, watching the horror as it played across the sky above him, tiny whimpers escaping his lips with every new twist of pain and he tried to reach out towards his lover, only to find himself frozen in time...he felt the Doctor in his head, softly, tenderly...”you can’t help him...he has to do this himself...our suffering is to watch him suffer...I am so very sorry Ianto...for now...and for what is still to come...but I will be here with you...”

True to his word, Ianto sensed a part of the Doctor’s consciousness curling around his trembling shields, giving him strength as he struggled back to his feet and they watched and shared the agonies above them...

When Jack revived this time, it was to find himself alone...Ianto bending over some artefact in the archives, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows...that was just so sexy...He closed his eyes and relived several erotic encounters in the archives, so lost in thought he didn’t hear the quiet footsteps until they stopped in front of him...

“Captain..?” the voice soft and gentle

“Hey, Tish, how’s my favourite girl today..?” he flashed a quick grin, fooling neither of them that there was anything to smile about.

“Lunchtime...your favourite...cold mashed swede...” He hated swede – hot, cold, mashed, any way you cared to serve it...but of course The Master knew that...it was yet another way to torture him, to try and wear him down...to break him...

He ate, Tish feeding him carefully. He drank thirstily from the bottle of water she held to his lips, winking at her...they could pretend that their spirits were high. Meal, or whatever you would actually call it, complete, she cupped his face gently, brushing her thumbs lightly over his skin before leaving him alone once more...

Alone, he could do...guards and even Toclafane he could do...it was The Master he struggled with...rage and fury flooded outwards, swamping Ianto’s fragile shields which would have buckled without the Doctor’s quiet support, followed by heart rending despair and raw pain and then he began to rebuild...Ianto rolling his eyes at another lewd pass, Ianto laughing hysterically at their water pistol fight, Ianto’s lips soft and responsive against his...

More footsteps approached. He cringed inside. He knew those footsteps so well now...hated those footsteps...

Jack raised his head to meet The Master’s eyes. In this battle of spirits he was determined to be on the winning side and if torturing him gave the man something to do, then it distracted him from hurting the Doctor or Tish...he couldn’t die...they could... Of course, the Master wouldn’t kill the Doctor – he needed him to witness the horror... No, the challenge was to get the Doctor to speak...something he’d refused to do since he’d worked out who the Toclafane were...

The Master had tried many tactics to get the Doctor to speak, even wheeling him down to the engine room to watch as he used Jack as target practice for his guards...’sport’ he’d called it...two guards, one half of Jack each...start easy...shoot him in the arm...now the shoulder...good...now the kneecaps...Ianto undressing slowly, his slim fingers undoing his tie, gazing into his eyes as he pulls the silk seductively from his collar... Searing pain as his kneecaps exploded... almost more than he can bear...

Ianto screamed as he felt the excruciating agony burn through him, white hot fingers of pain radiating from each wound and he slid to the floor...

The Doctor had met Jack’s gaze, pain, sorrow and regret evident in his eyes as he maintained the passive expression on his wrinkled face... Jack winked...and passed out...Ianto smiling...

A bucket of ice cold water in his face dragged him gasping back to consciousness and the throbbing ache of his injuries as he hung limply in his shackles. He lifted his head to stare defiantly at The Master...Ianto undoing his shirt buttons...slowly, their eyes locked on each other, sliding the crisp cotton from his smooth shoulders... He grinned.

“Finish the freak..!” hissed the Timelord. Two shots rang out hitting him simultaneously in the head and the heart. He died.

Ianto felt the blackness moments before the Doctor slammed his shields up, reaching for the sobbing man and wrapping him into his arms, his own face streaked with tears as he rocked them gently... “Let me...I want to be with him...”

“Dying with him won’t help anyone...you can be there when he revives...”

They turned their eyes skyward once more, the silhouette of their Captain standing out starkly against the images above him, his body tense and set, concentration etched painfully on his face...

The respite was brief, that first painful breath as death rejected him once more left him gasping. He hardly had time to register the presence before unendurable agony sent a scream to his throat, barely able to choke it down... Running his fingers through the soft hair on Ianto’s chest, brushing over his nipples and moving his hands lower, his skin silky smooth and warm...Ianto...Ianto... He smelled the burning flesh even as his head slumped and he hung heavily in his restraints.

The Master flung the blow torch aside in fury - too fast...he wanted to hear him scream...beg for death... He turned on his heel and left, wisps of smoke curling from Jack’s blackened and burned feet...

Ianto’s sobs echoed through the Doctor’s mind-space. For the moment there was no pain, just merciful blackness and the comforting presence of the Doctor’s mind bolstering his shields. Jack stood like a statue, blocked off from the two men so desperate to reach him, to hold him and help soothe the suffering as he relived his darkest memories. But this was something he had to do by himself...letting them in would see them consumed by the raw agony...only he had the power of eternal life and swift healing...that’s why he had to do this alone...

The Master had left him alone for days...completely alone – no food, no water, no company...he was weak now, close to death...drifting in and out of consciousness, just waiting for the end... He heard footsteps...those footsteps...how he hated those footsteps...

Rough hands grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. He felt no pain, just pressure against his skin as his throat was slit... He bled out slowly...Ianto...the image was hazy, fogged...no...I need Ianto... This death was the worst so far...The Master was learning new ways of torture, new methods of extending the agony, drawing out the suffering before the all too brief respite of death...

Coming back from complete blood loss always left him weak and light headed. The Master’s newfound obsession with knives, ice picks and needles resulted in death after death from blood loss and he was finding it harder and harder to see Ianto’s face clearly...Ianto...don’t leave me...

The Master loved his new toy – he could break it over and over and it fixed itself every time. With every step further into madness, he became more depraved... When he’d grown tired of blades he’d found new methods of torture to amuse himself with... He pulled out Jack’s finger and toe nails, beat him with a metal bar, burned him with flaming torches, used him as an archery target, poured liquid nitrogen over his hands and feet... Jack remained defiant, refusing to break...Ianto laying sated in his arms...walking round the bay, hands entwined, warm and reassuring...that first coffee of the day together before anyone else arrived...intimate...enduring...Ianto...

Ianto and the Doctor sat huddled together on the floor, the tear tracks dry on their faces as they shared death after death, agony after agony and their hearts shattered for the man they both loved. “Hold on, cariad...for me...”

Tish fed him as usual, whispering the latest rumours of Martha’s travels as she held the water bottle up to his lips, tapping three fingers against the steel dinner dish...another rebellion was planned. He nodded, weariness heavy through his body but determined to play his part...

Ultimately, it took all his remaining strength to wrench his cuffs from the wall, but he was running through the corridors at the appointed hour, distracting the guards until he was cut down in a hail of bullets... When he revived he was once again chained to the wall...

“You want to see where your pathetic little attempts to escape got you?” The Master’s voice was pure hatred. He held up a large bird cage, shaking it roughly so the tiny creature inside had to hold on to the bars... not so powerful now, is he...your nine hundred year old Doctor is showing every one of his years... Nothing can stop me...time you realised that...gave it up...” he turned to leave, swinging the cage viciously.

He paused at the door and glanced back over his shoulder. Jack looked at the Doctor, helpless and caged, shrunken with the weight of his years and his eyes filled with tears. He blinked them back, refusing to give The Master even the smallest victory. “Oh, I’ve got something special planned for you...to celebrate the return of the infamous Martha Jones...” He left, his laughter chilling Jack to the bone.

He was back shortly after, with numerous guards and...his team...his friends...their hands were cuffed behind their backs but otherwise they appeared unharmed...  “Accept my mastery over you and I’ll let them live...denounce the Doctor and worship me...you’ve got five seconds before the first one dies...” he grabbed Tosh by the hair and dragged her on her knees in front of her Captain.

Jack could see the terror in her eyes, but she shook her head minutely. He said nothing. The Master nodded and a shot rang out as a guard put a gun to the back of Tosh’s head and pulled the trigger. Her head exploded in a mass of blood and bone and she slumped lifeless to the floor...

Ianto’s heart had missed several beats when the team was brought in. He froze when Tosh was shot, his own rage and grief mirroring Jack’s, both men trembling with barely contained fury and...

 “Next...” The Master hauled Owen across until he was kneeling in Tosh’s blood... “Well, freak, what’s it to be...”

Owen stared at Jack, his eyes shining with unshed tears. He wrenched his hair from the Master’s grasp... “fuck you!” Jack smiled...The Master nodded and Owen’s body joined Tosh’s on the floor.

“Think carefully, Captain...you’re running out of friends fast...” Gwen was next to be dragged over and shoved roughly to the floor, falling on to her side, her face in Owen’s splattered brains...

Jack met her eyes. She smiled, briefly, as the tears spilled down her face... The Master shrugged. “Make her suffer first...” The guard shot Gwen twice in the stomach, dragging a cry from her lips as she writhed in agony in the blood and brains on the floor... Jack’s fury rose several notches...

“I’ve saved the best for last...” He dragged Ianto to stand in front of Jack, moving round to face the pale faced young man who stood defiantly in front of the Timelord. He stroked a hand down the side of his face... ”I can see why you like this one...he’s pretty...I could have some fun with him...you could watch...”

“You leave him alone...” Jack growled, his voice shaking... Ianto, I’m so sorry...my beautiful, darling Ianto...I can’t give in to him...forgive me...I...”

“You know what you have to do...you’ve got five seconds...”

Ianto looked into Jack’s eyes, acceptance of his fate and unconditional trust blazing out of them...

“Time’s up...” he turned to the guard, “I’ll do this one myself...” pulling out a knife and slitting the young man’s throat in one swift movement, shoving his body away where it fell on top of the now still form of Gwen Cooper.

The Master turned back to Jack. “I hope the Doctor is worth their sacrifice...tomorrow will see the end of Martha Jones and the launch of my rockets. Tomorrow sees the start of the resurrection of Gallifrey...sweet dreams, Captain...”

Alone again, with the bodies of his colleagues, his friends...his lover...Jack finally broke...huge sobs shaking his body...hating himself for his betrayal, his failure...Ianto...that look would haunt him forever...Ianto...

The sun rose on a new day...a monumental day for the earth...

Martha had been ‘captured’ and returned to the Valiant. The Doctor, Martha’s family and Jack were all brought to the main arena to witness the death of the most famous of earth’s children – Martha Jones...timed to coincide with the launch of the rockets...

Martha knelt before The Master, giggling as he raved about his great plans for war... She told her story...how she told the world about the Doctor...about one word, right across the world, at one time...one word...with the power of fifteen satellites...”Doctor...”

Jack closed his eyes...”Doctor...”

As one the people of earth spoke...”Doctor...” and he rose, the power of thought restoring him to his complete self and The Master was driven back...”I forgive you...”

“Captain...the paradox machine...” Jack and a handful of guards battled the Toclafane who were defending the butchered TARDIS, destroying it, trapping the spheres at the end of the universe as time reverted...and the year-that-never-was came to be, known only to those at the heart of the storm.

The Master found himself looking down the barrel of a gun...Francine was determined he should die for his crimes...but the Doctor knew she wasn’t a killer and talked the distraught woman out of it, telling the group that he would care for The Master from now on...keep him from hurting anyone ever again...

A shot rang out and The Master fell to the floor, shot by his wife, poor damaged Lucy who’d seen so much...

Cradled in the Doctor’s arms, The Master refused to regenerate, choosing instead to die...

Back in Cardiff, the Doctor asked Jack to travel with him once more and Jack was tempted, briefly...but the pull of his team...his team who were alive...Ianto...I’m coming back for you...if you’ll still have me...you were my strength, my anchor through the madness and I need you...always...my Ianto... was stronger and he chose to stay...to defend the earth...

“What about me...can you fix me...will I ever be able to die..?”

“I’ve no idea, Jack...you’re an impossible thing..!”

They joked about grey hairs and vanity before Jack ran off towards the water tower, his parting comment rocking the Doctor’s world on its heels...

”The Face of Boe they called me...” 

Chapter 19: http://zazajb.livejournal.com/8470.html