Life is All, Part II: Archival Revival, Chapter 6

[amuly]

Title: Life is All Part II: Archival Revival: Chapter 6
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, past Jack/Alonso, possible future Alonso/…?
Word Count: 3,041
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jack finally hauls his arse back to Cardiff to resurrect Ianto using the nanogenes and antivirus.
Warnings: none
A/N: So, I wanted to have Chapters 6 and 7 posted today, but I got sick this week + the AC went down in our upstairs (live in Florida, btw), which = dead amuly for this past week. So I only ended up getting this chapter done, and you’re all basically going to kill me. Sorry. Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of Part II! … Please? ;__;
(And if I haven't mentioned this before: there are three parts total, each with 7 chapters. So 1 more chapter for Part II, then 7 chapters for Part III, and that'll be it.)

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 Part II: 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5

            That morning, Jack awoke with one hundred and seventy pounds of muscled man sleeping on top of his left arm. He edged out as carefully as he could, doing his best not to wake Alonso. His wrist strap was blinking faintly at him: fully powered up, enough for two men to make the jump. They were ready, then.

            Glancing back at Alonso, Jack slipped on his clothes: pants, trousers, shirt – vial still there, in the pocket – braces, coat, boots, and stepped outside. He needed to get some air and time to himself before they jumped back to twenty ten.

            “Ianto.” He breathed the name like a prayer as he stepped out onto the chilly London streets, just starting to wake in the early morning light. He wasn’t sure what they would find when they went back to Torchwood, but he knew he’d be able to find Ianto. If Gwen didn’t have him at Torchwood Cardiff, then Archie would have him in Glasgow. Jack had given Archie strict orders years ago that if anything happened to Torchwood Three – anything that would cause them to be unable to recover their dead – Archie was to come in and handle it. One of them would have his Ianto. And he’d get to see him again – today.

            Nerves tingling with anticipation, Jack trotted down the street, unable to simply walk. Today, today, today. Today he’d have Ianto back; today he wouldn’t be alone again; today everything that had happened over the past year, everything that had gone wrong, would be right.

            Unable to wait any longer, Jack turned around and jogged back to his hotel room. Inside, Alonso was just waking up, stretching and looking around blearily. Catching sight of Jack, he propped himself up on his elbows. “Time, is it?”

            Jack nodded. “Get your clothes back on. It’s time I introduced you to your new coworkers.”

            As Alonso shucked on his clothing, Jack elaborated. “I’m sure Gwen’s still working there,” unless something happened. Oh, please, no. “You’ll like her. Real spitfire gal.” Jack considered. “I’ll bet she called in Martha to help, as a doctor. She’s a beautiful young woman – traveled with the Doctor herself, as a companion. And if she’s there, Mickey’ll be there, too.”

            Jack frowned, trying to figure out whom else they might encounter. “Gwen’s married, and her husband Rhys is…” he grinned. “Well, we’ve had our differences, but he’s a nice guy. Devoted to Gwen, if a bit…” Jack waved his hand, “caveman.”

            Alonso had finished dressing and was standing in front of Jack, hand on his hips. Jack nodded at him. “Ready?”

            Alonso shrugged nonchalantly. “What, to meet your late boyfriend and old colleagues? Sure, completely ready.”

            Jack smiled at his nervousness, then strode across the room and planted a quick kiss on his lips. “You’ll be fine. They’ll love you.”

            A shadow passed over Alonso’s eyes – but you don’t – that Jack chose to ignore. He wrapped his arms around Alonso’s waist, punching the coordinates into his wrist strap behind Alonso’s back. “Hang on,” he said, and then they were off, flying through time and space.

**

            Jack stumbled as they landed, light and noise rushing in at him.

            “Hands on your head!”

            “Answer me! What’s your name, species, and planet of origin?”

            “What is your intent here on – holy shit it’s Jack!”

            Jack blinked, adjusting to the light. He had landed in front of the tourist office, just as he had intended. Alonso was still clinging to his side, which Jack might have chided him for, if it weren’t for the fact that there were four guns on them at the moment. Jack took a moment to observe the scene around him. Gwen was there, looking almost exactly like she had when Jack left: minus one very prominent baby bump. And Martha and Mickey were standing side-by-side, just as Jack had predicted. It had actually been Mickey who had recognized him first. Standing off to the side, the fourth gun trained on the pair of them was…

            “Andy? Andy Davidson? PC Andy? You’re working for Torchwood, now?”

            “Hello.” Andy waved at Jack.

            Gwen was already holstering her weapon, though looking none-to-happy to be doing so. “Yes, Jack, Andy’s working with us now.” Andy practically beamed with pride at Gwen’s acknowledgement. “I had to build up the team, since I was the only one left.”

            Jack winced. He had left Gwen in a bind; he could recognize that. Still, everything seemed to be working out fine: she had Martha, Mickey, and Andy working for her. That was pretty good.

            “Who’s this, then?” Martha was stepping forward, nodding at Alonso.

            With sudden awkwardness, Alonso extracted himself from Jack’s side and stepped forward. “Hello. I’m Alonso.” Alonso extended a hand to Martha. She took it, but not before shooting Jack an inquiring look. Gwen was less kind.

            “Oh, so Ianto’s been gone not a year and you’ve managed to hook up with this young thing. Christ, Jack, is he even of age?” Jack and Alonso both winced at Gwen’s words.

            “Gwen, listen…” Jack started forward, palms out. But now that Gwen had warmed to the topic, there was no stopping her.

            “No, Jack. No! I’m not going to listen.” Gwen took a heated step forward, nudging aside Alonso and Martha, who were still trying to be civil. “You left me. Again! And you left me to deal with Ianto, and his family, and…” she gasped for a breath, “and Torchwood. And…and now, you’ve got this young little two-bit rent boy on your arm, like nothing ever happened…” Jack bit his lip at the angry tears that rushed down Gwen’s face. She wiped the back of a hand across her eyes furiously. “Didn’t he mean anything to you, Jack? He loved you!”

            And then Gwen was in Jack’s arms, sobbing hysterically, and it was all Jack could do to support her weight and stay standing. “I…” Jack looked over her shoulder at the four pairs of eyes staring back at him. “Gwen, I…I think I can bring Ianto back.”

            Contrary to the ecstatic reaction he expected, Gwen shoved herself off Jack, and slapped him across the face. He stood there, stunned, for a long moment, until Gwen started shouting at him again. “Don’t even joke about that, Jack! Don’t even hint at that, if it won’t happen. Don’t…don’t…”

            Gwen lunged forward again, but Jack stopped her, grabbing her wrists and holding her in place. “Gwen, Gwen, wait, please. I’ve been running across the galaxy, looking for a cure…I went back in time, to pick up some nanogenes,” he shook Gwen, forcing her to look in his eyes. “Gwen, this is for real. I can bring him back.”

            Gwen straightened up, tears still pouring from her eyes. But she was calmer now, the tears less angry and accusing. “You really think you can?”

            “Gwen,” Jack clasped her hands in his, “I wouldn’t have gotten my hopes up if I didn’t think I could do it.” Gwen nodded, sniffling. “Where’s,” Jack hesitated, eyes flickering down to her stomach. If something had happened…but then her eyes lit up, and she gestured at the tourist office doors behind them.

            “Braith is in there,” she smiled brightly.

            “Braith?”

            Gwen blushed. “Rhys thought it would be cute. It means ‘freckled’, and he figured, with me as her mam…”

            Jack grinned broadly. “Perfect. Beautiful, hardy, Welsh name.”

            Gwen walked past him and he turned around to following her into the tourist office. He stopped short. “Uh…what happened to the tourist office?”

            Instead of the old little building, there was a nice, clean office, with a brand new sign across its front. “Harwood?” Jack gaped. “Harwood is our cover, now? Rhys’ Harwood?”

            Gwen rolled her eyes. “Well, I needed all the help I could get. And with the baby, Rhys and I needed a way to have her close to the both of us, so…” She opened the door with a flourish, bounding in to the new office.

            Rhys was standing behind the desk, lounging over a magazine in that same, bored manner that Ianto used to.  It made the breath hitch in Jack’s throat to see it, but he reminded himself that in no time at all he’d have his Ianto back. “Hey love, take care of that Rift – oi! What’s he doing here?”

            Jack sighed. This was getting old, fast. “Hey Rhys. How’s Harwood?”

            Rhys, taking his cue from his wife, came out from behind the counter and shook Jack’s hand warmly. “Great, great. Ruth’s doing the actual running of the place now, I’m just the front for Torchwood.”

            “He’s working here, too?” Gwen shot Jack another look, so he held his hands up defensively. “Okay, okay. I get it.” He nodded at Rhys. “Good to have you on the team.”

            “Well, it’s Gwen’s team now, isn’t it?” Rhys raised his eyebrows, rocking back on his heels.

            Jack rolled his eyes but nodded. “Sure, you’re right. Gwen’s team.”

            “Who’s this, then?” Rhys nodded at Alonso.

            Oh, right. Jack had almost forgotten about him in all the commotion. Alonso waved self-consciously. “Torchwood, this is Alonso. Alonso, Torchwood. He’s been traveling with me, helping me get the things I needed to bring Ianto back.” Jack turned to Martha. “The Doctor introduced us.”

            That seemed to satisfy Martha and Mickey’s curiosity, who waved and nodded in understanding respectively. Judging by her expression, Gwen was less placated by this explanation, but held her tongue.

            “I thought he might get a job here, if you needed the help. But it looks like you’ve got plenty of hands…”

            Gwen perked up. “You haven’t even met everyone yet. Here, come on down to the base.”

            Jack frowned. This wasn’t everyone? They had a medic in Martha, a tech expert in Mickey (he had gotten pretty decent over the years of his travels, so Jack had heard), a leader in Gwen, a normal copper in Andy, and a cover story in Rhys. Who else did they need?

            Gwen turned to Rhys, bright smile on her face. “Is she awake?”

            Rhys shook his head, and suddenly that goofy, perfect-husband grin that Jack remembered appeared on his face. “Sleeping like an angel. Want me to wake her?”

            “No,” Gwen shook her head, but tiptoed over to the desk to peer behind it. Jack followed her, craning his neck to look over her shoulder. There, snuggled up in a baby carrier and tucked under the desk was baby Braith.

            “Oh Gwen,” tears sprang into Jack’s eyes. “She’s beautiful.” And she truly was. Dark hair, pale skin, and perfect little features. Her mouth puckered slightly as she slept, looking for something to suck on. An involuntary grin split Jack’s face at the sight.

            Rhys was grinning madly, proud dad that he was. “Perfect, just like her mam.”

            Gwen nodded at the door. “Come on. We’ll let you meet the last member of the team. Then you can tell me all about this plan of yours.”

            Rhys started after them, then stopped. “Plan? What plan? Should I bring Braith down?”

            “Just stay up here, sweetheart!” Gwen called after him. Jack cast a look over his shoulder to see a confused Rhys standing helplessly behind the front desk, before the door swung shut behind them.

**

            As they stepped through the cog door, Jack gaped around at the Hub. It was… “It’s the same.”

            Gwen nodded. “Well…” she nodded lightly, “I’ve made some changes. But it’s still got that sewer-chic décor, and we’ve managed to rebuild most the archives.”

            “You’ve got me to thank for that!” A voice shouted down from one of the railings.

            Jack glanced up, only to see “Lois? Ha..Ha…”

            “Lois Habiba.” The woman introduced herself, blushing slightly. She started down the stairs toward group. “Nice to see you again, Captain. And in good health, looks like.” Her eyes darted over to Alonso.

            Jack rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to explain again. But then Alonso stepped forward, blocking Jack’s attempt at explanation. “Hi. I’m Alonso.” He stuck out his hand to Lois, who took it daintily.

            “Oh. Hi Alonso. Nice to meet you.” Alonso brought Lois’ hand up to his lips and kissed it, causing a blush to spread across her cheeks.

            Jack just raised an eyebrow at the proceedings, before turning to Gwen. “I need Ianto’s body. Do you have it, here?”

            Gwen bit her lip, but then nodded. “Yeah, Jack. He’s here. Archie took him while we rebuilt the cryo lab, then once we were settled a bit he turned him back over.”

            Martha stepped in. “What exactly are you planning, Jack?”

            He gestured around the Hub. “Med lab?”

            Martha nodded. “It’s down next to the morgue, now.” She shrugged. “More convenient.”

            “Lead the way.”

            The mismatched group headed down a level to the morgue, where the newly built medical bay was set up. As they started down the stairs, Jack hung back and leaned into Alonso. “What was that you said about no interest in women?” he whispered.

            A blush spread across Alonso’s cheeks, matching the one Lois had so recently sported herself. “Well, you were the one who said that was limiting myself.”

            Jack nodded, an evil glint in his eye, but he dropped the issue. Time enough to deal with that later.

            “Alright, Jack, what’s the plan?” Martha was pulling on a doctor’s coat, eyeing Jack suspiciously the whole time. Gwen was backed up in a corner, watching the whole proceedings and looking on the verge of tears.

            “Two fold.” Jack pulled the vial out of his pocket and passed it carefully over to Martha, before slinging his backpack off and rummaging through it. “First, we administer the nanogenes.” He pulled out the red-capped bottle with the nanogenes and handed it over to Martha as well. “Then, we give him the antivirus. The nanogenes should bring him back, but the virus is probably nanogene resistant. Without the antivirus…” Jack took a breath, steadying himself, “without the antivirus, he’d just end up dying all over again.”

            Martha looked between the vial and the bottle. “Can I do tests on either of these? Is there enough?”

            Jack shook his finger at Martha. “A pinch,” he cautioned. “I know UNIT’s been dying to get their hands on nanogenes, haven’t they?”

            Martha sniffed. “I wouldn’t know: I work for Torchwood, now.” Jack grinned at her. She offered a small smile back before turning to the computers surrounding the medical bay. “Right,” she said, “While I run samples of these through the system, could one of you get the body from the wall and bring it over here?”

            Jack noticed that Lois automatically started forward. So she had taken over some of Ianto’s duties, then: archiving, general office work. And it looked like Rhys had taken over Ianto’s duties at keeping their cover maintained, and if Gwen was a smart woman, keeping the team fed. Jack had tried some of Rhys’ lasagna one time when Gwen had brought it in, and immediately phoned Rhys and ordered him to get the recipe to Ianto as soon as he could.

            They never did have a chance to try out the recipe at home.

            Jack shook himself, focusing back on what Lois and Martha was doing. Martha had evidently run the tests on the nanogenes first, and was marveling at their properties. “…five hundred years! This is incredible! What we could do with these: have them in ambulances, no one would die at an accident scene again…”

            Then there was Ianto.

            Jack sucked in a breath. Lois was quietly wheeling him over on a gurney – Jack wasn’t sure where she had gotten it from. He was so pale, so cold and blue looking. Jack dropped down into the med bay and walked up next to Ianto, hand flying automatically to twine with his. He flinched: cold as ice. Ianto’s hands were never cold – not even in the middle of a Cardiff winter with no gloves on. He claimed it was generations of hardy Welsh breeding that had left him immune to the cold.

            “Ianto,” Jack breathed. “Ianto. Almost time. I’m bringing you back.”

            He turned to Martha. “Give me the nanogenes, if you’re done with them.”

            She turned around, hesitating. “Don’t you think you should wait, Jack? Give me a chance to run some tests. You’ve waited this long-”

             Something snapped in Jack. Exactly. He had waited this long: too long. He needed Ianto back now. He needed to see those blue eyes glinting with mischief, hear that beautiful, full-throated laugh, taste his coffee heavy on their tongues, feel him inside of him again…

            He leapt forward, grabbing the bottle away from Martha. He opened it and poured it into Ianto’s mouth and nose. Moving just as rapidly, he snatched for the vial, which Martha had just finished taking a sample from. “Jack!” He ignored her, opening Ianto’s mouth with as much care as he could, and tipping the small amount of liquid down his throat. He massaged Ianto’s throat, feeling that familiar Adam’s apple bob beneath his fingers. Satisfied that the liquid had gone down, Jack picked up Ianto’s hand again, cradling the cold arm against his chest.

            “Come on, Ianto,” he murmured. “Come back for me.”

            “Jack,” Martha’s voice was a warning, but he ignored her. “Jack…this vial…it was supposed to be an antivirus?”

            Something in her tone of voice made Jack turn his head slowly to look at her. “Yeah. It’s from the 456 home world. It’s the antivirus to whatever killed him.”

            Martha’s eyes were wide, her face pale. She turned back to the screen once before looking back at Jack. No. No no no no no no no. Her eyes were wide with pity: the last thing Jack wanted right now. “Jack…this is saline. Salt water. There’s no antivirus here.”

            Jack’s head whipped to Ianto, then up to Alonso. The young man was staring back, eyes wide. “It…it wasn’t me, Jack, please…it wasn’t…”

            But Jack knew it wasn’t Alonso. Sweet, innocent, Alonso. No, he knew exactly who it was. “John,” he growled. “Fucking John Hart!”

            “Captain John? What were you doing mucking around with him again?”

            Jack ignored Gwen, eyes boring down on Ianto’s corpse. “No. No. Ianto, Ianto please. Please. You…you have to come back, please.”

Want more? Chapter 7, the exciting conclusion of Part II, can be found here.