They Come in Pairs - 10/?
Jack/Ianto
NC-17
set between 1x08 and 1x13




This chapter has proven to be really difficult for me, so I've sliced it in half so as not to leave you all hanging while I debate what to do with the coming scenes. I am not abandoning this story, but there might not be a part next week as I'm spending all my free time this weekend with the Roar fandom rather than working on it. Hope you all understand.


They Come in Pairs - 10

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"Owen, Gwen, you've got twenty seconds to change and be ready to move out," Jack shouted to them. "Tosh, that goes for you as well. Let's snap to it, kids."

He began pulling off his slime-coated shoes, dropping them in the garbage bag that Ianto was now holding. The jelly wasn't actually dangerous, but it gave off a rather powerful stench of sulfur when it dried. He wondered whether Ianto would even bother trying to remove it from their clothing. Seeing as he'd just thrown his shoes into a garbage bag, he highly doubted it.

There were some smears on his trousers as well, and he gave Ianto a look before stripping them off right in the middle of the Hub and slipping them into the bag. Toshiko tried to look like she wasn't looking at Jack as she disposed of her own boots. He mouthed, "To be continued," to Ianto, grinned suggestively at both him and Tosh, then darted up the stairs to his office.

He fetched a fresh pair of boots and clean trousers. Gwen, Owen, and Toshiko would be retrieving their spare clothing from Ianto's laundry room. Which Gwen really should have done earlier rather than spending the entire night in a dress, much to the amusement of Owen. Although had she done that, she'd be walking around half naked now, which would also likely please Owen. And there was something going on there, Jack wasn't blind.

Considering his own intentions regarding Ianto, however, Jack couldn't exactly object to inter-office liaisons.

He paused in lacing up his boot. He still needed to deal with the damn glove. The lace managed to tie itself into a knot that would be a bitch to get undone later, Jack unintentionally yanking it tight. He retrieved the glove from his drawer. It was cold to the touch, but warmth radiated when he slid his hand inside. So much for coincidental finger-related mishaps.

It was definitely still doing something. Jack wished like hell that he knew what. On the one hand, he might be transferring his own injuries to Ianto. But on the other, the link might be the only thing keeping Ianto alive. Fuck all if Jack knew.

The only certain thing was that it was still doing things it wasn't supposed to be doing, that should have stopped when the process was complete. It wasn't supposed to have permanently tied him and Ianto together. It was a one-off, nothing more. He should destroy the glove.

Or maybe he should just let this play out. With Jack's track record, he was bound to die again in the foreseeable future. If he passed a death along to Ianto and it broke their link, hey, no big deal. So long as Jack didn't destroy the glove, he could reuse it, bring Ianto right back again. Couldn't do that if he blasted the glove into a million little pieces.

Except that there was one thing they did know about the glove - it only worked once. "Fuck!"

Unless he'd just stumbled upon a damn bloody fantastic loophole. If Ianto were to die again with them still linked, Jack could possibly bring him back again without ever breaking the cycle. Which was twistedly appealing, Jack never having been one to play by the rules. They might be linked forever. Meaning Jack could keep him alive, well, forever.

Unless Ianto kept aging normally and Jack didn't, and wouldn't that just put a nasty kink in the whole eternity thing. Or Ianto could die again and the link would be severed, the glove becoming useless on him, and that would be that. Jack hated not knowing.

Logically, Jack knew he should destroy the glove. He couldn't walk out to the weapons locker and take care of things now, however. He needed Gwen, Owen, and Tosh to not be around, needed to think things through, decide if he wanted to tell Ianto before...

And how the hell was that conversation going to go down? It didn't play out very well in Jack's head. 'By the way, Ianto, you died, and I'll be destroying the glove now, so you've got a 50/50 shot of dropping dead... any last requests?'

Jack shoved the glove back into the drawer, slamming it shut. "Son of a bitch!" Jack shouted, then proceeded to kick the wall several times.

His headset buzzed to life. "Jack? Everything alright?"

He flicked his line open to answer Ianto. "Cockroach. Got a tad overzealous squashing it." Wow, he was really bad at lying lately. At least at lying to Ianto.

"Will you be requiring backup?"

Smart-ass. "No, I've got it."

He didn't quite meet Ianto's eyes as he passed him while heading out.

-----

"Fucking hell..." Owen muttered when they reached their destination.

"Tosh, are you sure this is--"

"Yes," she replied, cutting off Gwen's question. But she checked her readings again to verify.

"What's the problem?" Ianto's voice asked over the comm line. He was monitoring the situation from back at the Hub.

They were tracking three Weevils, and the last coordinates they could pin down had the SUV pulling up in possibly the worst place imaginable. Jack swore. "It's a school." With a courtyard full of children. He parked at the curb and got out, slammed the door behind him.

The other three were right on his heels, Gwen still limping. Which made them three against three since she obviously wasn't going to be any use in a chase. They probably should have brought Ianto along instead, left Gwen with a mop and slime removal duty, but it was too late for that now.

He checked the screen of Toshiko's laptop. The Weevils had split up. "Owen, Tosh, head east, try to cut those two off. I'll take the other one. Gwen, get these kids inside. Now. Move."

They all quickly took off in their assigned directions on foot, Jack, Owen, and Toshiko all drawing guns. Gwen pulled out her badge and started yelling for everybody to go inside the building.

It wasn't long before Jack was following a blood trail. He rounded the corner of the building and found a middle-aged man one the ground, leaning against the wall and gasping for air. His throat had been ripped open. After a quick check of his surroundings, Jack dropped by his side, pressing his hand over the wound. The guy wasn't going to make it.

"Which way did it go?" Jack asked, bedside manner severely lacking, but he needed to take out the Weevil before it got to anybody else.

The man merely gurgled, grabbed for Jack, eyes pleading for help. Jack set down his gun, flipped over the ID badge on the man's coat. Mathew Price, substitute teacher.

"Matt," Jack insisted, "did you see where it went?"

More blood bubbled between Jack's fingers, Mr. Price giving him one last terrified look before his eyes froze that way.

"Shit." Jack removed his hand from the man's throat, sliding it over the sightless eyes, closing them. He reached to retrieve his gun. His fingers barely caught it before Jack was sliding across the concrete, caught beneath the weight of an angry Weevil.

He instantly reached up and shoved against the thing's head, trying to keep bloody teeth from finding their way into his throat next. His other hand grasped desperately for his gun that had skidded along the ground with him but managed to end up just out of reach.

Jack kicked fiercely but failed to dislodge the weight on top of him. Drool dripped onto his face as the Weevil snarled, but he didn't flinch or look away, didn't turn his head and offer a clear shot at his neck. He stared right back into alien eyes, never removed his hand from its forehead, still pushing it away with all the strength Jack had. His fingertips brushed against his gun but couldn't quite grab it, not with the damn Weevil clawing into his shoulder, pinning his arm.

Switching strategy, Jack swung his arm away from the ground, punching the Weevil in the side of the face. Nails sunk deeper into his shoulder and his hand dropped. He reached for his headset. "I could use some backup here!"

"Really not a good time!" Owen's voice shouted back.

The Weevil growled at him, shoved roughly at Jack, scraping his back along the ground. It shook its head, trying to dislodge Jack's hand that was still preventing it from ripping out its prey's throat. The creature pushed him again, unknowingly scooting Jack closer to his gun.

Fingers finally managed to curl around cold metal and grasp, and Jack grinned. He won. He got the gun between them and fired repeatedly. As he kept pulling the trigger, claws from the Weevil's other hand stabbed into Jack's stomach and tore, slicing brutally through both clothing and flesh. Jack gasped at the sudden pain and fired one more time. The Weevil mewled, then collapsed lifelessly on top of him. Jack just lay helplessly beneath it, unable to move.

"Jack?" Ianto's panicked voice asked in his ear.

His headset was still active, Jack realized. They all would have heard the gunshots. He struggled to draw enough air to reply with the Weevil's body pressing down on his lungs.

"Owen, Tosh, do either of you have a visual on Jack?"

Jack didn't really hear any of the conversation after that. He was already losing consciousness. He was also already getting cold. Fuck. He couldn't be going into shock this fast. "Owen... I've got a medical emergency. Could really use that backup right now."

He slid his hand down to his side. There was already a pool of blood, and he was pretty sure most of it wasn't from the dead Weevil. He yanked claws from his aching side and choked back a scream. Blood ran hot and slick over his hand. So much for playing it safe. Owen needed to get to him fast or he was going to bleed out in a matter of minutes.

And this could not be happening. Not now. How had Jack let himself get fucking killed while he was still linked to Ianto?

He fought desperately to stay awake, listening to worried voices shouting things inside his ear that faded into a dull hum. He wasn't going to let himself pass out. He was not going to die. The blackness took him anyway, despite his resolve.

-----

TBC

Didn't intend to pull a cliff-hanger on you guys, but I'm sure you all saw this coming anyway, so no real surprise there.