Ficlet: Too Soon To Know
Sep. 12th, 2025 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Too Soon To Know
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 677
Spoilers: CoE Fix-it.
Summary: All the odds had been against it, but somehow Ianto is alive again. Jack just can’t afford to get his hopes up, because there’s no way of knowing whether his lover will stay that way.
Written For: The prompt ‘any, any, it's still too early to believe’ at
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threesentenceficathon.Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Jack didn’t know what to think, didn’t even dare to hope too much. Ianto had been dead, there was no doubt about that in either of their minds, but now he was alive again… He was a little shaken by the whole dying and reviving experience, which was perfectly understandable, but already the pallor of death had faded, replaced by his usual pale but healthy Welsh complexion, and he was sitting up, getting his bearings. He looked exactly the way he had before the 456 virus had infected and then rapidly killed him, except for the fact that the cut on his cheek was completely healed now, leaving barely a trace of a scar.
To Jack’s eyes, the living, breathing Ianto Jones was just about the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen, but he wasn’t about to start counting his chickens, not yet. He knew better than that. Coming back from death one time, while certainly encouraging, by no means guaranteed that the problem with the alien virus had been dealt with.
It was a miracle, yes, especially considering how hard Jack had tried to breathe life back into his lover, even when he could feel the virus taking hold of his own body, sapping his strength, shutting down his internal organs by increments. But in reality, it only meant that Jack’s efforts had succeeded in spite of the less than ideal circumstances.
He’d saved Ianto that way once before, after Cyber-Lisa had casually tossed him across the Hub, so it had been worth a try. Since they were both dying anyway, he’d had nothing to lose by making the attempt, and obviously it had worked, for now. Nevertheless, as much as Jack wanted to believe that his lover was completely cured, he couldn’t be sure…
For all either of them knew, the virus could still be there inside Ianto, dormant for the moment, but needing only the right trigger to become active again. Ianto’s recovery might prove to be nothing more than a temporary reprieve, and Jack wished he could get his lover to a doctor, or better yet, a hospital, for a thorough examination, blood tests, the works, but they didn’t have that luxury; there simply wasn’t time.
The 456 were still demanding ten percent of the world’s children, the British government was busy rounding up their share, ready to be handed over at the appointed time, and the only people interested in trying to stop them were one civilian and the three remaining members of Torchwood.
What little time they’d had was fast running out, and there hadn’t been enough to begin with. They’d been hampered by the destruction of the Hub and all their equipment, as well as the attempts on their lives. Now the ragged remains of Torchwood needed to find a way to stop the alien threat for good, not merely send them away but destroy both the 456’s envoy in Thames House and their spaceship, somewhere in orbit.
If they failed, the alien threat would likely come back stronger and more determined than ever to take what they wanted. This race of aliens was more ruthless than any Jack had encountered since the Daleks and Cybermen. They were perfectly capable of slaughtering every adult on the planet and taking the children; the only reason they were negotiating at all was to prove their superiority, and to ensure a continuous supply of their drug of choice. If they got what they wanted now they’d just return over and over, taking ten, or fifteen, or twenty percent of earth’s children each time…
The deadline the 456 had set was looming, the seconds ticking away too fast; Jack and his people had no plan, precious few resources, and the fate of the world on their shoulders, but they still had to try, which meant that Jack had to set aside his personal concerns for now and focus on the job. All he could do was pray to whatever higher powers might exist that Ianto would still be with him when this was over.
The End
To Jack’s eyes, the living, breathing Ianto Jones was just about the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen, but he wasn’t about to start counting his chickens, not yet. He knew better than that. Coming back from death one time, while certainly encouraging, by no means guaranteed that the problem with the alien virus had been dealt with.
It was a miracle, yes, especially considering how hard Jack had tried to breathe life back into his lover, even when he could feel the virus taking hold of his own body, sapping his strength, shutting down his internal organs by increments. But in reality, it only meant that Jack’s efforts had succeeded in spite of the less than ideal circumstances.
He’d saved Ianto that way once before, after Cyber-Lisa had casually tossed him across the Hub, so it had been worth a try. Since they were both dying anyway, he’d had nothing to lose by making the attempt, and obviously it had worked, for now. Nevertheless, as much as Jack wanted to believe that his lover was completely cured, he couldn’t be sure…
For all either of them knew, the virus could still be there inside Ianto, dormant for the moment, but needing only the right trigger to become active again. Ianto’s recovery might prove to be nothing more than a temporary reprieve, and Jack wished he could get his lover to a doctor, or better yet, a hospital, for a thorough examination, blood tests, the works, but they didn’t have that luxury; there simply wasn’t time.
The 456 were still demanding ten percent of the world’s children, the British government was busy rounding up their share, ready to be handed over at the appointed time, and the only people interested in trying to stop them were one civilian and the three remaining members of Torchwood.
What little time they’d had was fast running out, and there hadn’t been enough to begin with. They’d been hampered by the destruction of the Hub and all their equipment, as well as the attempts on their lives. Now the ragged remains of Torchwood needed to find a way to stop the alien threat for good, not merely send them away but destroy both the 456’s envoy in Thames House and their spaceship, somewhere in orbit.
If they failed, the alien threat would likely come back stronger and more determined than ever to take what they wanted. This race of aliens was more ruthless than any Jack had encountered since the Daleks and Cybermen. They were perfectly capable of slaughtering every adult on the planet and taking the children; the only reason they were negotiating at all was to prove their superiority, and to ensure a continuous supply of their drug of choice. If they got what they wanted now they’d just return over and over, taking ten, or fifteen, or twenty percent of earth’s children each time…
The deadline the 456 had set was looming, the seconds ticking away too fast; Jack and his people had no plan, precious few resources, and the fate of the world on their shoulders, but they still had to try, which meant that Jack had to set aside his personal concerns for now and focus on the job. All he could do was pray to whatever higher powers might exist that Ianto would still be with him when this was over.
The End
