Fic- Blue Moon's Child

[branwen_blaidd]

Title: Blue Moon’s Child 4/4

Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Jack/OMC (past)

Rating: Teen- dark themes, sexual mentions.
Spoilers: Mild for COE

Summary: Cardiff 1993 and Jack Harkness is investigating some odd readings.

Disclaimers: I own nothing.

Notes: COE doesn’t exist here but again, I’m using details from it to create a story. Final Chapter. Plot!fic here! Comments please!

        

Ianto was seriously impressed. For the first time, he was seeing there was more to life than what his Da had told him. There were aliens! Real, proper aliens! More exciting than anything in any of his cartoons.

He glanced sideways at Jack as he was led back upstairs to where all the computers were. He liked Jack. He was seriously impressive too, like a proper hero in his big swishy coat. Ianto could tell he was important. He was also a little bit frightening but Ianto thought he could trust him. He just wanted to learn about the orb. That was all.

The other guy, Elaeth, looked nervous. He talked in whispers to Jack and barely looked at Ianto, like he was frightened of him. Ianto frowned. That couldn’t be right. Grown-ups weren’t frightened of kids like Ianto.

Jack put Ianto’s orb down on a surface beside a big black thing with leads. Frowning, Jack attached the leads to the surface of the orb with big sucky things. Ianto got as close as he could without getting in their way.

“What’s that for?” he asked.

“It’s a probe, Ianto. We’re going to use it to learn about your orb.”

“What are you trying to learn?”

“Anything and everything, kiddo. We’re trying to see exactly what it does.”

“It just looks after me,” said Ianto. “It makes me feel good.”

Jack and Elaeth exchanged worried glances and Ianto started to get a little concerned. He knew bad things happened when grown-ups looked at each other like that.

“What’s going on?” he asked, slowly.

Jack gave him a big smile. “Nothing to worry about.” He turned to him. “Come on. Sit down in this chair for me.”

Ianto glanced behind him at the chair. It was metal and had leather straps on the arms and legs. It had a weird metal helmet resting on the back of it, with electric leads coming out of it. He didn’t know what it was but he knew he didn’t want to sit there.

“No!” he yelled. “I won’t.” He kicked Jack as hard as he could in the leg and grabbed for his orb, ready to make a run for it.

But he didn’t get there. He had his fingertips to the orb when Jack grabbed him and hoisted him up in his strong arms. Ianto kicked and screamed. “No! Get off! Let me go!”

Jack held him tight and carried him back over to the chair. “We don’t want to hurt you, Ianto,” he said, grimly.

Ianto struggled even harder. He could hear the ‘but’ hanging after that sentence. He felt tears sting his eyes. Why had he come here? He just wanted Da. He wanted Da to come and rescue him, wrap him in his big strong arms and hold him forever. But that wasn’t going to happen.

Jack deposited Ianto in the chair and immediately did the straps tight. Ianto was really crying now, frightened tears spilling down his cheeks.

“Please, let me go,” he begged.

Jack cupped his head. “Hush there, soldier. You’ve got to let us do what we have to do.”

“Please, please,” Ianto begged.

Jack gave him a smile. “Just be a good boy and it’ll be over soon.”

Ianto struggled as hard as he could but it was no use. He was captured and there was nothing he could do about it.

Jack patted his hand. “Just be brave for me and we’ll sort this out.” He stood and turned back to the orb.

Ianto watched through his tears as they read numbers from a screen and the orb did nothing. He knew it wouldn’t. It never did anything but be there for him.

Jack turned back to him with a grim expression on his face. Ianto choked on his tears, shaking with fear.

“Please!” he begged. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll be a good boy! I just want my Da!”

Jack’s eyes darted away from his and he shifted. “I’m sorry, kiddo,” he murmured and went over to the screen beside the chair. He pressed a few buttons and the chair began to hum. Jack reached for Ianto and pressed the helmet over his head.

Ianto struggled, though he knew it was completely hopeless. He could feel the helmet buzzing against his scalp and his heart began to race. He was going to die. He’d be killed, right here and Da would never know. Da would think he hated him.

There was a shock of pain and all the breath was forced out of Ianto’s body. It was like the time he’d stuck a fork in the toaster to rescue his mangled teacake.

Ianto couldn’t breathe through the pain. He looked up at Jack and found the man’s eyes on him. There was pain in those grim eyes.

Ianto kept his eyes on Jack and he could feel the chair gearing up to give him more pain. Was this what Da had meant in all those lectures about people who could hurt him?

Ianto could feel another shock coming and he braced himself. He could hear the hum getting thicker and stronger and all of a sudden, it stopped.

Jack looked around. “Damn.” He returned to the screen and fiddled with the buttons. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Er, Jack?”

Jack spun around and looked at Elaeth. “What?”

Elaeth pointed at the orb. “Look.”

There was a sharp intake of breath. Ianto looked too and his chest ached.

“Mam!” he called.

The blue shadowy figure in the shape of Ianto’s mam looked straight at him and smiled.

“Bachgen,” she breathed. Her voice sounded odd, less solid than usual. But then so was her body.

“Mam,” he cried.

She gave him one of her soft smiles and Ianto felt calmer. Then she looked at Jack and it was her stern face, the one she used to use with Ianto’s tad-gu when he’d shouted at him.

“Let my son go, Jack Harkness,” she said.

Jack frowned, taking Elaeth’s arm and tugging him behind him. Jack stepped forwards, facing Ianto’s mam confidently.

“Who are you?”

She smiled icily. “I am Caryn Jones. That boy there is my son and you will let him go now.”

“I don’t think I can do that. No human woman could do what you’re doing right now. You may well be Caryn Jones but I don’t think that’s all you are. Tell me, who are you and where did you come from?”

“She came from the sky,” said Ianto.

Jack spun around and looked at him. “What?”

“That day,” said Ianto, his voice still shaky with sobs but his expression was sure. He was remembering. He could remember everything. “We were at the beach. We were walking. Mam said we should go home but I wanted to walk just a bit more. Da was waiting in the car with Rhiannon. He was getting cross but Mam said we could walk just a few more steps, just me and her. She held my hand. And then…”

Jack went over to Ianto and knelt down in front of him. “Yes? Go on.”

Ianto glanced at his mam, who smiled encouragingly at him. “Then…there was blue like…a flash of it. The orb came down from the sky. It fell on Mam’s head. She fell down. And then she wasn’t the same anymore. But…I had the orb. It fell into my hand and I kept it.”

“Jack, what’s going on?” asked Elaeth.

“Some sort of transfer.” He looked back at Ianto’s mam. “What is your purpose here?”

“I must look after my son. He needs me. I must stay with him.”

“That’s all you want? To stay with him?”

“Yes. As it has been.” The orb glowed blue and the voice which came next seemed to be coming from the orb instead of the shadowy figure of Ianto’s mam. “I damaged Caryn. Her…soul became fused with me and it cannot be undone. I must remain fused with her forever and she needs to stay with her son.”

“Mam,” whispered Ianto.

Jack looked at him, bent down beside him and undid the leather straps. “Go to your mam, Ianto.”

Ianto shot up and straight over to his mam. He threw his arms around her middle and she held him. She wasn’t quite as solid as she was sitting in her armchair in the front room but he could feel her in his arms. He could smell her soft, sweet scent and he could hear her heartbeat thrumming gently in her chest. Her arms went around him and held him close and she pressed soft kisses to the top of his head.

He cried into her. “Mam, please stay with me. Don’t ever leave me.”

“I’ll never leave you.”

He looked up at her. “Can you make it how it was? Can you come back? Please, mam. Make it all right.”

She knelt down and looked into her eyes. “I can’t, bachgen. But you know now that I am here with you. I’m watching you grow up and I’ll be here to soothe your tears. I just won’t be able to hold you like before. I won’t be able to speak with you. But I will be here.”

“In my orb?”

“Yes, bachgen. In your orb.” She tucked a hand under his chin. “Now, cariad, you be good for your Da. I know it’s difficult. He’s not good at saying how he feels, is he? But he loves you and he’s doing his best to look after you.”

Ianto looked down. “I’m sorry, mam. We keep fighting all the time.”

“I know, bachgen. But he’s trying his hardest and so must you.”

“I’ll try, Mam.”
          “I’ve got to go now, Ianto. But I’ll be in your orb. Remember that, okay?”

Ianto nodded. “Okay.”

She kissed his forehead, then stepped back, smiled, and disappeared into the orb. Ianto reached for it, brushed away the suckers and their leads and picked it up. He held it close to his body and his tears fell over it.

Jack glanced at Elaeth and swallowed. Elaeth chewed his lip. “No dangerous readings, Jack. I think…it’s right what she said.”

Jack nodded. He sat down on the metal steps. “Ianto? Are you all right?”

Ianto nodded, though he was still crying into the orb. Jack reached out for him, put his arms around him and tugged him close. He cradled the young boy on his lap and held him as he cried his eyes out.

 

                                          * * *  

 

It was evening. Ianto had fallen asleep on Jack’s lap, still clutching his orb tightly. Elaeth sat on a lower step to Jack and looked up at him.

“We’ve got to do it. You know we have.”

“I know. I just…it’s a horrible thing to do.”

“We have to. It’s the rules.”

Jack looked down at the young boy in his arms. “I know. I’ll do it. Get a drink ready for him. I’ll give it to him later.”

Elaeth went to do as he was told. Jack smoothed back the dark hair from Ianto’s forehead. “I’m sorry, soldier. I wish I didn’t have to do this.”

Ianto woke later dizzy and disorientated.

“Hey there, sport. Ready to go?”

“Mam? Where’s mam?”

“She’s with you, remember? She’ll always be with you.”

Ianto glanced down at his orb and smiled dreamily. “Yeah.”

Elaeth approached with a glass of coca cola. He gave Jack a meaningful look and gave him the glass. Jack passed it over to Ianto. “Here you go. Drink up, and then we’ll take you home.”

Ianto sipped his drink. “What time is it?”

“Half six.”

Ianto’s eyes widened. “Da’ll be cross with me.”

“I’ll explain. It’ll be all right.”

“He won’t believe you,” said Ianto, draining his glass.

Jack felt familiar guilt inside him as Ianto finished his drink and began to get dozy. He wished there could have some other way. But he couldn’t let anybody go free after they’d seen the hub, not even a little kid. He hoped that, on some level, Ianto would remember what the orb contained and be comforted by it.

Jack put Ianto in the passenger seat of the SUV and, leaving Elaeth at the hub, he drove him back home.

 

                                          * * *

 

A man with Ianto’s blue eyes and a weary face opened the door when Jack knocked. Ianto was asleep, thanks to the sedative mixed in with the retcon in his coke. Jack carried him in his arms.

“Iestyn Jones?” he asked.

The man’s eyes widened and he reached out for Ianto. “Give me my son.”

“Of course,” said Jack and passed him over gently.

“I think he must have fallen, as he came out of school, hit his head. He’ll be okay.”

Iestyn looked down at his son in his arms and a tender expression came over his face. “I’ll look after him.”

Jack smiled and turned away.

“Won’t you come in for a drink to say thank you?”

Jack turned back. “No, thanks. Work to do!”

He turned and walked away, knowing that things would be all right. Caryn Jones would be looked after. Torchwood would see to that. It was their job.

 

                                          * * *

 

Ianto stirred slowly, from a deep sleep. He was warm and cosy and he realised he was in his Da’s arms being gently dressed in his pyjamas and put into bed.

“Da?”

“Hush, bachgen. You’ve had a bang on the head, so early to bed, yes?”

“Yeah.” He snuggled into bed, clutching his orb close to him.

Da kissed his forehead and fussed with the blanket. “I was so worried. Do you feel all right?”

“Tired.”

“Well you can have a nice long sleep now.”

“And…”

“Yes, bachgen?”

“Hungry.”

Da took in a breath. “Really?”

“Yeah. Can I have…beans on toast please?”

Iestyn kissed Ianto’s forehead again. “Of course, bachgen. I’ll get it right away.”

He stood. Ianto reached out and grasped his arm. “Da…I’m sorry…for being difficult.”

Iestyn squeezed his hand. “I know, bachgen.”

“I’m ready to make an effort now, Da,” Ianto said, opening his eyes and looking at his Da, chewing his lip anxiously.

Iestyn smiled. “And me, bachgen.” He leaned over Ianto, kissed his cheek and stroked his hair.

“That’s my boy.”

 

                                          * * *

 

September 4^th 1994 and Ianto Jones was on his last day before starting secondary school. He’d paraded for his Da and Rhiannon in his smart uniform. Mam was there too but she didn’t notice. It was her last day too.

Da had shown them the leaflets and they’d been to visit her new home. Providence Park was a nice place. Mam would be well looked after there and they’d go to visit every Saturday at least. Da kept saying she might get better there but Ianto knew she never would.

Da had packed her bags, with some clothes and some of her favourite ornaments in. They’d packed some of Ianto and Rhiannon’s childhood pictures and some of Mam and Da’s wedding photos in proper frames.

It was time to go. Da was driving her and Rhiannon was going too. Ianto had decided to stay at home.

He kissed his Mam’s cheek as she sat in the passenger seat all ready to go. “Bye, Mam,” he said softly. “I’ll see you next weekend. I love you.”

She leaned into him for just a few seconds and he breathed in her soft, sweet scent, then she pulled away and he let her go.

Da slung an arm around Ianto’s shoulders. “Sure you won’t come along, bachgen?”

“No, Da.” He looked up at his Da. “Need to get to bed early for tomorrow, don’t I?”

“Yeah. Off you go then, trouble.”

Ianto smiled, then turned and walked back towards the house.

“No telly!” Da called after him. “And don’t forget to say your prayers.”

Ianto rolled his eyes because his Da couldn’t see him. “I won’t, Da!”

He went back in the house and shut the door firmly. He didn’t want to watch his Mam get taken away.

He went up to his bedroom, took his orb out of his bedside drawer and lay down on his bed with it. He held it to his wet face, rubbed his thumb over the smooth surface and found a smile inside himself.

 

                                          * * *  

 

Jack Harkness strolled down Ianto’s garden path and into his house. It was Ianto’s twenty sixth birthday and they were going out to celebrate. He found Ianto in his bedroom, dressed in dark blue jeans and red shirt.

“Hey! Ready?”

Ianto glanced around at him and smiled. “Just a minute.”

Jack went up to him. Ianto was facing away from him, looking down at his bedside table. Jack put his arms around his waist and kissed his cheek.

“You all right?”

“Yeah.” Ianto was holding a blue glass orb in his hands.

“What’s that?” asked Jack.  

Ianto chuckled. “Like you don’t know. Your retcon mixing skills must have drastically improved in fifteen and a half years.”

“If you got a shoddy batch, I blame Elaeth,” Jack teased and watched Ianto raise the blue orb to his lips and kiss it. It shone against his lips, a moon lighting her child’s path.

“'Rwy'n dy garu di, Mam,” he whispered, then leaned back into Jack and let him hold him snugly. “Thank you, Jack,” he murmured. “Thank you for letting me keep her.”

Jack kissed him softly. “You’re welcome, soldier.”