Spellbound 7/14 + Epilogue

[madbottoms]

Title: Spellbound - Chapter 7
Author: Madbottoms
Prompt: Practical Magic
Pairing(s)/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Donna, John (Smith), Gwen/Adam, Owen, Tosh, OC’s.
Rating: PG
Length: 25k +
Warnings: Magic, dark themes, minor character death.

A/N 1: Written for reel_torchwood  See chapter 1 for disclaimer and full author notes. Anybody out there? Please let me know what you think. Comments are inspiring.

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7

 

“What’s going on here?” John asked. Gwen looked at him but didn’t answer.

Donna stood nearby with her arms crossed. “What’s going on in here? “ She turned around, spoke to Ianto, “What’s going on in this house?” Ianto made vague ‘I dunno’ gestures with his hands, but also didn’t speak.

John paced back and forth.  “Something’s going on, I can smell it.”

“Yes, it’s a very distinct smell - it’s a smell of bullshit,” Donna stated.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ianto replied unconvincingly.

There was a sharp sound like a slap and Gwen gasped. Everyone looked around. The broom had fallen over, the wooden handle hitting the floor loudly.

“Broom fell - company’s coming,” John said.

“We had a problem, we handled it,” Ianto finally offered, by way of clarification.

“We deserve an explanation," Donna prompted. Neither sibling spoke. “Right. Come on, John. Let’s go.” Donna and John filed out of the kitchen, leaving Ianto and Gwen looking at each other worriedly, Ianto’s worry quickly turning to fear.

Gwen could see what Ianto was thinking. “No. No. No, it’s just not possible. Don’t even think it.”

“Tell me how that got here, Gwen.” He went over to the sink and pointed at the glass shards. “Tell me how did this bottle got here?”

“That’s not... possible,” Gwen insisted.

Out in the yard, a red-rose bush had sprung up over the spot where Adam was buried. The roses dipped and swayed in the night breeze, the occasional petal falling like drops of blood.

Inside the house, John and Donna packed some of their things.

“Leaving like this is a harsh lesson.” John said.

“A lesson they must learn on their own.” Donna added.

“What about the little ones?”

“Not to worry, John. A good piece of Rhiannon's hanging rope will protect them.”

Aunt and Uncle stood over Andrew’s and Erin’s beds and put the protection rope around the necks of their niece and nephew, as they listened sleepily to their instructions.

“You must promise us you won't take them off. Not until we come home,” John insisted.

“We'll only be gone a short while,” Donna added.

“Do you hear us? Promise?” John asked.

The children made soft noises of agreement and then John and Donna left.

*~*

The next morning, Andrew was in the kitchen, tooting out part of ‘Coconut’ on a kazoo. Gwen and Ianto came into the kitchen looking a little worse for wear.

“Make him stop, I’ll pay whatever it takes,” Gwen groaned about Andrew.

“Sweetheart, can I see that for a second?” Ianto asked Andrew, for the kazoo.

“Yeah, sure.” Andrew handed it to his father.

“Yeah? Thanks.” And promptly threw it across the room.

“Hey!” he protested, although more amused than mad.

“Where did you get that ugly thing around your neck?”

“Aunt Donna and Uncle John gave it to us,” Andrew said.

“They said it would protect us,” came from Erin.

Not really listening, Ianto said, “Erin, could you please go get that mint from the garden before your bus gets here? Thank you.” He looked through the cupboards crossly. “Where is the aspirin?” he moaned, and then to Erin who hadn’t moved. “Sweetheart, please do as I say.

Erin stood at the window, looking out into the yard.  “Not while he’s out there.” A faint blurry image of Adam Smith was standing out in the garden, by the roses.

“Not while who is out where?” Ianto poked his head around the corner.

“The man under the roses.”

“What?” Ianto and Gwen both followed Erin and stood beside her, looking into the garden.

“I don’t see him, sweetie. Are you looking at him now?”

“He’s right there”.

“Where?” Gwen was getting frustrated.

“By the roses. They grew overnight.”

Looking at Ianto in realisation, Gwen whispered to no-one in particular, “Oh, shit.”

“Okay, sweetie,” Ianto said to his daughter. “We’ll get rid of it.” To Gwen, he said, “You better call Aunt and Uncle, now.”

“But they left,” Erin told them.

Gwen and Ianto both started. “What? What do you mean they left? Where did they go?”

Andrew looked pointedly at his father and aunt. “They said we should give you a message.” She paused. “Clean up your own mess.”

*~*

In the garden, Gwen approached the menacing tangle of roses, muttering in fear and anger. She suddenly lost it and attacked them with her bare hands, ripping at the vines making their way up the trellis nearby.

“You stop it! Stop it!” Ianto ran up behind her and tried to pull her away. “He’s making them grow, Ianto! He’s trying to get to us by making them grow! You leave us alone, leave us alone!”

Ianto finally succeeded in pulling Gwen away. She stood in front of her, trying to make her see sense. “Stop it, Gwen! Stop it!”

Gwen suddenly gasped and pointed behind Ianto.

“What?!” Ianto was becoming extremely impatient with his sister.

“His boots!”

Ianto turned. The toes of Adam’s boots were sticking up out of the petal-strewn soil a good three inches, á la the Wicked Witch of the West. As the siblings watched, the boots sunk back out of sight.

“Oh, God. Oh, my God. Is he... is he rising? Or is the - is the ground sinking? Ianto? Is he?” Gwen was almost sobbing. “Oh, God. What is he doing to us? He’s trying to get to us. He...”

“Okay. Go inside, Gwen. Go inside. Go inside, take care of the kids.”

A short time later, Ianto was in the garden, hacking away the rose bush with shears. As he worked, a man approached from around the path. The man was tall, built and very handsome, some might even say gorgeous, like a film star. He wore jeans and a neat collared shirt, but the most striking part was the full length Air Force coat that looked as if it came straight out of the forties. The man watched silently for a moment, then walked toward him. 

“Kinda early for roses, isn’t it?”

Startled, Ianto quickly turned around, to be faced with a man with the most stunning eyes and smile he’d ever seen. “Can I help you with something?”

“I sure hope so. My name’s Jack Harkness. I’m a special investigator from Scotland Yard.” He showed him his badge... a star. It was so shiny that Ianto could clearly see his reflection in it.

“Well, you’re, uh, you sure are a long way from home, Sir.” The accent was hard to miss. What was an American doing working for Scotland Yard? Ianto stood up, trying to remain calm. Although he couldn’t tell if it was nerves of being caught up in this whole Adam thing or just being near this guy. Ianto felt very strange.

“You noticed that, huh? I jumped the pond some time ago, just never quite lost the accent. Maybe I should have used the brogue Scottish accent I use when I go home to visit my mum, instead,’ he teased, speaking like a home-grown Scotsman before turning serious again. “I was kinda hoping to talk to your sister, Gwen, if she’s around. She might have some information on a case I’m working on.”

“Oh, right. I’ll get her.” He started towards the house, then stopped and turned back to Harkness, who was kneeling down, inspecting the roses. “Uh, how did you know that I was her brother?”

“Oh, lucky guess, I... I guess.” He smelt one of the decapitated roses.

“Hmm.” Ianto hesitated a moment. “Um, why don’t you come inside? Love the coat, by the way,” Ianto added, then scolded himself. What the hell was he doing?

Jack smiled and followed Ianto.