Spellbound 9/14 + Epilogue

[madbottoms]

Title: Spellbound - Chapter 9
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. I would love to hear what you think. Should I bother to keep posting?

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9

The next morning, Erin and Gwen were in the pantry, consulting the Book of Shadows. Andrew was on guard duty at the kitchen door, as lookout, in case Ianto came by.

Erin read from the Book of Shadows. “Okay. To banish unwanted persons, it says you need blessing seeds.”

“Alright. Uh, blessing seeds.” Gwen rooted around the herbal supply, but couldn’t find any. “What about nigellus?”

Erin nodded, “It’s the same thing.”

Transferring the nigellus to the work table, Gwen smiled. “Oh. Okay. Wow. Good. Good. You’re good at this,” she praised her niece.

Andrew retreated from the kitchen doorway. “Why can’t we tell Dad we’re gonna send the policeman away?”

Gwen crushed the nigellus in a bowl and answered him. “Because your Dad likes to pretend that he doesn’t do magic, and we have to banish this man for your dad’s own good.” Back on track, Gwen dropped the crushed seeds. “Blessing seeds.” Turning back to the cupboard she murmured, “Right, right. What else do we need?” She stopped and made ‘shoo’ gestures at Andrew. “Andrew, I told you to listen out the door for Mr Harkness!” Andrew returned to the door and Gwen turned back to the cupboards and rummaged around. “Uh, blessing seeds, blessing seeds... Right. Uhhhh. Oh, yeah... milk thistle...”

Erin pulled an old diary from her pocket, opened it, and held it out to Gwen.

“Was this Dad’s?”

“Huh?” Gwen turned and looked at Erin. “Oh, wow. Where did you get that?”She took it from Erin and looked at the open page, where a dried flower was pressed between two written pages. Gwen read the writing, mumbling some of it aloud.

“You can flip pancakes in the air ... You will have a crescent shape scar ... You’ll hear my call a mile away ...” Gwen laughed happily, remembering.

“Was it about mummy?

Gwen hesitated. “Uh... Yeah. Yeah.

“But mummy didn’t have a scar like that.”

Caught, Gwen looked from Erin and back again to Andrew and paused before speaking again. “You know, um... the truth is, this wasn’t about your mummy. This was when your Dad was little and he was... he was trying to invent a person that didn’t exist. To protect himself.” She laughed. “It’s crazy. But... ohhh, you know he loved your mummy. Oh, he loved her very, very much.

Erin smiled wistfully. “I can’t wait to fall in love.”

Gwen froze... slowly turned to look at her niece. “Mmm. Erin. Erin, listen to me.” Gwen looked her straight in the eyes.” Do you, um... Do you ever put your arms out, and spin and spin and spin really, really fast?

Andrew answered from the doorway, “She does it all the time.”

“She does?” Gwen smiled at Andrew and looked at Erin again. “Well, that’s what love is like. Makes your heart race, it turns the world upside down. But if you’re not careful, if you don’t keep your eyes on something still, you can lose your balance. You know, you can’t see what’s happening to the people around you. You, uh... You can’t see that you’re about to fall.”

“Don’t be sad, Aunt Gwen.” Erin reached out to touch her aunt’s hair, the same colour and length as her own. “I won’t let you fall down.”

It was then the doorbell rang.

“He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!” Andrew bounced all the way into the pantry proper.

“Shhh!’ Erin hissed at her younger brother.

“Shh!” Gwen echoed. She put her hands on Andrew’s shoulders, spun him around and gave him a gentle push in the direction of the hall. “Go!”

Andrew ran to the front door and opened it. Jack Harkness was leaning against the doorframe.

Without a greeting of any sort, Andrew informed Jack of what was happening. “You came for breakfast! We’re having pancakes!”

Jack laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair. “No, actually, I just came here to talk to your dad.”

“Great!” Andrew said. “He's having pancakes, too. Come in, come in!” and grabbed him by the hand and dragged him inside the house. “Do you have a gun?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Can I see it?” Andrew asked excitedly.

Jack hesitated. He looked up to see Ianto descending the stairs, and then looked back down at Andrew. “Mm-mm.”

Andrew smiled at his dad. “He's here for breakfast.” Andrew then disappeared into the kitchen.

Jack faced Ianto once he reached the bottom. “I have a question or two.”

Back in the pantry, Andrew informed Gwen, “He's gonna stay! He’s gonna stay!”

“Oh! Oh, good! Shhh! Good work. Now go back out there and keep them away from here.” Gwen shooed the boy out.

In the conservatory, Jack once again inspected some herb jars. Ianto came in behind him.

“Belladonna,” Ianto said, referring to the jar Jack held in his hand. “It's a sedative. People put it in their tea to relax, calm their nerves.”

Jack put the jar down on the table. “Some people also use it as a poison.”

“Which people?”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Witch people.”

“Ah-ha.”

“Witches.”

“Well, technically I would be a Warlock and not a Witch.” He bared his teeth in something not quite a smile. “I guess you found me out, huh?”

“Yes, I did.”

Ianto moved toward him, still baring his teeth. “You should come round here on Halloween. You'd really see something then.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. We all jump off the roof and fly,” Ianto said wryly, but not without hidden pain. “We kill our husbands and wives too. Or is that outside your jurisdiction?”

Jack looked earnest. “Do you have any idea how strange this all sounds to me? I got people telling me that you're up here cooking up placenta bars, that you're into devil worship...”

“No. No, there's no devil in the craft.”

He wasn’t evil and he didn’t use his magic for power or glory. Ianto was a master of healing and nature. His talents were borne of the Earth and he used it to benefit others.

“So what kind of, uh... craft do you do?”

“Do I do?” Ianto smirked. 

“Mm-hm.”

“I manufacture bath oils and soaps ... hand lotions ... shampoo. And Aunt and Uncle, um ... they like to meddle in people's love lives,” Ianto paused. “Magic isn't just spells and potions.” Another slightly longer pause followed.

“Your badge ...” Ianto reached toward Jack and touched the pocket containing said badge. Jack removed it from his coat pocket. Ianto took it and flipped the cover open and turned it around so he could see it. “It's just a star, just another symbol. Your talisman. It can't stop criminals in their tracks, can it? It has power because you believe it does.’ He rubbed his thumb over the shiny star, then handed it back to Jack, who returned it to his pocket. “Wish you could believe in me,” he whispered, looking Jack in the eyes.

They had been standing very close together, neither realising how close. The moment was not lost and Jack briefly thought about what Ianto just said. Without realising it, their lips were only inches apart and they unconsciously leaned closer, almost touching, feeling the other’s breath ghost over their lips. Almost there...

Neither was sure what happened but they suddenly pulled apart, as if a spell had been broken. Ianto blushed slightly and moved past Jack, through the door that led to the kitchen.

“Mr Jones?” Jack called out formally.

Ianto turned back. “Mm?”

“Are you hiding Adam Smith?”

“Not in this house,’ he answered honestly.

“Did you or your sister kill Adam Smith?”

“Oh, yeah. Couple of times,” he said seriously.

Jack faltered at this, and taking advantage of his momentary confusion, Ianto went across to the kitchen, Jack following after a moment.

Andrew was standing at the stove, covered in flour and pancake batter.

“Andrew, could you make more of a mess?”

“Dad! I'm cooking.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Ianto said, wiping pancake batter and flour off of Andrew’s face with a rag.

“Hey, there. Did you ever see an eleven-armed sea star?” Jack asked and Andrew shook his head. “No?” Jack looked at Ianto, who was now stood beside Andrew at the stove. “Step aside, you.” And then he looked back at Andrew and said, “Well, you’re about to.”

Jack removed his coat and went to work on the pancakes. Jack loved kids but had never had the chance to have any of his own. Work always seemed to get in the way. Being married to your job was not conducive to having a family. But he was getting older and now wished he had settled down before now. He really cherished the times he was able to spend with kids. Andrew was a great kid from what he had seen so far and he sure looked like his father. Cute nose, great smile and the bluest eyes he could remember seeing. Oh yeah, the kid was cute too.

Ianto went into the adjoining dining area and inspected the number of plates, fetching another from the wall rack. He sang happily, not really sure why but he felt good. The kids were happy, and so far nothing more had come of the whole Adam debacle. Well, except for the gorgeous policeman in his kitchen. A policemen asking about Adam Smith. A policeman making pancakes with is son. He was so conflicted.

At the oven, Jack was working over the pancake - in the shape of an eleven-armed sea star... well close enough and strangely, was also singing, the same tune as Ianto. Andrew looked between the two of them. Then, Jack flipped the pancake high - almost to the ceiling - and caught it perfectly in the pan as it came back down. Andrew looked awestruck at this, and grinned.

“Wow!” Andrew whispered.

In the pantry, Gwen was frantically stirring the banishing potion as Erin watched.

Gwen muttered, “One stack of pancakes, and goodbye Mr Harkness.”

Andrew rushed in and spoke excitedly to Erin. “He knows how to flip pancakes!” and they both rush out to the garden where Jack was already serving up the pancakes.

“I assumed you didn't want any pancakes, when you disappeared,” Jack teased.

“No, we want them! We want them!” they chorused.

“Careful - they tend to use those as Frisbees,” Ianto warned.

Erin looked at Jack thoughtfully. “Can you fly?”

Jack continued to dish out the pancakes as he replied, “Backwards, forwards, sideways, you name it. I used to fly fighter jets in the Air Force before becoming a policeman. My dad was a pilot before me and used to take me flying all the time, too. Flying is the best feeling in the world,” Jack smiled wistfully. “But I don’t do it as much as I like these days.”

“So, that explains the coat,” Ianto commented.

“Yeah. It was my father’s. He flew fighter planes back in World War II. I kinda became attached to it from a young age,” Jack reminisced.

Andrew took Jack’s badge out of his jacket pocket and examined it. He turned it around and showed it to Erin.

Andrew said quietly, “Look!”

Ianto tucked a napkin into Andrew’s collar. “Okay, first troll.”

Erin looked at Jack’s badge. “A star!”

“What is this?” Ianto took the badge from his son. “Give this back, this is not yours.

“Oh, that’s alright.” Jack smiled happily.

Ianto placed one around Erin as well. “Second troll.” And then he put one round Jack’s neck too, his fingers lingering a little longer than necessary.”And if you're anything like these two here...” Then did the same to himself.

They all sat together and Ianto couldn’t help but think how good they looked together. They looked like a family.

Andrew and Erin seemed to have attached themselves to Jack already and from what Ianto could see, Jack was enjoying himself too. The reason for his visit, seemingly, forgotten. Ianto was not going to do anything to ruin the mood and smiled contentedly at everyone.

Ianto caught Jack’s eye and he smiled back and winked playfully at Ianto. “This is great,” he said and reached out putting his hand over Ianto’s.

“Yeah, it is. Jack, do you...?” Ianto started but once again the spell was broken. He pulled his hand away.

 Gwen came striding outside happily, holding a jug full of banishing syrup.

“Hi, Jack,” she greeted cheerfully. “I can call you Jack, can’t I?”

“Why not?”

“You must try some of my syrup.” Gwen held it out but he didn’t take it immediately. “Here’s the syrup,” she said.

Jack took the jug and started to over it over his pancakes.

“No! No!” The kids yelled and grabbed the syrup jug from him, running off with it, towards the edge of the island.

Gwen looked confused, then annoyed. She got up and went after them. Ianto and Jack followed at a distance. When Erin and Andrew reached the edge, they threw the syrup over, jug and all. It hit the sea and sunk. Erin and Andrew cheered.

Ianto was bewildered but laughed and turned to Jack. “Well, I guess they didn’t want to eat that.”

“I guess not,” Jack laughed back uncertainly.

As they stood stand there, a small toad perched on a nearby rock started croaking loudly. The croak rapidly developed into a weird belching sound that no frog had any business making when it was fit and healthy. Gwen, Ianto and Jack, drew closer, and stared at it. The belching suddenly stopped. After a long moment, and with a strange sucking sound, the toad abruptly spat out a large silver ring - last seen on the pinky finger of Adam Smith. As Jack reached towards the ring, Gwen became a little flustered.

“Oh, wow. I’ve been looking for this. Um, this is... is a party trick, right? Gwen looked to Ianto for support as Jack picked it up.

Jack held up the ring. “This is your ring, is it?

Gwen, still flustered, nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, could I have it back, pl...”

“What do you two think you’re playing at, here?” Jack interrupted her.

“What do you mean?”

Looking hard at both of them, Jack advised, “You better get yourselves a damn good lawyer. And don’t even think about leaving town.” He started to walk away but turned and asked, “What was in the syrup?” But he didn’t really expect an answer and walked away. 

Jack was angry, yes, but he was more upset than anything. As he walked back to his hotel in town, he felt conflicted. There was something happening between him and Ianto and as much as mixing business with pleasure was a frowned upon in his line of work, he was willing to risk it. He thought somehow, Ianto felt the same way. But whatever it was, he hadn’t factored in that they would try and poison him.

To be fair, it had been Gwen who had come out with the jug. He hadn’t seen her until they had gone outside to eat. Was it just wishful thinking on his part that Ianto would not do something like that, or should he just forget about him?

Had he finally found someone, only to lose them?

 


 

Comments

[missthingsplace.livejournal.com]

Oooh .... i'm sure hoping this has a happy ending like the original movie!!

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

I'm a sucker for happy endings but there is a bit of angst (not too much) along the way.