The Ties That Bind (13/34 + Epilogue)

[madbottoms]

Title: The Ties That Bind - Part 13
Beta: Blackcat1000
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Donna, John Hart, Owen and James Harper, Mickey/Martha, Toshiko/Tommy, Claudia, Phillip, Saxon, Rhiannon, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 75K+
Warnings/Contains: Explicit sex (does that need a warning?), witchcraft, horror, supernatural themes, character death.

Summary: Ianto is a powerful magical warrior, one which Jack Harkness has never been able to resist. Once enemies, then almost lovers, he broke his heart. Years later, Jack must return to his hometown and seek help before it is too late. Jack and Ianto must now put aside their past and work together to defeat an evil threatening to overwhelm and take control of Jack because of his unique bloodline. Secrets and foretold prophecies will plague them and in this paranormal battle, they will need more than magic to survive.

A/N: In this chapter we learn a little about John and get another tiny glimpse of Jack’s and Ianto’s past.

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

With a frown pulling at the edges of his mouth, Ianto shifted into a more comfortable position. Or tried to. But it was damn hard to get comfortable when your insides were getting twisted like a pretzel.

 

Instead of answering his question, he asked two of his own. “Why all the questions about John? Are you really that interested in my love life?”

 

“Just curious.” His shrug was casual, but he could still see that telltale tension in the set of his jaw. “From the sound of it, you’ve been…busy.”

 

“And what about you, Jack? How many wrecked hearts have you left behind over the years?”

 

The shadows were deepening around them as the lavender of dusk faded into evening blue, and his eyes burned in the soft glow of the SUV’s instrument panel. “Sex doesn’t equal love.”

 

“Meaning what?” Ianto asked with a stunned laugh.

 

Jack jerked his shoulder again. “Just that the people I get involved with don’t expect anything more.”

 

“What a crock,” Ianto said, shaking his head. He rolled down his window, enjoying the feel of the summer-scented air as it blew against his face. It was rich and warm, like a living thing, offering comfort from the chill creeping through him. Keeping his face turned away from him, he quietly added, “They may not own up to it, Jack, but most people are looking for love. Some just hide it better than others.”

 

Jack didn’t say anything in response, and he was almost starting to drift off, lulled by that sweet breeze, when Jack’s deep voice broke the silence. “You didn’t answer my question about the demon.”

 

“No, I never dated John,” he admitted with a tired sigh, deciding to give him the truth. “He’s a great friend, but he would have been more than I could handle as a lover.”

 

He made a guttural sound that was anything but happy. “What does that mean?”

 

“It means I can only juggle so many things in my life at one time, and John would have taken up a lot of…space.” Maybe not the complete truth, but close enough. And all he was getting.

 

“Ever thought of settling on just one guy?” he rasped.

 

He clearly thought that by “things” he meant “men,” and he didn’t bother to correct him. “I might, if I ever met one who was worth it.”

 

“Shit,” he said with a low laugh, the husky sound quick and rough. “That’s harsh, Ianto.”

 

“I’m just being honest.” He turned to look at him, for no other reason than he was just really good to look at. “It would take a hell of a man to make me want to settle down.”

 

Jack chewed that over for a while, his eyes glittering in the darkness, but he wasn’t concerned. Despite the menacing air of danger and violence that flowed around him these days, he was still the Jack he’d grown up with. He was no monster, no matter how worried he might be about those changes he was going through.

 

And he was definitely worrying.

 

Ianto could see the soul-deep exhaustion he was trying so hard to hide, the bruise-coloured shadows under his eyes evidence that he wasn’t sleeping well. But they didn’t detract from his looks. He was beautiful in a dark, fallen-angel kind of way, the shadows under his eyes only making the unusual blue seem brighter.

 

They’d eaten up a good chunk of road before he said, “So how did you meet him?”

 

“Who?”

 

He braced his elbow on his door, stroking his hand over his jaw again. “This John guy.”

 

“Oh.” Ianto rubbed his arms, chilled by the memory. “It’s a long story,” he hedged.

 

“We’ve got the time,” he murmured.

 

“Okay, if you really want to know, we met on a case I was working. An eight-year-old girl had gone missing. Her father was human, but her mother was a demon who had gone to school with John’s sister. The mother hired me to find the little girl, and John’s sister asked him to help. We didn’t have many leads, but the parents were suspicious of a neighbour who hadn’t been seen since the girl went missing.”

 

Jack cursed something foul, the low words thick with dread.

 

With a hard swallow, Ianto cleared the husky note from his throat and continued his story. “We found her before she was killed, but not before that monster had managed to terrify the living daylights out of her. John was beside himself. I’ve never seen anyone so enraged. He literally tore the man apart with his bare hands. Then, while I drove, he cradled the little girl in his arms all the way back to her mother.”

 

“What happened to her? Is she okay?”

 

A soft smile touched his lips at the worry in his voice. “She’s growing into a beautiful young lady. And John has stayed in close contact. She adores him. He’s like her favourite uncle. He’s promised to look out for her, to be there if she ever needs him, and he’ll keep his promise. He would die before letting anything happen to her.”

 

“Huh. A demon with a heart. Who knew?”

 

Irritated by his tone, Ianto narrowed his eyes at him. “John’s a good guy, Jack. And he’s a friend. I won’t have you being ugly about him.”

 

“He’s a demon, Ianto. How great can the guy be?”

 

Ianto ran his tongue over his teeth, and aimed low. “At least he was never too afraid to admit that he wanted me.”

 

His hands clenched on the wheel so hard he thought it might break. “It was never a case of not wanting you,” he forced through his gritted teeth. “I couldn’t have you.”

 

“Oh, please. Spare me that shit. So you have Pharis blood in your veins. Who gives a damn? I sure as hell never have.”

 

Jack’s laugh was sudden and harsh. “You didn’t even know until that night. I saw the surprise on your face when Donna told you the truth about the feud between our families. When she told you about my bloodline.”

 

Ianto had always wondered if he’d noticed his reaction to that little revelation.

 

“So I was surprised,” he muttered, crossing his arms. “So what? Did you bother to stick around to ask me how I felt about it?”

 

“No, I didn’t.” He popped his jaw, his voice flinty as he said, “Your family made it clear that that wasn’t an option.”

 

Not to mention his own family, Jack thought. Hell, even his mother had been against them. She’d told him how disappointed his father would have been if he’d still been alive. She’d said a Celtic Warlock could never be trusted to be there when you needed them. Told him that Ianto would turn on him. That he’d come to hate Jack. And he’d believed her.

 

Had he been a fool? Or had it been the smartest decision of his life? He no longer knew, and it was pissing him off.

 

He didn’t doubt that he could make Ianto Jones want him physically. But would that be all there was to it? Would he become just another lover that he reminisced about, while he went through life hungering for something he could no longer have?

 

“Get ready to pull over,” Ianto said, ripping him from the darkness of his thoughts. “That’s the place.”

 

Jack pulled into the car-park and reversed into a space at the back of the deceptively ragged-looking structure, the neon sign that sat on its sloping roof flashing bursts of colour against the SUV’s windshield. As he cut the engine, he sent a dubious look toward the building. “What makes you think he’s here?”

 

“I don’t know where he is,” he replied, reaching for the handle to his door. “But we’re going to hit every clan hangout that I know of until we find him.” They made their way across the car-park, entering through a side door, and Jack fought back a grimace. The place was even worse than he’d suspected.

 

Music blared from the corner where a live band was playing some kind of death rock, the dance floor set up in front of the stage packed with a rough-looking crowd that spilled over into every corner of the room. As they headed past the bar, a gruff voice sounded from off to his left. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t one of those Pharis arseholes.” A beefy hand grabbed hold of Jack’s shoulder and jerked him around. “What makes you think you can waltz in here without getting your arse kicked?”

 

Jack stared the paunch-faced shape-shifter right in the eye. “I’m not a Pharis.”

 

“Sure you aren’t,” the guy sneered, sending a laughing look at his buddies. “You hear that, guys? Blue Eyes here doesn’t think he’s a Pharis.”

 

“I’m only going to say this once.” Jack moved in closer, going nose to nose with the man. He was pretty sure the shifter was a Lycan, but it was hard to get a clear read on his scent under all the booze. “If you don’t want it broken, get your hand off my shoulder.”

 

The shifter snickered. “Make me, Pharis.”

 

“If that’s how you want to play it.” Jack’s smile was slow and sharp. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

Before the werewolf could so much as blink at him, Jack wrapped his fingers around the shifter’s wrist and stepped back, yanking him off his bar stool. The shifter threw a heavy left hook that Jack easily dodged, using the man’s momentum to spin him around, twisting his right arm up behind his back. The shifter tried to catch him in the face with the back of his head, so Jack wrenched the jerk’s arm up higher against his back, and the guy gave a high-pitched, gurgled cry. “Are we done here?” he rasped.

 

“Okay,” the guy grunted. “We’re done.”

 

“That’s what I thought,” he said in a low voice, releasing his hold on the idiot and taking a step back.

 

As he watched the shifter rubbing his sore arm, Jack ran a hand over his mouth, more than a little surprised by how easily he’d taken down the werewolf. Yeah, he was used to fighting things that weren’t human, and he was damn good at it. That wasn’t ego talking—it was fact. But this had been…different. He’d acted on pure instinct, and he’d been faster. Stronger.

 

And a helluva lot angrier than he usually was.

 

Side effects? Obviously. He was just damn glad the fangs hadn’t made another appearance.

 

Turning around, Jack expected to find Ianto waiting right behind him. But he wasn’t there.

 

With a gravelled curse, he immediately scanned the crowd. He boiled with anger when he spotted him. While he’d been dealing with the Lycan, the little fool had taken on the bastard’s friends by himself!

 

From the looks of it, he’d already downed two of the guys, and was currently exchanging words with a third. They were standing at the edge of the crowded dance floor, the band still making enough noise that Jack couldn’t hear what he was saying to the man. Whatever it was, he looked angry about it, his lip curled in a sneer. The guy took a swing at him, which he blocked as he spun, bringing his leg around in a kick that struck him across the backs of his thighs.

 

For a moment, all Jack could do was stare. Then he stalked forward and yanked Ianto off the jackass, leaving him to the two bouncers who were finally making their way over. He couldn’t have cared less about the jerk. All he cared about was Ianto.

 

And judging by how pissed he was, he cared a lot more than he should. It was stupid and insane and was no doubt going to land himself in a world of hurt. But there didn’t seem to be a damn thing Jack could do to stop it.