Born This Way - Chapter 2

[madbottoms]

Title: Born This Way 2

Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, John, Gray, Owen, Toshiko/Tommy, Suzie, OCs

Rating: NC-17

Warnings/Contains: Supernatural themes, character death, drug references, dub-con.

Summary: Sequel to Choices - Ianto Jones was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Jack Harkness. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences and suddenly Ianto’s and Jack’s happily ever after may not be so happy.

2

*~*

Sway With Me

*~*

Jack

“John has me experimenting with this Sway thing,” I say after lunch, handing Ianto the cast iron skillet to wipe down.

His eyes tighten and he doesn’t even try to hide the jealous edge to his voice. “Let me guess: late at night, all alone in your room.”

I can’t help the flutter in my stomach or my blush, and I hate that I feel guilty. But I do. I still don’t have a grasp on what I feel for John. All I know is that I need him. When he’s around, I can almost believe that things are gonna be okay, and when he touches me, all my panic seems to melt away.

I plunge my hands into the soapy dishwater and start scrubbing dishes madly. “Sometimes. But if the only person I can Sway is John, that’s not gonna accomplish much.”

He slams the pan down onto the counter with a crash that shakes the floor and stares at his hands, splayed on either side of it. “I sincerely doubt there’s much you couldn’t get John to do for you just by asking.”

I start, because it’s John who can read my mind, not Ianto. But the way he’s looking at me makes me wonder.

I sigh deeply and take a second to get myself back together.

“Anyway…we’ve been hanging at the park, mostly.” I feel my chest tighten as I push back the frustration that threatens to take charge of me every time I think about this whole stupid thing. “He thinks kids should be easier to influence. But I seem to be better at instigating stuff than stopping it.”

He yanks the pan off the counter by the handle. “Well, that bodes well for world peace.”

I drop my face into my soapy hands and groan. “I suck at this. I don’t know what he thinks I’m supposed to be able to do, but I can’t even break up a sandbox scuffle over a pail and shovel.” I hate this frustration. I hate everything right now. “I can’t do it. It doesn’t work.”

I don’t look at him as he turns me and presses me against the counter, his body hot against mine, his voice suddenly soft. “I’m sorry, Jack. You know how hard this is for me…sorting all these feelings. Everything is going to work out.” He lifts my chin with his finger, then wipes the suds off of my forehead with his hand. “It’ll all come together.” He quirks an eyebrow. “I’ll let you practice on me.”

I sniffle and wipe my nose on the back of my arm. “I did already.”

He grins and looks down at himself to be sure he’s still intact. “Should I be worried?”

I sorta smile back. “No. I already did my thing on you without even knowing it. You were like my lab rat or something. My first victim.”

Before I even knew what Sway was, or that I had it, I was using it on Ianto. ’Course, at the time, I also didn’t know Ianto was a demon. But I wanted him. A lot. And I got him by sorta accidentally turning him mortal with my Sway.

He pins me tighter against the counter, and I can’t ignore how his body against mine makes me feel—like there’s fire coursing through my veins. The look in his smouldering black eyes sends my heart racing. “And how did that experiment work out?”

I feel myself getting hot all over despite the cool dish suds running down my arms. I loop my soapy hands around his neck and watch him grimace as the cold water drips down his back.

“I don’t think I’m done finding out. It’s an ongoing investigation. You know, like…” I press myself harder into him, “What happens if I do this.”

I feel his body react, muscles tensing, his breathing becoming faster. I smile.

“Or this,” I say, leaning in to lick the pulse point in his neck.

“Interesting reaction,” I say when he tips his head back and shudders. “I’ll have to log that in my journal.”

“So, it sounds like when you do what comes naturally, your Sway works just fine. Maybe you’re just trying too hard.” He drops his head and looks at me, those fathomless black eyes still on fire. But then he pushes away. “If only we could finish what you’ve started.”

I tug him back to me by the waist of his jeans. “Why can’t we?”

“Because the woman from the library told me to call her at one.” He nods to the clock on the microwave, which reads 12:58.

I shove him away and turn back to the soapy sink full of dishes. “You’re such a tease.” I shake my head, frustrated. “See how well my Sway works? I couldn’t even entice you to blow off a phone call.”

His hands slide down the curve of my hips and I look over my shoulder at him. “Oh, you enticed me just fine,” he says with a beautifully wicked grin. “The only reason I can resist right now is because I’m fairly certain we can pick up where we left off when I’m done.”

“Don’t be so sure,” I say, knowing he’s right. “You snooze, you lose.”

He looks genuinely concerned for a heartbeat; then his face clears. “We’ll see about that.” His smile is back, and all kinds of wicked ideas flash behind his eyes. He sits in one of the kitchen chairs and pushes back, balancing on its back two legs as he dials.

He hangs up ten minutes later while I’m stacking the last of the dishes, an old set of my mum’s, back into the cupboard. Lowering all four legs of his chair back to the ground, he says, “I start Saturday.”

“I don’t know why you think you need a job. You should be able to live forever on your insane bank accounts.”

His gaze settles into mine. “And so could you.” I turn back to the counter and ignore the thrill that races through me with everything he’s implying. “I’m not taking your money, Ianto.” We’ve done this already.

“Fine. So, you’ll be working, and I could spend all day hanging around that pizza place, or I can become a productive member of society.”

“I guess it’s for the best then,” I admit.

Ianto tended to distract me when he was around. My first week at my new job was pretty rough, culminating with the pizza Giovanni made me pay for after it slid off the tray and onto the floor on my way to a table.

I hang the dishcloth over the tap and turn back to face Ianto. “Giovanni would probably have you arrested for stalking me and scaring away all the customers if you hung around his place all day. You still have that dark thing happening, you know. They’d lock you up and throw away the key.”

“Speaking of keys…” He slides his hand into his pocket and pulls out a shiny silver key, holding it up so it glimmers in the dim lighting. “It’s to the apartment. I know it’s only for another couple of months, but I want you to be able to come and go as you please.”

I settle into his lap. “I thought that’s what I was doing.” “You shouldn’t have to knock.” His arms circle me and pull me closer.

“You’re not afraid I’ll walk in on you doing something you’re not supposed to be?”

“The only person I’d be doing that with would be you.” His expression takes on a suggestive edge as he slides his hand under my shirt. “And you’ll already be here.”

When I press my lips to his, my heart rate doubles. He starts to pull my shirt over my head.

“Don’t mind me….” John’s voice comes from the door and scares the bejesus  out of me.

I turn and there he is, leaning against the doorframe looking all angelic: glowing smile, platinum waves, and insanely beautiful blue eyes shining out of a strong, tanned face. Nobody should be allowed to look that good.

Ianto blows out a frustrated sigh and eases my shirt back down. “For the love of all things unholy, what is it with you celestials? Will you please learn how to knock?”

“And miss the show?” he says, smiling at me as I yank at my shirt.

I extricate myself from Ianto and stand.

“For an angel, you’re quite the pervert,” Ianto says.

John relaxes back into the wall and tucks his hands into the pocket of his jeans. “Some things are worth losing your wings for.” His smile is gone and his blue eyes pierce mine. “Anyway, I really just came to say good-bye.”

“Good-bye?” The panic that lives constantly in my gut creeps into my voice. As guilty as it makes me feel, there’s nothing I can do to stop my heart from pounding when he looks at me like that—like he’s seeing my soul.

Ianto notices my awkward stare and the colour in my cheeks. He pulls himself out of the chair and glares at John. “Don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out.”

“Won’t be using the door, dude.” He saunters over to Ianto’s wall mural. “You know you’re playing for the other team now. You’ve really got to do something about this,” he says, running a finger over the roiling orange and gold molten surface of the Lake of Fire.

“You know what they say; you can take the demon out of Hell, but you can’t take Hell out of the demon.” Ianto’s grin makes my heart go from pounding to sputtering.

John’s eyes slide back to mine. “You’re going to be fine, Jack,” he says. And a part of me hates that he’s in my head—reading my mind. That he knows how I feel about him, even if I don’t.

But then I register what he’s saying. My sputtering heart speeds up as an overwhelming sense of alarm takes over at the thought of John leaving. “You can’t go.” It’s all I can say without sounding totally hysterical or giving away the shake in my voice.

He steps forward and brushes the hair out of my face with a sweep of his hand. “It’s better this way. For everyone,” he adds, glancing toward Ianto.

“But—”

“You’ll be in good hands, Jack. Gray will be here if you need him, and Ianto…” His jaw tightens and his eyes narrow almost imperceptibly. “Ianto won’t let anything happen to you.”

Ianto, perceiving the challenge in John’s words, steps forward and loops his arms around me. “You’re damn right, I won’t.”

I pull out of Ianto’s grasp and step toward John. “Why?”

He lifts a hand and brushes his cool fingertips along the line of my jaw. I breathe in his cool winter sunshine and feel calmer just standing here next to him. When he answers, his voice is soft and low—meant only for me. “It’s really not wise for me to spend too much time around you, Jack.”

“But—”

“You’re both tagged for Heaven, and if you need to leave, your celestial Shields will keep you hidden. With Gray watching, you’ll be fine. But I can’t stay here.” His gaze drops to the floor.

I swallow thickly past the lump in my throat. “Okay,” I say, knowing he’s right, because there’s a reason that I’m dreading turning around and looking at Ianto. I can’t deny that, as much as I love Ianto, I have some deep connection to John. Ianto is my heart and my soul, but John is my anchor. I hug him and pull away as I feel tears sting my eyes. I step back and Ianto’s arm eases around my waist, feeling much less possessive. I look at him, sure of what I’ll see, but his eyes are soft and full of compassion. He gives me a gentle squeeze and a reassuring smile.

I turn back to John and stare into his blue eyes, endless as the sky. “So, when will I see you?”

“I’ll be back now and then to check on you.”

“You promise?” I know how desperate it sounds, but I don’t care.

He lifts his eyes, but not his head, gazing at me out from under his long white lashes. “Promise.” He continues to stare at me, and even though his lips don’t move, I swear I hear him add, “I’ll always be here for you.”

I nod again and open my mouth, but there aren’t words, so I close it again. But my eyes say what my mouth couldn’t. And I know he sees it, because his eyes mist and he swallows hard as he disappears.

“Sorry, Jack,” Ianto says, pulling me to him. “I try not to be jealous, to understand your connection….”

“It’s not your fault.” I hold him tighter. How can I expect him to understand it when even I can’t figure it out?

His hand drifts to my face and he pulls me into a kiss, his lips gentle on mine, as if he’s afraid of breaking me. I wind my fist into his hair and pull him closer, but it lasts only a second before I draw back, ashamed. I’m looking for something in his kiss that isn’t there. Something that I’ve felt in only one other kiss. I’ll need to find a different way to calm my nerves.

I ignore the question swirling in Ianto’s eyes as he gazes down at me, his brow creased.

“Help me change that oil before work?”

I can tell by his resigned sigh that he knows I was thinking of John, and I hate that I’m so crappy at hiding it.

“Your wish, my command,” he says. “What time do you have to be there?”

“Three.”

He glances at the clock in the kitchen. “We better get on it. You have everything?”

“In the boot.” I pull my keys from my pocket, jingling the two keys that now dangle from my rabbit’s foot key chain with a tentative smile.

He smiles back and takes my hand, leading me to the door. “I forgot to test your key,” he says. “Try it.”

I jingle my keys again as we step into the hall and use the shiny new one to lock the door behind us. I pull the key from the lock and feel him press into me from behind, his hands gliding gently around my waist to my stomach. His lips trace a line across my cheek to my ear, where he whispers, “We’re in this together, Jack. Everything’s going to be fine.”

I turn in his arms and kiss him again, this time wanting only him. Warmth from his kiss spreads through me till I’m burning with it.

Twisting my finger down the scar Gwen left on his cheek, I shudder and think about how close I came to losing him. I want to tell him how much I trust him and that I know he’d do anything for me. He proved that when he risked his own life to save me from Gwen. I want to tell him I’d do anything for him too. But I can’t manage words past the new lump in my throat. Instead, I turn back to the door, blinking away tears, unlock the deadbolts, and pull him into the apartment.

I lead him to the bed, then pull him into another kiss. We sink into the sheets, and I just want to lose myself in him— not to have to think about anything for a little while. But when I reach for the button of his jeans, he twines his fingers in mine and brings my hand up to his face, where he kisses the back of my fingers.

“Not like this, Jack. Not now, not because of him.”

“It’s not ’cause of him. I always want to be this close to you.” But even as I say it, I’m really not a hundred per cent sure it’s true, because those blue eyes and that glowing smile are there in my head. I feel the hole in my heart where he’s supposed to be. I miss John already.

“Later,” Ianto says, and kisses me. “But not now.”

 

*~*

Gray

John filled me in before he pushed through the wall into Ianto’s apartment. I’m on my own. When I started to follow him through, he motioned for me to wait in the hall. He said he needed a private moment with Jack. How he planned to accomplish that with the demon in the room is anybody’s guess.

Jack and the demon came out a little while later, and Jack looked seriously shaken. But the demon whispered something to him and they disappeared back through the door.

And I’ve been sitting here ever since, thinking about what their deal is—the three of them.

John is a Dominion. One of Heaven’s most powerful. Third in line to God Himself. But when I watch him with Jack, everything about him changes—softens. Like he’d do anything for him. And the look in his eyes when he told me he was leaving…Agony. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was in love with Jack.

Could he love him? Angels love everyone. It’s what we do. But, I mean…is it more than that? Does he seriously love him?

I’m still pondering that when Jack and the demon step out into the hall again. I follow them toward the stairs as they lock step, arm in arm. Just as we reach the bottom of the stairs, the door from the car park swings open. Jack holds it as a stack of boxes with legs walks through. The stack of boxes bumps into him, and the top one slips, revealing the face of a girl. She’s about our age, with stringy, chocolate brown hair hanging across her green eyes.

“Shit. Sorry,” she says just as the top box slips off the stack. The demon grabs it before it hits the floor.

“Got it,” he says. “Where you headed?”

“Two eighteen,” she says.

He glances at Jack. “We’ll give you a hand?”

“Sure,” Jack says, grabbing a box off the stack. “Are you moving in?”

“Yeah,” she says, diverting his gaze. “Thanks, but you guys don’t need to help. Looks like you’re headed somewhere.”

“No biggie. The oil can wait,” Jack says, and turns for the stairs.

Apartment 218 is next door to Ianto’s. I watch as the three of them haul boxes from the back of the girl’s well-used wagon up the stairs and into her apartment. In three trips, they have everything. The girl wipes beads of sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her gray pullover.

“I need to get to work,” Jack says. “You got it from here?”

The girl stares at the floor, not meeting Jack’s eyes as she speaks. “I’m good…. I don’t have that much.”

I look at the small stack of boxes in the middle of the room. If that’s all her stuff, she’s right.

I watch her scan the room. Other than the cabinets in the kitchen, which are painted a cheerful tangerine colour, the place looks pretty bleak. Just an open space with peeling greyish walls. Like in Ianto’s apartment, there’s a large window that overlooks the parking lot. The upper windowpane is cracked in an elaborate spiderweb pattern that looks sure to explode into hundreds of shards at the slightest contact. Along the wall to the right of the window is a worn green sofa with a large tear in the middle cushion, which has belched a pile of crumbling foam stuffing onto the floor. Looking around, it’s hard to understand the excited glint in the new girl’s eyes. To me it’s just depressing, which is saying something, since angels don’t get depressed.

Jack holds out his hand. “So, I’m Jack and this is Ianto.”

The girl takes Jack’s hand tentatively and shakes it. “Elle.” She ducks her head like it embarrasses her to be the centre of attention.

“So, where’d you come from?” Jack asks.

“Oh…um…nowhere really. I just moved here because I’m going to the university soon. This was the closest I could afford to the campus.”

“Well, I’m next door, so if you need anything…,” Ianto says as he and Jack move toward the door.

“Thanks,” she says, and runs a hand through her hair, pulling the damp strands off her sweaty forehead and giving me a brief glance at her face.

It’s a good thing I’m invisible, because as the demon and Jack disappear down the hall and onto the stairs, I find myself rooted to this spot. I can’t stop staring at her. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever seen before. Or felt. There’s something completely foreign about her soul. I can’t read it very well; I get only snippets—fleeting sensations. There’s a dark side to her, and her soul is already tagged for Hell, but there’s also a wounded side, begging for help. And something in those green eyes makes me want to be the one to help her.

I’m so mesmerized by her that I forget myself and don’t get out of the way in time as she moves to the door to lock it. As she passes through me, I feel a rush of…something.

Desire?

I think so. I shiver as an electric tingle shoots through me, then spin and watch her shut the door and twist the deadbolts.

It suddenly occurs to me that I’m on the wrong side of the door. Those locks are meant to keep others out. I back off, but hesitate before pushing through the wall and back out into the hall.

Those eyes. There’s something in those eyes.

I step closer and reach out for her face, feeling like a moth drawn inexplicably to a flame. I need to touch her. But just before my hand makes contact, she spins away and moves toward the stack of boxes.

Sweet Heaven above. What am I doing?

I shake my head, then push through the wall and just stand in the hall for a long minute, trying to get myself together. What was that? I’ve never felt need like that before—raw desire, stirring something feral inside me. Breathing deep, I jump up and down a few times to shake the tension out, but I’m still not quite myself when I phase into Jack’s backseat. I stay invisible as he pulls out of the car park, and it’s not until we’re halfway down the street, me in the back of the convertible, the wind clearing the fog from my head, that I fade in and allow Jack and the demon to see me.

“Nice of you to join us,” he says as I reach for my seat belt and fasten it around me.

I slouch back into the seat, still feeling a little shaky from whatever just happened with Elle. “So…what do you think of that girl?”

The demon shoots me a sidelong glance. “Well, I think she’s a girl.”

I scowl. “Ha, ha. I mean did she seem, I don’t know…like she needed help or something?”

Jack glances into the rear-view mirror at me. “Maybe. She seemed really shy and sorta scared. I’ll keep my eye on her.”

So will I.

 

Comments

[lilferret]

Hmm, now this is interesting. I'm curious what kind of trouble this new girl is going to be.

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Well, these guys are pretty much trouble magnets.

Watch this space!

[pharlap1.livejournal.com]

love the update

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Always appreciate you letting me know. Cheers

[spud1963.livejournal.com]

Ianto!! Jack!! get away from her, she is trouble!!. I know she is and Jack is lucky Ianto doesnt get overly jealous because i think i would act worse than Ianto lmao. Great work so far looking forward to the next chapter :)

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Now why would you think she is trouble? She's just the nice girl next door, really...... **inserts evil laugh**

Next chapter up very soon.

[sandysan2013.livejournal.com]

Oh oh! Cute, needy, desire inspiring - not a good combination when there are hormone-challenged young men are in the picture, especially if one of them is a new angel. Elle is trouble and I hope they either save her real fast or help her on her way to Hell before she gets them all on the same bus she's taking there.

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Oh, you have no idea what trouble is ahead and I may not be able to save them all.

It's a rough ride ahead.

[lexie0478.livejournal.com]

Was very excited to see a sequel to Choices! Love it so far, but I'm a bit concerned about Elle...

*anxiously waits for next chapter*

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Cheers. Yes, Elle is something new, something there to perhaps tempt the Fates....

[bluelilacs.livejournal.com]

Sounds like Ianto and John aren't the only ones who can be shaken up by a human. Looks like Elle could mean trouble.

[madbottoms.livejournal.com]

Yes, she's a bit of a wild card.