Born This Way - Chapter 3
Jul. 7th, 2012 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbottomsTitle: Born This Way 3
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.
3
*~*
Hell’s Kitchen
*~*
Jack
By the time I get home and change into my Giovanni’s T-shirt, I’m late for work. And Giovanni isn’t gonna let me forget it.
My sister Maggie’s best friend, Mona—who also works here—stands next to Giovanni at the register, her long black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and a sparkle in her smoky gray eyes. “Hey, Jack,” she says, then glances sideways at Giovanni and gives a small cringe before heading to the soda tap.
Giovanni scowls at me, his Italian features drawn and dour. I don’t take it personally, though. I’ve figured out that Giovanni hates all his employees. He’s convinced we’re stealing him blind. “You get the three thirty birthday party,” he says.
Great. Kids from hell and no tip.
He looks over my shoulder, and a grin explodes across his face—a mouthful of crooked, coffee-stained teeth. He holds his fist in the air, exposing large yellow stains in the pits of his white chef tunic. “Un toro!” he says to Ianto, waiting for a knuckle bump.
Guess he doesn’t mind Ianto hanging around after all.
“Un toro?” I say.
A cynical smile quirks Ianto’s lips and he shakes his head.
I look back at Giovanni, and he’s still grinning at Ianto, but he doesn’t answer me. It’s probably something to do with everyone wanting him. Which they do. As I watch Ianto make his way to his regular booth in the back, I see the only other people in the place—a group of four young high school girls in the games area at the back corner—make a beeline toward the booth next to his.
I realise I’m staring at Ianto and smiling dopily when Giovanni’s voice interrupts my musing.
“You look happy about that party. Maybe I’ll give you all of them.”
“Whatever,” I say, and head to the counter, where Simone, the only other waitress Giovanni hasn’t driven out of here, shuffles past with a jug of soft drink.
I take a deep breath and try to clear my head. “No pizzas on the floor today,” I say out loud, making a pact with myself. I have to stay focused. But I already know it’s useless. My heart is aching and it’s almost impossible to get John out of my head. I can’t believe he’s really gone…
But I know it’s true. I can’t feel him. I didn’t realise what a big piece of me he’d become till that piece was missing. I take another deep breath and blow out a long sigh, turning to where Ianto sits. I immediately feel guilty again.
“You’re smart to keep an eye on him.”
I tie my short black apron on and turn to face Mona where she stands behind me. There’s a mischievous grin on her face as she inclines her head toward the booth next to Ianto’s. Simone drops the jug of soft drink on the table as the high school girls argue over who has to sit with their back to Ianto. Three of them cram into one side, leaving a pouting blonde with acne and braces to slide into the seat backing up to Ianto’s booth.
Mona winks and heads over to wipe Ianto’s booth down with a rag.
*~*
Ianto
I haven’t decided whether to tell Jack he’s working for an Imp. I’ve been watching him carefully, and so far he seems harmless. I’m not sure he even knows what he is. Like their angelic counterparts, the Nephilim, Imps are mortal, so if they don’t inherit any noticeable power from their demon parent, they may never know. But there are some telltale signs.
Imps always smell subtly of sulphur. Not really noticeable to the human nose, but mine still picks it up.
Hanging around Gray, I’ve discovered Imps aren’t the only ones with telltales. Angels don’t cast a sharply delineated shadow. Their shadows are always a little fuzzy around the edges. So, unless it’s pitch dark, they’re easy to pick out. Demons are even easier. They can never completely hide the glow of their eyes. There’s always a hint of it that’s easy to spot with practice—which I’ve had.
I slide into the corner of the back booth, my back against the wall, and kick a leg up onto the seat. Mona comes over and wipes my table with a dirty rag, leaving it worse than before.
“Hey, Ianto. You guys coming to hear us play tomorrow?” she asks, sliding in across from me.
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Good. There’s supposed to be a scout there. If anyone asks, tell them you’re there to hear us.”
“You guys going big-time? Will you remember all your old fans when you’re playing for packed stadiums?”
A cynical smile lifts one side of her mouth. “I wish.”
Jack saunters over with his pad and pen in hand. “What can I get for you, sir?” he purrs.
Mona grins up at Jack and slides out of the booth. “See ya.”
“What I want—” I rub my foot along the outside of Jack’s thigh. “—isn’t on the menu.”
He scowls but doesn’t pull away. “Where was this an hour ago?”
“I was thinking of a cheeseburger,” I say, and fight to contain the chuckle when he rolls his eyes.
“One slice of cardboard cheese pizza, coming right up,” he says, scribbling on his pad with a flourish.
I can’t stop the smile that pulls at my lips as I watch Jack walk back to the counter. I breathe deep, force my eyes away from him, and scan the restaurant.
From this vantage, I can see the entire place clearly— including the Imp behind the counter. I take the opportunity to study him while Jack clips my order up in the window to the kitchen. He’s busy messing with the cash drawer, the unchecked avarice clear in his eyes and all over his face.
He pushes the drawer closed just as the door opens. He looks up expectantly—but then his face turns to a mask of fear.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. A second later, I know why.
Suzantori. Or Suzie, her Earthbound name.
Maybe a thread of my sixth sense followed me into humanity after all.
Even to an ex-demon, she’s intimidating. She’s not all that big in her human form but just the look on her face, she’s got to scare the Hell out of most humans. She rakes a hand through her long curly hair and steps casually through the door. When she sees me, her eyes narrow and a sneer spreads across her slim face. The girls in the booth next to me go suddenly quiet as she strides over and folds her lithe frame into the seat across from me.
“What a pleasant surprise.”
I fight the urge to grab Jack and run. It’s too late for that. Security roams in packs. I’m sure she has some of her lackeys stationed outside. And I need to know what she knows—why she’s here.
I nod at her. “I hardly think this was a surprise.”
An enormous grin spreads slowly across the demon’s face. “So, how is this going to go?”
“Well, first, you take a look at the menu,” I say, sliding one across the table, “and when you’ve made your decision, the waitress will come take your order.” I glance up at Jack and Simone, who are staring from behind the counter.
All the humour leaves her face, but the grin doesn’t. “You’ve always been quite the comedian, Lucifer, but you can’t joke your way out of this.”
“Okay, then. You tell me: How is this going to go?”
“Well, it depends. Easy: You get up and walk outside with me, where we phase back to Hell for your trial. Hard: I drag you outside, where we phase back to Hell for your trial.”
“Hmm. I can see one flaw in your masterfully devised plan.”
She leans toward me. “And that would be?”
“What am I thinking?”
Her face darkens to a brood. “I don’t know. You’ve got some Hell-forsaken field or something.”
“Think bigger, Suzie.”
I glance up and see Jack behind the counter across the room, straining against some unseen force. Gray. I breathe easier knowing he’s in his field. Even still, his eyes are trained on the demon, his jaw set and muscles tense. I know that look. He’s working out how he’s going to take her down. I catch his eye and shake my head almost imperceptibly. Suzie’s focus is on me, and I want to keep it that way. She seems totally unaware that Jack is the bigger target.
Jack glares at me, and when I turn back to Suzie, a frustrated scowl has passed over her features. “I can’t read anything. It’s almost as if you were human or something.”
I tip my head toward her slightly and raise an eyebrow. She stares at me for a second with a quizzical look; then her eyes widen as she bounds to her feet, knocking the table into me and sending the menus flying. “What the Hell?”
I glance at the girls in the booth behind Suzie, who’ve been watching cautiously. “Down, girl,” I say quietly.
She slides tentatively back into the booth, straightening the table. For a long time, she doesn’t say anything. She just stares, as if trying to see through me. “How did you do it?” she finally manages.
“I didn’t. It was done to me.”
“Someone else turned you human? You found a…what? A conjurer?”
I realise that I’ve probably said too much. To bring the conversation back to me, I say, “So, you get that I’m not phasing anywhere. You could just kill me and take my soul back to Hell, if it weren’t for the other thing.”
She tents her fingers on the table in front of her, and her eyes narrow. “What other thing?”
I fix her in a hard stare, and can’t stop my lips from curling into a smile when understanding dawns on her face.
“Unholy Hell! You’re tagged for Heaven!” she says, leaping from the booth again.
“So, you see, Suzie, if He wants me back in Hell, it’s going to take a little more planning and forethought on your part to figure out how to get me there.”
“Why the Hell wouldn’t He tell me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe He thought, with your limited intellectual capacity—”
She shoves the table up against me, then glares and mutters, “Go suck angel face.” She spins on her heel and storms out of Giovanni’s, leaving the faintest hint of rotten eggs in her wake.
I look up as I push the table away from me and see all four of the girls in the next booth scamper away. And when I glance at the counter, Giovanni, Simone, and Mona are gaping, open-mouthed.
Giovanni seems genuinely shocked and a little scared. I’m sure I detect a shake in his small frame as he hovers protectively over his cash register. But there’s no suggestion of recognition or understanding in his dark eyes. I don’t even think he knows demons exist. So, apparently, the demon half of his parenting team didn’t hang around. Not surprising. Demons aren’t big on the whole nurturing concept.
My gaze shifts to Jack as he moves swiftly across the room toward me.
“It’s fine, Jack.”
“What did she want?”
“Suzantori is head of Security. She’s been sent to bring me back. But it seems she wasn’t filled in on the details of what that would entail.” I look his in the eye. “And I don’t think she even knows you exist, so we’re okay.”
Jack leans closer, panic still clear on his face. “We’re okay? We are so not okay! She can’t have you.”
“He can’t take me as long as I’m tagged for Heaven,” I reassure him.
I consider that while Jack stares at me. It makes sense that King Lucifer would come after His pound of flesh, I suppose. That would explain why Suzie came up to me and didn’t even seem to notice Jack, but… “Why would Lucifer send her after me and not tell her I was human?” I wonder out loud. “Unless…” And then it hits me: He might not know. My boss, Gwen, was the only one who knew what I was. The only one who witnessed my humanity. If she didn’t tell for some reason…
But He’ll know now. Suzie will report back. Then what?
The door swings open again, and every head snaps around to see who it is. When Jack’s grandpa steps through, everyone breathes a collective sigh.
Grandpa walks up to our table. Picking up on the tension in the room, his brow knits. “What’d I miss?”
Jack shoots me a warning glance as his grandpa slides into the booth across from me. He knows what I am…or was. We told him because we needed his help. But he doesn’t know how immediate the danger to his grandson is. The fact that Suzie was here for me, not him, would do little to assuage his concern.
Jack pastes on a megawatt smile.
“Nothing, Grandpa,” he says, dropping my plate on the table in front of me. “What can I get you? The usual?”
His expression is guarded. “That’ll work.” When Jack heads to the kitchen with his order, he glowers at me. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothing, really.”
“That demon bullshit might work on Jack’s parents, but I know a load of crap when I see it.”
I draw a deep sigh, and my eyes wander to Jack, at the soda tap. “It seems that Hell’s not thrilled about my defection.”
His glower becomes a full on glare. “If you’re puttin’ Jack in danger by bein’ here—”
“Then I would leave,” I finish for him.
He glares a moment longer, then pushes deeper into the booth. “Ya said before that it was Jack that changed ya.” I can see the question perched on his lips, the concern in his eyes.
My gaze drops to my hand and I spin my plate on the table. “I don’t know how it works,” I say in an attempt to pre-empt his question with a half answer.
“But ya said that however he did it, it’s why Hell wants him.”
I raise my eyes, but not my head. “Yes.”
“So, what are we gonna do to keep them from gettin’ him?”
“I’m still working on that.”
“This John guy…”
God, how much did we tell him that night? “He’s an angel, and he’s helping out.”
“Did he tag his soul like you wanted?”
This time I lift my head and smile. “Yes.”
“And ya said that’d keep him safe.”
“It should.”
He seems satisfied for the moment and smiles up at Jack as he approaches with his pizza and Coke.
*~*
Gray
This is perfect. The demon’s got his kind after him now. Maybe that demon will take Ianto out for me. Take him off my hands.
I follow Jack back toward the kitchen as he places Grandpa’s order, but stop when I see Grandpa and Ianto with their heads together. I move back to their table to eavesdrop. I can’t believe how much Grandpa knows. An overwhelming sense of needing him—wanting to show myself to him—almost knocks me to the floor. If he knows about angels and demons, why not? Why shouldn’t I tell him? I’ve got nobody, and Jack has everyone. Why can’t I have Grandpa?
I’m on the verge of fading in when the door opens and a couple with fourteen kids comes whirling in. A birthday party.
And I’m shaken back to my senses.
I can’t have Grandpa, because it’s against the stupid rules. We’re forbidden to appear to our relatives. It causes too much pain and grief for the living. If I revealed myself to Grandpa just because I want to, I’d be risking my wings.
This is the reason so few of us are chosen as guardians, and why the training is so long and intensive. The temptations are nearly irresistible. Most guardians train for centuries before they’re ready—at least until all their immediate family is gone—but I trained for only a decade.
I look back at Grandpa and step away from the booth. Maybe I’m not ready after all. Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped the queue to be Jack’s guardian.
Maybe John made a huge mistake.
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no subject
on 2012-07-07 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-07 07:06 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-07 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-07 07:06 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-07 09:39 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-08 06:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-07 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-08 06:28 am (UTC)Squee as much as you like. Next part up soon.
no subject
on 2012-07-09 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-09 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-07-30 12:34 am (UTC)I feel bad for Gray being alone, but it rather surprises me how much hate he's capable of for an angel. I can understand him being protective of Jack, but his thoughts concerning Ianto border on down right evil.
no subject
on 2012-07-30 07:50 am (UTC)