Challenge 733 - Haunted
Nov. 6th, 2022 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Title: Haunted
Character: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 300 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 733 - Haunt at
torchwood100
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Summary: Ianto's nightmares aren't going away anytime soon. A triple drabble.
Jack woke to the feeling of Ianto thrashing about in the bed next to him. Arms were flailing even as Jack grabbed him by the wrists, trying to prevent Ianto from inadvertently hitting him as he tried to wake him up. 'Ianto!'
He gasped and Jack let go altogether. 'It’s okay. It’s just a nightmare.' Ianto took a ragged breath. 'Lisa?' Jack hazarded a guess.
Ianto nodded. 'Sort of.'
'Wanna talk about it?'
'Not really. I’m just sick of being haunted by it. Only now it isn’t just memories of what happened. Now it’s worse. This time it was me stuck in that machine, only I knew what was going to happen to me, and I knew that as soon as I'd been upgraded I was going to come after Torchwood and destroy it, then start converting the whole world. I felt happy about it, and I didn’t want to stop it.'
Jack pulled him into a hug. 'I wish I could tell you that it gets easier,' Jack said, rubbing slow circles across his back. 'It does, in a way, but then there’s always those moments when it sneaks back up on you. Usually when you least expect it.'
'Sometimes I wish I’d just died that day, or that you’d come along and retconned all my memories of Torchwood.'
Jack sympathised. 'I suspect that with everything you’ve seen, it wouldn't have worked. Too many things that might trigger a memory.'
Ianto’s head bowed forwards in defeat. 'So, what you’re saying to me is that I'm just going to have to live with this forever.'
He continued rubbing Ianto’s back. 'Forever isn’t nearly as long as you think it will be.' At least it wasn’t for them. Only Jack got to live with all the guilt and the horror forever.
Jack woke to the feeling of Ianto thrashing about in the bed next to him. Arms were flailing even as Jack grabbed him by the wrists, trying to prevent Ianto from inadvertently hitting him as he tried to wake him up. 'Ianto!'
He gasped and Jack let go altogether. 'It’s okay. It’s just a nightmare.' Ianto took a ragged breath. 'Lisa?' Jack hazarded a guess.
Ianto nodded. 'Sort of.'
'Wanna talk about it?'
'Not really. I’m just sick of being haunted by it. Only now it isn’t just memories of what happened. Now it’s worse. This time it was me stuck in that machine, only I knew what was going to happen to me, and I knew that as soon as I'd been upgraded I was going to come after Torchwood and destroy it, then start converting the whole world. I felt happy about it, and I didn’t want to stop it.'
Jack pulled him into a hug. 'I wish I could tell you that it gets easier,' Jack said, rubbing slow circles across his back. 'It does, in a way, but then there’s always those moments when it sneaks back up on you. Usually when you least expect it.'
'Sometimes I wish I’d just died that day, or that you’d come along and retconned all my memories of Torchwood.'
Jack sympathised. 'I suspect that with everything you’ve seen, it wouldn't have worked. Too many things that might trigger a memory.'
Ianto’s head bowed forwards in defeat. 'So, what you’re saying to me is that I'm just going to have to live with this forever.'
He continued rubbing Ianto’s back. 'Forever isn’t nearly as long as you think it will be.' At least it wasn’t for them. Only Jack got to live with all the guilt and the horror forever.