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Fandomweekly Challenge 223 - Before the dawn
Title: Before the dawn
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 223 - Sunrise at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 223 - Sunrise at
fandomweeklySummary: Everyone is exhausted, but they have to keep moving.
Ianto's legs were burning, full of lactic acid that was cramping painfully as his chest began to heave, slowly getting out of breath. He pushed forward, catching up to Jack. ‘We need to stop and rest.’
‘No time,’ Jack replied, not even bothering to glance sideways at him and make eye contact. ‘We gotta keep moving.’
He hated it when Jack got stubborn like this. He’d become fixated on the one thing and became blind to everything else. Ianto drove himself forward, having to speed up to keep pace with Jack’s purposeful long strides through the dense underbrush. None of it seemed to impede his movements, unlike Ianto who managed to find every dip in the ground and every last branch snagging at his clothes and skin. Jack might have been like Moses parting the Red Sea, but he certainly wasn’t parting it for anyone else. As if they needed any more of a challenge.
‘Jack!’ He called his name again, louder and more sternly, desperate to get him to stop so that they could have a rational conversation.
Jack spun on his heels and threw a murderous look at him. ‘Keep your voice down! Do you want them to find us?’
‘Of course not,’ he replied, straining not to roll his eyes and sound petulant, responding to a question that was entirely rhetorical. Jack often baited him like that when he was in a mood. He spared a look over his shoulder at where he’d been before, at the back of their small group, making sure no one fell too far behind, but his brief absence from that position had forced the group to spread even further apart from before, the oldest and youngest now drifting some way behind those trying to keep pace with Jack. His immediate instinct was to go back to the rear of their group and encourage them to keep going, as he had been for several hours now. Even he was struggling to keep up with Jack's brutal pace.
‘Jack,’ he called out again, this time more quietly, managing to lunge forward just enough to grab him by the elbow. ‘You have to stop.’
‘What?’ Jack said, letting Ianto know just how annoying he found the statement, as if he’d barely heard the words at all and just found Ianto's clutching tightly at him an inconvenience.
‘We can’t keep going like this,’ Ianto pleaded, hoping Jack would stop, blink and then see it for himself. ‘They’re not used to travelling long distances like this.’
The small aliens they were attempting to rescue were only two thirds the height of their human rescuers, and their shorter legs and stocky bodies were simply not built for pace. That was to say nothing of the varying ages of the dozen creatures, from small children through to wise elders. Ianto had carried the smallest one for hours, only putting it back down for a brief reprieve and to see if he could persuade Jack to pause, or at least slow down for a while.
‘Ianto, it’ll be daylight in an hour or two. If we don’t make it back to the ship by then, those Judoon are going to be right on top of us, out here in the open. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel.’
It was a fair incentive to keep moving, to be sure, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault. The Judoon had their intel all wrong but they were past negotiating to see sense, leaving Jack and Ianto with only one option: to break free the prisoners and rescue them under the cover of night. Even now it was likely that the Judoon had realised that the prisoners were going and were spreading out in all directions, guns at the ready, searching for them. The forest in its darkness was the only thing keeping them all alive, and even now Ianto could see the first tiny hints that the horizon was moving from black to a deep midnight blue, signalling the approaching dawn.
Just then he heard the sharp sound from the first morning lark cutting through the silence. God, he despaired. They must have still been miles from their ship. He knew just how exhausted their new friends were. He was exhausted himself. He and Jack had gone two days without sleep before this assignment, trying to finalise a shipment of supplies to a world that needed medical aid before being thrust into this next task without warning. Three days without sleep and a march through dense forest for miles and miles. If he dropped to the ground now, the rest of them would give up with him, accepting their fate. They hadn’t uttered a word of complaint the entire time, just grateful that anyone had come to rescue them at all. It only made Ianto feel all that much more guilty for the brutal march and every word he said, promising them that it wasn't far to go now.
Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and Jack's expression had softened from hard stone to deep empathy. ‘I know how hard it is to keep going, believe me.’ He looked over Ianto's shoulder at the small worn out faces and gave the shoulder a squeeze. ‘If we had time to rest, you know I would.’
‘Just a few minutes,’ Ianto begged, not for his sake but for theirs.
‘It’ll only make it that much harder to get going again,’ Jack replied.’ There’s no caves or other shelter, and no way any of them can climb trees and hide up there. Not that the Judoon wouldn't be looking. All that's keeping us alive right now is the fact that the sun hasn’t come up yet. They don't know where our ship is, so they’ll have to search in all directions. The further we get away in the right direction, the better our chances. Have I ever let you down?’
Ianto shook his head. He believed in Jack. They all had to.
‘No time,’ Jack replied, not even bothering to glance sideways at him and make eye contact. ‘We gotta keep moving.’
He hated it when Jack got stubborn like this. He’d become fixated on the one thing and became blind to everything else. Ianto drove himself forward, having to speed up to keep pace with Jack’s purposeful long strides through the dense underbrush. None of it seemed to impede his movements, unlike Ianto who managed to find every dip in the ground and every last branch snagging at his clothes and skin. Jack might have been like Moses parting the Red Sea, but he certainly wasn’t parting it for anyone else. As if they needed any more of a challenge.
‘Jack!’ He called his name again, louder and more sternly, desperate to get him to stop so that they could have a rational conversation.
Jack spun on his heels and threw a murderous look at him. ‘Keep your voice down! Do you want them to find us?’
‘Of course not,’ he replied, straining not to roll his eyes and sound petulant, responding to a question that was entirely rhetorical. Jack often baited him like that when he was in a mood. He spared a look over his shoulder at where he’d been before, at the back of their small group, making sure no one fell too far behind, but his brief absence from that position had forced the group to spread even further apart from before, the oldest and youngest now drifting some way behind those trying to keep pace with Jack. His immediate instinct was to go back to the rear of their group and encourage them to keep going, as he had been for several hours now. Even he was struggling to keep up with Jack's brutal pace.
‘Jack,’ he called out again, this time more quietly, managing to lunge forward just enough to grab him by the elbow. ‘You have to stop.’
‘What?’ Jack said, letting Ianto know just how annoying he found the statement, as if he’d barely heard the words at all and just found Ianto's clutching tightly at him an inconvenience.
‘We can’t keep going like this,’ Ianto pleaded, hoping Jack would stop, blink and then see it for himself. ‘They’re not used to travelling long distances like this.’
The small aliens they were attempting to rescue were only two thirds the height of their human rescuers, and their shorter legs and stocky bodies were simply not built for pace. That was to say nothing of the varying ages of the dozen creatures, from small children through to wise elders. Ianto had carried the smallest one for hours, only putting it back down for a brief reprieve and to see if he could persuade Jack to pause, or at least slow down for a while.
‘Ianto, it’ll be daylight in an hour or two. If we don’t make it back to the ship by then, those Judoon are going to be right on top of us, out here in the open. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel.’
It was a fair incentive to keep moving, to be sure, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault. The Judoon had their intel all wrong but they were past negotiating to see sense, leaving Jack and Ianto with only one option: to break free the prisoners and rescue them under the cover of night. Even now it was likely that the Judoon had realised that the prisoners were going and were spreading out in all directions, guns at the ready, searching for them. The forest in its darkness was the only thing keeping them all alive, and even now Ianto could see the first tiny hints that the horizon was moving from black to a deep midnight blue, signalling the approaching dawn.
Just then he heard the sharp sound from the first morning lark cutting through the silence. God, he despaired. They must have still been miles from their ship. He knew just how exhausted their new friends were. He was exhausted himself. He and Jack had gone two days without sleep before this assignment, trying to finalise a shipment of supplies to a world that needed medical aid before being thrust into this next task without warning. Three days without sleep and a march through dense forest for miles and miles. If he dropped to the ground now, the rest of them would give up with him, accepting their fate. They hadn’t uttered a word of complaint the entire time, just grateful that anyone had come to rescue them at all. It only made Ianto feel all that much more guilty for the brutal march and every word he said, promising them that it wasn't far to go now.
Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and Jack's expression had softened from hard stone to deep empathy. ‘I know how hard it is to keep going, believe me.’ He looked over Ianto's shoulder at the small worn out faces and gave the shoulder a squeeze. ‘If we had time to rest, you know I would.’
‘Just a few minutes,’ Ianto begged, not for his sake but for theirs.
‘It’ll only make it that much harder to get going again,’ Jack replied.’ There’s no caves or other shelter, and no way any of them can climb trees and hide up there. Not that the Judoon wouldn't be looking. All that's keeping us alive right now is the fact that the sun hasn’t come up yet. They don't know where our ship is, so they’ll have to search in all directions. The further we get away in the right direction, the better our chances. Have I ever let you down?’
Ianto shook his head. He believed in Jack. They all had to.