Slashthedrabble Challenge 525 - Unforgivable

[m_findlow]

Title: Unforgiveable
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 525 - Broken at slashthedrabble
Summary: Ianto is torn up by the guilt of his betrayal.

Ianto sighed as he surveyed the boardroom. It was a mess, and even that was an understatement. The table and chairs were shredded and in tatters, like they'd been blown up by a grenade. There was debris everywhere, broken bits of furniture as well as concrete, metal and glass. The hub looked how he felt on the inside, broken and vulnerable.

His shoes crunched over the floor as he came to stand by the edge of the room. He dared not stand too close to the edge lest it be unstable. A few strips of venetian blinds hung limply from their fittings, but the glass behind them had completely imploded in, tearing them into almost nothing. He fingered one tatty blind to the side, peering out at the view below. He could see the rest of the team moving about, trying to tidy up. From up here he could really start to appreciate just how much damage had been done. It was a wonder any of them had survived, and that the place hadn't caved in on top of them. They really had made it out of here by the skin of their teeth.

Not that they had anyone to blame but themselves. Taking in the full view of the destruction left a bitter feeling inside him. It wasn't just the destruction of the hub though; it was the body that was now lying in their morgue. Jack's body. We did this. We're responsible for everything. They'd thought that the only way to fix the cracks in time would be to fully open the rift and let it undo all the chaos.

It was his fault. He'd been the one to insist they open the rift in the first place, all because he wanted to save Jack and Tosh. Then he'd let himself be drawn into all those false promises Bilis had fed them, opening it so that he could unleash Abbadon. Jack had warned them not to mess with the rift and they'd gone against him. Worse, they'd stood there against him even when he demanded they not do it. Ianto had stood with the others in defiance of Jack's orders. He knew all about Protocol One and what it could do. He's been sure Jack was wrong to try and stand in the way of their plans. It wasn't until Owen shot him dead that he realised perhaps they'd gone too far. There wasn't time to think about it. Jack couldn't help them now. They had to proceed or the world would continue to suffer from the mess they'd created.

Jack was gone now, though, giving up his life a second time so that they might all live. Now Ianto had nothing but time to think about it and what a betrayal of his trust it had been. Ianto should have trusted him. Jack had given him chance after chance, forgiven him more times than he could count, but when push came to shove, he'd betrayed Jack again.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Ianto shouldn't try to shoulder all the blame himself, the rest of the team is equally responsible, but he seems to be the only one feeling guilty about it.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the others feel guilty too. Ianto just feels like he has a bit of a track record of letting Jack down when he needs him the most.