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Title: Loyal to the end
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Norton Folgate
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: Spoilers for Big Finish audioplay "Outbreak"
Author notes: Written for Challenge 626 - Loyal at
slashthedrabble
Summary: Ianto can't bring himself to turn on Jack, no matter how dire things are looking.
Ianto bent over, feeling a painful cramp in his side as he heaved in breath after breath, unable to quite get enough of them.
'You really shouldn't stop running, you know,' Norton reminded him.
Ianto puffed and leant a hand against the wall to brace himself. 'Can't keep running forever. Got to face him sometime.'
Norton's expression was apathetic. 'I hate to burst your romantic little bubble, Ianto, but I feel I need to be rather blunt. There are only two ways this ends. Either with Jack killing you very slowly and painfully, or him killing you quickly and totally undignified.'
'Well, that makes me feel loads better.'
'You need to face up to the fact that the Jack you know is gone.'
Ianto gritted his teeth in annoyance at the snugness with which Norton laid out what he believed to be fact. 'He's not. He's just really sick.' Sick and homicidal, but still just sick.
'Mmm. Quite. And you see that as being a better outcome than my assessment?'
'He's still Jack deep down. He wouldn't kill me.'
'I wouldn't be taking that to the bank. That's what we'd call long odds.' Norton sighed. 'I admire your loyalty, Ianto, I really do. But you're not much good to Jack if you end up dead. I imagine he'll be rather upset about it eventually.'
Ianto gave an exasperated sigh. 'So, tell me what to do,' his tone of voice indicating that he was losing patience.
'Run. That's all you can do. Oh, and kill Jack, of course. I can't guarantee that it'll cure him but it should buy you a bit of time to catch your breath. You know, in between running for your life and trying to save the world single-handedly and all.'
Ianto shook his head vehemently. 'I can't kill him.' Yet a tiny little voice in his head told him he could. He quickly quashed its murmurings. It had enjoyed shooting Jack in the leg earlier and Ianto knew that could mean only one thing: he'd been infected with the virus too. He was quickly descending into stage three, desperate to kill the person he loved most. God, why did he have to be infected? Probably that bloke who rugby tackled him at the pub and then tried to glass him with a beer bottle before Gwen had knocked him out cold with a chair.
Norton folded his arms. 'Can't or won't? There's that loyalty business again. It really will be your undoing.' He gave an amused little chuckle. 'I should know. It's admirable, I'll give you that, but not particularly conducive to staying alive.'
'Says you who hasn't exactly been my biggest fan in keeping me alive.'
'What can I say, old bean? I like to keep things interesting, and who knows? Maybe you'll surprise me. I've seen lesser mortals die ingloriously for more selfish pursuits than yours.'
Ianto straightened back up. 'You're really not very helpful.'
Norton smirked. 'I told you to run, didn't I?'
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Norton Folgate
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: Spoilers for Big Finish audioplay "Outbreak"
Author notes: Written for Challenge 626 - Loyal at
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Summary: Ianto can't bring himself to turn on Jack, no matter how dire things are looking.
Ianto bent over, feeling a painful cramp in his side as he heaved in breath after breath, unable to quite get enough of them.
'You really shouldn't stop running, you know,' Norton reminded him.
Ianto puffed and leant a hand against the wall to brace himself. 'Can't keep running forever. Got to face him sometime.'
Norton's expression was apathetic. 'I hate to burst your romantic little bubble, Ianto, but I feel I need to be rather blunt. There are only two ways this ends. Either with Jack killing you very slowly and painfully, or him killing you quickly and totally undignified.'
'Well, that makes me feel loads better.'
'You need to face up to the fact that the Jack you know is gone.'
Ianto gritted his teeth in annoyance at the snugness with which Norton laid out what he believed to be fact. 'He's not. He's just really sick.' Sick and homicidal, but still just sick.
'Mmm. Quite. And you see that as being a better outcome than my assessment?'
'He's still Jack deep down. He wouldn't kill me.'
'I wouldn't be taking that to the bank. That's what we'd call long odds.' Norton sighed. 'I admire your loyalty, Ianto, I really do. But you're not much good to Jack if you end up dead. I imagine he'll be rather upset about it eventually.'
Ianto gave an exasperated sigh. 'So, tell me what to do,' his tone of voice indicating that he was losing patience.
'Run. That's all you can do. Oh, and kill Jack, of course. I can't guarantee that it'll cure him but it should buy you a bit of time to catch your breath. You know, in between running for your life and trying to save the world single-handedly and all.'
Ianto shook his head vehemently. 'I can't kill him.' Yet a tiny little voice in his head told him he could. He quickly quashed its murmurings. It had enjoyed shooting Jack in the leg earlier and Ianto knew that could mean only one thing: he'd been infected with the virus too. He was quickly descending into stage three, desperate to kill the person he loved most. God, why did he have to be infected? Probably that bloke who rugby tackled him at the pub and then tried to glass him with a beer bottle before Gwen had knocked him out cold with a chair.
Norton folded his arms. 'Can't or won't? There's that loyalty business again. It really will be your undoing.' He gave an amused little chuckle. 'I should know. It's admirable, I'll give you that, but not particularly conducive to staying alive.'
'Says you who hasn't exactly been my biggest fan in keeping me alive.'
'What can I say, old bean? I like to keep things interesting, and who knows? Maybe you'll surprise me. I've seen lesser mortals die ingloriously for more selfish pursuits than yours.'
Ianto straightened back up. 'You're really not very helpful.'
Norton smirked. 'I told you to run, didn't I?'