[for Ianto re:Ace]

[more_flexible]

Jack-

I need time to think, because because while I meant everything everything I said yesterday I don't know why I told you. I- It's not something that I'm fine, and I know how to handle myself, so I'll be safe.

I know that you have what you have with Greg, and it was stupid there's more then enough challenges without me doing saying what I did. I'm sorry-

I- Tell Ianto I'm sorry too, will you? Things- Things happened there yesterday, too. I'm scared It'll be alright.

I love you Take care of yourself, alright?

Ace


It was pinned to her jacket, which she rarely left behind. She couldn't have gone far. He couldn't believe he'd slept deeply enough not to notice.

He held the note and read it over and over, then shook his head and went to his room to pull on jeans and boots, a t-shirt he didn't mind ruining, and a button down shirt in case it took more than one night to find her.

He left a note for everyone in the house, specific and vague at the same time and to the effect of Gone with Ianto to find Ace. Took Stu's gun. WILL return.

First stop was the Redman's hut where he told Stu what had happened and he gave over the M16 without any fuss. The Texan had insisted he take his backpack as well, so by the time he was at Ianto and Tosh's hut, he was ready to go.

"Ianto," he called, knocking hard. "Need your help...you in there?"

Comments

[coffee_sir]

Ianto took the hint from Jack and didn't say anything, replaying his conversation with Ace over in his head, trying to figure what he could have, should have said to make it not so bad.

He nodded quietly at Jack's words, breaking off from his side to scan the brush. They'd just been there on Tuesday, making tracks and pushing aside branches. Still, there was a spot that seemed trod and yet less trod than others. Ianto paused, frowning at the broken and bent twigs. "Jack," he called hesitantly, half over his shoulder.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack turned at the sound of his name and nodded, clapping Ianto on the shoulder. "That's what I thought," he said, smiling a little. "Smart girl. Okay, this way to the stream, then east, around the foot of the mountain. Did you eat? Are you up for this?" he asked, finally taking a moment to think of something besides her.

[coffee_sir]

Glancing away from the brush and to Jack, Ianto nodded firmly. "I'm fine, not to worry. I just want to find her," he said, a flash of worry in his gaze.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"This could take a while. Especially if she doesn't want to be found. Here," he said, pulling a travel energy bar from Stu and handing it to Ianto. "It tastes like dirt and ass, but it'll keep you going. Eat it on the way."

And that part was clearly an order.

"I just told her last night that she wouldn't ever be alone. That no matter what, I'd come and find her. I was afraid there, for a minute, that I was going to have to make good on my threat of grievious bodily harm to anyone who hurt her. I should have known you wouldn't," he said, flashing a warm smile.

God, it was good to be out doing something.

[coffee_sir]

As he heard the command in Jack's words, Ianto opened the wrapper, distractedly eating a bite. It did taste disgusting, so he paced out the bites and made them small so it wouldn't be quite so bad.

"I'd never hurt her, Jack," he said emphatically, even though Jack had just said as much, but Ianto still felt the need to voice it. "I couldn't. That's--" He sighed and shook his head, deciding to just get it out. "She asked, yesterday, if I'd want to start something with her. I tried to say no gently, let her down easy, but apparently that wasn't the case."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack sighed, nodding slowly. "She's lonely, Ianto. Lonely and then she pulls in on herself. I don't know if it was her parents or the Doctor or what, but most of the time she just sees herself as an unworthy fuck up."

His voice was tight, cold as he explained it. "She was here before me, then it was her and I for a long time until the Doctor showed up...but he's not either of ours. The one we travelled with. It's complicated," he said, reaching up and jerking on a vine until it snapped and dropped out of their way.

[coffee_sir]

"I gathered as much," he said softly, walking along and idly eating bits of the dirt-and-ass bar. "The complicated part. I saw her when she found the TARDIS. I wanted to help but ... I didn't really know what to do."

The whole situation was just making Ianto feel guiltier about turning Ace down. It wasn't as if he couldn't ever be with her. Maybe it would be better, maybe he should have said yes.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I don't know what to do, either," he replied as he tore at the jungle, unwilling to let anything stop their progress. "I can't treat her like everyone else. I just can't. And that leaves me in uncharted territory."

He turned to look at Ianto and froze for a moment. His eyes grew cold and he tensed, then his arm shot out fast and he grabbed a green tree snake that was poised to strike. "Unlike here, where I'm perfectly fine," he said, pulling the snake down and snapping it's head from its body and tossing it aside.

[coffee_sir]

For a second, Ianto thought that cold gaze intended for him, and he couldn't help the slight flinch as Jack moved suddenly. Shaking his head a bit, Ianto tried to move on as if nothing had happened, though it did seem a shame the snake had to die.

"Maybe you should just treat her like yourself, what you would want," he said. If Jack even knew what would help him.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I do," Jack replied, turning back to the trail...such as it was. "And I'll keep on doing that. Why'd you tell her no, Ianto? It had to have taken a lot to get her to ask..."

[coffee_sir]

Ianto followed in that pocket just to Jack's right and a half step behind, pushing away branches as there was need. He glanced at Jack, idly asking, "What happened to 'you touch her, I'll kill you'?"

It wasn't a all that serious question though, as he continued on. "I care about her - a lot - but not that way."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I said that when you were a complete stranger I invited into my home," he replied. "I think I can retract it now, don't you? Of course, I told Owen the same thing and I don't think he'll get the same courtesy unless he proves he's...yeah."

Best just not to talk about Owen.

"It's good that you were honest with her. I just wish...I wish that she could have someone of her own. Someone...not complicated."

[coffee_sir]

It was best not to talk about him, as Ianto did not comment, only glancing sharply sideways at Jack when he mentioned Owen's name.

"I do, too," Ianto said, letting the other part of conversation drop. "She deserves a lot more than .. what she currently has."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I'll agree to that," he nodded. Coming to a clearing, Jack stopped and reached back to pull out a bottle of water, offering it to Ianto first. "We need to go through there," he pointed. "That will put us on the south east perimeter. With any luck she won't have actually gone in...have you been in there yet?" he asked, wiping his forehead.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto took the offered water without question, not dying of thirst, but knowing better than to let himself get dehydrated. Drinking, he followed Jack's point with his eyes, and swallowed hard before handing the bottle back. "Definitely not."

He cleaned up after a pterodactyl for nearly two years, but Ianto doubted the dinos here would be anything like Myfanwy.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Okay, well..." he started, taking a long drink. "Thing is, the predators are sneaky. Keep your eyes on the flank when we go in. The little ones are scavengers, but they'll attack if there's enough of them. You might want to find a good brach because ammo is limited."

He shoved the bottle back in the pocket and flashed Ianto a confident, winning smile. "And stay close."

[coffee_sir]

And that, as informative as it was, did absolutely nothing to reassure Ianto. Neither did the smile, in point of fact. It only reminded Ianto of how ill-suited he was for field work, and how that adrenaline high never, ever seemed to kick in for him.

Ianto wandered a few steps away, selecting a fair sized branch that he could wield easily, and returned to Jack's side. "I'll definitely be staying close."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack shifted the rifle and draped his arm over Ianto's shoulders. "You'll be fine. I'm here," he said, clearly thrilled to be on this adventure, even if it was a more personal mission than something fun like he and Sarah Jane had done. "Let's go."

[pawnoffenric.livejournal.com]

Ace had no idea that Jack and Ianto were currently risking their skins to come after her. Instead, she was sitting at the base of a tree, her knees to her chest as she watched a herd of triceritops in the distance chewing on the foilage.

She didn't know what had come over her. She liked Ianto, but not enough to ask again- anyway, she already knew that is wasn't like that. Why did she ask again at all? And now- now he'd wonder if she was going to ask him again, if she was waiting- if she was expecting.

And it's not like she was. He- he was handsome, and nice, and he knew how to make good coffee. He'd be snatched up in a moment, which was alright- he deserved to find somebody.

And Jack. She felt- It actually hurt, her eyes burning when she thought of how she acted, about what he'd said- That she understood him, that- all of those things that made her wish-

But that was the thing. There wasn't any wishing, wasn't- wasn't anything, because- maybe he just didn't see her that way.

Which made her asking him- begging him for a kiss even more humiliating. And that he'd done it? Oh, god, how he must pity her. But- he was- he likely didn't even think of it that way. ... But she did. He wasn't stupid. If he'd wanted, there'd been- there'd been so many chances, and she just kept pressing-

She was an idiot.

She also was so absorbed in her own problems that she'd not realised that the dinosaurs in the area were slowly starting to leave, like they knew something might be waking up soon.

[coffee_sir]

The next few hours were a bit of a blur as Jack and Ianto trudged through the dense jungle, attentions focused on picking up any stray sign of Ace or her passing. They found just enough to go on, to indicate that she probably had breeched the perimeter and gone into dinosaur territory, but no Ace. Ianto felt the worry grow in fits and knots in his stomach. Or maybe that was just the aftermath of that meal bar of Stu's.

He was about to pause and ask Jack for the bottle of water again, and if he wanted to let Ianto carry the pack for a bit, when there was a sharp, inhuman screech in the distance. He stopped, and Jack did too, looking at each other silently as they tried to figure the direction the sound came from, and Ianto silently hoping that they would move in the opposite direction thereof. It was only a few seconds before the boom of an explosion followed, a noise much easier to identify and track.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack was off like a shot in the direction of the explosion. "Ianto! Gun!" he called, pulling the rifle off his shoulder.

He charged through the brush, not worrying about stealth or preserving signs. He could see smoke up ahead and he knew where he was heading.

[pawnoffenric.livejournal.com]

It wasn't particularly Ace's fault that she'd nearly missed the ... well. Rather giant dinosaur that was behind her. She'd been throughly occupied with her own thoughts, and only the scurrying of jungle creatures around her was enough of a warning that she pulled out three cans of nitro even as she scrambled to her feet.

Imagine a T-Rex. Now put it on a diet, and make it a little smaller, and even as she ran backwards, popping the lids off of her nitro that was what she saw. She counted, praying to whatever powers existed in this god-forsaken place that Jack'd calibrated her timers right - and when the first had fifteen seconds left she threw it, and then the next, and the next.

The first one hit it - it shrieked, and literally snapped the next one out of the air- and as the third rolled to it's feet, it loped forward-

.... The only reason Ace wasn't entirely covered in dinosaur blood was that she was partially behind a tree, but honestly she looked like Carrie on Prom night. She coughed, and looking at- well, at what was left of it-

She stumbled away from the gore to be inelegantly sick in a bush.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto dropped his branch and sprinted off after Jack, following, gun drawn, until he too could see and smell the smoke. The first thing he noticed was the smoking remains of a carcass, and the second a bloody Ace. He spun around, careful to not point his gun anywhere near Jack or Ace, some half-formed thought about securing a perimeter in his head, should this have been the kind of thing that hunted in packs.

No immediate signs of danger, and Ianto ran to Ace's side, taking hold of her arm despite the blood. "Ace?" he asked in lieu of a thousand other questions. 'Are you hurt' and 'What were you thinking' and all variants thereof were choked out by worry and panic.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"No time," Jack insisted. "Get her up, Ianto. The scavengers will be here with all this blood in the air."

Jack took a cursory and appraising look at Ace and decided in a second that she was more shocked than hurt and kept his gun leveled on the jungle.

"Let's go."

It wasn't a suggestion.

[pawnoffenric.livejournal.com]

Jack.

And Ianto.

Emotions roiled through her, everything from anger to hurt to fear- And then Jack was saying Let's go and she went without thinking, not even sure what to say.

Several conversations played their way through her head, making it pointless to actually make them.

I said I can take care of myself.

What, like you just did, getting sprayed with dinosaur guts?

She wiped the blood (well, some of it) off her face as she followed- it was three minutes before she ground out words. "You didn't have to follow me."