[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 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."

[coffee_sir]

Ianto kept to Ace's side, gun still drawn and wary, but too concerned about Ace and getting that blood off and getting them out of the vicinity of dinosaurs to say much.

Until Ace spoke. "We don't want you hurt," he said.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack was focused on the trail, keeping his eyes peeled for the pylons of the perimeter. He caught a flash off to the right and stopped.

"Ace. Ianto. Perimeter is half a klik straight ahead. Keep that gun drawn and run. Don't look back. Just run as fast as you can."

The brush to the left rustled, but it might have been the wind. Jack knew it wasn't...he'd seen this breed before.

[pawnoffenric.livejournal.com]

"Like hell." She knew it wasn't the time to have out right there when even she could see that there were things coming. She backed up, even as she swung around her (bloody) rucksack, and lifted her voice. "Jack-"

She tossed the silver can, already knowing he'd catch it.

She backed up a few more steps, and then turned. "If you aren't right behind us, I'll never forgive you."

And then, she ran, loping steps to try and keep up with Ianto's longer legs.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto knew better than to waste time arguing with Jack in a situation like this. Other situations, perhaps, but every rustle of leaves and second that passed made the knots in his stomach retwist even tighter. Glancing at Jack quickly, he nodded, swallowing against a dry mouth.

He waited until Ace had tossed the can, then took her arm again, anxious to keep her close and start running. The moment she turned and started moving her feet, Ianto started sprinting as fast as he could while still keeping her beside him, half pulling when need be.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He caught the nitro deftly and stood, drawing the attention of the amber eyes as Ace and Ianto got away. He didn't hear anything following them so it wasn't long before he turned and began backing out of the area.

Two shots rang through the jungle, and about thirty seconds later there was an explosion.

And it was a few more minutes before Jack swaggered out of the jungle grinning from ear to ear.

"There's my girl."

[pawnoffenric.livejournal.com]

Ace was shrugging off her rucksack, letting it fall to the ground as she pulled her shirt over her head. "You didn't have to follow me." Her jaw tightened even as she balled up the bloody fabric, and threw it at him. "I left for a reason, and it's not so that the two of you - especially the two of you can follow me." She was in her bra, but didn't care.

Jack'd seen it, and Ianto- well, she wasn't particularly focused on Ianto at the moment. "I can take care of myself. I don't need- I don't need looking after."

[coffee_sir]

Ianto was quiet as Ace started talking, just relieved that they were all out of the damned dinosaur territory, each in one piece. Setting the safety on the gun, he placed it back in its holster, hands falling to his hips as he watched Ace. If there was any reaction to her in her bra (which there wasn't), he certainly wasn't showing it.

"We're not going to let you wander about in dinosaur territory, Ace, no matter how well you can care for yourself."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack deflected the bloody shirt and set the rifle against a tree. His smile fell and he shook his head. "You? Do not get to die alone. You want time by yourself? Fine. Take care of yourself. You should know I know you can."

He crossed to her and grabbed her bare shoulders. "And you also know that no matter where you go or what you do, I'll be there for you. I told you that. I promised you that. You might not like what you said to me, Ace, but I did. Do. Tell me the truth, if I'd run off again and left you a note like that, would you really have sat on your hands and just waited?"

[pawnoffenric.livejournal.com]

"I did it once already." She twisted, trying to get out of his hands. "Why? What does it bloody fucking matter what I do? It doesn't matter." She was inches from just kicking him, from hitting and maybe from crying. "You can go, and you can leave and the rest of us just have to wait, and I leave and it's not even twelve fucking hours, Jack. Why do you care?"

Maybe that was the crux of it - that they cared enough to come here, but- Don't go there Ace. She was almost shaking with emotion, twisting to look over her shoulder at Ianto. "Why did you come?" She looked back at Jack, at those warm hands on her shoulders. "If you knew I could take care of myself, you wouldn't have come after me."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Because I love you, Ace. How many ways do I have to tell you that? It's not just some thing I say in bed and it's not something I take lightly," he said, leaning forward. He wasn't angry, but he'd be damned if she was going to get away with this with him. He held her tightly and resisted the urge to just shake her, but only barely.

"It wasn't stupid that you told me. It means so much more than you know, Ace. You and me...you and me..."

When at a complete loss for words, Jack didn't think twice. He closed the distance and kissed her.