likesthecoat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
likesthecoat) wrote2007-08-21 10:49 am
likesthecoat) wrote2007-08-21 10:49 am
Entry tags:
Canon: Cyberwoman
Ianto readjusts his tie, heart pounding as the elevator carries him down into the Hub.
(today, today, he's coming today)
He's scared for a moment that he'll be caught, that someone will notice how nervous he looks and know and everything will come crashing down around him. Today is a special day, a good day, but dangerous as well-- he's been planning it for weeks now, and there's always the chance that something might happen, that they'll all find out.
Ianto needn't have worried-- when he crosses the threshold he is greeted by the sounds of an energetic two-on-two basketball game. He stands behind the bars for a few minutes, puzzling out the teams as he waits on the doors to open. They're loud and clumsy and Ianto hopes they don't knock over or break any important equipment.
Owen and Gwen are together, their moves flashy and unorthodox. Owen tosses her the ball from the upper level-- Jack intercepts it and he and Tosh play keep-away for a few seconds, laughing, until Gwen recovers and throws it back to Owen who scores the final goal from his position above the net. The usual post-game banter is exchanged ("Of course, that was an illegal move." "Totally illegal!" "Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Losers.") as everyone gathers jackets and purses.
No one speaks to Ianto as they leave, or even seems to realize that he's there. Jack throws the basketball to him without looking, and the sudden silence is almost as deafening as the noise of the game.
As soon as the door hisses closed he's off and moving. He can't spare a single second-- there's too much to be done.
(today, today, he's coming today)
He's scared for a moment that he'll be caught, that someone will notice how nervous he looks and know and everything will come crashing down around him. Today is a special day, a good day, but dangerous as well-- he's been planning it for weeks now, and there's always the chance that something might happen, that they'll all find out.
Ianto needn't have worried-- when he crosses the threshold he is greeted by the sounds of an energetic two-on-two basketball game. He stands behind the bars for a few minutes, puzzling out the teams as he waits on the doors to open. They're loud and clumsy and Ianto hopes they don't knock over or break any important equipment.
Owen and Gwen are together, their moves flashy and unorthodox. Owen tosses her the ball from the upper level-- Jack intercepts it and he and Tosh play keep-away for a few seconds, laughing, until Gwen recovers and throws it back to Owen who scores the final goal from his position above the net. The usual post-game banter is exchanged ("Of course, that was an illegal move." "Totally illegal!" "Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Losers.") as everyone gathers jackets and purses.
No one speaks to Ianto as they leave, or even seems to realize that he's there. Jack throws the basketball to him without looking, and the sudden silence is almost as deafening as the noise of the game.
As soon as the door hisses closed he's off and moving. He can't spare a single second-- there's too much to be done.
no subject
There's . . . no sign of Lisa.
Ianto moves through the Hub--when he sees the lights on in the storeroom where the conversion unit is stored, he breaks into a run.
He knows what he's going to find--somehow, knows it in his heart--but still the sight of her breaks something inside him and he falls to his knees. There's blood everywhere, all over the metal frame, and there's no mistaking that Lisa--whatever was left of Lisa in this body--is completely gone.
Ianto cradles her body and weeps.
no subject
In the dimly lit room, Ianto grabs his gun and points it at the woman standing across the room from him. It’s Annie, the pizza girl. Her shirt is soaked with blood and there seems to be a cut across her forehead.
“Ianto. It’s me… It’s Lisa,” she murmured.
Ianto steps around the table. Hesitantly, Annie walks toward him.
“I'm human again. You fought so hard for me, I had to hold on for you, so I took this body and transplanted the brain.”
She had a look as she stared at him, a pleading look. Slowly, Ianto gazes down at Lisa’s body on the floor.
“You’re not Lisa,” he said softly.
“You always said you didn't love me for what I looked like. Last time you said that, it was a Saturday. We were hungover. You made cheese toasties, and moaned I hadn't de-scaled my kettle.”
As she spoke, she stepped closer. Ianto cried as he listened her.
“That night, we camped on a beach in Brittany. It got so freezing we wore our coats and shared one sleeping bag. When we woke up the next morning, a dog was pissing on our tent.”
She sees his tears but presses onward, needing to speak, to get her words out for him.
“Hold me, Ianto. I need you to hold me. I need you to tell me it's all right.”
Still crying, Ianto steps forward. Wrapping his arms carefully around her, he holds her, for a moment. But the moment doesn’t last long. Releasing her, Ianto steps back, cocking the gun and pointing it right in her face. She looks a little confused at this.
”What are you doing? Ianto, it's me! You wouldn't shoot me. I did this for you!”
”I'm sorry. I'm sorry,” he repeats. He lowers the gun, unable to stop his crying. “Lisa!” Ianto slowly turns away from her He can’t do it.
”We can be upgraded ... together.”
A gun fires hitting Lisa-in-Annie in the stomach. Turning around, Ianto sees Owen, Gwen, Jack, and Toshiko aim their guns at Lisa. They fire… and keep firing. Lisa falls backward onto the table from the impact of the bullets. Turning, she looks at Ianto. The team lower their weapons.
Ianto turns back to look at them. While the rest of the team is looking back at him, Gwen can’t look. He turns back to Lisa, falling to his knees beside the bodies.
no subject
It's a few weeks later.
Below them, the alarm blares and lights flash as the front door rolls open. Ianto walks in slowly. He looks up. Jack and Gwen are in the conference room looking down through the windows on the hub. Jack nods to Ianto, expression neutral and eyes watchful. Ianto barely nods back.
Up in the office, Gwen glances at Jack. "You'd never have shot him," she says. "Not really."
"Wouldn't I?" he replies, not looking at her, eyes still following Ianto as he goes about his duties.
She rolls her eyes, obviously disbelieving. "Would you have shot me if I'd gone to stand by him?"
"But you didn't."
"If I had, though," she insists, wanting to know, to hear him say he wouldn't.
"But you didn't."
There is a pause, almost awkward, as Ianto starts to pick up rubbish down below.
"Will he stay?" Gwen asks eventually, to a noncommittal shrug from Jack. She sighs. "All that deception. Because he couldn't bear to live without her. So, have you ever loved anyone that much?"
Jack is silent, face blank and unreadable.
She continues anyway. "When she had hold of you, I thought, just for a moment, I thought maybe you could die after all."
Finally, Jack looks at her, eyes glittering. "Wanna know a secret?" he says, and she nods. "So did I. And just for a second there, I felt so... alive."
no subject
(today, today, I'm back today)
He's scared for a moment that he'll be thrown out, that no one will speak to him, that every decision he's made in the last two weeks will be made moot the moment he steps through the door.
He's greeted by near silence, and looks up at Jack before he moves any further. Jack nods to him, and Ianto nods simply in return.
I'm where I need to be.
He picks up a garbage bag and begins collected the rubbish that's accumulated in his absence. No time for scenes. There's too much to be done.