gracie_musica | Footnotes -- The Stealers of Dreams

Title: Footnotes
Chapter Six: The Stealers of Dreams
Date Written: 11/25/08
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 1,129
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Torchwood Team
Spoilers: Season 03 of Doctor Who, Torchwood 02, and for the Ninth Doctor Adventure novel The Stealers of Dreams
Warnings: M/m relationship
Author's Notes: Thanks so very much to my darling beta

totally4ryo. For the other beta, Mommy Kate, who's on vacation, as well as everyone else who's traveling because of impending holidays. Last Ninth Doctor book, the next chapter starts the Tenth Doctor Adventures! Also, apologies if I sort of miss your comments, LJ's still being bratty with my email updates.

Summaries for the books can be found at Wikipedia, at the Doctor Who wiki, and at Doctorwhoguide.com.

Previous chapters found here.

"Jack?" Toshiko's voice came through the headset. "It's your turn for a stakeout story."

On the long nights that they had to camp out, sitting on a suspect or waiting for the Rift to go boom, the five of them had taken to telling each other stories. It was something Gwen and Owen had started, the two of them fighting over their Bluetooths until Jack had been forced to settle them down by telling a story. And then another when they'd all begged for another like children. The next stakeout Jack had turned the storytelling reins over to a very surprised Ianto, and the tradition had kicked off from there.

Owen's stories were about mad people who turned up at A & E at three in the morning, usually always doing something stupid while they were drunk or otherwise inebriated. He had a rather funny one about a man who'd attempted to sue him over the fact that he was unable to reattach two fingers that had been severed a week before he bothered coming to the hospital.

Gwen's stories were about the beat, the weird things she'd come across working with the citizens of Cardiff. It was always funny to hear her surprise when one of them would admit that the funny, wild, crazy character that she had suspected was just eccentric at the time was actually a poor lost alien.

Toshiko's stories usually were told with the help of Jack and Owen, cases that they'd worked before Gwen and Ianto had joined Torchwood Three, the boys jumping in to help her get the facts straight every now and again. She also had quite a few Japanese fairy tales in her head and she'd have a laugh at the others when they tried to repeat the names of people and places.

Ianto's stories varied, from recounts of his time at Torchwood One to Welsh fairy tales to random snatches of poetry, but were usually relevant to whatever case they were working. The man had an amazing memory for stories and when he would spin a tale, the others seemed to become just mesmerized by his voice. After one night of classical myth after classical myth out of the young Welshman, Jack had declared that Ianto had to be a siren and that the others had to turn off their Bluetooths to make sure that they weren't entranced. Owen swore up and down that they'd had sex in the SUV once they'd rung off, but Tosh and Gwen had been unable to prove it.

Jack, however, had the best stories. Hands down. All the things they saw in Torchwood didn't even touch the things that Jack had seen, had done in his long life. He could tell a story about flying in the War and flow smoothly into one about flying a spaceship that wouldn't be invented for two more centuries, and they would all be entranced.

Jack took a deep breath. "Well... There's a planet out there -- somewhere, I dunno exactly, out there -- where it's completely illegal to tell fictional stories."

Ianto's gaze flicked over at Jack before moving back to the window. "How long did it take you to get arrested?"

"Little under two days," Jack confirmed, grinning. "Although I did not break the law once."

Laughter echoed through the Bluetooths. "Sure you didn't," Gwen said, her voice full of cheek and sarcasm.

"I didn't!" Jack protested. "When you've seen as much as I have, you don't make it up anymore."

"What stories did you tell them?" Ianto asked, curious.

"Uh, the one about the armored shark, mostly," Jack said, giving a grin. "They were fond of that one. Mind, they didn't quite know what a shark was."

"They didn't know what a shark was?" Owen asked this time.

"Alien planet, completely jungle," Jack replied, his hand moving to Ianto's upper thigh. Ianto raised an eyebrow, but made no effort to push his hand away. It was just the two of them in the SUV anyway. "They didn't believe me," Jack continued, "but every word was true."

"I'm sure they didn't," Toshiko's voice came this time. "A year at Torchwood could inspire novels for a lifetime."

"Why was fiction illegal?" Gwen asked this time.

"Little organisms that fed on electrical energy," Jack replied, his hand sliding up a little higher.

Owen put it together first. "Neuroelectro-chemical pulses," he said. "The electrical impulses that make the brain go."

"Exactly." He leaned in to press his mouth against the side of Ianto's neck. Ianto closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, allowing him more access. "Apparently," he murmured against Ianto's skin, "the little organisms liked the right side of his brain. The creative side. They'd bloat themselves on dreams and wishes and wants and reflect the extra impulses back into the brain."

"Creates a nice little loop, right?" Owen guessed. Jack made an affirmative noise, busying himself with loosening Ianto's tie so he could taste more smooth skin. "Enough looping and dream becomes reality, and people act as thus."

"That's terrifying," Gwen declared after a moment. "All your nightmares reality."

Jack made an affirmative noise. "What do you think Ianto?" he asked, lifting his head and looking up at him.

Ianto found himself unable to speak. He mouth was moving, but he couldn't talk.

"...Ianto?" Jack reached out and touched his shoulder --

-- and Ianto jerked awake, blinking tiredly at a worried looking Jack. "Ianto?"

"Sorry," he mumbled, his voice rough from his unexpected nap.

"When's the last time you slept properly?" Jack asked gently, running his hands through Ianto's hair. "As in more than an hour or two at a time?"

Ianto tried to think back, but couldn't quite remember. "We've been busy lately," he said instead.

"Right. Owen, I'm taking Ianto home." Ianto opened his mouth to protest, but Jack put a finger against his lips. "I'm sure the three of you can handle some Weevils, right?"

"'Course we can!" three voices echoed, sounding affronted at the mere idea that they couldn't.

"You don't have to," Ianto protested, sitting up properly in his seat and stretching. "Cup of coffee and I'll be good as new."

"No quick fixes," Jack said. The Captain pulled the headset out of his ear, leaning over to kiss him before starting the car. "Besides, from the smile that was on your face, I get the feeling you were having a very happy dream." He turned the key, the engine rumbling to life. "Now. You close those eyes again and keep dreaming and I'll make those dreams a reality when we get to your flat."

Ianto grinned before settling back in his seat and closing his eyes, letting the movement of the SUV lull him to sleep.