Title: Unfamiliar Ground
By: Jessie Blackwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: NC-17
Warning: ongoing series. Explicit for adult theme. Alpha/Beta/Omega universe, mpreg and possible knotting (not decided yet) in future chapters.
Disclaimer: Characters owned by RTD and the BBC. I don't own any of it, except maybe the idea for the story, etc. etc. etc., no infringement of copyright intended, no money being made, etc, etc. Any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Summary: In the 51st century Jack joined the Time Agency to avoid his fate as an Omega. Now on Earth in the 21st century, he inhabits in a world before humans have evolved into Alphas, Betas and Omegas. Until he meets a certain Welshman, that is, and realizes that everything is beginning to change. Well, it is the 21st Century.

***

The paradox of Torchwood is the predictability of its unpredictability, Ianto thought as the cog door rolled back before him. While he always knew what he would see when the door rolled back, he never knew what the day would bring. When that door revealed the Hub in its predictable awesomeness that he never completely got used to, the lofty ceiling harbouring the usual dark shadows, the habitual blue glow from the computer monitors competing with the whiff of slightly peaty air from the greenhouse and the hint of coffee from the kitchen area, Ianto was on familiar ground. A recognisable screech reached his ears and Myfanwy—Torchwood mascot and resident dinosaur—soared overhead as he stepped inside, casting her giant shadow over him as she dipped and dived. She would be most likely hunting chocolate—preferably dark—from her favourite member of the team. Ianto grinned, fished in a pocket and brought out a small bar of Bournville, her favourite, and opened it, keeping half his attention on where she was while he did so. He tossed it into the air as she swooped low, and laughed as she deftly caught it with a snap and retreated to her lair, triumphant.

Ianto marched over to the kitchen to prepare the coffee, checking his watch as he went. He was first in as per usual, slightly early this morning. Coffee would be ready by the time the first of them showed; usually Tosh, followed by Gwen and then Owen bringing up the rear, probably slightly the worse for wear after another night on the town. Oh yeah, the predictability of Torchwood.

There was, as yet, no sign of Jack. That was when Ianto realised that something was slightly off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was making him feel uneasy. There was something... He shook his head to clear it and then it came to him. The smell. It was Jack's unique pheromones that were filling his nose. The more he concentrated on it, the more the scent overpowered the other smells that were ever-present, like coffee and antiseptic and damp. Ianto stopped what he was doing and stood there, trying to work out what was wrong. Abandoning the coffee machine he made his way to Jack's office. The man just about lived at the Hub, usually in his bunker beneath the floor. The bunker was closed this morning, the office abandoned.

"Jack?" Ianto called. There was no answer. Frowning, Ianto called again, checking to see if there was a message on the desk or anything to say where Jack had gone. If he had gone. It didn't feel as if he had. Odd, Ianto thought. How can I simply know he's here by the fact it doesn't feel like he's not? He called once more, and then walked to the door, aiming to go back to get the coffee before the team arrived. A noise from behind him made him pause. The bunker hatch had opened. "Jack?" Ianto walked back to the room, unaware he had also drawn his gun. He reached the bunker and peered in. Jack was lying on the bed, shirtless. Ianto was almost overwhelmed. The smell...

"Ianto?" The voice was so quiet he almost missed it.

"Jack? What's the matter? Do I need to call Owen?"

"No," came the quiet reply. "He knows. There's nothing more he can do that he isn't doing already..."

"Jack, are you sick? You're scaring me. What's the matter?"

"Ianto, you and I need to talk."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sitting across from each other with Jack's big desk between them, Ianto felt like a schoolboy called to the Headmaster's office. He felt sure there was something majorly wrong and he was about to be told something he didn't want to hear. But Jack simply sat there, giving off such a strong scent that it nearly made Ianto drool. It was having an unwelcome effect on him. Beneath his outward veneer of calm, beneath his suit, he was hard, the first stirrings of desire pooling in his belly making him feel slightly dizzy and off balance.

"So..." Ianto tried to break the oppressive silence. "What's the matter?"

"Ianto, you know I'm different to other men..."

"I know you're immortal. I'd say that qualifies, wouldn't you?"

"Apart from that, I'm not human in the same sense you are."

"You're from the future. I'd say that makes you just about as different as you can get. I'm from Newport, me. Nothing special."

Jack laughed. "Oh, Ianto, you're more special than you know. I need to explain something to you and then I need you to make a decision and I haven't got a lot of time. So please, listen to me?"

Ianto nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

Jack leaned back and took a deep breath. "Where I come from, humans have evolved. As a race, we began to grow infertile so we began to change physically. We evolved into three distinct groups. We called them Alphas, Betas and Omegas."

"Why not Gammas?" Ianto asked and at Jack's puzzled look, he added "Well, alpha, beta and gamma are A, B and C in Greek. Why Omega? That's the last letter of the Greek alphabet." Again, Jack chuckled.

"Irony I guess. Where I come from Alphas are the top dogs, the most intelligent, the most highly developed. Their IQ is off the scale, they were the top 10% of the population, the clever ones. The Betas were just below them, the ordinary ones, the ones who make up the majority. Their intelligence was average. Then came the Omegas. They were the last in line, hence the name, and they were controlled by Alphas and supervised to prevent indiscriminate breeding. Omegas are unable to resist their heats, you see. When in the throes of one, an Omega has a compulsion to breed with anyone, not just an Alpha. Anyone who will fuck them. It's an hormonal response, not a rational one."

"Soooo, when an Omega is in heat, then... pretty much anyone can..." Ianto waved a hand around vaguely.

"Yeah, pretty much. Not all of them are dumb though, and they're certainly not animals. Some are quite high IQ, but not as high as most Alphas. Their status as people was certainly no more than second class citizens though, almost nil in some communities. They worked as servants, cleaners, skivvies for Alpha families. They're the breeders, the men as well as the women. In my time, Betas who wanted kids had to apply for permission and could only have kids with an Omega surrogate, usually someone who was bonded to an Alpha. Betas are fertile, but infrequently. Omegas are very fertile, but their cycles are based on heats..."

"Like animals?"

"Well, every 90 days or so."

"And that's when an Alpha can have them?"

"Well, they're human beings. They can have sex any time, but only during a heat can they conceive. That's when Alphas want them, so they can breed them, produce heirs for their overblown estates so the money and the family name are preserved."

"But there are no Alphas here... Why, are you one?"

"No, Ianto, I'm not an Alpha. I'm..." Jack went quiet and suddenly, Ianto understood.

"Oh, you mean... ah, right. You're an Omega. Well, that makes a lot of sense actually. I mean, when you said you could taste contraceptives in the rain that time, and you quipped about never doing that again, I never thought you actually meant you could... you know, have kids. I thought you were joking."

"I wish it were true, Ianto, but it's not. I'm an Omega, I can have kids."

"So, does that mean that you...experience these heats then?" Jack nodded. "But why are you telling me?"

"I know you can smell me, Ianto."

"Can't everybody? Your bloody 51st century pheromones are strong enough they should be able to smell them in Swansea." Jack was shaking his head.

"Sorry, Ianto, but not everybody can smell it. That night, when we caught Myfanwy, you wondered what aftershave I was wearing. When I said I wasn't wearing any, when I explained it away as 51st Century pheromones, I was lying a little. I was days away from my heat, Ianto, I was putting out when we met that night. And you could smell it. I'm afraid that was part of what got you the job."

"It was?"

"Yeah, it was. It's also the reason I resisted shooting you after what you did with Lisa. It's the reason I kept you on here. Ianto, there's a reason why you can scent me like that, a reason for the interest you take in me, for the attraction between us. When I arrived on Earth in 1869, I realised there were no Alphas. The Alpha Gene was in its infancy, and so I was safe. I still had to suffer my heats, but it was bearable, because there were no alphas to worry about, no alphas to insist I bond with them and breed. When I was back home, on Boshane, the Alphas ruled our community. Omegas were third class citizens and forced to breed with Alphas. It wasn't a good life, Ianto, believe me. Omegas were open to abuse and neglect. For a long time I was protected by my family. My father and mother were prominent betas, and they made sure I was cared for and protected while telling me what I was and what would happen to me. So I knew, I wasn't worried. Trouble was, when the attack came that took my brother away from me, I was no longer safe from my own people, never mind the aliens who sought to kidnap and sell us into slavery. I was vulnerable in a way I'd never been before. That was when I took a chance and joined the Time Agency. They had an amnesty for anyone who wanted to volunteer, they would even take Omegas. So I joined up. They gave me suppressant drugs and I was fine for a while." Jack stopped, took a breath and tried to steady himself. "Sorry, Ianto, I've not got a hell of a lot of time..." A fine sheen of sweat covered Jack's brow.

"You're going into heat? How long will it last?"

"About three days as a rule. Owen synthesizes a drug to help me suppress it but of late, it isn't working as well. I think it's my close proximity to you that is part of that. He just hasn't got the technology or the chemicals to do a perfect job." Jack shrugged. "So I spend the time in my bunker, down there, locked in. It's soundproofed, comfortable, I come out at night when everyone's gone so I can shower and change."

"That's why you disappear every quarter. You're not in London for a UNIT meeting, you're here? Down there? Alone?" Jack nodded. Ianto scowled at the injustice of it.

"It's for the best, Ianto. I'm not completely sane when it happens."

"You're not Jekyll and Hyde," Ianto muttered. "You're Jack, our friend, and you shouldn't be alone." Jack smiled.

"Thank you, Ianto," he whispered. He exhaled a deep sigh. "That night you scented me, I knew. You're different too, Ianto. You're higher than average IQ, you can smell my scent, you're attracted to me..."

"Everybody's attracted to you. What makes me so special?"

"But you can taste it, Ianto, you can feel it, it's making you hard right now. You're responding to me being in heat. You scented me that night. I'm sorry, Ianto, but Owen did a test for me on your blood. He isolated something like the Alpha Gene, its predecessor anyway. You're the precursor to an Alpha, the nearest thing this century has to one. It's the 21st century and everything changes. Haven't I always been saying that? This is when it starts. People begin to show the Alpha/Omega genes in their DNA around about now, growing in number until the end of the 21st Century shows a marked increase in those of above average intelligence. Alphas are on the rise and you're one of them..."

"And the decision you want me to make?"

"You have to decide if you want to be a father, Ianto. If you want to bond with me and breed me and be my Alpha... Because if you don't, I don't think you can continue working here anymore. I'm not going to be able to stand being around an Alpha who doesn't want me."

***

Next story in series - That Went Well....