Title: Like Shards of Broken Glass
By: heather-rawriee
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: AO
Warnings: character death
Author's Notes: I don't usually write stuff like this, but I thought I'd give it a go. Enjoy :]. BTW: when it says Gwen and Tosh begged him to leave, it's because they didn't want Jack to get traumatized. Just wanted to clear that up :]
Summary: "Then he drew one final breath and Jack felt his world collapse."

***

The walls are lined with blood and bullet holes. He doesn't remember why. The air is thick with guilt and terror. All is silent. Everyone has left. The bodies have all been taken away — all except one. Gwen's voice crackles on him discarded radio, but he doesn't care about that. All he cares about is the man in his arms.

Jack Harkness gazed down at him, taking in everything: his dark brown hair, unusually messy for him; the way his blue eyes shinned with the fear of death; his best lavender shirt soaked in blood. Jack brushed away the stray hairs that fell onto his chalk white face. He gave the man in his arms a weak smile, trying hard not to reveal his true emotions. Ianto Jones was dying, and there was nothing Jack could do.

"How are you feeling?" Jack whispered, his voice hoarse. What a stupid question.

"It hurts," Ianto moaned back. He pressed a hand into his side, trying unsuccessfully to stop the flow of blood. Jack placed his own hand over the top of Ianto's. His skin was cold. It was as if he was already dead.

It had all happened so suddenly. They had arrived at a block of flats which was infested with violent aliens. Guns were blazing. Many people were injured through bullet wounds; others through the poisonous bites of the creatures - but they were all treatable. Ianto Jones had to go one better. He was pushed into a window, where he sliced open his side on a shard of broken glass. The rate of blood loss was too high for him to survive, Owen had said. The Hub was too far away. Jack went mental. He refused to leave Ianto's side, even though he was begged and pleaded by Gwen and Tosh. He would pay for it later, when he couldn't sleep because he was forever plagued with nightmares. But he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore.

Ianto whimpered and clutched at his side, his face contorted with pain. Jack held him closer and rocked him slowly like a child.
"I'm sorry, Ianto," he sighed. Ianto looked up at him with confused eyes. "I'm so sorry. I knew it was too dangerous. Gwen told me we needed backup. I was just too pig-headed to listen," Jack hung his head as a single thin tear snaked along his cheek.

Ianto reached up, his fingers trembling, and wiped it away.
"Don't be like that," he soothed. That was just like him. Even in his last moments he still looked after Jack. "Please, Jack. It wasn't your fault. I'm the idiot. I shouldn't have fallen. Don't waste your life blaming yourself for something you didn't do."

Then he let out a gasp of pain. He screwed up his eyes and a dribble of a tear fell out of his eye. "I'm scared," he mumbled.

Jack felt his heart break. He ran a hand along Ianto's pale cheek. "So am I." He knew that these were his final breaths. He needed to tell him. "Ianto," Jack ran a hand through his dark brown hair, "I love you. I love you so much." Ianto gave him a weak smile.

"Glad to hear it, sir. I love you too."

Then he drew one final breath and Jack felt his world collapse.

The rest was a blur. One minute he was clutching Ianto's lifeless body, sobbing and screaming curses in different languages; the next he was in the SUV, Gwen holding him close and rocking him to and fro. Then he was walking to the Hub, Owen supporting him. It was raining heavily, as it always did in Cardiff. The icy droplets battered down on Jack, like shards of broken glass.

***