Title: Shocks & Cataclysms
By: nancy
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: angst, Major Character Death(s), violence (written before the S2 finale), first part of series
Summary: Cardiff is reduced to rubble and the team loses one of its own and more.

The worst part was that it happened literally on Jack’s watch. Going over paperwork with Ianto, actually working instead of playing, and the world shifted on them. The entire structure moved as though an earthquake had struck, shaking Jack off his chair and tossing Ianto halfway across the office. Not knowing what was going on, he crawled over to the other man and dragged him bodily under the desk.

He spent two hours under that desk cradling Ianto’s unconscious body and praying that his lover had nothing more than a severe concussion. Pure relief surged through him when Ianto at last whimpered in pain and said his name in such a small voice. By then, the aftershocks came with less frequency and intensity, but he didn’t want to risk leaving their admittedly scant shelter. Or, more accurately, he didn’t want Ianto to do so.

Holding Ianto in that small, cramped space had been a revelation to Jack. He’d been in a number of tough spots over a very, very long time, but only rarely had he been frightened. With Ianto in his arms, so weak and disoriented, Jack finally realized just how much the young man meant to him and it terrified him because, at some point, he would lose Ianto.

Finally deeming that whatever had happened was over, Jack gently moved Ianto into the open and then carried him to the sofa. Ianto had faded into unconsciousness again a short time earlier and Jack thought that was for the best until he could figure out what the hell had happened. The power was out, so that meant getting out of the Hub the hard way; prying open the blast door that led up to the Tourism Center.

It took far too much effort and by the time he got the damn thing open, Jack shook from the exertion and lingering adrenaline. He took a few minutes to get a bottle of water and drain it, not sure when he would have another chance. He also used a minute to jog back up to his office and check on Ianto, who was still out cold. Worried by the pallor, Jack pulled a blanket over Ianto and kissed his forehead before heading out into the unknown.

Grabbing his great coat on the way, Jack shouldered it on and then checked his gun even though he knew it was in perfect working order. The very air turned acrid before Jack climbed even half the stairs leading up. It took more effort to push open the outside door and he found the office destroyed, the roof and three of the walls simply gone. He stood in the middle of what used to be a room and turned in a circle.

Cardiff had been flattened. What had once been a prosperous, comfortable city now lay in smoking ruins. Vehicles were so much smoking hulls of metal. Buildings in every direction had been reduced to rubble. Nothing broke the silence of death that lay on top of everything like a blanket, not a single call for help, or cry of pain and loss.

Heart pounding against his chest, Jack touched his ear piece and said roughly, “Gwen? Gwen, can you hear me? Oh God, please answer.”

There was no response from Owen or Tosh, either.

Feeling sick to his stomach, and not from the stench of burning flesh and bone, Jack strode from the wreckage while looking at the cloudy sky. No spaceships for as far as he could see; none visible anyhow. Whether or not they lay in orbit or hung invisible, Jack had no way of knowing, not without power.

A shiver ran through him and Jack turned to go back the way he’d come, making sure to drag the door into place. He blockaded it from the inside in a minor fit of paranoia and then rushed downstairs to get back to Ianto. Even knowing the Hub by memory, Jack couldn’t go as fast as he wanted, since there was debris all over. He knocked his shins twice, but barely felt it either time in his anxiety to get to Ianto.

Just a shape in the dark, the young man sat on the sofa with his head in his hands, very carefully not moving, and relief went through Jack at the sight. Crouching in front of him, Jack put a hand on Ianto’s knee and asked, “How do you feel?”

“As though I’m about to vomit,” Ianto whispered. “What happened?”

Jack hated to admit it, but he replied, “I don’t know.”

“The others?”

“I…don’t know. They didn’t respond.”

“What do you know?”

“That you’ve got a severe concussion, we’re completely without power, and Cardiff is, well, gone for all intents and purposes,” Jack finished.

Ianto sighed. “Good news all around, then.”

Jack cupped Ianto’s face and said, “It could have been worse.”

“How?” Ianto asked, his head finally lifting.

Leaning in, Jack rested his forehead to Ianto’s and whispered, “I could have lost you, too.”

“Oh God, Jack…don’t,” Ianto murmured, sliding forward to drop onto his knees on the floor and into Jack’s arms.

Jack immediately put his arms around Ianto and held tight. They knelt there a long time and then he kissed the side of Ianto’s throat and said, “I’m going to see about getting power back. You stay and rest.”

“I could…”

“Rest, Ianto. I’ll need you steady later.”

“Right. Of course.”

Jack captured his mouth in a slow, lingering kiss and then asked, “Let me coddle you a little, okay? It’ll make me feel better.”

Ianto gripped Jack’s shoulder and squeezed before letting Jack help him back onto the sofa and tuck the blanket around him again.

Jack was of two minds about getting the power back. On the one hand, they really did need power. Ianto needed medical attention and, oh say, heat to get better. On the other, if it was an alien invasion, they would probably find the power source in about three seconds flat. Of course, to find out if it had been an alien invasion, he needed communications and that, naturally, required power.

God I hate Catch-22’s, he thought sourly.

There was no real question about going without power. Jack would just have to trust in the Hub’s defenses to keep them safe. It took a good twenty minutes to get the emergency generator going and he skinned a couple of knuckles in the process. The muted lighting took his eyes by surprise and Jack squinted even as he walked back to his office. He stopped in medical on the way and picked up a first aid kit, now that he could really see what he was doing.

When he got to Ianto, though, the other man was sound asleep and Jack didn’t want to wake him. He left the kit by the sofa and walked to Tosh’s station, bringing up the computer and finding the entire network just gone. There was nothing to connect to, which tied his stomach up even further. Taking a breath, he plugged into Torchwood’s private surveillance network, the one that didn’t rely on CCTV. It would run as long as Torchwood did and Jack typed in the correct commands to get it going.

The city wasn’t quite as devastated as Jack had seen from the waterfront, thank God, but it was pretty bad. The major shopping areas and a good two-thirds of the residential buildings were destroyed, but he saw people wandering around dazed, so at least he and Ianto weren’t the only ones left. Whether or not his team had survived, Jack wouldn’t know until he could get to them, or they made it to the Hub.

And then Owen’s voice crackled over the headset, “Jack?”

Startled and relieved in equal measure, Jack exclaimed, “Owen! Are you okay?”

“Still dead, really, but otherwise fine,” Owen quipped. “Who’s there with you?”

Jack told him, “Ianto. I haven’t heard from Tosh or Gwen yet.”

Owen breathed out long, as if in a sigh of relief. “Glad Ianto’s okay. I’m almost at Tosh’s place now. The roads are crap right now, so I’m having to walk.”

“You be careful,” Jack cautioned.

A short huff of amusement and then Owen observed, “Can’t do much more to me, Jack, but thanks. I’ll call you from Tosh’s.”

The sound of vomiting sent Jack running to the office, taking the stairs two at a time. He nearly had a heart attack on finding Ianto motionless on the sofa, on his back. Jack rolled him onto his stomach and pounded him between the shoulder blades. After a few more heart stopping, silent moments, Ianto coughed and then started throwing up again, bile splashing all over Jack’s shoes.

Shaking, Jack rubbed Ianto’s back and waited for it to pass. When it did, Ianto pressed his forehead against Jack’s thigh and panted harshly. Jack continued to rub his back and tried not to think about how his lover had almost died while he’d been only thirty feet away. Instead, he asked, “Water?”

“Yes, please,” Ianto murmured.

Jack stood and grabbed a bottle out of the small fridge in his office. It was still cold and he returned to the sofa, helping Ianto sit and handing him the plastic bottle. Ianto drank it slowly, sipping carefully, and then asked, “Have you reached anyone?”

“Owen checked in,” Jack answered. “He’s on his way to Tosh’s.”

Ianto leaned on him and Jack put his arm around his waist, relishing the simple contact. They stayed that way for a few minutes and Jack let himself blank on everything except the feel of his lover in his arms and the loose lacing of their fingers together. He knew he should be doing things, lots of things, but couldn’t find it within himself to care until he knew Ianto wouldn’t choke on his own vomit again.

“Jack,” Owen gasped over the comm.

Immediately alert, Jack answered, “What is it?”

“It’s Tosh. She’s…she’s dead.”

Pain stabbed into Jack’s heart and he felt Ianto’s shudder. Holding the young man tighter, Jack drew in a breath and asked, “Do you think you can make it to Gwen’s? I don’t want to leave Ianto.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Owen asked instantly.

Ianto protested, “I’m fine.”

But Jack overrode him with, “Severe concussion. I don’t know about anything internal yet. I need to run him through the scanner.”

“You have power?”

“Emergency, yeah.”

“Scanner needs more than that to function properly. Look, get the Singularity Scalpel. It’s got x-ray capabilities so you can at least take a look and see what’s going on inside, make sure he’s all right. I’ll head to Gwen’s now, shouldn’t be more than a fifteen minute jog.”

Jack agreed, “That’s a plan.”

Unexpectedly, Gwen’s voice came over the comm. then and she said, “It’s not a plan. Owen, go to the Hub and help with Ianto. I’ll meet you there.”

Relieved that she wasn’t hurt, Jack smiled and told her, “You had us scared there, Gwen. Where’ve you been?”

“Watching Rhys die.”

Jack’s eyes closed involuntarily at the cold, short words that hid a wealth of pain.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she finished.

Owen added quietly, “I’ll be there in ten.”

Jack sighed deeply and cupped Ianto’s face with both his hands, never more grateful that whatever luck followed him around had extended to his lover. He kissed Ianto gently and then said, “I’m going to get the scalpel. Stay here.”

Looking a bit shocky, Ianto nodded.

It took several minutes to find the scalpel in the mess that the medical area had become. Thankfully, Ianto was in the same position in which Jack had left him and didn’t look too much the worse for wear. He turned on the machine and saw with some surprise that Owen was right. Aiming it at Ianto went against the grain, but he did and then took a long, careful look to make sure everything was whole and in the right place.

Owen arrived just as Jack put the scalpel aside, saying over the comm., “I can’t get in Jack.”

“Yeah, be right there,” Jack said, remembering the door would automatically lock once power returned. He told Ianto, “Stay upright for a little longer, okay?”

Ianto gave a tired nod and Jack left the office, jogging across the way to unlock the blast door. Standing on the other side of it, Owen had a serious gash across his throat and a bone stuck out of his midriff, probably a rib.

Eyebrows lifting, Jack commented, “This is you being fine?”

Owen shrugged. “Not like I can feel any of it. Where’s Ianto?”

“My office,” Jack answered. “I didn’t see anything wrong with the scalpel, but he vomited earlier and he’s still in shock.”

Owen nodded and ordered, “Help me get him to medical.”

Ianto mostly leaned on Jack for the trip to medical, but his other arm lay across Owen’s shoulder. They’d just settled him on the exam table when Gwen said over the comm., “I’m here, Jack.”

Jack left Ianto in Owen’s capable hands and strode across the Hub to let her in. She looked terrible with a sluggishly bleeding cut across her right cheek and her arm cradled against her chest, clearly broken from the bone sticking out. Aside from the physical injuries, though, there was a hardness to her features that had never before been present; a hardness she should never have had to earn.

Silently putting an arm around her waist, he hit the lock and then guided her to medical. She didn’t really lean on him, but didn’t throw him off, either.

“Shit! Gwen, sit before you drop,” Owen ordered, taking over for Jack.

They swapped, really. Jack helped Ianto down from the exam table while Owen helped Gwen onto it. Owen spared them a look and said, “He’s fine, Jack, just needs to rest. Cover him up so he’s good and warm, get some liquid into him and just keep an eye on him. Play twenty questions now and again.”

Jack nodded and brought Ianto to his quarters instead of the office. Ianto lay down in the narrow cot, face down in a bed that brought up memories of happier times, and Jack pulled the covers up over him. Sitting on the edge of it, Jack combed his fingers through the soft, thick hair and murmured, “I love you, Ianto.”

Ianto blinked at him slowly and then said, “I love you too, Jack.”

Gwen’s shriek of pain cut through the moment and Jack grimaced. “Get some sleep. I’ll check on you in a little while.”

Already half-asleep, Ianto yawed and mumbled, “Wish you could sleep with me.”

Jack smiled fondly and told him, “Soon.”

Once Ianto was truly asleep, Jack pressed a kiss to the top of his head and went to rejoin what was left of his team. By the time he got to medical, though, Gwen was out cold and Owen was covering her up with blankets. He flashed Jack a wry grin and said, “I sedated her. Figured it was the only way to get her to rest right now.”

“Good idea,” Jack replied. “Now what are we going to do with you?”

Owen snorted. “I’ll wear a turtleneck from now on.”

“And the rib?” Jack reminded.

Looking down, Owen’s lips pursed and he mused, “Could cut it off, I suppose. Not like I need it, being the lowest one. Practically a swimmer anyhow.”

Jack winced and asked, “Need some help?”

Waving him off, Owen said, “I’ll figure it out later. Right now, we’ve more pressing matters. Like what the fuck just happened?”

So Jack went over footage from Torchwood cameras while Owen tried to raise the other Torchwoods and other official channels. All Jack found was a flash of light on all the various tapes at the same exact point, timed to the first earthquake-like tremor. Owen had no success in raising anyone but they didn’t know if that was due to some kind of lingering damper from whatever had blown up the city, or if the rest of the world was in the same situation as they were.

“On the plus side,” Owen observed. “We’re in better shape than a lot of places would be. We’ve access to fresh fish and plenty of sheep for a food source and plenty of well water.”

Jack sighed and said, “I’d rather know what caused it than anything else and where…”

Owen’s eyebrows rose when his voice trailed off. “And where…?”

“Where the Doctor is,” Jack finished reluctantly.

Always before, the Doctor arrived before the world ended. He didn’t always manage to save it, but he generally put in an appearance. Unless he’d been at the center of whatever had happened and he’d saved the planet but hadn’t been able to save everyone in the process. Thoughts of the Doctor, naturally, led him to Rose and Martha. For the first time ever, he was glad that Rose was in another universe. He pushed aside thoughts of Martha until he could actually have a chance at finding out what had happened to her.

Owen said, “You’ve mentioned him before, but never gone into detail.”

Jack’s lips quirked into a brief smile as he replied, “The Doctor is…a law unto himself. Literally. He can move through space and time at will, thanks to his ship the TARDIS. I think that stands for Time And Relative Dimensions in Space, but don’t quote me. In any case, despite what the case files say, the Doctor has saved the world more times than can be counted.”

“Well then, he’s fallen asleep on the job.”

“Or he saved those he could.”

Owen grimaced, but didn’t argue. All he asked was, “So what now? Sortie out and see who’s left? I don’t know how many doctors there are around here, but I can at least help those who need it.”

But Jack shook his head and said, “It’s dark now and I’m not risking you. We don’t have enough supplies to help those who are dying and those who aren’t, well, they’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“Jack, it’s not like anyone can…”

“Hurt you? Kill you?” Jack interrupted. “Owen, if someone cuts your head off or blows it to pieces with a shotgun, I don’t think you’ll be growing a new one. Just, stay here tonight, okay? Stay and then in the morning, we’ll see what’s left.”

Owen gave a reluctant nod and said, “I’ll stay with Gwen. You go be with Ianto.”

Jack half-smiled as he replied, “I don’t think he’s up for that just yet, but I could use a nap myself.”

Rolling his eyes, Owen walked back to medical.

Jack returned to where Ianto lay sleeping soundly in his bed. He was surprised by a yawn forcing its way out of him, something that rarely happened. Still, he’d had a pretty adrenaline-filled day so it wasn’t a big shock that his body wanted to rest. He squeezed onto the cot, pushing Ianto up and onto his chest and then pulling the blankets around them both.

Sighing deeply at the warm, trusting weight in his arms, Jack nuzzled at Ianto’s throat without intent and breathed in his lover. It could have ended so very differently. Jack didn’t think he would fall asleep, not with the hundred different directions in which his mind raced, but he did.