| �Don�t.
Go.� Jack raised his
hand, his face
breaking into
a grin, eyes sparkling. �There�s
someone
I want you to meet.� The Doctor gave him a
half-smile and shrugged, leaning
oh-so-casually in the narrow doorway of the TARDIS
where it stood in
the centre
of the colourfully lit Roald Dahl Place. �Okay.� The Doctor�s brows shot up.
�Can�t say I�ve ever heard it called that
before.� ~ Tired eyes opened, saw him,
and in the moment when Ianto
should have been all over him, he instead sat up,
formal and awkward,
saying
something that sounded like... � oh, no, he did not
just call Jack,
�Sir.� In the next moment
Jack set things
right. He threw himself
at Ianto,
wrapped one arm around his shoulders, the other around
his waist,
snaking under
the heavy coat to pull him close and open his mouth
against a hot,
salty throat. Ianto was swiping at his
tears with the sleeves of Jack�s
coat. �Sorry,� he was
saying, voice low,
�I�m sorry.� Ianto nodded, pushed
himself off the bed and followed Jack up
the ladder into his office. �Do
you want
your coat back?� He heard Ianto ask, �Is
that your Doctor?� and really didn�t
know how to answer so he just nodded and kept his
fingers splayed over
Ianto�s
hip, warm under the coat. ~ Ianto was good for Jack;
grounded by the sounds of it,
balanced. He obviously
thought the world
of their 51st century hero � which was good
in one way, bad
in
another (Jack�s ego was big enough already, thank you
very much). And he looked
really, really good in Jack�s
familiar old coat, the one he�d complained about
leaving behind almost
as much
as he�d talked about Ianto. Ianto let go of his hand.
And suddenly the Doctor�s head was filled with
screaming and he
saw Jack
crying and Ianto... dying. �What?� �Doctor....� �Just do it!� Ianto�s reaction to
stepping inside the ship was the exact
same as every other human who�d done so.
�Roomy, isn�t it?� He
would have
smiled if he hadn�t just seen this lovely man die,
sometime in the
future. He wasn�t given
over to visions,
so when he
had one it was best of take notice.
Jack
was watching him, waiting, but he needed context,
needed to give them
more than
he�d seen and he wasn�t about to let Jack out of his
sight until he had
done. Despite what he
thought, his
feelings were reciprocated. The
Doctor
just couldn�t act on them, could never act on any of
them.
Only once he�d come close, only with Rose. He
couldn�t let Jack in like that. And
besides,
for now he had formidable
competition. �There�s a race,� he said
suddenly, and the two men broke
apart to look at him as if just remembering he was
there.
He tried not to feel too insulted. �They�re
calling the Shilieonn
but you � here on Earth � you might call them
something different. They
need a toxic atmosphere to survive,
they... they look like sea monsters.�
Jack was shaking his head.
�They�re...
drug addicts, parasites, bastards.
But
when
they come, they�ll be in a big transparent box in a
big, dark room...
Jack,
when you face them, don�t take Ianto with you.
You�ll want to, for whatever reason, you might
need to, but you
can�t. If he faces them
he�ll die. You�ll die.
But you�ll come back and he... he won�t.� �I am,� the Doctor told him, �I�m scared of what you dying will do to Jack. Please. For my sake, don�t go.� �And if it�s my time?� For the longest time Ianto
stared at him, then he nodded
slowly. �I promise.� He was half-in the Porsche
when Jack put his arm across the
passenger seat and shook his head.
�This
is it, Ianto, this is what he warned us about.� �Sorry, Ianto.
You have
to sit this one out.� Jack�s
hand
grasped his on the top of the door.
�I
won�t take you to your death.� He kept his promise. Peeling back the orange
plastic, he watched Jack take that
first, loud, aching breath. And
then
Jack was in his arms, clutching at his shoulders,
whispering, �I
thought I saw
you, in the darkness, I thought I heard you....� �You would have died in there, at my side, and I wouldn�t... couldn�t have saved you.� �It�s okay.� It was all he could say. �It�s okay.� ~ �This is the strangest fetish you�ve got, Jack,� Ianto murmured softly and Jack chuckled. Ianto was lying on top of him, naked except for Jack�s coat, on the cot barely big enough for the both of them in the cramped hole they affectionately referred to as Jack�s quarters. Ianto wearing his coat had leapt to the top of his list of really hot things the night he�d come back, but tonight it had dropped to number two behind Ianto wearing nothing but his coat. He�d fucked him while he was wearing it, slowly, for ages, dropping kisses to his mouth and his neck, sucking on his tongue, loving him. �In the mornings it smells of you,� Jack told him, running the tips of his fingers along his side, under the heavy material, tracing a line from his armpit to the back of his knee. Ianto shuddered a little. �When we�re running around Cardiff chasing aliens I can smell you.� �Smell sweat and sex, you mean.� And Jack grinned. �Like I said. You. And it�s more than sweat and sex; it�s your aftershave and deodorant, that green shampoo you use and the soap in your shower.� He felt cool feet burrowing between his shins and gazed happily into Ianto�s eyes when he lifted his head. �I�m going to die one day, Jack,� he said quietly and Jack�s warm feelings cooled somewhat. He flattened Ianto�s black hair, cradling his head against his palm �Of old age,� Jack told him with a certainty he only wished he felt, �and in my arms.� �How many people have died that way?� He sounded so sad that Jack lifted his head and kissed him, prolonging it, deepening it, Ianto crawling further up his body when Jack�s neck gave out just to keep it up and when he finally bit Jack�s bottom lip gently, he said, �I love you, Jack,� at the same time bringing a hand up and touching his fingers to Jack�s lips. �Don�t say anything. Just... know, okay?� Jack nodded. He didn�t know what to say anyway. He loved Ianto but then again he�d loved lots of people. He was big enough to admit he was in love with the Doctor. But with Ianto? He honestly didn�t know. He thought maybe he was, because there was nowhere else in the world where he wanted to be right now and when he�d been travelling all he�d been able to think about was this. He took a deep breath and asked, �Can I spend the rest of your life with you?� as if he was proposing. For a moment Ianto didn�t say anything, then Jack thought he caught moisture blossom in his blue eyes before he turned his head and rested it back on Jack�s chest. �If that�s what you want,� he muttered, and Jack hugged him tight. �Look at me,� he murmured,
and after the longest time Ianto raised his head
again, tears running down the side of his nose.
�I want,� he said, �I love.� �I hope you don�t want a ring,� Jack teased. �God no.� He grinned through more tears. �Maybe... matching Vortex Manipulators...?� |