Oh my God! Such a tidal wave of positive feedback. Thank you all!
I'm working on more Ianto fics as we speak (read) so hopefully they'll be up soon.
Until then, enjoy this final part of what turned out to be a three-shot!
Chapter 3
"Ianto, mate, I love ya!"
"I know Owen, but I'd rather you kept it to yourself."
Owen slurred something completely incomprehensible and then went back to watching yet another alien sing karaoke. Gwen and Tosh, who were both more sober than Owen, weren't sure where to look as the alien was like a green and blue skinned six foot tall, very well endowed, naked human man.
"Aw, he's singing modern pop! I hate modern pop!" groaned Ianto, covering his ears and twisting away to look at the Doctor and Jack. "It makes my skin crawl. Oh for some Britney! Now at least that was… something."
The Doctor chuckled and swallowed a mouthful of his wine. Jack had settled for more water. He wanted to ensure he stayed sober.
"Ah come on, its not so bad." said the Doctor, grinning at his son. Ianto pulled a face and stuck out his tongue. Jack was tempted to latch on the tongue and not let go. He shook his head. This place must have so much alcohol evaporated in the air that he was getting drunk just by breathing. Wouldn't be the first time.
"I prefer more Classical Music, specifically earth." said Ianto.
"What? Like Mozart?" asked Gwen.
Ianto laughed, "That's Ancient Music cariad. Classical Earthen Music in the 32nd century is stuff you consider recent. Like… like Umbrella! Or Toxic, or… oh! Like Nature's Law. Not to mention stuff that not's out yet, like Britney's third comeback album that actually worked."
"You're winding me up." said Gwen,
"But it's true Gwen. It may be modern to you, but here in the 32nd century its old school. The Bee Gees are considered Ancient by now, aren't they Father?"
"Not yet, that happens in the 33rd century."
"Oh right. My bad." Ianto shrugged and swallowed down another New New New Manhattan. He was a lot better at holding his drink than Owen, who'd thrown himself into a whole new millennia of drinks and been pissed for quite some time.
The alien finished his song and bowed. The host took the mic from him and said,
"Right and now we have a duet by… the Doctor and Ianto, where are they?"
"Oh that's us! C'mon Ianto, lets show em what we've got!" the Doctor dragged his son up onto the stage before Ianto could get a word out. Jack's eyes widened. They were going to sing?!
The music started up and many of the patriots let out sentimental cheers. Jack vaguely recognised the song as being one he'd heard on the radio but beyond that he knew nothing about it. Ianto looked amused and touched.
The Doctor sang first, with a voice not quite what Jack had expected,
"Deep in my heart, there's no room for crying
but I'm trying to see your point of view
Deep in my heart, I'm afraid of dying
I'd be lying if I said I'm not
Welcome in … welcome in
Shame about the weather
Welcome in … welcome in
It will come
It's a sin … it's a sin,
Where birds of a feather, are welcome to, land on you..."
Ianto joined in with a strong, sweet voice that complimented the Doctor's well, despite the different accents.
"Ya Ya Ya
Ya Ya Ya
You've got my eyes
We can see, what you'll be, you can't disguise
And either way, I will pray, you will be wise
Pretty soon you will see the tears in my eyes."
Ianto took over for the next chorus while the Doctor bobbed his head and grinned his manic grin.
"As each day goes by, it makes way for another,
We discover that we're not alone
And each day we try, the best we can to recover,
All the feelings that we left below
Welcome in … welcome in
Shame about the weather
Welcome in … welcome in
You will come
It's a sin … it's a sin
Where birds of a feather, are welcome to, land on you…"
The Doctor joined in again and they sang with great gusto and feeling,
"Ya Ya Ya
You've got my eyes
We can see, what you'll be, you can't disguise
And either way, I will pray, you will be wise
Pretty soon you will see the tears in my eyes
Welcome in … welcome in
Shame about the weather
Welcome in … welcome in
You will come
It's a sin … it's a sin,
Where birds of a feather, are welcome to, land on you
Ya Ya Ya
Ya Ya Ya
You've got my eyes
We can see, what you'll be, you can't disguise
And either way, I will pray, you will be wise
Pretty soon you will see the tears in my eyes
Pretty soon you will see the tears in my eyes
Pretty soon you will see the tears in my eyes."
Ianto hugged the Doctor tight and they bowed with their arms around each others shoulders. Father and son, together again. Happy.
"I didn't know Ianto could sing." muttered Gwen, slurring a little.
"How'd you think we got our microwave?" asked Tosh like it was obvious. Gwen pouted as the Doctor and Ianto came back. "Well done you two."
"Thanks Tosh. It wasn't half bad. I like this new regeneration father. Not so stiff as the old one."
"Well… a bit I suppose." The Doctor chuckled, ruffling Ianto's hair. Ianto smiled. Jack wondered if the others realised that he'd smiled more in the past few hours than he had in a year with them. It was depressing to Jack to realise just how little Ianto seemed to need him anymore to make him smile. He would never claim to enjoy clingy lovers, but with Ianto it had been different. Ianto wouldn't have clung onto him unless he knew Jack didn't mind. But Ianto had needed him then anyway. He'd never said it, never shown it, but Jack had known. Always known.
"Hey Jack, why don't you show us what you got?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"My, my, Captain Jack Harkness refusing to show off? The world's turning on its head as we speak."
"But that means south will be north and north will be south and compasses won't work!" Ianto pouted, as if this was a terrible tragedy.
"That would be awful. Imagine. All those hitchhikers, lost forever and ever and ending up being eaten by penguins." sighed the Doctor.
"And then the penguins would read their maps and figure out how to reach civilisation and destroy us all! Maybe we should go back to Cardiff to stop them."
"But it hasn't happened yet."
"But it might."
"But it hasn't happened yet."
"But it might happen and shouldn't we nip this penguin invasion in the bud?"
Ianto and the Doctor stared at each other with serious expressions for a moment, then dissolved into a fit of giggles, clinging onto the table for dear life. Owen laughed with them, despite not having a clue what was going on around him.
"I need air." said Jack, getting to his feet. No one seemed to notice his departure, even with his coat swishing.
Jack walked out of the bar and onto a balcony. He sighed, resting his arms on the railing and staring out at a glittering navy sea.
"It's all too much, isn't it?"
Jack looked over his shoulder at Ianto. Ianto was smiling just a little. Jack looked away.
"I guess."
Ianto joined him at the railing, mimicking his stance. "I know what you're doing."
"Oh?"
"Comparing, contrasting me and what I was yesterday. Trying to figure out how much of Ianto Jones is in here. Or how much isn't." Ianto looked at Jack, "Am I close?"
"I just… you're not the man I…"
"The man you screwed around with?"
"I didn't-"
"No, you didn't mean to, but you did and that was because you wouldn't think. You see Jack, the problem with living forever, is you start to become self obsessed. It's all about you, and what you want because even if you hurt someone beyond belief, what does it matter? They'll die in the end. But you won't."
"Hey-" Jack straightened up to fight with this man, but Ianto didn't change his relaxed stature. Jack's eyes were inevitably drawn downwards to his rear which the coat was framing in a very unfair way.
"Like the view?" Ianto was smirking. Jack clenched his fists, wanting to knock this arrogant ass out of Ianto. "You're like a bloody yo-yo. You were fine with me a little while ago."
Jack had to concede the point. Ianto straightened up and looked Jack in the eyes like he had earlier.
"Figure it out Jack."
"Well what the hell do you want?"
"Me? Oh I want it all." Ianto gave a grin that was just like the Doctor's and his eyes twinkled. He really did have the Doctor's eyes. "I want you. I want the universe. I wanna see it all, meet everybody who was, is and will be anybody. Like… like Eric the Red! I always wanted to meet Eric the Red!"
Ianto pressed his hands against Jack's shoulders, "But right now… I really want to kiss you."
Jack nearly flinched back, but the second Ianto's lips were on his, he was pulling Ianto against him as hard as he could. Within seconds Jack's hands were sneaking under Ianto's shirt, feeling the muscles of his stomach ripple and that familiar concave shape between his hips and his ribcage.
"You're still so thin." murmured Jack, breaking the kiss. Ianto's smile was a little crazy.
"I'm still broken, remember. Think you're up to fixing me?" The seriousness of his eyes told Jack he wasn't joking.
"I'm willing to try." whispered Jack, engulfing Ianto in his arms. The large personality seemed to wilt a little and Ianto felt small in his arms again.
Ianto's nose brushed Jack's neck and his lips ghosted over the sensitised flesh.
"Come on. Let's go back to the TARDIS. I'll see if I can find my old room."
"Sure. Let's go."
"So… is it all a jumble? Or is it sorting itself out?"
"In my head?"
"Yeah?"
"It's a bit of a jumble, but it's organised chaos. I'm not like Dad, jumping from one thing to another. I go through a process. But sometimes I do it so fast and all in my head that to everyone else, one minute I'm talking about Weevils and the next I'm talking about satsumas." Ianto chuckled, "But it's all there, Ianto Jones and Iantosmorashthrimoret mixed up like some kind of compulsive neat freak of a Time Lord, who likes to invent random machines in his spare time and drink lots of coffee."
"I should probably thank you for inventing the sonic screwdriver. Number of times that thing's save my ass…"
"It is useful." Ianto sighed with contentment as he rested his head on Jack's chest, snuggling against it. Jack's fingers were stroking his back and Ianto was all but purring from it. Jack grinned in satisfaction at the sound.
Now that they were spent and relaxed, Jack took the chance to look around his lover's room.
"This is an interesting… mesh of things."
"You like it?"
"I like the bed."
Ianto grinned, "18th century woodwork, from England. The only thing I bought before I became human. I thought it had class. Father just said I hoped it would attract even more people into my bed. Best thing about it is it's really hard to break."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle. Ianto's lips brushed over Jack's skin, his breath sending shivers up and down Jack's spine.
'How'd this happen?' wondered Jack, gazing at the younger looking man. 'How'd you manage to worm in so deep into my heart?'
"You know… I'm pretty sure I've got a stopwatch around here somewhere." Ianto gave him a cheeky grin from under lowered eyelids. Ianto had very thick, long eyelashes that framed his grey-blue eyes wonderfully.
Jack reached out and cupped Ianto's cheek, making him look straight at him. "Ianto… why do you hate eating?"
Ianto sighed and pulled his face out of Jack's hand, resting his head on Jack's chest again. "I just do. It's not logical, I know that. But I'm never hungry, and I always feel ill when I do eat. I know its all in my head, but it's so hard to fight. Everything is so much easier when I just do what my body says. But I didn't want anyone to notice so I force myself to eat."
"Well… do you think you could try to like food?"
"I don't know. It's hard Jack."
"Ok… well… maybe I can help you with that." Jack let his voice hint at amorous. Ianto smiled against Jack's skin.
"Maybe you can."
"I've never felt worse in my life." moaned Owen the next morning as he nursed a hangover.
"I'm sure that's true, but that's what happens when you indulge in an unhealthy amount of alcohol. You're lucky you didn't kill yourself." said Ianto, standing beside his father. They were standing with their hands in their pockets, smirks on their faces. They really did look related, although the unknowing would assume brothers and then concoct elaborate tales of angst and family love to explain away the reason for the different accents.
"Fuck off Ianto." growled Owen, his voice muffled as he buried his head in his arms.
"And just last night you were telling me you loved me."
"I did not."
"Yes you did." chorused the others. Owen flipped them the bird before returning to his moaning and nursing of dehydrated brain cells.
"Anyway, I guess I should be taking you all back to Torchwood, eh?" said the Doctor. He seemed awfully cheerful about it, Jack noted. Why would he be so happy about his son leaving him, after all the pining for him. "Give me a hand Ianto."
"Sure Father."
"Since when do you call me Father? You always called me Da."
"Sorry, human habit." Ianto shrugged. Jack grinned at the amused look on the Doctor's habit.
"A rather… unique to you human habit."
"Well… maybe a little… Da."
The Doctor's face nearly split in two at the force of his grin. Jack wisely grabbed Owen and pulled him out of the way as the two Time Lords started running around like madmen, getting the TARDIS going. They moved as one, sliding back into old practises. The TARDIS was purring, Jack was positive, she was purring her heart out to the two Time Lords.
There was a bump and a crash and then everything was still again.
"Hub sweet Hub, two hours after we left!" laughed Ianto, running over and throwing the doors open. "Well come on! Pick up Owen and get out!"
"I can walk myself thank you!" snapped Owen. Jack let him go and he promptly fell to the floor with a swear.
After some issues with Owen, they were all out of the TARDIS and Jack spun around to say something to Ianto, but the words died on his lips as he realised Ianto was standing in the threshold. Looking torn.
"Well c'mon Ianto! We've got all sorts of things to do!" cheered the Doctor, throwing his arm around the younger Time Lord's shoulders.
"Wait. Ianto, are you going with him?" Tosh sounded hurt.
"I… oh I didn't quite think this far ahead." Ianto grimaced. The Doctor looked a little possessive. "Da…"
"Son?" The Doctor's voice was sharp, almost warning. And yet at the same time, pleading.
"Jack…"
"Ianto?" Jack tried to sound bland, but he knew he'd failed.
"Oh for Goodness sake! Don't bloody guilt trip me, either of you!" snapped Ianto, his eyes flashing. Both men looked chastened. "I… I'm sorry Jack… but I have to go with Da. It's… it's Da."
"But I thought we agreed that I'd help fix you." said Jack in a quiet voice.
Ianto walked up to him and cupped his cheek.
"I meant it. But… he's been alone for so long. And we'll have time too. But Torchwood needs you and my Da needs me." Ianto brushed his lips against Jack's in a tender kiss. "I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I trust you." murmured Jack, catching hold of Ianto's hand just long enough to kiss it.
Ianto hugged Tosh, then Gwen and then shook Owen's hand.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. I mean it."
The team nodded in understanding as Ianto joined his father on the TARDIS. They both gave them sweet smiles, before shutting the door. A few seconds later and the TARDIS faded out of sight before them.
Jack sighed, and squeezed Toshiko's shoulder before turning away to go to his office.
Then the TARDIS rematerialised right where it had been before.
Jack whipped around.
The door opened.
Ianto came back out with a wide grin.
"So how long was I gone for?"
"Like… two seconds." said Owen, looking bewildered. Ianto's hair was longer, curly and he looked older. His clothes were different, although the coat was the same.
"Really, score one for Da. We've been travelling a bit longer than that."
"How long?"
"Like… four years." Ianto shrugged.
"Four years!?" spluttered Gwen.
"Oh! I got presents for everybody! Wait there and I'll get them." Ianto ran back into the TARDIS, dodging around the Doctor as he went. The Doctor chuckled as he stepped out, smiling at Jack. Jack saw the change at once. There was a peace, a contentment in those old eyes.
"Thank you Jack." he said in a soft voice.
"For what?"
"For my boy."
"You're welcome Doctor."
Ianto came back out, arms loaded with things Jack had never seen before. He dumped them all on the ground at his feet and locked eyes with Jack, giving him that seductive smirk.
"Coffee sir?"
"Only if it comes with a Teaboy-Time Lord."
"I'm sure I can arrange that for you sir."
"Oh get a room will you!"
"Da!"
Was that a satisfactory ending? I may do a sequel if anyone's interested.
Night's Darkness.