Hello all again sorry it's taken so long to put up another one-shot, I've had all these ideas for different stories but a full on one-shots has alluded me thus far but not any more, this story takes place after the horrendous 'something borrowed' that episode really got my back up so much so I imagined, quite creatively mind you, of smashing Jack's head repeatedly against a wall and then quite literally kicking Gwen off a cliff it was very therapeutic thinking if I do say so my self lol
Btw I'm just randomly estimating the time frame from 'they keep killing Susie' to 'something borrowed' plus factoring in a least 6 months from 'end of days' to 'kiss kiss bang bang' I estimated around a 15 month time frame since Ianto and Jack first got together, loved that end scene the sudden realisation on Jack's face was a Kodak moment, lol
P.S Jack might be a little OOC but I'm basing his emotional range from the scene in COE you know the one I'm talking about here's a hint "I take it back just not him!", I nearly cried watching it again, (screw you RTD, you heartless fiend)
So hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: it's not mine it sadly belongs to RTD and the BBC, and so on and so forth,
It had been four hours now since the debacle of Gwen's wedding and Ianto still wasn't talking to Jack, as soon as the cog door had opened he had hidden himself deep in the bowls of the archive's, one of his many hidden sanctuary's away from the others.
Jack hadn't thought anything was out of the ordinary until Ianto had missed his afternoon coffee run, Owen was down in the medical bay performing an autopsy on what was left of the creature,
Tosh was doing what she did best, working on a new software programme to make life easier on the rest of the team in the event she was off sick and to be honest only Ianto would have been able to work the programmes she had installed so far, the others didn't have a clue on how much work went in to simplifying the programmes for the rest of them, but it was mainly for Gwen's benefit, if left to it, the way the software was now she would more likely then not, crash the whole system in under an hour,
"Kids have you seen Ianto?" Jack called out from his office
"Well seeing as all of us have long since past puberty I don't know who your calling kids and to answer you question no, no one has seen tea-boy since you delightful display with Gwen" came Owens scathing reply,
"What are you talking about Owen?" Jack asked as he walked on to the cat walk to over look the remaining team mates
"Oh don't play innocent with me Harkness, you couldn't keep your hands off her for more then 10 minutes, plus going around as if it was your wedding to Gwen and not Rhys" Owen shot back aiming a contemptuous glare in Jack's direction,
"Was I really that bad?" said Jack a hesitant expression on his face nothing like the usually confidant one,
"Didn't you lean your lesson after Abaddon; you know what she's like Jack, just a little more 'encouragement' on your part especially the way you were dancing together and she would have been asking Rhys for a divorce not 2 hours into their marriage,"
"But I was telling her how lucky she was to have some one like Rhys," Jack said trying to ignore Owens comments
"Do you think Ianto knows that?" asked Tosh as she walked over to another monitor checking on the system updates,
"I…I don't know" the hesitancy was back in Jack's voice
"Well don't you think you should go talk to him, instead of letting him stew down there?" said Tosh unintentionally talking over Owen as he went to answer, Owen shot Tosh a slightly exasperated look, in return she just smiled sweetly and shrugged one shoulder before going back to check on the monitors.
"Do you think I should what if he just wants some space?" Jack looked from Tosh to Owen and back,
"Trust me you should go down there, tea-boy is probably mentally tearing himself to shreds wondering if he's second choice of something" Owen said vaguely already going back to his work,
Down in the archives Ianto was angrily filing away various reports on items that had fell through the Rift, stuffing them viciously in to there correct places and slamming the filling cabinet closed with a satisfying crash that echoed down the corridor,
Storming over to the table to repeat the process, his thoughts were whirling around like a tornado in his mind, if he had, had a more self respect he would have called Jack out on his behaviour towards Gwen, but he didn't know how serious Jack was taking their… what exactly? What where they because they sure as hell weren't in a relationship, Jack had made that glaringly obvious, 'fucking bastard' Ianto thought viciously kicking the side of the table, to release some of the pent up anger and frustration,
Jack had come down the corridor in time to see Ianto give a swift kick to the side of the table,
"I don't think the table appreciated that much" said Jack trying to break the tense atmosphere that descended on them like a stuffy blanket slowly chocking them the moment Ianto had turned and frozen at the sight of him,
"Sir I mean this in the most polite non-confrontational way, Fuck…Off" Ianto said saying it as if to a child and with the way Jack acted some times wasn't that far off the mark, Ianto then walked further into the depths of the archives, after a moment of shock Jack followed swiftly,
"Ianto can I talk to you please!" Jack called Ianto whirled around,
"NO you can't talk to me, why don't you call Gwen I bet she's constantly checking her phone waiting for you, I'm sure she's eager to hear you voice on her honeymoon, she will probably use it as a way of thinking it you with her and not poor stupid Rhys" Ianto said doing an excellent impression of Gwen at the end of his rant,
"But I don't want to be with Gwen" Jack tried to take a step towards Ianto but Ianto took a step back away from Jack
"Well you could have fooled me Sir, now if you don't mind I'm going home and don't even think about following me, what ever we had is over" said Ianto glaring at Jack before walking past him, Jack was to stunned to even attempt to stop him, after a few moments Jack walked out of the archives with his head down and hands in his pockets a listless expression on his face as he walked out of the hub, he was completely oblivious to the looks of concern on Tosh's and surprisingly Owens face, as they had just witnessed Ianto storm out his expression thunderous,
Ianto closed his front door and slid down finally succumbing to the tears his anger had kept at bay, he didn't have dramatic heaving sobs it was just silent tears slipping down his cheeks unchecked, which was far worse then noisy sobs, noisy sobs where so people could hear and have someone to comfort them, silent tears where that of a person who had slipped in to utter despair with no one in sight to catch them and bodily drag them back in to the light,
Ianto couldn't hear anything, nothing at all his hearing had switched off, so at first he didn't notice the loud banging that rattled the door he was still slumped against but that voice, that voice could break through anything, a soon as he registered the voice all the noises came back to him, the hum of the fridge, the beeping of his answer machine, and of course the loud banging and a voice pleading with him to open the door,
"Ianto please, please open the door, I have to talk to you, Ianto please!" Jack' desperate voice was slowly breaking through the shield Ianto had wrapped around himself, Ianto got off the floor his legs and lower back aching, signalling he had sat on the floor longer then he had first thought he also registered that it was dark in the flat, hours must have past and how long had Jack been calling through the door?
Ianto opened the door to be greeted by the sight of a soaking wet Jack but you could clearly see the tear marks on his face, he relief was evident when he launched himself at Ianto bringing him in to a bone crushing hug,
"I'm so, so sorry Ianto, so sorry please let me make my idiocy up to you please Ianto" Jack mumbled in to Ianto's shoulder, this was so out of character that Ianto wondered if Jack had been taken over by an alien and he said as much,
"Who are you and what have you done to Jack Harkness?" Ianto teased lightly, mollified some what by this display of affection,
"He's finally realised what a bastard he was being to you, when you walked out Ianto this horrible weight settled in to the pit of my stomach and it was like I was dying all over again then I realised it my heart, it can't survive without you Ianto, I can't survive without you and I'm so sorry it took you walking away from me to realise" Jack said staring deeply in to Ianto's eyes, you wouldn't have thought that it would take Jack 15 months in to his relationship with Ianto to figure out he was in love with him, the only reason he had fixated on Gwen was because she reminded him of Estelle in her inability to listen to a word he said and always questioning everything he did, that's all she was a reminder of people past, but those traits where also the reason he was most of the time short tempered with her, because she never listened to anyone else if she thought she was right,
He would have to remedy that when she got back from her two month honeymoon, Tosh's Rift predictor had come in handy, telling the team it would be like a ghost town as far as aliens where concerned, although they would get the occasional Wevile, nothing they couldn't handle without her,
"Alright this is you one and only chance, fuck this up and you can say goodbye to what we have, are we clear" said Ianto using his no nonsense tone of voice to convey his seriousness in the situation, after nodding to show his acceptance Jack leaned in to kiss him, Ianto placed his finger on Jack's lips "and no sex until after the seventh date, and I mean anything sex related, hand jobs, blow jobs, you name it you can't do it until after the seventh date" Ianto smiled at Jack's gobsmacked face, he removed his fingers and sweetly pecked Jack on the lips before leading him into the front room so they could watch any movie that was on the T.V together,
True to his promise Jack had figuratively swept Ianto off his feet, it was as if they where starting out all over again in their whirl wind romance, Jack took Ianto to expensive restaurants, the theatre, and some time's took Ianto up to the roof of the millennium centre for a romantic picnic Ianto enjoyed the picnic's the best because it was just him and Jack alone to be them selves,
so it came as quite a surprise when just before Gwen was due back Jack had proposed to Ianto in the middle of the hub in front of Owen and Tosh, in a moment of inhibitions Ianto had quite literally launched himself at Jack yelling "YES!" at the top of his voice peppering Jack's face in kisses as they laughed together,
Ianto's and Jack's engagement rings where identical bronze Celtic rings with an intercut knotting and along the inner edge of both Jack's and Ianto's rings were the word Eternity,
It was the day Gwen was scheduled to return and Owen was quite looking forward to seeing Gwen's reaction to Jack being engaged to Ianto of all people, man was she going to be in for a shock, you could say Owen was a little over eager to start mocking her, god how she annoyed him, always talking about Jack this Jack that, 'do you think Jack will like this top?' if he could have gotten away with it Owen would have shot her by now just to shut her up.
When Gwen had walked through the door she had propelled herself at Jack as if she hadn't see him in years, Jack had stiffened slightly at the sudden over exuberant attachment to his side before he had politely but pointedly removed her from his person, Gwen had looked a little confused but chalked it up to everyone being there, she had then greeted everyone in a less excitable manner only managing a half wave and a quiet hello to Ianto befor breezing over to her station as if she owned the place,
Owen rhythmically tapped his fingers on his work station staring at Gwen, it was taking her longer then expected to spot the new jewellery Jack and Ianto where now sporting, giving that she used to be a copper, Owen was quite disappointed if all coppers where as oblivious as Gwen no wonder the crime rate was doubling every year,
Tosh was thinking roughly the same thing, only she was raging over the fact Gwen still treated Ianto like a lesser part of the team, when Jack had gone away she made Ianto do all his duties plus making him do her paperwork,
what Gwen didn't know was that Ianto at the time of the battle in canary wharf, had been a fully fledge field agent, which was a lot more then Gwen's sub standard police training as far as Torchwood was concerned plus the fact Ianto out ranked her, even though that little tit bit hadn't been revealed to her yet,
Tosh thought Ianto and Jack was bidding their time for the perfect opportunity to drop the proverbial bomb on her, and Tosh had a feeling that was going to be very soon.
Ianto surprisingly was also waiting for Gwen to spot the rings and was looking forward to the subsequent tantrum of apocalyptic proportions; he was secretly thrilled at the chance to rub it in her face that he had bagged the elusive Captain Jack Harkness, oh he would rejoice in the shattered look on her face when she realised she no longer had a hold over Jack, Ianto had to bite his lips to stop himself giggling in to the coffee machine as he made the usual morning brew,
It was until much much later the team were settling down for dinner, the Rift was paying them back ten fold for it's two months of silence, throwing out aliens and artefacts all over the south of Wales, they had hardly gotten a moment to breath befor the screeching of the Rift alarm cut through the air once again,
Ianto had ordered in Curry for a change from their usual Chinese or Pizza, as he passed out the containers, Gwen finally spotted Ianto's ring as it gleamed in the light of the conference room, she thought nothing of it until she noticed Jack's ring twinkling out of the corner of her vision,
His identical ring.
Gwen froze her folk mid way to her mouth as a single piece of chicken slipped off the side of the folk and hit the table surface with a dull thump, the implications of the rings meaning finally clicked in her brain, Gwen snapped out of her daze, and flushed an unattractive shade of red as she spotted the chicken on the table, everyone stared waiting for the inevitable explosion, Gwen took a deep breath and said to Jack
"Can I have a word out side please Jack" befor practically fleeing from the room, Tosh couldn't hold back a snort and like a chain reaction Owen was off laughing so hard it look like he would pass out any minute and Ianto finally succumbed to the giggling that had been threatening to surface all day at the sight of him, Jack just smiled at them as they laughed, he was a little apprehensive about the talk he was about to have with Gwen,
Ianto ever the perceptive one had spotted the apprehension, he got up and walked to the head of the table where Jack sat, Ianto pulled Jack to him resting Jack's head on his chest he then carded his fingers through Jack's baby soft hair,
"There is no need to look so worried you are just going to deal with an underling who had gotten to amorous and to big for her boots" Ianto said softly calming Jack with his logic,
"What would I do without you?" Jack said looking up in to Ianto's eyes
"Lets prey we don't find out for a very long time" Ianto said giving Jack a soft kiss.
What they didn't know was that Gwen had been watching them, her insides burning with jealousy at the picture the 'happy couple' made. She retreated in to the main hub when it look like Jack's was coming to talk to her,
Jack came down the stairs keeping his eyes on Gwen, and knowing Tosh like he did the others were probably watching on the flat screen,
"Yes Gwen what did you need to talk about?" said Jack a slightly confused look on his face,
"What is that?" she asked pointing to his ring
"That's an engagement ring Gwen, I thought you knew what these things were seeing as you have one yourself" Jack said paternalism heavily soaked the words
Gwen flushed again, "I know what it is Jack I just want to know why Ianto has one"
"Well Gwen there's a special word reserved for people with these rings there called Fiancés, Ianto just happens to be mine"
Gwen flushed with anger this time "Exactly why are you marrying Ianto!?"
"Do you think I want to marry anyone else? I love Ianto with all my heart and nobody has ever or will ever after Ianto be able to say that, he is my first thought in the morning and my last at night, he knows when to comfort me and when I need space to process things by myself, he never try's to force me to tell him about my past he just asked that when ever I was ready he would be there for me, I wish I could grow old with him because he's my one, and I would gladly tare apart the universe so he could stay with me forever, I have never felt this complete in all my days of living, now does that answer you question 'why Ianto?'"
Jack's speech had struck Gwen dumb, all the fantasies of them ending up together shattered into a million pieces and lie in a mournful heap at her feet,
"O…Ok thank you for explaining, I'm, I'm just going to go home now" and Gwen still in shock collected her coat and left the Hub,
Ianto came rushing down the stairs tears of happiness on his face Jack turned at the noise of foot steps a huge Jack Harkness mega watt smile spread across his face as he caught Ianto as he flew in to his arms,
Tosh and Owen stopped on the landing to watch Ianto and Jack, "Do you think Gwen will give up now?" Owen said turning to Tosh
"Hard to say really, she had a serious obsession when it came to Jack, maybe in her mind she chalk it up to being Jack said that because he knew we were listening in, so we shall just have to wait and see"
Tosh didn't know how right she was, not even two days later Gwen was back to her obsessive ways with a vengeance, she came in with low cut tops short skirts, blouses that barely buttoned up over he breasts, all the while giving Jack cow-eyes at every opportunity, Jack on the other hand had gone on the counter attack, he was now never left alone with Gwen because not even god knew what she would do, it was between these 'shift changes' that Gwen took the opportunity to show Jack a file she was working on taking every chance she got to brush her breast against his arm, not so luckily for her it was Ianto's turn to stay with Jack, he rounded to corner and stopped dead as he watched Gwen rub up against Jack and Jack looked really uncomfortable, he kept trying to shift away from her to no luck, once he spotted Ianto he gave him a desperate 'HELP ME' look that was easy to spot even from where Ianto was standing, "Jack" Ianto called out startling Gwen, "We have to go to my mothers soon to plan the wedding, as well as the guest list," by this point Ianto had almost bodily pushed Gwen away with his body placing it strategically between them,
"Gwen" Ianto said turning to her and pinner her to the spot with his icy glare that promised quite a lot of pain "I need to talk to you in private" Gwen didn't move "Now" Ianto said his voice dropping in to the gravely tone it always did when ever he was angry or aroused,
Gwen moved back to her own station she didn't know Tosh and Owen where in the autopsy bay huddled against the wall out of sight so they could hear everything
"What do you think your doing?" Ianto asked in a quite voice his anger barely contained,
"I don't know what you mean Ianto" Gwen said going for the innocent act which worked for Jack and Andy all the time
"You know exactly what I'm talking about Cooper, Jack is my fiancé, he chose me not you, now get it through you thick head, Jack is never going to love you"
When Gwen when to open her mouth Ianto beat her to the punch
"Ever! Now I will not let you ruin what Jack and I have because of your stupid obsession with Jack, get over it or so help me god I will make you life a living hell"
"You can't threaten me like that your just the office boy!"
oh she did not just go there Ianto thought to himself, "I will have you know level one field agent Gwen Cooper, that I am third in command and a level 5 Field agent as well as former head researcher of Torchwood London, I out rank you ten to one, and I'm pulling rank now, stay away from my fiancé or I will Retcon away all of you memorise of Torchwood"
"Y…You can't do that?" it came out more of a question then a statement of fact she was going for,
"Who do you think invented it" Ianto gave a rare sinister smile as he stared at her 'deer caught in head lamp' expression, "you are not invited to mine and Jack's wedding and if I see you anywhere near I will not hesitate to shoot you, are we clear?" at the barest of nods from Gwen Ianto smiled again this one a sickly sweet one "Good" before walking away,
Owen and Tosh were stunned they had no idea that Ianto had been the head researcher for Torchwood London, now they knew how Lisa had survived so long without succumbing to the machinery hardwired into her brain,
"Wow" they breathed together,
Jack and Ianto's civil partnership had been a huge success, with only one controversy Gwen had tried her luck at the wedding trying to object and only Jack had managed to stop Ianto shooting her, after Gwen had been dragged out by a furious Rhys,
Back at work a week after Ianto and Jack's honeymoon Gwen had suddenly slumped unconscious, when she had woken up an hour later she had no recollection on who the people around her where,
Owen and Tosh had taken her home to Rhys explaining to him how she had drunk an drink intended for someone else and now didn't remember Torchwood,
Rhys was so happy to have Gwen back from the clutches of Torchwood that he hadn't needed Retconing, later that morning Jack was following Ianto with his eyes,
when Ianto glanced up at his husband having felt him watching, Jack raised an eyebrow with a little turning up of the corner of his mouth the question plain as day on his face,
Ianto just gave an smile and innocently whistled a little tune as he made the mid morning coffee,
Jack just playfully rolled his eyes and went back to his desk to redo some of the reports Gwen had butchered in her time at Torchwood,
Some time later Jack put down the last report, he laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them deep in thought, he gave a small chuckle and shook his head in amused disbelief befor getting up and left his office in search of his very naughty husband,
Jack smiled deviously to himself thinking about all they way's he could punish said naughty husband, with a renewed bounce in his step Jack headed towards the archives,
Hope you enjoyed that because I had so much fun writing it
If you want to see the ring because my description gives it no justice just to be warned it's a little different from the traditional engagement rings but it Jack and Ianto I think we can make an exception the web address is
.com/images/wedding/love-knots-1718~