Chapter Text
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
I do not own the characters. They belong to Russell T Davies and the BBC.
This is my first fanfic.
Chapter 1
In the early hours of a Tuesday morning Ianto sat up in bed and not for the first time wondered how he had ended up in this situation. He watched as Jack breathed in and out, asleep and dreaming. Jack always claimed that he never slept but Ianto knew better. He liked to sit in the half light, in the quiet and watch him. Some people might say that was how he spent most of his time, hidden in shadows, out of the light, but he'd always felt better that way. Mind you these days he had more than begun to emerge from those shadows and that was largely down to the man lying next to him.
Getting into Torchwood Cardiff had been about saving Lisa but after her death, somehow, he'd found himself drawn to Jack and in Torchwood. He was no longer the coffee boy and all round factotum, but an integral part of the team.
His relationship with Jack had sort of developed. Ianto didn't really understand why but from the moment he'd met Jack something had clicked and he didn't think it was just Jack's fifty first century pheromones! He'd felt weird, like he wanted to kiss him, while capturing Myfanwy; just being close to him was unnerving, exciting and comforting all at the same time. It still was. But he'd put those thoughts as far out of his mind as possible as that wasn't part of his plan. All that he cared about then was keeping Lisa alive.
Later after Lisa's death he'd felt desolate and alone but Jack had trusted him and welcomed him back and he'd let himself be comforted. He knew that Jack would sleep with anything with a postcode but from the moment Jack had returned from seeing his Doctor, and asked him out on that date, Ianto had known that this wasn't just to pass the time but something more meaningful. He looked down at Jack. God he was handsome and Ianto often felt the need to pinch himself to know that this was real. He was less likely to consider himself as such; Jack described him as cute which wasn't a description that Ianto was comfortable with.
As he was thinking all this he carefully positioned himself so that his head lay on Jack's chest. He felt totally at peace but also those pheromones were kicking in again. When they were alone, like this, Jack looked as vulnerable as anyone else but, of course, Jack was immortal.
'Well,' thought Ianto, 'everyone has their cross to bear,' and it was quite a cross. Ianto had lost count of the times he'd watched Jack die. For him he knew it would only be once. He also knew that like Owen and Tosh chances were he wouldn't make old bones.
'Better make the most of it,' he thought and leaned over and kissed Jack in the hope he would get the response he wanted. Jack stirred under his caress and muttered 'is the world ending again?'
'Mmm,' was all Ianto could manage with the thought 'well it could be.' Jack pulled Ianto towards him, his arms and legs wrapping themselves around him, with predictable results. Not exactly bordering on the avant guard but without fail Ianto forgot everything else and melted into Jack's embrace. Life was good.
Some hours later they were back at the Hub monitoring rift activity when Gwen arrived. Ianto yawned and swallowed some more coffee.
'Busy night boys?' she asked with a wink at Ianto. He was still a bit embarrassed that Gwen knew about him and Jack. Jack had no such worries.
'What can I say? It must be my animal magnetism,' he said with a broad grin spreading to his eyes. Ianto just raised his eyebrows and looked down at the monitor. 'Looking a bit tired yourself Gwen. Is Rhys making demands again? I'll have words I don't want all my team worn out.'
It had been quiet in the rift for a while, just the odd weevil that had been dealt with easily by Jack and Ianto. It was a bit boring really. Ianto longed to get out in the SUV and race around the streets of Cardiff.
The phone rang it was his sister, Rhiannon.
'When are you coming over? We hardly see you these days.' She paused. Ianto heard her swallow hard.
'Someone saw you out the other night. You were wearing a posh suit and in a posh restaurant with some man? What's going on then? We've hardly seen you since Dad died.'
Rhi sounded resentful and she was his only sibling but he couldn't face the endless probing and questions. His Mam had been bad enough wanting to know about his girlfriends. She'd seemed pretty relieved when she had heard about Lisa. She wouldn't have been happy to know what had happened to her. But then neither was Ianto. And then there was Jack, the man in the restaurant. How would he explain that? Cardiff for all it was a big city in many ways was a small town in others!
'You know how it is. It's my job. We've been very busy,' he lied. 'I'll be round when I can. I've got to go.'
Suddenly all hell broke loose. Monitors flashed warnings, alarms sounded; everything went dark for seconds and when the light returned Ianto and Gwen had gone leaving Jack standing alone in the Hub wondering what had happened.