To Another by a_silver_story | Chapter Three
Title: To Another
Chapter: 03|??
Author: a_silver_story
Rating: 18/Adult/NC-17 overall
Warnings: Smexy timez
Disclaimer: Anything recognisable to Torchood S1, 2 and 3 belongs to Russell T. Davies at the BBC. Now pass the Retcon, and drink it down with coffee.
Summary: Set five years after Another Life.
Another Life | Chapter One
To AnotherChapter 1 | Five Years Later
Ianto curled up on his side, pulling the duvet around him and trying to ignore Jack. He could hear the sound of the hairbrush as it was dragged through Jack's long, wavy hair, and the gentle shuffle of feet as he placed it back on the dresser then crawled into bed.
The mattress hardly dipped, and Ianto only felt his presence as vibrations through the bed.
A hand that was far too small squeezed his shoulder, and Ianto turned onto his back to look at him. "What?"
"I didn't think it'd be this big a deal."
"I don't give a shit if you're a man or a woman. You didn't talk to me about it first."
"I'm still Jack."
"That's more than obvious."
"It's only for a month."
"Why did you do it? Why?"
Jack sighed, lying down and pulling Ianto's arm around him so he could rest his head on his chest. "You might not miss sex," Jack said, "But I do."
"You think everything's going to be magically okay because you had yourself turned into a woman?"
"I don't see why it wouldn't," Jack reasoned, "It's not like women can suffer erectile dysfunction."
"That doesn't guarantee anything. Some women never even experience orgasm during sex ? Get your hand away from my dick."
Jack pouted and moved it back to Ianto's tummy. They were a quiet a moment.
"Ianto?"
"Mmm?"
"I asked them to keep my smile. Look."
Ianto found himself looking down straight into a smile just as Harknessian as the original. "Put those teeth away," he sighed, as good-naturedly as he could. "You're blinding me."
Jack leaned up a pressed a kiss to Ianto's mouth. He tried to linger, but Ianto broke away. "Goodnight, Jack," he said, closing his eyes and getting comfortable.
"Ianto-"
"I said 'goodnight'."
Jack lay his head down, not moving away from Ianto but closing his eyes. He was sleeping soundly after about half an hour, but Ianto couldn't switch his brain off.
He hated being from the 21st century sometimes. Jack had tried talking him through it, explaining that with today's technology all he'd really done was no different to borrowing a new coat for a bit, but he couldn't find it in himself to see it that way. He knew in his head he was probably, by current standards, 'overreacting', but he was still a 21st century man with twenty-five years of 21st century-ness behind him.
Carefully, Ianto turned over, making sure he didn't wake Jack. He watched him for a moment, concerned that he wasn't smiling in his sleep, then realised it was probably his fault. Gently, he pulled the covers down a little, just about making out the curves of Jack's body under his old t shirt and the gentle rise and fall of his breathing.
It was strange how much he still looked like Jack, despite his features now being soft and feminine rather than sharp and angular. Ianto brushed some of the long, brown hair off his face and let out a breath. Gently, he nudged Jack's shoulder.
"Jack?" he said softly, coaxing him awake.
Jack snuffled, then sat up straight. "What's wrong?" he asked, "Is someone in the house?" He squinted, his nose wrinkling a bit as he strained his ears to listen to the sounds of the house.
"No," Ianto shook his head, "I wanted to apologise."
Jack blinked the sleep from his eyes, then rubbed them. "Wha?"
"I'm sorry."
Jack leaned over and flicked on the bedside lamp. He lay back down, resting on one elbow and as close to Ianto as he could. "Say that again?"
Ianto rolled his eyes, and put his arms around Jack's small, alien shoulders. "I'm sorry."
"Ooh. It gives me chills," grinned Jack, "Say it again?"
Ianto poked him, the licked his lips with a quick movement of his tongue. "Can I ... look?" he asked.
Jack nodded, and started pulling the t-shirt off before Ianto stopped him. "Let me?" Jack conceded, letting go of the cotton as letting Ianto roll them both until Jack was on his back and Ianto was half on top of him. Jack swallowed, his mouth going dry, spotting the look that had finally made its way back into Ianto's eyes.
He relaxed, figthing the urge to put his hands behind his head as Ianto tugged his t-shirt up a little and began to kiss his way down his skin.
He was going to enjoy this.
~*~*~*~
Ianto rolled over and grunted awake when he collided with another warm body.
He lifted his head sharply and blinked a few times, squinting through the early morning sunlight streaming in through the curtains. Jack squinted back at him, then they both laughed awkwardly.
"Morning," smiled Jack.
"Morning," smiled Ianto.
He cleared his throat and started to get out of bed, thinking of breakfast, when Jack tugged his arm and pulled him back down. "Snuggle?" he asked, with big eyes and a tiny pout.
"Breakfast in bed?" Ianto countered, mimicking Jack's pout.
Jack seemed torn for a moment, then swallowed. "You stay in bed - I'll go and get breakfast."
Ianto shrugged. What was there to argue? He curled up under the duvet again, snuggly and warm while Jack got out and stretched. Ianto raised his head, watching him head downstairs in only his baggy, over-sized t-shirt. "Bacon sandwiches!" he shouted, recalling the last time Jack had fetched breakfast, and the strange fish and beef Swiss roll he had insisted was a delicacy. That may had been well over three years ago, but at least Ianto could learn to laugh about it now.
Downstairs, Jack stood before the complicated bit of machinery that he'd bought to replace the oven Ianto had broken trying to dismantle its self-cleaning mechanism. It was an 'all-in-one', so to speak, that was a fridge, a freezer, pantry, oven, grill, steamer, barbecue, dishwasher and chef all at the same time. The only thing Jack had to do was tell the machine what he wanted, and out would come bacon sandwiches, cooked perfectly to his and Ianto's logged preferences.
Jack stood before the control panel, arms folded as he glared at it. Eventually, he reached out and touched 'Start Again'.
Right ... Food, Breakfast, Hot Breakfast, Containing Meat, Containing Pig, Containing Bacon, Containing Back Bacon ...
Jack growled at the impossibly long list of breakfast combinations that included bacon, wondering how he was supposed to locate 'Bacon Sandwiches' on the endlessly scrolling screen. He heard a tired yawn behind him, and glanced over to the kitchen door.
"Morning, Dad," Giacomo smiled, yawning again. "Why are you still not at work?"
"I've got a holiday."
"Really? You didn't put it on the calendar."
"It's a surprise holiday. My boss says I work too hard."
Giacomo yawned yet again. "I agree," he mumbled, then wandered closer to the kitchen chef. "What are you trying to do?" he frowned.
"Get breakfast for Ianto and me," Jack sighed, then rubbed his face. "I have no idea how to work this thing. I just want bacon sandwiches - is that too much to ask?"
"Do it like this," Giacomo told him, reaching out and touching 'Start Again', then on the first menu screen touching a square in the bottom right with a 'V' in the middle. "Two bacon sandwiches," he enunciated clearly. The computer showed an hourglass for a moment, then the screen flashed green, coming up with some options. Giacomo touched 'Household', then 'Jack', and then 'Ianto'. "There you go," he grinned, "Two bacon sandwiches, made to your and Ianto's preferences."
Jack ruffled his hair. "What are you doing up, anyway? It's far too early."
Giacomo grimaced. "I think my body thinks it's time to get up for school."
Jack grimaced too, then listened carefully to see if Ianto was moving around upstairs. He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Shall we sneak some sweets?" he asked, "Before Ianto gets up and tells us off, and before Ian can come down and demand some?"
After Giacomo grinned and nodded vigorously, Jack licked his lips and turned to the Sweetie Cupboard, as it was known. Ianto had gone so far as to put a fingerprint recognition seal on it so that Giacomo couldn't sneak any without permission. Jack could open it, and they both eyed the tin greedily.
Then, of course, they hit their first problem.
Jack was no longer tall enough to actually reach the tin. He jumped a few times, trying to reach the back of the top shelf, his fingers brushing the round tin - specifically chosen becuase it would be harder to get a grip on it if you weren't tall enough - and pushing it further into the depths of the cupboard.
"No worries," Jack assured Giacomo, "I'll get a dining chair."
He returned with one of the chairs, set it by the cupboard and climbed up onto it, reached down the tin and popped off the lid. He stared into it. "It's empty," he pouted, and showed Giacomo as he returned his attention to the top shelf again. It was bare. He stuck his head in. "Where else could he have hidden the good stuff?" he asked, his voice echoing around his head. He tucked his hair behind his ear, reaching into the cupboard to pat down the top, the sides and the back to see if he could find anything. He paused when he realised that Giacomo hadn't answered his question.
Jack extracted his head from the cupboard and leaned back to peer around the open door.
Of course, Bloody Ianto was stood in the entranceway to the kitchen, leaning on the door frame with his arms folded and eyebrow raised. Jack was semi-relieved that the eyebrow seemed amused for the moment.
"Well, well, well," Ianto smiled, "And they say that women are more mature."
Jack stuck his tongue out to make a point. Ianto sighed, the kitchen chef pinging an alert to telll them it had finished the bacon sandwiches.
"What are you doing down here anyway?" Jack asked, changing the subject as he climbed down from the chair, "I told you I was fetching breakfast."
"My Ianto Senses were tingling," he shrugged in reply, "And you," he said to Giacomo, "You shouldn't encourage him."
Giacomo nodded sullenly.
"How did you know it was my idea?" asked Jack.
"Because Giacomo has a sense of discipline," smirked Ianto, getting a tray out.
Jack bit his lip, keeping his comment about Ianto being allowed to discipline him all he wanted to himself. Ianto eye caught his with a twinkle, and they both knew they were thinking the same thing. Immediately, they both started sniggering to themselves.
Giacomo's eyes flicked between them. "Something's changed."
"Yes," nodded Ianto, "Daddy's a lady now."
Giacomo rolled his eyes in a very Ianto-like fashion. "No," he groaned, "I mean ... Something's changed."
Jack shrugged and smiled, picking up the tray with the sandwiches on and beginning to head up the stairs. Ianto watched him go, noticing the additional sway of hips that was probably for his benefit, then sighed. "Put that chair back in the dining room," he told Giacomo, "Do you want some toast?"
Giacomo nodded a 'yes, please' and took the chair back. He returned to find a glass of orange juice, a glass of milk, two mugs of coffee, some toast and some cereal on a tray in Ianto's hands.
"Breakfast in bed with us?" Ianto offered, and Giacomo grinned.
They made their way up stairs, climbed onto the bed and got themselves comfortable. Jack had already begun on his sandwich in fear of it growing legs and walking away, and utched up a little so that Giacomo could sit in the middle of him and Ianto before remembering he didn't need to now that he was about three quarters of his usual width.
Ianto left them both munching to fetch Ian, who blearily sat cross-legged at the end of the bed and munched down his cereal, watching the others. When he'd had enough of his breakfast, he plonked it on the tray and crawled over to try and sit on Jack's lap.
"Hang on," Jack complained, rescuing his sandwich plate before it toppled onto the floor. "There we go," he smiled, putting a supporting arm around Ian's shoulders, "Comfortable?"
Ian nodded, then stuck his tongue out at Giacomo while Ianto and Jack were oblivious, either cooing over Ian or moving the tray of empty plates from the bed. Ianto eventually got out of bed to put the tray on the dresser, and when he climbed back in Giacomo instantly cuddled up close, clingy.
"What's up?" Ianto asked, hugging him and rubbing his back.
"Nothing," Giacomo insisted, "Just wanted a cuddle."
Jack pouted. "I'm here, too," he pointed out whilst trying to get Ian to stop wriggling.
"Yeah," Giacomo nodded, "But you'll be okay. You've got Ian."
"I'll do you a swap," grinned Jack, "You have your brother; I'll have my Ianto."
Both Giacomo and Ianto rolled their eyes, though both with very different intent. Ianto's eye-roll was good natured. Giacomo looked annoyed, like Jack wasn't quite getting the point.
"Heyyy," Jack tried, "Hey, 'Lil Jack - what's up?"
"Don't call me that!" Giacomo snapped, throwing back the covers and getting out of bed. He stormed out of the room. "I'm not little!"
"Don't talk to your Dad like that," Ianto called after him, then sighed and relaxed back into the bed. Ian clambered off Jack's lap to sit in the middle of them.
"Giacomo's silly," he scowled.
Ianto shook his head. "Giacomo's heading for the teen years, is all."
Jack stroked his fingers through Ian's hair absently as he lost himself in thought. Ianto eventually began to drift off to sleep in the quiet, and Ian was already dozing.
"Did I do something wrong?" Jack eventually worried out loud.
Ianto cracked an eye open. "I think Giacomo might be feeling a little left out," he supposed, "Maybe you and he should have some quality Father and Son time? Or ... mother and son time ... Whatever."
"I'll take him shopping for art materials," decided Jack.
"Not just that. Something for him to remember. I dunno - just play football with him, or take him out for a meal or something. Take him driving. Have a think about it."
Jack nodded.
"Okay: I will."
~*~*~*~
The day after next, Giacomo Harkness-Jones was stood in the middle of a forest, wearing khakis, a helmet that was too big and holding a paintball gun.
"Dad, I don't feel comfortable," he said.
Jack stopped messing with his breast protecting armour for a moment. "Me neither, but it'll be okay. You've got your cup, right?"
Giacomo hopped his weight from foot to foot. "Yeah. But ... I dunno. I've not done paintballing before."
Somebody wolf-whistled at Jack, and he spun angrily, long hair flicking out as he did. "I'm with my son," he snapped, "Learn some boundaries, titface."
The guy held his hands up, unashamedly still checking him out. Jack sighed. "If he tries anything again, he'll be wishing Ianto was here to stop me pumelling him into the dirt."
"I'm here," Giacomo reminded him, "And I don't think pumelling him into the dirt would be a good idea. I don't mind, Dad. I know everybody looks at you."
"Yes, but it's different when I'm with you. With you I'm supposed to be Dad, not Jack."
"So ... being my Dad isn't part of who you are?"
Jack curled a finger under Giacomo's chin. "When you have your own children, you'll understand what I mean," he promised. He crouched down so that he was at eye level with him. "Being your Dad is a huge part of who I am - one of the hugest. But is who you are with me the same as you are with your friends?" he asked, "Is who you are with me the same as you are with Ophelia?"
Giacomo turned crimson, stared at the floor and then shook his head. "I understand," he said.
Jack patted his shoulder and stood up. "Y'know ... it's been a while since we've seen Ophelia ..."
Giacomo shrugged, then tried to scratch his hair through his helmet. "I think she's sad I'm going to New Paris," he said, "She doesn't wanna play out any more. I don't mind so much. I'm not giving up Louvre for a girl."
"Even a very pretty purple girl who's been your best friend since we left the School?"
"She doesn't like me like that anyway," Giacomo told him, staring at the leaves under his feet, "Besides, she's purple and wears green. It clashes." His helmet fell forward a bit, and he had to push it back before he could see. "Dad - I'm really uncomfortable."
Jack's brow furrowed, then removed his own helmet. "Are you trying to tell me you don't want to go paintballing?"
"I ... uh ... Yeah."
Jack shrugged, then helped Giacomo off with his helmet. "We'll find something else to do, then," he grinned.
"Oh, good!" Giacomo replied, relieved, "I can get out of this khaki."
Jack started leading him from the waiting area to the changing room, and as they approached the cabin there was another wolf-whistle and a group of men and women laughed and made appreciative sounds.
One of the guys referred to Jack as a 'Yummy Mummy'.
Jack sighed. "Hey," he called to him, "I hope you're wearing a cup."
He fired his paintball gun, and his harrasser doubled over and retched, clutching his balls.
"Ah. Apparently you're not," Jack smugly said, proud of his true shot. Giacomo was staring at the man on the ground.
"Wanna borrow my cup?" he called, "I think it would just about fit you now!"
Jack turned to him, a tear of pride welling up in his eye.
Nonchalantly, they both went and got changed, got some ice cream, went shopping, then started thinking about heading home.
~*~*~*~
"Well?" asked Ianto, Ian upside down by his ankles in his arms, screaming. "Who won?"
"Neither of us," Jack answered, hanging up his jacket, "We had ice cream and did some shopping instead."
Ianto bit his tongue. "Oh." He wrestled Ian onto the Naughty Step as the child tried to get to his woman-shaped Daddy. "No," Ianto firmly said, "You can have your Daddy when you've sat on this step for five minutes ..."
Giacomo and Jack slipped past the commotion on the stairs with their shopping bags and made their way to the living room. They started pulling their shopping out of the bags as Ianto came back in and slammed the door shut, rested his forehead on it and started breathing deeply and counting to ten. He let out a big rush of air.
"He. Is. Hell," he forced out, "God - he's going to take a lot of work, and I don't know if I'm up to it. Am I too young to say I'm too old for this?"
"A bit," Jack nodded, then changed the subject. "Look at what we've bought," he said, and started tugging a dress out of a bag. Ianto seemed to properly notice the number of bags for the first time.
"You ... Oh ... I see. You went shopping. We have no income, and you went shopping?"
"I'll get a job," Jack insisted, waving away Ianto's concerns.
Ianto sighed, and joined them on the couch. He soon found that he was actually rather enjoying himself, laughing at the cheap dresses Jack had bought and wondering what half the strange little tubes and discs of make up were for. He even tried putting some on Jack's face, then Giacomo sat patiently still while they both plastered brightly coloured eyeshadow on him, thick black eyeliner and bright red cheeks. Ian was eventually allowed to poke his head in, too, and after quite a bit of wrestling they managed to get Ianto to hold still long enough for a make over of his own.
They were picking out dresses next, and Ianto nearly cried laughing as Giacomo began doing impressions of Jack shopping.
"Does this blue bring out my eyes?" he asked Ianto, batting his eyelids, pretending Ianto was the hot Latino shop assisstant Jack had taken a liking to, hypocrisy be damned.
"You'll have black eyes in a minute, love," Ianto chided, squeezing Giacomo's nose so that he wound up snorting through his mouth before he could bat the hand away.
A short while later, Giacomo and Ian were in bed, and Jack and Ianto were sat in the bath in their en suite. Jack was happily settled between Ianto's legs, leaning back against his chest and letting his head loll. "He's so much like you sometimes," Jack sighed, the hot water making him sleepy.
"Hmm?"
"Giacomo."
"You think so?"
"He looks like me, but he's more like you. All dry wit and cleverness - and he does the eyebrow thing."
Jack twisted around to look at him, and obligingly Ianto raised an eyebrow amusedly. "This thing?"
"Mmhmmm," Jack smiled, twisting a little more so that he could kiss Ianto's lips comfortably. He rearranged himself so that he was lying on his side, head on Ianto's chest and arms around his middle. "It's strange being so ... small," he admitted, "I nearly got stuck in between the sofa and the wall trying to get Ian out from behind it."
"What was he doing behind the sofa?"
Jack shrugged.
"You should have just left him. He'd have come out on his own."
"I was thinking about leaving a plate of cheese in the middle of the living room floor ... But seriously, though. I don't know what's wrong with him. Giacomo was never like this - and I don't think I was."
Ianto decided not to mention the fact Jack couldn't remember who his mother was, never mind what he might have been like as a child. He settled on resting a hand on Jack's head comfortingly. "Elaine isn't entirely blameless," he said.
Jack sighed heavily, making a sound of agreement. "Hopefully you'll have him whipped into shape by the time he goes home."
"Five weeks and two days. Not that I'm counting."
Chuckling, Jack nuzzled Ianto's skin. "It'll get better."
"Mmmm," he agreed, "I just hate being the evil step-dad all the time."
"You're Giacomo's step-dad, too, and far from evil. If Ian would behave ..."
"Yeah ... suppose," Ianto replied as he smiled to himself. He ran his hand down from Jack's head, over his shoulder, down his side and to the curve of his hip. He felt the bump of the chip embedded there that would activate its small, green LED light should Jack fall pregnant. It had become Ianto's habit already to check it every five minutes or so.
"You're doing it again," sighed Jack, batting Ianto's hand away with a small chuckle.
"My sister had a coil baby and an injection baby. I don't trust contraceptives easily."
"I daresay in the past six billion years things have improved."
"Google most certainly has," Ianto told him, "And I used it to learn all about your contraceptives. That nought-point-nought-two per cent chance niggles at my mind - I bought condoms so that I only have to trust your injection if they break."
Jack blew air onto Ianto's skin, watching as it pimpled. "Speaking of contraception ..." he began, "I'd say it's been about year since I last asked ..."
"Ahhh no, Jack. Look at our whole situation - relationship-wise, finance-wise ... No babies. Not yet."
"Okay," Jack agreed glumly, "I'll ask you again in another year, then?"
Ianto flinched slightly. "Yeah," he replied, strained, "Another year."
"You'll be thirty then," Jack reminded him tracing a circle on his chest with a finger.
"I'm sure I won't have to worry about the menapause."
"Ianto ... I'm starting to think ... I'm starting to think you haven't been being entirely honest with me."
"How so?" Ianto asked, noticing Jack was avoiding his eyes.
"I ... I'm starting to think that you're going to say 'ask me again in a year' every year until you die, and not just come out and say what you really want because you think that it will hurt my feelings."
They made eye contact for a brief moment, and Jack searched Ianto's face. Ianto swallowed.
Jack disentangled himself, and with a large slosh of water got out of the bath and headed straight into the bedroom with a towel. Ianto took a moment to breathe deeply, then pulled out the plug and followed.
The hairdryer started, and Ianto sighed, towel-drying himself and scrubbing his own hair until it was only damp. He hoped it would be a sign of truce that he chose to climb into bed naked, and leaned back on his hands, sat up straight as he waited. Finally, Jack finished tossing his hair around then knelt on the bed beside Ianto, kissing him without saying anything and moving to straddle his waist.
Jack was more than happy to let Ianto lie back and enjoy himself, keeping to a careful pace and watching the sweat glistening over Ianto's body as they both drew closer. With shuddering gasps they both came, and Jack lay on his side to watch Ianto take off the condom and throw it in the bin. They tickled each other with kisses for a few moments in their afterglow, but as they returned to normal they both rolled onto their backs and stared at the ceiling a moment.
"Ianto?"
"Mmm?"
"Was I right?"
"What about?"
"You were just ... fobbing me off? Another year, another year, another year ..."
Ianto drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, giving himself time to formulate an answer. "I don't know," he replied honestly, "Maybe. I couldn't say 'no' because there's no possible way of knowing where my head will be in a year's time, but I couldn't say 'yes' because ... well, because I didn't want one."
Jack frowned at the ceiling a moment. "So ... that's a 'maybe' all around, then?"
With a sigh, Ianto leaned over and switched off the bedroom light and got himself comfortable with an arm over Jack's middle.
"Ask me again in a year," he replied.
~*~*~*~
One of the positives, Ianto mused, of Jack now having a female body, was that he was small enough for Ianto to simply lift and move away from whatever mischeif he was getting himself up to. After deciding to employ the tactic earlier that day, the house suddenly seemed much easier to keep clean, albeit Ian's occasional rampages, and Ianto's stress levels were probably confused as to why they seemed to be on a constant level rather than jumping all over the place.
Ianto tossed Jack onto the bed and dived on after him. Leaning down, he languidly kissed Jack's mouth for a few moments before pulling away. "Kids are asleep," he smiled.
Jack grinned, his eyebrows quirking. "Is a repeat of last night on the cards?"
Ianto knelt up, his knees straddling Jack's hips. He ran his eyes over the female body, gently dragging his finger down over Jack's collar bone, down between his breasts and stroking over his belly button. "It's strange," he mused, "It's like having a faithful affair. I feel guilty for liking this body, y'know? Even though it's you."
"Do you prefer this to my old one?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.
"While both bodies have their advantges, this is definitely just a novelty." He sighed and lay down beside Jack, resting his eyes and putting one arm behind his head. He sensed Jack's gaze on him, and cracked one eye open. They looked at each other curiously for a second, then realisation dawned for Ianto. "Oh no," he laughed, "I'm not changing too. I've been a woman before, and I fucking hated it."
"But it's fun," grinned Jack, "And we could look at each other naked."
"We could do that when we're men, too," Ianto pointed out.
"What about oral sex?"
"I'm sure I remember you sucking my cock, and me sucking yours."
"But Ianto ... when we were men, we didn't have clits."
"Can't you just be thankful I know where yours currently is and be happy with that?"
"Can't you imagine it, though, Ianto?" Jack sighed wistfully, "No recovery time; just on to the next orgasm."
"I don't need to imagine it," Ianto informed him, "I've been there, done that, got a very wet t-shirt."
They both lay there next to each other, staring at the ceiling and lost in thought. Eventually, Jack turned over onto his side and rested his head on Ianto's shoulder and curled an arm over his waist. "Ianto?"
"Mmhmm?"
"I've decided on a job."
Ianto smiled down at him. "Oh?"
"I'll need you, though. I'll need you to support me. It'll be as much your effort as mine."
Ianto frowned. "Go on?"
Jack swallowed, as if he wasn't entirely sure Ianto would like the idea at all. "I want to run for city rep on the North West council."
"Huh?"
"I want to go into politics."
"But Jack-"
"It'd be you, really, though. Behind every great man is the lover that made him do his paperwork and that. You're the brains, I'm the braun. Together we could actually make peoples' lives better."
Ianto sat up, his brow creasing, and Jack sat up with him. Ianto ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up at odd angles. "I'm guessing the North West council isn't the height of your ambitions?"
"England rep, UK rep, Senator for Earth."
"Yeah, Jack. Your dreams were always small like that." Ianto flopped back down onto the bed.
"We can do it," Jack insisted, "I know we can."
"Won't people notice you don't age?"
Jack shrugged. "I'll claim to be hybrid."
"Hybrid with what? Botox?"
Jack lay down and curled onto his side. "Forget I said anything."
"Oh, c'mon, Jack. You know how this sounds."
"I said 'forget it'."
"You have no political experience, no proper policy, no idea about political law. It won't work."
"Shut up, Ianto," Jack snapped, "You have no idea even half of what I can do."
"You think you'll be a great leader?" Ianto snapped back, "Really? What's fiscal drag, Jack? What's progressive taxation? What's Okun's Law and gross domestic product?"
Jack didn't reply, and Ianto got the feeling he was lucky Jack's intense glaring couldn't burn holes in walls. Getting out of bed, Ianto started undressing and changing into his pyjamas. The silence seemed to have grown its own consciousness and was pressing in on them at all sides, and Ianto cast around for a subject to break the silence with. Jack got there first, though.
"I want some clothes that fit," he said flatly, sitting up and getting off the bed, taking off the dress he'd been wearing that day. It had been from a charity shop and hung like sack. "Oh no wait," Jack chastised himself, "We have no income, currently. How will I afford it?"
Ianto turned. "I'll sell the Jupiter, shall I?" he suggested, and when Jack's face went sour he continued with what he was doing.
"You can't sell the car," Jack retorted, "It's in my name. Oh - hang on a second: Look at everything around you. It's all in my name. Everything you 'have', everything you 'own' - would you look at that? It actually belongs to me."
Ianto folded his arms. "That's wonderful for you," he replied smoothly, "But guess what? I'm Ianto Jones. I'm not in your name, and you most certainly don't pull the 'material possession' card with me if you want me to stick around."
"Of course you'll stick around," Jack snorted, "What else have you got? Even Rhys has moved on from you!"
Ianto felt like Jack had physically hit him. He pressed his lips together in a thin line, raising his chin defiantly. "You speak to me like that again," he said, "And I'm taking Giacomo, and I'm leaving."
It was Jack's turn to set his jaw. He pulled himself up to the fullest height he could. "He's not your son to take."
Ianto was across the room in an instant, Jack's back thudding against the wall. "Who fed him, washed him, clothed him?" Ianto demanded with a hiss, "Who raised him, Jack? Who went to his sports days? Who went to the parent's evenings? Who comforted him when he cried? Who spent the last three years assuring him for nights on end that his father does remember he exists?"
Jack swung for him, his nails leaving deep scratches from Ianto's shoulder and across his chest.
Ianto stared at the tiny specks of blood peeping out through the cracks in his skin for a second, then turned his attention coldly back to Jack. "He's not your son," he hissed, "He's your accident - just another of your mistakes I'm left to clean up after."
Jack launched at him with a feral sound and they both tumbled down, Ianto glancing his back off the end of the bed and probably bruising it. They squirmed and rolled, scrapping on the bedroom floor, kicking, biting and scratching until Jack managed to flip them so that he was on top, then landed the heaviest punch he could on the side of Ianto's face. Ianto gasped in pain, struggling to shove Jack off as the fist raised again until they both froze at a new sound in the room.
They both turned their heads at the same time, seeing Ian stood in the doorway, tears rolling down his face. Behind him, holding him back with white knuckles clutching his pyjama top, was a pale and shocked-looking Giacomo.
"Why?" he asked them, and slowly Jack and Ianto began to disentangle themselves. Giacomo's eyes followed Ianto's red cheek down to the scratch marks over his chest as Ian drew in another wracking sob.
"We were arguing," Jack winced as he stood, "Then it just escalated..."
"Fighting?"
"We ... ah ... we ... It was just ... Ianto?" Jack stuttered, his face flaming in shame, then noticing that Ianto had opened the wardrobe and was pulling a duffel bag down. "Ianto? What are you doing?"
"I can't look at you right now," he rasped, labouring his way over to the chest of drawers to get dressed, then packed a fews clean suits and shirts into a vaccuum bag and picked up a few essentials, feeling Jack's eyes boring into him the whole time. God, and things had been going so well ... Fuck - they'd even be talking about babies ...
Ianto tried to scoop Ian up so that he could put him back to bed before he left, but out of his stupor Ian was having none of it. He recoiled from him and darted past him to cling at Jack's legs. Ianto stared after him despondently, then sighed. Giacomo shot out of the room before he could say anything, and Jack was still searching for words.
"Don't go," he eventually said, "I ... I didn't mean ... I didn't mean what I said."
"I did," Ianto replied, putting the photograph of him, Jack and Giacomo from their first day in the house in his duffel and tying it up, "Just give me space."
"So ... So you'll be at Rhys' then? Like last time?" Jack asked, picking up Ian. "Don't go," he repeated.
Ianto ignored him, running over the list of everything he might need in his head and double checking it. Shouldering the bag, he began to head down the stairs. Jack followed him, Ian yawning and falling asleep on his shoulder. There was the creak of a door, and they both turned as Giacomo hurried down the stairs, fully dressed and wearing his own backpack. "I'm coming, too," he told them.
Jack blanched. "No, you're not."
"I am."
Ianto sighed - he never really went out that much, so his coat, as usual, was under everyone elses on the hooks. "Stay here with your father, Giacomo."
"No."
"Stay here," he repeated, sliding his arms into his coat. Giacomo ignored him, reaching for his own coat and slipping his feet into his shoes.
"I want to go with you."
Ianto pinched the bridge of his nose, then crouched down. "Your dad needs you to stay here with him. You stay here, and you look after him for me, okay?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm still six," Giacomo scowled, then he softened, "You need more looking after than he does."
Ianto wasn't quite sure what to reply to that, so hugged him instead. "You should still stay here," he muttered, "You're not mine to take," he said, repeated Jack's earlier statement loud enough for him to hear.
Giacomo pulled back from the hug, staring at Ianto a second. A calculation happened behind his eyes, and he glanced up at Jack. Jack couldn't meet his or Ianto's eyes. He turned back. "I'll just have to tag along then," he shrugged, though his voice cracked a tiny bit.
Jack's grip tightened on Ian as Ianto straightened up. "Why don't I just sleep on the sofa?" Jack offered, though his tone was flat, knowing it was a pointless suggestion.
Ianto didn't dignify it with a response as he wound a scarf around Giacomo's neck and considered digging out a hat and gloves. He figured they wouldn't be walking that long, so for the sake of a speedy departure they could forego them,
"Right," said Ianto, "We'll see you soon."
Jack watched as Ianto tugged Giacomo's hand into his own and set off out of the front door. Ian squirmed in his arms a little, fast asleep, and Jack cradled his head as he numbly and despondently watched the shapes of Ianto and Giacomo disappearing into the night.
Ian shivered in his arms, and Jack realised they'd been stood in the door way far too long. Ianto and Giacomo had been out of sight for a few minutes before Jack finally closed the door and took Ian up to his and Ianto's bedroom. Jack tucked him into the big bed and kissed his hair, wondering what he was supposed to do.
Giacomo hadn't even said goodbye to him.
Ianto's words echoed back, taunting Jack with only the memory. He's not your son, he hissed, he's your accident ...
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jack put his head in his hands and sniffed. Why had the argument started? Could he even remember?
Ah, yes. His wounded pride.
Talking about going into politics, and Ianto had tried to reason with him.
Jack scrubbed his wet face with the back of his hand. Stubborness made him continue to believe that that's what he wanted to do, even if it was just to prove to Ianto that he could. Prove to Ianto that he was more than what he thought he was.
Childishness was all fun and games until Ianto walked out into the night.
Carefully, Jack crawled into bed behind Ian, wiped his eyes on the pillow case and tried to get some sleep.
~*~*~*~
"Where are we going?" asked Giacomo.
"Erm ... I'm not sure," Ianto admitted distractedly, glancing around them.
"Oh ... Not Rhys', then?"
"Jack will look for us there in the morning."
"Oh."
Giacomo squeezed Ianto's hand a little tighter. "Everything'll be okay, won't it?"
"Of course it will," Ianto answered automatically, "Wasn't it just the other day I was telling you that Jack does a monumental amount of Stupid before he eventually gets to doing the right thing?"
Giacomo managed a chuckle. "Yeah," he smiled.
"Trust me. I know everything."
"... except where we're going."
"Shush."
Giacomo laughed, and Ianto caught his eye with an amused glint. "Warm enough?" he asked, pausing by the roadside to check nothing was coming.
"Yup."
"Good. We shouldn't be much longer - just let me make a phone call."
He took his phone out of his pocket, keeping hold of Giacomo's hand as they paused their hurrying.
"Ianto," Giacomo sighed, "You're doing it again."
"Huh? Oh, yeah." He'd been holding the phone to his ear, rather than holding it in front of him for the video call. Finally, it connected, and Ianto moved out of earshot of Giacomo to hold a private conversation with whomever was on the other end of the line. Giacomo watched him searching for a pen, then writing something on the back of his hand before thanking the contact and hanging up.
"Right," Ianto began, decisively, "We're heading this way."
Giacomo was a little reluctant. "That's rough down there, though. I'm not allowed to play down there."
"I know," Ianto nodded, "But you've got me with you. And we're not hanging around outside; we're just passing through, right?"
Giacomo slipped his hand back into Ianto's. "Don't wander off, okay?"
Ianto laughed, setting off walking again. "I won't."
"Where are we going?"
"To an old friend's house. An old friend Jack won't think to look for me with."
"You have friends who live around here?" Giacomo asked, hushed.
"Just the one - and a place doesn't define a person, Giacomo."
Giacomo said nothing, sticking close to Ianto's side and probably wishing he'd stayed at home and faced Jack's temper. Ianto checked the back of his hand as they walked, locating the right street amongst the houses that all looked exactly the same and hurrying along down it in large strides that Giacomo had to jog to keep up with.
Finally, they stopped outside a battered wooden door, and Ianto quietly knocked.
Gah! Masterlist is soooooo behind ...
That'll be my next job!
Things will get better in this fic, I promise! ;)
Please comment *big puppy eyes*. Doesn't take long, and means a lot!
Next Part | Previous Part | Torchwood Index/Masterlist
Chapter: 03|??
Author: a_silver_story
Rating: 18/Adult/NC-17 overall
Warnings: Smexy timez
Disclaimer: Anything recognisable to Torchood S1, 2 and 3 belongs to Russell T. Davies at the BBC. Now pass the Retcon, and drink it down with coffee.
Summary: Set five years after Another Life.
Another Life | Chapter One
To AnotherChapter 1 | Five Years Later
Ianto curled up on his side, pulling the duvet around him and trying to ignore Jack. He could hear the sound of the hairbrush as it was dragged through Jack's long, wavy hair, and the gentle shuffle of feet as he placed it back on the dresser then crawled into bed.
The mattress hardly dipped, and Ianto only felt his presence as vibrations through the bed.
A hand that was far too small squeezed his shoulder, and Ianto turned onto his back to look at him. "What?"
"I didn't think it'd be this big a deal."
"I don't give a shit if you're a man or a woman. You didn't talk to me about it first."
"I'm still Jack."
"That's more than obvious."
"It's only for a month."
"Why did you do it? Why?"
Jack sighed, lying down and pulling Ianto's arm around him so he could rest his head on his chest. "You might not miss sex," Jack said, "But I do."
"You think everything's going to be magically okay because you had yourself turned into a woman?"
"I don't see why it wouldn't," Jack reasoned, "It's not like women can suffer erectile dysfunction."
"That doesn't guarantee anything. Some women never even experience orgasm during sex ? Get your hand away from my dick."
Jack pouted and moved it back to Ianto's tummy. They were a quiet a moment.
"Ianto?"
"Mmm?"
"I asked them to keep my smile. Look."
Ianto found himself looking down straight into a smile just as Harknessian as the original. "Put those teeth away," he sighed, as good-naturedly as he could. "You're blinding me."
Jack leaned up a pressed a kiss to Ianto's mouth. He tried to linger, but Ianto broke away. "Goodnight, Jack," he said, closing his eyes and getting comfortable.
"Ianto-"
"I said 'goodnight'."
Jack lay his head down, not moving away from Ianto but closing his eyes. He was sleeping soundly after about half an hour, but Ianto couldn't switch his brain off.
He hated being from the 21st century sometimes. Jack had tried talking him through it, explaining that with today's technology all he'd really done was no different to borrowing a new coat for a bit, but he couldn't find it in himself to see it that way. He knew in his head he was probably, by current standards, 'overreacting', but he was still a 21st century man with twenty-five years of 21st century-ness behind him.
Carefully, Ianto turned over, making sure he didn't wake Jack. He watched him for a moment, concerned that he wasn't smiling in his sleep, then realised it was probably his fault. Gently, he pulled the covers down a little, just about making out the curves of Jack's body under his old t shirt and the gentle rise and fall of his breathing.
It was strange how much he still looked like Jack, despite his features now being soft and feminine rather than sharp and angular. Ianto brushed some of the long, brown hair off his face and let out a breath. Gently, he nudged Jack's shoulder.
"Jack?" he said softly, coaxing him awake.
Jack snuffled, then sat up straight. "What's wrong?" he asked, "Is someone in the house?" He squinted, his nose wrinkling a bit as he strained his ears to listen to the sounds of the house.
"No," Ianto shook his head, "I wanted to apologise."
Jack blinked the sleep from his eyes, then rubbed them. "Wha?"
"I'm sorry."
Jack leaned over and flicked on the bedside lamp. He lay back down, resting on one elbow and as close to Ianto as he could. "Say that again?"
Ianto rolled his eyes, and put his arms around Jack's small, alien shoulders. "I'm sorry."
"Ooh. It gives me chills," grinned Jack, "Say it again?"
Ianto poked him, the licked his lips with a quick movement of his tongue. "Can I ... look?" he asked.
Jack nodded, and started pulling the t-shirt off before Ianto stopped him. "Let me?" Jack conceded, letting go of the cotton as letting Ianto roll them both until Jack was on his back and Ianto was half on top of him. Jack swallowed, his mouth going dry, spotting the look that had finally made its way back into Ianto's eyes.
He relaxed, figthing the urge to put his hands behind his head as Ianto tugged his t-shirt up a little and began to kiss his way down his skin.
He was going to enjoy this.
~*~*~*~
Ianto rolled over and grunted awake when he collided with another warm body.
He lifted his head sharply and blinked a few times, squinting through the early morning sunlight streaming in through the curtains. Jack squinted back at him, then they both laughed awkwardly.
"Morning," smiled Jack.
"Morning," smiled Ianto.
He cleared his throat and started to get out of bed, thinking of breakfast, when Jack tugged his arm and pulled him back down. "Snuggle?" he asked, with big eyes and a tiny pout.
"Breakfast in bed?" Ianto countered, mimicking Jack's pout.
Jack seemed torn for a moment, then swallowed. "You stay in bed - I'll go and get breakfast."
Ianto shrugged. What was there to argue? He curled up under the duvet again, snuggly and warm while Jack got out and stretched. Ianto raised his head, watching him head downstairs in only his baggy, over-sized t-shirt. "Bacon sandwiches!" he shouted, recalling the last time Jack had fetched breakfast, and the strange fish and beef Swiss roll he had insisted was a delicacy. That may had been well over three years ago, but at least Ianto could learn to laugh about it now.
Downstairs, Jack stood before the complicated bit of machinery that he'd bought to replace the oven Ianto had broken trying to dismantle its self-cleaning mechanism. It was an 'all-in-one', so to speak, that was a fridge, a freezer, pantry, oven, grill, steamer, barbecue, dishwasher and chef all at the same time. The only thing Jack had to do was tell the machine what he wanted, and out would come bacon sandwiches, cooked perfectly to his and Ianto's logged preferences.
Jack stood before the control panel, arms folded as he glared at it. Eventually, he reached out and touched 'Start Again'.
Right ... Food, Breakfast, Hot Breakfast, Containing Meat, Containing Pig, Containing Bacon, Containing Back Bacon ...
Jack growled at the impossibly long list of breakfast combinations that included bacon, wondering how he was supposed to locate 'Bacon Sandwiches' on the endlessly scrolling screen. He heard a tired yawn behind him, and glanced over to the kitchen door.
"Morning, Dad," Giacomo smiled, yawning again. "Why are you still not at work?"
"I've got a holiday."
"Really? You didn't put it on the calendar."
"It's a surprise holiday. My boss says I work too hard."
Giacomo yawned yet again. "I agree," he mumbled, then wandered closer to the kitchen chef. "What are you trying to do?" he frowned.
"Get breakfast for Ianto and me," Jack sighed, then rubbed his face. "I have no idea how to work this thing. I just want bacon sandwiches - is that too much to ask?"
"Do it like this," Giacomo told him, reaching out and touching 'Start Again', then on the first menu screen touching a square in the bottom right with a 'V' in the middle. "Two bacon sandwiches," he enunciated clearly. The computer showed an hourglass for a moment, then the screen flashed green, coming up with some options. Giacomo touched 'Household', then 'Jack', and then 'Ianto'. "There you go," he grinned, "Two bacon sandwiches, made to your and Ianto's preferences."
Jack ruffled his hair. "What are you doing up, anyway? It's far too early."
Giacomo grimaced. "I think my body thinks it's time to get up for school."
Jack grimaced too, then listened carefully to see if Ianto was moving around upstairs. He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Shall we sneak some sweets?" he asked, "Before Ianto gets up and tells us off, and before Ian can come down and demand some?"
After Giacomo grinned and nodded vigorously, Jack licked his lips and turned to the Sweetie Cupboard, as it was known. Ianto had gone so far as to put a fingerprint recognition seal on it so that Giacomo couldn't sneak any without permission. Jack could open it, and they both eyed the tin greedily.
Then, of course, they hit their first problem.
Jack was no longer tall enough to actually reach the tin. He jumped a few times, trying to reach the back of the top shelf, his fingers brushing the round tin - specifically chosen becuase it would be harder to get a grip on it if you weren't tall enough - and pushing it further into the depths of the cupboard.
"No worries," Jack assured Giacomo, "I'll get a dining chair."
He returned with one of the chairs, set it by the cupboard and climbed up onto it, reached down the tin and popped off the lid. He stared into it. "It's empty," he pouted, and showed Giacomo as he returned his attention to the top shelf again. It was bare. He stuck his head in. "Where else could he have hidden the good stuff?" he asked, his voice echoing around his head. He tucked his hair behind his ear, reaching into the cupboard to pat down the top, the sides and the back to see if he could find anything. He paused when he realised that Giacomo hadn't answered his question.
Jack extracted his head from the cupboard and leaned back to peer around the open door.
Of course, Bloody Ianto was stood in the entranceway to the kitchen, leaning on the door frame with his arms folded and eyebrow raised. Jack was semi-relieved that the eyebrow seemed amused for the moment.
"Well, well, well," Ianto smiled, "And they say that women are more mature."
Jack stuck his tongue out to make a point. Ianto sighed, the kitchen chef pinging an alert to telll them it had finished the bacon sandwiches.
"What are you doing down here anyway?" Jack asked, changing the subject as he climbed down from the chair, "I told you I was fetching breakfast."
"My Ianto Senses were tingling," he shrugged in reply, "And you," he said to Giacomo, "You shouldn't encourage him."
Giacomo nodded sullenly.
"How did you know it was my idea?" asked Jack.
"Because Giacomo has a sense of discipline," smirked Ianto, getting a tray out.
Jack bit his lip, keeping his comment about Ianto being allowed to discipline him all he wanted to himself. Ianto eye caught his with a twinkle, and they both knew they were thinking the same thing. Immediately, they both started sniggering to themselves.
Giacomo's eyes flicked between them. "Something's changed."
"Yes," nodded Ianto, "Daddy's a lady now."
Giacomo rolled his eyes in a very Ianto-like fashion. "No," he groaned, "I mean ... Something's changed."
Jack shrugged and smiled, picking up the tray with the sandwiches on and beginning to head up the stairs. Ianto watched him go, noticing the additional sway of hips that was probably for his benefit, then sighed. "Put that chair back in the dining room," he told Giacomo, "Do you want some toast?"
Giacomo nodded a 'yes, please' and took the chair back. He returned to find a glass of orange juice, a glass of milk, two mugs of coffee, some toast and some cereal on a tray in Ianto's hands.
"Breakfast in bed with us?" Ianto offered, and Giacomo grinned.
They made their way up stairs, climbed onto the bed and got themselves comfortable. Jack had already begun on his sandwich in fear of it growing legs and walking away, and utched up a little so that Giacomo could sit in the middle of him and Ianto before remembering he didn't need to now that he was about three quarters of his usual width.
Ianto left them both munching to fetch Ian, who blearily sat cross-legged at the end of the bed and munched down his cereal, watching the others. When he'd had enough of his breakfast, he plonked it on the tray and crawled over to try and sit on Jack's lap.
"Hang on," Jack complained, rescuing his sandwich plate before it toppled onto the floor. "There we go," he smiled, putting a supporting arm around Ian's shoulders, "Comfortable?"
Ian nodded, then stuck his tongue out at Giacomo while Ianto and Jack were oblivious, either cooing over Ian or moving the tray of empty plates from the bed. Ianto eventually got out of bed to put the tray on the dresser, and when he climbed back in Giacomo instantly cuddled up close, clingy.
"What's up?" Ianto asked, hugging him and rubbing his back.
"Nothing," Giacomo insisted, "Just wanted a cuddle."
Jack pouted. "I'm here, too," he pointed out whilst trying to get Ian to stop wriggling.
"Yeah," Giacomo nodded, "But you'll be okay. You've got Ian."
"I'll do you a swap," grinned Jack, "You have your brother; I'll have my Ianto."
Both Giacomo and Ianto rolled their eyes, though both with very different intent. Ianto's eye-roll was good natured. Giacomo looked annoyed, like Jack wasn't quite getting the point.
"Heyyy," Jack tried, "Hey, 'Lil Jack - what's up?"
"Don't call me that!" Giacomo snapped, throwing back the covers and getting out of bed. He stormed out of the room. "I'm not little!"
"Don't talk to your Dad like that," Ianto called after him, then sighed and relaxed back into the bed. Ian clambered off Jack's lap to sit in the middle of them.
"Giacomo's silly," he scowled.
Ianto shook his head. "Giacomo's heading for the teen years, is all."
Jack stroked his fingers through Ian's hair absently as he lost himself in thought. Ianto eventually began to drift off to sleep in the quiet, and Ian was already dozing.
"Did I do something wrong?" Jack eventually worried out loud.
Ianto cracked an eye open. "I think Giacomo might be feeling a little left out," he supposed, "Maybe you and he should have some quality Father and Son time? Or ... mother and son time ... Whatever."
"I'll take him shopping for art materials," decided Jack.
"Not just that. Something for him to remember. I dunno - just play football with him, or take him out for a meal or something. Take him driving. Have a think about it."
Jack nodded.
"Okay: I will."
~*~*~*~
The day after next, Giacomo Harkness-Jones was stood in the middle of a forest, wearing khakis, a helmet that was too big and holding a paintball gun.
"Dad, I don't feel comfortable," he said.
Jack stopped messing with his breast protecting armour for a moment. "Me neither, but it'll be okay. You've got your cup, right?"
Giacomo hopped his weight from foot to foot. "Yeah. But ... I dunno. I've not done paintballing before."
Somebody wolf-whistled at Jack, and he spun angrily, long hair flicking out as he did. "I'm with my son," he snapped, "Learn some boundaries, titface."
The guy held his hands up, unashamedly still checking him out. Jack sighed. "If he tries anything again, he'll be wishing Ianto was here to stop me pumelling him into the dirt."
"I'm here," Giacomo reminded him, "And I don't think pumelling him into the dirt would be a good idea. I don't mind, Dad. I know everybody looks at you."
"Yes, but it's different when I'm with you. With you I'm supposed to be Dad, not Jack."
"So ... being my Dad isn't part of who you are?"
Jack curled a finger under Giacomo's chin. "When you have your own children, you'll understand what I mean," he promised. He crouched down so that he was at eye level with him. "Being your Dad is a huge part of who I am - one of the hugest. But is who you are with me the same as you are with your friends?" he asked, "Is who you are with me the same as you are with Ophelia?"
Giacomo turned crimson, stared at the floor and then shook his head. "I understand," he said.
Jack patted his shoulder and stood up. "Y'know ... it's been a while since we've seen Ophelia ..."
Giacomo shrugged, then tried to scratch his hair through his helmet. "I think she's sad I'm going to New Paris," he said, "She doesn't wanna play out any more. I don't mind so much. I'm not giving up Louvre for a girl."
"Even a very pretty purple girl who's been your best friend since we left the School?"
"She doesn't like me like that anyway," Giacomo told him, staring at the leaves under his feet, "Besides, she's purple and wears green. It clashes." His helmet fell forward a bit, and he had to push it back before he could see. "Dad - I'm really uncomfortable."
Jack's brow furrowed, then removed his own helmet. "Are you trying to tell me you don't want to go paintballing?"
"I ... uh ... Yeah."
Jack shrugged, then helped Giacomo off with his helmet. "We'll find something else to do, then," he grinned.
"Oh, good!" Giacomo replied, relieved, "I can get out of this khaki."
Jack started leading him from the waiting area to the changing room, and as they approached the cabin there was another wolf-whistle and a group of men and women laughed and made appreciative sounds.
One of the guys referred to Jack as a 'Yummy Mummy'.
Jack sighed. "Hey," he called to him, "I hope you're wearing a cup."
He fired his paintball gun, and his harrasser doubled over and retched, clutching his balls.
"Ah. Apparently you're not," Jack smugly said, proud of his true shot. Giacomo was staring at the man on the ground.
"Wanna borrow my cup?" he called, "I think it would just about fit you now!"
Jack turned to him, a tear of pride welling up in his eye.
Nonchalantly, they both went and got changed, got some ice cream, went shopping, then started thinking about heading home.
~*~*~*~
"Well?" asked Ianto, Ian upside down by his ankles in his arms, screaming. "Who won?"
"Neither of us," Jack answered, hanging up his jacket, "We had ice cream and did some shopping instead."
Ianto bit his tongue. "Oh." He wrestled Ian onto the Naughty Step as the child tried to get to his woman-shaped Daddy. "No," Ianto firmly said, "You can have your Daddy when you've sat on this step for five minutes ..."
Giacomo and Jack slipped past the commotion on the stairs with their shopping bags and made their way to the living room. They started pulling their shopping out of the bags as Ianto came back in and slammed the door shut, rested his forehead on it and started breathing deeply and counting to ten. He let out a big rush of air.
"He. Is. Hell," he forced out, "God - he's going to take a lot of work, and I don't know if I'm up to it. Am I too young to say I'm too old for this?"
"A bit," Jack nodded, then changed the subject. "Look at what we've bought," he said, and started tugging a dress out of a bag. Ianto seemed to properly notice the number of bags for the first time.
"You ... Oh ... I see. You went shopping. We have no income, and you went shopping?"
"I'll get a job," Jack insisted, waving away Ianto's concerns.
Ianto sighed, and joined them on the couch. He soon found that he was actually rather enjoying himself, laughing at the cheap dresses Jack had bought and wondering what half the strange little tubes and discs of make up were for. He even tried putting some on Jack's face, then Giacomo sat patiently still while they both plastered brightly coloured eyeshadow on him, thick black eyeliner and bright red cheeks. Ian was eventually allowed to poke his head in, too, and after quite a bit of wrestling they managed to get Ianto to hold still long enough for a make over of his own.
They were picking out dresses next, and Ianto nearly cried laughing as Giacomo began doing impressions of Jack shopping.
"Does this blue bring out my eyes?" he asked Ianto, batting his eyelids, pretending Ianto was the hot Latino shop assisstant Jack had taken a liking to, hypocrisy be damned.
"You'll have black eyes in a minute, love," Ianto chided, squeezing Giacomo's nose so that he wound up snorting through his mouth before he could bat the hand away.
A short while later, Giacomo and Ian were in bed, and Jack and Ianto were sat in the bath in their en suite. Jack was happily settled between Ianto's legs, leaning back against his chest and letting his head loll. "He's so much like you sometimes," Jack sighed, the hot water making him sleepy.
"Hmm?"
"Giacomo."
"You think so?"
"He looks like me, but he's more like you. All dry wit and cleverness - and he does the eyebrow thing."
Jack twisted around to look at him, and obligingly Ianto raised an eyebrow amusedly. "This thing?"
"Mmhmmm," Jack smiled, twisting a little more so that he could kiss Ianto's lips comfortably. He rearranged himself so that he was lying on his side, head on Ianto's chest and arms around his middle. "It's strange being so ... small," he admitted, "I nearly got stuck in between the sofa and the wall trying to get Ian out from behind it."
"What was he doing behind the sofa?"
Jack shrugged.
"You should have just left him. He'd have come out on his own."
"I was thinking about leaving a plate of cheese in the middle of the living room floor ... But seriously, though. I don't know what's wrong with him. Giacomo was never like this - and I don't think I was."
Ianto decided not to mention the fact Jack couldn't remember who his mother was, never mind what he might have been like as a child. He settled on resting a hand on Jack's head comfortingly. "Elaine isn't entirely blameless," he said.
Jack sighed heavily, making a sound of agreement. "Hopefully you'll have him whipped into shape by the time he goes home."
"Five weeks and two days. Not that I'm counting."
Chuckling, Jack nuzzled Ianto's skin. "It'll get better."
"Mmmm," he agreed, "I just hate being the evil step-dad all the time."
"You're Giacomo's step-dad, too, and far from evil. If Ian would behave ..."
"Yeah ... suppose," Ianto replied as he smiled to himself. He ran his hand down from Jack's head, over his shoulder, down his side and to the curve of his hip. He felt the bump of the chip embedded there that would activate its small, green LED light should Jack fall pregnant. It had become Ianto's habit already to check it every five minutes or so.
"You're doing it again," sighed Jack, batting Ianto's hand away with a small chuckle.
"My sister had a coil baby and an injection baby. I don't trust contraceptives easily."
"I daresay in the past six billion years things have improved."
"Google most certainly has," Ianto told him, "And I used it to learn all about your contraceptives. That nought-point-nought-two per cent chance niggles at my mind - I bought condoms so that I only have to trust your injection if they break."
Jack blew air onto Ianto's skin, watching as it pimpled. "Speaking of contraception ..." he began, "I'd say it's been about year since I last asked ..."
"Ahhh no, Jack. Look at our whole situation - relationship-wise, finance-wise ... No babies. Not yet."
"Okay," Jack agreed glumly, "I'll ask you again in another year, then?"
Ianto flinched slightly. "Yeah," he replied, strained, "Another year."
"You'll be thirty then," Jack reminded him tracing a circle on his chest with a finger.
"I'm sure I won't have to worry about the menapause."
"Ianto ... I'm starting to think ... I'm starting to think you haven't been being entirely honest with me."
"How so?" Ianto asked, noticing Jack was avoiding his eyes.
"I ... I'm starting to think that you're going to say 'ask me again in a year' every year until you die, and not just come out and say what you really want because you think that it will hurt my feelings."
They made eye contact for a brief moment, and Jack searched Ianto's face. Ianto swallowed.
Jack disentangled himself, and with a large slosh of water got out of the bath and headed straight into the bedroom with a towel. Ianto took a moment to breathe deeply, then pulled out the plug and followed.
The hairdryer started, and Ianto sighed, towel-drying himself and scrubbing his own hair until it was only damp. He hoped it would be a sign of truce that he chose to climb into bed naked, and leaned back on his hands, sat up straight as he waited. Finally, Jack finished tossing his hair around then knelt on the bed beside Ianto, kissing him without saying anything and moving to straddle his waist.
Jack was more than happy to let Ianto lie back and enjoy himself, keeping to a careful pace and watching the sweat glistening over Ianto's body as they both drew closer. With shuddering gasps they both came, and Jack lay on his side to watch Ianto take off the condom and throw it in the bin. They tickled each other with kisses for a few moments in their afterglow, but as they returned to normal they both rolled onto their backs and stared at the ceiling a moment.
"Ianto?"
"Mmm?"
"Was I right?"
"What about?"
"You were just ... fobbing me off? Another year, another year, another year ..."
Ianto drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, giving himself time to formulate an answer. "I don't know," he replied honestly, "Maybe. I couldn't say 'no' because there's no possible way of knowing where my head will be in a year's time, but I couldn't say 'yes' because ... well, because I didn't want one."
Jack frowned at the ceiling a moment. "So ... that's a 'maybe' all around, then?"
With a sigh, Ianto leaned over and switched off the bedroom light and got himself comfortable with an arm over Jack's middle.
"Ask me again in a year," he replied.
~*~*~*~
One of the positives, Ianto mused, of Jack now having a female body, was that he was small enough for Ianto to simply lift and move away from whatever mischeif he was getting himself up to. After deciding to employ the tactic earlier that day, the house suddenly seemed much easier to keep clean, albeit Ian's occasional rampages, and Ianto's stress levels were probably confused as to why they seemed to be on a constant level rather than jumping all over the place.
Ianto tossed Jack onto the bed and dived on after him. Leaning down, he languidly kissed Jack's mouth for a few moments before pulling away. "Kids are asleep," he smiled.
Jack grinned, his eyebrows quirking. "Is a repeat of last night on the cards?"
Ianto knelt up, his knees straddling Jack's hips. He ran his eyes over the female body, gently dragging his finger down over Jack's collar bone, down between his breasts and stroking over his belly button. "It's strange," he mused, "It's like having a faithful affair. I feel guilty for liking this body, y'know? Even though it's you."
"Do you prefer this to my old one?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.
"While both bodies have their advantges, this is definitely just a novelty." He sighed and lay down beside Jack, resting his eyes and putting one arm behind his head. He sensed Jack's gaze on him, and cracked one eye open. They looked at each other curiously for a second, then realisation dawned for Ianto. "Oh no," he laughed, "I'm not changing too. I've been a woman before, and I fucking hated it."
"But it's fun," grinned Jack, "And we could look at each other naked."
"We could do that when we're men, too," Ianto pointed out.
"What about oral sex?"
"I'm sure I remember you sucking my cock, and me sucking yours."
"But Ianto ... when we were men, we didn't have clits."
"Can't you just be thankful I know where yours currently is and be happy with that?"
"Can't you imagine it, though, Ianto?" Jack sighed wistfully, "No recovery time; just on to the next orgasm."
"I don't need to imagine it," Ianto informed him, "I've been there, done that, got a very wet t-shirt."
They both lay there next to each other, staring at the ceiling and lost in thought. Eventually, Jack turned over onto his side and rested his head on Ianto's shoulder and curled an arm over his waist. "Ianto?"
"Mmhmm?"
"I've decided on a job."
Ianto smiled down at him. "Oh?"
"I'll need you, though. I'll need you to support me. It'll be as much your effort as mine."
Ianto frowned. "Go on?"
Jack swallowed, as if he wasn't entirely sure Ianto would like the idea at all. "I want to run for city rep on the North West council."
"Huh?"
"I want to go into politics."
"But Jack-"
"It'd be you, really, though. Behind every great man is the lover that made him do his paperwork and that. You're the brains, I'm the braun. Together we could actually make peoples' lives better."
Ianto sat up, his brow creasing, and Jack sat up with him. Ianto ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up at odd angles. "I'm guessing the North West council isn't the height of your ambitions?"
"England rep, UK rep, Senator for Earth."
"Yeah, Jack. Your dreams were always small like that." Ianto flopped back down onto the bed.
"We can do it," Jack insisted, "I know we can."
"Won't people notice you don't age?"
Jack shrugged. "I'll claim to be hybrid."
"Hybrid with what? Botox?"
Jack lay down and curled onto his side. "Forget I said anything."
"Oh, c'mon, Jack. You know how this sounds."
"I said 'forget it'."
"You have no political experience, no proper policy, no idea about political law. It won't work."
"Shut up, Ianto," Jack snapped, "You have no idea even half of what I can do."
"You think you'll be a great leader?" Ianto snapped back, "Really? What's fiscal drag, Jack? What's progressive taxation? What's Okun's Law and gross domestic product?"
Jack didn't reply, and Ianto got the feeling he was lucky Jack's intense glaring couldn't burn holes in walls. Getting out of bed, Ianto started undressing and changing into his pyjamas. The silence seemed to have grown its own consciousness and was pressing in on them at all sides, and Ianto cast around for a subject to break the silence with. Jack got there first, though.
"I want some clothes that fit," he said flatly, sitting up and getting off the bed, taking off the dress he'd been wearing that day. It had been from a charity shop and hung like sack. "Oh no wait," Jack chastised himself, "We have no income, currently. How will I afford it?"
Ianto turned. "I'll sell the Jupiter, shall I?" he suggested, and when Jack's face went sour he continued with what he was doing.
"You can't sell the car," Jack retorted, "It's in my name. Oh - hang on a second: Look at everything around you. It's all in my name. Everything you 'have', everything you 'own' - would you look at that? It actually belongs to me."
Ianto folded his arms. "That's wonderful for you," he replied smoothly, "But guess what? I'm Ianto Jones. I'm not in your name, and you most certainly don't pull the 'material possession' card with me if you want me to stick around."
"Of course you'll stick around," Jack snorted, "What else have you got? Even Rhys has moved on from you!"
Ianto felt like Jack had physically hit him. He pressed his lips together in a thin line, raising his chin defiantly. "You speak to me like that again," he said, "And I'm taking Giacomo, and I'm leaving."
It was Jack's turn to set his jaw. He pulled himself up to the fullest height he could. "He's not your son to take."
Ianto was across the room in an instant, Jack's back thudding against the wall. "Who fed him, washed him, clothed him?" Ianto demanded with a hiss, "Who raised him, Jack? Who went to his sports days? Who went to the parent's evenings? Who comforted him when he cried? Who spent the last three years assuring him for nights on end that his father does remember he exists?"
Jack swung for him, his nails leaving deep scratches from Ianto's shoulder and across his chest.
Ianto stared at the tiny specks of blood peeping out through the cracks in his skin for a second, then turned his attention coldly back to Jack. "He's not your son," he hissed, "He's your accident - just another of your mistakes I'm left to clean up after."
Jack launched at him with a feral sound and they both tumbled down, Ianto glancing his back off the end of the bed and probably bruising it. They squirmed and rolled, scrapping on the bedroom floor, kicking, biting and scratching until Jack managed to flip them so that he was on top, then landed the heaviest punch he could on the side of Ianto's face. Ianto gasped in pain, struggling to shove Jack off as the fist raised again until they both froze at a new sound in the room.
They both turned their heads at the same time, seeing Ian stood in the doorway, tears rolling down his face. Behind him, holding him back with white knuckles clutching his pyjama top, was a pale and shocked-looking Giacomo.
"Why?" he asked them, and slowly Jack and Ianto began to disentangle themselves. Giacomo's eyes followed Ianto's red cheek down to the scratch marks over his chest as Ian drew in another wracking sob.
"We were arguing," Jack winced as he stood, "Then it just escalated..."
"Fighting?"
"We ... ah ... we ... It was just ... Ianto?" Jack stuttered, his face flaming in shame, then noticing that Ianto had opened the wardrobe and was pulling a duffel bag down. "Ianto? What are you doing?"
"I can't look at you right now," he rasped, labouring his way over to the chest of drawers to get dressed, then packed a fews clean suits and shirts into a vaccuum bag and picked up a few essentials, feeling Jack's eyes boring into him the whole time. God, and things had been going so well ... Fuck - they'd even be talking about babies ...
Ianto tried to scoop Ian up so that he could put him back to bed before he left, but out of his stupor Ian was having none of it. He recoiled from him and darted past him to cling at Jack's legs. Ianto stared after him despondently, then sighed. Giacomo shot out of the room before he could say anything, and Jack was still searching for words.
"Don't go," he eventually said, "I ... I didn't mean ... I didn't mean what I said."
"I did," Ianto replied, putting the photograph of him, Jack and Giacomo from their first day in the house in his duffel and tying it up, "Just give me space."
"So ... So you'll be at Rhys' then? Like last time?" Jack asked, picking up Ian. "Don't go," he repeated.
Ianto ignored him, running over the list of everything he might need in his head and double checking it. Shouldering the bag, he began to head down the stairs. Jack followed him, Ian yawning and falling asleep on his shoulder. There was the creak of a door, and they both turned as Giacomo hurried down the stairs, fully dressed and wearing his own backpack. "I'm coming, too," he told them.
Jack blanched. "No, you're not."
"I am."
Ianto sighed - he never really went out that much, so his coat, as usual, was under everyone elses on the hooks. "Stay here with your father, Giacomo."
"No."
"Stay here," he repeated, sliding his arms into his coat. Giacomo ignored him, reaching for his own coat and slipping his feet into his shoes.
"I want to go with you."
Ianto pinched the bridge of his nose, then crouched down. "Your dad needs you to stay here with him. You stay here, and you look after him for me, okay?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm still six," Giacomo scowled, then he softened, "You need more looking after than he does."
Ianto wasn't quite sure what to reply to that, so hugged him instead. "You should still stay here," he muttered, "You're not mine to take," he said, repeated Jack's earlier statement loud enough for him to hear.
Giacomo pulled back from the hug, staring at Ianto a second. A calculation happened behind his eyes, and he glanced up at Jack. Jack couldn't meet his or Ianto's eyes. He turned back. "I'll just have to tag along then," he shrugged, though his voice cracked a tiny bit.
Jack's grip tightened on Ian as Ianto straightened up. "Why don't I just sleep on the sofa?" Jack offered, though his tone was flat, knowing it was a pointless suggestion.
Ianto didn't dignify it with a response as he wound a scarf around Giacomo's neck and considered digging out a hat and gloves. He figured they wouldn't be walking that long, so for the sake of a speedy departure they could forego them,
"Right," said Ianto, "We'll see you soon."
Jack watched as Ianto tugged Giacomo's hand into his own and set off out of the front door. Ian squirmed in his arms a little, fast asleep, and Jack cradled his head as he numbly and despondently watched the shapes of Ianto and Giacomo disappearing into the night.
Ian shivered in his arms, and Jack realised they'd been stood in the door way far too long. Ianto and Giacomo had been out of sight for a few minutes before Jack finally closed the door and took Ian up to his and Ianto's bedroom. Jack tucked him into the big bed and kissed his hair, wondering what he was supposed to do.
Giacomo hadn't even said goodbye to him.
Ianto's words echoed back, taunting Jack with only the memory. He's not your son, he hissed, he's your accident ...
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jack put his head in his hands and sniffed. Why had the argument started? Could he even remember?
Ah, yes. His wounded pride.
Talking about going into politics, and Ianto had tried to reason with him.
Jack scrubbed his wet face with the back of his hand. Stubborness made him continue to believe that that's what he wanted to do, even if it was just to prove to Ianto that he could. Prove to Ianto that he was more than what he thought he was.
Childishness was all fun and games until Ianto walked out into the night.
Carefully, Jack crawled into bed behind Ian, wiped his eyes on the pillow case and tried to get some sleep.
~*~*~*~
"Where are we going?" asked Giacomo.
"Erm ... I'm not sure," Ianto admitted distractedly, glancing around them.
"Oh ... Not Rhys', then?"
"Jack will look for us there in the morning."
"Oh."
Giacomo squeezed Ianto's hand a little tighter. "Everything'll be okay, won't it?"
"Of course it will," Ianto answered automatically, "Wasn't it just the other day I was telling you that Jack does a monumental amount of Stupid before he eventually gets to doing the right thing?"
Giacomo managed a chuckle. "Yeah," he smiled.
"Trust me. I know everything."
"... except where we're going."
"Shush."
Giacomo laughed, and Ianto caught his eye with an amused glint. "Warm enough?" he asked, pausing by the roadside to check nothing was coming.
"Yup."
"Good. We shouldn't be much longer - just let me make a phone call."
He took his phone out of his pocket, keeping hold of Giacomo's hand as they paused their hurrying.
"Ianto," Giacomo sighed, "You're doing it again."
"Huh? Oh, yeah." He'd been holding the phone to his ear, rather than holding it in front of him for the video call. Finally, it connected, and Ianto moved out of earshot of Giacomo to hold a private conversation with whomever was on the other end of the line. Giacomo watched him searching for a pen, then writing something on the back of his hand before thanking the contact and hanging up.
"Right," Ianto began, decisively, "We're heading this way."
Giacomo was a little reluctant. "That's rough down there, though. I'm not allowed to play down there."
"I know," Ianto nodded, "But you've got me with you. And we're not hanging around outside; we're just passing through, right?"
Giacomo slipped his hand back into Ianto's. "Don't wander off, okay?"
Ianto laughed, setting off walking again. "I won't."
"Where are we going?"
"To an old friend's house. An old friend Jack won't think to look for me with."
"You have friends who live around here?" Giacomo asked, hushed.
"Just the one - and a place doesn't define a person, Giacomo."
Giacomo said nothing, sticking close to Ianto's side and probably wishing he'd stayed at home and faced Jack's temper. Ianto checked the back of his hand as they walked, locating the right street amongst the houses that all looked exactly the same and hurrying along down it in large strides that Giacomo had to jog to keep up with.
Finally, they stopped outside a battered wooden door, and Ianto quietly knocked.
Gah! Masterlist is soooooo behind ...
That'll be my next job!
Things will get better in this fic, I promise! ;)
Please comment *big puppy eyes*. Doesn't take long, and means a lot!
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