The Grand Café del Verta Nor Part 1/2
Title: The Grand Café del Verta Nor Part 1/2 (Completed)
Words: 8,100 (this part)
Characters: Ianto / Jack, Nine, Rose, Gwen, Martha, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Warning: Explicit Sex
Spoilers: TW S2, and DW S2
Summary: Ianto is lost in time and space. Jack is very eternal. The Doctor is worried about the universe imploding. And Rose gets to have chips. Really it's just a love story.
Author's Notes: Thanks to forrent for the wonderful beta. I may have broken the universe when I wrote this (please don't tell the Doctor on me).
Disclaimer: Really, I don't own anything. I don't even own my car.
ETA: A special thanks to thaddeusfavour, who did a second beta on this story. I'm very grateful. ::grins::
Also, thank you to whoever nominated this fic for the Children of Time Awards.
Ianto pressed his cheek against the cool metal of the window frame and stared out at the river of asteroids flowing beneath him. He could never quite portray how beautiful it was. He often tried to come up with the right combination of words to describe the scene for his journal, but he couldn't ever think of the right ones. Not that it mattered, because he didn't actually have his journal anymore. It was just a game he played these days- what he would write if he had it.
It was called the Verta Nor Asteroid belt. Jack had told him about it forever ago, back when he was still in Cardiff. It had been one of Jack's stories, but not even Jack, in his soft theatrical tone, had been able to do it justice…
"You should see it Ianto, it's like an enormous river with crystals for water, green as emeralds, just cutting its way through space. And there is a star that it orbits- it shines the whitest light… There's nothing like it."
Ianto inhaled deeply, recalling that night. Jack had snuck into his flat, and into his bed, long after bedtime. He had wrapped himself around Ianto naked, and sighed loudly in his ear until Ianto had woken up. Perhaps Ianto should've been annoyed, but he knew that Jack had only come because he couldn't sleep and because he was stressed out and lonely. So instead of pushing him away, Ianto had just gotten up and made Jack some chamomile tea. He then lay tight in Jack's arms, pressed against warm skin, drifting in and out of sleep while Jack had told him stories about traveling the universe. That night felt like a lifetime ago.
"Are you going to help clean up or are you going to stare off into space all night?" a curt voice came from behind Ianto, pulling him away from his thoughts of Jack.
Ianto turned around to see Melissa, a petite brown haired girl, who had a towel flung over her shoulder and her sleeves rolled up. She also had a rather annoyed look on her face.
"I was just thinking..." Ianto replied, turning his attention back to the huge picture window he had been leaning against. He gazed off into the endless web of stars and watched the shimmering green river twist beneath him.
"Pining is more like it."
"I don't pine," Ianto said, whipping his head around to look at her. He wasn't pining, that was for lovesick girls who were left home on Saturday night, he was just pondering life stoically.
"Well, whatever you're doing can it wait till later? This place is a mess, and I'd like to get out of here at a decent hour tonight," said Melissa crossing her arms.
"Why? Hot date with Mr. Level 23?" Ianto asked, pushing himself away from the window and trudging over to the bar area.
Melissa responded only with a silly smile and a slight blush.
"Really? But he's so... hairy," Ianto said wrinkling his brow. What she saw in Mr. Level 23 was beyond him; the man was literally covered in hair, like a bear. He was a bear-man.
"Hairy doesn't mean he isn't handsome! And he's so nice and funny!"
"You're gushing," he said rolling his eyes, "Go on then. Go and get ready. I'll take care of this." Ianto pulled the sonic sterilizer out from under the bar and began fiddling with the settings.
"Are you sure?" she asked, beaming.
"Yeah, just don’t ever accuse me of pining again."
"Moping?"
"Brooding," he supplied.
"Brooding it is. Thanks hon, I'll see you tomorrow," she said with wave.
"I'll be here," he called after her and then mumbled to himself, "Unfortunately."
He walked over to the closest table, cleared the empty glasses into his bin and carefully decontaminated the area with a blue beam of light before moving to the next one and then the next. A sea of empty tables to be cleaned, and through the oversized picture windows the stars shone in, mocking him with their beauty. "Oh Jack," Ianto said to no one, "I finally made it out into the wilds of the universe and here I am still cleaning up shit. And at your glamorous Grand Café del Verta Nor, of all places."
Ianto went about his work, recalling how Jack had told him about the Café forever ago in his bedroom where there hadn't been any stars shining down on them, but only the light of the Cardiff's streetlamps streaming in through his window...
Jack ran his hand through Ianto's hair, playing with it as he spoke in a low voice as if he was telling Ianto some great secret, "Above the asteroid belt is Outpost 9- a floating city in the middle of deep space. A bright spot of life deep in one of the emptiest, darkest, regions of the universe ... And then there’s the Grand Café del Verta Nor. It's 30 levels, and you'll find every kind of alien you could possibly think of. They boost the best drink service in the universe, and people come from far and wide just to have drinks and view the asteroid belt in all its glory. I went there once... the Doctor, Rose, and I..."
"What did you order?" Ianto asked him in sleepy voice, enjoying the smell of the chamomile that seemed to linger about Jack long after he had finished his tea.
"I didn't order... The waiter just brought me coffee."
"Oh?"
"That was before I spent much time on Earth... Coffee was still a bit of a novelty to me. I'm not sure why he thought I'd want it, but I did. It was fantastic," Jack had explained closing his eyes, caught up in the memory of it.
"Best coffee in the universe?" Ianto asked innocently.
"Not better than yours, but I certainly remember it," Jack said kissing him softly.
Ianto sighed. Perhaps the Café seemed more glamorous when you weren't the one doing the serving and cleaning up at the end of the night. He and Melissa worked on the west side of Level 3, the 'Retro Human Area' rather than the 'Modern Human Area' on the east side of the level. After a few bad experiences with the oddly popular mint and mincemeat cocktail from the modern area, Ianto now made a point to keep away from the east side of Level 3 and that redheaded bartender (though he couldn't help but think Jack would like her). This was the type of place Jack would thrive in, but not Ianto. Ianto just missed Cardiff, and Gwen, and Myfanwy, and Torchwood, and most of all Jack. If Jack had actually brought him here, perhaps then it would've been an adventure, but after seven long months of Ianto being trapped here on his own it was just misery.
Ianto finished his cleaning and arranged everything just right for the service bots to come in and finish the job properly. He shut off the lights and locked up. He didn't head straight home, but instead walked down to the promenade where he was surrounded by aliens of every size and color. They haggled over goods and chatted loudly as he passed. There was a constant flow of people bustling by, maybe just arriving on the Outpost or perhaps getting ready to go; it seemed no matter the hour the promenade was always full of life and energy. Ianto always thought it'd make him feel less lonely to come down here, but strangely enough it had the opposite effect. It seemed to remind him how far from home he actually was and it made him miss Jack that much more. After twenty minutes, he’d had enough and went back to his tiny room and called it a night.
cU~cU~cU~cU
The first thing Ianto did every morning when he arrived at the Café was to brew a pot of coffee. It was his favorite time of day. He had all the supplies to make it just like home, and he did. As it brewed, he'd lean over the machine and close his eyes letting the smell of it transport him back to the hub, and for that brief time it was as if he was leaning on the counter in the hub's kitchen with Jack nearby and not a million miles away in the depths of space. Ianto would then take his time drinking it, cradling the warm mug in his hands and thinking back to how the coffee had smelled when his Mam had brewed it, and of how Jack had always seemed to taste of it when he kissed him.
"I swear what you do to that coffee shouldn't be legal. You won't look at a women, but give you a cup of coffee and you're all swooning about," said Melissa as she dropped her things behind the bar.
"I don't swoon. You're late. And you know you want some too," Ianto replied, giving her a smile as he poured her a cup.
"I blame you for getting me addicted to this stuff in the first place."
"Well, it’s all part of my evil plan. I came here to get everyone in the universe addicted to coffee," he explained.
"It's going well then. It seems like you have half the Outpost stopping in for some these days. Nobody ever drank my coffee," Melissa commented.
"That's because your coffee is horrible." Which was true. When Ianto had first arrived on the Outpost he had been shaken up and out of sorts, but he had managed to make his way to the Café and naturally he had ordered a coffee. Melissa had produced the worse cup he ever had, even worse than Owen’s (and that just takes skill).
"It's not that bad," she scoffed.
"It had grounds in it."
"Whatever," she said, taking the cup he offered her from his hands a bit too forcefully. "You should be pleased then. I heard chat on my way up that the Ambassador's ship made dock this morning."
"Who's the Ambassador, and why should I feel pleased or anything else?"
"The Ambassador to the Great Human Empire? Honestly, sometimes I wonder exactly how big that rock you've been living under is," Melissa replied clutching her coffee tightly.
"Oh, so that's what the blue girls from Level 16 were squealing about this morning... but why I should care?" Ianto replied.
"The two of you have something in common- you both get off by sniffing coffee. I think you'll get on fabulously," she said taking a small sip from her mug.
Ianto wasn't sure whether to be offended or curious. "What?"
"He's a bit odd- charming, but odd. He's been to the Outpost a handful of times before. He always goes into one of the VIP lounges all by himself and orders a cup coffee. Doesn't drink it mind you, but kind of holds it and sniffs it," she explained.
"You mean like you're doing right now?" Ianto asked her, looking at the way she was hugging the mug just below her chin.
Melissa's mug quickly clattered down to the bar, "Except he doesn't ever drink the coffee!"
"You're the one that made the coffee for him?" Ianto asked, wondering if the Ambassador disliked coffee with grounds in it as much as he did. Perhaps, he was just so desperate for a cup of coffee that he would rather stand around and sniff a bad cup than have nothing at all.
"Of course, who else would've made it?"
"I bet the Ambassador will actually drink my coffee," Ianto said.
Melissa crossed her arms, "I'll bet you a hundred credits that he doesn't drink your coffee either. My coffee isn't that bad! I'm telling you he's just odd."
Ianto raised an eyebrow at her. "I bet he drinks every last sip."
"You're on," she said, shifting her attention to the door as a few people walked in and headed straight to the windows. "Today's going to be a long one; we're always swamped in here when the Ambassador's ship is docked. There's a ton of humans on board..."
Melissa was right, the day ended up being one of Ianto's busiest in the Café ever, but he finally got some relief late in the afternoon when there was an order for coffee sent up from the most posh of the VIP lounges down on Level 1. When the order showed up, Melissa just gave Ianto a look that said 'told you', before bustling off with a tray of Martinis for a loud group of off-duty Empire officers near the window.
Ianto didn't rush the process. He skillfully brewed a fresh pot of coffee for the Ambassador and then prepared a full service to bring down. All day people had been buzzing about the Ambassador, and how wonderful and handsome and generally perfect he was. Ianto would be lying if he were to say he wasn't beginning to get curious about him. The way Ianto saw it, the Ambassador had to have at least some sense of class and taste; after all, he did know enough to drink coffee.
When Ianto arrived at the VIP lounge, he found the door wide open. He took a quick look in the room before entering just to see what the Ambassador was like- his heart nearly stopped from shock when he laid eyes on him. There, conversing with the owner of the Café, acting like he ruled the universe was Captain Jack Harkness. It was a miracle that Ianto didn't drop the coffee service out of the sheer shock of it. He stared at Jack unable to move. After what felt like a lifetime, but surely couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, Ianto realized that Jack looked wrong.
It wasn't his Jack. He wasn't wearing his familiar greatcoat, but instead a tailored dark green uniform that Ianto recognized as belonging to the militia of the Great Human Empire. His hair was flecked with gray and his face had too many laugh lines. Ianto wondered how many years would it take for Jack to age like that... even worse how many deaths? All these lonely months, it had never occurred to Ianto that Jack might still be out there somewhere alive, and now here he was.
Ianto took one deep breath to calm his racing heart, and then another to steel himself before he quietly slid into the room. Jack was in the middle of telling a story animatedly to the Café's owner Mister Drobs, a squat alien that Ianto thought looked like an oversized mealworm. Neither man seemed the least bit aware that he had entered the room. Ianto slowly and purposely walked up on Jack's right side and said, like he always did when he placed Jack's coffee on the desk back in the hub, "Your coffee sir."
Jack froze mid-sentence and turned to look at Ianto, staring wordlessly. His face was unreadable, but Ianto could see the sudden storm of emotions in his eyes. Ianto stood looking at him the same as he ever did- blank and innocent, not willing to give anything away. For a long moment there was a silent war of wills, but once it became clear that Jack wasn't going to say anything, Ianto turned away and place the coffee service on the nearest table.
He didn't ask Jack how he wanted his coffee, instead he just prepared it- already knowing. He could feel Jack's eyes burning into him as he worked, but he acted like he didn't notice. Ianto handed him the coffee, meeting his eye and Jack took it not breaking his intense gaze. Ianto watched him inhale the aroma of the coffee before taking a sip. Jack didn't look away, but his expression changed. His eyes softened and a grin tugged at the corner of his lips. That was enough to let Ianto know that everything was okay, and he let go of a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
"Um… Uh, is everything all right Ambassador?" Mr. Drobs asked with an unpleased smack of his lips. Ianto had almost forgotten he was even in the room.
"Everything is fantastic," Jack provided with a toothy smile. "Actually, this is the best coffee I've had in a very long time..."
"Oh, I'm glad to hear it!" Mr. Drobs sound relieved, if not a bit confused. He eyed Ianto who just gave him a polite smile and nod.
Jack didn't seem overly concerned with Mr. Drobs as he put his coffee down on the table. He was back to staring at Ianto, and Ianto knew that look and he met Jack halfway tilting his head in a welcoming manner as Jack reached out and cradled the back of his neck pulling him in. Jack’s lips were on his in an instant, and it was soft and deep and filled with fire, just exactly the way Jack had always kissed him. It'd been so long since he felt that kiss, since he felt Jack on his lips, and he'd been so close to giving up hope of it ever happing again- there was nothing Ianto could do to stop the moan that rose up from his throat.
Jack broke the kiss breathlessly, "Ianto… It really is you then?"
"In the flesh," Ianto mumbled against Jack's lips.
"I wouldn't mind a bit more flesh," Jack replied, pulling playfully at the collar of Ianto's waistcoat.
"I'll show myself out then?" Mr. Drobs asked.
"Unless you want to stay for the show. Ianto always did put on one hell of a good performance," Jack offered.
"You flatter me, sir."
Jack kissed him again hungrily and he pressed his body roughly up against Ianto's. There was the distinct noise of a door closing, signaling that Mr. Drobs had passed on Jack's invitation.
"His loss," Jack commented softly as he tilted his head away breaking their kiss, but he still kept his strong arms holding Ianto close to him.
"Mmm," Ianto agreed examining Jack's face closely noticing all the new lines. He slowly traced his fingertips across Jack's cheek and lips feeling how much rougher the skin was. "I didn't know you could age..."
"I do, slowly."
"How long?"
Jack let out a defeated laugh and roughly pulled his body away from Ianto. Ianto was a bit shocked at the loss as he watched Jack walk to the window and look out.
"You don't want to know."
"Okay," Ianto agreed quickly, feeling like he shouldn't have brought it up at all.
"You shouldn't be here Ianto," Jack said facing the stars and not him, "I mean, I- I never thought I'd see you again. I put your body in the ground. I said goodbye."
Ianto couldn't read his voice or see his face. He didn't say anything for a beat then settled on, "The ground? And here I was looking forward to eternity in cold storage."
If nothing else, the comment got Jack to turn around. Jack eyed him for a second. "You always did spend a lot of time down there."
"Part of my job, Sir."
Jack grinned, "Yes, it was."
Jack walked back over to him and reached out hesitantly, like he was afraid that if he moved too suddenly Ianto might disappear. He caressed Ianto's face and neck slowly, studying him with his hands and with his eyes. Ianto didn't dare shift or even breath too deep, because he didn't want Jack to stop.
"So tell me... How are you here?" Jack asked softly. His voice seemed deeper than before.
"The rift," Ianto replied. It was how all their stories began, with the rift.
"And what did the rift do?" Jack asked, placing small kisses along his jaw line and down his neck. Ianto let his head loll back exposing his neck to Jack, not wanting to have to tell the story now, but instead wanting Jack to touch him all over.
"It spat out an alien," he mumbled grabbing onto Jack's shoulders and pulling him closer. "Remember..."
Jack looped his arms around Ianto and pulled him up against him, "I remember there being a lot of aliens."
Ianto kissed him fervently and Jack matched his enthusiasm as their lips collided. Their bodies pressed up against each other and Ianto’s arousal was rubbing pleasantly into Jack's hip. There would be time enough to talk later; Ianto just wanted to feel Jack now. It'd been months, and even if this wasn't his Jack- he still kissed like him and tasted like him. Ianto shifted his thigh so he could massage Jack's hardness through the layers of their clothing.
Jack gave a throaty moan and smiled wolfishly at Ianto, "I remember there being a lot of this too."
"Well, you're insatiable, Sir," Ianto replied sliding off his waistcoat.
"That hasn't changed." Jack seemed to agree that less clothing was better and he started to pull at Ianto's tie.
After what felt like nothing more than a jumble of hands and heated kisses, Ianto found himself naked on one of the oversized couches pinned underneath Jack. His heart was beating a million miles a second as he looked up at the other man.
"You're beautiful Ianto- I'd forgotten exactly how beautiful..." Jack said, kissing Ianto passionately before he had a chance to respond. When Jack finally pulled away, he looked at Ianto with his eyes gleaming mischievously. Ianto examined Jack from under his long eyelashes; his uniform jacket and shirt were undone showing off his bare chest and his trousers were pulled down mid-thigh. The sight was incredibly hot and Ianto felt his breath catch. Jack playfully quirked an eyebrow at him before looping his arm under one of Ianto's legs pulling it over his shoulder and spreading him wide. Ianto felt so exposed, and his cock was so hard he was worried the slightest touch might set him off.
"Please," was all Ianto could manage.
Jack chuckled, but kissed him forcefully and pressed into him. It hurt, but only for a passing moment before Jack began to move in him. Jack's eyes were intense, burning into him with every thrust. Ianto met his gaze and held it firm. He wanted to see Jack and he wanted Jack to see him. It didn't take long before Ianto's breath was short and he knew he was getting close. Ianto could feel Jack's hand wrap around his cock and begin to stroke, which was enough to put him over the edge. Ianto held Jack's eyes until the very last second, and when he did finally fling his head back in pleasure it was Jack's name rolling off his lips. A moment later he felt Jack convulse and heard his own name whispered warmly in his ear.
They lay there together silently for a while; their sweaty skin pressed against each other. Jack laid his head on Ianto's chest and Ianto ran his figures through Jack's silvering hair trying to remind himself that even though it felt like Jack, it wasn't his Jack. The stars shone in through the window and the green glow of the asteroid belt seemed to be ever present.
"I never thought we'd be here together," Ianto finally said breaking the silence. "I remember you telling me about this place. You told me about a lot of places Jack... half of them I didn’t even think were real."
When Jack laughed Ianto felt the vibrations on his stomach.
"I never lied you know. Every story was the truth."
"I believe that now. I've missed your stories; I've missed you so much." Ianto sighed, thinking of his Jack back in Cardiff.
Jack picked up his head and looked at him, "What do you mean? How long have been here?"
"Over seven months."
Jack sat up now and shook his head as if Ianto wasn't making sense, "That's not right. I don't remember that ever happening."
"Maybe I never told you."
"No. It doesn't make sense for the timeline I remember... How did you get here? You said there was an alien?" Jack asked.
"Do you remember that tall silvery alien? The one that wore the red robes?" Ianto asked, leaning over to collect his trousers from the floor so he could get dressed.
"Oh yeah, the Meton! I wouldn't forget her- she was gorgeous, and a bit deadly..."
"Gorgeous? Try slimy. You really need to work on your standards," Ianto replied in a dry tone.
"She shimmered."
"As most slimy things do in the light."
Jack shrugged. "I still thought she was pretty easy on the eyes."
"Honestly, is that all you think about? You seem to be forgetting the part where she broke into the hub, seriously maimed Gwen, and stole that weird energy converter thing from the archives," Ianto countered.
"I did say she was a bit deadly," Jack said seriously. "And I do remember that she stole the transdryxhypercoil, and on her way out she triggered a lock down. Gwen and I were trapped..."
"I was out on a body dump, and you sent me after her."
"I had no choice but to send you by yourself. A functional transdryxhypercoil in the wrong hands could be fashioned into a weapon powerful enough to wipe out planets. I couldn't risk it." Jack reached out and ran his hand down the back of Ianto's neck and over his spine.
"I followed her to a rift spike in the middle of the park. The rift was open and she had some kind of time shifting device. She activated it, and I realized that she was going to get away." Ianto paused, choosing his next words carefully. "The whole time I had you in my ear telling me to stop her at all costs- no matter what. So, just as she was disappearing, I grabbed on."
For a brief moment there was a sad shift in Jack's eyes and he looked ancient. "What happened next?"
"We ended up here, on the Outpost. We were down in one of the engineering rooms. I already had my gun out and I didn't hesitate- I empted the entire clip into her. There was a furnace down there- it was burning hotter than I'd ever seen. I dumped her body and the transdryxhypercoil into it and they were disintegrated. That's it; here I am; stuck."
Jack gaze at him for a long moment. "You've been here for seven months?"
"Yep. I was beginning to think I'd never see you again." Ianto kept his voice level, but looked away from Jack when he said this.
Jack grabbed his chin and forced Ianto to look back at him, "We'll get you home."
Ianto looked into his eyes and nodded. He hated the fact that Jack could sense how miserable he was. He pulled away from Jack and started to put on the trousers that he'd been clutching in his lap. Jack took this as a cue and began fastening his clothes and tidying himself up.
"What happened to that time shifting device?" Jack asked as Ianto fished over the arm of the sofa to grab his shirt.
Ianto glanced back at him. He left his shirt on the floor, and instead got up and retrieved his waistcoat from where it had been shed earlier. He produced the device from the interior pocket and twisted it around in the air for Jack to see. It was the size of a mobile phone and had a round face in the middle surrounded by a bunch of buttons.
"It's broken," Ianto explained. "I can't get it to respond to anything."
He tossed it to Jack who flipped it over in his hands a few times. He opened his wrist strap and pressed a couple of buttons and the face of the device lit up. Ianto's heart jumped, but only for a few seconds because as quickly as it had lit up it went dark again.
"It's not broken," Jack informed him, "It just needs to be charged."
"So, you’re telling me all these months, all I needed to do was plug it into the wall?" Ianto asked.
"You seen many wall plugs around this place?"
"Good point. But then how am I supposed to charge it?"
"Devices like this use the radiation from time and space disturbances as power," Jack explained.
"Like the rift?" Ianto asked.
"Like the rift. It should be able to absorb enough radiation from me to turn on long enough so we can run diagnostics and program it, but not long enough for you to make a jump."
"From you?"
"Because I've time traveled," Jack said with winning smile. "But the little bit of radiation coming off of me isn't going to charge it fully. You need a proper source."
"So I have to go back to Earth? Go back to the rift?"
Jack shook his head. "Nah, too far. The Medusa Cascade is closer, but even that's two months travel by ship."
"What choice do I have?" Ianto asked feeling desperate. He wondered if Jack would take him to the Cascade on his ship, and briefly thought about what it'd be like to spend two months with this Jack.
"There might be a better way..." Jack’s voice trailed off as he gazed at Ianto, who could almost see the wheels turning in Jack’s head.
"Yes?" Ianto asked expectantly after a drawn out moment.
"The TARDIS."
Ianto thought about this for a second, but he really wasn't sure what Jack was getting at. "The TARDIS?" he echoed.
"The heart of the TARDIS is the time vortex. If you take this device inside the TARDIS it'll be charged up in a matter of minutes," Jack explained.
Ianto arched his eyebrow at Jack and said, "Or we could just get the Doctor to use the TARDIS to take me home."
Jack's face changed. Ianto knew that expression; it was the one that told him that Jack was severely annoyed about something. "I actually don't have anyway of contacting the Doctor right now," Jack said.
"Right. So why are we even discussing the TARDIS at all then?" Ianto asked. It was good to know that even after all those centuries Jack could still be frustrating as hell to talk to. He started to wonder how many credits it would cost him to buy passage to the Medusa Cascade.
"The Owner of the Café was saying that next week is the Outpost's 225th birthday," Jack said going over to his neglected coffee and picking it up. Ianto didn't want to think about how cold it was, even though part of him was secretly pleased that Jack was drinking his coffee cold and wouldn't even sip Melissa's when it was hot.
"What about it?" Ianto asked, settling himself back down on the couch while watching Jack.
"You know the first time I visited here, with the Doctor and Rose, it was the Outpost's 225th birthday," Jack said, sipping his coffee with a gleam is his eye.
The impact of his words on Ianto took a second, but when he finally figured out what Jack was getting at Ianto shook his head and said, "Jack, you're insane!"
"You don't even know what I'm thinking," Jack protested.
"I don't have to. I know you well enough to know you're insane. I'd be crossing timelines, or breaking into the TARDIS, or both. And frankly, none of that sounds like a safe plan," Ianto replied using his best no nonsense tone.
"Since when did you like playing it safe? The thing is I think it's already been done. You just have to do it."
"What?"
"I've been thinking about that night a lot lately. It bothers me," Jack explained furrowing his brow. "And now that you're here, I think I've finally made sense of it."
"What do you mean?"
"Ianto, after we all had drinks at the Café I went back to the TARDIS and took a nap while Rose and the Doctor went exploring. I just- when have you ever known me to go and sleep when there was an adventure to be had?"
Ianto shook his head, because Jack was right. The man hardly ever slept at night, let alone napping when there was something exciting going on. "Never."
"And lately I've been so glad that I did, because do you know how recognizable I am right now? The Ambassador to the Great Human Empire? Even a younger version of myself wondering around the Outpost would've been mauled by people. Think of the damage that would've caused to the timeline if I had learned what I was to become?" Jack placed his hand against the window, leaning against the solid barrier and gazing out.
"You don't think your nap was a convenient oddity then?"
"No. I keep trying to remember what I was thinking, but there aren't any thoughts or feelings there. It was just something that happened. The memories aren't right. I'm not missing anything, but things aren't quite adding up. It's like when we used to give people low levels of Retcon, not to wipe their memories, but just to alter them with suggestions. That way they’d only remember a certain version events."
"You think you were Retconned?"
Jack didn't answer right away. He just stared far out into space in a thoughtful way that reminded Ianto of the way his Jack would stare unfocused into the distance when he stood on top of the Millennium building.
"I think..." Jack paused, looking at Ianto. "You were the one that Retconned me."
Ianto finally understood, "You want me to Retcon you, and then somehow sneak into the TARDIS to charge the time shifter?"
"Yes."
Ianto tried to calculate the multitude of things that could go wrong with that plan.
"Don't look so freaked out. I'll talk you through it." Jack walked back over to the couch were Ianto had been sitting watching him. He set his mug on the coffee table and slid next Ianto. Ianto was pleased Jack had finished his coffee. Well, if all else failed he had won his bet with Melissa, and he would be a hundred credits closer to the fair to the Medusa Cascade.
cU~cU~cU~cU~cU
"Where the hell have you been?" Melissa asked. She glared at Ianto as he put the dirty coffee service in the yellow area behind the bar for the service bots to collect.
"I was serving the Ambassador his coffee. You lost your bet by the way."
"For three hours? Do you have any idea what it's been like up here? We've been packed! I'm so behind on orders I think there might be a riot!"
"So you're not in a chipper mood then?" Ianto asked as he looked at the next order up on the computer screen and started pouring a couple pints of beer.
"What in the hell were you doing down there with him for three hours? Shagging?" Melissa continued to rant.
"Yep," Ianto said evenly, pulling a tray out and carefully placing the beers on it.
Melissa stopped mixing her drinks and looked at Ianto with a confused expression on her face,. "Are you being serious?"
Ianto just gave her what he hoped was a mysterious grin, but apparently it wasn't mysterious enough because Melissa's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "You aren't joking! Are you?"
Ianto just shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal.
"But what about that lover of yours? The one that 'time took' from you? The one you’re always pining over?"
Ianto raised an eyebrow at her.
"Sorry, brooding over," she corrected.
"Well, I was bound to move on eventually," Ianto replied picking his tray up and getting ready to deliver it.
Melissa huffed and shook her head in disbelief. "You've been sulking for months and then today you just decided to move on?"
"Pretty much."
"Right," she said, sighing and going back to her drinks.
A man wearing an Empire uniform leaned onto the bar next to Melissa. "Who do you have to shag around here to get a drink?" he asked.
Melissa cocked her head in Ianto's direction. "Him apparently."
The man blatantly checked Ianto out, and then raised his eyebrows in interest.
Ianto, for Melissa's benefit, gave the man his best flirty smile and said, "I'll be right with you."
cU~cU~cU~cU
The next morning Ianto put the coffee on and hummed to himself as he readied the bar area for what promised to be another very busy day. Jack's ship was still docked, and even though Ianto knew that he was only a few days away from going home to Cardiff he still felt like he owed it to Melissa and what little bit of a life that he had built here to keep up his duties.
"No coffee meditation this morning?" Melissa asked. She slipped behind the bar and began helping Ianto by pulling out the clean glasses from the service bin and lining them up on the shelf.
It took Ianto a second to realize what she meant. For the first time in all the days he’d worked here, he wasn't huddled over the coffee machine thinking of home. "Nope,” he replied.
"And here I thought that's what made it so good."
"I will never part with the secrets of my superior brew. But I will tell you one thing-meditating over the machine does nothing for the flavor.”
Melissa laughed. Behind them the doors opened. They both turned around to see the blue girls from Level 16 bounce in. Nesa and Nice- Ianto never could remember which one was which. All he knew is that the tall one had a crush on him so they'd often show up in the mornings before work for a cuppa. Not that Ianto minded; he found them both to be very amusing.
"Morning. You two are looking worse for the wear today," Ianto said with a pleasant smile.
Nesa and Nice sat down on stools at the bar and the taller of the two (Nesa?) said, "Oh, there was big party last night on the Empire ship! We were up most of the night. Humans are a ton of fun to party with!"
"Are we?" Ianto asked as he went over to the coffee pot and started pouring everyone a cup.
"Yes. And I always suspected that if we got you out of that suit and dancing you'd be positively wild. Your mild manner doesn't fool me for one second."
Ianto just raised an eyebrow as if to say 'oh really?’ as he gave her a cup of coffee. The blue girls always seemed to find a party and always seemed to think Ianto should go with them, even though he never did.
"You got to go on the Empire ship?" Melissa asked curiously as she accepted her mug from Ianto.
"Yep, it was fabulous!" the shorter of the two exclaimed. "All of those officers are so hot. I'd shag just about any one of them."
"And we got to meet the Ambassador," the other chimed in.
"You did?" Ianto asked.
"Yeah. He stopped in for a while and introduced himself. You should've seen the look he gave me when he shook my hand! I had shivers!"
Ianto grinned. "I bet."
"Ianto met him yesterday too," Melissa said with an evil smile. "From the sounds of things they got to know each other quite well."
"Really? What happened?" the taller of the two asked while clutching her mug and leaning over the bar with wide eyes like she just sensed a good piece of gossip.
"Melissa!" Ianto said warningly, but she paid him no heed.
"They shagged," she said.
"Really?"
Ianto felt the blush rise in his cheeks.
The blue girls broke into a fit of giggles. They covered their mouths with their hands and let their long hair fly carelessly around them.
"So what was he like? What happened? We need details!" the shorter of the two questioned.
"Nope," Ianto said, "I don't kiss and tell."
"That's no fun!"
"I never said I was fun. I'm just here to make the coffee," he replied in his most professional voice, which earned him a roll of the eyes from the blue girls.
"It's interesting that he shagged you considering his affair with De'Velor. That guy Mike, from last night, was saying that the Ambassador is quite serious about her," the taller one said.
"Who's De'Velor?" Ianto asked.
The girls laughed like he was being ridiculous, but Melissa must've seen the true confusion on his face and said, "Sometimes I really wonder about you. She's the daughter of the Bascin President, you know, ruler of the Bascin galaxies and Drovan juncture. She's always in the news. Traveling about, and going to all the hottest spots in the charted universe."
"She's beautiful! She has the softest mint green skin and silver hair. It almost makes me want to dye my hair silver," the shorter of the two girls confessed.
"Oh Nice! Don't do that! It'll never look right! You'll just look funny and old," Nesa replied.
Ianto made a mental note that the shorter one was Nice and the taller one was Nesa. He wasn't sure what to make of Jack's girlfriend. He wasn't even sure if he had the right to have an opinion on it anymore.
"De'Velor is like modern day royalty. And you'd think she'd be stuck up, but she came here a few years ago, and I met her. She was so nice I think we could be friends, you know, if she wasn't famous and important and I wasn't just a barmaid," Nesa said.
"For the last year her and the Ambassador have been spotted all over the place together. At first it was quite the scandal, because he has to be the same age as her father. But Mike was saying that the Ambassador is serious about her, and that she stayed on their ship for nearly a month before going home for her mother's birthday a few weeks ago," Nice explained.
"I think its just a bunch of hype. You know how the news likes a good gossip story. The Ambassador wouldn't be sleeping around if it was that serious," Melissa scoffed.
"Maybe they had a fight and they're on the outs right now," Nesa theorized sipping her coffee thoughtfully.
Just then the doors to the Café opened. Melissa barely looked up from the conversation, calling to the intruder, "We don't open for another twenty minutes."
"Sorry. I was just hoping for a cup of coffee and wanted to beat the crowds," Jack said standing just inside the door looking a bit sheepish.
"Ambassador!" Nesa and Nice chimed in surprise.
Jack smiled at Ianto, who nodded his head that it was okay, "Please come in. Join us."
One of the blue girls squeaked as Jack pulled up a stool next to them.
Ianto went over to the coffee machine and poured Jack a cup fixing it just the way he liked it. The girls seemed to be stunned into silence, and Jack, sensing that he’d interrupted something, just offered them all a friendly grin and asked, "So how's everyone doing this morning?"
"We were just discussing De'Velor," Ianto told him before the others had a chance to respond.
"Oh?" Jack asked and Ianto shot a look over his shoulder to see the expression on Jack’s face, but the other man just had a pleasant air about him that gave nothing about his true thoughts away.
"It seems that one of your crew members thinks that your relationship is serious, but Melissa here wonders if it isn't just a bunch of hype that the news has made up to give people something to gossip about," Ianto informed him as he brought over his coffee and set it in front of him at the bar. The blue girls both were both staring at Ianto with mixed expressions of admiration and trepidation, and Melissa was just looking at him like he'd lost his mind- he ignored them all.
Jack laughed at him and took a sip of his coffee, "I'd say it's pretty serious. She's a great girl. Actually, I was thinking about asking her to marry me."
"Really?!" Nesa asked obviously thrilled to be getting the scoop first hand.
"Really," Jack told her with a kind smile, then shifted his attention back to Ianto. "Jealous?"
"Do you want me to be?" Ianto deflected. He didn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't jealous- not really - but he wasn't happy either.
Jack’s face changed from pleasant to concerned. Ianto stared at him expressionless waiting for an answer, but Jack just sipped his coffee and looked back at him with an intense gaze.
Melissa looked from Ianto to Jack and then back at Ianto before declaring, "I've some things I need to take care of in the back."
As Melissa slipped away, Nice looped her arm in Nesa's and pulled them both to their feet. "We need to get to work. Good to see you again Ambassador!" she said, heading for the door and dragging her sister along with her.
Ianto heard Nesa squeak in protest as they left, but he didn't watch them go because he was too focused on Jack whose eyes were locked on him.
"Eternity is a long time Ianto," he finally said once it was just the two of them.
"You don’t have to explain. I get it," Ianto said. He turned his back to Jack and tried to find something behind the bar to busy himself with.
"I've got to keep looking forward or I'd go insane. I think you'd like her..." Jack continued.
She could've been the nicest, most wonderful person in the whole of time and space and Ianto knew that he'd still never like her. "Please don't, I'm not jealous."
"You’re not?" Jack asked in a doubtful tone.
Ianto turned back to face him. "I just wished you'd said something about it yesterday."
"I didn't know how," Jack replied.
That was a weak excuse, even for Jack, but Ianto didn't want to fight about it so he just sighed and said, "It's fine Jack. You don't owe me anything anymore."
There was a hurt look in Jack's eyes. "You know I don’t ever forget the ones I loved. I may move on, but I never forget. We had a lifetime together- we'll have a lifetime together. I didn't want to take that away from you, not now when you're still so young."
Ianto just looked at him, and for the first time since he’d met Ambassador Jack did it really occur to him that he'd become one them; he'd become another one of Jack's stories, someone he remembered by telling tales about. He was past now, not present, and he didn't belong here at all. He looked in Jack's eyes and when he said it this time he really meant it, "I understand."
"You were always different from the rest Ianto," Jack said with a sad smile. "You always understood in a way nobody else ever did. I needed that then. I'm glad that you're here now- that I got to see you one last time."
Jack reached over the bar and caressed the side of his face. Ianto leaned into it and stepped closer so he could press his lips against Jack's. They kissed slow and soft; it felt like it might never end, but it did, and when Jack pulled away he seemed sadder than Ianto could ever remember seeing him.
"I figured out the time shifter," Jack said after a long moment. He pulled the device out of his pocket and gave it to Ianto. "The coordinates are all set. All you have to do is get into the TARDIS to charge it. Then press this button and then that button. Easy."
Ianto smiled. "Easy."
"You'll do brilliantly," Jack said, then paused. "My ship leaves tonight..."
"So this is goodbye?" Ianto asked.
"Just for me. You're going to be stuck with a younger me for a very long time," Jack said with a huge grin.
"Can't wait."
Jack got up and headed for the door. He turned before he left. "And Ianto?"
"Yeah?"
"You know, even after all these years, I still can't have a cup of coffee without thinking about you."
Ianto grinned. "I wouldn't have it any other way Sir."
"I really loved you Ianto."
"I love you too Jack."
With that Jack disappeared out the door and Ianto swallowed hard at the lump in his throat.
Part 2 of 2
Words: 8,100 (this part)
Characters: Ianto / Jack, Nine, Rose, Gwen, Martha, OCs
Rating: NC-17
Warning: Explicit Sex
Spoilers: TW S2, and DW S2
Summary: Ianto is lost in time and space. Jack is very eternal. The Doctor is worried about the universe imploding. And Rose gets to have chips. Really it's just a love story.
Author's Notes: Thanks to forrent for the wonderful beta. I may have broken the universe when I wrote this (please don't tell the Doctor on me).
Disclaimer: Really, I don't own anything. I don't even own my car.
ETA: A special thanks to thaddeusfavour, who did a second beta on this story. I'm very grateful. ::grins::
Also, thank you to whoever nominated this fic for the Children of Time Awards.
Ianto pressed his cheek against the cool metal of the window frame and stared out at the river of asteroids flowing beneath him. He could never quite portray how beautiful it was. He often tried to come up with the right combination of words to describe the scene for his journal, but he couldn't ever think of the right ones. Not that it mattered, because he didn't actually have his journal anymore. It was just a game he played these days- what he would write if he had it.
It was called the Verta Nor Asteroid belt. Jack had told him about it forever ago, back when he was still in Cardiff. It had been one of Jack's stories, but not even Jack, in his soft theatrical tone, had been able to do it justice…
"You should see it Ianto, it's like an enormous river with crystals for water, green as emeralds, just cutting its way through space. And there is a star that it orbits- it shines the whitest light… There's nothing like it."
Ianto inhaled deeply, recalling that night. Jack had snuck into his flat, and into his bed, long after bedtime. He had wrapped himself around Ianto naked, and sighed loudly in his ear until Ianto had woken up. Perhaps Ianto should've been annoyed, but he knew that Jack had only come because he couldn't sleep and because he was stressed out and lonely. So instead of pushing him away, Ianto had just gotten up and made Jack some chamomile tea. He then lay tight in Jack's arms, pressed against warm skin, drifting in and out of sleep while Jack had told him stories about traveling the universe. That night felt like a lifetime ago.
"Are you going to help clean up or are you going to stare off into space all night?" a curt voice came from behind Ianto, pulling him away from his thoughts of Jack.
Ianto turned around to see Melissa, a petite brown haired girl, who had a towel flung over her shoulder and her sleeves rolled up. She also had a rather annoyed look on her face.
"I was just thinking..." Ianto replied, turning his attention back to the huge picture window he had been leaning against. He gazed off into the endless web of stars and watched the shimmering green river twist beneath him.
"Pining is more like it."
"I don't pine," Ianto said, whipping his head around to look at her. He wasn't pining, that was for lovesick girls who were left home on Saturday night, he was just pondering life stoically.
"Well, whatever you're doing can it wait till later? This place is a mess, and I'd like to get out of here at a decent hour tonight," said Melissa crossing her arms.
"Why? Hot date with Mr. Level 23?" Ianto asked, pushing himself away from the window and trudging over to the bar area.
Melissa responded only with a silly smile and a slight blush.
"Really? But he's so... hairy," Ianto said wrinkling his brow. What she saw in Mr. Level 23 was beyond him; the man was literally covered in hair, like a bear. He was a bear-man.
"Hairy doesn't mean he isn't handsome! And he's so nice and funny!"
"You're gushing," he said rolling his eyes, "Go on then. Go and get ready. I'll take care of this." Ianto pulled the sonic sterilizer out from under the bar and began fiddling with the settings.
"Are you sure?" she asked, beaming.
"Yeah, just don’t ever accuse me of pining again."
"Moping?"
"Brooding," he supplied.
"Brooding it is. Thanks hon, I'll see you tomorrow," she said with wave.
"I'll be here," he called after her and then mumbled to himself, "Unfortunately."
He walked over to the closest table, cleared the empty glasses into his bin and carefully decontaminated the area with a blue beam of light before moving to the next one and then the next. A sea of empty tables to be cleaned, and through the oversized picture windows the stars shone in, mocking him with their beauty. "Oh Jack," Ianto said to no one, "I finally made it out into the wilds of the universe and here I am still cleaning up shit. And at your glamorous Grand Café del Verta Nor, of all places."
Ianto went about his work, recalling how Jack had told him about the Café forever ago in his bedroom where there hadn't been any stars shining down on them, but only the light of the Cardiff's streetlamps streaming in through his window...
Jack ran his hand through Ianto's hair, playing with it as he spoke in a low voice as if he was telling Ianto some great secret, "Above the asteroid belt is Outpost 9- a floating city in the middle of deep space. A bright spot of life deep in one of the emptiest, darkest, regions of the universe ... And then there’s the Grand Café del Verta Nor. It's 30 levels, and you'll find every kind of alien you could possibly think of. They boost the best drink service in the universe, and people come from far and wide just to have drinks and view the asteroid belt in all its glory. I went there once... the Doctor, Rose, and I..."
"What did you order?" Ianto asked him in sleepy voice, enjoying the smell of the chamomile that seemed to linger about Jack long after he had finished his tea.
"I didn't order... The waiter just brought me coffee."
"Oh?"
"That was before I spent much time on Earth... Coffee was still a bit of a novelty to me. I'm not sure why he thought I'd want it, but I did. It was fantastic," Jack had explained closing his eyes, caught up in the memory of it.
"Best coffee in the universe?" Ianto asked innocently.
"Not better than yours, but I certainly remember it," Jack said kissing him softly.
Ianto sighed. Perhaps the Café seemed more glamorous when you weren't the one doing the serving and cleaning up at the end of the night. He and Melissa worked on the west side of Level 3, the 'Retro Human Area' rather than the 'Modern Human Area' on the east side of the level. After a few bad experiences with the oddly popular mint and mincemeat cocktail from the modern area, Ianto now made a point to keep away from the east side of Level 3 and that redheaded bartender (though he couldn't help but think Jack would like her). This was the type of place Jack would thrive in, but not Ianto. Ianto just missed Cardiff, and Gwen, and Myfanwy, and Torchwood, and most of all Jack. If Jack had actually brought him here, perhaps then it would've been an adventure, but after seven long months of Ianto being trapped here on his own it was just misery.
Ianto finished his cleaning and arranged everything just right for the service bots to come in and finish the job properly. He shut off the lights and locked up. He didn't head straight home, but instead walked down to the promenade where he was surrounded by aliens of every size and color. They haggled over goods and chatted loudly as he passed. There was a constant flow of people bustling by, maybe just arriving on the Outpost or perhaps getting ready to go; it seemed no matter the hour the promenade was always full of life and energy. Ianto always thought it'd make him feel less lonely to come down here, but strangely enough it had the opposite effect. It seemed to remind him how far from home he actually was and it made him miss Jack that much more. After twenty minutes, he’d had enough and went back to his tiny room and called it a night.
cU~cU~cU~cU
The first thing Ianto did every morning when he arrived at the Café was to brew a pot of coffee. It was his favorite time of day. He had all the supplies to make it just like home, and he did. As it brewed, he'd lean over the machine and close his eyes letting the smell of it transport him back to the hub, and for that brief time it was as if he was leaning on the counter in the hub's kitchen with Jack nearby and not a million miles away in the depths of space. Ianto would then take his time drinking it, cradling the warm mug in his hands and thinking back to how the coffee had smelled when his Mam had brewed it, and of how Jack had always seemed to taste of it when he kissed him.
"I swear what you do to that coffee shouldn't be legal. You won't look at a women, but give you a cup of coffee and you're all swooning about," said Melissa as she dropped her things behind the bar.
"I don't swoon. You're late. And you know you want some too," Ianto replied, giving her a smile as he poured her a cup.
"I blame you for getting me addicted to this stuff in the first place."
"Well, it’s all part of my evil plan. I came here to get everyone in the universe addicted to coffee," he explained.
"It's going well then. It seems like you have half the Outpost stopping in for some these days. Nobody ever drank my coffee," Melissa commented.
"That's because your coffee is horrible." Which was true. When Ianto had first arrived on the Outpost he had been shaken up and out of sorts, but he had managed to make his way to the Café and naturally he had ordered a coffee. Melissa had produced the worse cup he ever had, even worse than Owen’s (and that just takes skill).
"It's not that bad," she scoffed.
"It had grounds in it."
"Whatever," she said, taking the cup he offered her from his hands a bit too forcefully. "You should be pleased then. I heard chat on my way up that the Ambassador's ship made dock this morning."
"Who's the Ambassador, and why should I feel pleased or anything else?"
"The Ambassador to the Great Human Empire? Honestly, sometimes I wonder exactly how big that rock you've been living under is," Melissa replied clutching her coffee tightly.
"Oh, so that's what the blue girls from Level 16 were squealing about this morning... but why I should care?" Ianto replied.
"The two of you have something in common- you both get off by sniffing coffee. I think you'll get on fabulously," she said taking a small sip from her mug.
Ianto wasn't sure whether to be offended or curious. "What?"
"He's a bit odd- charming, but odd. He's been to the Outpost a handful of times before. He always goes into one of the VIP lounges all by himself and orders a cup coffee. Doesn't drink it mind you, but kind of holds it and sniffs it," she explained.
"You mean like you're doing right now?" Ianto asked her, looking at the way she was hugging the mug just below her chin.
Melissa's mug quickly clattered down to the bar, "Except he doesn't ever drink the coffee!"
"You're the one that made the coffee for him?" Ianto asked, wondering if the Ambassador disliked coffee with grounds in it as much as he did. Perhaps, he was just so desperate for a cup of coffee that he would rather stand around and sniff a bad cup than have nothing at all.
"Of course, who else would've made it?"
"I bet the Ambassador will actually drink my coffee," Ianto said.
Melissa crossed her arms, "I'll bet you a hundred credits that he doesn't drink your coffee either. My coffee isn't that bad! I'm telling you he's just odd."
Ianto raised an eyebrow at her. "I bet he drinks every last sip."
"You're on," she said, shifting her attention to the door as a few people walked in and headed straight to the windows. "Today's going to be a long one; we're always swamped in here when the Ambassador's ship is docked. There's a ton of humans on board..."
Melissa was right, the day ended up being one of Ianto's busiest in the Café ever, but he finally got some relief late in the afternoon when there was an order for coffee sent up from the most posh of the VIP lounges down on Level 1. When the order showed up, Melissa just gave Ianto a look that said 'told you', before bustling off with a tray of Martinis for a loud group of off-duty Empire officers near the window.
Ianto didn't rush the process. He skillfully brewed a fresh pot of coffee for the Ambassador and then prepared a full service to bring down. All day people had been buzzing about the Ambassador, and how wonderful and handsome and generally perfect he was. Ianto would be lying if he were to say he wasn't beginning to get curious about him. The way Ianto saw it, the Ambassador had to have at least some sense of class and taste; after all, he did know enough to drink coffee.
When Ianto arrived at the VIP lounge, he found the door wide open. He took a quick look in the room before entering just to see what the Ambassador was like- his heart nearly stopped from shock when he laid eyes on him. There, conversing with the owner of the Café, acting like he ruled the universe was Captain Jack Harkness. It was a miracle that Ianto didn't drop the coffee service out of the sheer shock of it. He stared at Jack unable to move. After what felt like a lifetime, but surely couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, Ianto realized that Jack looked wrong.
It wasn't his Jack. He wasn't wearing his familiar greatcoat, but instead a tailored dark green uniform that Ianto recognized as belonging to the militia of the Great Human Empire. His hair was flecked with gray and his face had too many laugh lines. Ianto wondered how many years would it take for Jack to age like that... even worse how many deaths? All these lonely months, it had never occurred to Ianto that Jack might still be out there somewhere alive, and now here he was.
Ianto took one deep breath to calm his racing heart, and then another to steel himself before he quietly slid into the room. Jack was in the middle of telling a story animatedly to the Café's owner Mister Drobs, a squat alien that Ianto thought looked like an oversized mealworm. Neither man seemed the least bit aware that he had entered the room. Ianto slowly and purposely walked up on Jack's right side and said, like he always did when he placed Jack's coffee on the desk back in the hub, "Your coffee sir."
Jack froze mid-sentence and turned to look at Ianto, staring wordlessly. His face was unreadable, but Ianto could see the sudden storm of emotions in his eyes. Ianto stood looking at him the same as he ever did- blank and innocent, not willing to give anything away. For a long moment there was a silent war of wills, but once it became clear that Jack wasn't going to say anything, Ianto turned away and place the coffee service on the nearest table.
He didn't ask Jack how he wanted his coffee, instead he just prepared it- already knowing. He could feel Jack's eyes burning into him as he worked, but he acted like he didn't notice. Ianto handed him the coffee, meeting his eye and Jack took it not breaking his intense gaze. Ianto watched him inhale the aroma of the coffee before taking a sip. Jack didn't look away, but his expression changed. His eyes softened and a grin tugged at the corner of his lips. That was enough to let Ianto know that everything was okay, and he let go of a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.
"Um… Uh, is everything all right Ambassador?" Mr. Drobs asked with an unpleased smack of his lips. Ianto had almost forgotten he was even in the room.
"Everything is fantastic," Jack provided with a toothy smile. "Actually, this is the best coffee I've had in a very long time..."
"Oh, I'm glad to hear it!" Mr. Drobs sound relieved, if not a bit confused. He eyed Ianto who just gave him a polite smile and nod.
Jack didn't seem overly concerned with Mr. Drobs as he put his coffee down on the table. He was back to staring at Ianto, and Ianto knew that look and he met Jack halfway tilting his head in a welcoming manner as Jack reached out and cradled the back of his neck pulling him in. Jack’s lips were on his in an instant, and it was soft and deep and filled with fire, just exactly the way Jack had always kissed him. It'd been so long since he felt that kiss, since he felt Jack on his lips, and he'd been so close to giving up hope of it ever happing again- there was nothing Ianto could do to stop the moan that rose up from his throat.
Jack broke the kiss breathlessly, "Ianto… It really is you then?"
"In the flesh," Ianto mumbled against Jack's lips.
"I wouldn't mind a bit more flesh," Jack replied, pulling playfully at the collar of Ianto's waistcoat.
"I'll show myself out then?" Mr. Drobs asked.
"Unless you want to stay for the show. Ianto always did put on one hell of a good performance," Jack offered.
"You flatter me, sir."
Jack kissed him again hungrily and he pressed his body roughly up against Ianto's. There was the distinct noise of a door closing, signaling that Mr. Drobs had passed on Jack's invitation.
"His loss," Jack commented softly as he tilted his head away breaking their kiss, but he still kept his strong arms holding Ianto close to him.
"Mmm," Ianto agreed examining Jack's face closely noticing all the new lines. He slowly traced his fingertips across Jack's cheek and lips feeling how much rougher the skin was. "I didn't know you could age..."
"I do, slowly."
"How long?"
Jack let out a defeated laugh and roughly pulled his body away from Ianto. Ianto was a bit shocked at the loss as he watched Jack walk to the window and look out.
"You don't want to know."
"Okay," Ianto agreed quickly, feeling like he shouldn't have brought it up at all.
"You shouldn't be here Ianto," Jack said facing the stars and not him, "I mean, I- I never thought I'd see you again. I put your body in the ground. I said goodbye."
Ianto couldn't read his voice or see his face. He didn't say anything for a beat then settled on, "The ground? And here I was looking forward to eternity in cold storage."
If nothing else, the comment got Jack to turn around. Jack eyed him for a second. "You always did spend a lot of time down there."
"Part of my job, Sir."
Jack grinned, "Yes, it was."
Jack walked back over to him and reached out hesitantly, like he was afraid that if he moved too suddenly Ianto might disappear. He caressed Ianto's face and neck slowly, studying him with his hands and with his eyes. Ianto didn't dare shift or even breath too deep, because he didn't want Jack to stop.
"So tell me... How are you here?" Jack asked softly. His voice seemed deeper than before.
"The rift," Ianto replied. It was how all their stories began, with the rift.
"And what did the rift do?" Jack asked, placing small kisses along his jaw line and down his neck. Ianto let his head loll back exposing his neck to Jack, not wanting to have to tell the story now, but instead wanting Jack to touch him all over.
"It spat out an alien," he mumbled grabbing onto Jack's shoulders and pulling him closer. "Remember..."
Jack looped his arms around Ianto and pulled him up against him, "I remember there being a lot of aliens."
Ianto kissed him fervently and Jack matched his enthusiasm as their lips collided. Their bodies pressed up against each other and Ianto’s arousal was rubbing pleasantly into Jack's hip. There would be time enough to talk later; Ianto just wanted to feel Jack now. It'd been months, and even if this wasn't his Jack- he still kissed like him and tasted like him. Ianto shifted his thigh so he could massage Jack's hardness through the layers of their clothing.
Jack gave a throaty moan and smiled wolfishly at Ianto, "I remember there being a lot of this too."
"Well, you're insatiable, Sir," Ianto replied sliding off his waistcoat.
"That hasn't changed." Jack seemed to agree that less clothing was better and he started to pull at Ianto's tie.
After what felt like nothing more than a jumble of hands and heated kisses, Ianto found himself naked on one of the oversized couches pinned underneath Jack. His heart was beating a million miles a second as he looked up at the other man.
"You're beautiful Ianto- I'd forgotten exactly how beautiful..." Jack said, kissing Ianto passionately before he had a chance to respond. When Jack finally pulled away, he looked at Ianto with his eyes gleaming mischievously. Ianto examined Jack from under his long eyelashes; his uniform jacket and shirt were undone showing off his bare chest and his trousers were pulled down mid-thigh. The sight was incredibly hot and Ianto felt his breath catch. Jack playfully quirked an eyebrow at him before looping his arm under one of Ianto's legs pulling it over his shoulder and spreading him wide. Ianto felt so exposed, and his cock was so hard he was worried the slightest touch might set him off.
"Please," was all Ianto could manage.
Jack chuckled, but kissed him forcefully and pressed into him. It hurt, but only for a passing moment before Jack began to move in him. Jack's eyes were intense, burning into him with every thrust. Ianto met his gaze and held it firm. He wanted to see Jack and he wanted Jack to see him. It didn't take long before Ianto's breath was short and he knew he was getting close. Ianto could feel Jack's hand wrap around his cock and begin to stroke, which was enough to put him over the edge. Ianto held Jack's eyes until the very last second, and when he did finally fling his head back in pleasure it was Jack's name rolling off his lips. A moment later he felt Jack convulse and heard his own name whispered warmly in his ear.
They lay there together silently for a while; their sweaty skin pressed against each other. Jack laid his head on Ianto's chest and Ianto ran his figures through Jack's silvering hair trying to remind himself that even though it felt like Jack, it wasn't his Jack. The stars shone in through the window and the green glow of the asteroid belt seemed to be ever present.
"I never thought we'd be here together," Ianto finally said breaking the silence. "I remember you telling me about this place. You told me about a lot of places Jack... half of them I didn’t even think were real."
When Jack laughed Ianto felt the vibrations on his stomach.
"I never lied you know. Every story was the truth."
"I believe that now. I've missed your stories; I've missed you so much." Ianto sighed, thinking of his Jack back in Cardiff.
Jack picked up his head and looked at him, "What do you mean? How long have been here?"
"Over seven months."
Jack sat up now and shook his head as if Ianto wasn't making sense, "That's not right. I don't remember that ever happening."
"Maybe I never told you."
"No. It doesn't make sense for the timeline I remember... How did you get here? You said there was an alien?" Jack asked.
"Do you remember that tall silvery alien? The one that wore the red robes?" Ianto asked, leaning over to collect his trousers from the floor so he could get dressed.
"Oh yeah, the Meton! I wouldn't forget her- she was gorgeous, and a bit deadly..."
"Gorgeous? Try slimy. You really need to work on your standards," Ianto replied in a dry tone.
"She shimmered."
"As most slimy things do in the light."
Jack shrugged. "I still thought she was pretty easy on the eyes."
"Honestly, is that all you think about? You seem to be forgetting the part where she broke into the hub, seriously maimed Gwen, and stole that weird energy converter thing from the archives," Ianto countered.
"I did say she was a bit deadly," Jack said seriously. "And I do remember that she stole the transdryxhypercoil, and on her way out she triggered a lock down. Gwen and I were trapped..."
"I was out on a body dump, and you sent me after her."
"I had no choice but to send you by yourself. A functional transdryxhypercoil in the wrong hands could be fashioned into a weapon powerful enough to wipe out planets. I couldn't risk it." Jack reached out and ran his hand down the back of Ianto's neck and over his spine.
"I followed her to a rift spike in the middle of the park. The rift was open and she had some kind of time shifting device. She activated it, and I realized that she was going to get away." Ianto paused, choosing his next words carefully. "The whole time I had you in my ear telling me to stop her at all costs- no matter what. So, just as she was disappearing, I grabbed on."
For a brief moment there was a sad shift in Jack's eyes and he looked ancient. "What happened next?"
"We ended up here, on the Outpost. We were down in one of the engineering rooms. I already had my gun out and I didn't hesitate- I empted the entire clip into her. There was a furnace down there- it was burning hotter than I'd ever seen. I dumped her body and the transdryxhypercoil into it and they were disintegrated. That's it; here I am; stuck."
Jack gaze at him for a long moment. "You've been here for seven months?"
"Yep. I was beginning to think I'd never see you again." Ianto kept his voice level, but looked away from Jack when he said this.
Jack grabbed his chin and forced Ianto to look back at him, "We'll get you home."
Ianto looked into his eyes and nodded. He hated the fact that Jack could sense how miserable he was. He pulled away from Jack and started to put on the trousers that he'd been clutching in his lap. Jack took this as a cue and began fastening his clothes and tidying himself up.
"What happened to that time shifting device?" Jack asked as Ianto fished over the arm of the sofa to grab his shirt.
Ianto glanced back at him. He left his shirt on the floor, and instead got up and retrieved his waistcoat from where it had been shed earlier. He produced the device from the interior pocket and twisted it around in the air for Jack to see. It was the size of a mobile phone and had a round face in the middle surrounded by a bunch of buttons.
"It's broken," Ianto explained. "I can't get it to respond to anything."
He tossed it to Jack who flipped it over in his hands a few times. He opened his wrist strap and pressed a couple of buttons and the face of the device lit up. Ianto's heart jumped, but only for a few seconds because as quickly as it had lit up it went dark again.
"It's not broken," Jack informed him, "It just needs to be charged."
"So, you’re telling me all these months, all I needed to do was plug it into the wall?" Ianto asked.
"You seen many wall plugs around this place?"
"Good point. But then how am I supposed to charge it?"
"Devices like this use the radiation from time and space disturbances as power," Jack explained.
"Like the rift?" Ianto asked.
"Like the rift. It should be able to absorb enough radiation from me to turn on long enough so we can run diagnostics and program it, but not long enough for you to make a jump."
"From you?"
"Because I've time traveled," Jack said with winning smile. "But the little bit of radiation coming off of me isn't going to charge it fully. You need a proper source."
"So I have to go back to Earth? Go back to the rift?"
Jack shook his head. "Nah, too far. The Medusa Cascade is closer, but even that's two months travel by ship."
"What choice do I have?" Ianto asked feeling desperate. He wondered if Jack would take him to the Cascade on his ship, and briefly thought about what it'd be like to spend two months with this Jack.
"There might be a better way..." Jack’s voice trailed off as he gazed at Ianto, who could almost see the wheels turning in Jack’s head.
"Yes?" Ianto asked expectantly after a drawn out moment.
"The TARDIS."
Ianto thought about this for a second, but he really wasn't sure what Jack was getting at. "The TARDIS?" he echoed.
"The heart of the TARDIS is the time vortex. If you take this device inside the TARDIS it'll be charged up in a matter of minutes," Jack explained.
Ianto arched his eyebrow at Jack and said, "Or we could just get the Doctor to use the TARDIS to take me home."
Jack's face changed. Ianto knew that expression; it was the one that told him that Jack was severely annoyed about something. "I actually don't have anyway of contacting the Doctor right now," Jack said.
"Right. So why are we even discussing the TARDIS at all then?" Ianto asked. It was good to know that even after all those centuries Jack could still be frustrating as hell to talk to. He started to wonder how many credits it would cost him to buy passage to the Medusa Cascade.
"The Owner of the Café was saying that next week is the Outpost's 225th birthday," Jack said going over to his neglected coffee and picking it up. Ianto didn't want to think about how cold it was, even though part of him was secretly pleased that Jack was drinking his coffee cold and wouldn't even sip Melissa's when it was hot.
"What about it?" Ianto asked, settling himself back down on the couch while watching Jack.
"You know the first time I visited here, with the Doctor and Rose, it was the Outpost's 225th birthday," Jack said, sipping his coffee with a gleam is his eye.
The impact of his words on Ianto took a second, but when he finally figured out what Jack was getting at Ianto shook his head and said, "Jack, you're insane!"
"You don't even know what I'm thinking," Jack protested.
"I don't have to. I know you well enough to know you're insane. I'd be crossing timelines, or breaking into the TARDIS, or both. And frankly, none of that sounds like a safe plan," Ianto replied using his best no nonsense tone.
"Since when did you like playing it safe? The thing is I think it's already been done. You just have to do it."
"What?"
"I've been thinking about that night a lot lately. It bothers me," Jack explained furrowing his brow. "And now that you're here, I think I've finally made sense of it."
"What do you mean?"
"Ianto, after we all had drinks at the Café I went back to the TARDIS and took a nap while Rose and the Doctor went exploring. I just- when have you ever known me to go and sleep when there was an adventure to be had?"
Ianto shook his head, because Jack was right. The man hardly ever slept at night, let alone napping when there was something exciting going on. "Never."
"And lately I've been so glad that I did, because do you know how recognizable I am right now? The Ambassador to the Great Human Empire? Even a younger version of myself wondering around the Outpost would've been mauled by people. Think of the damage that would've caused to the timeline if I had learned what I was to become?" Jack placed his hand against the window, leaning against the solid barrier and gazing out.
"You don't think your nap was a convenient oddity then?"
"No. I keep trying to remember what I was thinking, but there aren't any thoughts or feelings there. It was just something that happened. The memories aren't right. I'm not missing anything, but things aren't quite adding up. It's like when we used to give people low levels of Retcon, not to wipe their memories, but just to alter them with suggestions. That way they’d only remember a certain version events."
"You think you were Retconned?"
Jack didn't answer right away. He just stared far out into space in a thoughtful way that reminded Ianto of the way his Jack would stare unfocused into the distance when he stood on top of the Millennium building.
"I think..." Jack paused, looking at Ianto. "You were the one that Retconned me."
Ianto finally understood, "You want me to Retcon you, and then somehow sneak into the TARDIS to charge the time shifter?"
"Yes."
Ianto tried to calculate the multitude of things that could go wrong with that plan.
"Don't look so freaked out. I'll talk you through it." Jack walked back over to the couch were Ianto had been sitting watching him. He set his mug on the coffee table and slid next Ianto. Ianto was pleased Jack had finished his coffee. Well, if all else failed he had won his bet with Melissa, and he would be a hundred credits closer to the fair to the Medusa Cascade.
cU~cU~cU~cU~cU
"Where the hell have you been?" Melissa asked. She glared at Ianto as he put the dirty coffee service in the yellow area behind the bar for the service bots to collect.
"I was serving the Ambassador his coffee. You lost your bet by the way."
"For three hours? Do you have any idea what it's been like up here? We've been packed! I'm so behind on orders I think there might be a riot!"
"So you're not in a chipper mood then?" Ianto asked as he looked at the next order up on the computer screen and started pouring a couple pints of beer.
"What in the hell were you doing down there with him for three hours? Shagging?" Melissa continued to rant.
"Yep," Ianto said evenly, pulling a tray out and carefully placing the beers on it.
Melissa stopped mixing her drinks and looked at Ianto with a confused expression on her face,. "Are you being serious?"
Ianto just gave her what he hoped was a mysterious grin, but apparently it wasn't mysterious enough because Melissa's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "You aren't joking! Are you?"
Ianto just shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal.
"But what about that lover of yours? The one that 'time took' from you? The one you’re always pining over?"
Ianto raised an eyebrow at her.
"Sorry, brooding over," she corrected.
"Well, I was bound to move on eventually," Ianto replied picking his tray up and getting ready to deliver it.
Melissa huffed and shook her head in disbelief. "You've been sulking for months and then today you just decided to move on?"
"Pretty much."
"Right," she said, sighing and going back to her drinks.
A man wearing an Empire uniform leaned onto the bar next to Melissa. "Who do you have to shag around here to get a drink?" he asked.
Melissa cocked her head in Ianto's direction. "Him apparently."
The man blatantly checked Ianto out, and then raised his eyebrows in interest.
Ianto, for Melissa's benefit, gave the man his best flirty smile and said, "I'll be right with you."
cU~cU~cU~cU
The next morning Ianto put the coffee on and hummed to himself as he readied the bar area for what promised to be another very busy day. Jack's ship was still docked, and even though Ianto knew that he was only a few days away from going home to Cardiff he still felt like he owed it to Melissa and what little bit of a life that he had built here to keep up his duties.
"No coffee meditation this morning?" Melissa asked. She slipped behind the bar and began helping Ianto by pulling out the clean glasses from the service bin and lining them up on the shelf.
It took Ianto a second to realize what she meant. For the first time in all the days he’d worked here, he wasn't huddled over the coffee machine thinking of home. "Nope,” he replied.
"And here I thought that's what made it so good."
"I will never part with the secrets of my superior brew. But I will tell you one thing-meditating over the machine does nothing for the flavor.”
Melissa laughed. Behind them the doors opened. They both turned around to see the blue girls from Level 16 bounce in. Nesa and Nice- Ianto never could remember which one was which. All he knew is that the tall one had a crush on him so they'd often show up in the mornings before work for a cuppa. Not that Ianto minded; he found them both to be very amusing.
"Morning. You two are looking worse for the wear today," Ianto said with a pleasant smile.
Nesa and Nice sat down on stools at the bar and the taller of the two (Nesa?) said, "Oh, there was big party last night on the Empire ship! We were up most of the night. Humans are a ton of fun to party with!"
"Are we?" Ianto asked as he went over to the coffee pot and started pouring everyone a cup.
"Yes. And I always suspected that if we got you out of that suit and dancing you'd be positively wild. Your mild manner doesn't fool me for one second."
Ianto just raised an eyebrow as if to say 'oh really?’ as he gave her a cup of coffee. The blue girls always seemed to find a party and always seemed to think Ianto should go with them, even though he never did.
"You got to go on the Empire ship?" Melissa asked curiously as she accepted her mug from Ianto.
"Yep, it was fabulous!" the shorter of the two exclaimed. "All of those officers are so hot. I'd shag just about any one of them."
"And we got to meet the Ambassador," the other chimed in.
"You did?" Ianto asked.
"Yeah. He stopped in for a while and introduced himself. You should've seen the look he gave me when he shook my hand! I had shivers!"
Ianto grinned. "I bet."
"Ianto met him yesterday too," Melissa said with an evil smile. "From the sounds of things they got to know each other quite well."
"Really? What happened?" the taller of the two asked while clutching her mug and leaning over the bar with wide eyes like she just sensed a good piece of gossip.
"Melissa!" Ianto said warningly, but she paid him no heed.
"They shagged," she said.
"Really?"
Ianto felt the blush rise in his cheeks.
The blue girls broke into a fit of giggles. They covered their mouths with their hands and let their long hair fly carelessly around them.
"So what was he like? What happened? We need details!" the shorter of the two questioned.
"Nope," Ianto said, "I don't kiss and tell."
"That's no fun!"
"I never said I was fun. I'm just here to make the coffee," he replied in his most professional voice, which earned him a roll of the eyes from the blue girls.
"It's interesting that he shagged you considering his affair with De'Velor. That guy Mike, from last night, was saying that the Ambassador is quite serious about her," the taller one said.
"Who's De'Velor?" Ianto asked.
The girls laughed like he was being ridiculous, but Melissa must've seen the true confusion on his face and said, "Sometimes I really wonder about you. She's the daughter of the Bascin President, you know, ruler of the Bascin galaxies and Drovan juncture. She's always in the news. Traveling about, and going to all the hottest spots in the charted universe."
"She's beautiful! She has the softest mint green skin and silver hair. It almost makes me want to dye my hair silver," the shorter of the two girls confessed.
"Oh Nice! Don't do that! It'll never look right! You'll just look funny and old," Nesa replied.
Ianto made a mental note that the shorter one was Nice and the taller one was Nesa. He wasn't sure what to make of Jack's girlfriend. He wasn't even sure if he had the right to have an opinion on it anymore.
"De'Velor is like modern day royalty. And you'd think she'd be stuck up, but she came here a few years ago, and I met her. She was so nice I think we could be friends, you know, if she wasn't famous and important and I wasn't just a barmaid," Nesa said.
"For the last year her and the Ambassador have been spotted all over the place together. At first it was quite the scandal, because he has to be the same age as her father. But Mike was saying that the Ambassador is serious about her, and that she stayed on their ship for nearly a month before going home for her mother's birthday a few weeks ago," Nice explained.
"I think its just a bunch of hype. You know how the news likes a good gossip story. The Ambassador wouldn't be sleeping around if it was that serious," Melissa scoffed.
"Maybe they had a fight and they're on the outs right now," Nesa theorized sipping her coffee thoughtfully.
Just then the doors to the Café opened. Melissa barely looked up from the conversation, calling to the intruder, "We don't open for another twenty minutes."
"Sorry. I was just hoping for a cup of coffee and wanted to beat the crowds," Jack said standing just inside the door looking a bit sheepish.
"Ambassador!" Nesa and Nice chimed in surprise.
Jack smiled at Ianto, who nodded his head that it was okay, "Please come in. Join us."
One of the blue girls squeaked as Jack pulled up a stool next to them.
Ianto went over to the coffee machine and poured Jack a cup fixing it just the way he liked it. The girls seemed to be stunned into silence, and Jack, sensing that he’d interrupted something, just offered them all a friendly grin and asked, "So how's everyone doing this morning?"
"We were just discussing De'Velor," Ianto told him before the others had a chance to respond.
"Oh?" Jack asked and Ianto shot a look over his shoulder to see the expression on Jack’s face, but the other man just had a pleasant air about him that gave nothing about his true thoughts away.
"It seems that one of your crew members thinks that your relationship is serious, but Melissa here wonders if it isn't just a bunch of hype that the news has made up to give people something to gossip about," Ianto informed him as he brought over his coffee and set it in front of him at the bar. The blue girls both were both staring at Ianto with mixed expressions of admiration and trepidation, and Melissa was just looking at him like he'd lost his mind- he ignored them all.
Jack laughed at him and took a sip of his coffee, "I'd say it's pretty serious. She's a great girl. Actually, I was thinking about asking her to marry me."
"Really?!" Nesa asked obviously thrilled to be getting the scoop first hand.
"Really," Jack told her with a kind smile, then shifted his attention back to Ianto. "Jealous?"
"Do you want me to be?" Ianto deflected. He didn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't jealous- not really - but he wasn't happy either.
Jack’s face changed from pleasant to concerned. Ianto stared at him expressionless waiting for an answer, but Jack just sipped his coffee and looked back at him with an intense gaze.
Melissa looked from Ianto to Jack and then back at Ianto before declaring, "I've some things I need to take care of in the back."
As Melissa slipped away, Nice looped her arm in Nesa's and pulled them both to their feet. "We need to get to work. Good to see you again Ambassador!" she said, heading for the door and dragging her sister along with her.
Ianto heard Nesa squeak in protest as they left, but he didn't watch them go because he was too focused on Jack whose eyes were locked on him.
"Eternity is a long time Ianto," he finally said once it was just the two of them.
"You don’t have to explain. I get it," Ianto said. He turned his back to Jack and tried to find something behind the bar to busy himself with.
"I've got to keep looking forward or I'd go insane. I think you'd like her..." Jack continued.
She could've been the nicest, most wonderful person in the whole of time and space and Ianto knew that he'd still never like her. "Please don't, I'm not jealous."
"You’re not?" Jack asked in a doubtful tone.
Ianto turned back to face him. "I just wished you'd said something about it yesterday."
"I didn't know how," Jack replied.
That was a weak excuse, even for Jack, but Ianto didn't want to fight about it so he just sighed and said, "It's fine Jack. You don't owe me anything anymore."
There was a hurt look in Jack's eyes. "You know I don’t ever forget the ones I loved. I may move on, but I never forget. We had a lifetime together- we'll have a lifetime together. I didn't want to take that away from you, not now when you're still so young."
Ianto just looked at him, and for the first time since he’d met Ambassador Jack did it really occur to him that he'd become one them; he'd become another one of Jack's stories, someone he remembered by telling tales about. He was past now, not present, and he didn't belong here at all. He looked in Jack's eyes and when he said it this time he really meant it, "I understand."
"You were always different from the rest Ianto," Jack said with a sad smile. "You always understood in a way nobody else ever did. I needed that then. I'm glad that you're here now- that I got to see you one last time."
Jack reached over the bar and caressed the side of his face. Ianto leaned into it and stepped closer so he could press his lips against Jack's. They kissed slow and soft; it felt like it might never end, but it did, and when Jack pulled away he seemed sadder than Ianto could ever remember seeing him.
"I figured out the time shifter," Jack said after a long moment. He pulled the device out of his pocket and gave it to Ianto. "The coordinates are all set. All you have to do is get into the TARDIS to charge it. Then press this button and then that button. Easy."
Ianto smiled. "Easy."
"You'll do brilliantly," Jack said, then paused. "My ship leaves tonight..."
"So this is goodbye?" Ianto asked.
"Just for me. You're going to be stuck with a younger me for a very long time," Jack said with a huge grin.
"Can't wait."
Jack got up and headed for the door. He turned before he left. "And Ianto?"
"Yeah?"
"You know, even after all these years, I still can't have a cup of coffee without thinking about you."
Ianto grinned. "I wouldn't have it any other way Sir."
"I really loved you Ianto."
"I love you too Jack."
With that Jack disappeared out the door and Ianto swallowed hard at the lump in his throat.
Part 2 of 2