Fic: The Evening Star's Child Chapter 2/10
Title: The Evening Star's Child
Fandoms: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Caden/Tosh, Rhys/Owen, John/Kathy, Donna, the Doctor/the Master, Martha, Estelle, OC's
Summary: For Jack there is nothing that means more to him than his mate, Ianto, so when they learn Ianto is pregnant his life, their life, feels complete. But when someone seeks to harm Ianto, they learn exactly far Jack is willing to go to keep Ianto and their unborn child safe.
Rating: R
Beta: RoyalLadyEmma
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood; I do own Caden, Ianto's people and home world.
Art by: vismur see of her amazing work here
Written for the Mpreg Big Bang Round 1 and a furture Alien!Ianto story
Chapter 2
"Where the bloody hell is our fearless leader and our Tea-Boy?" Owen demanded as he sulked in his chair at the massive dining room table; by rule they had to wait for their King to join them before they could eat. "I'm hungry and I need a cup of Tea-Boy's coffee," he growled under his breath; he knew he sounded like a petulant child but he just didn't care.
Rhys rolled his eyes at his mate's actions. "You could always make your own cup of coffee or try one of Delilah's; hers is almost as good as Ianto's," Rhys pointed out gently. He stroked his thumb across the back of the young man's hand as he reminded Owen of the new chef in the kitchen. She and Ianto had struck up a friendship upon meeting, and he'd taken the young Aiedailian under his wing and he was teaching her the fine art - his fine art of brewing the perfect cup of coffee.
"Yeah, yeah, Delilah's good," Owen grudgingly admitted, "but she's still not Ianto-good, not yet. Leave it to Jack to hog Ianto all to himself!" the medic scowled as he continued to pout. He'd been completely spoiled by years of drinking Ianto's blessed liquid black gold.
"As Ianto's mate and husband, Jack does have the first and most important right to Ianto because as he likes to point out, he's only loaning Ianto to the rest of us," Tosh pointed out from her seat across the table from Owen. She smiled brightly as Caden poured her a cup of Delilah's coffee. "Thank you, love."
Caden arched an eyebrow and leered wickedly at his mate. "If you really want to thank me I'm sure we could find an empty room?" He ended his offer with a flirty wink and a gentle nudge to her shoulder.
Despite the many years they had been together Caden treasured the fact that he could still make Tosh blush and nothing made her blush faster or darker than when the royal knight talked about their sex life in front of others.
'He's just as bad as Jack,' was the unanimous thought at the breakfast table. Right from the start Jack and Caden shared a mutual love for making their shy mates blush; it was a clearly a great pleasure of theirs.
"You might as well start eating," John declared as he sauntered into the dining area. "Jackie-Boy and his Eye-Candy won't be joining us if the moans Eye-Candy was making as I passed their room are any indication." The leer was obvious in his voice. 'What I wouldn't give to be in that room seeing what Jack was doing to get Eye-Candy to moan like that!'
She didn't need to be psychic to know what John was thinking and Kathy, his long-suffering mate, rolled her eyes before smacking the back of John's head, hard. "That is my King you're talking about, so if you don't want to sleep on the couch for the long foreseeable future it would be wise to sit down and shut up." A cruel grin suddenly lit up her face; "or would you like to have Jack cut off your little captain for thinking about Ianto like that!" she snarled before turning to her fellow knights." Althea believes that our King has entered his mating cycle," she announced happily. "Our elder thinks it's time!"
A low whistle escaped Caden's lips as he sat up straight in his chair his eyes sparkling. "Really? Do Ianto and Jack know about this or is that old bat keeping this a secr... OWW!" Caden clutched the back of his head after something wooden and very hard came crashing down on him. Prepared to do battle with his attacker, Caden angrily whirled around. "Who hit m... oh! Umm... Hi, Althea, how long have you been standing there?"
Althea looked less than impressed as she glowered at Caden. "Who are you calling old bat, you upstart little brat?" Althea demanded as she lifted her heavy wooden staff and shook it threateningly at Caden.
"No one! Don't hurt me!" In a move that given his opponent, many would call brave and few would call cowardly, Caden jumped out of his chair and cowered down behind Tosh. "Protect me, Tosh, from the mean lady with her hard staff!" he whimpered as he clutched at her arm.
The dining room was silent as everyone just stared at Althea as she smirked at Caden, enjoying seeing the knight hiding behind his mate. Finally, she shook her head as she faced Toshiko. "I will never understand, child, how you ended up mated to him; you are clearly far too good for him," the healer muttered under her breath as she took the seat Rhys pulled out for her. "Thank you, Rhys. See? Now here's a good man for you, Toshiko," Althea said with a teasing tone.
Both Owen and Caden bristled indignantly; even though they knew Althea was teasing they still did not like the idea of anyone, even joking that their lovers would be better off without other people. A low growl escaped Caden's lips as he came out from hiding behind Tosh and without warning tipped back her chair, bent over and kissed her deeply.
Deciding to take a play out of Caden's book, Owen threw down his napkin as he shoved back his chair, and grasping the armrests of Rhys' seat, he pulled back his mate's chair enough so he could plop himself down onto Rhys' lap. "Mine," Owen hissed out before kissing Rhys senseless.
"Orgy time!" John cried out with obvious delight as his hands flew to his shirt and began tugging it off. Suddenly, a small spark of lightning struck him in his arse and stopped his movements in mid-strip. Gulping deeply, he turned to see the anger burning brightly in his lover's eyes. "No orgy?" he asked with a pout and his lower lip quivered.
Kathy scowled as she crossed her arms over her chest. "No orgy, not if you want to keep your balls attached to your person."
John continued to pout but he wasn't foolish enough to mess with his ill-tempered lover. Kathy was one of Ianto's most trusted bodyguards for a reason and that reason was she would happily fry anyone who was a threat to her King and family. That fierce warrior attitude extended to anyone who pissed her off enough, and more often than not, it was John who pushed her buttons to the limit. "Are you going to punish me?" John's childish pout was gone, and now a very adult leer graced his face.
Crackles of lightning came out of the corners of Kathy's eyes. 'Of all the beings in the Universe I had to end up with a mate worse than Harkness!' Not for the first time Kathy wonder what she had done wrong to deserve a fate like this. 'Ah well, the heart wants what the heart wants,' and she mentally shook her head.
Knowing he was on very thin ice with his mate, John climbed to his feet and John moved towards Kathy with a sexy swagger. Seductive charm oozed off him as he curled his arms around Kathy's waist and pulled his lover flush against his body. He shivered as he stared into her fire-filled eyes, the heat from them soaking into his own. 'Oh yes,' he thought. 'I do so love the fire that burns within my woman's heart.' He loved it when his lovers were filled with fiery passion and Kathy Swanson was full of it. "Come on, you know I meant nothing by it. Why would I ever look at anyone else when I have you, my little lightning bug?" John purred as he nipped at Kathy's ear.
'I hate it when he gets like this; it makes it so hard for me to stay mad at him.' Kathy tried to remain strong, but John's lips had moved to the sensitive skin behind her ear and she couldn't prevent the lust-filled shiver that ran the length of her spine as he licked her. John knew exactly how to lay on the charm to get what he wanted and to get himself out of trouble, and Kathy found that when John acted like this she was weak against him. "You're lucky I like your bits were they are," she muttered low under her breath. Just because she fell for his charm didn't mean she actually had to tell him that; 'I don't need to make his head any bigger than it already is.'
Estelle watched everything with a knowing look in her eyes as she turned to face her own life mate. "I take it they are," she gestured to the couples who were all lost in each other, "being effected by Ianto's mating hormones?"
There was a distinctly naughty twinkle in Althea's eyes as she smiled innocently. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
Estelle sighed softly; she wasn't at all surprised that she didn't get a straight answer out her mate. For all of her supposed age and wisdom Althea was like a child who liked to act mysteriously when it came to secrets. "Have you at least informed Ianto and Jack that there's a chance Ianto could get pregnant?" She already had an idea of was going to her playful mate with say.
An affronted look graced Althea's weathered but still beautiful face. "Now where would the fun be in that?" she asked. She was truly shocked that her lover, that anyone thought she should inform Ianto and Jack of the nature of their insatiable attraction to one another. Suddenly, the look changed and a smirk graced her lips, "And there is no maybe about it. Our young King will be pregnant by the end of his mating cycle, it has been written in the stars and so it shall be."
******
Jack stared down at the slumbering face of his beloved Ianto and it took all his willpower not to wake his life mate up and take him again. He had never downplayed his appetite for Ianto but this hunger was different; it was as if something primal had awakened in his soul and it would never be satisfied until it had achieved whatever it set out to do. He was broken out of his thoughts when Ianto rolled over and nuzzled Jack's chest with sleepy lips and Jack felt his body spring instantly to life. 'No! Down boy!' Jack firmly told himself ; he knew he had worn Ianto out and wanted his mate to rest first, regain his stamina, 'and then I can jump him.'
A wicked gleam entered Jack's eyes and he purred in contentment as the warmth of his lover's body soaked into his skin; he wrapped his arms around Ianto and pressed a kiss into Ianto's hair. 'I do hope Althea and the others can handle Ianto's meetings for the day because I don't plan on letting Ianto out of your bed anytime soon.'
*****
Somehow, despite over-active hormones, everyone was able to pull themselves away from one another long enough to finish their breakfast in time for the morning council meeting. Estelle shook her head as she noticed that Althea still refused to tell anyone why Jack and Ianto wouldn't be joining them. Upon returning to his people one of the first things Ianto had done was to make sure that his new council was filled with people he knew he could trust beyond a shadow of a doubt. That rarefied group included his knights and their mates, along with those who had once faithfully served his father. They had been imprisoned without trial and brutally treated after they refused to follow the dictates of Ianto's uncle when the madman had seized the throne after murdering his own brother.
'I hate these meetings; these old fogies are no fun! Who wants to hear about the old days? I lived the old days and they weren't all that great,' Althea grumbled to herself as she entered the council chambers. 'The things I have to put up with in order to ensure our King becomes pregnant.' Althea have been stuck in a boring meeting but she will at least have some fun with her mysterious questions and answers. 'I wonder how long it will take until they notice our king isn't going to join us?'
It was Zosimos, Althea's brother and General of the Army who was the first to notice that Ianto and Jack had yet to arrive "Where are our young King and his Jack?"
Althea favoured the council with a knowing smile. "Our young King has entered his first true heat as a bonded mate. He and Jack will not be seen for the rest of the week, for the stars have spoken to me and told me that our King will bear the next in line for the throne."
Zosimos shook his head; he was not at all surprised at his sister's actions. "You mean to tell us that our King will soon be pregnant and Jack's child?"
Lyra, a childhood friend of Ianto's, sat up straight in her chair, excitement shining in her amber eyes. "A baby? Oh this calls for a celebration! Can I plan what the humans call a baby shower?" The young woman was practically bouncing in her chair with anticipation.
"Lyra, that's enough." Her soft-spoken mate, Noam, gently told her. "There is no need to get ahead of ourselves; we should wait until we know for a fact that Ianto is indeed with child."
"Indeed, besides Thyra will have something to say about if she's kept from planning a party and I don't know about you, but none of us want to be on her bad side. That woman is scary." Zosimos shivered in fear as he pictured his mate's unbridled wrath if she wasn't a part of the party planning committee. 'For a small woman she can quickly become a fire-breathing dragon.'
Althea fought the urge to cackle with laughter as everyone else cringed at the idea of having to face Thyra's wrath; no one forgot the bone-terrifying lecture she'd given to Jack, John and Owen about what she would do to them if they hurt Ianto, Kathy or Rhys in any way, shape or form. Of course Caden had pouted and asked why she hadn't given the same talk to Tosh, whereupon Thyra had looked him up and down, and with a saucy grin, she'd told Tosh she could do so much better.
"So will we see our King or his mate any time soon?" Noam asked Althea.
Althea had a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, if you don't mind watching a free peep show and then having Jack rip you apart with his bare hands for daring to see his Ianto naked, then yes, I suppose you can hope they will make an appearance," she informed them with a deceptively sweet smile.
Zosimos shook his head as he looked at his sister. "You're getting to much fun out of this. Until our King's heat comes to an end they shall not be disturbed," he decreed.
"What about meals?" Lyra asked with a thoughtful look on her face; she didn't want to get ripped apart but Ianto and Jack did have to eat.
"Oh, that's easy," a new voice piped in. "If you want them to come back in one piece just make sure that whoever you send in with food and drink for them that it's someone Jack won't see as a rival or threat to his bond with Ianto," John warned them with a saucy grin. He knew full well that Althea wasn't joking about Jack's willingness to end anyone who dared to look twice at his Ianto naked or who he deemed a threat to his mate or their bond.
'Of course if they think Jack is bad now just wait until Ianto becomes pregnant! Then heaven help anyone who even looks at Ianto funny they'll never even see what hit them.' John's face fell as a sudden thought hit him. 'Sooo... I guess that means my days of flirting with Eye-Candy are over.' He pouted at that but then brightened up when he decided that he actually liked having his mini captains attached to his body.
"Noam, I want you to keep an eye on our King's future." Zosimos issued his orders to the court seer. "Even though Thanatos has been defeated, Aeron is still out there somewhere. He is still a dangerous foe and I fear he may be biding his time until he strikes again." While he was overjoyed at the thought of his godson having a child of his own, Zosimos knew that there were still those who had been loyal to Thanatos out there waiting to avenge the false king's defeat.
Once it became known that Ianto was with child, he would be more vulnerable than ever before. 'I need to speak with Jack; he must know of the perils his new family will face.' Zosimos made himself a mental note, realising he would have to wait until Ianto's mating cycle was over.
Noam nodded his head. "I will keep a close eye on Ianto's future and report anything that could pose a danger."
"If Aeron wants to try anything he'll have to get past us first," Caden growled from his chair. A murmur of agreement went around the table.
"Damn right; Jack and Ianto may sometimes be royal pains in the arse but they're our pains in the arse," Owen grumbled. There was no way he would ever let anyone hurt them or their yet-to-be child.
Tosh bit her lower lip, torturing it with her teeth. "What about getting in contact with the Doctor and the Master, just as a back-up plan? We all know that the Doctor is extremely protective over Jack and Ianto and the Master has proven that he will maim anyone who even thinks of hurting Ianto," Tosh reminded them.
Rhys nodded his head. "Tosh has a good point. The Master and the Doctor could give us a much-needed helping hand and we've all seen how brutal the Master can be to someone who tried to harm Ianto. In fact, simply making that one piece of information known could be a very effective deterrent."
Zosimos had a thoughtful look on his face. "Very well we shall call the Time Lords but do not say anything to them about Ianto being pregnant just yet. It would do no good to spoil the surprise or get everyone's hopes up," he cautioned and he was pleased when everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "Now it's time to move onto the next agenda item." Zosimos seamlessly retook control of the meeting.
*****
A tiny whimper escaped Ianto's kiss-swollen lips as Jack's mouth hungrily devoured his and their bodies rocked together in unison as Jack thrust gently in and out of Ianto's pliant body. Unlike their many previous couplings of this morning, this union was soft, gentle and lovingly unhurried. Looking deep into Jack's eyes Ianto dropped his mental shields and when he felt Jack do the same he smiled and tenderly stroked the side of his husband's face. Together they opened their bond inviting each other in, and then as one they flew beyond the heavens.
*****
In tune with everything around her, Lyra let out a soft squeal and clapped her hands with glee as the wind and the leaves danced around her and the stars sang with joy. The blessed miracle had happened; Ianto was pregnant. 'Oh I can't wait to throw my very first baby shower!'