Fic: Earth's Distant Star
Title: Earth's Distant Star
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1135
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack and Ianto are so far from earth that the sun is just another star in the sky.
Written For: Weekend Challenge Prompt, ‘It's A Musical’ at 1_million_words, using ‘Bright Star, Sun’s Gonna Shine, I don’t want to go home’.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.
Earth wasn’t visible from this distance. Even its sun was no more than another bright star in the inky black of the moonless night sky.
“That one,” Jack said, pointing. “Just to the left of the three that look like they’re lined up in a row. They’re not,” he added. “It just looks that way from this angle.”
Ianto followed Jack’s finger. “I see it.” Earth’s sun, the star that gave light and warmth to the planet of his birth, enabling life to evolve there in all its myriad forms. “Doesn’t look particularly impressive, does it?”
Glancing sidelong at his lover, Jack smiled. “No star does when you’re far enough away.”
“I suppose not.” Ianto stood, hands in pockets, gazing intently at the tiny point of light, all he could see of the home he’d left behind. “Is it daytime or night back in Wales, I wonder.”
Jack fiddled with his vortex manipulator. “According to my calculations, it’s May fourteenth, around five in the morning. The sun will be rising in just a few minutes.”
“Clever. Can your wrist strap give you the weather forecast as well?” Ianto teased.
“Not from here, but it’s Cardiff in spring, so it’ll probably rain. One thing you can practically count on in Wales is the rain. Here though…” Jack pressed more buttons on his VM, studying the data scrolling across the small screen. “Should be sunny and mild today, just like yesterday.”
“Sunny and mild.” Ianto nodded. “I can live with that.”
“Perfect weather for exploring,” Jack agreed. “Which is fortunate for us, since we don’t have an umbrella.”
“Only because you managed to break mine last month. I could’ve told you putting an umbrella up in that wind was a bad idea, but you didn’t ask.”
“You’re not still mad about that, are you?”
“Not exactly, but at the rate you’re managing to break things, it makes me wonder how long it’ll be before I don’t have anything left from my life Before.” Meaning before he’d died in Thames House, before his body had been cryogenically frozen, before Jack had left earth and travelled the universe for years, trying to find some way of bringing him back.
“It was just an umbrella, and I did apologise.”
“You did, but it wasn’t just any old umbrella.” Ianto managed a sad smile. “Tosh bought it for me as a replacement for the one I destroyed saving her life. I’d had to use it as a weapon against a particularly nasty alien creature that was trying to eat her.” He half-shrugged. “It was while you were away with the Doctor that time.”
“Oh.” Jack didn’t quite know how to react to that. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known it had sentimental value, I would’ve been more careful.”
Ianto shook his head. “Wasn’t much point. By the time I saw what you were doing, it was already too late. Probably silly of me to get attached to everyday objects anyway, especially now I can look forward to a life measured in millennia rather than years.” He threw Jack a wry smile. “Although, your carelessness does mean we currently have no conveniently portable protection on the off chance that it DOES rain.”
Jack shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be a problem. I mean, earth’s right there, only a little over forty light years away.” He pointed to the distant star. “We can just hop in the Wanderer and be there in… oh, three or four days, ship’s time. Pick up a few umbrellas, and anything else you think might come in useful. Brollies could prove popular as trade goods. Far as I know, no other civilised race has come up with anything similar. You can get personal weather shields in a few places, but they’re forcefield technology, meaning you have to either keep recharging them so they’re less likely to stop working in the middle of a storm, or carry a portable power pack. Most of those are a bit bulky.”
“I’ll add umbrellas to the list of potential, trade goods then, along with Velcro, zip fasteners, safety pins, coffee, and whipped cream in a can.”
“And post-it notes,” Jack added.
“Ah yes, how could I forget the post-its?” Ianto turned thoughtful. “Is it weird that I don’t want to go home just yet? I know it’s been over a year now, but it still feels too soon. Everyone believes I’m dead, which is probably for the best. What if we ran into someone who recognised me? My hair might be a little longer than it used to be, and I don’t always bother with shaving, but other than that, I don’t think I’ve changed much.”
“We wouldn’t have to go to Cardiff. We could try Manchester, Birmingham, or Edinburgh, or even another continent, maybe America. That way there’d be no chance of running into anyone who might remember you.”
Ianto snorted. “Like that would help. I went on holiday to Jamaica the year after I started working for Torchwood One. I was only there for ten days, but I ran into a guy I went to university with back in London, a couple who used to live next door to my mum, and my first crush from school, who emigrated to Australia with her parents when we were fourteen. Coincidences can be so freaky; people pop up in the weirdest places. I wouldn’t be surprised if I meet one of my old schoolteachers on the next world we visit.”
“Why not on this one?” Jack joked.
“Less likely. This one doesn’t have a spaceport. Non-sentient species don’t have much use for space travel, or for tourist attractions.”
“Ah, good point.”
“Airports are good places to unexpectedly run into people you haven’t seen in years. I imagine spaceports will be similar, once I meet a few more people.” Ianto looked up at the sky again, seeking out earth’s sun, so near and yet so far. The night on this nameless world was drawing to a close; soon the sky would be growing lighter, and then the stars would fade from view, but they’d still be there, and so would earth. Ianto found that comforting, even though he was in no hurry to go back.
He missed earth, in some ways, but he had nobody there now to go home to, except perhaps for Martha, the only one from Before who knew he was alive again. His sister and her family, his few friends, even Gwen and Rhys, had all done their grieving and moved on with their lives, believing him gone for good. Let them keep believing that.
His life was out here now, with Jack, travelling the universe with all its wonders, transporting strange cargoes for even stranger aliens, and he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1135
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack and Ianto are so far from earth that the sun is just another star in the sky.
Written For: Weekend Challenge Prompt, ‘It's A Musical’ at 1_million_words, using ‘Bright Star, Sun’s Gonna Shine, I don’t want to go home’.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.
Earth wasn’t visible from this distance. Even its sun was no more than another bright star in the inky black of the moonless night sky.
“That one,” Jack said, pointing. “Just to the left of the three that look like they’re lined up in a row. They’re not,” he added. “It just looks that way from this angle.”
Ianto followed Jack’s finger. “I see it.” Earth’s sun, the star that gave light and warmth to the planet of his birth, enabling life to evolve there in all its myriad forms. “Doesn’t look particularly impressive, does it?”
Glancing sidelong at his lover, Jack smiled. “No star does when you’re far enough away.”
“I suppose not.” Ianto stood, hands in pockets, gazing intently at the tiny point of light, all he could see of the home he’d left behind. “Is it daytime or night back in Wales, I wonder.”
Jack fiddled with his vortex manipulator. “According to my calculations, it’s May fourteenth, around five in the morning. The sun will be rising in just a few minutes.”
“Clever. Can your wrist strap give you the weather forecast as well?” Ianto teased.
“Not from here, but it’s Cardiff in spring, so it’ll probably rain. One thing you can practically count on in Wales is the rain. Here though…” Jack pressed more buttons on his VM, studying the data scrolling across the small screen. “Should be sunny and mild today, just like yesterday.”
“Sunny and mild.” Ianto nodded. “I can live with that.”
“Perfect weather for exploring,” Jack agreed. “Which is fortunate for us, since we don’t have an umbrella.”
“Only because you managed to break mine last month. I could’ve told you putting an umbrella up in that wind was a bad idea, but you didn’t ask.”
“You’re not still mad about that, are you?”
“Not exactly, but at the rate you’re managing to break things, it makes me wonder how long it’ll be before I don’t have anything left from my life Before.” Meaning before he’d died in Thames House, before his body had been cryogenically frozen, before Jack had left earth and travelled the universe for years, trying to find some way of bringing him back.
“It was just an umbrella, and I did apologise.”
“You did, but it wasn’t just any old umbrella.” Ianto managed a sad smile. “Tosh bought it for me as a replacement for the one I destroyed saving her life. I’d had to use it as a weapon against a particularly nasty alien creature that was trying to eat her.” He half-shrugged. “It was while you were away with the Doctor that time.”
“Oh.” Jack didn’t quite know how to react to that. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known it had sentimental value, I would’ve been more careful.”
Ianto shook his head. “Wasn’t much point. By the time I saw what you were doing, it was already too late. Probably silly of me to get attached to everyday objects anyway, especially now I can look forward to a life measured in millennia rather than years.” He threw Jack a wry smile. “Although, your carelessness does mean we currently have no conveniently portable protection on the off chance that it DOES rain.”
Jack shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be a problem. I mean, earth’s right there, only a little over forty light years away.” He pointed to the distant star. “We can just hop in the Wanderer and be there in… oh, three or four days, ship’s time. Pick up a few umbrellas, and anything else you think might come in useful. Brollies could prove popular as trade goods. Far as I know, no other civilised race has come up with anything similar. You can get personal weather shields in a few places, but they’re forcefield technology, meaning you have to either keep recharging them so they’re less likely to stop working in the middle of a storm, or carry a portable power pack. Most of those are a bit bulky.”
“I’ll add umbrellas to the list of potential, trade goods then, along with Velcro, zip fasteners, safety pins, coffee, and whipped cream in a can.”
“And post-it notes,” Jack added.
“Ah yes, how could I forget the post-its?” Ianto turned thoughtful. “Is it weird that I don’t want to go home just yet? I know it’s been over a year now, but it still feels too soon. Everyone believes I’m dead, which is probably for the best. What if we ran into someone who recognised me? My hair might be a little longer than it used to be, and I don’t always bother with shaving, but other than that, I don’t think I’ve changed much.”
“We wouldn’t have to go to Cardiff. We could try Manchester, Birmingham, or Edinburgh, or even another continent, maybe America. That way there’d be no chance of running into anyone who might remember you.”
Ianto snorted. “Like that would help. I went on holiday to Jamaica the year after I started working for Torchwood One. I was only there for ten days, but I ran into a guy I went to university with back in London, a couple who used to live next door to my mum, and my first crush from school, who emigrated to Australia with her parents when we were fourteen. Coincidences can be so freaky; people pop up in the weirdest places. I wouldn’t be surprised if I meet one of my old schoolteachers on the next world we visit.”
“Why not on this one?” Jack joked.
“Less likely. This one doesn’t have a spaceport. Non-sentient species don’t have much use for space travel, or for tourist attractions.”
“Ah, good point.”
“Airports are good places to unexpectedly run into people you haven’t seen in years. I imagine spaceports will be similar, once I meet a few more people.” Ianto looked up at the sky again, seeking out earth’s sun, so near and yet so far. The night on this nameless world was drawing to a close; soon the sky would be growing lighter, and then the stars would fade from view, but they’d still be there, and so would earth. Ianto found that comforting, even though he was in no hurry to go back.
He missed earth, in some ways, but he had nobody there now to go home to, except perhaps for Martha, the only one from Before who knew he was alive again. His sister and her family, his few friends, even Gwen and Rhys, had all done their grieving and moved on with their lives, believing him gone for good. Let them keep believing that.
His life was out here now, with Jack, travelling the universe with all its wonders, transporting strange cargoes for even stranger aliens, and he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.
The End