Guilt: Redux - 17/17+Epilogue
Title: Guilt: Redux
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, references to Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: If I was the one who owned Torchwood, you think I'd admit it now?
Spoilers: Some information and events from s1,2. NONE for s3.
Summary: Ianto knows he should be happy. He has his work and he has Lisa. Again. Finally. He knows he should be happy.
Author's Note: Alternate ending to Guilt - events of Guilt up to around ch50 take place. This picks up many months later... (There's a short recap of 'what you NEED to know from Guilt' before chapter one, if you haven't read it)
Author's Note 2: Finished the 3rd week of NaNo, and I'm actually on course at the moment to reach 50k tomorrow! Or maybe even tonight!
Thanks to: My lovely beta cazmalfoy, angelzbabe1989 for idea bouncing, and morbid_sparks for cheerleading even when she doesn't know what happens in this...
Previous chapters at master list
Chapter Seventeen
Lisa startled a little as the front door swung open and hit pause on the DVD so she could look around. She wasn’t expecting Ianto back for hours yet, if he returned at all.
Jack was vehemently defending himself for… something, when he and Ianto came through the door.
“I’m just saying, I think he was…”
He and Ianto appeared to noticed Lisa, and her co-worker and new friend Kate, watching them curiously.
“You’re… back,” said Lisa, “at 8 o’clock.” The unspoken question was inherent in the words.
Ianto shot a brief heatless glare in Jack’s direction. “That would be because someone - not naming any names - got us kicked out of the film.”
“That usher was just prejudiced,” Jack complained. “Took exception to me for no reason whatsoever.”
“Uh-huh,” Ianto said, rolling his eyes. “No reason at all.”
Kate was looking between the pair of them, utter bewilderment on her face. Lisa spotted it and rushed to help. “Oh, sorry. Kate, this is Ianto, and his boyfriend, Jack.” She paused, looking at the pair of them. “Is it ‘boyfriend’? I just realised I never asked what you were going with.”
Ianto and Jack exchanged a look and shrugged in unison. “Boyfriend is fine, I suppose,” Ianto said.
Lisa nodded. “This is Kate; we work together.”
The three exchanged slightly awkward waves.
Ianto leant to the side slightly, twisting to see the TV screen. “So, what are you two watching?”
Lisa held up the DVD case, waving it. Jack grinned. “Oh, that is so much better than that crap we were watching at the cinema anyway,” he said cheekily.
Stripping off his coat and boots swiftly - remembering for once to hang the coat on a hook next to the door and not just toss it over the back of the sofa - Jack strode across the room and dropped into the one remaining spot at the end of the sofa.
Lisa nudged him with her elbow. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.”
Ianto took a step towards the kitchen, where he could get an extra chair, but Jack grabbed his hand, forestalling him. Before he could even start to turn around and ask Jack what he wanted, he found himself planted on Jack’s lap, Jack’s arms firmly around his waist to keep him there.
“Jack!” he exclaimed, wriggling a bit. “What are you doing?”
Jack’s arms tightened fractionally. “Ooh, just keep wriggling like that,” he leered into Ianto’s neck. “I like it.”
Ianto stilled, twisting around so he could narrow his eyes at Jack. “You ‘like’ everything,” he said pointedly. “That’s the problem, sometimes.”
Jack nodded unashamedly. “If it’s attached to you, then yes, I completely agree, I do. Very much so.”
“Okay,” Lisa’s voice cut in, “I’m starting the DVD again now. If you boys want to take this any further, remember we have a guest, so you’ll have to take it to Ianto’s room.”
Jack stuck out his tongue at her. “Spoilsport.”
As the film progressed, Ianto slowly relaxed, his initially awkward and uncomfortable pose perched on Jack’s lap giving way to something that - if they weren’t men and therefore clearly too manly for such things - could be called a snuggle.
While the film was running, conversation was limited, and more or less restricted to comments about the characters or the narrative. And occasionally lines of dialogue when one of them couldn’t help themselves.
As the credits rolled however, it turned to more general small talk as Jack and Ianto got to know Kate a little, and she them.
“So, how long have you two guys been together, then? A while, right?” she eventually asked.
“Uh… nearly five months, now,” Ianto replied, doing some quick counting in his head and wonderingly silently how the time had passed so quickly.
“Really? Wow,” Jack said, kissing the back of his neck and confirming that he too was amazed at how quickly the past months had flown by.
“It would have been a lot longer by now if someone had had the courage to just admit to his true feelings a bit sooner,” Lisa said, looking pointedly at Ianto.
“Well, there was the slight complication of you and me,” Ianto defended. “How was I to know that you knew already?”
Kate held her hands up. “Ok, whoa, whoa. I’m getting lost here. What do you mean you and Lisa?”
“He’s my ex,” Lisa explained matter-of-factly.
Kate’s eyebrows nearly reached the ceiling. “And now he’s with Jack, and you still live together?”
Both Ianto and Lisa nodded.
Kate seemed to be speechless for a few minutes. “Isn’t that… awkward?” she eventually asked.
“Not really.”
“Not anymore.”
Lisa and Ianto spoke at the same time.
“I found it a little awkward at first,” Ianto expanded. “Lisa… didn’t.”
Kate shook her head. “I’m sensing there’s a whole story in here that I’m not even going to ask for. If you’re all happy, then that’s what counts.”
“And we are,” Lisa confirmed.
“Ecstatically so,” Jack added with a squeeze of Ianto’s sides.
“And speaking of ecstasy,” he whispered in Ianto’s ear, squirming a little underneath him. “I believe we were interrupted earlier…”
Ianto elbowed him gently, looking over his shoulder to murmur, “Jack!”
Jack pouted pleadingly and Ianto gave in. He stood up and stretched, turning to offer Jack a hand up. “Alright, we’ve got a long day tomorrow so…”
“So you want to get your shag in early, we understand,” Lisa interrupted with a huge smirk.
Ianto opened his mouth to spout a denial, but then looked at Lisa and Kate’s faces, and realised it would be pointless. “Yes, exactly,” he said dryly, taking Jack’s hand and disappearing out of the living room.
Ianto was alone in the kitchen when Lisa wandered in the next morning. He handed her a mug of coffee as she looked around.
“Where’s Jack?”
Ianto sighed. “Apparently he just couldn’t survive without pain au chocolat for breakfast this morning, so he’s off down to the bakery for some.”
Lisa shrugged, well used by now to Jack’s occasional strange whims.
“Your friend Kate seemed nice last night,” Ianto said with a sip of his coffee. “Although I think we scared her a little.”
“She is nice,” Lisa nodded. “And she actually had a bit of a proposition for me, after you and Jack went to bed.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. One of her friends is moving out of her flatshare in a couple of months to get married, and she suggested that maybe I’d like to take her place.”
Ianto gripped his mug tighter. “You mean… move out?”
Lisa nodded.
“But… I thought you liked living here with me?” he asked cautiously.
“I do!” Lisa rushed to assure him. “I love living here.” She bit her lip and put her mug on the counter. “It’s just… I suppose I feel like if I stay here, then I’m not really moving on and becoming independent.”
She shrugged. “Staying here is a bit of a safety net. And as much as I love it, I think I need to do this.”
Ianto took a deep breath, put down his mug and hugged her. “Whatever you need to do, I’ll be here to support you,” he murmured.
Moments later, the front door swung open and Jack strode in. “Pastries for all!” he called triumphantly.
Epilogue
Comments and concrit (yes, really) are adored. Comments = <3
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, references to Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: If I was the one who owned Torchwood, you think I'd admit it now?
Spoilers: Some information and events from s1,2. NONE for s3.
Summary: Ianto knows he should be happy. He has his work and he has Lisa. Again. Finally. He knows he should be happy.
Author's Note: Alternate ending to Guilt - events of Guilt up to around ch50 take place. This picks up many months later... (There's a short recap of 'what you NEED to know from Guilt' before chapter one, if you haven't read it)
Author's Note 2: Finished the 3rd week of NaNo, and I'm actually on course at the moment to reach 50k tomorrow! Or maybe even tonight!
Thanks to: My lovely beta cazmalfoy, angelzbabe1989 for idea bouncing, and morbid_sparks for cheerleading even when she doesn't know what happens in this...
Previous chapters at master list
Chapter Seventeen
Lisa startled a little as the front door swung open and hit pause on the DVD so she could look around. She wasn’t expecting Ianto back for hours yet, if he returned at all.
Jack was vehemently defending himself for… something, when he and Ianto came through the door.
“I’m just saying, I think he was…”
He and Ianto appeared to noticed Lisa, and her co-worker and new friend Kate, watching them curiously.
“You’re… back,” said Lisa, “at 8 o’clock.” The unspoken question was inherent in the words.
Ianto shot a brief heatless glare in Jack’s direction. “That would be because someone - not naming any names - got us kicked out of the film.”
“That usher was just prejudiced,” Jack complained. “Took exception to me for no reason whatsoever.”
“Uh-huh,” Ianto said, rolling his eyes. “No reason at all.”
Kate was looking between the pair of them, utter bewilderment on her face. Lisa spotted it and rushed to help. “Oh, sorry. Kate, this is Ianto, and his boyfriend, Jack.” She paused, looking at the pair of them. “Is it ‘boyfriend’? I just realised I never asked what you were going with.”
Ianto and Jack exchanged a look and shrugged in unison. “Boyfriend is fine, I suppose,” Ianto said.
Lisa nodded. “This is Kate; we work together.”
The three exchanged slightly awkward waves.
Ianto leant to the side slightly, twisting to see the TV screen. “So, what are you two watching?”
Lisa held up the DVD case, waving it. Jack grinned. “Oh, that is so much better than that crap we were watching at the cinema anyway,” he said cheekily.
Stripping off his coat and boots swiftly - remembering for once to hang the coat on a hook next to the door and not just toss it over the back of the sofa - Jack strode across the room and dropped into the one remaining spot at the end of the sofa.
Lisa nudged him with her elbow. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.”
Ianto took a step towards the kitchen, where he could get an extra chair, but Jack grabbed his hand, forestalling him. Before he could even start to turn around and ask Jack what he wanted, he found himself planted on Jack’s lap, Jack’s arms firmly around his waist to keep him there.
“Jack!” he exclaimed, wriggling a bit. “What are you doing?”
Jack’s arms tightened fractionally. “Ooh, just keep wriggling like that,” he leered into Ianto’s neck. “I like it.”
Ianto stilled, twisting around so he could narrow his eyes at Jack. “You ‘like’ everything,” he said pointedly. “That’s the problem, sometimes.”
Jack nodded unashamedly. “If it’s attached to you, then yes, I completely agree, I do. Very much so.”
“Okay,” Lisa’s voice cut in, “I’m starting the DVD again now. If you boys want to take this any further, remember we have a guest, so you’ll have to take it to Ianto’s room.”
Jack stuck out his tongue at her. “Spoilsport.”
As the film progressed, Ianto slowly relaxed, his initially awkward and uncomfortable pose perched on Jack’s lap giving way to something that - if they weren’t men and therefore clearly too manly for such things - could be called a snuggle.
While the film was running, conversation was limited, and more or less restricted to comments about the characters or the narrative. And occasionally lines of dialogue when one of them couldn’t help themselves.
As the credits rolled however, it turned to more general small talk as Jack and Ianto got to know Kate a little, and she them.
“So, how long have you two guys been together, then? A while, right?” she eventually asked.
“Uh… nearly five months, now,” Ianto replied, doing some quick counting in his head and wonderingly silently how the time had passed so quickly.
“Really? Wow,” Jack said, kissing the back of his neck and confirming that he too was amazed at how quickly the past months had flown by.
“It would have been a lot longer by now if someone had had the courage to just admit to his true feelings a bit sooner,” Lisa said, looking pointedly at Ianto.
“Well, there was the slight complication of you and me,” Ianto defended. “How was I to know that you knew already?”
Kate held her hands up. “Ok, whoa, whoa. I’m getting lost here. What do you mean you and Lisa?”
“He’s my ex,” Lisa explained matter-of-factly.
Kate’s eyebrows nearly reached the ceiling. “And now he’s with Jack, and you still live together?”
Both Ianto and Lisa nodded.
Kate seemed to be speechless for a few minutes. “Isn’t that… awkward?” she eventually asked.
“Not really.”
“Not anymore.”
Lisa and Ianto spoke at the same time.
“I found it a little awkward at first,” Ianto expanded. “Lisa… didn’t.”
Kate shook her head. “I’m sensing there’s a whole story in here that I’m not even going to ask for. If you’re all happy, then that’s what counts.”
“And we are,” Lisa confirmed.
“Ecstatically so,” Jack added with a squeeze of Ianto’s sides.
“And speaking of ecstasy,” he whispered in Ianto’s ear, squirming a little underneath him. “I believe we were interrupted earlier…”
Ianto elbowed him gently, looking over his shoulder to murmur, “Jack!”
Jack pouted pleadingly and Ianto gave in. He stood up and stretched, turning to offer Jack a hand up. “Alright, we’ve got a long day tomorrow so…”
“So you want to get your shag in early, we understand,” Lisa interrupted with a huge smirk.
Ianto opened his mouth to spout a denial, but then looked at Lisa and Kate’s faces, and realised it would be pointless. “Yes, exactly,” he said dryly, taking Jack’s hand and disappearing out of the living room.
Ianto was alone in the kitchen when Lisa wandered in the next morning. He handed her a mug of coffee as she looked around.
“Where’s Jack?”
Ianto sighed. “Apparently he just couldn’t survive without pain au chocolat for breakfast this morning, so he’s off down to the bakery for some.”
Lisa shrugged, well used by now to Jack’s occasional strange whims.
“Your friend Kate seemed nice last night,” Ianto said with a sip of his coffee. “Although I think we scared her a little.”
“She is nice,” Lisa nodded. “And she actually had a bit of a proposition for me, after you and Jack went to bed.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. One of her friends is moving out of her flatshare in a couple of months to get married, and she suggested that maybe I’d like to take her place.”
Ianto gripped his mug tighter. “You mean… move out?”
Lisa nodded.
“But… I thought you liked living here with me?” he asked cautiously.
“I do!” Lisa rushed to assure him. “I love living here.” She bit her lip and put her mug on the counter. “It’s just… I suppose I feel like if I stay here, then I’m not really moving on and becoming independent.”
She shrugged. “Staying here is a bit of a safety net. And as much as I love it, I think I need to do this.”
Ianto took a deep breath, put down his mug and hugged her. “Whatever you need to do, I’ll be here to support you,” he murmured.
Moments later, the front door swung open and Jack strode in. “Pastries for all!” he called triumphantly.
Epilogue
Comments and concrit (yes, really) are adored. Comments = <3