Title: Calls Unanswered
Author:
iantojjackhSummary: Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now.
Character: Jack
Rating: PG
Warning: Angst
Spoilers: Post CoE
Word Count: ~750
Note: written for
comment_fic prompt 'The letter (or voicemail, text, owl...) never received' by
tardisjournal. I also polished this up a bit, fixing some errors. Any remaining mistakes I'm sorry. It's late and my eyes are drooping. I tried to out angst myself from
To Begin Again Calls Unanswered
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
The first day Jack dialed the number a dozen times just to hear Ianto's voice again and every time he would hang up before the beep. He smiled upon hearing the subtle hitch in his tone after the word return, remembering when Ianto recorded the message. It had been after a particularly long and tiring day and Ianto was sitting on the edge of Jack's desk, looking rather yummy. Jack was finishing up paperwork while Ianto fiddled with his new mobile, setting up his voicemail. Then Jack was struck with a devilishly evil idea to jerk off while Ianto watched, resulting in the pitch change once the Welshman saw what he was doing. No one else noticed the difference, but Jack did and he would never forget that night.
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
Jack could not bring himself to call again for a week. This time he did not hang up before the beep and there was a long silence. There was so much Jack wanted to say and for the first time in centuries, words failed him.
The process repeated for two weeks and every day the result was the same, Jack would suddenly become mute until one rainy and blustery day a tiny voice croaked, "I'm sorry."
It became easier to talk after that day.
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"I didn't mean to hurt you."
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"Why did you leave me?"
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"I miss you."
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"Do you have mobile service where you are?"
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"Are you watching me from up there?"
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"Gwen says these phone calls aren't healthy. She thinks I've finally lost it."
Hello, you've reached Ianto. I cannot come to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll return your call at my earliest convenience.
"Ianto, this is going to be my last call for a while...maybe forever. I can't stay here anymore. It's not the same. The world has changed and there is no place for me anymore. I just wanted you to know a few things before I go. There are things I should have said to you when you were alive and I was too much of a coward to say them and part of me always took for granted that deep down you knew. You will always be one of a kind. There has never been and nor there will ever be anyone like you. You taught me so many things that my long life could never teach me. You taught me that there was life outside of Torchwood. You taught me that trust can be regained after it is broken. In the end I've ever trusted anyone more than you. You taught me that love finds you when you least expect it. I know in your last days it did not seem like it. I knew that by admitting to myself that I love you, it would make saying goodbye impossible, but with you, not saying it was worse. There are so many regrets I have concerning you. If I had known our time together would be so brief I would not have wasted one second of my time with you. I can only hope that one day I will be free of this curse and we can be reunited once again. Until that day comes, I will keep my promise to never forget you. Goodbye my shooting star."
The End!