Five Times
Title: Five Times
Author: JerBearThompson
Rating: PG
Warning: No spoilers, just a sickening amount of fluff.
Characters: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Five Times Captain Jack Harkness Nearly Told Ianto Jones He Loved Him (And One Time He Did)
Disclaimer: RTD should never have been allowed to own these characters.
Notes: I still have to go back and reply to comments on my last story… I’m being slack. But yes! Like most of you, I am in denial. So I present to you: fluff, to wallow in. Overall written in the space of about two-three hours so don’t expect anything exceptionally good.
1.
‘So there’s something I was going to tell you… I--’
‘It’s raining!’ Ianto cried, letting go of Jack’s hand and climbing onto the nearest bench, arms stretched toward the heavens. He laughed joyously, like a child, and Jack nearly lost all form of speech. Almost, but not quite. ‘I love rain!’
‘Yes, oh, look, weather! Much more interesting than anything I have to say.’
‘Sorry,’ Ianto smiled apologetically, smart shoes clattering on the ground as he jumped from his perch and sat on it instead, staring at Jack with wide eyes. ‘You have my undivided attention. Go.’
‘It’s…’ Jack sighed, smoothed a hand down Ianto’s cheek and promptly smacked him in the side of the head. ‘It’s raining. Come on, don’t just sit there, get up.’
Ianto nodded earnestly, crossing his legs and staying put. ‘Mhm, mhm, intriguing. Do go on.’
Jack laughed and shook his head. ‘Fine, I’m leaving.’
He shoved his hands into his pockets, whistling nonchalantly as he strolled away from Ianto, expecting the Welshman to follow. When no presence was felt by his side, he turned and surveyed Ianto, who was still seated.
‘Care for a dance?’ the young man called once he had regained Jack’s attention.
‘You’re mad,’ Jack called back. ‘No.’
‘Please?’ the voice pleaded as Jack again turned his back, and he kept his resolve for all of four seconds before slowly and cautiously retracing his steps back to Ianto.
‘What arexactly are you planning?’ he accused when he was back within touching distance. ‘It’s raining!’
‘Barely. Come on, Jack, I don’t want to go home yet.’
Jack made a big show of sighing and rolling his eyes. ‘So I take you out to a fancy restaurant, endure watching the waitress flirting shamelessly with you the whole night, hold your hand under the stars and now you demand wooing? Honestly, if I had have known you were this much trouble to get into bed, I would never have asked you out in the first place.’ The sparkling of Jack’s eyes and that little half-smile of his bellied his words.
‘One dance,’ Ianto pleaded. ‘A nice slow dance and I’ll get wet and have to take a shower because I simply cannot bear the feeling of cold, wet clothes against my skin.’
Jack made a grumbling noise in his throat that could have very much been a growl. ‘You’re going to say things like that and then expect me to wait for you to shower first?’
Ianto’s lips quirked up into a smile as he got to his feet, moving incredibly close to the captain. ‘Who said anything about waiting?’ he murmured, the words going straight down Jack’s spine.
‘Maybe just one dance then,’ Jack agreed, heart thumping madly in his chest despite his casual, confident voice.
Ianto hummed something that could have been approval and pressed himself close, both arms wrapped around Jack’s middle.
Jack briefly squinted up at the slight but steadily thickening rain before looping his own hands around Ianto’s back and beginning the first steps.
‘You’re leading,’ Ianto commented after a moment. ‘I want to lead.’
‘You can’t lead, you’ll step on my toes,’ Jack told him firmly.
‘I’ll step on them anyway,’ and to make a point, Ianto stomped down on one of Jack’s feet.
Jack shrugged as best he could given his current position. ‘Did you just do something? Didn’t feel anything, I was too busy thinking about how much I love my thick boots.’
‘Oh, is that so?’
‘Why yes, it--’ Jack was cut off abruptly by a pair of lips crashing into his and stealing his words. He kissed back without hesitation or further thought and it was only when they stopped for breath a good forty seconds later that he realised what had happened and laughed. ‘Fine,’ he grumbled good-naturedly. ‘Fine, you win.’
Ianto said nothing as the Welshman continued to lead them around in their self-designated dancing circle. It was only when he deemed it long enough to classify as one dance that he slowed to a halt, disentangling himself from the captain and stretching his arms out behind him, asking, ‘Hey, what were you going to say before?’
‘When?’ Jack asked.
‘You know, before. Before I told you it was raining. You were going to say something.’
Jack had been going to, he had planned it all out in his head. And effectively, he could still say it. But he wouldn’t, not now. Tonight was perfect enough in its own right.
2.
‘I’ve seen this one, though!’
‘Then go away and find something else to do,’ Ianto grumbled into his pillow, blankets rucked up around his shoulders.
‘But you’re just so warm!’ Sounding utterly delighted, Jack threw himself down on top of Ianto and snuggled close against his back.
‘Off,’ came the muffled response.
‘Ianto, I’ve seen this one,’ Jack told him again, chin resting on the back of the Welshman’s shoulder and watching the back of his head intently. He scrambled backwards as Ianto heaved a sigh and turned over, rubbing wearily at his eyes.
‘Jack, I’m sure there are worse things in life than, god forbid, having to watch the same movie twice. Now listen, I’m tired, and exhausted, and I really need to sleep. Any other day and I’d be more than happy to stay up with you but please, just this once let me sleep?’
‘Yeah, okay, yeah, sure,’ Jack mumbled, voice teeming with self-pity.
‘Don’t play the sympathy card with me,’ Ianto reprimanded him, rolling over onto his side to stare at Jack through half-lidded eyes. ‘You can watch that, or you can go back to the Hub and play with…’
Jack grinned. ‘Play with what, Ianto?’
Ianto huffed. ‘I’m trying to think of something that you won’t turn into an innuendo but I feel I have failed already.’
‘Diddums,’ Jack pouted. ‘Fine, I can’t say I’m against a good spot of Gene Kelly. Even if I have seen it before.’
‘Will a kiss make you shut up?’ Ianto mumbled.
‘Yes,’ Jack grinned, without a moment’s pause. Leaning in close, he received one quick, chaste kiss to the lips before the Welshman’s head buried itself back into the pillow. ‘No,’ Jack demanded. ‘If you’re going to play it that way I want at least five more.’
A grumble, a welsh swear word and five short kisses in quick succession later, Jack was happily sliding the DVD into the player and unwinding the headphones back far enough as the bed. Once the lights were turned off and Jack had made sure the volume was low enough that it didn’t echo through the tinny headphones, he slid into the bed and allowed Ianto to shuffle up against his waist.
‘No singing this time,’ came Ianto’s sleepy words.
‘No promises,’ Jack told him, resting a hand upon the young man’s head.
That was it, that was their goodnight. Without another word Ianto’s breathing slowly began to even out as Jack’s fingers tapped subconsciously by his ear, eyes glued to the small TV screen at the end of the bed.
One hour, forty-three minutes and no singing aloud later, Jack switched the TV off and shuffled down further under the covers, content to doze on and off for the rest of the night. He had half a mind to tell Ianto the words now that he was feeling all romantic, even if the other man was asleep. But for precisely that reason, he wouldn’t. It would only serve as a purpose to back out later under the claims that he had already said it. No, Jack Harkness was going to say it when he was good and well ready.
3.
I love you. ‘What’cha doin’?’
Form 8-1b should clear that up, if I could just remember… ‘Just sorting files, sir. How may I help you?’
I love you. ‘Just miss you is all.’
He smells really good today. Where was I? Laxymoth. L, where’s file L… ‘Oh do you, now?’
I love you. ‘Coming up any time soon?’
I did fill out a clearance form. Why is it not attached? ‘If by that you mean to make coffee then you know I will be up at strictly eleven o'clock.’
I love you. ‘Doesn’t it get dark down here? Your back must be sore from bending over. Take a break.’
I’m sure that’s why my back is sore. Did I remember to file away the Gharf case this morning? ‘In a minute, sir.’
I love you. ‘Can you stop with the “sir”?’
Can’t even concentrate with him smelling like that. ‘Jack, the rule has not changed. We are at work, and so I will call you sir, and I will do my damn job without break.’
I love you. ‘Ooh, you’re being mean today. Are you annoyed? Was it something I did?’
Why does he not listen? Listen… did I put those hearing devices under H or L? ‘No, Jack, it’s nothing you did. Just trying to work.’
I love you. ‘Is it something I’ve done today? Is it because I made you spill your cereal and you had to change your shirt?’
It was the only shirt that properly went with this tie, too. ‘No, Jack. It’s not that.’
I love you. ‘Is it because Owen caught us fondling in the kitchenette?’
I seem to recall it was you, fondling me. Pretend to read these. It’s not that. Honestly, it’s nothing.’
I love you. ‘Is it something subtle? Like my hair, does my hair annoy you?’
No hair is that perfect. Why doesn’t mine do that? ‘No, Jack.’
I love you. ‘Is it my braces? Would you prefer a belt?’
A belt might be easier to get off. Tick boxes 8, 11 and 17. ‘No, I like your braces.’
I love you. ‘Is it my accent then? Does it bother you?’
Makes you sound like a smug bastard. ‘It’s perfect, it really is.’
I love you. ‘Is it my chin, then? My ears? The fact that my shoes squeak sometimes when I run? When I sneeze? Does it annoy you when I sneeze?’
For God’s sake… ‘Yes. It’s the way you sneeze, I can’t stand it. It just annoys me to no end. I have to hide down here to get away from it. So please go, Jack, before the dust down here makes you sneeze.’
I love you. ‘Oh… okay, I’ll try to work on fixing that. You’ll be up at eleven, right?’
He sounds sad. Give him a hug. Or just continue staring at the paper. ‘Eleven. See you, Jack.’
Not the best timing, but hell… ‘Ianto, I love… what you’ve done with the place.’ Damn.
4.
‘Ianto, are you coming?’
Ianto looked up briefly from the children’s picture book he was holding. ‘In a second, just let me finish this.’ He cleared his throat. ‘On Saturday he ate through one nice, green leaf, and--’
‘No, pa!’ cut in a small voice from beside him. ‘You read that part already.’
Jack’s eyebrow’s shot up into his hairline as he laughed. ‘Pa? It calls you pa?’
‘She,’ Ianto corrected. ‘It’s a she, aren’t you?’
The small pale orange alien grinned up at Jack with a set of very sharp teeth. ‘She!’ she exclaimed happily before bringing her webbed hand down on top of the book again. ‘Pa, read.’
‘Yes ma’am,’ Ianto said without so much as a glance at Jack’s smirking face. ‘He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself. He stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and... He was a beautiful butterfly! The End.’
‘Again!’ the alien cried, simultaneous with Jack’s delighted cry of, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar?’
‘Maybe tomorrow,’ Ianto murmured, ignoring the captain completely. ‘You’ve got to sleep now. Remember what I told you? Sleep.’
‘Sleep,’ she repeated agreeably, throwing her stubby arms around Ianto in an exaggerated hug. ‘Goodnight pa!’ She turned her gaze upon Jack. ‘Goodnight uncle!’
‘You’ve been reading her too many books,’ Jack commented quietly after Ianto had dutifully tucked her into her “bed”, essentially just a pillow and blanket thrown over the cell’s single bench.
‘She’s just a child,’ Ianto reasoned as he locked the door to the cell.
‘How do you know? She’s an alien, she could be a thousand years old,’ Jack argued back as he trailed behind Ianto up the stairs.
‘Have a heart,’ Ianto said without turning his head and Jack quickly caught his hand.
‘I just want you to be careful,’ he said softly, deliberately tugging on the young man’s hand to make him stop. ‘I’ve been mislead by these sorts of things before.’
Ianto sighed. ‘Jack, look, I appreciate your concern but really, there’s not much she can do from where she is.’
‘But there is! You just don’t see that, you don’t…’ Jack let out an exasperated groan and grabbed Ianto’s face with both hands, pulling him in for a hard but short kiss. ‘Don’t get too attached.’
‘Jack…’ Ianto paused, clearly at struggle with himself. ‘You care about these things too much. You care about me too much. I’m not oblivious, I know how to take care of myself.’
If only Ianto knew how oblivious he really was. For that reason, Jack nearly told him. He had the words on the very tip of his tongue, just bracing himself for Ianto’s reaction when the younger man tapped his cheek twice in a friendly pat before moving up the stairs again.
‘But thank you,’ the Welshman called behind him, and Jack swallowed his words. Not now, not today.
5.
‘Free compliments!’ Jack called as he strolled into the Hub. ‘Tosh, you’re looking beautiful today! I’ve always envied your nice long fingers. Ever tried playing piano? You’d be amazing at it. You’re so clever, such a clever girl. Stay gold, Tosh.’
‘Erm… thanks,’ Tosh murmured as she turned back to her workstation, hand pressed to her mouth and brow crumpled in confusion as Jack moved past her to the Autopsy Room.
‘Owen!’ he called down, and the doctor looked up briefly from the unknown species he was dissecting.
‘What is it, Harkness?’
‘You’re a handsome man, Owen. I love your cheek bones, you have great cheek bones.’ He sniffed the air deeply. ‘And is that a new cologne you’re using? Smells fantastic. Doing a bang-up job there, Owen. You’re fantastic, you know that? Fantastic.’
‘Piss off,’ was his only reply as Jack scurried along, looking for his next victim. ‘Gwen! Lovely Gwen, splendid Gwen! You are both lovely and splendid, my favourite Gwen in the world!’
‘Good night, then?’ Gwen asked without turning her head from the neat stacks of cards she was playing solitaire with.
‘Brilliant,’ Jack grinned. ‘Just like you, my heartfelt, brilliant girl. You have such lovely eyes, you know? How’s Rhys? Good? Good, he’s looking fine, too. Nice catch, that one. IANTO!’
Gwen cringed as Jack bellowed by her ear. ‘Not here,’ she reprimanded, giving him a shove in the opposite direction.
‘Ianto!’ Jack shouted again, poking his head down the stairway that lead to the archives. ‘Yaaaahnto! Yan, Yahn, Ia’to!’
‘You bellowed?’ came a calm voice from behind him, causing the captain to nearly lose his grip on the wall and trip down the stairs. Ianto was standing behind him, a tray holding two cups balanced neatly in his hands.
‘Ianto, you're…’ Jack took one of the mugs gratefully and surveyed the young man for a moment. ‘You’re you, and I love that.’ Taking his first sip, he casually strolled over in the direction of his office.
‘Is that it?’ Ianto called after him, and Jack spun around, grinning wildly.
‘What else do you want me to say? That you’re gorgeous? Adorable? Beautiful? Amazing cheeks, eyes, nose, ears, features? Great body, great suit, nice hands, nice hair, nice smile, nice accent, nice voice? That I love your height and every subtle expression you make and--’
‘No,’ Ianto cut him off. ‘I take it back. What you said before was fine.’
‘Good,’ Jack grinned again. ‘Because I’m not going to say any of that other stuff.’ Especially seeing as though about seventeen words later he would have built up to his dramatic climax and actually said the three words everyone else expected him to say. ‘Alright, then,’ he turned, about to enter his office for a second time.
‘Jack,’ Ianto called again.
‘Mm?’
Ianto took a deep breath. ‘I like your coat and I like your eyes and your hair and your braces and your smile and your smell and yours hands and even most of the embarrassing comments you make. You’re a good man, Jack. I’d even go so far as to say you’re great. I like that, and I like you.’
Jack smiled, a genuine one, a little lost for words. He hadn’t exactly expected a response. ‘Thanks,’ he breathed. ‘You get dibs on lunch today.’
Third time lucky, he entered his office.
6.
‘I love you,’ Jack suddenly said, and Ianto only groaned as he gripped at his side.
‘And it took until I got shot for you to tell me?’
‘I wanted to, I’m so sorry. I was just waiting for the right time.’
‘And this is it, is it?’ Ianto ground out through gritted teeth.
‘Don’t die,’ Jack told him sadly.
‘Hell no, not like this. I’m going to die when I’m damn well ready.’
‘Good,’ Jack told him, and squeezed his hand one last time before the Welshman was loaded into the ambulance.
‘We need a medic,’ Gwen sniffled from somewhere behind him, and he turned to give her a brief smile.
‘I know, but until then we’ll make do with the services available.’
‘He’ll be okay, right?’
Jack ran his knuckles softly across her cheek. ‘He’ll have to be. I won’t give him any other choice. He’s not dying until he’s said those damn words back to me.’ And then he was off, in the swish of a blue coat, climbing into the back of the ambulance and taking up his spot by Ianto’s side again.
‘Tell Gwen to feed Myfawny,’ Ianto told him sternly, albeit haltingly.
‘She will, now stop talking and let the drugs do their work, you brave, stupid man.’
‘If I die, those had better not be your last words to me.’
‘You’re not going to die,’ Jack assured him, voice only trembling just slightly, and the rest of their conversation was cut off as the ambulance doors closed.
Two weeks later, Ianto was released from the hospital on the conditions that he was to be supervised at all times. So Jack took him home, cooked him dinner, threw it out and ordered take away instead. There had been no further mention of Jack proclamation of love, and he could only assume that Ianto had brushed it aside as a spur of the moment confession, brought on by adrenaline and immediate threat. So Jack supposed he was going to have to gain the courage to say it again, maybe let it just slip out in conversation sometime and see what the reaction was. Best to do it before he lost his nerve, then.
‘Can you help me get this sling off my arm?’
‘I love you.’
‘A “yes” would have sufficed.’
‘No, Ianto, seriously. I love you. And I know sarcasm is your defence mechanism but I’m not joking. I do, I really do love you.’
‘Okay,’ Ianto smiled at him. ‘Good. I rather love you also. Now help?’
Jack did, nearly two minutes and a nice exchanging of tongues later. Ianto then demanded that Jack brush his teeth for him because the captain had not brushed his own teeth and Ianto was not going through the trouble of trying to work the toothbrush with his left hand again.
Author: JerBearThompson
Rating: PG
Warning: No spoilers, just a sickening amount of fluff.
Characters: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Five Times Captain Jack Harkness Nearly Told Ianto Jones He Loved Him (And One Time He Did)
Disclaimer: RTD should never have been allowed to own these characters.
Notes: I still have to go back and reply to comments on my last story… I’m being slack. But yes! Like most of you, I am in denial. So I present to you: fluff, to wallow in. Overall written in the space of about two-three hours so don’t expect anything exceptionally good.
1.
‘So there’s something I was going to tell you… I--’
‘It’s raining!’ Ianto cried, letting go of Jack’s hand and climbing onto the nearest bench, arms stretched toward the heavens. He laughed joyously, like a child, and Jack nearly lost all form of speech. Almost, but not quite. ‘I love rain!’
‘Yes, oh, look, weather! Much more interesting than anything I have to say.’
‘Sorry,’ Ianto smiled apologetically, smart shoes clattering on the ground as he jumped from his perch and sat on it instead, staring at Jack with wide eyes. ‘You have my undivided attention. Go.’
‘It’s…’ Jack sighed, smoothed a hand down Ianto’s cheek and promptly smacked him in the side of the head. ‘It’s raining. Come on, don’t just sit there, get up.’
Ianto nodded earnestly, crossing his legs and staying put. ‘Mhm, mhm, intriguing. Do go on.’
Jack laughed and shook his head. ‘Fine, I’m leaving.’
He shoved his hands into his pockets, whistling nonchalantly as he strolled away from Ianto, expecting the Welshman to follow. When no presence was felt by his side, he turned and surveyed Ianto, who was still seated.
‘Care for a dance?’ the young man called once he had regained Jack’s attention.
‘You’re mad,’ Jack called back. ‘No.’
‘Please?’ the voice pleaded as Jack again turned his back, and he kept his resolve for all of four seconds before slowly and cautiously retracing his steps back to Ianto.
‘What arexactly are you planning?’ he accused when he was back within touching distance. ‘It’s raining!’
‘Barely. Come on, Jack, I don’t want to go home yet.’
Jack made a big show of sighing and rolling his eyes. ‘So I take you out to a fancy restaurant, endure watching the waitress flirting shamelessly with you the whole night, hold your hand under the stars and now you demand wooing? Honestly, if I had have known you were this much trouble to get into bed, I would never have asked you out in the first place.’ The sparkling of Jack’s eyes and that little half-smile of his bellied his words.
‘One dance,’ Ianto pleaded. ‘A nice slow dance and I’ll get wet and have to take a shower because I simply cannot bear the feeling of cold, wet clothes against my skin.’
Jack made a grumbling noise in his throat that could have very much been a growl. ‘You’re going to say things like that and then expect me to wait for you to shower first?’
Ianto’s lips quirked up into a smile as he got to his feet, moving incredibly close to the captain. ‘Who said anything about waiting?’ he murmured, the words going straight down Jack’s spine.
‘Maybe just one dance then,’ Jack agreed, heart thumping madly in his chest despite his casual, confident voice.
Ianto hummed something that could have been approval and pressed himself close, both arms wrapped around Jack’s middle.
Jack briefly squinted up at the slight but steadily thickening rain before looping his own hands around Ianto’s back and beginning the first steps.
‘You’re leading,’ Ianto commented after a moment. ‘I want to lead.’
‘You can’t lead, you’ll step on my toes,’ Jack told him firmly.
‘I’ll step on them anyway,’ and to make a point, Ianto stomped down on one of Jack’s feet.
Jack shrugged as best he could given his current position. ‘Did you just do something? Didn’t feel anything, I was too busy thinking about how much I love my thick boots.’
‘Oh, is that so?’
‘Why yes, it--’ Jack was cut off abruptly by a pair of lips crashing into his and stealing his words. He kissed back without hesitation or further thought and it was only when they stopped for breath a good forty seconds later that he realised what had happened and laughed. ‘Fine,’ he grumbled good-naturedly. ‘Fine, you win.’
Ianto said nothing as the Welshman continued to lead them around in their self-designated dancing circle. It was only when he deemed it long enough to classify as one dance that he slowed to a halt, disentangling himself from the captain and stretching his arms out behind him, asking, ‘Hey, what were you going to say before?’
‘When?’ Jack asked.
‘You know, before. Before I told you it was raining. You were going to say something.’
Jack had been going to, he had planned it all out in his head. And effectively, he could still say it. But he wouldn’t, not now. Tonight was perfect enough in its own right.
2.
‘I’ve seen this one, though!’
‘Then go away and find something else to do,’ Ianto grumbled into his pillow, blankets rucked up around his shoulders.
‘But you’re just so warm!’ Sounding utterly delighted, Jack threw himself down on top of Ianto and snuggled close against his back.
‘Off,’ came the muffled response.
‘Ianto, I’ve seen this one,’ Jack told him again, chin resting on the back of the Welshman’s shoulder and watching the back of his head intently. He scrambled backwards as Ianto heaved a sigh and turned over, rubbing wearily at his eyes.
‘Jack, I’m sure there are worse things in life than, god forbid, having to watch the same movie twice. Now listen, I’m tired, and exhausted, and I really need to sleep. Any other day and I’d be more than happy to stay up with you but please, just this once let me sleep?’
‘Yeah, okay, yeah, sure,’ Jack mumbled, voice teeming with self-pity.
‘Don’t play the sympathy card with me,’ Ianto reprimanded him, rolling over onto his side to stare at Jack through half-lidded eyes. ‘You can watch that, or you can go back to the Hub and play with…’
Jack grinned. ‘Play with what, Ianto?’
Ianto huffed. ‘I’m trying to think of something that you won’t turn into an innuendo but I feel I have failed already.’
‘Diddums,’ Jack pouted. ‘Fine, I can’t say I’m against a good spot of Gene Kelly. Even if I have seen it before.’
‘Will a kiss make you shut up?’ Ianto mumbled.
‘Yes,’ Jack grinned, without a moment’s pause. Leaning in close, he received one quick, chaste kiss to the lips before the Welshman’s head buried itself back into the pillow. ‘No,’ Jack demanded. ‘If you’re going to play it that way I want at least five more.’
A grumble, a welsh swear word and five short kisses in quick succession later, Jack was happily sliding the DVD into the player and unwinding the headphones back far enough as the bed. Once the lights were turned off and Jack had made sure the volume was low enough that it didn’t echo through the tinny headphones, he slid into the bed and allowed Ianto to shuffle up against his waist.
‘No singing this time,’ came Ianto’s sleepy words.
‘No promises,’ Jack told him, resting a hand upon the young man’s head.
That was it, that was their goodnight. Without another word Ianto’s breathing slowly began to even out as Jack’s fingers tapped subconsciously by his ear, eyes glued to the small TV screen at the end of the bed.
One hour, forty-three minutes and no singing aloud later, Jack switched the TV off and shuffled down further under the covers, content to doze on and off for the rest of the night. He had half a mind to tell Ianto the words now that he was feeling all romantic, even if the other man was asleep. But for precisely that reason, he wouldn’t. It would only serve as a purpose to back out later under the claims that he had already said it. No, Jack Harkness was going to say it when he was good and well ready.
3.
I love you. ‘What’cha doin’?’
Form 8-1b should clear that up, if I could just remember… ‘Just sorting files, sir. How may I help you?’
I love you. ‘Just miss you is all.’
He smells really good today. Where was I? Laxymoth. L, where’s file L… ‘Oh do you, now?’
I love you. ‘Coming up any time soon?’
I did fill out a clearance form. Why is it not attached? ‘If by that you mean to make coffee then you know I will be up at strictly eleven o'clock.’
I love you. ‘Doesn’t it get dark down here? Your back must be sore from bending over. Take a break.’
I’m sure that’s why my back is sore. Did I remember to file away the Gharf case this morning? ‘In a minute, sir.’
I love you. ‘Can you stop with the “sir”?’
Can’t even concentrate with him smelling like that. ‘Jack, the rule has not changed. We are at work, and so I will call you sir, and I will do my damn job without break.’
I love you. ‘Ooh, you’re being mean today. Are you annoyed? Was it something I did?’
Why does he not listen? Listen… did I put those hearing devices under H or L? ‘No, Jack, it’s nothing you did. Just trying to work.’
I love you. ‘Is it something I’ve done today? Is it because I made you spill your cereal and you had to change your shirt?’
It was the only shirt that properly went with this tie, too. ‘No, Jack. It’s not that.’
I love you. ‘Is it because Owen caught us fondling in the kitchenette?’
I seem to recall it was you, fondling me. Pretend to read these. It’s not that. Honestly, it’s nothing.’
I love you. ‘Is it something subtle? Like my hair, does my hair annoy you?’
No hair is that perfect. Why doesn’t mine do that? ‘No, Jack.’
I love you. ‘Is it my braces? Would you prefer a belt?’
A belt might be easier to get off. Tick boxes 8, 11 and 17. ‘No, I like your braces.’
I love you. ‘Is it my accent then? Does it bother you?’
Makes you sound like a smug bastard. ‘It’s perfect, it really is.’
I love you. ‘Is it my chin, then? My ears? The fact that my shoes squeak sometimes when I run? When I sneeze? Does it annoy you when I sneeze?’
For God’s sake… ‘Yes. It’s the way you sneeze, I can’t stand it. It just annoys me to no end. I have to hide down here to get away from it. So please go, Jack, before the dust down here makes you sneeze.’
I love you. ‘Oh… okay, I’ll try to work on fixing that. You’ll be up at eleven, right?’
He sounds sad. Give him a hug. Or just continue staring at the paper. ‘Eleven. See you, Jack.’
Not the best timing, but hell… ‘Ianto, I love… what you’ve done with the place.’ Damn.
4.
‘Ianto, are you coming?’
Ianto looked up briefly from the children’s picture book he was holding. ‘In a second, just let me finish this.’ He cleared his throat. ‘On Saturday he ate through one nice, green leaf, and--’
‘No, pa!’ cut in a small voice from beside him. ‘You read that part already.’
Jack’s eyebrow’s shot up into his hairline as he laughed. ‘Pa? It calls you pa?’
‘She,’ Ianto corrected. ‘It’s a she, aren’t you?’
The small pale orange alien grinned up at Jack with a set of very sharp teeth. ‘She!’ she exclaimed happily before bringing her webbed hand down on top of the book again. ‘Pa, read.’
‘Yes ma’am,’ Ianto said without so much as a glance at Jack’s smirking face. ‘He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself. He stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and... He was a beautiful butterfly! The End.’
‘Again!’ the alien cried, simultaneous with Jack’s delighted cry of, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar?’
‘Maybe tomorrow,’ Ianto murmured, ignoring the captain completely. ‘You’ve got to sleep now. Remember what I told you? Sleep.’
‘Sleep,’ she repeated agreeably, throwing her stubby arms around Ianto in an exaggerated hug. ‘Goodnight pa!’ She turned her gaze upon Jack. ‘Goodnight uncle!’
‘You’ve been reading her too many books,’ Jack commented quietly after Ianto had dutifully tucked her into her “bed”, essentially just a pillow and blanket thrown over the cell’s single bench.
‘She’s just a child,’ Ianto reasoned as he locked the door to the cell.
‘How do you know? She’s an alien, she could be a thousand years old,’ Jack argued back as he trailed behind Ianto up the stairs.
‘Have a heart,’ Ianto said without turning his head and Jack quickly caught his hand.
‘I just want you to be careful,’ he said softly, deliberately tugging on the young man’s hand to make him stop. ‘I’ve been mislead by these sorts of things before.’
Ianto sighed. ‘Jack, look, I appreciate your concern but really, there’s not much she can do from where she is.’
‘But there is! You just don’t see that, you don’t…’ Jack let out an exasperated groan and grabbed Ianto’s face with both hands, pulling him in for a hard but short kiss. ‘Don’t get too attached.’
‘Jack…’ Ianto paused, clearly at struggle with himself. ‘You care about these things too much. You care about me too much. I’m not oblivious, I know how to take care of myself.’
If only Ianto knew how oblivious he really was. For that reason, Jack nearly told him. He had the words on the very tip of his tongue, just bracing himself for Ianto’s reaction when the younger man tapped his cheek twice in a friendly pat before moving up the stairs again.
‘But thank you,’ the Welshman called behind him, and Jack swallowed his words. Not now, not today.
5.
‘Free compliments!’ Jack called as he strolled into the Hub. ‘Tosh, you’re looking beautiful today! I’ve always envied your nice long fingers. Ever tried playing piano? You’d be amazing at it. You’re so clever, such a clever girl. Stay gold, Tosh.’
‘Erm… thanks,’ Tosh murmured as she turned back to her workstation, hand pressed to her mouth and brow crumpled in confusion as Jack moved past her to the Autopsy Room.
‘Owen!’ he called down, and the doctor looked up briefly from the unknown species he was dissecting.
‘What is it, Harkness?’
‘You’re a handsome man, Owen. I love your cheek bones, you have great cheek bones.’ He sniffed the air deeply. ‘And is that a new cologne you’re using? Smells fantastic. Doing a bang-up job there, Owen. You’re fantastic, you know that? Fantastic.’
‘Piss off,’ was his only reply as Jack scurried along, looking for his next victim. ‘Gwen! Lovely Gwen, splendid Gwen! You are both lovely and splendid, my favourite Gwen in the world!’
‘Good night, then?’ Gwen asked without turning her head from the neat stacks of cards she was playing solitaire with.
‘Brilliant,’ Jack grinned. ‘Just like you, my heartfelt, brilliant girl. You have such lovely eyes, you know? How’s Rhys? Good? Good, he’s looking fine, too. Nice catch, that one. IANTO!’
Gwen cringed as Jack bellowed by her ear. ‘Not here,’ she reprimanded, giving him a shove in the opposite direction.
‘Ianto!’ Jack shouted again, poking his head down the stairway that lead to the archives. ‘Yaaaahnto! Yan, Yahn, Ia’to!’
‘You bellowed?’ came a calm voice from behind him, causing the captain to nearly lose his grip on the wall and trip down the stairs. Ianto was standing behind him, a tray holding two cups balanced neatly in his hands.
‘Ianto, you're…’ Jack took one of the mugs gratefully and surveyed the young man for a moment. ‘You’re you, and I love that.’ Taking his first sip, he casually strolled over in the direction of his office.
‘Is that it?’ Ianto called after him, and Jack spun around, grinning wildly.
‘What else do you want me to say? That you’re gorgeous? Adorable? Beautiful? Amazing cheeks, eyes, nose, ears, features? Great body, great suit, nice hands, nice hair, nice smile, nice accent, nice voice? That I love your height and every subtle expression you make and--’
‘No,’ Ianto cut him off. ‘I take it back. What you said before was fine.’
‘Good,’ Jack grinned again. ‘Because I’m not going to say any of that other stuff.’ Especially seeing as though about seventeen words later he would have built up to his dramatic climax and actually said the three words everyone else expected him to say. ‘Alright, then,’ he turned, about to enter his office for a second time.
‘Jack,’ Ianto called again.
‘Mm?’
Ianto took a deep breath. ‘I like your coat and I like your eyes and your hair and your braces and your smile and your smell and yours hands and even most of the embarrassing comments you make. You’re a good man, Jack. I’d even go so far as to say you’re great. I like that, and I like you.’
Jack smiled, a genuine one, a little lost for words. He hadn’t exactly expected a response. ‘Thanks,’ he breathed. ‘You get dibs on lunch today.’
Third time lucky, he entered his office.
6.
‘I love you,’ Jack suddenly said, and Ianto only groaned as he gripped at his side.
‘And it took until I got shot for you to tell me?’
‘I wanted to, I’m so sorry. I was just waiting for the right time.’
‘And this is it, is it?’ Ianto ground out through gritted teeth.
‘Don’t die,’ Jack told him sadly.
‘Hell no, not like this. I’m going to die when I’m damn well ready.’
‘Good,’ Jack told him, and squeezed his hand one last time before the Welshman was loaded into the ambulance.
‘We need a medic,’ Gwen sniffled from somewhere behind him, and he turned to give her a brief smile.
‘I know, but until then we’ll make do with the services available.’
‘He’ll be okay, right?’
Jack ran his knuckles softly across her cheek. ‘He’ll have to be. I won’t give him any other choice. He’s not dying until he’s said those damn words back to me.’ And then he was off, in the swish of a blue coat, climbing into the back of the ambulance and taking up his spot by Ianto’s side again.
‘Tell Gwen to feed Myfawny,’ Ianto told him sternly, albeit haltingly.
‘She will, now stop talking and let the drugs do their work, you brave, stupid man.’
‘If I die, those had better not be your last words to me.’
‘You’re not going to die,’ Jack assured him, voice only trembling just slightly, and the rest of their conversation was cut off as the ambulance doors closed.
Two weeks later, Ianto was released from the hospital on the conditions that he was to be supervised at all times. So Jack took him home, cooked him dinner, threw it out and ordered take away instead. There had been no further mention of Jack proclamation of love, and he could only assume that Ianto had brushed it aside as a spur of the moment confession, brought on by adrenaline and immediate threat. So Jack supposed he was going to have to gain the courage to say it again, maybe let it just slip out in conversation sometime and see what the reaction was. Best to do it before he lost his nerve, then.
‘Can you help me get this sling off my arm?’
‘I love you.’
‘A “yes” would have sufficed.’
‘No, Ianto, seriously. I love you. And I know sarcasm is your defence mechanism but I’m not joking. I do, I really do love you.’
‘Okay,’ Ianto smiled at him. ‘Good. I rather love you also. Now help?’
Jack did, nearly two minutes and a nice exchanging of tongues later. Ianto then demanded that Jack brush his teeth for him because the captain had not brushed his own teeth and Ianto was not going through the trouble of trying to work the toothbrush with his left hand again.