(no subject)
Banner by my dear curious_wolf
The Corner, Chapter 11/?
Author: lady_Razzle
Pairings: Jack/Ianto Jack/Ten Ianto/Ten, Ianto/others
Summary: The only thing waiting in the dark is what you take in with you.
Warnings/AN: Spoilers to end of series. Most canon pairings referenced. There will be angst, and the shifting of time.
Disclaimer: Gareth said I could.
Betad by my still poorly bubble, curious_wolf.
Previous Chapters: Here
Download: Puppini Sisters: I Will Survive
Chapter 11
It was hours before Jack got Ianto alone. And he didn’t even realised he had managed it. It was, surprisingly, Ianto’s choice.
Owen was complaining of his need for a big pile of bacon and eggs. Ianto looked up from the printouts he was showing The Doctor and squinted at the clock on the far wall.
“Jack?” he asked quietly. “Are you planning to leave us anytime soon?”
Jack blinked slowly at him and shook his head.
“Not that I’m planning,” he said earnestly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ianto turned to look at Owen.
“Everyone might as well go home, don’t you think?” he said pointedly. It was like hypnotism. Owen seemed to process Ianto’s suggestion for a few seconds, then chimed in.
“Yeah, that’s right, we’ll still have Jack tomorrow. Let’s all go chill out. I’m sick of all these fucking hugs.”
They packed up at their own speeds and left, the girls fairly reluctantly. Owen was first to leave. Gwen hugged Jack a few dozen times more, reminding him about the speeding ticket with a pointed finger of warning before leaving. Jack saluted her by way of a promise.
Tosh only stayed for one extra hug, but it was a long, clinging one. She leaned her whole body against him, relishing in his support. Jack caught her looking up to Ianto, who had moved up to the conference room, trying to catch his attention, to wave goodbye, but he wasn’t looking.
Jack took a slow path toward Ianto, opening and closing doors as quietly as he could, nervous of scaring him off as if he were a skittish creature.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Tosh’s acting a little… odd, don’t you think?”
Ianto was sifting through files on the computer dropping them into two files, one on each side of the screen. Jack didn’t look closely enough to see what they were. Ianto paused and glanced up for a fraction of a second.
“We’re none of us unchanged, Jack,” he said without reproach.
“I think she misses you,” Jack went on. Ianto didn’t even flinch. He also didn’t reply. “You’ve changed,” Jack added, attempting conversation, not accusation, but carrying far too much sorrow. He laid his hand on the tabletop, inches away from Ianto’s, and began to slide it, slowly, slowly forwards. “Where did you go?” Jack asked quietly. Ianto clicked the computer off and stood up.
“Ianto, please,” Jack said. Ianto stopped, but he didn’t turn around. “I’m sorry,” Jack went on, officially exhausting his supply of apologies. “I didn’t mean to knock everyone’s world around. I wasn’t thinking. But I’m home. I came home. I came back for…”
Ianto swung around.
“What do you want from me?” he asked suddenly.
Jack shrugged.
“I want a hug,” he said after a moment. He smiled shyly, rubbing at his neck. “I want you to be happy I’m back,” he added.
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Ianto said. “I told you that.”
Jack sagged. He looked so sad it was hard to imagine how Ianto stayed untouched.
“Do you even want to know why I came back?” Jack asked.
Ianto considered the question for a bare second before shaking his head, his lips pursed as if it really was something he could live without. He made to leave again.
“I’m going to tell you anyway,” Jack said urgently. Ianto stopped, his hand on the doorhandle, itching for freedom, his shoulders relaxing barely within perception. “I left for me because I needed to. I don’t deny that and I don’t apologise. It was selfish, but I am selfish. I came back…”
Ianto pulled the door open and left, halfway through Jack’s sentence, before Jack could say ‘for you’ and force him into emotions he couldn’t approach. Jack bolted to the door and wrenched it open.
“Hey!” he shouted after Ianto. “At least hear me out,” he pleaded.
“Why?” Ianto asked bitterly. “It’s crap, why should I listen to it? You say what you need to say to get what you want. That’s okay, that’s you.”
“So who does that make you?” Jack replied.
Ianto met his gaze, but had no answer for Jack. So he turned away and headed downstairs.
He had learned, it seemed, the importance of the exit. Jack stood and watched a man he barely knew, and let him walk away.
#
The Doctor found Jack half an hour latter, smashing the shit out of some junk he had found in the basement.
“Would you like to talk about it?” The Doctor asked delicately. “Or…”
“Why am I never satisfied?” Jack yelled, before The Doctor could give him another option. “I always have to go chasing after something new and it’s never, ever what I expect. Where’s the fucking justice in that? I come to Earth; it’s all different. I run to you, you’ve changed, no offence,” he added. The Doctor waved it aside. “Now I come home, for once with some sort of idea of what I want and it isn’t here!”
The Doctor screwed his brow in confusion.
“Down here?” Did you look in your office?” he suggested.
“No, you twat, Ianto,” Jack corrected, redundantly.
“He’s here,” The Doctor said diplomatically. “I’ve seen him. Unless you think he’s been possessed or something.”
Jack approached a box of files he had kicked over some time in his conniption and sat down wearily on it.
“He’s punishing me,” Jack said. He grimaced, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes firmly. “No, no he isn’t,” he said irritably. “I don’t know what he’s doing. He’s staying away from me. He won’t hear me, he won’t touch me and all I want to do is hold him. I’d rather he punched me. Anything is better than that… ice.”
“I…” The Doctor began carefully. He ground his teeth and grimaced. “I don’t think I can comment with any authority,” he said. “I didn’t know him before.”
Jack smiled a private smile and sniffed laughter.
“Imagine someone with Ianto’s face… who adores me,” he said, dipping his hands between his knees and letting his head follow.
TBC…