Fic: Beginning at the End
TITLE: Beginning at the End
AUTHOR: Erin Giles
DISCLAIMER: Torchwood and it's characters are property of the BBC.
RATING: PG
PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS: Ianto/Jack, Ianto/Lisa
WORDS: 575
SUMMARY: Spoilers for Cyberwoman. Ianto was lucky to find at the end of something great there was the beginning of something great. Angst (with hope).
CHALLENGE: horizonssing Day 13:
"O summer day beside the joyous sea!
O summer day so wonderful and white,
So full of gladness and so full of pain!
Forever and forever shalt thou be
To some the gravestone of a dead delight,
To some the landmark of a new domain."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ianto stopped once he had finished cordoning off the beach. He took a moment to savour the fact it was midsummer’s day. He frowned though; he should be able to hear children laughing, dogs barking and the call of concerned parents. All he could hear though was the cry of seagulls and the roar of the ocean, accompanied by the chatter of police officers and the tramp of heavy footfalls up and down the beach.
It had been a while since he had been to the beach for pleasure. He could remember when he and Lisa went camping in France. He could remember how she’d laughed when she had dared him to go paddling and his feet had all but turned blue in the surf. He shuddered at the memory, so vivid in his mind now.
He could recall discussing the mortality of life with her as they’d sat on the sand, his feet in her lap as she wrapped her gloved hands round them in an attempt to re-heat them. He could see the laugh lines in her face as she refused to let his feet go, trying to tickle them as he kicked out in annoyance.
He still wished he’d had one last night with her, one last time to tell her how much he loved her and the way she used to tease him endlessly over his ‘crap’ choice in music. He wished he’d had the bottle to ask her to marry him that night at the new Italian restaurant in Covent Garden when the guy at the next table had done the exact same thing. He had seen the tears in her eyes as she’d watched the couple beside them while he had cowardly slipped the box back into his jacket pocket.
He wished he’d savoured that kiss the morning it all happened when neither of them had brushed their teeth and they were still hung-over from the night before. He was dumb for leaping out of bed because they were late for work, pulling on his underwear as he hurried to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He regretted not heeding Lisa’s calls to come back to bed and screw the world for the day.
He let out a breathy sigh. All he had now was stolen kisses tainted by metal and a Lisa who manipulated him into getting what she wanted. That wasn’t his Lisa and he hated that she was now his lasting memory of her. We can be upgraded together.
“I think we should go to the beach sometime.” Jack commented from where he had been standing behind Ianto for quite some time, just watching him staring out to sea. Jack now stepped up beside him, gazing into the distance as well.
“We’re on the beach now, Sir.” Ianto pointed out. He relished in the little sigh of pleasure Jack let out as Ianto curled his tongue round the vowels.
“I was thinking a little less death when we go to the beach and a lot less of Cardiff’s constabulary. And definitely more of a date thing than a work thing.” Jack smiled, glancing sideways to gauge Ianto’s reaction.
He’d left Lisa on another beach across an ocean of time. This was Jack’s beach and his time now.
“Sounds perfect.” Ianto nodded, turning to smile at Jack before he was moving back down the beach to the group of police officers that were combing it for clues.
AUTHOR: Erin Giles
DISCLAIMER: Torchwood and it's characters are property of the BBC.
RATING: PG
PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS: Ianto/Jack, Ianto/Lisa
WORDS: 575
SUMMARY: Spoilers for Cyberwoman. Ianto was lucky to find at the end of something great there was the beginning of something great. Angst (with hope).
CHALLENGE: horizonssing Day 13:
"O summer day beside the joyous sea!
O summer day so wonderful and white,
So full of gladness and so full of pain!
Forever and forever shalt thou be
To some the gravestone of a dead delight,
To some the landmark of a new domain."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ianto stopped once he had finished cordoning off the beach. He took a moment to savour the fact it was midsummer’s day. He frowned though; he should be able to hear children laughing, dogs barking and the call of concerned parents. All he could hear though was the cry of seagulls and the roar of the ocean, accompanied by the chatter of police officers and the tramp of heavy footfalls up and down the beach.
It had been a while since he had been to the beach for pleasure. He could remember when he and Lisa went camping in France. He could remember how she’d laughed when she had dared him to go paddling and his feet had all but turned blue in the surf. He shuddered at the memory, so vivid in his mind now.
He could recall discussing the mortality of life with her as they’d sat on the sand, his feet in her lap as she wrapped her gloved hands round them in an attempt to re-heat them. He could see the laugh lines in her face as she refused to let his feet go, trying to tickle them as he kicked out in annoyance.
He still wished he’d had one last night with her, one last time to tell her how much he loved her and the way she used to tease him endlessly over his ‘crap’ choice in music. He wished he’d had the bottle to ask her to marry him that night at the new Italian restaurant in Covent Garden when the guy at the next table had done the exact same thing. He had seen the tears in her eyes as she’d watched the couple beside them while he had cowardly slipped the box back into his jacket pocket.
He wished he’d savoured that kiss the morning it all happened when neither of them had brushed their teeth and they were still hung-over from the night before. He was dumb for leaping out of bed because they were late for work, pulling on his underwear as he hurried to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He regretted not heeding Lisa’s calls to come back to bed and screw the world for the day.
He let out a breathy sigh. All he had now was stolen kisses tainted by metal and a Lisa who manipulated him into getting what she wanted. That wasn’t his Lisa and he hated that she was now his lasting memory of her. We can be upgraded together.
“I think we should go to the beach sometime.” Jack commented from where he had been standing behind Ianto for quite some time, just watching him staring out to sea. Jack now stepped up beside him, gazing into the distance as well.
“We’re on the beach now, Sir.” Ianto pointed out. He relished in the little sigh of pleasure Jack let out as Ianto curled his tongue round the vowels.
“I was thinking a little less death when we go to the beach and a lot less of Cardiff’s constabulary. And definitely more of a date thing than a work thing.” Jack smiled, glancing sideways to gauge Ianto’s reaction.
He’d left Lisa on another beach across an ocean of time. This was Jack’s beach and his time now.
“Sounds perfect.” Ianto nodded, turning to smile at Jack before he was moving back down the beach to the group of police officers that were combing it for clues.