Ficlet: Home Is Not A Place
Title: Home Is Not A Place
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: After centuries of faithful service, the Happy Wanderer has finally come to the end of the line.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 513 - Billy Joel Song Titles at slashthedrabble, using You’re My Home.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
They’d been travelling together in this ship for over five hundred years by now, and Jack had flown her by himself for decades before that, searching the universe for a way to bring Ianto back from the dead. She’d been Jack’s Hope back then, renamed the Happy Wanderer once Jack had found what he was looking for and restored Ianto’s soul to his body, and she’d been beautiful in her way.
But that was centuries ago. Now she was a rusting, pitted hulk, barely holding together, her hull battered and scored, beyond repair. The meteor storm they’d passed through in their effort to save the crew of a badly damaged ship had done what time had failed to do. They’d barely managed to limp back to the nearest space station, the rescued crew aboard, the other ship in tow, providing the Wanderer with some protection from bombardment. She’d made a heroic effort, but it was obvious even to Ianto that the old girl was done for. There’d be no patching her up this time.
Coming to stand beside Jack in the station’s vast hangar, looking up at the ruined bulk of their ship, their home, he slid a comforting arm around his lover.
“I’m sorry, Jack; I know how much this ship means to you. To both of us really, but… she’s been yours a lot longer than she’s been ours.”
Jack leant into Ianto’s embrace with a sigh. “We have been through a lot together; she carried me from one end of the universe to the other, and back again. I couldn’t even begin to guess at how many light years she’s done.” Jack smiled reminiscently. “She was almost new when I got her, one previous owner and he’d only used her for in-system milk runs, transporting raw materials from the outer planets to the big manufacturing stations. Got her for a song when his business went bankrupt. He made some bad investments. Good thing we have better business sense.”
“It helps that you were filthy rich to start with.”
Jack had invested heavily in stocks and shares when he’d first arrived on earth, already knowing which ones would make him the most money. Before he’d left after Ianto’s ‘death’ he’d liquidated all his assets, converting the money into precious gems and metals to take with him.
“Money isn’t everything, but it helps.” Jack straightened, patting Ianto on the arse. “Come on, better get our stuff, then strip out everything we can use.” After that, what was left of their ship would be scrapped. “I’ve got a few leads on cargo ships for sale, won’t be long before we’re back in business again.”
“You can walk away from your home just like that?”
“She was a great ship, Ianto, I’ll miss her, but I have something far more important: You. My home is wherever you are, whether that’s on this ship, another one, or the middle of nowhere. You’re all I’ll ever need.”
Ianto smiled. “You’re my home too.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: After centuries of faithful service, the Happy Wanderer has finally come to the end of the line.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 513 - Billy Joel Song Titles at slashthedrabble, using You’re My Home.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘Verse.
They’d been travelling together in this ship for over five hundred years by now, and Jack had flown her by himself for decades before that, searching the universe for a way to bring Ianto back from the dead. She’d been Jack’s Hope back then, renamed the Happy Wanderer once Jack had found what he was looking for and restored Ianto’s soul to his body, and she’d been beautiful in her way.
But that was centuries ago. Now she was a rusting, pitted hulk, barely holding together, her hull battered and scored, beyond repair. The meteor storm they’d passed through in their effort to save the crew of a badly damaged ship had done what time had failed to do. They’d barely managed to limp back to the nearest space station, the rescued crew aboard, the other ship in tow, providing the Wanderer with some protection from bombardment. She’d made a heroic effort, but it was obvious even to Ianto that the old girl was done for. There’d be no patching her up this time.
Coming to stand beside Jack in the station’s vast hangar, looking up at the ruined bulk of their ship, their home, he slid a comforting arm around his lover.
“I’m sorry, Jack; I know how much this ship means to you. To both of us really, but… she’s been yours a lot longer than she’s been ours.”
Jack leant into Ianto’s embrace with a sigh. “We have been through a lot together; she carried me from one end of the universe to the other, and back again. I couldn’t even begin to guess at how many light years she’s done.” Jack smiled reminiscently. “She was almost new when I got her, one previous owner and he’d only used her for in-system milk runs, transporting raw materials from the outer planets to the big manufacturing stations. Got her for a song when his business went bankrupt. He made some bad investments. Good thing we have better business sense.”
“It helps that you were filthy rich to start with.”
Jack had invested heavily in stocks and shares when he’d first arrived on earth, already knowing which ones would make him the most money. Before he’d left after Ianto’s ‘death’ he’d liquidated all his assets, converting the money into precious gems and metals to take with him.
“Money isn’t everything, but it helps.” Jack straightened, patting Ianto on the arse. “Come on, better get our stuff, then strip out everything we can use.” After that, what was left of their ship would be scrapped. “I’ve got a few leads on cargo ships for sale, won’t be long before we’re back in business again.”
“You can walk away from your home just like that?”
“She was a great ship, Ianto, I’ll miss her, but I have something far more important: You. My home is wherever you are, whether that’s on this ship, another one, or the middle of nowhere. You’re all I’ll ever need.”
Ianto smiled. “You’re my home too.”
The End