Ficlet: Third Time’s The Charm
Title: Third Time’s The Charm
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Cyberwoman, They Keep Killing Suzie, End Of Days, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Summary: Can Ianto and Jack finally get it right?
Word Count: 471
Written For: juliet316’s prompt ‘Author's choice, author's choice, third time's the charm.’ at
fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
The first time, Ianto had been using sex as a distraction. It hadn’t been difficult to get Jack interested and at first, Ianto had only intended to flirt and keep his new boss guessing. After all, he loved Lisa and this was all for her, right? But it had been such a long time since he’d felt the touch of another human being, so before long he was doing a whole lot more than just flirting. He craved the closeness, the warmth and the affection more than the sex, although it had to said that the sex was amazing.
When Lisa was found and Ianto’s deception was exposed, it put an end to his after-hours activities with his boss. The sense of loss he felt over that startled Ianto, especially the realisation that while he missed the sex and the closeness, he missed the budding friendship with Jack even more. In time, things settled down; Ianto’s grief over losing Lisa became more bearable and Jack started to trust him again, so after Suzie’s brief second life and death, it seemed natural to suggest resuming their former arrangement. Their friendship resumed along with their more energetic and innovative activities, and Ianto found both forms of interaction very satisfying indeed. It was pretty clear that Jack had no complaints either, or at least that was what Ianto thought until unaccountably, Jack was gone.
No goodbye, no note, no warning; one minute he was there, the next… poof! He’d vanished, and no one knew when or even if he’d be back. The team carried on as best they could of course, but it wasn’t the same. All of them missed Jack, but none as much as Ianto. He’d lost not only his boss, but also his friend and his lover. Strange how one person could be so many things all at the same time.
Three months or so later, Jack returned. He looked the same, acted the same, cocky and full of himself, but it was an illusion. One look into his eyes told Ianto that Jack had changed in ways he couldn’t even begin to understand. Not yet. Something had happened to him though; something that had left invisible scars on his body and his soul. He put on an outward show of normality, behaved the way his team expected him to, right down to the constant flirting, but his heart wasn’t in it.
Something else had changed too; nervous and awkward, Jack asked Ianto on a date. This time, he explained, he wanted to do things right. Apparently that meant being more than friends and lovers; a proper relationship, with all that entailed. Ianto was more than willing to try; it sounded good.
Would it be third time lucky? Ianto couldn’t keep from hoping that this time they’d finally get it right.
The End