Sonata for the TARDIS in D -- Here Be Dragons
Title: Sonata for the TARDIS in D
Chapter Five: Here Be Dragons
dwtwprompts prompt: Dark
Date Written: 6/4/08
Rating: NC-17/M
Word Count: 2,715
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, mentioned Doctor, Team, Rose, Martha, Donna, Jack's family, OCs
Spoilers: Runaway Bride, Utopia, Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords (Who 03), Adam (Torchwood 02)
Warnings: Character death, angst, sap, smut, NOT BLOODY WORK SAFE
Author's Notes: I've been in a dark mood lately. *shrugs* So sorry. Before you ask, no this is not the end of this series, they're just writing themselves out of order. Again. And on another note, I am not a scientist in any form of the word, just a writer who reads a lot of fanfiction and has her own theory about the Universe and all that. Major, major, major thanks to sgcgirl52 for all the astrophysics help! *major loves* Now more scientifically correct!
Written primarily under the influence of Josh Groban's Don't Give Up, You Are Loved. My musical tastes really vary.
1/?: And So It Begins
2/?: Time Travel Messes With Your Senses
3/?: It's Just Sex, Sex, Sex With You People
4/?: Break Out Your Converse, It's Time To Save The Universe
There were upsides and downsides to being immortal, Ianto thought.
Aging, of course, was a complete nightmare. They were, more or less, the same Jack and Ianto they had been when they'd become immortal -- a few more lines around the eyes and the corners of the mouth, and the odd gray hair sneaking up on them (Jack had let out a shriek fit to scare ghosts when he'd found his first one. Ianto had been a very good husband and not teased him about it until after he'd bought enough hair dye to do the entire population of Wales' hair three times over; and honestly he wouldn't have at all if Jack hadn't tried to write it off as a Torchwood expense). It was very hard to explain to family and friends, so you tended not to make many.
It would be just horrid if he didn't have someone to share forever with, he knew -- he could still see the hurt lingering in Jack's eyes whenever the older man looked at him, the fear and doubt that he'd turn his head away for an instant and look again to find that Ianto was gone. It had happened far too many occasions -- to both of them -- but they'd both fought tooth and nail to get back to each other. There was no force in the Universe that could keep them apart for very long.
An upside to immortality was that you got to see the development of whole new civilizations, the glorious rise of an empire; of course, on the opposite side of the coin you saw the empire crumble. The bad years, the decline, weren't just facts on a page -- you lived them, suffered the heartbreak of watching something you had once whole-heartedly believed in crumble and wither away, like spun-sugar candy.
The wonderful, beautiful thing about immortality was that there was Time Travel. When Ianto had been born it was still (lineally, for humans at least) way off in the future. He would never have lived to see it.
Now he could. And he had.
Time travel with the Doctor and Jack (and Donna, and Martha, and that one time they'd begged the Doctor to take Tosh away for ten minutes -- he'd hit it close that time, it had only been twelve) had been fun, exciting. Dangerous, of course, but there was no real thrill without it.
Watching others do it was terrifying. Especially when the scientists moved into the preliminary stages, and began sending test subjects back in time. When the news broke that they'd sent back a mouse and had found archaeological proof that it had worked, both of them had fretted so much about the repercussions of such things that they'd ended up calling the Doctor (who laughed himself silly, the wanker, and told them to stop fretting, it had already happened anyway). Eventually, humans started being sent back, and the Time Agency was founded. Jack used his old pass codes (the ones he'd had before he left the Agency) and got his Vortex Manipulator fixed.
Ianto had just laughed and tapped the side of the TARDIS.
Of course, Jack and Ianto had time traveling abilities long before Vortex Manipulators were invented. The little piece of coral that Jack had kept on his desk those long years back had grown into one of the beautiful Time Lord ships, and they'd zipped all about Time and Space when she was still shiny and new.
The fact that she had turned out to be the Doctor's TARDIS still amazed Ianto. Paradox on paradox on paradox, that's all their lives were.
And were they long ones! They'd gone back and forth and over again about seven, eight times. They'd seen the instant Time began, the millisecond of fading light that was the Big Bang. Seen the formation of the Solar System, of planet Earth (the fact that an alien ship was in the core of the Earth still slightly unsettled Ianto), of a thousand, million planets. Danced with the TARDIS doors flung open and music playing throughout the ship as they watched the explosion of the Sun, like Nero, as an empty planet burned at their feet.
Jack and Ianto were sensitive to the flow of Time; not as sensitive as, say, the Doctor, but sensitive enough. Jack had mentioned once, in an off-handed manner when they'd been reminiscing about The Past and that Year that Never Was, that when they'd been shot to the End of the Universe he'd felt... lethargic. Old -- well, older than he usually felt. Run-down, tired. The Doctor had agreed and said he'd felt the same, that it had been because Time was stretching thin. (Martha had called them both liars, since they'd been bouncing around like schoolboys on Christmas Day) Since Ianto and Jack had been given immortality through the TARDIS, whose Heart was the Time Vortex, they would be aware of when the Universe was about to come crashing down about their ears.
Whenever they'd felt that sensation they'd run. Ianto kept a running log, detailing where they'd been so they wouldn't risk crossing time lines (any more than they had) and a grand time line kept in Sol 3 time that they called "Life, The Universe and Everything", or LUE for short. The end of the time line was blank, with a big red line drawn with the cut-off date, the date that the nagging feeling starting prickling the base of their spines, with Ianto's neat hand in the white expanse after it -- "Here Be Dragons", after the example of the mapmakers and sailors of old Earth, the people who had labeled foreboding-looking islands with such dire warnings.
Slowly, though, they began to realize that they couldn't keep doing this, popping back and forth with no real direction. There was a limit to how many Jack and Ianto Harkness-Joneses the Universe could take, and they were starting to push it. So they did something very calm and rational.
They sat down and discussed suicide.
Eventually they made a list, reasons to stay and reasons to go. They wrote every reason they'd wanted to stay, which was a list of mostly regrets and things they hadn't gotten to yet. The reason to go list had one thing on it:
We are tired.
And they were. Tired of making friends just to lose them in so short a time. Tired of not sleeping. Tired of not being amazed at the Universe's amazing things. Never tired of each other, of course, Ianto knew he would never, ever get tired of Jack, but he was just so sick of everything else.
They tacked the 'Reasons to Stay' list on the back of their bedroom door. They'd walk by it, occasionally add something if they'd remember some wonderful thing they just had to see. Towards the end of the list, there were just names: Rose. Martha. Donna. Tosh. Owen. Gwen. Emi. The Doctor. Mum, Dad, Gray. Mam, Tad, the kids, my siblings.
Finally, the day came. Jack watched as Ianto crossed the final thing off the list, the Doctor's name disappearing under the heavy black line.
"Ready."
... pulled and tugged and lengthened it, from the Beginning of Time to the Implosion of All.
Ianto had suggested that they go linearly past Dragon Day for the sake of record-keeping at least, but Jack had flat-out refused. When Humanity's desperate, he'd said, they're a trapped animal. They'll do anything to survive. Even become things that were no longer Human. He'd seen them, what they could do, what they were capable of, and he was not going to expose Ianto to them.
Ianto had thought this was all very overprotective and had gotten a bit peeved until he realized that Jack didn't want their last memory of Humanity to be whatever they turned into.
So they'd just jumped straight into the fray, watching everything fly past as they lost control of their ship.
"We're following the other space debris," Ianto said, watching a huge asteroid whiz past their observation window. "Whatever it is, it's pushing us all this way."
"I'm think we're more getting sucked in," Jack replied, turning to Ianto. "One last dance?"
Ianto nodded, but was giving Jack a puzzled look. Jack laughed and used his Vortex Manipulator to turn the PA system on, pulling the younger man into his arms as they slowly swayed to the music. "Think, Ianto. What do you know about stars?"
Confused blue eyes met Jack's. "Big burning balls of mass. Most normally expand into Giants, then explode into Dwarfs."
"And what about Black Hole stars?" Jack prompted.
"They start as massive Main Sequence stars. Instead of expanding after internal fusion ends, they explode into Super Novas, form a Neuron star. If the star was truly massive, the Neuron star collapses in on itself. But Jack, you know that already."
"I know, but I just want one of the last things I hear you say to be one of those lovely know-it-all Ianto things," Jack said, kissing the corner of his mouth.
He laughed and ran a hand up through Jack's hair. "So the Universe expanded, reached a point where it wouldn't anymore, and is now collapsing in on itself." Ianto thought for a moment. "Explains why everything feels tight."
"I wonder how tight you'd be right now," Jack teased in his ear.
Ianto laughed again. "Oh, you would bring up sex now!" he said, grinning when Jack hummed in agreement and licked his ear.
One by one clothes hit the floor, the two of them taking their sweet time undressing each other. Hands ran over bare flesh with practiced fluidity but at a slower pace, as if they were first lovers again and busy memorizing each other's bodies, kissing every single inch of skin.
There weren't any tears, even though this was going to be the last time. Somewhere, everywhere, back throughout time itself, there was an Ianto and a Jack together, fighting or cooking or saving the Universe or doing what they were now. A love story for the ages.
Eventually, Jack laid him back on the makeshift mattress of clothing and just looked at him. Ianto smiled back up at him, running his fingers through Jack's hair. "What?"
"I never deserved you," the older man replied softly, shifting his weight so one hand could come up and trace the glimmering gold necklace that laid against Ianto's skin. It had only left his body once, by the Doctor those millions of years ago.
"You had to work to earn me," Ianto teased him back, pulling his head down to kiss his forehead. "And yes, you do."
Jack just shook his head, kissing Ianto's neck even as his fingers fumbled for the lube they were never far from. "Nope. But I am glad it's you, y'know. Just you and me, here at the End of All Things."
Ianto gasped as one of Jack's beautiful fingers slipped inside his body before leveling a serious look at his lover. "You did not just quote from Return of the King. You did not."
Jack laughed, pressing another finger into him and scissoring carefully, enjoying the writhing Ianto was doing. "I guess I did. Doesn't make it any less true."
Ianto tried to roll his eyes in annoyance, but pleasure got there first. Jack had always known what buttons to push, and he'd only gotten better at pushing them with time.
"I love you," Jack murmured in his ear, smiling at the noises Ianto was making. "So very much. These years have been absolutely fantastic, and it's all because of you. I could never, ever thank you enough."
Ianto arched his hips up, gasping a little. "Jack?"
"Hmn?"
"Shut up."
Jack laughed and kissed him softly.
"You saved me," Ianto told him, carding his fingers through Jack's hair again. "So many times, in so many ways. Showed me things I'd never dreamed of, took me places I'd never have gone without you, and most importantly, you loved me." He smiled up at Jack through half-lidded eyes. "Even if you hadn't done anything else but just loved me, that would have been enough for me to never leave your side."
Jack gave a brilliant smile in return, leaning in to kiss him thoroughly. Ianto let out a soft moan of disappointment when Jack's fingers left his body, but it quickly turned into a groan of pleasure as Jack carefully, oh so slowly pushed into him.
There was no hurry, no mad dash to the finish line this last time. They moved slowly, easily together, the motions long-practiced and perfected. Time slowed to a crawl and rushed past them at the same time, and it was, as always, over far too soon.
"We can still go back if you want," Jack murmured half-heartedly afterwards, his head on Ianto's shoulder. "Rent out something on some planet somewhere and just stay and make love until we're back here again."
"Did that," Ianto reminded him, running his hands along Jack's spine, closing his eyes and inhaling his scent. "About a thousand years ago, the little tree house in the Calhoon Nebula."
"Oh yeah," Jack said with a laugh. "The landlady thought we were cursed and kicked us out after fifty years when we hadn't aged. Had to walk out with just the clothes on our backs."
"On my back," Ianto corrected. "Because you were naked and neither of us could do much walking, as I recall."
Jack laughed again. "But still looking great. Sex with you is a great workout."
Ianto smiled softly against Jack's shoulder.
They stayed quietly wrapped up in each other for long moments, enjoying the quiet silence. They'd long let their guards down and Ianto could feel the emotions swirling through Jack: worry and fear of Death wrapped around the slight morbid anticipation, happiness at all the good memories and contentment with the bad ones, and most of all the love he had for Ianto. Every time he felt it, it took his breath away.
Jack shifted a little, looking up through the observation window. He stiffened a little and propped himself up on an elbow to get a proper look at it. "Ianto -- Yan, you've got to see this."
Ianto tipped his head back to look at it upside down, frowning a little. Jack pushed off of him so that the younger man could turn and look properly.
They had been right, the center of the Universe was creating a Black Hole, but not a proper one: instead, everything was forming a gigantic cluster, almost like the formation of a planet. As everything lumped in together, the gravity increased, pulling everything in faster and faster.
Not even Time would survive this. Everything would get sucked in, and gravity would get stronger and Time would stop. The pressure would be amazing, it would have to implode in upon itself eventually.
No.
Wait.
It could explode too.
"Oh God, the Big Bang," they both said, reaching the same conclusion at the same time. The idea was mind-boggling.
"This could mean we're not the first Universe," Ianto said, looking over at Jack. "Sort of like how Earth started repairing itself after Humans began earnest conservation."
"It's recycling itself," Jack agreed. "There were beings we encountered, like Abbadon, Bilis said it had been imprisoned before Time began. It happened now, in the lull between implosion and explosion."
Ianto found himself laughing. "Jack, then that could mean that we're recycled too." He knew he was being silly, the tiny part of him still wanting to live clinging to what little peace it had. "Like in those religions, so many of them had rebirth cycles. Maybe they weren't wrong."
Jack laughed as well, pulling Ianto into his arms. "Science has been mystified before." He touched Ianto's cheek, suddenly serious. "If we are reborn, I will find you again."
"Not if I find you first," Ianto challenged.
"Oh, I love you so much," Jack murmured, leaning in to kiss him.
Ianto's last thought, before the Black took him the final time, was that even if this was it for them, going out with your soul mate's mouth on yours wasn't all that bad a way to go.
ETA: Chapter six here
Chapter Five: Here Be Dragons
dwtwprompts prompt: Dark
Date Written: 6/4/08
Rating: NC-17/M
Word Count: 2,715
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, mentioned Doctor, Team, Rose, Martha, Donna, Jack's family, OCs
Spoilers: Runaway Bride, Utopia, Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords (Who 03), Adam (Torchwood 02)
Warnings: Character death, angst, sap, smut, NOT BLOODY WORK SAFE
Author's Notes: I've been in a dark mood lately. *shrugs* So sorry. Before you ask, no this is not the end of this series, they're just writing themselves out of order. Again. And on another note, I am not a scientist in any form of the word, just a writer who reads a lot of fanfiction and has her own theory about the Universe and all that. Major, major, major thanks to sgcgirl52 for all the astrophysics help! *major loves* Now more scientifically correct!
Written primarily under the influence of Josh Groban's Don't Give Up, You Are Loved. My musical tastes really vary.
1/?: And So It Begins
2/?: Time Travel Messes With Your Senses
3/?: It's Just Sex, Sex, Sex With You People
4/?: Break Out Your Converse, It's Time To Save The Universe
There were upsides and downsides to being immortal, Ianto thought.
Aging, of course, was a complete nightmare. They were, more or less, the same Jack and Ianto they had been when they'd become immortal -- a few more lines around the eyes and the corners of the mouth, and the odd gray hair sneaking up on them (Jack had let out a shriek fit to scare ghosts when he'd found his first one. Ianto had been a very good husband and not teased him about it until after he'd bought enough hair dye to do the entire population of Wales' hair three times over; and honestly he wouldn't have at all if Jack hadn't tried to write it off as a Torchwood expense). It was very hard to explain to family and friends, so you tended not to make many.
It would be just horrid if he didn't have someone to share forever with, he knew -- he could still see the hurt lingering in Jack's eyes whenever the older man looked at him, the fear and doubt that he'd turn his head away for an instant and look again to find that Ianto was gone. It had happened far too many occasions -- to both of them -- but they'd both fought tooth and nail to get back to each other. There was no force in the Universe that could keep them apart for very long.
An upside to immortality was that you got to see the development of whole new civilizations, the glorious rise of an empire; of course, on the opposite side of the coin you saw the empire crumble. The bad years, the decline, weren't just facts on a page -- you lived them, suffered the heartbreak of watching something you had once whole-heartedly believed in crumble and wither away, like spun-sugar candy.
The wonderful, beautiful thing about immortality was that there was Time Travel. When Ianto had been born it was still (lineally, for humans at least) way off in the future. He would never have lived to see it.
Now he could. And he had.
Time travel with the Doctor and Jack (and Donna, and Martha, and that one time they'd begged the Doctor to take Tosh away for ten minutes -- he'd hit it close that time, it had only been twelve) had been fun, exciting. Dangerous, of course, but there was no real thrill without it.
Watching others do it was terrifying. Especially when the scientists moved into the preliminary stages, and began sending test subjects back in time. When the news broke that they'd sent back a mouse and had found archaeological proof that it had worked, both of them had fretted so much about the repercussions of such things that they'd ended up calling the Doctor (who laughed himself silly, the wanker, and told them to stop fretting, it had already happened anyway). Eventually, humans started being sent back, and the Time Agency was founded. Jack used his old pass codes (the ones he'd had before he left the Agency) and got his Vortex Manipulator fixed.
Ianto had just laughed and tapped the side of the TARDIS.
Of course, Jack and Ianto had time traveling abilities long before Vortex Manipulators were invented. The little piece of coral that Jack had kept on his desk those long years back had grown into one of the beautiful Time Lord ships, and they'd zipped all about Time and Space when she was still shiny and new.
The fact that she had turned out to be the Doctor's TARDIS still amazed Ianto. Paradox on paradox on paradox, that's all their lives were.
And were they long ones! They'd gone back and forth and over again about seven, eight times. They'd seen the instant Time began, the millisecond of fading light that was the Big Bang. Seen the formation of the Solar System, of planet Earth (the fact that an alien ship was in the core of the Earth still slightly unsettled Ianto), of a thousand, million planets. Danced with the TARDIS doors flung open and music playing throughout the ship as they watched the explosion of the Sun, like Nero, as an empty planet burned at their feet.
Jack and Ianto were sensitive to the flow of Time; not as sensitive as, say, the Doctor, but sensitive enough. Jack had mentioned once, in an off-handed manner when they'd been reminiscing about The Past and that Year that Never Was, that when they'd been shot to the End of the Universe he'd felt... lethargic. Old -- well, older than he usually felt. Run-down, tired. The Doctor had agreed and said he'd felt the same, that it had been because Time was stretching thin. (Martha had called them both liars, since they'd been bouncing around like schoolboys on Christmas Day) Since Ianto and Jack had been given immortality through the TARDIS, whose Heart was the Time Vortex, they would be aware of when the Universe was about to come crashing down about their ears.
Whenever they'd felt that sensation they'd run. Ianto kept a running log, detailing where they'd been so they wouldn't risk crossing time lines (any more than they had) and a grand time line kept in Sol 3 time that they called "Life, The Universe and Everything", or LUE for short. The end of the time line was blank, with a big red line drawn with the cut-off date, the date that the nagging feeling starting prickling the base of their spines, with Ianto's neat hand in the white expanse after it -- "Here Be Dragons", after the example of the mapmakers and sailors of old Earth, the people who had labeled foreboding-looking islands with such dire warnings.
Slowly, though, they began to realize that they couldn't keep doing this, popping back and forth with no real direction. There was a limit to how many Jack and Ianto Harkness-Joneses the Universe could take, and they were starting to push it. So they did something very calm and rational.
They sat down and discussed suicide.
Eventually they made a list, reasons to stay and reasons to go. They wrote every reason they'd wanted to stay, which was a list of mostly regrets and things they hadn't gotten to yet. The reason to go list had one thing on it:
We are tired.
And they were. Tired of making friends just to lose them in so short a time. Tired of not sleeping. Tired of not being amazed at the Universe's amazing things. Never tired of each other, of course, Ianto knew he would never, ever get tired of Jack, but he was just so sick of everything else.
They tacked the 'Reasons to Stay' list on the back of their bedroom door. They'd walk by it, occasionally add something if they'd remember some wonderful thing they just had to see. Towards the end of the list, there were just names: Rose. Martha. Donna. Tosh. Owen. Gwen. Emi. The Doctor. Mum, Dad, Gray. Mam, Tad, the kids, my siblings.
Finally, the day came. Jack watched as Ianto crossed the final thing off the list, the Doctor's name disappearing under the heavy black line.
"Ready."
... pulled and tugged and lengthened it, from the Beginning of Time to the Implosion of All.
Ianto had suggested that they go linearly past Dragon Day for the sake of record-keeping at least, but Jack had flat-out refused. When Humanity's desperate, he'd said, they're a trapped animal. They'll do anything to survive. Even become things that were no longer Human. He'd seen them, what they could do, what they were capable of, and he was not going to expose Ianto to them.
Ianto had thought this was all very overprotective and had gotten a bit peeved until he realized that Jack didn't want their last memory of Humanity to be whatever they turned into.
So they'd just jumped straight into the fray, watching everything fly past as they lost control of their ship.
"We're following the other space debris," Ianto said, watching a huge asteroid whiz past their observation window. "Whatever it is, it's pushing us all this way."
"I'm think we're more getting sucked in," Jack replied, turning to Ianto. "One last dance?"
Ianto nodded, but was giving Jack a puzzled look. Jack laughed and used his Vortex Manipulator to turn the PA system on, pulling the younger man into his arms as they slowly swayed to the music. "Think, Ianto. What do you know about stars?"
Confused blue eyes met Jack's. "Big burning balls of mass. Most normally expand into Giants, then explode into Dwarfs."
"And what about Black Hole stars?" Jack prompted.
"They start as massive Main Sequence stars. Instead of expanding after internal fusion ends, they explode into Super Novas, form a Neuron star. If the star was truly massive, the Neuron star collapses in on itself. But Jack, you know that already."
"I know, but I just want one of the last things I hear you say to be one of those lovely know-it-all Ianto things," Jack said, kissing the corner of his mouth.
He laughed and ran a hand up through Jack's hair. "So the Universe expanded, reached a point where it wouldn't anymore, and is now collapsing in on itself." Ianto thought for a moment. "Explains why everything feels tight."
"I wonder how tight you'd be right now," Jack teased in his ear.
Ianto laughed again. "Oh, you would bring up sex now!" he said, grinning when Jack hummed in agreement and licked his ear.
One by one clothes hit the floor, the two of them taking their sweet time undressing each other. Hands ran over bare flesh with practiced fluidity but at a slower pace, as if they were first lovers again and busy memorizing each other's bodies, kissing every single inch of skin.
There weren't any tears, even though this was going to be the last time. Somewhere, everywhere, back throughout time itself, there was an Ianto and a Jack together, fighting or cooking or saving the Universe or doing what they were now. A love story for the ages.
Eventually, Jack laid him back on the makeshift mattress of clothing and just looked at him. Ianto smiled back up at him, running his fingers through Jack's hair. "What?"
"I never deserved you," the older man replied softly, shifting his weight so one hand could come up and trace the glimmering gold necklace that laid against Ianto's skin. It had only left his body once, by the Doctor those millions of years ago.
"You had to work to earn me," Ianto teased him back, pulling his head down to kiss his forehead. "And yes, you do."
Jack just shook his head, kissing Ianto's neck even as his fingers fumbled for the lube they were never far from. "Nope. But I am glad it's you, y'know. Just you and me, here at the End of All Things."
Ianto gasped as one of Jack's beautiful fingers slipped inside his body before leveling a serious look at his lover. "You did not just quote from Return of the King. You did not."
Jack laughed, pressing another finger into him and scissoring carefully, enjoying the writhing Ianto was doing. "I guess I did. Doesn't make it any less true."
Ianto tried to roll his eyes in annoyance, but pleasure got there first. Jack had always known what buttons to push, and he'd only gotten better at pushing them with time.
"I love you," Jack murmured in his ear, smiling at the noises Ianto was making. "So very much. These years have been absolutely fantastic, and it's all because of you. I could never, ever thank you enough."
Ianto arched his hips up, gasping a little. "Jack?"
"Hmn?"
"Shut up."
Jack laughed and kissed him softly.
"You saved me," Ianto told him, carding his fingers through Jack's hair again. "So many times, in so many ways. Showed me things I'd never dreamed of, took me places I'd never have gone without you, and most importantly, you loved me." He smiled up at Jack through half-lidded eyes. "Even if you hadn't done anything else but just loved me, that would have been enough for me to never leave your side."
Jack gave a brilliant smile in return, leaning in to kiss him thoroughly. Ianto let out a soft moan of disappointment when Jack's fingers left his body, but it quickly turned into a groan of pleasure as Jack carefully, oh so slowly pushed into him.
There was no hurry, no mad dash to the finish line this last time. They moved slowly, easily together, the motions long-practiced and perfected. Time slowed to a crawl and rushed past them at the same time, and it was, as always, over far too soon.
"We can still go back if you want," Jack murmured half-heartedly afterwards, his head on Ianto's shoulder. "Rent out something on some planet somewhere and just stay and make love until we're back here again."
"Did that," Ianto reminded him, running his hands along Jack's spine, closing his eyes and inhaling his scent. "About a thousand years ago, the little tree house in the Calhoon Nebula."
"Oh yeah," Jack said with a laugh. "The landlady thought we were cursed and kicked us out after fifty years when we hadn't aged. Had to walk out with just the clothes on our backs."
"On my back," Ianto corrected. "Because you were naked and neither of us could do much walking, as I recall."
Jack laughed again. "But still looking great. Sex with you is a great workout."
Ianto smiled softly against Jack's shoulder.
They stayed quietly wrapped up in each other for long moments, enjoying the quiet silence. They'd long let their guards down and Ianto could feel the emotions swirling through Jack: worry and fear of Death wrapped around the slight morbid anticipation, happiness at all the good memories and contentment with the bad ones, and most of all the love he had for Ianto. Every time he felt it, it took his breath away.
Jack shifted a little, looking up through the observation window. He stiffened a little and propped himself up on an elbow to get a proper look at it. "Ianto -- Yan, you've got to see this."
Ianto tipped his head back to look at it upside down, frowning a little. Jack pushed off of him so that the younger man could turn and look properly.
They had been right, the center of the Universe was creating a Black Hole, but not a proper one: instead, everything was forming a gigantic cluster, almost like the formation of a planet. As everything lumped in together, the gravity increased, pulling everything in faster and faster.
Not even Time would survive this. Everything would get sucked in, and gravity would get stronger and Time would stop. The pressure would be amazing, it would have to implode in upon itself eventually.
No.
Wait.
It could explode too.
"Oh God, the Big Bang," they both said, reaching the same conclusion at the same time. The idea was mind-boggling.
"This could mean we're not the first Universe," Ianto said, looking over at Jack. "Sort of like how Earth started repairing itself after Humans began earnest conservation."
"It's recycling itself," Jack agreed. "There were beings we encountered, like Abbadon, Bilis said it had been imprisoned before Time began. It happened now, in the lull between implosion and explosion."
Ianto found himself laughing. "Jack, then that could mean that we're recycled too." He knew he was being silly, the tiny part of him still wanting to live clinging to what little peace it had. "Like in those religions, so many of them had rebirth cycles. Maybe they weren't wrong."
Jack laughed as well, pulling Ianto into his arms. "Science has been mystified before." He touched Ianto's cheek, suddenly serious. "If we are reborn, I will find you again."
"Not if I find you first," Ianto challenged.
"Oh, I love you so much," Jack murmured, leaning in to kiss him.
Ianto's last thought, before the Black took him the final time, was that even if this was it for them, going out with your soul mate's mouth on yours wasn't all that bad a way to go.
ETA: Chapter six here