Just Like A Jones 25/30
TITLE: Just Like A Jones
Chapter: 25/30
Rating: NC-17 for series
Pairing/Characters: Jack/Ianto. Mica. David. Martha. Gwen/Rhys. Lois. Johnny/Rhiannon.
Synopsis: Mica may be a Davies, but sometimes she acts like a Jones. Set 13 years in the future. The world is a very different place, and Torchwood is a world that Jack doesn't want to know, but a promise made a long time ago brings him back to their door whether he likes it or not. Mica is in awe of a past she didn't know and a man she barely remembers, but her passion for his world takes her on a journey she never expected.
Spoilers: Aftermath of COE.
Disclaimer: Not mine, if it was this woul not need to be written.
A/N - I shall make you happy! jut watch me! happy fix.
Thanks. Thanks to everyone who has replied so far XD. As i have said before it was lack of feedbak that made me give up before, but the comment i got for ch8 made me so happy and confident and determined to keep going for this fandom. )
PART 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
It was cold and nearing dusk when Gwen found Jack sitting on the hill, his legs tucked to his chest, just looking out. His greatcoat billowed in the strong breeze and his hair, complete with the tiniest specks of grey, was wild in the wind. He didn't turn to face her; she didn't try and get his attention. She just sat beside him, mirroring his position and looked out over the hillside. The wind was strong and Gwen had to tuck the stay strands of hair behind her ears so many times that she just gave up and let it obscure her view.
They sat there in silence for a while, maybe even five minutes, before Jack took a deep breath and started to speak.
“I've been coming here a lot recently,” he said, “it's my reference point, my compass, it stops me getting lost.”
“Beautiful compass.”
Jack smiled. “Oh yeah.”
“But you could have a compass anywhere on this earth. It didn't have to be here.”
“Yes it does.” He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “I love this place. This country, this earth, this hill. It's the only place that I've had for so long that seems like a home. I have a family here, a life. I've never had that, not in recent memory anyway.”
“And that's good.”
“But there was one thing missing Gwen.” He opened his eyes and as he did a tear slipped slowly down his cheek; he didn't even attempt to wipe away. “Somebody that was the root of my family, but he was never here. For seventy-five years I have hurt because he was never ever here when I needed him.”
“Ianto is dead. Was dead,” she corrected herself, “now he's not.”
Jack smiled. “And I have never been happier.”
“He's not meant to be here though, is he Jack? He's meant to be dead.”
“He was never meant to die.”
“Maybe he was.” She put her hand over Jack's. “I don't know how you did it, but I know this him being here is wrong. He should not be here. He should be dead.”
“Excuse me?” Jack's mood darkened.
“I know you love him, I could never doubt that, but what you did was wrong. The dead should stay dead.”
He turned to face her and a darkness cast itself across his eyes. “You will not take him away from me.” He glared though her eyes. “If you try I will make you disappear. I promise.”
Gwen backed away a little, just far enough to get away from his coldness. “And Ianto would want this, would he? He would want you threatening me?”
“Ianto doesn't know everything I have done, how could he?” He glared at her. “I'm good at deep dark secrets.”
“Sometimes you scare me.” She swallowed hard.
“Good.”
“But sometimes Jack, sometimes I just pity you.” Gwen glared through Jack. “I pity your loneliness and I hate how dead your heart can be.”
“I pity myself.” Jack looked down at the grass. “I hate myself.”
“Do you honestly think I would take him away from you?” she asked. “Who do you think I am?”
“You're Torchwood,” Jack said, “I know what they do. I did it for long enough.”
“And what do we do?”
“You destroy people. You make them crazy. You take away what shouldn't be here.”
“I can't very well kill him.” Gwen sighed. “You brought him back and you will have have to deal with the consequences.”
“And Torchwood do nothing?”
“Nothing at all. I have bigger fish to fry.”
Jack sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
“I should do something, but I won't.” She looked at him. “Ianto was my friend and I see how much you need him.”
“He should have never died. I should have protected him.”
Gwen sighed a little and fell back into the silence. “Have you ever heard of Adrian Blackford, Jack?”
“No.”
“He was a UNIT soldier,” she told him, “twenty-seven years old. Married. Two kids. He was happy. Until one day he was shot in the head.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“When I saw Ianto alive I ran a check through our systems and found a report from the day that you stole him. A man died just so that you could have Ianto back and you need to know that.” She glared at him. “One life for another.”
Jack closed his eyes and dropped his head to his knees. “He was going to kill Mica so she shot him. She didn't mean to kill anyone.”
“But she did.”
“Y'know, you go on like you're perfect, but I remember a time that you lost someone you loved. You opened the rift to bring Rhys back and Abbadon came, how many died then?”
“That was a long time ago.” Her voice was even. “And it wasn't just me.”
“My point is that you brought him back and now look at you. Normal life. I can have that.”
“Then I hope it's worth it.”
Gwen stood up to walk away; Jack caught her hand. “I ripped him out of time because I couldn't live without him.” His voice cracked a little. “I was selfish, I know that, but I need him.”
“I can't imagine you ever needing anyone other than yourself.”
“But I do.”
Gwen sat back down beside him and they slipped back into silence for a moment. “His death changed everything you know?” she said. “It changed the way Torchwood operated.”
Jack said nothing.
“We used to fight aliens, collect the debris and use it. Now it's all a little more complex. We fight corruption and spin, Jack. We have agents in every government in the world every army, every secret service. We control everything, we keep everyone safe and all because of him.”
“That sounds all a little bit like a dictatorship to me.” He looked at her. “Torchwood running the world is never safe.”
“We just keep an eye on things, we make sure that what happened with the 456 can never happen again.” She looked over at Jack. “You should come back.”
“What?” Jack recoiled little. “You can't be serious.”
“You and Ianto,” she said, “you were the best we've had. You would just be an operative of course but--”
“Never.” Jack shook his head. “I don't want Ianto to have anything to do with you.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?” Jack stood up. “Look what happened the last time.”
“And what if he doesn't want to stay away Jack? What if he wants to come back.”
He started to walk in the opposite direction, back towards where he had parked the car.
“Jack!”
“Stay away from us.” He turned to look over his shoulder. “I mean that.”
“I miss him!”
Gwen's words made Jack freeze, then he turned around.
“I miss him,” she repeated, “he was my friend and I miss him.” Gwen walked over to where he stood. “We shared so much together. He was the one person I could go to when Rhys was doing my head in. And when you hurt him, like you always did without even realising, it was me he ran to. Jack, I lost him too and I grieved just like you did.”
“You didn't grieve like I did.” He looked at her. “How could you?”
“I loved him, not in the same way, but I did and it broke my heart when he died.” Her voice broke a little, cracking at every other word until a tear let itself escape. “He's alive and you really want me to pretend that he's still dead?”
“I need you to stay away.”
“Why?”
“Because once he sees you he'll want to go back and I can't let that happen.”
She put her hand on Jack's arm. “Then I'll tell him there's no position for him. I just need to see him.”
“Not today.”
“Tomorrow?”
Jack shook his head. “In a few days.”
“But I can see him?” She asked hopefully.
“If he wants to, yes.” Jack turned and walked away from her without a goodbye.
~~~~~*~~~~~
It was almost eleven by the time Jack had finally stopped driving around aimlessly with his thoughts and returned to the cottage. He walked in, shut the door behind him and hung up his oat. He looked at David, lying on the couch covered in a blanket and creased his brow in confusion.
He wasn't asleep.
“Where is everyone?” he asked
“Uncle Ianto felt tired so he went to bed, and then Mica got in strop with me and buggered off to bed too. I'm heading home in the morning.”
“I see.” Jack sat down on the hair opposite David. “She was a bit pissed off with how I was reacting I think.”
“And how were you reacting?”
David sat up an ran his hand through his hair. “It's weird shit, Jack. He was dead, I haven't seen him since I was nine and now he's here. What am I meant to do?” He shook his head. “I'm not a hugger.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
“I think Mica expects me to run up to him, hug him and tell him I missed him but I'm not like that. I don't do the hugging thing, especially with someone that, essentially, I don't know.”
Jack walked over and sat beside him. “I get it. And Ianto gets it too I'm sure. I bet he's even relieved.”
“You think?”
“I know.”
David fidgeted with his fingers. “What do I say to him?” he asked. “I mean, Mica has all thee questions, all these things to say and I have nothing.”
“You don't have to say anything. Mica has Ianto on a pedestal. She knows this perfect version of him that's only a small part of who he is. You're both going to have to get to know him. The fact that you're not asking all these questions is a relief to Ianto. He doesn't know what to say either.”
“I do love him,” David said, “he's my uncle. I just don't know him I don't know where I stand.”
“It could take some time. But one day there'll be a moment and you'll bond over something weird.” Jack smiled. “When he's all healed take him down to the pub, he'd like that. A pint of John Smiths, a steak and ale pie and he's yours forever.”
~~~~~*~~~~~
Gwen rushed into the bedroom. She flung the door open, switched on the light, sat down on the bed and shook her husband until he rolled over himself and tried to open his eyes. He strained against the sudden light.
“He's alive!” It was almost like she couldn't hold it in, the worlds just fell from her mouth like sand through a hourglass. “He's live Rhys!”
“Alive?” He sat up groggily in bed. “What are you talking about woman?”
“He's alive. Living. Not dead. Breathing. Walking. Talking. Reading the bloody newspaper. Alive. You know... living.”
“I got the alive bit.” His eyes battled with the brightness of the light. “It's the Who bit I'm struggling with.”
“Ianto.”
“Ianto?”
“Yeah.”
Rhys looked confused. “Well of course he is, I think the school might have stopped billing us for school dinners if he wasn't.”
“Not that Ianto!” Gwen picked up the book from the beside table and threw it at her husband. “Other Ianto. Namesake Ianto. Jack's Ianto. Ianto Ianto.”
“Ianto Ianto?”
“Yes.”
“Dead Ianto?”
“Yes.”
“Dead Ianto is alive Ianto?”
“Yes!”
Rhys was quiet for a moment, his lips contorting as if they were trying to form words that didn't exist. “Are you sure love?”
“Of course I'm bloody sure.”
“Then that's--” he thought about it. “Good? Isn't it?”
“He won't let me see him.” She sighed. “Jack. He won't let me near him.”
“Why?”
Gwen shrugged. “He thinks that I'll want him back for Torchwood.”
“Well don't you?”
“Of course I do! But that's not the point.” She crawled over to him on the bed. “I want to sit in Starbucks with him and moan about you. I want to order a crazily unhealthy Mocha with squirty cream and marshmallows and a piece of cake that could stop an alien invasion and moan about the past thirteen years of sleeping beside a human Dyson with a blockage. I want to tell him that you're going grey and still can't eat a pie without the gravy slurping down your chin.”
“Oh, thanks love.” He looked offended. “Charming.”
“You know what I mean.” She lay down beside him and put her head on his chest. “I miss him. I miss talking about Ugly betty and going out for a natter. I never had anyone else like him and now he's back Jack won't let me see him.”
“I'm sorry.” Rhys stroked her hair. “Gwen?”
“Yeah?”
“Do I really slurp gravy down my chin?”
“Every time.”
~~~~~*~~~~~
Jack crept into the bedroom and navigated in the dark. He took off his clothes, laying them neatly on a chair, and sipped under the overs into the warmth of the bed. He wrapped his arms around Ianto and kissed the nape of his neck, then pulled him in.
“You're late in,” Ianto mumbled.
“Sorry.”
“Where did you go?”
“I had some things to take care of,” he said, “Sorry it took so long.”
“That's all right, I actually enjoyed not having you look at me like I was going to fall apart for five minutes.“ He turned around to face him and kissed him softly. “I've been waiting for you to get back.”
“Yeah?”
“First night back in a normal bed.” He rested his head on his chest and kissed it. “No squashed limbs tonight.”
“No.” Jack kissed his head.
“We've never really done the sleeping thing.” He yawned. “Have we?”
“Not enough, no.” Jack held him close. “Too much emphasis on the sex, I suppose.”
“The sex is good.” Ianto said, then frowned. “Was good.”
“Will be good again.” He pulled the duvet over them. “There's no rush for that though. I kind of enjoy not having sex with you.”
“If I wasn't so tired I might be a little offended at that.”
“I just mean that I enjoy not thinking about it. It's nice just being able to relax and not think about how I'm performing. I kinda like just lying with you. It feels normal.”
“Normality?” Ianto closed his eyes. “There's a dream that never comes true.”
“You never know, it could happen.” He held him close. “You and me, we can be normal.”
“Mmm.” Ianto drifted in and out of a light sleep for a moment. “It's okay if we're not.” Ianto' words were mumbled now.
“We will be.”
Ianto forced his eyes open and kissed Jack softly. “You can't give me everything.”
“I can try.”
“You don't need to.” Ianto turned around and pulled Jack's arms around him. “Now shut up and go to sleep.”