Title: At The Day’s End
Rating(s): NC-17
Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Summary: Jack’s returned from the Year That Never Was, but rewriting the year doesn’t mean it never happened.
Warning(s): ((possible triggers listed; highlight to read, or
skip this warning)) rape, gang rape, implied torture, pregnancy arising from rape, abortion, m-preg, PTSD; everything warned for is non-explicit, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
No real spoilers, but somewhat AU for Season 2.
[Warnings edited 17th April 2011 to (hopefully) work with screen-readers.]
Author's Notes: Pay attention to the warnings! If you don’t feel comfortable reading about such topics, either because they might be triggers, or for personal reasons - then don’t.
The decisions/positions taken by characters in this story do not necessarily reflect my personal position on such issues. I am aware that there are a number of sensitive topics here, and would like to reiterate that this is a work of fiction. I welcome comments on the issues raised here, so long as they are framed in the context of the story. Any inflammatory comments will be deleted.
I did quite a bit of research in preparation for writing this story. A number of websites and books proved useful, but I’d especially recommend the following:
Pandora’s Aquarium. I found it an excellent resource. You have to sign up as a member to access some of the threads, but there are some public essays available
here.
In addition, you’ll find a section in this fic where Jack is reading a paragraph off a website. That’s a direct quote from
here.
At The Day’s End
“When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.” -Rabindranath Tagore
The thing that had seen him through was the knowledge that eventually, he’d get back to Ianto and his team. Get back to people he could trust and back to a safe relationship. He hadn’t quite expected the outright hostility with which he was met, although he supposed John Hart hadn’t made things any better.
Besides, a part of him thought that he deserved the anger.
All the same, when he tentatively broached the subject of their date with Ianto, and Ianto said he’d changed his mind and didn’t think it was a good idea -
“Are you sure?” Jack asked, staring at Ianto, hoping he’d heard wrongly.
“Yes,” Ianto said without hesitation.
Jack tried not to flinch. “Right,” he managed to say. “Okay.” He looked down at his desk silently. After a moment, Ianto left his office, heels tapping smartly against the floor.
Jack sat there for a while, thinking. Then he got up, locked his office door, and climbed down into his bedroom. Somehow, his Webley felt heavier than usual as he un-holstered it.
He woke up maybe fifteen minutes later. The ceiling stared down at him implacably as he imagined what was going on out in the Hub. They wouldn’t have missed him so soon. They were probably doing their own work, updating each other, chatting about their lives. He had wanted to come back to the security of his team, only to find that they no longer had room for him.
He barely made it to the toilet before throwing up.
It took a while for him to realise what was happening. Between the nausea-inducing nightmares and the constant distress at how excluded he now was from the team, he didn’t recognise the symptoms. But one morning, he woke from a blissfully dream-free sleep, and then had to run to the toilet to throw up again.
Then there was the pizza. Just the smell of it was enough to make him nauseous all over again. He took to eating bland food - oatmeal, gruel, mashed potatoes, anything that would go down easy and didn’t have too strong a flavour or smell. When the team ordered meals - pizza, Chinese, Thai, Indian - he found he had to leave the room.
They likely preferred it that way, he told himself.
It wasn’t until he realised that lately, he’d been needing to urinate a lot more than usual that he finally drew the link. It took two days before he could summon up the courage to buy a pregnancy test kit.
The cashier had smirked knowingly at him as she’d rung up his purchase. He’d felt sick, even more than he could explain away by being out in a crowd.
The test was positive.
Except it couldn’t be. He’d died thrice since coming back. Pushed off that building by John, stabbed through the chest by the sleeper agent. And. And. It would have died. It should have died. A wholly human foetus could not survive in a dead womb for that long. He could feel his heart slamming against his chest, something ugly trying to claw its way out of his throat. Sweaty and dizzy, he sat on the bathroom floor for what felt like hours until he finally passed out.
The group dynamics of gang rape may have left you feeling uncomfortable with any audience, regardless of whether they are supportive. There’s a certain powerlessness that stems from not having anyone on your ‘side,’ and this might later cause you to feel anxious or intimidated in any social situation. Confrontation of any sort might leave you feeling ‘ganged up on’ and frightened. You may find yourself feeling overwhelmed by crowds, or even smaller groups of people. These are all very natural reactions to what you have endured, and they will lessen with time, and as you move forward with your healing.
Jack closed the website and took a deep breath.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Um, is Francine there?”
“Yeah, hang on. Mum!”
“You don’t have to yell like that, Leo. Hello?”
“Hi, Francine.”
“Jack Harkness! It’s about time you called.”
“Sorry, sorry. Had a lot to deal with here.”
“How are you?”
“… Coping. The team’s been doing well.”
“Well, if you ever feel like you need a break, you know our house is open to you.”
“Thanks. Look, I - I don’t -”
“… What’s wrong, Jack? … Jack? Are you there?”
“Can I come over? Please?”
“Of course. Anytime. Just let me know when.”
The team hadn’t been happy about Jack taking off to London for a couple of days. Jack had pointed out that they could clearly handle themselves without him. He had tried to keep any bitterness out of his voice, but from the looks they’d exchanged, he’d failed. The way they seemed capable of communicating without words just made him all the more eager to get out of the Hub.
He suspected they might be tracking him, just to make sure he didn’t run off with the Doctor again. So long as they didn’t listen to his conversations, he wasn’t bothered. When they asked what he needed to do in London, he didn’t respond. It wasn’t as if they cared.
Francine, hopefully, would be able to talk him through this.
“Male pregnancy?” Francine repeated faintly.
“Yes,” Jack said. “It’s a surgical procedure, implanting the right innards and all that, but once it’s done, two men can conceive as naturally as a man and a woman.”
“Oh my,” Francine said. “I suppose medicine really has advanced by that time.”
“Yeah,” Jack said.
“But you didn’t drive all the way up here to tell me that 51st Century medicine does amazing things,” Francine said. “What’s happened, Jack?”
“I’m pregnant,” Jack said.
“Your Ianto?” Francine asked, frowning. “Doesn’t he want the baby?”
“It’s not a baby!” Jack spat, then took a deep breath when he saw how taken-aback Francine was. “It’s not - I haven’t slept with him since I got back. Or with anyone.”
He could see the moment realisation dawned on Francine. “Oh,” she whispered. “Oh, honey.” She reached out as if to hug him, then hesitated. He leaned in slightly and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, letting him rest his head against her neck.
“I want it out,” Jack said. “I want it out and I want my team to stop hating me for leaving them and I want Ianto back and I want to stop being such a hormonal mess.”
“You’re not a mess, Jack Harkness,” Francine said firmly. “You’re an amazing man who’s survived something terrible.”
And that was what did it. Jack turned into Francine’s hold and wailed.
Francine came back to Cardiff with Jack.
He’d argued with her, of course. He didn’t want to take her away from her family at a time like this. Even Martha and Clive were sticking close to home as they tried to come to terms with what they’d been forced to go through. But Francine had insisted and so she had come back to Cardiff with Jack.
Only, Jack still didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t like he could walk into an abortion clinic and say he wanted one. Not in this time. And the one person who could bring him to a time where he could get rid of the - thing - was the one person he really didn’t want to see.
He put Francine up at the best hotel he could get. It was the least he could do for her.
They talked. About life aboard the Valiant, about Jack’s pregnancy, about the options available to him. The thing inside him hadn’t died even with the deaths he’d already faced. Unless he fancied ripping out his own gut so that when he came back to life, it wouldn’t be in him, he would have to face the Doctor at some point.
Keeping it wasn’t in the cards as far as Jack was concerned. Francine had only brought it up once, and Jack’s reaction kept her from ever mentioning it again.
But perhaps the most important thing they talked about was the Torchwood team.
“Your team,” Francine insisted. Jack couldn’t remember when he’d started thinking of them as ‘the team’ instead of ‘his team.’
“I don’t think they want me there with them,” Jack said. “I might leave. Let them run Torchwood. I think I deserve a break.”
“You do,” Francine said. “But this isn’t a break. You’re trying to run from them, Jack. Are you so scared of what they’ll say?”
“They don’t want me,” Jack insisted.
“What have they done to make you feel like that?” Francine asked.
Which was when Jack found that he couldn’t give her any specific examples. They had been wary around him at first, but after the debacle with John Hart, they’d actually warmed up a little. And maybe Ianto hadn’t wanted to date Jack anymore, but he’d still always been there with a coffee and a smile. He hadn’t ever pulled away. If Jack had been excluded from group activities, it was because he’d been hiding.
“Honey, I’ve heard you talk about these people so much,” Francine said. “They sound like good people to me. You don’t have to be scared to tell them.”
“They don’t remember that year,” Jack said. “They shouldn’t have to deal with this.”
“That’s not your decision to make,” Francine said. “Tell them, give them the choice. And no matter their reaction, you know I’ll always be here for you.”
But how, Jack wondered in despair, was he meant to tell them this?
He was nearly two months along when he finally made the decision. Martha was dispatched to call the Doctor and have him pop round the next week. She utilised some rather creative threats in ensuring he would be there on time, not too early or late.
“Why are we here?” Gwen asked as Jack led the way to Francine’s hotel room.
“If this is your attempt at an orgy, Harkness,” Owen started, and Jack missed the rest of what he said when his heart started thundering violently.
He knocked briskly on Francine’s door. It opened after a bare few seconds; she’d probably been waiting.
“Come on in then,” she said, smiling at Jack and the team. She could easily recognise them from the group photo Jack had shown her. The girls and Ianto gave her polite, if confused smiles in return. Owen’s attempt at a smile looked more like a grimace.
“All right, Jack?” she asked, shutting and locking the door. “Any change?”
“Just the usual,” Jack said, making a face.
“And I suppose you haven’t explained anything to them yet?” Francine asked. “Oh, sit down, do,” she added, nodding to the team.
“You said you’d help,” Jack said accusingly.
“And I will,” Francine replied. “Here now, have a seat yourself. Would any of you like something to drink? The tea’s not bad here.”
They all declined tea, although Francine set a cup of chamomile down in front of Jack anyway and glared at him until he started sipping at it.
“Now then,” she said. “Introductions. I’m Francine Jones. And you would be the infamous Torchwood, yes? Jack’s told me a lot about you.”
“Wish we could say the same,” Gwen said dryly.
“Well, we didn’t really meet under the best circumstances,” Francine replied, giving her a chastising look. “And that’s why you’re here, so that we can tell you about what happened when Jack left.”
“Were you there as well?” Ianto asked.
“I was,” Francine said. “So I know what happened.”
“I can’t talk about it,” Jack said, staring intently at his tea. “So I asked Francine and she’s agreed to tell you.”
“Only what he’s comfortable with, of course,” Francine said. “The thing is, a lot of this isn’t going to be pleasant. That’s something you should know up-front. You can leave now, if you’d like.”
No one did, and so Francine began to sketch out what had happened to Earth during the Year That Never Was. It was an incredible sort of story, but the team knew better than to question her.
“What happened to Jack, though?” Ianto asked hesitantly.
“As I said,” Francine said. “We were held aboard the Valiant to be servants to - Saxon.” She cast a worried look at Jack. “He knew that Jack couldn’t die, and so he -”
“Used me as entertainment,” Jack said hoarsely, then flinched as everyone turned to look at him.
“He killed him,” Francine said, putting her hand on the seat near Jack’s. “Repeatedly.”
“Oh, Jack,” Ianto breathed, his eyes wounded.
“Which brings us to the other thing we need to talk about,” Francine said, looking at Jack. He took her hand without looking and squeezed it tightly. “All right.” She took a deep breath. “Saxon also - also - raped him.”
Owen said something graphically descriptive. Jack choked on a watery laugh.
“It wasn’t just him,” Jack confessed quietly. “He’d get the guards to - together - I mean, one after the other, he wanted to know how long I’d take to die bleeding out - and they would watch and laugh and -”
He took another deep breath, hand tight around Francine’s. He had to have been hurting her, but she didn’t make a sound.
“The thing is,” Francine said cautiously. “You might have guessed Jack’s not exactly from this time.”
“51st Century,” Ianto said. The others looked at him in surprise.
“Right,” Francine said. “But by the 51st Century, there are some medical advancements made that allow -”
“Jack,” Ianto said, his voice raw and aching. “Are you pregnant?”
All told, they took it better than Jack had expected. Owen had ranted and raved. Gwen and Toshiko had been teary and heart-broken. And Ianto…
“May I hold you?” Ianto asked quietly.
Jack glanced up at him. The others were talking to Francine, too quietly for him to hear. “You shouldn’t,” he said, looking away.
“I was so scared when you came back,” Ianto said conversationally, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. “I kept telling myself I shouldn’t get back with you, that I’d just end up hurt.”
“I’m not that bad at relationships,” Jack muttered petulantly.
“No, you’re not,” Ianto said. “I’m just really insecure.” He gestured at himself. “I don’t see that I’ve got anything to offer you, Jack. I thought you’d get bored after a while. Move on.”
“I didn’t lie,” Jack said, meeting Ianto’s eyes for the first time in what felt like years. “I came back for you. Them too,” he said, nodding towards the team. “But mostly you.”
Ianto flushed. “Well,” he said. “I’m an insecure idiot. Think we could start over?”
The corners of Jack’s lips quirked upwards slightly. “With what?”
“Oh, you know,” Ianto said, smiling back. “Dinner… a movie…”
“Are you asking me out on a date?” Jack asked, the small smile threatening to turn real.
“Interested?” Ianto asked, arching an eyebrow.
Jack laughed softly. “Yes,” he said. “But Ianto, I’m - I’m pregnant. I’m going to have an abortion. I’m going to be a mess. I am a mess. I’m not your best bet for a relationship.”
“Don’t care,” Ianto said. “I’ll deal.” He gave Jack a playfully-stern look. “You just need to tell me what you need from me. I’ll never ask anything more from you than what you want. Everything at your pace, Jack.”
Jack closed his eyes, smiling. “Is that offer still open?” he asked.
“What offer?”
“To hold me,” Jack said. “I’d like to take you up on that.”
He could hear fabric rustling as Ianto got to his feet. Then the sofa dipped slightly and Ianto’s arms came around him in a tender embrace. Jack let his head rest on Ianto’s shoulder, feeling more than hearing the words that Ianto spoke.
“Always will be.”
Gwen kept getting suspiciously teary-eyed whenever she looked at Jack. It got to the point that Jack would go down into the archives to hide out, knowing that Gwen wouldn’t follow him there. And as a bonus, Ianto would be there, always ready to indulge Jack with a bit of cuddling and a soft kiss to his brow.
Jack found that Ianto’s undemanding presence did more to calm him than Owen’s barely-suppressed anger, or Gwen’s pity, or Toshiko’s discomfort. He’d spent a few days feeling guilty about not wanting to be around the other three - or even Ianto, on occasion. Naturally, it was Francine who called him on it.
“Right now, you’re not obliged to worry about their feelings,” she told him bluntly. “Put yourself first for once, Jack.”
“I do that all the time,” Jack said. “Ask anyone.”
“You never do that,” Ianto corrected. “You just act like it, but you’re last on your list of people to make happy.”
“You’re first,” Jack said.
“I’m flattered,” Ianto said. “But don’t change the subject.”
“Thank you, Ianto,” Francine said, smiling. “And Jack, really, you have to learn to put yourself first.”
Jack worried his bottom lip between his teeth and didn’t respond.
“Do you really believe that Owen has the best coping strategies in the world?” Ianto asked. “Three words, Jack. Weevil fight club.”
“Uh, that would be a definite no,” Jack said. “So…?”
“So, let them do what they want,” Ianto said. “You don’t have to keep them happy. Sooner or later, it will occur to one of them to read up like I did, and then they’ll get better. In the meantime - and thereafter, for that matter - focus on yourself.”
“Exactly right,” Francine said, looking approvingly at Ianto. Jack smiled slightly. “Is that enough on that topic for you?” she added.
“Yes, please,” Jack said fervently. “Can we talk about something fun now? Like the alien that exploded all over Owen yesterday?”
“One more serious topic, and then you can tell me this undoubtedly fascinating story,” Francine interrupted. “The Doctor will be by tomorrow. Have you decided on what you’re going to tell him?”
Jack hesitated, glancing at Ianto. “Just that - I’m pregnant and I want to abort,” he said.
“I hate to say this,” Francine said. “But from the little I know of him, do you think he will let it go at that without trying to convince you to keep it?”
“He wouldn’t,” Jack said in horror.
“He tried to keep Saxon alive,” Francine reminded him. “Even knowing everything he’d done.”
“He can’t,” Jack whispered.
“You should have someone with you, Jack,” Francine said. “I’d be a lot happier if you’d let me -”
“Oh, no, no way,” Jack said. “I’ve kept you from your family long enough.”
“You are family, you silly boy,” Francine said. She and Ianto politely pretended not to notice the way Jack’s eyes suddenly became misty.
“I’ll go with you,” Ianto said. “That takes care of that, doesn’t it?”
“You’ll what?” Jack said blankly.
“I’ll go with you,” Ianto repeated. “If the Doctor does say anything, I’ll beat him over the head with his - what was it - sonic screwdriver. How’s that?”
Jack buried a laugh in Ianto’s shoulder.
The Doctor was, in fact, flabbergasted that Jack didn’t want to keep the baby. Jack hid out in his room while Ianto had a… conversation… with the Doctor. The latter became oddly accommodating after that.
51st Century Earth was odd, to say the least. Ianto felt rather anachronistic in his suit, but with the huge variety of clothing (or lack thereof) on display, he didn’t think he’d stand out too much.
“You could wait in the TARDIS,” Jack offered, evidently noticing how out-of-place Ianto felt.
“Do you want me with you or not?” Ianto replied.
“With me,” Jack said, biting his lip.
“Then I’m staying,” Ianto replied, slipping his hand into Jack’s.
Ianto wasn’t allowed into the room during the actual abortion. Jack came out fifteen minutes later (that was quick, Ianto thought), looking pale and shaky. Ianto held out his arms, thoroughly unsurprised when Jack folded himself against Ianto, then burst into tears.
The Doctor stayed quiet and didn’t put up a fuss when Ianto asked to remain on board a little longer. He’d tentatively made the suggestion of going to a holiday planet, but Jack hadn’t shown much of an interest in anything other than sleeping. It was worrying Ianto, but he hoped that with a little time, Jack might begin to recover. He didn’t want to go back to the Hub with Jack still like this; he could just imagine how the others would react.
He thought of what he’d quietly asked Francine to do - sit the other three down and go through a list of what they were and weren’t allowed to do or say to Jack. Hopefully, they’d have paid attention.
“Jack?” he asked softly.
“Mm?”
“You know I love you?”
He could feel Jack’s lips curve against his neck. “Mm-hmm.”
“Good.”
Four months later, they returned to two days later. Only Toshiko was in the Hub when they returned, and so Jack was able to escape to his office with minimal fuss. When Gwen returned, she mothered Jack until he ran back down to the archives. This time, at least, he accosted Ianto with a spring in his step and a “Protect me!” that was more amused than anything else.
“You are so beautiful,” Ianto said, once he remembered how to breathe.
Jack tilted his head to the side quizzically. “What brought that on?”
“Nothing,” Ianto said. “Just - you.”
Jack smiled. “All right. Now come upstairs and protect me from Gwen. She’s trying to feed me raspberry tea. I hate that stuff!”
It was the flashbacks that Ianto found most difficult to cope with. He could usually talk Jack into realising they weren’t real, but Jack often couldn’t pull himself out of them. And then would come the panic attacks and there was absolutely nothing Ianto could do about those.
Jack held together remarkably well under public scrutiny, but some days, he couldn’t even bear to be touched by Ianto.
He’d dream about being raped, or about being killed in any number of creative ways, and he’d wake up screaming and Ianto couldn’t so much as hold him because that would likely as not trigger a flashback. He’d read about it, of course, but it was only after going through months of minute progress, steps back and forward and back again that Ianto realised how easy it was for a carer to get burned out.
He wouldn’t leave Jack. He couldn’t.
But he did desperately need some time to himself, and so he made a call.
Francine Jones came back to Cardiff for a visit.
Ianto had never been so relieved to see a woman in his life. He pulled her aside the first chance he got and explained his dilemma to her in more detail than he’d managed on the phone. That resulted in Francine kidnapping Jack for a “day out together.”
Ianto slept half the day away. The other half he spent cleaning up Jack’s bedroom and thinking.
He was feeling considerably better by the time Jack returned that evening.
“Hi,” Jack said with a shy smile, hovering by the ladder.
Ianto rolled over and patted the bed invitingly. Jack kicked off his shoes, took off his vest, and crawled in beside Ianto. A few moments later, he turned and wrapped his arm around Ianto’s middle.
“Had fun?” Ianto asked.
“Yep,” Jack said. “Francine and I did the tourist thing, it was brilliant. We went to Cardiff Castle!”
“You’ve been there before,” Ianto pointed out.
“Sure, to catch Weevils,” Jack huffed. “Not to be all tourist-y.”
“Ah, yes,” Ianto said. “My mistake.”
“What about you?” Jack asked. “Enjoy yourself?”
“I spent the day ignoring the entire team,” Ianto said solemnly. “I’d say I had a very relaxing day.”
Jack grinned. “Good,” he said, then hesitated slightly before adding, “I know it can’t have been - easy -”
“What have we said about putting yourself first, Jack?” Ianto asked.
“To do so,” Jack said. “But I just don’t want you to…”
“I’ve read about it, you know,” Ianto said. “About how it’s also difficult on the people around a survivor. And one of the things that’s recommended is to take time off for yourself if you need it.” He turned towards Jack slightly. “I can’t help you if I’m running myself into the ground.”
“You’ve been plotting with Francine,” Jack said. He looked amused.
“Just a little,” Ianto confessed. “She’s a lovely woman. I can see why you trust her.”
“She was wonderful on the Valiant,” Jack said. “Her and Tish, but I’m not telling Tish about - you know. She’s not even out of school yet. Although she’s taken a leave of absence, did Francine tell you? Poor girl’s trying to deal with everything. She didn’t deserve it.”
“Neither did you,” Ianto said. He ran his hand down Jack’s arm, watchful for any kind of negative reaction. Jack snuggled a little closer, so Ianto relaxed and settled his hand on Jack’s side. “What are you thinking about?” he murmured.
“Sex,” Jack replied.
“Fascinating,” Ianto deadpanned.
“And you,” Jack said, poking Ianto’s arm. “We haven’t had sex since I got back.”
“We haven’t,” Ianto agreed.
“I don’t want you to have to keep waiting,” Jack said. “I mean - it’s - if you want to, you could - you know -”
“I hope you’re not trying to suggest I go out on the pull,” Ianto said, frowning.
“I can’t right now,” Jack said. “And it’s not fair on you.”
Ianto turned to face Jack. “You do realise that if it’s not with you, I don’t really want to have sex?”
Jack blinked in bemusement.
Ianto smiled. “I don’t mind, Jack. I’ve gotten well-acquainted with my hand. That’s enough.”
“Really?” Jack asked.
“Yep,” Ianto said.
“Oh, good,” Jack said, burrowing against Ianto’s chest. “I was feeling really jealous at the thought.”
Ianto huffed a laugh into Jack’s hair. “And again - put yourself first, Jack!”
“I didn’t want this thing,” Jack said. “So why do I feel so…” He made a vague gesture.
“Don’t know,” Ianto replied. “Sorry.”
“Do you think I should have kept it?” Jack asked. “Kept it, raised it. Or given it up for adoption?”
“I think you should have done whatever you felt was best,” Ianto said. “It’s your body and your choice.”
“I couldn’t think of it as a baby,” Jack said in a low voice. “I tried. Tried thinking, it’s not the baby’s fault, it’s innocent. But I couldn’t even think of it as a baby. Just - a part of him. In me. Made me sick.”
Ianto wondered if he was supposed to say something. If he was, he had no idea what to say, and so he remained quiet instead.
Jack didn’t seem to mind. “I just wanted it out,” he said after a few moments. “Always thought of it as a parasite. Still do. But I - I feel sorry for it. A little.” He gave Ianto a ghost of a smile. “Feel sorrier for me.”
Ianto reached for Jack’s hand and held it securely in his, rubbing a thumb over Jack’s knuckles.
“Maybe that’s why,” Jack added. He didn’t say anything else for the rest of the night.
They stayed in constant contact with Francine, who proved to be absolutely amazing when it came to helping both of them cope. The rest of the team had rallied around Jack as well, and become amusingly protective of him - as Kathy Swanson found when she made a jibe about Jack’s proclivities.
Jack had had to duck away to get his laughter under control before he could get back to work. The sight of Toshiko, Owen and Gwen all ganging up on a completely bewildered Swanson had been hilarious.
All the same, Jack’s progress remained slow. He’d initiated sex a few times with Ianto, but it was obvious that he wasn’t completely comfortable with it. They kept it tame, but Jack was getting increasingly frustrated with himself.
“It’s been months,” he said. “Shouldn’t I be over this by now?”
Ianto kissed his shoulder, and Jack threw him a startled look - they were out on the Plass, and Ianto was never physically affectionate in public. “There’s no timeline for it,” Ianto said. “You’ll heal when you will. Don’t push yourself into anything you’re not ready for.”
“Yes, yes,” Jack said, a smile taking the sting out of the mildly exasperated words.
“Jack!” someone called, and Jack turned.
“Francine!” he said, eyes lighting up. “And Martha and Tish - all my favourite Jones girls! What brings you here?”
“You, of course,” Francine said. Jack raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at Ianto.
“I’m innocent,” Ianto said.
“You’re anything but,” Jack replied. “What are you lot up to?”
“Nothing sinister,” Martha said. “Oh, it’s so good to see you, Jack!”
“You too,” Jack said, beaming. “Tish, don’t I get a hug?”
Tish responded by fairly throwing herself at Jack in a bear-hug. He caught her and held her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and ignoring the way Francine and Ianto were exchanging highly satisfied looks.
“All right,” he said, letting go of Tish. “I know you people. What’s on the agenda?”
“We’re going on holiday,” Ianto said.
“We are?” Jack asked.
“We are,” Ianto said. “Martha and Tish are here to help hold down the fort.” Jack frowned, but before he could object, Ianto went on. “Tish will only be filing paperwork and keeping up the front. And Martha, from what you’ve told me, is more than qualified for fieldwork. We’ll just need to introduce them to the team.”
“Just go with it, Jack,” Tish said, smiling broadly as she looped an arm through Jack’s. “You’ve hardly got a chance against one Jones, but against four?”
“I graciously concede defeat,” Jack laughed, and looked at Ianto. “Where are we off to?”
“Belize, for a week,” Ianto said. “Just you, me and of course, Francine and Clive.”
“Clive too?” Jack asked, giving Francine a delighted look.
“We’ve been talking,” she said. “He’ll meet us at the airport. And none of your matchmaking, thank you, Captain Harkness.”
“You wound me,” he said solemnly, placing a hand over his heart.
“Sure she does,” Tish said in disbelief. “Shall we?”
“Time to show off the Hub,” Ianto said, standing. Jack’s eyes lit up.
“Come on then,” he said, offering Martha his other arm. He tipped Ianto a wink. “Don’t get jealous just because I’ve got two gorgeous girls on my arms, Ianto.”
“I think I’ve got the better end of the deal,” Ianto said as Francine tucked her arm through Ianto’s. “Let’s go, or we’ll be late for our flight.”
“Going, going,” Jack said, steering Tish and Martha towards the Tourist Information Centre. “This way, ladies. If you’ll look straight ahead you’ll see the famous water tower. There’s another entrance there, but we’ll take the easier route today.”
Ianto and Francine smiled at each other as Jack played tourist guide. Up ahead, Martha said something and Jack threw his head back and laughed. Ianto had to pause and blink tears away.
It was a beautiful sound.
~fin
As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Please keep it polite and on-topic!