Phone Him
Title: Phone Him
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, John Hart
Rating: PG-13
Words: 824
Spoilers: COE
Disclaimer: Characters belong to RTD and the BBC - I’m just borrowing them.
Written for love_bingo prompt "I Just Called To Say I Love You"
Author's Note: Thanks to badly_knitted for the beta :-)
Jack lay on top of the bed, staring at the small blue/green globe projected from his wrist strap into the space above him. Suddenly his peace was shattered and he was brought back to the present by a cushion flying through the hologram, shattering it into a million pieces, and landing with a soft whumpf on his head. He reached up to remove it from his face and threw it back, without looking, in the general direction from which it had come. It missed its target by a good few feet.
“Are you going to lay there moping all day?” John Hart asked as he bent to retrieve the cushion, walking towards the bed.
Jack ignored him and started the hologram again, watching as it slowly spun, white clouds forming weather patterns over the blue/green planet.
“I asked you a question.” John said, looking down at his friend.
“Do you know what date it is on earth?” Jack asked, then answered his own question before John had time to think, not that he’d have known anyway, “It’s August the nineteenth. His birthday.” Just saying Ianto’s name was still painful, “It would have been his thirtieth this year.”
John sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, his hand finding and covering Jack’s own.
A small smile played about Jack’s lips, even though his eyes were watery and lifeless. “Gwen would have organised a surprise party. Ianto would have hated it, but he’d have gone along with it so as not to hurt her feelings.”
“Yeah,” said John, “I can just see Gwen inviting the team around for drinks. She’d enjoy playing the hostess.”
Jack smiled, his eyes beginning to shine as he imagined the scene, “Yeah she would. But Ianto and I would try to make our excuses as soon as possible, fake a weevil sighting or something.”
“Gwen wouldn’t let you go, not on his birthday. She would insist you two stay and party whilst she deals with it.”
“Yeah, but Rhys would see right through our ploy and persuade her to let us go. We’d grab our coats and run out the door and down the path giggling like teenagers. He would be slightly tipsy and would stumble, but I’d catch him and kiss him senseless. Then I’d take him home and ravish him all night.” Jack smiled, even as a tear rolled down his cheek.
John squeezed Jack’s hand and then bit his own lip thoughtfully. What he was about to say could go well, or it could go very badly. “Have you ever thought of going back to see him?”
Jack just stared at him for a minute. “Of course I have. Every second of every day. But I can’t. For two reasons.” He pointed at his wrist strap, “This is broken, remember? Also, I can’t mess with the time lines. You should know that.”
“I’m not saying change anything. The 456 was a turning point in Earth’s history, it had to happen exactly as it did. No, I meant just see him again, talk to him. Tell him everything you never could.”
Jack looked up at the other time agent questioningly. “What do you mean?” he asked, a challenge in his voice.
“I know what happened. You talk in your sleep when you have nightmares.”
Jack closed his eyes and struggled to get his emotions under control. “I couldn’t say it. Not then. That would have been admitting it was over.” Another tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it roughly away.
“Do you want to tell him?”
“Of course I do. I’d give anything for him not to die without knowing what he meant to me, but I can’t, can I?”
John let go of Jack’s hand and unbuckled his own wrist strap. He pressed it into Jack’s upturned palm. The immortal’s eyes went wide as he looked at it. “Oh, no, no I can’t go back. I wouldn’t be able to walk away and leave him there.”
“Phone him.” John said simply, getting up and walking quietly out of the room to give the other man some privacy.
Jack looked at the back of John’s head as he walked away, and a slow smile spread across his face.
***
Ianto fished the phone out of his pocket and answered it without looking at the caller id. “Jones.”
“Ianto,” Jack choked out, the lump in his throat making it impossible for him to say any more.
“Jack? Is that you? What’s wrong?”
Just then the door to the flat opened and Jack walked in, his arms full of shopping bags. He saw Ianto was on the phone so mouthed “I’ll put these in here” indicating the kitchen.
Ianto’s grip on the phone tightened as he watched his partner walk through the doorway. “Jack?” he said softly into the phone hearing the sounds of the other man fighting back his tears as he struggled to speak.
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, John Hart
Rating: PG-13
Words: 824
Spoilers: COE
Disclaimer: Characters belong to RTD and the BBC - I’m just borrowing them.
Written for love_bingo prompt "I Just Called To Say I Love You"
Author's Note: Thanks to badly_knitted for the beta :-)
Jack lay on top of the bed, staring at the small blue/green globe projected from his wrist strap into the space above him. Suddenly his peace was shattered and he was brought back to the present by a cushion flying through the hologram, shattering it into a million pieces, and landing with a soft whumpf on his head. He reached up to remove it from his face and threw it back, without looking, in the general direction from which it had come. It missed its target by a good few feet.
“Are you going to lay there moping all day?” John Hart asked as he bent to retrieve the cushion, walking towards the bed.
Jack ignored him and started the hologram again, watching as it slowly spun, white clouds forming weather patterns over the blue/green planet.
“I asked you a question.” John said, looking down at his friend.
“Do you know what date it is on earth?” Jack asked, then answered his own question before John had time to think, not that he’d have known anyway, “It’s August the nineteenth. His birthday.” Just saying Ianto’s name was still painful, “It would have been his thirtieth this year.”
John sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, his hand finding and covering Jack’s own.
A small smile played about Jack’s lips, even though his eyes were watery and lifeless. “Gwen would have organised a surprise party. Ianto would have hated it, but he’d have gone along with it so as not to hurt her feelings.”
“Yeah,” said John, “I can just see Gwen inviting the team around for drinks. She’d enjoy playing the hostess.”
Jack smiled, his eyes beginning to shine as he imagined the scene, “Yeah she would. But Ianto and I would try to make our excuses as soon as possible, fake a weevil sighting or something.”
“Gwen wouldn’t let you go, not on his birthday. She would insist you two stay and party whilst she deals with it.”
“Yeah, but Rhys would see right through our ploy and persuade her to let us go. We’d grab our coats and run out the door and down the path giggling like teenagers. He would be slightly tipsy and would stumble, but I’d catch him and kiss him senseless. Then I’d take him home and ravish him all night.” Jack smiled, even as a tear rolled down his cheek.
John squeezed Jack’s hand and then bit his own lip thoughtfully. What he was about to say could go well, or it could go very badly. “Have you ever thought of going back to see him?”
Jack just stared at him for a minute. “Of course I have. Every second of every day. But I can’t. For two reasons.” He pointed at his wrist strap, “This is broken, remember? Also, I can’t mess with the time lines. You should know that.”
“I’m not saying change anything. The 456 was a turning point in Earth’s history, it had to happen exactly as it did. No, I meant just see him again, talk to him. Tell him everything you never could.”
Jack looked up at the other time agent questioningly. “What do you mean?” he asked, a challenge in his voice.
“I know what happened. You talk in your sleep when you have nightmares.”
Jack closed his eyes and struggled to get his emotions under control. “I couldn’t say it. Not then. That would have been admitting it was over.” Another tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it roughly away.
“Do you want to tell him?”
“Of course I do. I’d give anything for him not to die without knowing what he meant to me, but I can’t, can I?”
John let go of Jack’s hand and unbuckled his own wrist strap. He pressed it into Jack’s upturned palm. The immortal’s eyes went wide as he looked at it. “Oh, no, no I can’t go back. I wouldn’t be able to walk away and leave him there.”
“Phone him.” John said simply, getting up and walking quietly out of the room to give the other man some privacy.
Jack looked at the back of John’s head as he walked away, and a slow smile spread across his face.
***
Ianto fished the phone out of his pocket and answered it without looking at the caller id. “Jones.”
“Ianto,” Jack choked out, the lump in his throat making it impossible for him to say any more.
“Jack? Is that you? What’s wrong?”
Just then the door to the flat opened and Jack walked in, his arms full of shopping bags. He saw Ianto was on the phone so mouthed “I’ll put these in here” indicating the kitchen.
Ianto’s grip on the phone tightened as he watched his partner walk through the doorway. “Jack?” he said softly into the phone hearing the sounds of the other man fighting back his tears as he struggled to speak.