The rift had been unusually quiet for several days now and Tosh's rift prediction program showed that nothing was expected for at least another week. Having already used the downtime to inventory and sometimes re-organise when necessary everything he could find Ianto was bored to tears. He'd climbed up to Myfanwy's aerie and given it a good cleaning, rewarding her with a large bar of expensive dark chocolate for letting him remove the putrid remains of a dead sheep. He'd gone down to the cells to see if there was anything Janet or the two other aliens housed there needed. He'd been through the stationary closet, the kitchen and pantry, the weapons armoury and all the cupboards in the autopsy bay; the last had been quite an exercise in patience. 'It truly boggles the mind how Owen finds anything in this nightmare!' As far as Ianto could tell, there was no rhyme or reason to the way the medic stored his supplies, yet the man always had exactly what he needed when he needed it.
Once he'd realised that no matter what he did in Owen's realm it would be completely undone in an hour, Ianto had given up, satisfied with taking a detailed inventory so he'd know what to order on a regular basis. After giving the autopsy bay a thorough cleaning, even going so far as to scrape the gum from under Owen's desk, Ianto had gone down to the locker room where he'd showered and redressed; the idea of having errant alien innards anywhere on him was just a bit too much for the fastidious archivist.
A few minutes later during which he made a fresh pot of coffee, filled a travel mug for himself and put the rest in a carafe for the team, Ianto headed upstairs to his little office behind the beaded curtain that separated the public front of the area from his private space in the back. When he'd finished checking his email Ianto wandered out from behind the counter where it didn't take long for him to go through the entire supply of sightseeing brochures, pamphlets and maps in the Tourist Information Centre, ordering new supplies of a number of out-dated items.
After browsing the Welsh Tourist Board's online catalogue, he decided to add a selection of keychains depicting well-known historic sites around Wales, and a set of coffee mugs showing scenes from around Cardiff itself. He added a full-colour coffee table picture book detailing many of the one hundred castles still standing in Wales and then on a whim, several plushy red Welsh dragons in different sizes and stances.
When ninety minutes had passed and not one person had come into the office looking for a bus schedule or directions to Cardiff Castle Ianto locked the door and went back downstairs. He took a great deal of pleasure in cleaning Jack's office, tidying up their bunker beneath the office, putting his suit and shirts in their proper order in the wardrobe and then disinfecting their bathroom but after that, Ianto ran out of things to do. He tried sitting quietly with a magazine and a coffee but within six minutes he was bored out of his skull and his cup was empty. 'I don't understand how Gwen can spend so much time looking at nothing,' he sighed.
Next, he decided to try Owen's favourite pastime; he went back upstairs to the Tourist Office, double-checked that the front door was locked and then he slipped behind the beaded curtain and booted up his computer. Within minutes he had hacked into Owen's personal drive on Mainframe and was gaping open-mouthed and bug-eyed at the sheer volume of files of pornography the acerbic medic had downloaded from YouTube and other more 'adult' sites. 'There must be three thousand of them, at least!' he marvelled. 'Where does he find the time for anything else?'
After clicking through a few video clips, Ianto discovered that whatever it was about pornography that so mesmerised Owen was beyond him and he quickly turned the computer off. 'Besides, nothing can beat the real thing,' he reflected, thinking back to the sight of Jack stepping from the shower that morning, his sculpted and eternally tan body glistening with droplets of water. He stood there for several moments, contemplating going up to Jack's office, dragging him down to their bunker and making some porn of their own. Huffing lightly, Ianto rolled his eyes and put his libido firmly in check. Slipping his jacket on, Ianto left the Tourist Office and went outside to stand in the sun and look out over the Bay.
It was an unusually beautiful day in Cardiff, there were only a few high-flying clouds to be seen and the sun sent glints of light skipping across the water. A flock of raucous gulls circled overhead, squawking loudly at one another and occasionally dive-bombing the unsuspecting tourist leaning against the railing, trying to steal their chips.
Ianto breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with salty sea air, enjoying the warmth of the sun beating down on his head. Living underground had its disadvantages and the lack of fresh air and a light tan were definitely on the list. He thought for a few minutes about taking the rest of the day off and stealing Jack away for a picnic somewhere, not too far away, just as long as it was not the Hub. Finally though, he sighed; 'the Archives aren't going to sort themselves,' he thought sadly. 'Too bad some magic organiser thingie didn't fall through the rift.'
He spent a few more minutes watching one particularly determined seagull try to steal the entire paper-wrapped packet of chips from an equally determined local who refused to share a single chip much less surrender his bounty of salty, vinegar-drenched goodness. The scene left a smile on Ianto's face as he went back inside, locked up and went on downstairs to make a round of coffees for the team.
Knocking softly on the door, Ianto pushed it open and entered Jack's office, the door closing behind him with a soft snick. After setting Jack's blue-and-white striped mug down in front of the man, he settled himself on the corner of the desk, pressing his leg into Jack's. "What's keeping you busy this afternoon?"
"Not much, signing off on those files you asked for, watching you on the CCTV, craving a kiss… you know, the usual." Jack grinned over the top of his mug as he took a long, satisfying drink of his coffee and then sighed happily. "This is exactly what I wanted." He closed his eyes and sipped his extra-strength coffee again. "Oh yeah!"
Ianto smiled indulgently. Making Jack's coffee just the way he liked it and then watching him drink the strong brew was one of his secret guilty pleasures. "Glad you like it, Sir."
Jack reached out and stroked his hand along the length of Ianto's thigh. "Interested in going downstairs for a while?" His voice dropped to a huskier register. "We could put this downtime to good use." His hand moved closer to his young lover's crotch. "I have something I want to show you." His knuckles brushed softly across the bulge contained beneath woollen trousers.
"I know exactly what you want to show me, Sir, but I'm afraid I saw it twice last night and then again this morning before work." Ianto's bright eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Ianto!" Jack's mug banged down onto the desk, the contents sloshing over onto a file. "Are you…" he gulped deeply, his expression horrified, "are you getting bored with me?!"
Ianto rolled his eyes as he leaned in and planted a firm kiss to Jack's lips. "I was teasing, you daft twpsyn!"
Quick as lightning, Jack took advantage of Ianto's close proximity to grab him by around the waist and drag him off the desk and into his lap. "So was I!" Jack sealed his lips to Ianto's and immediately his tongue began plundering the younger man's mouth. Their passionate embrace continued until at last the need for oxygen became desperate.
With a loving smile, Ianto reluctantly pulled himself free from Jack's arms and stood up. As he straightened his tie, tucked in his shirt and adjusted his suit coat, he scolded Jack, "That wasn't exactly playing fair, Sir."
"So, sue me," Jack shrugged nonchalantly. He smiled with appreciation as he watched Ianto walk towards the office door and his eyes widened with lust when Ianto paused and brushed his hands over the seat of his pants, accentuating the pert curves of one of Jack's favourite parts of Ianto's anatomy.
Knowing exactly the effect he was having on Jack, Ianto took a moment to bend over slightly and examine his shoes. Seeing an imaginary smudge on one, he took his lightly starched handkerchief from his breast pocket, bent over fully and then took his time as he wiped the surface of his perfectly pristine and polished left shoe. He was well aware of the look that would be on his lover's face and that the man was a mere heartbeat away from literally drooling on himself, so Ianto ignored Jack as he straightened up and returned his handkerchief to his pocket.
"It's half-two, Sir," Ianto checked his watch and then turned to face Jack. "I'm going to go down and work in the Archives…" He put his hand up when Jack opened his mouth to speak. "And no, Sir, I do not need any help." He saw Jack's smile fade. "But I appreciate the offer." He was pleased to see the smile return.
"It's okay, Ianto, I've set up a challenge for myself to finish my backload of paperwork." He made a sweeping gesture across the top of his desk. "I gave you my word and I want my surprise."
Ianto nodded; he'd promised his administrative-duties-hating boss a very special reward if he finished all the past-due work on his desk by the end of the day. "It will be a surprise you won't easily forget."
Jack grinned broadly and rubbed his hands together with glee. "Then stop distracting me with sex and get out of here so I can work!" He immediately grabbed the top file from the stack and started reading its contents, studiously ignoring Ianto as the Welshman crossed the distance between the door and the desk. He did however willingly tilt his head to accept Ianto's soft kiss.
"I'll be back up here at six and we'll go out. Fancy dinner and a movie?"
Doing a little happy dance in his chair, Jack hummed his approval of Ianto's suggestion as he signed his name to a report with a big flourish. "And we can have my surprise for dessert, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Ten minutes later Ianto had a mug of steaming hot, freshly-made coffee in one hand and short stack of finished reports that needed filing in the other. The remainder of the coffee was in an insulated thermos for the team so they wouldn't bother him later. With a quick smile for Tosh as he passed her, Ianto went down to his office and dropped the papers into the in-basket on his desk before moving deeper into the Archives. He had a specific room in mind, one packed with a jumble of boxes, each of them containing uncatalogued artefacts, some of which had been recovered as far back as the early 1940's.
He could understand the lack of organisation during World War II, what with every able-bodied man at the front and many of Cardiff's women working in the fields, the hospitals and the factories during the day and then caring for their homes and families at night. Torchwood Three had always been a very small tightly knit group but the needs of war had thinned their ranks to the barest minimum. Any artefacts they recovered during those war-torn years were merely put into storage in hopes of researching them once peace had been declared.
Welcoming the challenge, Ianto finished his coffee, removed his suit coat and hung it on the convenient hook next to the door, and then rolled up his shirt sleeves. The first box he opened had several innocuous looking books bound in beautifully embossed leather which at first glance looked like they would be in pride of place on any bookshelf in Cardiff. It wasn't until Ianto opened one that he discovered why they were in the Archives. Along with text written in indecipherable symbols, Ianto was startled to find that the pictures and drawings were alive, with moving people and objects coming to life when their page was exposed to the light. Even more unusual was the fact that when he flipped to a picture showing an expansive fruit orchard, Ianto could smell fresh oranges, lemons and limes on the breeze that ruffled his hair as it came wafting from the photograph.
With a knowing grin, Ianto replaced the book and closed the box, affixing a label to the top which read: 'GIVE TO TOSHIKO FOR TRANSLATION'. He knew without a doubt that Tosh would give her eyeteeth to spend time with these novel alien editions.
The next few boxes were nothing special, just odds and ends, flotsam and jetsam gathered from throughout the universe and then dumped by the Rift in Torchwood's lap through the unstable end in Cardiff.
He reached up and pulled the top box off a tall stack, having to lift it over his head to clear those beneath it and then he yelped with surprise when the bottom of the box let go and dozens of small objects fell onto his head and shoulders and then bounced across the floor in every direction.
Rolling his eyes with particular fervour, Ianto crossed the flaps on the bottom of the box then dropped to his knees and began gathering up its scattered contents. When he came across one that looked interesting he'd take a moment to examine it before returning it to the box, and there were two things he set aside for Owen to look at, thinking they might be medical instruments of some strange kind.
Some of the items were labelled with brittle yellowed tags and faded spidery writing but most were not, and he was positive that not one of them were on the books or in the computer. He did notice that the things which did have labels were all the same sort – kid's toys and gag gifts. They all looked harmless and ordinary, albeit alien ordinary.
One of the last items that Ianto picked up was still in its original packaging, which intrigued him; he hadn't noticed that about anything else. Dropping the rest of the artefacts into the box, he sat back, leaning against a stack of old tea chests. "Huh, mint-in-box," he mused.
He, Jack and Toshiko had spent a wonderful afternoon at a recent Doctor Who Sci-Fi Convention held in Cardiff and he remembered seeing mint-in-box collectables with exorbitant prices. While he and Jack had been ogling the cos-players and generally running around like naughty unsupervised children – Tosh's words – Toshiko had been hunting through the vender stalls searching for anything alien that shouldn't be in civilian hands.
Turning it over and over, Ianto examined the writing and drawings on the box. He was surprised to see words in English stating that the contents of the box were a Quadro-Trical Wishing Stone, from the planet Kranal-Toy. Unable to resist seeing what was inside the package, Ianto carefully broke the seal, opened it and found a small, smooth stone made of striated rock and an instruction sheet, written in more than three dozen alien languages. Ianto counted; there were actually forty-one if he were to be exact, which he always was.
According to the English portion of the sheet, if the holder of the stone followed the instructions to the letter and then pressed the stone firmly to their heart, their deepest wish would be granted. Ianto snorted with amusement as he read the words. Despite knowing that he was holding an alien child's toy, and knowing how silly it all was because wishes never, ever came true, especially not any of his wishes, he couldn't seem to help himself from following each of the seven steps precisely.
First, he held the stone in his left hand and counted to six, then in his right while he counted to ten. Next, he had to balance it on top of his head, count to three, take it off for a count of five, and then repeat the action again. Supremely glad that there were no cameras in the room as he followed the instructions, Ianto giggled like a child as he performed the next step, turning in a circle with the stone still atop his head.
"It's so obvious this is meant for kids," he chuckled, highly amused. "It's kind of like doing the hokey-pokey!" The final instruction said for him to hold the stone in both hands and press it tightly to his heart which, with a slightly embarrassed smile, he did.
Now that he'd reached the part where he was supposed to speak his wish, Ianto decided to wish for the most outlandish thing he could think of – he decided to ask for fifty million pounds, in cash, to appear on the table right in front of him. 'If it works, I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams, and if it doesn't, well, no early retirement for me!'
However, as he opened his mouth to make his wish, totally different words came out – words that never once consciously crossed his mind.
Ianto Jones wished he could spend all of eternity with Captain Jack Harkness.
As soon as the last word left his mouth the stone began to glow and to warm in Ianto's hands, and try as hard as he might he found that he could not drop it. Heat began to spread up his arms and travel through his body. Everywhere the heat went, the glow from the stone followed, illuminating his skin from the inside. It didn't take long at all for the heat to build to a fiery level, becoming intolerable as it suffused his entire body from head to foot.
Finally, the pain was so unbearable that it forced Ianto to scream out in agony before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. Only when his limp body hit the floor did the stone, now cold and inert, fall from his hands and roll under a shelving unit.
Nearly an hour passed before Ianto began to stir. First his fingers twitched and a tremor ran the length of his legs; then he gave a low guttural moan and his eyelids fluttered again and again until finally they opened fully. He sat up slowly and immediately clapped his hands to his head – there was a roar loud as a jet engine in his skull, although it quickly faded away. Opening his eyes again, Ianto's first thought was, 'What am I doing on the floor?' He looked around the room through bleary eyes, slowly getting his bearings.
'Okay, downstairs… can't smell Weevils, so not in the cells. That's good.' With the noise in his head fading, he was able to see more clearly, focusing on the cluttered shelving around him. 'Okay… the Archives.' Reaching out to the table for help in getting up, something caught Ianto's eye but for a brief moment he wasn't sure what until he realised that the newly acquired and still bright red wound on the back of his hand was missing. Climbing to his feet, Ianto brought his hand up close to his face and examined it carefully. The skin was unblemished as though the Weevil had never tried to bite it off, and the pesky hangnail on his ring finger was gone. In fact, his hand had never looked better, nails neatly trimmed, cuticles immaculate.
Ianto pushed the sleeve of his shirt up higher and looked at his elbow; the nasty purple and yellow bruise he'd received a few days before during one of Jack's more energetic sex games was gone, and even though he poked the spot several times, there was none of the previous tenderness. In a panic, Ianto stripped off his trousers and twisted around, trying to see the back of his thigh. There should have been a jagged six-inch-long, raised scar; he'd just avoided serious injury from a vicious Hoix attack a few weeks after the incident with the cannibals in the Brecon Beacons.
He'd always been able to feel the scar with his fingertips and strangely enough when Jack stroked it with his tongue it became an erogenous zone. Now it was gone. All he could find was smooth skin. Frantically he turned this way and that, trying to see the back of his leg, nearly falling at one point when he became entangled in the trousers puddled around his feet.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Jack signed off on the last report from his in-basket and set his pen down with a sigh of both relief and satisfaction. He stretched his cramped fingers and then rubbed his eyes. "Any more of that and I'll be needing eyeglasses," he muttered. Arching his back and then rolling his head, he listened to his bones crack. "Must be getting old," he grunted as he stood up and enjoyed a full-body stretch.
A glance at his watch told him that he had less than fifteen minutes before Ianto appeared in his office and they began their evening which would end with his promised special surprise. Grinning like a child at Christmas, Jack dropped down into his bunker and headed for the tiny bathroom where he splashed water on his face and brushed his teeth. Back in the bedroom he stripped off his shirt, replacing it with a crisp clean one from the wardrobe. He took a minute to rearrange the shirts and suits from Ianto's previous choices to matches that he preferred to see on his sexy Welshman. After making sure he had the requisite mobile, wallet and keys in his pockets, he climbed back up to the office, sat down behind his desk and stared expectantly at the door. 'Three minutes to spare!' The immortal was quivering with excitement.
Down in the Archives, Ianto was growing more and more concerned by the second and with his heart pounding like a wild animal he tried to think of possible reasons for the changes in his body. "Time travel!" he suddenly exclaimed, "I've travelled back in time, before I got those scars!" Inspiration struck and he hooked his thumb in the waistband of his pants, pulling them down far enough to reveal his lower right abdomen. He looked desperately for the surgery scar he'd received when he was nineteen and his appendix had nearly burst. His roommate at the time had barely been sober enough to call 999 and even then, he'd told the operator that Ianto was in labour, just because it sounded funny. He was still giggling like a fiend when emergency services arrived at the door expecting to deliver a baby.
There was nothing to see but pristine Welsh-pale skin.
Ianto began to shake; his mind was in turmoil. No matter what angle he looked at things from, the situation simply baffled him. If he'd time-travelled as he'd originally thought, and he'd gone back the necessary seven years to eliminate the appendix scar, then he should be about eighteen years old. "If I'm eighteen years old, then…" He reached up and frantically felt his head, measuring the length of his hair but rather than curly locks touching the top of his shirt collar, his hair was the same short, precisely trimmed length it had been when he'd combed it that morning.
At that moment, Jack entered the Archives room. "Ianto, it's past six and I know you love your Archives but…" When he saw Ianto standing there with his trousers down around his ankles and wearing just his pants, Jack's always-ready-to-think-about-sex mind immediately switched gears and he couldn't help but comment inappropriately.
"Oh, Ianto! You're giving me my special surprise early?" Jack licked his lips and ran his eyes up and down his young lover's trim form. "Can I finish unwrapping you myself?" He stepped further into the room and reached out towards Ianto.
Startled by Jack's sudden appearance, Ianto blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "It's gone, Jack!"
"It's what?" Given that he'd walked in on Ianto peering anxiously inside his Y-fronts, Jack jumped to what he considered to be a perfectly logical conclusion. He covered the remaining distance between them in two large strides and grabbed hold of Ianto's pants, looking inside them for himself. He heaved a deep sigh of joyful relief when he saw Ianto's gorgeous penis lying safely asleep in its nest of dark curls.
"Don't do things like that, Ianto!" Jack clutched his chest dramatically. "You'll give me a heart attack!"
Ianto's response was a frightened moan as he reached out and took hold of Jack's hand. "No, here! Feel this!" He pulled Jack's hand around and slapped it to his thigh. "Here!"
Delighted with where things were going even if he didn't quite understand Ianto's behaviour, Jack rubbed his hand up and down the back of his mate's thigh, letting his upward stroke carry on to the delicious curve of his buttock. He loved the smoothness of his young lover's skin, and as he teased the flesh of his butt cheek, the immortal could feel his own cock beginning to wake up. He slid his hand back down to Ianto's thigh, his fingers just barely touching the scar… touching…
Jack frowned and pressed his fingers more firmly against Ianto's leg. In place of the raised line of scar tissue he'd encountered for nearly three years now… there was nothing, just a sprinkling of soft hair. Grabbing the other man's arm, Jack spun him around so he could actually look at the leg for himself.
"You're right," he muttered. "It is gone. Huh…" He let his fingers softly brush against the unmarked skin and wander back up to caress a pert butt cheek.
"Jack! Give it a rest!" Ianto twisted away. "You're not helping! I don't know what's going on here!" He was a little embarrassed that his words ended on a higher octave than they'd started.
"Hey, hey! I'm sorry!" Jack gathered his lover into his arms, cuddling him closely. "It's okay, we'll figure it out, I promise."
Once Jack calmed Ianto down and re-dressed him, he instructed the archivist to tell him exactly what happened. "Tell me everything you remember, Yan."
It only took Ianto a few moments to relate the facts as he remembered them and then together, they searched the room, finally finding and retrieving the stone, although Jack had to get down on his belly to reach far enough under the shelf. With the wishing stone in hand once more, Ianto tried to recreate the event, following each of the seven steps again, but on this second go around, he actually wished for the money; he didn't want Jack to know how foolishly sentimental he remembered being earlier.
Nothing happened. Jack tried it, following Ianto's instructions to a 'T'. His spoken wish was to go dancing after dinner, although he made a silent, heartfelt wish to be normal again. It was his one true, heart's desire and had been for many decades. Still nothing.
They took the stone, its instruction sheet and the packaging up to Jack's office where, after several cups of coffee drunk during hours of pouring over everything, Jack finally noticed something illegible printed on the panel that made up the very bottom of the box.
Written in miniscule letters (they needed Owen's medical microscope on one of its stronger power settings to read them) a disclaimer announced that, 'The stone is only good for one use, and the user should be careful what they wish for. All wishes are permanent. Makers have no responsibility for unwanted wish results. There are no refunds or exchanges. Buyers and users are forewarned and therefore, NO legal action can be initiated against the people of Kranaltoyoxis for wishes gone wrong.'
It took several moments for the words to sink in but then the ramifications of his wish finally dawned on Ianto and he could feel his knees begin to shake. Fearful that he might actually fall, he reached out a hand to the wall for support. Part of the Welshman was absolutely horrified when he realised what he'd done, but perversely, most of him admitted he was delighted that Jack would never have to lose him. The man he loved would never be alone again in his immortal eternity.
"Yan?" Jack's voice sounded like it came from a million miles away. "You all right?"
Realising that it was time he came clean, Ianto sat down on the corner of Jack's desk and took the immortal's hands in his; he saw his own were trembling a bit. He knew what he wanted to say, he just didn't know how to start and for a few moments, Ianto Jones looked like a guppy in a fishbowl, his mouth opening and closing silently.
"Ianto?" Puzzled, Jack gently squeezed the younger man's hands. "What is it?"
"I… erm…" Ianto sighed deeply. "I didn't wish for fifty million pounds, Jack. I… that's what I meant to say, but…"
"That would have been really cool!" Jack's grin was infectious. "You could have travelled the world on that!"
"No, if it had come true, we could have travelled the Universe!" Ianto grinned back. "However, that is not what came out of my mouth."
"Damn!" Jack sighed dramatically. "I could have shown you so many incredible places, like Woman Wept, or the Three Moons of Boooo or even the wonders of the Vegas Galaxies. You know, I bet I could still find that erotic dancer with the prehensile tail. The things that tail could do to my…"
"Jack, I said I wanted to be immortal like you." Ianto interrupted before Jack could get carried away with one of his stories. "I didn't mean to say it, I swear."
"Ha-ha, very funny. Why didn't you wish for something useful like a never-ending tube of lube…" he grinned lasciviously, "or something silly like visible farts so you could always tell who did it, cos I know it's always Owen even though he denies it. You could have even wished for something heroic, like world peace."
Ianto smiled, slightly embarrassed as he told Jack, "I honestly didn't think it would work, Jack. I thought it was just a silly kid's gimmick, and I really did try to wish for fifty million pounds but it was like I had no control over my mouth or the words that came out."
The older man frowned. "So, you really…"
"I really did wish for immortality," Ianto confirmed.
It finally dawned on Jack that Ianto was tell him the truth and he stared at the man, utterly gobsmacked by what he'd just heard. "Yan, how could you!? I…" He floundered for the right words. "You don't want to be like me! You can't…" Anger quickly built inside him and without meaning to, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "How could you be so stupid?!"
"What?" Ianto was completely taken aback by both the words and the vehemence with which they'd been spoken and he shook his head. "I didn't say it like that. I didn't ask for immortality! I guess deep down, I've always wished that I could spend eternity with you but I just never thought it was possible!"
Now it was Jack's turn. "What?"
The Welshman gave a shrug of his woollen-clad shoulders. "The words just came out. I didn't even know I was thinking it." Ianto's voice was flat and matter-of-fact.
"Ianto, why would you say such a thing? I thought you understood how horrific this curse is, cos that's what it is, a curse! Don't you understand what you've done?"
"Yes, Sir, I do understand!" It was Ianto's turn to get angry. "I understand that I did it because I love you, Jack Harkness and, I guess stupidly, I did it because I didn't want you to be alone!"
Hearing Ianto's declaration of love for the first time left Jack imitating a guppy this time. Despite their five years together, neither man had ever used the L-word openly before; it was an unspoken taboo, as if once they said it, things would change. It had been whispered when they thought the other was asleep, it had been muttered during the throes of passion, but they'd never dared say the words out loud before.
Realising his Welshman's beautiful blue eyes were now twin thunderstorms, Jack could feel his mind racing as he searched for a way to defuse the situation. "Yan… I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said. You're not stupid, not by a long shot. I'm just…" He sighed deeply and pulled the younger man into his lap. "You know how I feel about being immortal. It is a curse…"
"It's a curse because you always end up alone, Jack. I understand that. You lose everyone you love, either because they die or because you leave so they won't find out about you."
"Well, yeah, but…"
"No buts about it, Jack." Ianto stroked his hand along his lover's face. "I saw you when Estelle passed, remember? I know how much you cried when you thought I was asleep."
For a moment, Jack's thoughts turned inward. Estelle had been his first true love after his wife Elizabeth and their newborn son had died in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. After their deaths, he'd vowed never to love again, but Estelle had been a force to be reckoned with. She'd broken through the protective walls Jack had built around his heart and she'd set up house there. After he'd vanished from her life – 'Goddess, forgive me; I was such a coward…' – Jack had built walls higher and thicker than ever before but Jones, Ianto Jones had clambered right over them and pulled Jack into his own heart, letting him settle in for the duration, letting him heal and learn to love again.
Returning to the present, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Yan, I did… I thought you were sleeping."
"I know, that's why I never said anything."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, neither man quite sure what to say next. Jack was simply astounded that Ianto would 'give up' his own life to spend forever with him and he wanted to ask why again, but he didn't want to upset Ianto a second time. Meanwhile, the Welshman was trying to find another way to apologise.
Finally, Ianto went back to the kitchen to make fresh coffee and find something for them to eat; it had been hours since lunch and once again, their dinner date had gone up in smoke.
While Ianto was gone, Jack examined the instruction sheet yet again, hoping against hope that he would discover something new, something that they had overlooked, something that could undo Ianto's wish. Suddenly, something subconsciously caught his attention. 'Why didn't I notice this before?!' Pulling out a pad of paper and his favourite pen – the end of which had been well chewed on; Jack kept it because they were Ianto's toothmarks – he circled one set of instructions – the original set, written in Kranaltoyoxion, from which all the translations into other languages were based. During his training at the Time Agency he'd learned to read and write the fundamentals of several dozen alien languages and he'd be the first to admit that he wasn't really good at it any of them, but he persevered and began writing each word in English.
By the time Ianto returned with ham and cheese sandwiches and fresh coffee, Jack had translated not only the original set but three others as well – the easy ones – along with the basic words of several others.
"Ianto!" he exclaimed. "Look at this!" Jack waved the papers at Ianto the moment he appeared in the doorway. "There's been a big mistake here!" The instant the food was within reach he grabbed a sandwich quarter from the tray and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. "Thppff… wopth… ikkab…" Crumbs sprayed across the desk and Ianto huffed with annoyance.
"Stop, Jack, just stop! You're making a mess!" The ever-tidy Welshman held up his hand. "Chew, swallow and start again," he ordered sternly. While Jack did as he was told, Ianto brushed the desk clean, returning the wastepaper basket to the floor with a distinctive clunk, just to emphasise his point.
Properly chastised, Jack did as Ianto instructed. "There are words missing from the other translations, including the English one you read."
"Are you sure?" Ianto frowned as he tucked a snowy white napkin into his collar and then took a small bite from his sandwich.
Jack looked longingly at another piece of sandwich, the one he'd just had only reminded him just how hungry he was. With a fond shake of his head, Ianto pushed the plate closer to the older man and Jack immediately took two quarters, one of which he inhaled while he held the other piece at the ready.
Momentarily sustained, Jack laid two of the papers side-by-side while he held a third close to them. "See here? This is the original in English taken word for word from the Kranaltoyoxion, and here's the same thing in Twizfe, Oogon and Yetley." He pointed to each one. "These other ones are just bits and pieces that I remember, but from what I can tell, all of these translations are missing one vital bit of info!" He waved the paper he was holding in Ianto's face.
After carefully wiping his mouth and fingers, Ianto smiled; Jack's enthusiasm was endearing and contagious. "I'll bite, what did you find?"
"The Kranaltoyoxion version states that the wisher is compelled to speak only the truth – only the deepest wish in the stone holder's heart will come out." He smiled triumphantly. "So, you see, there's no way you could have wished for anything else, no matter how hard you tried.
Ianto was momentarily taken aback. "Jack, I swear I didn't read that in the Earth English version of the instructions."
Jack nodded as he stuffed another piece of sandwich into his mouth, remembering to chew and swallow before confirming, "I've double-checked and that part didn't make it into any of the translations."
Losing his appetite, Ianto set his partially-eaten sandwich back on the plate and removed his napkin, folding it carefully and laying it on the desk. Like slamming into a brick wall, he had just come to a heart-breaking realisation about the wishing stone and what he'd done. Overwhelming guilt flooded through him and he abruptly jumped to his feet, fleeing from Jack and heading to the sanctuary of his Archives.
"Ianto? Did I say something wrong?" Jack called after the fleeing Welshman. He was puzzled by Ianto's departure and he was almost certain he'd heard a muffled sob as Ianto's feet pounded down the stairs away from his office. Shovelling the last two pieces of sandwich into his mouth and washing them down with a large swig of coffee, he set off in search of his Welshman. It took nearly ten minutes of searching before Jack finally found him, hidden away in an extremely-hard-to-find nook behind the section of shelving someone in the 1960s had labelled 'Possibly Magic but Probably Just Good Pot'.
Ianto was curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing his heart out. Jack sat down next to him and pulled his young lover into his lap, cuddling him against his chest and carding a comforting hand through his hair.
"Yan, what is it?" Jack rocked gently back and forth, "What can I do?"
With a final wet sob, Ianto pulled himself together, took a snowy-white handkerchief from his pocket and mopped at his tear-streaked cheeks. Pasting a watery smile on his face, he looked at Jack. "I am sorry, Jack, I am really sorry. I should…" His breath hitched as another sob tried to escape and he buried his face in the other man's neck.
"Should…?" Jack slipped his fingers beneath Ianto's chin and raised his head until their eyes met. "Should have what?"
"If I had just brought the stone to you in the first place…" Ianto tried to explain. "You could have…" He lost his words as he lost his courage.
"Why would you have done that, Yan? You're the Archivist. It was clearly labelled; you didn't need me to tell you what it was."
"I know that, but…" Ianto shook his head in frustration. "You don't understand, Jack! You could have used the wish to become mortal again. But no! I just had to play around and now you're still immortal!" Tears welled up in his eyes again. "I'm so sorry, Jack."
Pulling his lover tightly against his chest once more, Jack tried to reassure the younger man. "Don't, Ianto, please don't cry. The stone would never have worked on me, not ever. If the Doctor and the TARDIS have done everything they can to fix me and haven't, then there is simply no way a child's toy is going to change me back."
"Really?" Ianto allowed Jack to wipe his face dry.
"I promise." Jack sealed his words with a kiss. They sat wrapped around each other for a while before Jack broke the silence. "Can I tell you a secret?"
"Well, you can try, but I already know everything, Jack." Ianto laughed lightly.
Jack poked his Welshman in the ribs, turning that laugh into a fit of giggles. "I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay!" Ianto caught his breath. "Stop! I'm listening!"
"In my heart of hearts," Jack looked deeply into Ianto's eyes, "I'm glad you're going to stay with me."
Overcome with emotion, Ianto sealed his lips to Jack's, snogging him within an inch of his immortal life. They only separated when the need for oxygen threatened to end them both.
"Ianto?"
"Yes, Jack?"
"My butt hurts and the floor is cold! Can we go back upstairs now?" Jack whinged plaintively. "But only if you wanna go," he hastened to add.
Ianto shook his head as he clambered to his feet and then turned around to help Jack up as well.
"Umm…" Jack looked around, peering at the shelves surrounding them. "Do you know how to get out of here? Only, it took me an hour to find you and I'm kinda lost."
"Really?" One eyebrow rose majestically. "A whole hour?"
"Well, maybe not that long," Jack grinned. "But it sure felt like an hour cos I kept getting turned around."
"Huh… it only took me two minutes to get here."
"Yeah, but you know everything," Jack smiled affectionately. "Remember?"
"Come on, you," Ianto huffed softly and took hold of Jack's hand, tucking it into the crook of his arm. "Are you always going to be like this?"
"Forever and ever and ever."
"Promise?"
Jack pulled Ianto's hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles. "I give you my word."
Deciding against another dose of caffeine, the men settled on the battered old sofa under the Torchwood sign, cradling mugs of hot cocoa. Pressed together from shoulder to foot, they sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"Yan?"
"Hmmm…?" Ianto laid his head on Jack's shoulder, breathing in his mate's unique scent.
"What are we going to tell the others?"
Ianto considered that for moment. Finally, he raised his head and looked at Jack. "Do we have to tell them anything?"
"Well," Jack bought some time by sipping his cocoa, inadvertently creating a whipped cream moustache.
Suppressing a giggle, Ianto pulled Jack's head closer to his and to Jack's absolute delight, the ever-tidy Welshman licked his upper lip clean, finishing with a soft kiss.
Sitting back again, Ianto laid out his case. "It's just that if Owen finds out he's going to want to examine me and take samples of everything and run tests and…" He sighed. "And you know Gwen, she'll never stop asking questions and I know that every time I turn around she'll be right there, 'Are you okay, Ianto?' or 'How are you feeling?' or 'Can I get you anything?'. She'll make me feel like I'm dying or something!"
"Trust me, I know!" Jack grinned. "She can drive you crazy!"
"And as for Tosh, she won't say anything, not really, but she'll never stop wondering. It'll eat at her not understanding how this happened." Ianto didn't add that he actually felt a bit guilty about his immortality; Toshiko was his best friend and they shared everything. The idea of losing her one day while he lived on was distressing.
"If it makes you more comfortable then why don't we keep it to ourselves for now, unless something happens while we're in the field." Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto and pulled him close.
"Thank you."
Several hours later, Ianto slept, exhausted after a long, tender and sweet love-making session. Jack was cuddled close to him, watching his lover sleep; 'he looks so young.' Jack felt his heart clench, knowing that this was the way Ianto would look for hundreds of years, maybe thousands. Ianto wrinkled his nose and pursed his lips for a moment. 'I wonder what he's dreaming about,' the older man smiled, 'maybe it's me.'
Suddenly Jack's eyes filled with tears as he realised what Ianto had sacrificed, however unintentionally. He thought of Rhiannon, Ianto's sister, and David and Mica, his niece and nephew. 'He's going to have to watch them grow old and die.' Ianto adored his family; he and Jack spent as much time with them as their job allowed. There would be great-nieces and nephews but he wouldn't be a part of their lives; there was no way to explain that Ianto had outlived the younger generation without aging himself.
'Oh, Ianto, I am so sorry.' Jack wept silently, tears dripping onto the pillow he shared with beloved Welshman. 'Of all the things in the universe you could have wished for, you wanted to spend eternity with me.'
It was more than Jack could ever have hoped for.
end