So I guess this takes place during Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but before the entrance of John Hart. It was inspired by the anecdote that Jack told the Doctor at the end of The Last of the Time Lords, about being called the Face Of Boe when he was a child on the Boeshane Peninsula. So this is what came of it.
Ianto was doing his best to stay mad at Jack and ignore him, but the relief that Jack was back safe and sound continued to wash over him in waves, replacing the tension of the frustration and worry with the soft relaxed feeling of gladness and peace of mind. He was heading toward the autopsy bay with Owen's coffee when the alarm sounded.
"Uh, Jack? Security breach." Tosh's voice sounded. Jack was already down the stairs, hand at his belt.
"Woah! Wait!" A voice called out as the cog door rolled open, and Jack signalled for the rest of the team to lower their guns. A man in a brown suit stepped through the doorway, hands in his pockets.
"You could have just called and asked me to let you in, you know," Jack explained with an eye roll.
"Where's the fun in that?"
"Point. Where's Martha?"
"With her family. They need her right now. I'll go back and see her in a bit."
Ianto stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The man smiled, waving a little with his fingers. "Hello, I'm the Doctor." He held out a hand.
Ianto barely had time to move aside before Owen's fist came hurtling past, slamming firmly into the Doctor's nose.
"You didn't even think to let us know he'd gone with you? You didn't think to tell him to come back and tell us he was leaving? You just took him and ran off, you bastard!"
The Doctor rubbed his nose almost curiously, as if wondering where the pain had suddenly come from.
"Ow. Guess I deserved that."
"Yeah, you did." Owen's face was a grimace of anger.
"Doctor, did you forget something? Why'd you come down here? I doubt it was for the sole purpose of upsetting my team."
"Right. Yes. Um, which one of you is Ianto?"
"What do you want?" Ianto asked warily, glaring at the harmless-looking man who had so quickly taken his Captain away.
Jack had been dead, permanently, they thought. And then he was alive again, and kissing Ianto with a fierce passion that was close to desperation, colleagues watching be damned. And then he was gone again, this time without a trace, into thin air. And Ianto was suspicious of the Doctor, this man who had abandoned Jack so long ago, who had given him the curse of infinite life, who had forced upon him the dark secrets and the lingering pains of this planet.
"Listen," insisted the Doctor, "There's something I need you to do, Ianto, something important…It has to do with the passing of a friend of mine. Will you come?"
"Why should he come, after you took Jack away from us, you arse? What are you gonna do, steal Ianto this time and bring him back five years later?" Ianto's hand on his shoulder stopped Owen's tirade.
Ianto eyed the Timelord standing before him. "If I go, the team goes with me. And you're bringing us back on the same day we left. I'm not leaving Earth unprotected without us for months the way you left us without Jack."
The Doctor looked uncertain. He shifted from foot to foot, twirled his sonic screwdriver between his fingers, tilted his head back and to the side a bit. "Well…"
"I'm not changing my mind on this. The team goes, or I don't go at all."
The Doctor sighed, gave Jack an odd look, and nodded. "All right. Jack?"
"Doctor, I agree with Ianto. And since you want him, for whatever reason, since he's the important one, it's his choice."
"Yes, all right. All of you can come. Just, stick close. We won't be there long. Just an hour, probably less. We've got a small window of time to work with."
"We're good with windows, Doctor."
"I suppose you are, Jack. Let's head out."
"Wait!" Tosh ran back towards her desk.
While she grabbed her laptop and energy monitor and whatever else it was she carried in that backpack, Jack tapped a few buttons on his Vortex Manipulator so that any alarms would be sent to him.
"Everyone ready? Come on!" The Doctor trotted over to the invisible lift and waited for everyone else to join him – tight fit—and with a flick of the sonic screwdriver, they were raised up.
The Doctor started off across the expanse of cement. With one of his famous eye rolls, Ianto followed, with Jack and Tosh close behind and Owen and Gwen bringing up the rear.
They followed the Doctor across the Plass. Ianto was only mildly surprised when the Doctor simply walked into a little blue box standing off to one side. Jack nudged him forward, and he followed the Timelord inside.
He looked about him with a critical eye and sighed, once again long-suffering.
"It's a bit disorganized. The way Jack talked about you, I'd expected it to be a bit less messy."
Jack, who had entered the TARDIS just in time to catch Ianto's assessment of the Doctor's beloved ship, burst out laughing. He sagged against Ianto, holding himself up with one hand on a twisted pillar, tears forming in his eyes.
"He didn't even say it's bigger on the inside!" the Doctor was indignant.
"So?" Ianto challenged, "Hardly the strangest thing I've seen in this job."
"He has a point." Jack agreed, just as a gasp came from behind him.
"It's bigger on the inside!" Gwen's voice was awestruck.
"Really, Gwen, I hadn't noticed." Was Owen's grumpy reply.
"There we go!" The Doctor smiled. Jack did a very good impression of the Ianto eye roll. "Okay, we can get started. Jack, come over here and help me fly her."
"The rest of you, find something to hold on to," Jack advised. The Doctor flicked a few switches, whacked at the console with a mallet as Jack pressed buttons and pulled levers.
"Whoa!" Was the general exclamation at the turbulent takeoff.
Once the TARDIS had settled as she spun across the Vortex, everyone stood up and milled about. Tosh inspected the TARDIS's control panels, asking the Doctor what something did every so often. Gwen sat on the bench and stared around her like a child in a planetarium with a 360 degree panoramic view. Owen leaned against the railing and looked about him, an expression on his face like he could decide whether to be annoyed or delightedly curious. Ianto stood beside the Doctor, not asking any questions, simply watching. Jack had told him some about the Doctor, and he was pretty sure the Timelord wouldn't tell him anything until he needed to hear it. Jack stood back and watched his team, enjoying each of their reactions to the wonderful ship and the experience of space and time travel.
They landed with a thud. The Doctor was up before everyone else, dashing over to the door as his passengers all rubbed various body parts in pain. He stuck his head out and grinned, patting the TARDIS affectionately.
"Good girl! She knew this was important, so she landed in exactly the right place." He beckoned everyone to follow. "All right, Torchwood, come on. Stay close to me."
They followed him out across the darkened, hollow hall. When they came to a larger room, he gestured for them to stay back. Tosh noticed with a gasp the large stadium, full of skeletons that seemed to be waiting for something. The Doctor patted her arm.
"It's okay. They've been dead for over twenty years. Long story. Stay here for right now." He walked off to a far corner of the room, past an ornate pillar and some weird debris, so they couldn't see him, but they could hear him. "Hello, old friend. Listen, I'm here, but this isn't me from now. This is me from a few years after I was here now. The me who's here now is down in the under city, and Hame is looking for me. We'll be back up here in half an hour or so. But I have someone I'd like you to see before you see the me from now."
"All right, Doctor. I understand." They felt the voice in their heads, ancient and wise and full to the brim.
"Come here." The team stepped over toward him, stopping to take in the sight before them. A huge head – it was more of a face, really – in a glass case full of murky white smoke stood before them. It was surrounded by computers long dead and hanging wires long shorted out.
"What…"
"This is Boe. He's a very old friend of mine."
"What are we here for, Doctor?" Tosh asked gently.
"I'm…failing." The voice echoed immensely in their heads. "And the Doctor must help me…he must save the under city….Doctor, what is it you want to show me?"
"Come here," the Doctor beckoned Ianto forth, and the others had the sense to stay where they were.
Ianto moved out from behind Jack and Owen, stepping slowly over to stand beside the Doctor. Inside his head, he heard a small gasp, and a nostalgic look appeared on the massive face, the eyes tearing up a bit.
"Doctor…" they heard him begin, but the Doctor put his hand against the glass.
"Don't. It's all right."
Boe looked again at Ianto, who nodded. But the others could no longer hear the tremendous resonance in their heads.
"Hello, Ianto Jones." Ianto inclined his head.
"Hello, sir." He replied softly, too quietly for the rest of the group to hear. A chuckle reverberated through his mind.
"I'd nearly forgotten about that."
Ianto didn't ask what he meant. He didn't know, but this creature seemed very old, the voice in his head was laden with memories. The two large eyes watched him with an expression that seemed familiar and an emotion that did not.
"The Doctor brought me to see you, but I don't know why."
"I am dying, finally dying."
"How old are you, sir?"
"I do not know. I have stopped counting the years as they pass. It has been a long time, but I haven't yet forgotten."
"Sir?"
"Do you know, he loves you, Ianto Jones?"
"Who?"
"Your Captain Jack Harkness." Ianto fought the urge to look behind him at the man whose name had just been uttered.
"I…I didn't know, sir."
"Trust me when I say that he does."
"I will."
"Boe, we haven't got much time left. The me from now and Hame will be back soon."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Why did the Doctor bring me here, sir?"
"I missed that accent, that word. Memories don't do it justice. He brought you here because he wanted to give a gift to an old friend. He finally learned who I wanted to see before I left this place."
"Me?"
"Yes. You, Jones, Ianto Jones. The Welsh tea-boy who works coffee magic and could never be forgotten."
Ianto's eyes widened, glassing over with tears. "Jack?"
"No one has called me that for thousands of years. But yes, I am."
Ianto splayed his hand on the glass and peered into the deep eyes that stared into him. They were very old; it felt like he was staring into the Universe, into Time itself. But within that depth was the familiar balance of aching regret and a joyous lust for life. The irises were no longer blue, but still they held that same big personality he was familiar with. His own eyes began to fill with tears again as he remembered what Boe had said.
"And you're dying?"
"For the final time, yes."
"Oh, god." He dropped his head and leaned it gently against the glass.
"It's all right. It's time."
"And of all the people in your life, all the hundreds of people you've lived with and loved, you wanted to see me?"
"You underestimate how very important you are to me, Ianto."
"Boe, it's time. We have to leave." The Doctor's voice carried toward them from the corner where he was standing to give them privacy.
"Just a moment, Doctor."
"I missed you, Ianto Jones. I missed those blue eyes and those beautiful Welsh vowels. I missed you for such a very long time."
"Jack…I hate it when you die, you know that."
"Boe…"
"Yes, Doctor." The voice reverberated in everyone's heads, then quieted just for Ianto. "You must go now. But I will see you very soon Ianto Jones, so it will be all right."
Ianto nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. He stood and softly kissed the glass separating him from his lover. Boe's eyes closed and a contented hum filled Ianto's mind. He turned to go.
"Ianto, I may not say it, but know that I love you more than I have loved anyone else in my many lives."
He turned back and touched the glass once more, his forehead pressed against the casing beside his hand. "I know, Jack. Cariad, I know."
"I will see you soon, Jones, Ianto Jones."
"Jack…" But the Doctor's hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he stroked his hand down the glass once more, staring into the depths of Boe's eyes before turning back toward the Jack from his own time and walking back to the TARDIS, his head down.
Once inside the TARDIS, he sat down on the bench and stared down at the grate. He knew Jack and the rest of the team were tossing worried looks his way every so often, but he ignored them. Even when the TARDIS landed with a nasty thud, he didn't move from his spot.
"Good," he heard the Doctor say. "It's only been a half hour since you left."
"What about Ianto?" Tosh asked.
"Give him a minute with me, okay?" Ianto heard the rest of the team file out. He waited until he heard the TARDIS doors creak closed before he lifted his head.
"Thank you, Doctor, for bringing me there."
"No, Ianto, thank you for agreeing to come with me. I'm sorry for how much I hurt Jack in the past. I wanted to bring you to him as a last apology."
"It was the right thing to do, I think. I know I can't tell Jack anything. You don't have to tell me that. I know it's selfish, but I'm glad it's me who gets to see him in his last moments, instead of one of his other lovers."
"So am I. Now, you should join your Jack. If I'm not mistaken, he's worried about you."
"I'm all right."
"He's the one who needs to know that."
Ianto nodded and left, hurrying across the Plass to the invisible lift. When he got down, he looked around for Jack.
"In his office," Tosh offered. Ianto nodded his thanks and headed over.
"Jack?" he knocked softly even as he opened the door.
"Ianto? Are you all right?" Jack frowned at him. Ianto moved to stand beside his lover, and put a sincere hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine."
Jack stood, pressing their foreheads together. "You sure?" Ianto nodded. "You want to talk about it?"
"The Doctor said I can't. Something to do with Timelines. I don't understand it."
Jack nodded. "Yeah. I assumed it would be something like that." He nodded towards the hatch of his bunker. "Do you want…"
"Yeah, Jack. Yes."
They made their way down. There were no words as they undressed and moved with each other, Jack seemed to know that Ianto simply needed his presence.
Something compelled Jack to pretend to sleep once they had snuggled down with each other, Jack wrapped around Ianto like a shield. He felt his lover shift in his arms and warm lips caress his forehead.
"I'll miss you when I'm gone, Jack Harkness. I love you. I know memories will never do me justice, but I know you'll miss me too, cariad. And even if you don't say it…it's okay. I know."