A/N: Just a short one-shot where Gwen and Anwen visit Ianto's grave.
Disclaimer: Everything recognisable is property of the BBC and Russel T Davies, I make no money from this story, and no copywrite is intended.
It was a cold and unremarkable morning in Cardiff, when two women made their way across a tiny graveyard. Like most of its inhabitants the graveyard was all but forgotten, tucked out of the way on a small patch of land beside an abandoned church. When in the right light, the church and the trees made for a pleasant view, but now, in the crisp morning light, the graves were cast into sharp relief. All who passed by at this time of day passed quickly, eager for this place that radiated death and loneliness to be well behind them.
The two women that defied the urge to turn away did so slowly, taking their time to cross the graveyard toward a headstone that sat on the very outskirts. One was young, with large brown eyes and smooth, pale skin. The features of the woman who walked beside her were very similar, though her dark hair showed more than a touch of grey, and her skin was faintly lined. Her eyes, though large like her companions, were hard, with a sadness in them clear to any who would care to look.
They stopped at the edge of the graveyard, at a familiar headstone. It was thoroughly unremarkable, simply a name and date etched upon a stone. The older woman knew that it had been planned for some kind of inscription to be added, but time had continued on for those still living, bringing with it distractions that resulted in the headstone remaining unfinished.
As she knelt down before the stone, unburdening her hands of the flowers she had carried with her, the younger woman spoke, 'Are you okay, Mam?'
She placed her hand on her Mother's shoulder, and the older woman grasped it with her, now free, right hand, 'I'm fine, Anwen, there's just so many memories.'
Anwen simply nodded. She knew very little about her Mother's early life, apart from the fact that no one was supposed to talk about it. When she was a child there had been Jack, a friend of her Mams, who told her and her brother all kinds of stories about the life of Gwen Cooper, fantastic tales of her fighting aliens and saving the world. He stopped when she was nine, after Tad overheard and had a very loud row with Jack. Anwen never understood why her Father had gotten so angry, they were just stories.
She had long given up asking either Jack or her parents about the past, but this particular morning she simply could not keep the questions to herself. After all, they had been coming here every year for so many years, surely she deserved to know. As she looked upon the gravestone, she made a decision.
Ianto Aldwyn Jones (It read)
19 Aug 1983 – 9 July 2009
'Who was he?' she asked simply, almost certain that she would not get an answer.
Gwen took a deep breath and Anwen's hopes rose slightly.
'Will you promise never to tell your Father that I told you?' she asked after a moment.
'I promise.' Anwen replied quickly.
'Twenty years ago… wow, it's really been twenty years…' she shook her head after a moment's staring into space and continued, 'twenty years ago I worked in a place called Torchwood.'
Anwen smiled, all of Jack's stories had taken place in the magical kingdom of Torchwood.
'There were five of us at first, and we were fantastic. We did so much good, Anwen; we saw so many amazing things. But we also saw the most terrible things. I saw the very best and the very worst of humanity and so many other races. I got a glimpse of what was out there, among the stars, and I loved it, I loved it so much.'
Gwen's eyes became glazed, and Anwen got the feeling she wasn't seeing the graveyard anymore, but seeing times long passed, people long dead. She thought back to Jack's alien stories; had there been a grain of truth to them after all?
'Eventually our luck ran out.' Gwen continued, 'We lost two of the team, Owen and Tosh on the same day. We were shattered, but we kept going, me, Jack Harkness, and Ianto Jones. We coped for a while, kept doing good, kept trying to keep the world safe.' Her expression turned dark, and Anwen almost shivered, 'Then the 456 came. It was when I first found out I was pregnant with you, Twenty years ago yesterday.'
Anwen knew that twenty years ago there had been an incident with the world's children speaking in unison. Conspiracy theorists still talked about it, claiming it had been the Government, but when she asked Tad he'd said it was all rubbish. Maybe that was what Mam was referring to.
'We tried to fight; even after our base was destroyed we fought. We went right to the heart of it. It was Jack and Ianto who confronted the 456, told them no. Jack did all the talking, he always was the charmer, and Ianto was always there, by his side.' Anwen wanted to ask questions, as parts of her Mam's tale made no sense, but Gwen was well in to the story now, caught up in her memories, and Anwen didn't want to interrupt for fear she would stop.
'Because that's who Ianto Jones really was, Ann, he was the man who would stand by your side no matter the odds, even if he knew he might die. He was never the hero. There will never be books written about Ianto Jones saving the world, even though he did, so many times. Like that day in London, he was the man standing beside the hero, beside Jack. And he loved Jack so much, I don't think Jack ever really saw how much, but the rest of us did.' She took a shaky breath, 'I know so many people who would follow Captain Jack Harkness to the end of the world, but it was Ianto who would walk by his side. The 456 killed him that day. They released a toxin that killed everyone in the building, apart from Jack. We sat there with his body, hoping against hope that he would somehow wake up, but he didn't. Afterward, Jack went on to save the world like he always does; only this time he was a broken man, with no one to stand beside him.
'Your Father would be livid if he knew I told you any of this, because Torchwood was so dangerous. I was so lucky to make it out alive, Anwen.'
Gwen stopped to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall silently down her cheeks.
'You need to know though, and I needed to tell you. Jack's been gone such a long time now, and sometimes it almost seems like it was all a dream, a wonderful, terrible, totally mad dream. I haven't spoken a word about Ianto in years, but it's so important to remember. To remember a man who dedicated and then lost his life to protecting the human race, because the world will never know, but we will.'
Once Gwen finished, Anwen could not think of a single thing to say. There was a strength and determination in her Mother's voice when she spoke of her past that Anwen had never heard before, and it struck the young woman dumb.
As Anwen processed everything her Mother had said, Gwen reached into her bag to withdraw her second ritual offering. This one, Anwen had never even slightly understood.
'Why do we always bring coffee, Mam?' she asked, as Gwen poured the hot liquid into a china mug, also drawn from her bag.
'Ianto always made us coffee, back in the old days. You'd see him there with his machine,' Gwen actually smiled at this, the sorrow of moments before merely a memory, 'and the first cup on a cold morning, he'd breath in the smell like it was his own personal heroin. He made the best coffee, so no one ever made any for him. It's silly, really, but it just feels right.'
Anwen still couldn't really understand why she went to all the trouble, but Gwen had always been sentimental like that, much more so than Anwen, Kai or their Father.
After depositing the steaming mug of coffee, and pouring one each for herself and her daughter, Gwen sat in front of the grave, nursing her mug and looking rather lost in thought.
Feeling, as she did at this point every year, like she was intruding, Anwen began to wander among the other graves, reading names and dates that went back hundreds of years. With each new name she felt a little more sadness, particularly if, like Ianto Jones, they had died young.
She was glad Mam had told her about Ianto Jones, even if it was cryptic and, in Anwen's opinion, slightly melodramatic. For the first time in all the years they had visited his grave, the name finally meant something to her.
Before long, it was time to head back. Gwen gathered up her bag and returned the empty mugs to it; leaving Ianto's where it sat at the base of his headstone. They left the graveyard at a quicker pace than they had entered, both keen to leave the grim area behind.
Had they not rushed so quickly away, or had they taken the time to look around, they might have noticed a figure in a long blue coat standing under a massive oak tree. As it happened they did not, but he saw them. He smiled a sad little smile as they hurried away, almost wishing he'd been discovered, all the while knowing it was better he leave Gwen and her daughter alone. The days in which he would put them in danger were over, and he knew that where ever he was, danger would most assuredly follow.
After all, the fact that they'd had to come here to visit Ianto was proof of that.
Once they were well gone, the figure made his way to the grave they had just left, smiling when he saw the cup of coffee.
Unlike Gwen, this man's tears remained unshed. Only twenty years may have passed here, but many hundred had done so for the figure that now knelt at the grave.
He still returned though, not every year, or even every hundred, but he always returned. He returned in order to keep his promise so many years ago to a man he'd loved.
It hadn't yet been a thousand years, but Jack Harkness knew even then he would not forget.
Ianto Jones was the man who stood by his side until the end.
A/N: So that's it, something I typed up quickly while trying to get rid of my writers block for the Almost A New World rewrite. Hope it was okay, I always pictured Gwen visiting Ianto's grave at some point, and having Anwen there was randomly occurred to me a few hours ago xD. I attribute any glaring mistakes to it being two in the morning, but if anyone reads this and sees any, then I'd be eternally grateful if you'd let me know. It may have been a quick one, but I actually rather like it.
Ianto's middle name may seem kind of random, but I went looking for a Welsh one, and discovered that Aldwyn means 'old friend' and it was just too perfect not to use.