The clouds turned darker and darker as rain threatened to spill from them. The appearance matched the sombre group perfectly. Standing silently on the crest of the hill, members of the group did not have the restraint that the clouds had. Tears fell silently and swiftly, loved ones holding onto each other, never wanting to let go. Because if you let go, even for a moment, who knew what could take you.
Rhiannon stood with one arm wrapped around Johnny's waist, the other clutching her two children, her lifeline, to her. She was never going to let go. Not for an extremely long time. They had tried to take her children from her. They had succeeded in taking her brother. The brother who had only recently walked back into her life, with no explanation about where he had been for the last few years. Ever since their father died, Ianto Jones had been a distant figure. Cards for the children on birthday's and Christmas. It was only the postage stamp that made her realise that he was even back in Wales, the last she had heard he was living and working in London somewhere. And now he was gone. According to that Gwen, the one who claimed to know him oh so well, he had died protecting the children. Her children. But that didn't make the hole in her heart any smaller. The fact of the matter was the reason that they were standing in the rain on top of a small hill was that Ianto had, once again, left her.
Gwen and Rhys stood opposite her. The other side of the hole in the ground. The hole through which their faithful tea boy was being lowered. The coffin his final bed, the hole is final resting point. Gwen barely noticed the words that the pastor was reading out, only registering enough to know that they really didn't know Ianto at all. The closest they had got throughout the whole service was saying that he was patriotic. That was an understatement. Worldtriotic would have been a better word. The man who died defending the world and no one would ever know apart from the select few, all of whom were standing on this small hilltop. The man who had stood by her side and fought by her side, never giving up, never pessimistic. Even when Tosh and Owen had gone, he helped to give her a reason to carry on fighting. And so she had. She had fought by his side when Jack had left them, facing off against a Dalek that they knew that they couldn't defeat. That was when she had claimed that she would go out fighting. That was exactly what he had done. Gone out fighting against something that he believed that he could stop.
Leaning her head against Rhys' shoulders, Gwen made no attempt to stop the steady flow of tears streaming down her face. Ianto had taught her that much. Never be afraid to show what you are really feeling. The comforting arm that Rhys had snaked around her smaller shoulders offered her comfort like none other could. It didn't fill the Ianto sized hole in her heart, but it made her realise that she was not alone. Even her much loved husband, the man who barely knew Ianto and the man who never showed if he was upset could be felt shaking slightly as the coffin was lowered even further into the ground. It slowly disappeared, taking the man that they all loved in their own personal way with it. As it vanished from the view of the grieving few, Rhiannon let out a strangled sob, her tears being felt by all those around her. Her sign of grief made Gwen tighten her grip on Rhys, the tears coming thicker and faster.
One man, however, did not cry. No tears fell down Jack Harkness's face as he watched the man he had grown to respect, admire, and by the end of it all, love, disappear to a place where he could not follow. How many times had he lost someone that he loved? How many times had he vowed never to let himself get attached in that way again because it only ended in pain for him? Yet the innocent coffee boy that had to talent for making a cup of coffee like no one other had slipped through his defences. And now Jack was paying the price for allowing it to happen. How could he possibly think of defending and guarding the world, the universe even, when he couldn't even guard his own heart? As he watched his lover being buried by the cold and unfeeling earth, Jack could not cry. The grief was too raw, too painful to be shown in any physical way. It was only the haunted look in his eye that gave away what his heart was feeling. The look was one of a broken man. For someone who could not die, Jack certainly felt dead at this moment in time. He felt hollow and empty. For the first time in years, the Captain felt no desire to go and save the universe. Let it saves itself, just this once. The only desire that he had at this moment was to climb in to the hole and allow himself to be buried, with the hope that once again he would be united with Ianto. His Ianto.
In almost silence, the group stood watching the coffin disappear. But yet, considering all of their thoughts were focused on one person, they did not see him join their group. They did not see the figure standing at Jack's side, as faithful as ever. They did not hear the amused laugh when the pastor said something about being in a better place. Nor the dry comment that accompanied it. For those who may have heard something, they only recognised it as the wind howling through their ears, certainly not the words "That's not bloody likely. Someone has to look after this lot."
As Jack sprinkled a handful of earth over the coffin, the dull thud echoing loudly around the group, the man laid a comforting hand on his boss's shoulder. No, boss was the wrong word. His lover's shoulder. The group slowly began to split up, heading away in groups to be comforted in private. Jack, however, remained. He stayed exactly where he was, staring into the newly spread earth, a look of desperation about him. Finally, the tears began to fall, and through a choked out sob, he managed to say the very thing that was on his mind.
"I begged you not to leave me. You were supposed to stay with me, always!"
"And so I will." Ianto Jones replied.