Title: Back Home
Rating: 15
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto; Martha/Tom, Gwen/Rhys, Mickey Smith (bless 'im)
Spoilers: All Torchwood, DW 4x12/4x13
Warnings: Language, language, language!
Summary: The world was back where it belonged, the Doctor had dropped them on Earth and everyone was getting in touch with their loved ones - apart from Jack and Ianto.
Disclaimer: The boys and Gwen don't belong to me, RTD and BBC own 'em
*
Author's Note: In liu of BBC3 rerunning DW S4 and it being Stolen Earth tonight with the Journey's End one on Friday evening (along with the Next Doctor again - yay!). I've already attempted a reunion fic between Jack and Ianto, but as pointed out, they weren't quite in character and it was a little too filled with minutia and stuff - so here's attempt two!
Sorry for all these random one shots - I assure you there's some proper long, plotted fics in the very near future. More from my Harkness-Jones clan and a couple fo completely new ones in completely new territory for me!
Back Home
Jack felt the tension rising in him as the three of them headed across the park. After the initial euphoria about the world still being alive, Jack had quickly become more than a little disgruntled about being left in the middle of London.
They caught a taxi to the station and Martha pulled some UNIT strings to get them on the first train to Cardiff – first class. This did wonders to improve the Captain's mood and, with Mickey, they settled into their seats in the private room.
No sooner had they sat down and the train departed, than Martha was on her mobile, ringing round her family and friends. She checked in with her parents, her brother and her sister, but left Tom 'til last. Jack noted with a smile how she tensed completely, her grip on his arm tightening with each passing ring.
When a voice answered, she laughed in delight and proceeded to chatter away to him about everything that had happened.
Jack glanced down at his own phone – now fried and useless from the dalek energy beam – and wished he could call back to the Hub, to speak to Ianto, even if it was only for a sarcastic remark about the mess. With a sigh, he gripped the broken device and turned to stare out of the window.
*
The first thing they'd done was move the remnants of the dalek down to the deepest vault they could find, in the most secure room that was available. Ianto had still been forced to suppress a shudder at the thought of having to face it again at some point soon. It had taken a surprising amount of time to manoeuvre the metal framework to the right place, but after almost an hour, it was safely buried.
As soon as they'd emerged from the corridors though, they'd given up on the thought of beginning to clean. Neither was really in the mood for it. With a worried glance at Ianto, Gwen had rushed to her workstation – or what remained of it – and found her phone, dialling through the numbers for her friends and parents before dialling Rhys.
There was a tense moment as the tone almost rung out, but at the last minute, it was answered with a frantic 'Hello?' and Gwen was crying because her husband was still safe and well. Ianto smiled as she grinned at him and moved off to make them both a well deserved coffee.
After delivering Gwen's to her, he took his own and sat on the steps up to the workstations. With a sigh, he pulled his mobile from his pocket and glanced at the screen. He fired off a quick text to his mother, checking that she was alright, relieved to get an answer only a few seconds later.
It lay there in his hand, silent and inanimate. It was completely irrational for him to want Jack to call – for he knew Jack was alive and would eventually be back here – but something inside him deflated a little as device carried on its sleep in his palm. With a sigh. He sipped at his coffee, hoping Jack would turn up sooner rather than later.
*
When the train stopped, Martha almost physically restrained Jack in an attempt to make him calm down a little. His foot had started bouncing and jiggling non-stop about twenty minutes earlier and she was immensely surprised that he hadn't developed some debilitating cramp from it yet.
As they moved through the thronging rush of welsh citizens hurrying about the platform and arrivals section, Mickey frowned slightly at the Captain's burning need to get back to his base. He glanced across at Martha and nudged her in the ribs to get her attention.
"Why's he so desperate to get back to work?" He whispered, gesturing towards Jack who was a good couple of meters in front of them.
"The people back there are his family – or as close to it as he can get." She said with a sympathetic smile at the man's grimace.
They'd just emerged from the streets onto the large, light space of paving with the water tower rising majestically from the centre, water cascading across the shiny, curved surface. Martha was letting herself slow, but Jack kept on walking. She jogged to catch up, placing a hand on his elbow.
"The lift?"
"I deactivated it when I left – it would've been all too easy to get in through." He said, flinching at the implication. Martha nodded in understanding and gestured for Mickey to keep up with them. He raised an eyebrow but easily found pace with Jack as they headed across to the wooden walkways.
Jack took two steps at a time as they moved towards the lower level and across to the Tourist Office façade for the Hub. Mickey was about to open a mouth and object, but Martha silenced him with a look. They followed Jack through and almost walked into him.
He'd stopped dead in the middle of the small room, staring at the scorch marks on the door. He swallowed hard and proceeded through. He knew they were alive, he'd seen them both, but he hadn't realised one had gotten in here. Mickey heard a muttered 'shit' and followed the other two through to the lift.
The time stretched out uncomfortably, but eventually they reached the bottom and Jack crossed the small lobby area in three strides, slamming his hand down on the button and watching with a tapping foot for the door to roll aside.
He called through the half open door impatiently.
"Gwen? Ianto? Anyone home?" His voice was full of faux cheeriness that was belied by the set of his shoulders. He strolled through and Gwen looked up at him with a look of intense relief.
"Sorry, Rhys. I'll call you back as soon as I can, sweetheart. I love you too, more than anything." She murmured her goodbye and snapped her phone shut, making her way across to Jack and hugging him tightly with a contented hum.
He patted her on the back and she let go of him, turning to hug Martha and greet Mickey.
Jack had already turned his complete attention to the man sitting on the steps a little way from them. He smiled and headed towards him, not needing to say anything. He crouched down on the floor in front of Ianto, looking up at the young man who was sitting a couple of steps up.
"Told you I'd come back." Jack murmured gently, smiling as Ianto ran his fingers across his cheek. The young man placed his mug to one side and moved his hand to Jack's chin, tilting it up to close the gap and capture his lips gently.
They met in the softest and most tender of kisses possible and across the room, all three people realised that this wasn't just a part time thing going on – even Gwen, who'd had her doubts, now saw they were as serious as she was about Rhys.
Ianto pulled back and let his hands rest on Jack's neck, thumbs stroking gently down the soft skin as Jack rested their foreheads together. Ianto took a long breath, inhaling the intoxicating scent of Jack and closing his eyes to fully appreciate it. He heard that liquid chuckle and pulled away slightly, kissing him again before moving away completely and standing up.
Jack moved up the stairs to stand next to him, but before he could say or do anything, Ianto's fist connected with his jaw in a well placed, well powered right hook.
"You complete bastard!" His face was suddenly dark, his jaw set and his eyes glaring icily. Jack had stumbled back a step, but he'd regained composure with what looked like practiced ease.
"Come on, my phone broke on the dalek ship." Jack rubbed his jaw gingerly and shot Ianto a reproving look.
"I couldn't give a toss about your damn phone. I bet Martha's was working! You know my number off by fucking heart!" Ianto stood there, fists clenched and unshakable. Jack could see just how scared he'd been. He was never this angry or public with his vocalisations unless he'd been terrified.
"I didn't know whether you'd be working or not!" He tried to defend himself, but the excuse fell ridiculously short of acceptable.
"Like I wouldn't drop everything the second my phone rang!" Ianto spat, glowering.
"Listen-" Jack began, raising his hands in an attempted show of peace. Ianto wasn't having any of it.
"No, you listen, Jack! I had to sit there for more than half an hour whilst everyone in the rest of this bloody country got to talk to their loved ones, got to hear their voices and know they were okay." He took a step forwards, getting right into Jack's face as he gestured violently in Gwen's direction. They were only inches apart and their eyes were locked. "You can't fucking die, but that doesn't make it any easier. Just because you come back doesn't make it any easier to watch you walk away."
He suddenly deflated, the anger gone in an instant. He buried his face in his hands with a shuddering sigh and Jack didn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close and holding him tightly.
"I'm so sorry, Ianto. I really am." He murmured gently against the young man's hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before sighing heavily.
Ianto shifted his arms to move around Jack's waist, resting his head on the Captain's shoulder. Ianto sighed and murmured something about wanting more coffee and needing to check on Myfanwy before reluctantly pulling himself away from his lover.
Jack ran his fingers across Ianto's cheek for a lingering moment before winking and moving back over to the group by the door. None of them commented on what had just passed between the two men, but Gwen moved to Ianto's side to offer him some silent support. Martha tutted and shook her head playfully at Jack and he grinned ruefully.
"Right team, work to do." He gestured to the mess and shrugged his coat off, Ianto somehow appearing at precisely the right time to take it off him. Their eyes met for a brief moment before the young man moved to the office to hang it up before detouring around to the coffee area.
As they got stuck into the work with regular coffee top-ups, a gentle calm hung across them all. For the first time since Owen and Tosh, the place felt like it was full once more. Jack knew it was only temporary, for Martha would head back to London and UNIT soon enough and Mickey would drift somewhere else, in search of a new adventure.
Still, in the wake of the horrors they'd all just seen, this was about as close to normal as they could hope for – even if only for a couple of weeks.