Title: Space and Time
Author: caz251
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, mentions of Ianto, Gwen, Tosh, Owen and Martha
Rating: PG
Prompt: 24 story_lottery space
Summary: Ianto had asked for some space, but he hadn't thought he'd disappear.
Spoilers: Spoilers for Series 2 Episode 13 and some spoilers for Doctor Who Series 2 Episodes 12 & 13.
Word Count: 1075
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood, no matter how much I wish it were so.
He'd asked for some space, something that he understood, space was something that he was intimately knowledgeable about, but not in this sense. He knew all about space, he'd travelled through what humans in the twenty-first century classed as space, he'd even been born in outer space on a human colony in the fifty-first century, he knew all about space. Or so he had thought. He lived through the entire twentieth century on Earth and was well-informed on many of the little human quirks that people had, as well as their propensity for labels, something that he himself despised.
However much he despised some of the quaint little customs that the people partook of he was sure that he had understood the majority of them and could keep up with most. What he hadn't expected was for Ianto to have twisted what he had said in a way Jack had never expected. When Ianto had told him that he wanted some space, Jack had taken him to mean that he wanted some time to himself without Jack, and maybe to cool their relationship off for a bit. He had never expected the other man to pack up his flat, put it in storage, and leave Cardiff. He really had been thrown for a loop, the other man explaining that he needed some space before vanishing on him.
Jack had searched for him for a while, but the other man, with his experience from both Torchwood Cardiff and his work in London knew exactly how to disappear. He also knew intimately through some of their games how to hide from Jack, something that Jack wished he would never really see happen. He missed the younger man, and had wondered often if the other man wasn't actually in space, as there appeared to be no sign of him anywhere on Earth that Jack had knowledge of. He had used many of the contacts he had made over the years to look for him, he had even called in a few favours, but he had had no luck whatsoever.
He hadn't thought that Ianto would have disappeared, he knew things had been hard for the other man since they had lost Tosh and Owen, which had been why he had agreed to give the other man some space, it was the least that the other man had deserved. He had been holding everything together by himself whilst trying to be there for both him and Gwen, unable to take time to deal personally with his own grief, too focused on trying to help him and Gwen through theirs. Toshiko and Ianto had been close like siblings and her death had had an affect on the other man, no matter how much he tried to hide it, even Owen's death had hurt him to an extent. But it had been Tosh's death and the manner that she had died that Jack was sure had led to Ianto's disappearing act. It was another colleague dead in the place where they worked, another casualty that could have been prevented, but wasn't, another battle of sorts that Ianto had survived while his friends hadn't.
He had agreed to give Ianto some space and had even given him two weeks away from Torchwood, barring the apocalypse, when Martha had arrived to take over Owen's position, bringing with her a group of four UNIT personnel that would help monitoring the rift until the team managed to rebuild properly. He had kept in touch with Ianto that week, sparingly though so as not to crowd him, sending him a text every few days, just to check that the other man was okay. Things had all seemed fine until he had tried to contact him when he failed to return when his two weeks were up. Having not seen him for the duration of his time off Jack had taken the opportunity to go to Ianto's flat to find out what was wrong, only to find the flat empty but for a note just inside the door addressed to him and Ianto's mobile.
Jack,
I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore. I realised that while I need some space, it isn't enough, I also need time to heal. You may have plenty of time, but I only have one lifetime, I need to live for a while. Don't look for me. It will be better that way.
I'll see you again one day,
Ianto
P.S. Tell Gwen and Martha that I said goodbye.
It hadn't been much of a note, but it was enough for Jack to know that it was definitely Ianto writing, and from the meticulousness of the way the flat was empty, he was positive that the other man was working under his own power and was not being coerced. Although he knew that Ianto had made his decision, he couldn't just let him disappear as he had done, he had agreed to give the other man some space, but he had said nothing about time. He didn't mind giving him both time and space, but he'd rather that he knew where he was even if he couldn't be with him, just to reassure himself of Ianto's safety.
He had gone back to the Hub and shown both Gwen and Martha the note, not bothering to inform the UNIT men of anything that they didn't need to know, before starting to search for Ianto. He had asked Gwen to look into Ianto's family to see if there was someone he would go to, while he looked into the man's actions over the last fortnight. He should have known though, when the man had said not to bother looking for him, that he had made it impossible for him to do so. From what he could find, Ianto appeared to have put the computer skills that Tosh had taught him to good use, and had made sure that no trace of Ianto Jones could be found. He had emptied his accounts and cancelled all his cards, before removing any electronic trace of himself. He wouldn't be surprised if the man had taken on a new identity so as not to be found, as any search that he did for Ianto Jones came back empty. He was pretty sure that he could search throughout space, even with the Doctor and the TARDIS and still find nothing, at least not until Ianto wanted to be found.