HAPPY BIRTHDAY IANTO!

Jack was restless where he lay next to him. They'd been in bed for the last hour, both trying to sleep, but neither getting any. Ianto couldn't tell whether he was still awake because of the adrenaline from earlier in the day, or the man tossing and turning on the other side of the bed. Nevertheless, his eyes stayed clamped shut, and he lay stock-still, hoping to trick Jack and himself into believing he was asleep. It was a little difficult considering the clock was on his side of the bed, and Jack propped himself up every few seconds to check the time over Ianto's still body. He was a few seconds away from turning and throwing himself over Jack, holding him to the bed, forcing him to stay where he was and stop stirring next to him.

He chanced a peek at the clock, squinting a single eye open to see. The harsh fluorescent light shined back at him, drilling its way into his brain. He closed his eye again, but the time still lay branded on the inside of his eyelids. It was nearly three. It had been bad enough that they were out so late, held up by a last second rift alert. He bit back a frustrated groan, lest he alert his lover that he was awake.

"Ianto," he heard, breathed out into the silent air, but he didn't respond. He refused. He knew Jack had probably long since realized that he was actually conscious, but that didn't mean that he would give up now. The bed creaked slightly as Jack shuffled closer to his side. He jumped slightly as he felt warm lips on his cheek, followed by an arm snaking across his stomach. "Ianto," Jack said again, more insistently than before.

"Sleeping," Ianto muttered back. He felt the air of a silent laugh on his skin.

"Liar," he retorted.

"Would be…" he turned on his side to cuddle up to Jack, tucking his head close to Jack's chest.

"I want to show you something," Ianto rolled his closed eyes.

"I'm sure it can wait until morning," He grumbled, not in the mood for any of Jack's games.

"It can't, actually. Once in a lifetime," He ignored Ianto's scoff. "Honest. And you can't sleep anyway, so…"

"I wonder why," He groaned softly.

"Ianto, please. Don't make me ruin the surprise," Finally, Ianto opened his eyes to peer at Jack through the darkness of the room.

"Surprise?" He asked, now interested.

"Yup. Surprise. I have everything already set up in the car," He said close to Ianto's face. The breath ghosted across his skin and he grumbled as he realized he suddenly felt more awake. His eyebrow quirked up questioningly.

"The car?"

"The car. Yours," Jack grinned and kissed his nose. Ianto blinked slowly through the haze of his exhausted mind. "Thought you might want to be quiet about it,"

"About what Jack?" He huffed insistently.

"I did say it was a surprise, didn't I?" He laughed as Ianto shoved him softly. "I know, I know. You're tired." He kissed his forehead as he got up, clambering over him instead of rolling off the other side of the bed. Seconds later Ianto felt the rough fabric of jean collide with his head. He sat up to examine it.

"Where did you find these?" He said, his mind still hazy.

"Went searching while you were showering… a week ago? Anyway, you don't want to wear your good trousers tonight," He grinned, obviously trying to charm him as he pulled on his own trousers.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" He asked, slowly sliding his trousers up his legs. He only got halfway up before he sighed, realizing he would have to stand up. Jack ignored the question and stopped putting on his shirt to watch him from the other side of the room. His smile widened across his face.

"Need some help?" He laughed softly, paying no attention to another grumble that fell from Ianto's lips. He offered his hand and his lover stared indignantly at it before using it to heave himself to his feet, pulling the trousers the rest of the way. Before he pulled away completely, Jack placed a tiny peck onto his lips.

"You should make some coffee." He whispered to him.

"Thought you said you had everything set up? He growled.

"Fairly sure you don't want to drink my coffee." Jack laughed as Ianto glared and walked from the room in the direction of his kitchen, a rude gesture thrown over his shoulder.

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Ianto was practically asleep by the time Jack pulled up to a deserted park. He whined deep in his throat as the car rolled to a stop, stirring slightly.

"Ianto," Jack cooed, rubbing his shoulder. "Come on. Wake up. It's starting soon,"

He sighed and met his eyes wearily. "When are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"As soon as we're set up," He assured him, leaning over to kiss him apologetically.

"And by that you mean…"

"As soon as I set us up," Jack supplied, smiling at him softly. "Drink your coffee," He whispered and got out of the car, taking a collection of blankets from the boot. Ianto watched as he sprawled them across the grass, creating a tiny nest, just big enough for the two of them.

"Enjoy the show?" He called through the open window, holding his arm forward, beckoning him out.

"I hope that wasn't the surprise. There are plenty of opportunities for me to watch you do menial labor," He sighed, but tore himself away from the warm interior anyway. He clutched the thermos of coffee in his hands protectively.

Jack smiled softly as he lay down, holding his arms out to offer a pillow on his chest. Ianto huffed and accepted it, laying on his side, cuddled close to his captain. Jack chuckled almost inaudibly and reached across him to press a few buttons on his wrist strap. The surrounding lights fluttered out, one by one, revealing a cloudless sky above them, riddled with stars. Ianto looked up at him with tired, exasperated eyes.

"Shouldn't do that," He muttered. "Not safe,"

"No one's around," Jack defended, rubbing his back soothingly.

"They could be at any moment,"

"Ianto, they won't," He kissed his forehead softly.

He sighed in return. "Hope you haven't brought me all the way out here for a shag," He growled and picked his head up to look at him better. His eyes narrowed as he felt Jack's laugh.

"Not this time, but it would be a nice place for it. Now look up. Don't want you missing a second,"

Ianto rolled his eyes but obeyed. "Miss what, Jack? You said you would explain,"

"Meteor shower," Jack whispered against his hair. He could feel his smile on the back of his head, just barely there. "Not a big one, so there's really no one out to study it, but beautiful all the same."

As soon as he finished, Ianto saw the first one glitter past, so quick that he wasn't sure he really even caught it. Just as he was sure he'd imagined it, another flew through his vision, even brighter than the last. He barely managed to suppress a gasp as more shone in the sky, contrasting against the stationary stars. Yet even those were more beautiful than Ianto had ever seen them.

"How did you know about this?" He settled back on Jack's chest, closer than before. His voice held a calm awe to it that he didn't even bother to keep in check.

Jack smiled. "It's actually a pretty big deal, in the long run. Not that any scientists these days would know it, but these are some of the first meteors that were discovered to hold alien life. They drop down in the middle of the ocean and scientists don't find them for centuries, but they're there, fleeing from a burning planet,"

"Like the sex gas?" Ianto asked, his nose crinkling up.

"Sort of. Sort of not. These aliens spend so long here on Earth that they evolve alongside you. By the time they're found, they're just like anything else that lives deep in your sea. Except one thing. How they got here and survived in the first place. The secret to travel between galaxies,"

Ianto listened to all this with increasingly misty eyes, locked up towards where they were flying through space. "My sea?" He said quietly, finally looking at Jack.

"Hm?" He questioned softly, not looking down.

"You said my sea. Not Earth's,"

"Well… I mean. It's everyone on Earth's, I guess,"

"But not yours?" Ianto pulled away to examine him more closely.

Jack sighed and met his eyes. "No, not mine," He muttered, kissing him.

"Thought so… so you're really not from here? You're alien?" He slowly and reassuringly kissed him back.

"I'm human. Well mostly, anyway,"

"From the future?"

"Yeah… yeah from the future," He watched him closely, gauging his reaction.

"But… you're not from Earth. So what's up with the accent? Not that I ever thought you were a real American, but still,"

Jack laughed in disbelief, grinning down at him. "It's an American colony, where I'm from."

"Oh? I figured one day Earth would combine together to fight aliens instead of each other," Jack rolled his eyes slightly.

"Nope we're still separate, but humans that originate from any country tend to help each other out as if we were still here."

"That's sort of beautiful" Ianto muttered into Jack's jaw, drawing the man closer. He hummed back in agreement

"Mind you, it was pretty weird coming to the 20th century for the first time"

"How's that?"

"There are countries now that didn't exist where I come from, I'd never even heard of them"

"Really? Which ones?"

"Greece, for one. Korea, either of them. Spain if you can believe it."

"You'd never even heard of them?" Ianto asked incredulously.

"Well, you've got to understand. This is like ancient history to me. They didn't even teach about them in school where I'm from."

"It is American"

"That's not it. We just know nothing about them. Just like you know nothing of Paigro."

"Sorry, what?"

"It's a civilization that existed on Earth a few thousand years ago. In two hundred years or so someone will re-discover it, but right now no one ever knew it existed. If you would have said the name Pompeii in the seventeenth-century people would have thought you were crazy, but now everybody's heard of it. Even these meteors flying past us won't have a name for centuries. It's like that, only we live on entirely different planets than we did in the past. We could excavate, only no one's raised the enthusiasm or money for it yet, and I don't know if they ever managed to."

"Shit"

"What?"

"It's only just sunk in that by the time you're born I'll have been dead for thousands of years. Thousands of years and hundreds of light-years." Jack broke away from Ianto's side for only a moment to look at his face as it stared impassively at the sky, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Hey." He said, and Ianto glanced downward quickly. Jack brought his face to Ianto's, brushed his nose against his jaw before placing a quick, chaste, kiss there.

"I know…" He was almost inaudible as he swallowed thickly. He turned to him slowly and blinked quickly. "I know. You're here now,"

Jack's mouth twitched towards a reassuring smile before he gave up his attempt completely. "And that's not going to change. I promise,"

Hope you liked it, because Ianto deserves some cute in his life.