"…the meanin' of life starts in bed." The Ol' Beggars Bush - Flogging Molly
He runs down the hallway, breath ripping through his lungs, lungs which had been empty, still, dead mere minutes before. Even as he runs, he knows he is too late. The sound is cycling out, fading as its creator moves off into a different time, different part of space. He stumbles into the room as the last flickering bits of the TARDIS disappear. Tears begin to run down cheeks newly blushed with life, the only life still left on Station 5. He is alone.
Jack lurched awake, gasping for breath. That damn nightmare again. He ran his hands over his face and they came away wet. He fumbled out of bed and over to the little bathroom in his quarters. Splashing water on his face, he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes looked haunted. No need to wonder what had triggered the all too familiar dream this time. Seeing your team almost eaten by cannibals was enough to give anyone fits.
It had taken some time to get everything settled, answer the police questions, get his staff corralled and into the SUV, and start heading back to Cardiff. Owen had insisted that Gwen ride in the ambulance and that he ride with her. Jack had seen Owen reaching for her hand as the door to the ambulance swung shut, but had filed that detail away in his mind as a concern for another time. As the Captain—and the one least injured—Jack had to drive Tosh and Ianto home. Ianto sat silent in the rear of the SUV all the way back, after practically shoving Tosh into the front passenger seat.
Halfway home, Tosh had broken down in harsh tears and Jack had pulled over to the side of the road and held her while she wept. When he dropped her off at home, she had seemed better, as if the tears had washed her clean again. Ianto had said nothing, not while they were stopped, not even when he got out of the SUV at his flat. After checking on Gwen at the hospital and making sure that she and Owen were okay, at least physically, Jack had headed back to the Hub and an abortive attempt at sleep.
Since it was now obvious that sleeping was not going to happen anymore that night, Jack instead settled down in his bunk with a book. Maybe for a few hours, he could be someone other than Captain Jack Harkness. But he hadn't even read a sentence before his phone rang. He checked the time. Two in the morning. Nothing good ever came of calls at two in the morning.
"Hello?"
"….Jack?" The voice on the other end quavered hesitantly, but the rich vowels were still unmistakable. Jack tensed, sensing trouble.
"Ianto? What's wrong?"
"…I can't…there's…it's not…" Ianto swallowed hard. "You said I could call on you…if, if I needed you?"
"Of course," Jack replied instantly. "Tell me what you need."
"I don't know!" Ianto whimpered.
"Ianto, listen to me. Is there someone there? Are you hurt?"
"No, it's not that." The phone rustled as if Ianto was shaking his head. "I keep seeing them. I can feel the knife on my throat. I just can't…" He broke off and Jack heard him try to hold back a sob.
So Jack was not the only one having nightmares. "Okay, Ianto? I'm on my way to your flat. Ten minutes tops. Will you be okay until I get there?" Jack fell back into captain-mode, trying to force calm through the phone lines and into Ianto.
"I think so…." Ianto's voice was a little steadier, but he still sounded lost and painfully afraid.
Jack smiled, hoping Ianto could hear it. "You'll be okay." He pulled on a pair of pants, forgoing a shirt, and slipped his feet into his boots, not bothering with lacing them up. "I'll be there in ten minutes. I promise." Running up the stairs from his quarters, he snatched up his coat, the keys to the SUV, and his gun, just in case.
Nine minutes and twenty-three seconds later, Jack was standing at Ianto's front door. He knocked, but didn't wait for Ianto to answer. Using the spare key that he insisted each of the team give him, he slowly opened the door. Every light was on in Ianto's flat and Jack squinted as his eyes struggled to adjust. "Ianto? It's me. It's Jack," he called out, just loud enough for his voice to carry around the small home, but not so loud as to disturb the neighbors.
No response. Where was Ianto? As Jack moved further into the flat, he heard the sound of water running, a shower. He followed the sound through the bedroom and back into the bathroom. The small space was cloudy with steam and the shower was pounding down in the stall. Jack removed his long coat, draping it over the sink and laying his gun across it, kicked off his boots and opened the door of the shower stall cautiously. Ianto was standing in the pouring water, still dressed in the clothes he'd had on at Brecon Beatons. He jumped when he saw Jack and started to fall back against the wall. The Captain quickly reached out and caught him, easing them both down to the floor of the shower.
"It's okay, I've got you."
"Jack," Ianto wheezed, "w, what are you doing here?" His eyes were overly bright and didn't seem to be focusing very well.
"You called me, remember?" Jack pushed Ianto's hair out of his face, futilely brushing water off of his face. "Sweetheart, what are you doing?"
"S, smelled like b, b, blood. C, couldn't g, get clean." Ianto's teeth chattered, despite the warm water.
Jack winced and pulled Ianto closer to him, kissing the younger man on the top of his head. Ianto shivered again. "Okay, time to get out. You're in shock. Let's get you dry and back in bed, alright?"
"No!" Ianto cried, "I c, can't sleep! T, tried, but…" He struggled briefly, but gave up when Jack hugged him tighter.
"You don't have to sleep, but you need to dry off." He stood up, tugging Ianto with him. Leaning around Ianto, Jack turned off the water. He pulled the reluctant young man out of the shower stall and sat him down on the closed toilet. Ianto didn't protest as Jack gently removed his shirt and jeans and underwear, tugging them off and dumping them in a pile on the floor. Jack wrapped Ianto in a thick towel and rubbed firmly until Ianto's skin was dry and pink, before shucking his own wet pants and drying off. Then Jack led Ianto back into the bedroom and sat him down on the bed.
Turning towards the dresser, Jack rifled around until he found two pairs of sweatpants, a thick pair of socks, and a t-shirt. He pulled on one of the pairs of sweatpants and tossed the rest of the clothes on the bed next Ianto. "You put on some warm clothes and get under the covers." Jack looked at Ianto, who nodded dully. "I'm going to make some tea and get you something to eat."
Ianto looked a little green at the thought. "I don't think I can eat anything."
"Just toast. You can handle toast." Jack turned and headed toward the brightly lit kitchen. Behind him he heard the sounds of clothing being donned.
When he came back into the bedroom with a plate of cheese toast and two steaming mugs of tea, Jack saw that Ianto was sitting stiffly under the covers, his arms wrapped protectively around his stomach. He glanced up when Jack entered the room, looking less distant than he had when Jack first arrived at the flat. Jack handed him a mug, "Chamomile. Good for settling the nerves."
"Yes, because the problem is 'unsettled nerves.'" Ianto grumbled quietly.
Jack grinned. Ianto was feeling a little better if he was able to be snippy. "I can get you a fainting couch if you think you might have an attack of the vapors." Ianto rolled his eyes at him and sipped his tea. Jack held out the plate. "Have some toast too. You need something in your stomach." As Ianto nibbled, Jack slipped under the covers next to him. Ianto flinched a little.
"Jack? What are you doing? Why are you here?"
"You called. You said you needed me." Jack shrugged.
"And it's really that simple?" Ianto asked, sounding confused.
"Yes," Jack replied firmly. "So—here I am. I'll stay as long as you want." Jack helped himself to a piece of toast and settled back against the headboard. For a long time they just sat and ate, not speaking, not looking at each other.
Finally, after the toast and the tea were gone, Ianto spoke up. "I…wasn't sure you'd really come." His voice was soft.
Jack looked at him. "Why?"
Ianto wouldn't meet his eyes. "I called you a monster."
"I've been called worse," Jack said mildly.
Ianto rested his head back against the headboard. "I was wrong, you know. There are things out there worse than I ever imagined." He chuckled humorlessly. "And I really thought that after Torchwood One and Lisa…" His voice trailed off for a moment, before he started talking again. "I thought that I knew monsters, that I had seen all the horrors there were to be seen. But I was wrong." Ianto lolled his head to the side and looked at Jack. His eyes were bloodshot with deep, dark circles under them. "I was wrong. And you are not a monster." His voice was firm, but his words slurred slightly. He frowned down at his empty mug and then back up at Jack. "You drugged me."
"It's just a sleeping pill. You need to rest." Jack carefully moved the plate and the mugs to the bedside table. Tugging gently on Ianto's arm, he got the young man settled under the covers. "Sleep."
"Jack, will…" Ianto began, but Jack cut him off before he could ask.
"I'll stay here. I want to stay here." He turned off the lamp beside the bed, leaving the bathroom light on to keep the nightmares at bay. Lying back down, he gathered Ianto up into his arms, breathing deeply to imprint the man's scent into his mind.
Slowly Ianto's head relaxed against Jack's shoulder and his hands settled on Jack's chest. "I'm sorry, Jack," he muttered sleepily.
"Shhh, it's okay." Jack's eyes closed as he followed Ianto into sleep.
He's on the floor of the old warehouse, the unconscious pteranadon next to him and Ianto in his arms. But this time Ianto doesn't get up and walk away. Instead Ianto slowly lowers his mouth to Jack's, brushing their lips together as if he is savoring the sensation. The kiss builds until tongues are tangling and hands are tugging at clothes. Their bodies move, rubbing together aching cocks trapped behind too-tight pants. Ianto nibbles along Jack's neck and he gasps at the sensation. Jack tilts his head back to give the younger man room…
Then he opened his eyes to see daylight streaming into a room that was clearly not his quarters in the Hub. Waking up in a strange bed achingly hard and spooning another man was not an unfamiliar situation to Jack. But it wasn't until he inhaled and his brain registered the enticing smell of the body in his arms as belonging to Ianto Jones, that the night before—and the horrible events which led to it—came rushing back to Jack's mind. He sighed and started to roll over.
"Jack Harkness, don't you dare," Ianto's morning voice was deliciously deep and commanding.
"Don't what? I thought you were asleep."
"Don't you dare slip off like you're trying to escape a bad shag the morning after. And it's difficult to stay asleep when you're breathing heavy all over the back of my neck." Ianto rolled over and fixed Jack with his bright blue stare. "What were you dreaming about? Not that I can't guess."
And yet again Ianto left Jack unable to think. Who had come in the night and replaced the terribly sad man in his arms with this minx? He tried to get his footing again. "I wasn't going to slip out. I just didn't want to wake you. You need your rest."
Ianto lifted his head and looked over Jack's shoulder to the clock on the bed table. "It's eleven in the morning. I think I'm rested." He lay back down, slightly closer to Jack. His body was warm and inviting and Jack's morning-hard cock throbbed. "You didn't answer my question," Ianto purred, "what were you dreaming about?"
"You. I was dreaming about you," Jack breathed out, unable to even think about lying. He reached out a hand and brushed it through Ianto's sleep-tousled hair. "What happened to the broken young man from last night?" he wondered softly.
"You came when he needed you," Ianto replied in a whisper.
"And that made it all better?" Jack asked, trying to read Ianto's face.
"No. There are many things that will never be better." The horrible matter-of-fact tone that Ianto used when discussing just how messed up he really was returned to his voice and Jack started to open his mouth to try to say something, anything to convince Ianto that things would get better. But Ianto rested his fingers lightly on Jack's lips, stopping him. "But it helped. And there is only so much talking and thinking that broken young men can do before they want to stop thinking and stop talking and just feel." And he moved his fingers off of Jack's mouth just as his lips came crashing down in a desperate kiss. At the same time his hips thrust forward, brushing his rock-hard member against Jack's and causing them both to moan.
Jack decided that he had obviously hired Ianto for his intelligence, since this was the smartest thing he'd heard anyone say in way too long. He pushed forward and up, lifting himself so that he covered Ianto with his body. This gave him the perfect angle for thrusting against the younger man, an action they both savored for several moments.
Finally he broke away to remove the t-shirt that Ianto was somehow still wearing. As he looked down at the mussed and panting man beneath him, Jack realized yet again how very young Ianto was. Lisa was probably his first love. Hopefully not his first everything. Jack decided he needed to find out some particulars. "Ianto, have you ever been with another man?"
"Nope." Ianto replied, almost cheerfully. "But I'm young, horny, and willing to learn." His mouth quirked up in the corners and Jack realized that Ianto was close to smiling, something he hadn't done in months.
Jack grinned in response. "I can work with that."
"Good," Ianto said resolutely, before stretching up to bite Jack on the collar bone. "Now get on with it. The boss only gave me one day off and I want to make the most of it."
Jack couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing. Ianto's almost-smile brightened a little more, and then his mouth fell open in a gasp as Jack thrust his hips forward again.
"Oh, don't worry," Jack murmured into the skin of Ianto's chest, "I'm sure you'll find a way to talk him into a little more time off." His tongue flicked out to toy with one pink nipple and Ianto shivered. "After all, good employees should be rewarded." And Jack knew ways of improving employee morale that worked a lot better than nice parking spots or plaques on the wall. All he needed was time to show them to Ianto and this was as good a day as any to begin.