"This is nice," Ianto Jones stated, legs nicely clad in a pair of Bermuda shorts and stretched in front of him, baretoes wiggling in the sunshine.
"Yes it is, isn't it?" Wesley Wynham-Price agreed, picking up his umbrella bedecked drink, savoring the cool glass against his skin and the smooth taste of a perfectly prepared Mojito.
"No aliens," Ianto stated with a content sigh.
"No vampires," Wes agreed, tilting his head back so the sun would shine more fully on his face.
"No psychotic cannibals with baseball bats." Ianto settled deeper in his chair.
"No demon wearing my girlfriends face and body," Wesley flicked the umbrella with his fingers.
"No more Jack," Ianto murmured unable to keep a wistful note from his voice.
"I miss Angel," Wes agreed with a small frown.
"Were you and Angel…close?" Ianto turned to look at Wes, waggling his eyebrows pointedly.
"No!" Wes immediately protested, unable to contain a shudder of revulsion the thought provoked. "Oh God no."
"O-kay," Ianto shrugged his shoulders, turning his head to face the beach once more.
"Were you and Jack…" Wes trailed off, searching for the most delicate way to put it but Ianto didn't wait for him to finish.
"Oh, yes," Ianto replied immediately, smiling both at the memory and at Wes's obvious discomfort. His smile faded slightly as he continued to stare at the horizon. "I really miss Jack."
Wes said nothing in response.
"He sounds like an interesting man," Fred broke in, arriving beautifully bedecked in a fire engine red bikini with a matching sarong around her waist. Settling herself in Wes's laps, she picked up her boyfriends drink and sipped while looking at Ianto. "Tell me about him."
"He was wonderful," Ianto replied. "So dashing and handsome. And smart. He had such a large heart and he knew so much more than any of us could ever hope."
Ianto was quiet for a moment, his bittersweet smile fading slightly.
"He saved the world, you know," he stated matter-of-factly after a moment.
"From what?" Wes asked, more comfortable participating in this conversation now that he had Fred in place to act as a buffer. He squeezed her a little tighter, his arms wrapped around her waist, and she laid her own hands on top of his, smiling over her shoulder at him as she did so.
"Mestopholes," Ianto replied, voice fading as he lost himself to the memories.
"The demon took soemthign from each of us, someone we valued very much, and Jack warned us it was a trick but we didn't listen."
"Who?" Wes asked, curious.
"Lisa," Ianto replied. There was a real note of sadness there that had Wes instinctivel tightening his grip on Fred.
"What happened?" Fred asked.
"Cybermen," Ianto bit out, angry at the memory. "Monsters created by man to destroy man all in the name of progress."
Ianto had come to peace with a lto fo things now that he was dead but he would never overcome his all-consuming hatred towards those metal monsters who had taken so much from so many.
"What happened?" Fred repeated, drawing him from his rage.
"Hmm?" Ianto came out of his reflections, staring blankly at Fred.
"With Mestopholes and Jack. What happened?"
"Jack stopped him," Ianto replied crisply. "Balance was restored and Eath didn't get sucked into an unending void."
"That's always nice," Wes stated uncomfortably, exchanging a quick look with Fred.
"I miss him," Ianto stated simply.
"You'll see him again," Fred promised, placing a soothing hand on his knee. "Nobody lives forever, not even vampires."
Fred and Wes smiled at each other with her words, both of them completely missing the flash of pain that traveled over Ianto's features.
"Yes," he murmured, watching as the sun dipped under the horizon. "Nobody lives forever..."
Except Jack.