Ianto and Gwen stood in the Hub. It was dark out, the stars just beginning to show. "I miss him, Gwen." She nodded, understanding. "I do, too," she said. He clutches her hand like a life line, and she squeezes back just as hard. For a moment, they are no longer Ianto Jones, receptionist of Torchwood, or Captain Gwen Cooper of Torchwood. They are just Ianto and Gwen, two sad, broken people who needed each other to survive.
A couple of months after Jack left, Ianto came in beaming.
"I've got a date!" He announces. "She's blond and blue eyed and the typical girl next door." Owen shakes his head.
"Tea-Boy scoring dates with hot babes. What it the world coming to?" He mutters. Tosh and a grudging Owen congratulate Ianto, but when he looks to one person he actually wants approval from, his best friend, she just looks down and doesn't meet his gaze. Confused and hurt, his happiness deflates slightly and he turns to his coffee machine.
Gwen isn't sure what she feels when Ianto announces his date. A strange feeling takes place in her stomach, and she feels the urge to hunt down the mysterious blond and maim her fatally/kill her. She better not hurt Ianto, or else.
Ianto and the blonde start dating. Tosh and Owen notice that Gwen seems to withdraw into her office more and more. She doesn't speak to anyone anymore, not even Ianto.
Tosh has a feeling she knows why Gwen's acting like that.
Gwen doesn't. She figures she's just protective of her best friend. She doesn't want him to get hurt again. She ignores the way her whole body seems to spark when he touches her, or the sudden cold, empty feeling she gets when he's far away.
She takes to staying as late as possible at the Hub, and making Ianto stay with her, under the pretense of his coffee or too much paper work.
Gwen hardly ever sees Rhys anymore. For some reason, she feels guilty whenever she smiles at Ianto.
One day, Gwen goes home briefly to take a quick shower. She goes to get clean clothes when she hears muffled sounds inside. She opens the door and sees Rhys with Ruth from his office together in bed. She presses her hand to her mouth in horror. She doesn't know why it hurts so much, but it does. She spins around and packs an over night bag and leaves, scribbling a note to Rhys. She has no intent to ever go back to the flat.
Luckily, only Ianto is at the Hub. He instantly sees the tears on Gwen's cheeks, and he escorts her up to his office. She tells him everything and cries in his arms while his fists clench and unclench under the table. He feels the urge to hurt Rhys in some almost fatal way. Preferable in a way that stops him from ever reproducing. But right now, Gwen needs him, so he stays there and rocks her gently as she sobs into his chest.
A day three weeks later, Ianto come in saying that he's left the blonde, Marissa what-its-name. Gwen feels an irrational spark of hope in her chest.
Ianto sneaks glances at her whenever she's not looking, and when he's busy Gwen stares at him. They dance around each other for two weeks, until Tosh and Owen start to date. Then it's all about them, and the Hub is filled with love and sentimental stuff. Owen and Tosh stay late and hold hands and have whispered conversations. Gwen tries to send them home, just so she can have alone time with Ianto.
No, that's not it. She just needs his help with cleaning up Jack's office, she tells herself.
But Tosh and Owen refuse, and Gwen and Ianto go back to dancing around each other. Then one day Gwen comes in beaming, with a huge smile on her face and a scrap of paper in her hand.
"I have a date!" She says ecstatically.
Owen and Tosh grin at her, but privately their thinking, will they ever learn?
Ianto doesn't meet her gaze and hands her her coffee silently. She tries to catch his eye, but he ignores her.
Ianto tells himself that he's just protective of Gwen after the whole Rhys situation, and he ignores the butterflies that erupt in his stomach when he sees her, or the way his heart beats faster when she's within close proximity. Owen and Toshiko roll their eyes, while Gwen walks around the Hub trying to not feel the way Ianto's hand brushes against her's or the way his startling blue eyes bore into her's.
"And then Ianto says, well at least it isn't goo!" Gwen laughs hysterically, while her boyfriend, Alex, chuckles softly. She doesn't notice the sad glint in his eyes.
Alex wonders who this Ianto is, and what he did to make him so special to Gwen.
On a Wednesday night, almost nine months after Jack left, and two months since Gwen and Alex started dating, she comes in looking defeated.
"Alex left me," she says dully.
Ianto feels angry at the man, but a flame of irrational hope flares up in him.
"Why don't we lock them in a closet!?" Owen asks Tosh one day.
Ianto and Gwen are back to dancing around each other, with Gwen making excuses for Ianto to stay late and Ianto hugging her "comfortingly." Tosh watches Owen freak out in amusement.
"Calm down, Owen. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you cared." Owen glares at her.
"Oi! Let's not get carried away!" She laughs, and he kisses her.
One day, about a year after Jack left, they are out Weevil hunting. They split up and Gwen keeps her gun out, glancing around. She doesn't hear the Weevil come up behind her, or at least not until it sinks it's teeth into her shoulder. She screams and Owen comes running and shoots the Weevil, but it's already gotten a bite or two. Ianto comes running up and sees Gwen. His face goes white and he backs away, his arm falling to his side.
"Ianto," she calls. He bends down next to her and she presses her lips against his. He kisses her back, gently.
"Oi, break it up!" Owen calls irritably. They both blush and pull away. That night Ianto disappears into the Archive Room. Gwen finds him there, and before he can protest, she crushes her lips against his. He squeaks a bit before kissing her back. It's a full on snog, and soon her hands are at his belt buckle and his are at the buttons of her blouse.
"Are you sure?" He asks, panting. She nods.
Afterwards, they fall asleep together. Ianto stays awake long enough to pull a blanket over them. The next morning, Owen and Tosh come into work to see the Hub empty.
"They must be here somewhere," Owen says. They find them curled up together Gwen's office.
"Aww..." Tosh says, smiling. Owen just grunts. Ianto wakes up a little while they leave. Gwen stirs next to him. She opens her eyes and smiles and kisses him sweetly. He smiles against her lips.
"I love you," she says simply. His grin grows wider.
"I love you, too," he says. Her apple green eyes lit up. They dress and head upstairs. Tosh smiles, and Owen leers at them knowingly. Ianto avoids they're gazes and heads straight to the coffee maker.
To Owen's surprise, Gwen winks at him, causing Tosh to burst into laughter.
They date for two months before Gwen moves in with him. His flat was spacious and decorated in varying shades of white and red and brown. Her possessions are easy to move, and soon they were curled up together on his burgundy couch, watching "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", which apparently is Gwen's favorite movie. Gwen falls asleep in Ianto's arms, and he carries her to their bed.
In another two months, he proposes. Gwen then realizes she made a life threatening mistake.
"I forgot to tell my parents," she tells Ianto. Owen snorts into his cup of coffee. She glares at him.
"That's fine, Gwen," Ianto says easily. Gwen shakes her head, looking terrified.
"No. No, it's not fine. Ianto, you've never met my mother."
He thinks she's over reacting. He's proved wrong when they gather for a family dinner. Her mother was screechy and loud, her father looked a bit embarrassed by her. Her mother kept comparing Rhys to Ianto, and pointing out all of Ianto's flaws, which mostly revolve around his chin.
After it all simmered down, Gwen affectionately calls it, "the Hell Dinner."
"And she liked you," she mutters darkly when they go home. He chuckles.
The wedding is simple. She wears a white, flowing dress, and he wears a suit that looks suspiciously like the suit he wore the day she met him. They get married on the beach, and it's sunny, the light reflecting on the ocean like diamonds.
"Like nature's dressing up," her father says appreciatively. Tosh is her bridesmaid, and Owen is Ianto's best man. It's quick and beautiful, and about three hours later they are flown to Paris for they're honeymoon. When they get back, the first thing Owen and Tosh say to them is,
"There's blow-fish," they sigh and nod and get in the SUV.
When they're driving do they drop the bombshell.
"We're engaged." Ianto swears and congratulates them, and Gwen screeches and hugs Tosh as best as she can in a car.
"Owen, slow down! Their could be children!" Owen grins.
"Well, it's their own bloody fault for being out at midnight!"
Ianto points his gun at the blow fish, and Gwen already knows he won't be able to do it. Suddenly, the blow fish is blown backwards by a shot, and Gwen looks up to see Jack Harkness. She feels a tornado of anger and love and hate and relief envelop her. She wants to punch him, then kiss him, then punch him again.
"Did you miss me?" Ianto looks like he's feeling the same as she. They glance at each other, and a silent conversation passes between them. I missed him so much, Gwen.
I know, I know. So did I.
But right now, I so want to punch him.
You're not the only one.
I love you, Gwen.
I love you, too, Ianto.
They look away from each other.
After everything mulls over, Ianto holds Gwen tighter then usual that night.
"I could have lost you," he whispers.
"I know," she whispers back. They're kisses are ferocious, hard and loving and passionate. Ianto holds her as tight as he can, afraid to lose her, afraid to let this woman in his arms go, even for a second. She holds him just as tight, wondering how this wonderful Welsh man could have ever escaped her gaze.
The next morning, Jack is properly introduced back into the team. Owen and Tosh tell him their news, but Gwen and Ianto hold back. A week later, they tell him. He spits out his coffee, and grins at them arrogantly.
"That's great!" He says cheerfully. Both Gwen and Ianto observe him quietly for any signs of sadness. There is none. He seems genuinely happy for them. Gwen beams at him and places her hand on her stomach.
"That's great! Now, I've decided something. Would you be god father to our child?" She hasn't told Ianto yet, so his face goes slack with shock. Then he beams and hugs her, staring reverently at her now glaringly obvious bump. Jack grins.
"How long?" She smiles back.
"Two months."
They tell Tosh and Owen, and they're equally as happy for them.
The next seven months are full of bed rest and a cranky Gwen and baby clothes shopping. On a Sunday morning, Jack Owen Jones comes into world. Jack and Ianto both look like they're going to explode with pride. Little Jack is gets passed around the room twice before Owen, Tosh and old Jack leave. Gwen looks down lovingly at her son. He has Ianto's hair and her eyes. Ianto embraces his little family. "He's so beautiful," he says. Gwen agrees.
FIVE YEARS LATER
"Mum, when are Uncle Owen and Aunt Tosh coming over?"
Asks an excited Jack. Gwen grins, Jack adored Tosh.
"Soon," she reassures him. It was Thanksgiving, and Jack, Tosh, and Owen were all coming over. The doorbell rang, making Ianto appear with three year old Sandra on his hip. Jack, Owen and Tosh come in, big smiles on their faces.
"Hello!" They chorus. Jack almost immediately stole Jack away from Gwen, holding her close. Jack was his favorite, just like Sandra was Owen's. Tosh and Owen's five year old daughter, Lily, runs over to Jack, who immediately starts telling her a story about Weevils.
Fifteen minutes later, they all sit down for dinner. There's a turkey in the middle of the table, and all around it are various side dishes. Jack begins to tell them a story, which has Owen and Gwen laughing almost instantly.
All in all, it's a good Thanksgiving, hopefully the fifth in a long line of Thanksgivings.