Chapter 2
Instead of sleeping, Ianto found himself up, sitting in one of the chairs on the patio, as he stared down at Central Park. He had never been to New York before, but saw enough photos to compare the city then to the 33rd century. Central Park remained unchanged, as far as he could see, even if many of the buildings surrounding it had changed.
While staring out at the city, he thought back on the day. It had started off pleasant enough. He woke up with Jack, in his own bed, instead of cramped on the cot in Jack's cubbyhole under his office. They had had breakfast on the Quay before going into the Hub. A pre-date, Jack had called it. Ianto had considered it a post-date also, since they had gone out on another date the night before and Jack had gone back to Ianto's. They had plans to go out again that night – Rift permitting.
Damn that Rift, Ianto mentally cursed. It did not permit them. Instead, according to what he had been told upon arriving here, Jack had spent the night fighting back fears of never seeing him again.
Meanwhile Ianto was stuck a millennia away, in New York – of all places – with a Jack who had obviously moved on without him.
Ianto was keenly feeling his own mortality. When he wasn't thinking about that, his thoughts were on how he and Jack were finally becoming a couple in what he was able to define as a relationship, and now he was seeing the end of it. As much as he tried not to let it, it hurt him. He was happy for his lover. It was what he hoped for Jack. It still broke his own heart, knowing he would lose Jack one day in the future. As the man who looked like his lover, but wasn't, explained to him earlier, some things he was better off not knowing. Ianto realized this was one of them. And yet knowing Jack was happy oddly made it worth the pain.
About two hours after Jack left him to join his family, the older man called to give Ianto advance notice that Torchwood's chief medical officer was on his way to see him. The tall man with blond hair who appeared at his door not long after introduced himself as Isaac Radzinsky. He escorted Ianto back to the medical section. A half hour later, the doctor declared Ianto healthy, but gave him warning to continue to keep himself hydrated.
He was then introduced to a woman who went simply by the name Xana. She looked human at first glance, but Ianto started to notice her skin tone was more a true blush pink than what was normal for humans. And her eyes were silver. She explained that she was half-human, her mother's family settling in New York two generations ago, traveling far across the universe. Xana was the Chief Telepathist and was tasked to train Ianto, so they could calibrate the vortex device to his mind. They worked for about an hour before he was allowed to go back to his quarters with instruction to relax for the rest of the day. He was told that Jack had plans to take him shopping late the next morning, and that he was scheduled to be picked up to work on training his mind to the device in the afternoon. By the end of the next day, Xana was hoping to give an estimate on how long it would take before Ianto would be able to use the device and go home.
Ianto walked over to the decorative rail that surrounded the patio. Instead of looking down, he looked up to the slightly more narrow top floors of the New York Torchwood Tower. That was where the executives had their living quarters, apparently appointed more elegantly than his own finely designed suite. On the very top was the penthouse that Jack shared with his family. If he listened hard enough, he could hear the sounds of children squealing and laughter. He thought he even heard Jack's rich chuckle drift down.
He was told he was not a prisoner, but a guest, and was allowed to leave the tower. He was armed with phone numbers to call should he get lost. Ianto decided to take advantage of it. He would not go far enough to get lost, but a walk in the park sounded lovely to him. Anything to get away from the reminder that he was in a world where he was alone, while Jack had found everything Ianto wished he was able to give his lover.
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"Ianto, are you even trying to concentrate?" Jack asked, sounding exasperated. "According to Xana's initial assessment, she had you ready to use the device by tomorrow. Now, at the rate you're going, it would take another week." Jack leaned against the counter in the executive break room, and sighed heavily.
Ianto glared over at Jack from his seat at a nearby dining table. He had been in this future world for two days, and in that time, he was able to count the hours Jack spent time around him on one hand. The time they were actually alone was even less. It was a mixed blessing to Ianto. He missed his Jack and was able to find some comfort among the confusion of finding himself in the future when he was in the presence of the man who had been his lover over 1200 years ago. There were times, however short, where it felt like there was no gap in time at all for them. The shared looks, the smiles, the little jokes, they were exactly the same as if it was his Jack there with him. There was one thing that reminded Ianto all was not as it appeared and that was this Jack was not his lover anymore. He belonged to someone else. Someone Ianto could tell Jack loved very much and was happy with.
Jack had also done a good job in hiding his new identity of that time. Ianto's access within Torchwood was limited, be it inside the building or on the computers. He had so far seen the floor his suite was on and the lift to the medical section. For one of the daily breaks, Jack would bring him up to the break room they now occupied, and like the other times, they were the only two there. Ianto could take a good guess that Torchwood employed at least a couple of hundred people, the ones he was able to speak to was also limited. The information Ianto was able to get from the others was no more than what Jack had told him.
It made Ianto feel isolated, which he realized he was in a way. At least he wasn't a prisoner. He was free to leave the tower to explore the city on his own. The day before Isaac had taken Ianto sightseeing around the city, before leaving the misplaced man on his own. Like his relationship with Jack, the world seemed unchanged in many ways, but there were others that made Ianto realize this was not even his Earth.
He wanted to go home, to be with Jack, and Gwen and Toshiko and yes, even Owen. It did little for his patience. So at Jack's latest comment, Ianto snapped.
"Are you that anxious to be rid of me, Jack?" He stood up and approached the other man, who suddenly had the stricken look of a frightened animal. "Is that it? Do you despise me now?"
"N-no. I could never hate you, Ianto. Never. But I need you to go home as soon as possible. I need you safe where you belong. With me. You still have so much you need to do, and we can't screw this up. Ianto, if I don't get you back, there's a chance that you'll change the present for me. And I can't lose that." Jack turned away from Ianto.
Ianto's eyes were wide and he bit his lip to keep the tears from falling. "You don't care about me," he accused, holding onto his anger. "You might have once. 1200 years ago, but that's a long time, isn't it, Jack? I'm a damn fool to think you can still care. All you," he jabbed Jack on his chest, "care about is protecting what you have. Meanwhile what do I have in this world?!? Nothing, that's what!"
Ianto stared at Jack. The immortal looked heartbroken. Ianto's eyes fell on the red and gray shirt with a v-neck collar that Jack wore. His leather jacket was on the back of the chair he had occupied when Ianto came into the room. The clothes and the jacket were just another reminder of how this was not his Jack, and could never be. Ianto was no longer sure what he expected from Jack, since he was not a home wrecker and it was obvious Jack had a very happy home life.
"Oh God, Jack. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… I…" He pushed away from Jack and ran from the room. And kept running. He wasn'treally surprised when Jack didn't follow after him. He had pushed the other man enough to knock him off his feet. If Ianto was quick enough, he would be able to get out of the building before Jack could contact anyone to stop him.
He was not running away. He just needed to get away for a couple of hours, try to get his head together. All the turmoil of his emotions were getting in the way of his progress to get home. If he was honest with himself, he had more of a reason to get home than Jack had to make sure he did. He wanted his Jack again, and his dysfunctional, yet wonderful family that made up Torchwood Three.
He continued to run, across the wide street and into the park. He didn't slow down. And he didn't see the ball rolling on the ground towards him until it was under his foot and he found himself falling. A child was close by, most likely about to get the ball, and he twisted so he would not fall on the little girl. Once they both hit the ground, the girl started to cry.
"Are you hurt?" Ianto asked in concern.
"I want my Taddy to kiss my boo-boo!" the girl sniffled. She glanced up at Ianto. "My Daddy always tells me to watch where I run. You should too."
"Why of course. I was wrong and…."
"Charlene, what happened?" Ianto heard a familiar voice ask. The tone was of panic and worry.
The little girl, Charlene, picked herself up and away from Ianto and threw herself at a man who joined them.
Ianto gazed up at the child, who hugged her father's leg, and looked back at Ianto. The little girl had Jack's eyes. And his mouth. His gaze went up to the father. His mouth dropped open.
"You're… you're… Oh shit!" Ianto fainted.
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