A/N: This chapter contains the bulk of the excitement, so far…

WARNINGS: SPOILERS! Arguments.

It was a few days until Ianto was released from the hospital. It took a while to develop a strategy for dodging all the doctor's questions about what left him in that state. In the end he was being driven back to his flat with Jack.

He noticed the vortex manipulator on Jack's wrist. Just seeing it filled him with dread. He's leaving me. Ianto thought. He's finally bored of me.

The car ride home was the shortest one he'd ever experienced, even with Cardiff traffic. You know what they say; time flies when you've just come back to life and you're trying to make the most of the time you have with your time traveling, immortal, boyfriend.

Jack tried to help him into the flat but Ianto insisted that he was a big boy, he could do it himself. Jack made a suggestive comment about that description and Ianto whacked him upside the head.

Ianto's flat was just as he left it; tidy and organized. He sat down on the couch as Jack hung their coats on the rack.

Ianto went through his mental checklist, testing all of his senses and coming to the conclusion that he was completely fine. Almost as if nothing ever happened.

Jack sat down next to him on the couch without another word. Ianto knew what he was thinking. Jack wanted to talk about it. He wanted to go through the interrogation again for the umpteenth time even though Ianto's answers hadn't changed. Or maybe he was figuring out a way to tell Ianto that he was leaving again. Either way, Ianto was not in the mood to hear it.

"Ianto—" Jack began earnestly. Ianto stood up abruptly.

"You know, I think I'd like a coffee. Fancy a cup?" He offered, walking over to the kitchen area. He grabbed the coffee out of the cabinet and began the process he knew all too well.

That was why he needed it. Not to drink, but because the action of making it was so familiar. It tied him to the part of himself that he knew would never change. It was his gravity, his sense of serenity. His brain went on autopilot, his hands moving on their own accord. He barely noticed Jack leaning on the kitchen island.

"Ianto, I have to tell you something—"

Ianto's hand jerked and the sugar bowl fell to the floor with a crash.

"Shit." Ianto cursed. "Don't worry, I'll get it." He stepped around the sugar and the small splinters of glass to fetch a broom from the space between the fridge and the wall.

"Ianto." Jack said again, but nothing more, testing the waters.

Ianto swept the mess into a pile wordlessly.

Jack tried again. "Iant—"

"Stop saying that!" Ianto snapped.

"Its your name." Jack said calmly. "You're not letting me talk to you."

"Well, maybe I don't want to hear about it right now, ever think of that?" Ianto's eyes were on the ground where he was sweeping, even though there was nothing left to sweep. "Maybe I'm sick of being interrogated about something impossible; something I don't have the answers to."

Jack blinked a few times. "Thats not what I was going to—"

"I know. I know what you're going to say and I'll tell you right now that I'm not happy about it. At all."

Jack reached out and grabbed Ianto's wrist, holding it gently to stop him from sweeping. "Ianto."

"What!" He demanded. His hands were shaking.

"I was going to ask if—"

The coffee machine made a loud, obnoxious beep, signaling that it was done brewing.

"The coffee is ready." Ianto said, wrenching his wrist away from Jack's grip, stepping over the remnants of his sugar bowl, and getting the mugs from the cabinet.

Jack's eyes were closed, praying for patience but Ianto didn't look up to see.

"You said you know what I'm going to say. What do you think I'm talking about?" Jack fixed him with an intense gaze, as if to mentally pry the answer from him.

Ianto slammed his fists on the counter, rattling the silverware and the tea saucers in the china cabinet to his left. His head was bowed and he was hunched over the counter.

"I know that you're... I saw you're wrist. Your Vortex Manipulator." Ianto said through clenched teeth. His jaw seemed to lock in frustration. He was glad to be turned away from Jack so he couldn't see his face.

Jack's eyes widened in surprise. "What about it?"

"You're leaving again." Ianto's voice was low and sad, like he was speaking through a sigh. He didn't have to clarify what he meant, Jack knew what he was referring to. The months Jack spent away with The Doctor. Ianto continued anyway through Jack's shocked silence. "You're leaving to go to a different time, to fight aliens, to save the world. It might seem selfish but I... I want you. Here." With me. Ianto stood up straight, turning to face Jack again. "I can't face being alone again, not after what happened. So if you're planning to leave, at least break up with me so I don't have to spend the rest of my life waiting for you to come back."

Jack stared at him weighing the words in his mind, trying to make sense of them. "You... You think I'd ever leave without you? You think I'd give you up just to go risk my life for people who would otherwise have me dead?" Ianto had no response. "You really think I would do that?"

"You've done it before." Ianto said.

"Ianto, I'm sorry I did that to you, but that wasn't what I was trying to tell you."

"What, then?" Ianto asked, his patience worn thin.

"I was going to ask... Come with me."

"What?"

"Travel with me." Jack clarified, his eyes bright with wonder and possibilities. "Explore the universe with me. There is nothing left for me here, Torchwood is all but destroyed; you are the only thing anchoring me to this planet. Come with me. I can show you creatures and civilizations beyond comprehension."

Ianto was dumbfounded as Jack proceeded to extract a second Vortex Manipulator from his pocket. It was small, black, and sleek. Looking more like a watch then a time machine.

"Its the newest model. Literally; I went to the distant future and bought it from the last living vortex manipulator sales man. Its very classy. Very you."

Ianto took it from him gingerly, inspecting the device.

"Jack... I don't know what to say."

"I can make some suggestions. 'Yes' for example, would be a great word to use here."

"I..." He paused, making a final decision. "I will travel with you, Jack. My answer is yes."

Jack beamed, stepping closer to him. He allowed Ianto to set the Vortex Manipulator on the counter before grabbing him by the hips and kissing him deeply. Ianto's hands held Jack's face, cupping his cheeks. He felt slightly dizzy, which the doctors predicted would happen if he held his breath for too long, but kept kissing Jack. The longer it continued the more he was reassured.

He'd never felt more alive.

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