It was a good fifty years after that moment that Jack and Ianto found themselves at John's deathbed. He had grown old – so had Jack, little by little – but Ianto stayed exactly as he should be. They both held John's hand, but Ianto was the one to get up and make sure that John was getting fluids. He would give the two more time alone, knowing there was a longer history and that he would be getting more time in the end. There were tears until John told them not to cry anymore. It was done with a laugh and then horrible coughing on John's part.
"Ianto," Jack whispered before Ianto would slip away to do dishes or something. "Stay this time. I think this is going to be the last."
"Of course," Ianto whispered as he sat back down. He could hear John's breathing getting shallower. "You're right."
"I know," Jack whispered and then the two sat in silence until John finally gave his last breath a little after two in the morning. Jack didn't cry; he knew that Ianto would cry enough for the both of them. He moved and hugged Ianto, letting the man cry. They waited until morning to call for his body to be moved and buried. There were only the two of them at the gravesite, but it didn't matter.
"Do you think he'll always be with us?" Ianto asked quietly, knowing Jack's bleak look of the afterlife.
"I think he will be," Jack replied with a slight smile. "I know that we both carry a part of him with us."
"We do," Ianto whispered. "We'll remember and always be three."
"Always three," Jack replied before kissing his hand and laying it on the tombstone. Ianto did the same thing, whispering goodbye before the two left for parts unknown in the universe.
/lj-cut
