8
Anwen was watching Ianto as he sat adding a file to the server. She had seen photos of the man Mama called Ianto and she knew damned well this was not the same man. She also knew that this man reminded her of Uncle Jack with some of his ways… and the smell. He had Uncle Jack's nice spicy hot smell. Like … rich.
Ianto looked over at her, feeling her gaze on him "Are you OK there Baban? Hungry? What say you and me go to the bakery I saw down the street and get everyone some donuts. Yeah?"
Anwen rushed to get her coat as Ianto rose majestically from the floor and turned to Gwen "Any preferences or just anything jelly as per."
"You know me so well" she laughed then sobered as she heard her words. Shit. Ianto did always ask her that in the exact same way.
Ianto walked along the sidewalk, missing the cobbles of their old base. Not that this was bad just… different. Things were weird, these memories, all of them from so many places, times and… Ianto stopped walking as he stared at someone else he knew.
Shit.
"Hello Andy" Anwen said happily "Me and Uncle Ianto are getting donuts"
Andy stared at Ianto for a few beats then snorted "bloody Torchwood."
.
.
"We're back" Anwen called out happily, carrying the boxes of donuts she had been allowed to be in charge of and Gwen turned to find Andy entering with Ianto.
"ANDY!" Jack lit up, bouncing over to hug him "How are you!"
Soon everyone was so happy, locked in laugher filled stories of the old times together with 'bloody torchwood' said more than once. Ianto took his leave and headed up to the roof, the place where he found Jack's spot easily.
Nice.
He settled there with his ankles folded, swinging his legs over the edge of the building as he let his hands slide back against the ledge to find the perfect grips to allow him to lean back and bask in the sun.
Jack found him there and smiled softly "Hey. That's my spot."
"Share"
Jack laughed and settled next to him, soon both of them mirror images both basking in the sun. Jack rolled his head to look at the man he would do anything to please, maybe not the original Ianto but… more than he deserved. Right?
After a while Ianto opened his eyes and rolled his head to face Jack, his smile soft "What?"
"Hmmm?"
"You said something about what you deserve?"
Jack blinked then laughed "No… I thought it. Clever minx."
Ianto snorted and resumed the original potion "You see him so much in me, and at the same time there is this undercurrent, that spark of something dangerous, hidden and a little… scary?"
Jack huffed with amusement "You are not Ianto… not that Ianto but… the more time I spend with you the more you are him. The Ianto I loved. Maybe not all of him but the bits I loved, the little quirks and the ways… they are still there. I accept that you are not the original, but I do think that you suit the name."
"When I died… in your arms you wept. You cried over me, your tears dropped in to my hair. You then cut that hair and placed it in your VM for safe keeping. A memento. I am touched that you did that… instead of just in that bloody tin. But you see… it's not the end of it. Is it? You didn't just do that… you got that hair out sometimes to remember me. Kiss it, fondle it… weep some more right?"
Jack didn't know what to say, the accurate description so … vivid.
Ianto continued "So… you do not know … cannot know that the Doctor took some of that hair while you were dead and gave that over to create me."
Jack sat up now, reaching for his VM with a mixture of alarm and anger. Ianto's hair? He took precious stands of hair? What the fuck.
Ianto smiled. "You see… therein lies the rub. You are an amazing man Jack. 51st Century genes, those enhancements and the evolution that has happened since this little backwater time. Your empathic ability… wow. I had no idea you were so good at it."
Jack sat there staring then he knew. Like a thunderbolt out of the blue he realized what he was being told "Ianto… do you have a bit of me in there?"
"Your memories are so vivid. Cruel, vicious, sad and sometimes… eloquent. Those things you chose to dwell on…. I had no idea the level of rage towards the Doctor… almost as much as love for him. I see now. I see it all. I know what you did after your Ianto died. Your grandson… I know. Is see it. Each time you wept, adding more memories… I know what you have done, created… destroyed… I see it all in the vastness of your library that is so much more than Ianto Jones' little set of books. Holy hell… I have seen a lot I wish I hadn't. Some I was …. Honored to know and above all… I see now that your love for Ianto Jones was unlike anything else. Why I chose him. I could have chosen Windy-Woo, Javic Thane… or Ianto Jones. I decided there in the TARDIS… I chose which personality was to be dominant. Who I was to be seen as and I know I chose right. Not for you, you understand. I did not choose to throw Ianto Jones Style for you. No. For me. I wanted to be a good man. A righteous man. Also… a little dangerous and more than slightly enigmatic than the original."
"Thank you" Jack replied with growing relief "I am not a good man, I know that. A Windy-Woo is far too innocent to survive a life with me… and Ianto? My god… the only one I would like to rampage across the universe with."
"Even if I do not have a pot to piss in?"
"Even if you do not have a box to fly in."
Ianto smiled and Jack felt his heart explode.
Ianto.
There you are darling.